Stormy Weather

The storm of two days ago was described as "the worst October storm in 50 years." I thought it was the best. We don't usually get rain this early in the season, and we really needed it (although I'm sure the grape growers and farmers and downtown business owners disagree). For 24 hours the drought was over and it felt wonderful. I had a job in San Jose on Tuesday. Although the morning drive was a little hairy (I left my house well before sunrise), the drive home was nothin' but fun: rain and puddles and spray and flooded intersections. I can have this happy attitude because my house is on high ground (although my garage was partially flooded) and I avoided the low-lying downtown area which was under water. Morgan Hill received 7 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Are you wondering how I got these photos?
Was I driving and photographing at the same time?

Please! That would not have been safe.

Early Wednesday morning I took a drive to check out the damage. The water at most of the flooded intersections had substantially subsided. The ground was so dry before the storm that the water soaked in quickly, but anyone could tell that a major storm had passed through. Downtown merchants still had a huge clean-up job.

I love the rain.
I bet we'll soon see a twinge of green in the hills.

Harvest Moon

For three evenings I scouted for places to photograph the October full moon. I happened upon a side street off Watsonville Road and followed it to its dead end at a pumpkin field. I parked my car and continued on foot through the field, keeping an eye on the moon and trying to visualize the perfect shot. Only a few pumpkins were left in the already harvested field, but I thought wouldn't it be great if I could get a pumpkin and the moon in the same shot. This would require that my camera be at ground level... along with me. Since I was trespassing, I figured lying down might not be such a bad idea anyway. I wouldn't have a second chance to set up the shot, but I knew right where the moon was going to rise, so I found a suitable pumpkin, lined it up, and sprawled out behind my camera.

As I was lying on the ground among the leaves and vines,
I felt one with Charlie Brown.
You can view my photographs of September's full moon
by clicking on "Full Moon Rising"
under September (to the right).

Wine Grapes

I set out to find and photograph wine grapes. This is a bit late in the season and most of the vineyards have already been harvested. Fortunately, Clos Le Chance Winery, which is only a few miles from my house, had a couple of varieties still on the vines, and I found one vineyard that was not surrounded by a fence.

The grapes were plentiful.

The sun was very bright and caused a lot of bright spots and shadows. I used a diffuser to even out the light, sometimes stretching away from the camera with the diffuser held up in one hand and the cable release in the other. I parked right next to the vines,
so I had all my camera gear close by...

and could change the lens as I needed.
The grapes looked like they were ready to pop.

The day was so pretty, I hated to leave.

I'll come back when the leaves have turned red and gold.