Moka Blog Page - Page 5 of 11 - Whistling Far and Wee

February 1, 2018

A Poem for the Climbers on El Capitan

Perhaps they are stars ascendant,
These climbers on the Captain’s back,
For do they not sleep suspended
‘Twixt granite and a dusk upended
By headlamps in the carbon black?

Or maybe they are in descent.
Thrust from an unforgiving sky
Into the dirt. What’s to prevent
A sunken star from compromise?
If it must climb to raise its eyes,
Those eyes still gaze on firmament.

As to the pilgrimage of stars,
With rocks above and rocks below,
An astral dream is equally far
For sleepers hanging just below
Celestial peaks. Still, so it goes,
And every climber knows they are
Defined, not by reach or station,
But instead by aspiration.

The lights on the side of El Capitan in this picture are the headlamps of the climbers getting ready to sleep for the night, as they attempt their ascent.

January 31, 2018

Super Blue Blood Moon in California

Lesson learned this week: Make sure you take the filter off your lens, less you get massive flare. My bad. Also, less is more where exposure is concerned for the moon. I blew out a lot of these pictures. Still, it was a cool thing to share with my kid, who is high on life in the mornings, and maybe will remember this experience fondly years from now.

January 31, 2018

comments 2

Photographing The Cypress Tunnel in Point Reyes, Inverness, California

In my continuing quest to be a better Californian, I took my camera out to Inverness to photograph the Cypress Tree Tunnel near Point Reyes. The view, I felt, was worth the drive, which took about two hours. This shot is probably my best of the bunch:

The Cypress Tree Tunnel

The picture would, I think, have been improved had I been able to wait an additional half hour. I think this photograph was snapped at around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon. We still had a lighthouse to see before dark, and didn’t have time to dwell overlong, but the lighting would likely have been prettier around 4:45. It took long enough to get this one because two girls with a mini-cooper parked themselves in the middle of the road for a good while as they attempted to stage the optimal instagram picture. Youths.

My learning-by-doing moment for these pictures came when I arrived home, and realized I had over exposed a lot of them. Because the pictures contained extreme darks and lights, I should have been more careful where I was metering. I let the camera do a lot of the work, which resulted in it attempting to accommodate the dark shadows at the expense of blowing out the sky. Were I to do this again, I think I would bracket these shots, or, in the alternative, taken a few pictures metering exclusively on the brightest spots, and the darkest, in addition to the camera’s default setting, and attempted some sort of HDR business. HDR is on my list of things to learn.

It had rained the day before, so I had some nice puddles to work with. Here’s the building at the far end of the tree tunnel.

This lovely old building is currently the KPH radio station.

And here’s a shot of the tree tunnel reflected in the water.

I would like this even better if I could get the water to look less muddy, and the trees in the reflection to look more defined.

Aside from better lighting and metering, I think my pictures would have benefitted from a lens with longer focal length, to create a greater feeling of depth within the tunnel. Alas, I only own the one lens, so it would have to do.

I’ve noticed that most people take this picture from the other end, shooting down towards the building. I wasn’t keen to stand so close to the road, however, so I opted for this direction.

On our way to the lighthouse, we came across this charming fellow. At first, we couldn’t figure out what was going on. Is someone raising elk in California? Could there possibly be elk native to California? It turns out, there are!

Tule Elk!

They are called tule elk, and it seems that they were nearly driven to extinction in the 19th century by ranchers and farmers. You can read more about them here. Here are his buddies:

MOAR Tule Elk!

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of them! Alas, as mentioned previously, I only have the one lens for this camera, and it’s a pretty wide one. Still, the event was captured for posterity, however poorly. Rock on, Tule Elk. I think you’re awesome.

One more time with feeling.

Until next time, friends.

January 24, 2018

comment 0

Photographing Alameda Point

The weather has been gloomy this week. In fact, it even rained. For those of you who know anything about our weather cycles, rain is an unusual and welcome occurrence here in perpetually drought-ridden California.

This week’s lesson-by-failure is that if you’re going to be photographing in the rain, even if the “rain” is more like a heavy mist, best clean your filter on the regular, lest you end up with something that looks like this:

My bad.

Lesson learned temporarily. Still, I liked the concept of the shot, so, I came back when the weather cleared and tried again.

Much improved.

So much better. Which leads to my second obvious discovery: reflections are the bomb, even if they’re just in puddles on concrete. I will try to remember this the next time there happens to be rain. As my brain is Swiss cheese, and rainy days few and far between, I anticipate rediscovering this a few more times before it sticks. Stay tuned, sports fans.

Also, whimsy! It turns out that Alameda Point has a number of brightly colored ballards that look a bit like little creatures if you squint:

Anthropomorphizing is the best.

This little green man stands watch over the SS Gem State, the SS Keystone State and the SS Grand Canyon State.

Also available in yellow!

The reason most people come down to this part of the harbor, though, is to see the USS Hornet.

The Hornet.

The USS Hornet was an aircraft carrier during World War II. After being deployed in the Pacific theater, the Vietnam War, and participating in the Apollo program, the Hornet was decommissioned in 1970, declared a national and state landmark, and is now a museum.

Military stuff doesn’t do much for me, but isn’t she grand?

I highly encourage a visit if you happen to be in town. Every so often, big themed dances are held on board the ship, with live big band music and much period ambiance. These are, in my limited experience, an unqualified good time.

Finally, no trip around Alameda would be complete without the discovery of a little door. Although I like to tell my kid that gnomes live behind these doors (I think I almost have him convinced) most people around here call them fairy doors. Residents attach them to trees around the island. You can buy them at local shops, or on Amazon. Part of our small town charm, I suppose.

This gnome has a great view behind his house.

The guy or girl behind this particular door, though, deserves major props. They make their own doors and windows by hand, and then affix their tableau to lamp posts, or concrete benches or, in the case of this door, to the side of the harbor. This person’s handiwork is particularly recognizable because they mark all of their creations with a tiny welcome mat bearing the name Mowssio. Mowssio, whoever you are, I’m a fan. I hope you drop by the comments section sometime and say hello. I notice they removed your handiwork from the path to Bay Farm Island. This was a little disappointing but the price, I suppose, of putting your doors on government property.

Until next time, you crazy kids.

January 21, 2018

comments 2

Photographs of the Women’s March in San Francisco, 2018

Last year I attended the Oakland Women’s March. This year, I thought I’d give San Francisco a look-see, mostly because it was happening later in the day and, let’s be real, I’m really not a morning person. Here’s a bit of what I saw:

People arriving at the rally at the San Francisco Civic Center.

Resist.

Superhero and Super Dog in front of San Francisco City Hall.

Just two guys, chilling at the rally.

You have to he a little impressed at how well this attendee matched her lettering to the sky.

Followed this lady around awhile (in a totally non-creepy way, of course) trying to get pictures of her rainbow ears. Stop moving around so much, protesters – you’re complicating my photography.

Because San Francisco.

Proving you’re never too young to draft your own protest sign.

Multi-media representation of Trump’s thought process.

It’s true.

Seems plausible.

Truth in black and white.

Stick around – we’ll see this sign again.

Lining up to march.

Random juxtapositions are the best.

There she is. Great sign, mystery lady. Great sign.

On the move.

Grab ’em in the midterms, America.

And a good time was had by all.

January 17, 2018

comments 2

Photographing Pigeon Point

For a native Californian, I’ve sure managed to avoid seeing some of our most famous sights. Behold Pigeon Point Lighthouse, on the Pacific Coast Highway:

Pigeon Point Lighthouse at Dusk

I can’t even tell you when the last time was that drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, even though I live adjacent to it.

It took a much longer time to get her than I anticipated. We had to traverse a number of windy roads, and it was nearly dark when we arrived.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse from a different angle. No idea what that number 2 on the fence is about, but I thought it looked cool.

Fortunately, I enjoy the dark, even though it presents some technical challenges that I have not fully mastered. For instance, it’s difficult to get the correct focus in the dark. I have figured out a system with my Nikon, but have yet to conquer this on my Fuji. Also, it’s really very dark.

The park had this super cool log that I wish I had taken better advantage of. A smaller aperture would have helped a great deal, although then I might have missed the stars.

I didn’t notice until the ride home that the clouds in these last pictures were a nifty orange color. The sensor picks up somethings, like the sheer volume of stars in the sky, that my lesser human eyes do not. It’s too bad the colorful sky is likely due to the pollution levels.

Stars and clouds over the water.

Next time, I think I’ll do some research into when the Milky Way will be positioned within reach of the lighthouse. Wouldn’t that be a cool shot? I have yet to do any Milky Way pictures with the Fuji, and am interested to see what it’s got in that department.

Lighthouse and stars.

Cosmic skies.

I know this last one looks a little over processed, but I’ve got to be honest with you, it didn’t take much to get this sky – it was already pretty crazy. The moment I started lightening it up, this is what I got.

What I really wish I could do is erase the car lights, and the airplane, or satellite, or whatever that thing is in the middle of the picture. I will add “erasing satellites” to my list of things to learn to do.

Until next time, squirrel friends.

January 13, 2018

comment 0

Adventures in Children’s Media: Paddington 2

Plot: Paddington Bear gets a job to buy his Aunt Lucy a birthday present, but in the process runs afoul of the law, and an evil Hugh Grant. Not necessarily in that order.

Child Enjoyment: 8/10 The six-year-old liked the movie quit a bit. He loves physical comedy, so things like Paddington washing windows with his furry backside were deemed uproarious. The film’s sentimentality, and the comedic stylings of Mr. Grant, were, perhaps, lost on him. Except for that time Mr. Grant was hit on the head. Pain is hi-larious.

Parent Enjoyment: 10/10 Utterly charmed. I enjoyed both the sentiment and Hugh Grant. Be sure to stick around for Mr. Grant’s musical number during the end credits.

Age Appropriate: Spot on. The child would like to see it again.

Pain Factor: Negligible. The story’s themes of family and the power of kindness are universal, touching, and timely, no matter your age.

Story Assessment: Paddington finds the perfect birthday present for his beloved Aunt Lucy in Deepest Peru while visiting Mr. Gruber’s Antique Shop – an old pop-up book showcasing some of London’s wonderful sights. One of the movie’s most delightful vignettes involves Paddington walking, in his imagination, with his aunt through the pop-up book and showing her London’s landmarks in cardboard form. The book is sadly expensive. Undeterred, Paddington embarks on a series of odd jobs to raise enough money to buy it for her. The night before he is to purchase the book, however, it is stolen from the shop, and Paddington blamed for its theft. Paddington’s family in London must work together to find the real thief, while a jailed Paddington teaches the other prisoners about the power of kindness, good manners, and friendship.

Hugh Grant co-stars as a once successful actor, now reduced to dog food commercials, who seeks funding for his one-man show in some unusual places. I’m no expert, but Mr. Grant seemed to be having a very good time. As will you, if you see this movie.

In Summation: Loved it. Sweet without being saccharine, and moving without being manipulative. The kid liked it too. Win-win. I would see it again…and probably will. You should, too.

An Addendum: My husband lost his job today, which means Paddington had to clear a pretty high hurdle to our enjoyment. I had promised the child on the way to school that we would go to the movies this afternoon, which meant I was contractually obligated to make it happen, even though neither the husband nor I was in the mood for it by the time 3:30 rolled around. Six-year-olds, as you may well know, do not like to be mislead, even if the misleading is the byproduct of an unexpected and panic-inducing layoff. But it was a good thing we did go. We all left the movie feeling much better than we went in. Well done, Paddington.

January 12, 2018

comment 0

Bird Photography is Hard

I have decided, as a subset of my photography hobby, to get into birding. Although I like birds as much as the next person, I freely admit that this decision is largely expedient. I live near the water where there are lots of birds. I am even under the impression that some of the birds are of particular interest to birders, as occasionally they show up in large groups to scope the place out. I don’t know. I’m clearly a novice.

It turns out, however, that photographing birds is harder than it might appear. I am having a lot of problems getting the little suckers in focus. Part of this may be an equipment issue. I love my Nikon (a d700) but it’s fairly old technology. My longest lens is a 300mm f4, and is also old technology. All that this means is that I don’t have much reach and my focus speed is pretty slow.

One of my better efforts. It helps a lot if the bird stands still.

I don’t think it’s fair, though, to blame my perfectly serviceable camera. The bigger problem is that I just don’t seem to be very good at it. Almost everything I take is blurrier than I would like.

Also, my camouflaging techniques suck. In fact, I’m founding a new birding genre, called, “What are you looking at, asshole?” Behold:

What are you looking at, asshole?

Asshole, what are you looking at?

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

Lest you worry that I am approaching the birds or otherwise harassing them, fear not. I take these pictures while sitting on the edge of a bike path, a bike path full of squealing children, and radios, and joggers, and dogs. The birds have no problems with the children, the joggers, or the dogs. They take high umbrage, however, at the sound of my mirror slap.

Despite my technical inadequacies, I am finding the bird photography business a zen one. I get to sit by the ocean, watch the birds, take a few pictures, and generally appreciate the great outdoors. There’s only one thing that seriously harshes my zen:

Zen killer.

Litter. There’s literally trash and refuse up and down the coastline. If you look at the first picture in this post, you can see that the poor bird is picking its way through tiny pieces of plastic. It’s so depressing. Do better, world. And do better, Alameda.

This is a good angle, if for no other reason than that you can’t see the garbage from here.

I am going to go to read up on bird photography, and see if anyone on the internet has some suggestions for my improvement. Next time, I hope to have some sharper pictures to display. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, keep flying, WordPress. And don’t litter!

I like to think this bird is off to look for food, and not fleeing the sound of my camera.

January 11, 2018

comments 2

Winter in Yosemite

I have this dream in which I am a travel photographer. In said dream, my camera and I go to all sorts of exotic places and chronicle my adventures. Sounds pretty good, right? Alas, budgeting does not permit this sort of thing in real life, at least, not in my real life. I have decided, therefore, to take a glass-is-half-full attitude and reassess my immediate surroundings. I am lucky to live in a place, and near a bunch of places, that a lot of people visit on their vacations.

So, last weekend I went to Yosemite, which is roughly a four hour drive from where I live. I’ve never been in the winter before. I highly recommend it – the crowds are nearly non-existent, but the sights are every bit as spectacular. Here are some of my photos from the excursion:

Trees on the Valley floor.

Swinging Bridge and Yosemite falls (which had a surprising amount of water in it)

Heart leaves in a rock. Would that I had (a) noticed that the leaves were shaped like a heart and (b) made better use of my polarizing filter.

Yosemite Falls, as seen from the base of the swinging bridge.

The Yosemite Valley Chapel in the fog.

Another view from the base of the Swinging Bridge.

Parting shot of the pretty trees looking out into the fog.

Pretty awesome, right? I was taken aback at how lovely it was.

Of course, I took an embarrassingly large number of terrible photos to get these few acceptable ones. I will not confess to how many. It can only be described as a buttload.

So here’s my learn-from-failing lesson of the week: It’s much easier to get a good looking picture in the early morning or the late afternoon than it is in the middle of the day. I suspect a more competent photographer than me could have made the middle of the day stuff work, but I’m not there yet. Instead, I’ve now got a whole bunch of blah stuff sucking up hard disk space. Learning to photograph at non-optimal hours has been officially been added to my to-do list. It’s a long list, with such broad topics as “Learn to Use Lightroom” and “Master Composition.” I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for “Crap Lighting” to happen any time soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

January 3, 2018

comment 0

Baker Beach, San Francisco, California, New Years Day

I have a lovely camera, and it seems a shame not to use it as often as possible, so use it I have been. One of the great things about this little blog is that it gives me a place to chart my progress and contemplate my failings. I have, I think, very modest goals when it comes to my photographs. I just want to do better today than I did yesterday. This means messing up. A lot.

Today’s Lesson Born of Failure: Wet Sand Does Not a Stable Tripod Base Make

The inimitable Yoda produced this gem of a quote: “If no mistake you have made, losing you are.” Truer words, my friends, truer words. I am reminded of a camping-gear website I visited, back when I was laughably thinking I might get in on that camping stuff. The reviewer mentioned in an offhand sort of way that he has so many suggestions for readers because he had made every mistake there was to make. His example involved setting up his tent such that it flooded in the middle of the night. If I were ever to camp more than fifteen feet from my car, I’m sure I would also find a way to flood my tent. And it hardly ever rains here. Anyway, I think of him every time I muck something up, which is just about every time I go out, and then I think of Yoda, and remind myself that damn it, I’m not losing.

So here’s something I learned on yesterday’s excursion: If you put your tripod in wet sand, there’s a good chance it may sink over the course of your long exposure, resulting in an ugly, blurry print, and two to five minutes you’re never going to get back again. Lesson learned: Push that tripod into the sand until it won’t move any more before starting your exposure.

But wait, there’s more! Addendum to yesterday’s lesson, gleaned from today’s excursion: If you plant your tripod in the wet sand, even if you pushed it down to stabilize it, if your own foot is sinking into the sand near the tripod leg, water and sand will mush about, your tripod will move, and you will once again have an ugly picture. Of greater concern, in this age of digital photography in which pictures are free, is the wasted time. The husband will only stand in the wet and cold for so long. Every exposure counts.

Here’s this evening’s effort:

ISO 100, f/4, 25 second exposure

And then I was concerned that it looked crooked, because the line of the water on the horizon slopes, so I…

Cropped.

…cropped it. Now the coast line is even, but the bridge looks wonky. Or does it? Yeah, I’m pretty sure it looks wonky. I think. I’ve lost perspective.

Lesson Two: Aurora HDR Makes Everything Look Better

In other news, I’ve been using this program called Aurora HDR to tide me over until I have time to learn to use Lightroom properly. Aurora HDR makes me look much more proficient than I am. Aside from creating actual HDR images (if I am so inclined, that is – I wasn’t this time) it also has all of these nifty pre-sets. So many pre-sets. I am overwhelmed with options. For example, this pre-set is called “Bright”:

I think this pre-set is self explanatory.

And this one is called – wait for it – “Taint Ed Loves”:

Ed’s Taint. That doesn’t sound dirty at all.

You can also manipulate the images beyond the presets. For example, here’s “Taint Ed Loves” with the exposure altered:

I’m calling this “Taint Dreams.” You’re welcome, Aurora HDR. I’m here all night.

Clearly, there’s a lot you can do with digital images if you know something. I, however, like Jon Snow, know nothing. You can tell that I know nothing because there are little people wielding cell phone cameras with flashes on the right side of the photo that haven’t been removed because, well, I don’t know how to do it yet.

Next time, WordPress, next time.

Addendum: Here’s something else I’ve learned, through failure, cell phone users: your cell phone flash will not give you a better picture of the Golden Gate Bridge when it is several miles away. You’re welcome.