Cayucos, Morro Bay & Pismo

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I turned a 5 hour drive to LA into a 3 day road trip along the coast. My final destination was North Hollywood to spend Christmas with my sister, but my first stop was Cayucos, a small fishing village just north of Morro Bay. This first photo was taken looking back at the town from the middle of a very long pier.

This is looking back from under the pier (taken with a fish eye lens on my iPhone). I love my iPhone

I drove on to Morro Bay where I planned to spend the night so I could photograph both the sunset and the next morning's sunrise. Even with a graduated neutral density filter, the sun shone intensely bright.

I returned the next morning to the same beach. I knew exactly when and where the sun would rise because, "there's a app for that." The crescent moon (upper left corner) was an unexpected bonus.

The tide was coming in and twice I had to scurry back to avoid a low rolling, swiftly moving wave. I was glad no one else was on the beach to see my awkward scramble across the wet sand with my tripod mounted camera held aloft. After taking this next photo, I moved back into the dunes for some additional shots, but my cable release was no longer attached to my camera. I retraced my steps back to this spot, but I didn't see it. I re-retraced my steps back to where I discovered it missing, but even with stopping every few feet and scanning the sand, it was not in sight. I continued photographing using the self-timer, but I really needed that cable. After the sun was well up into the sky and I was tired and hungry, I decided the cable was worth one more retracing of steps (re-re-retracing?). I passed 2 men who had been out on the flats and I asked if they had seen a black cable release. No. I continued on, wondering where I might buy a replacement, when I heard, "Hey! Is this what you're looking for?" Yes! I was ecstatic. It had been lying in a spot I had passed by 3 times. Why didn't I see it? No matter. I had my cable and 2 new friends.

Next stop was Pismo Beach, once again to photograph a sunset and a sunrise. I love this town with it's wide beaches, board walk, and extra long, extra tall pier. My room wasn't ready, so I took my book to the beach. This is another iPhone photo, which seemed appropriate considering the book I was reading.

This sunset shot is also an iPhoto, processed with Snapseed. Not a cloud in the sky to add interest & drama, but I am happy anytime I can capture 3 bands of twilight color.

The last shot of the night was from the board walk looking toward the tree of lights at the end of the pier. A star filter added the radiating beams.

This was the first shot I took early the next morning, once again capturing that cute, little crescent moon over the boardwalk.

Another new tool in my camera bag is a 6-stop neutral density filter. In order to smooth out the waves that came tumbling in, I needed a slow shutter speed that the bright morning light would not allow. This first photo was taken without the filter (1/10th of a second),

and this one with the filter (that allowed for a 5 second exposure). I took dozens of photos with the filter dialed to various levels of light. I liked this one best.

When the sun finally rose above the horizon, the pilings and the water lit up with a golden glow, as shown in this iPhoto (also processed in Snapseed). I used the iPhone camera so I could immediately post the picture on Facebook. There's an app for that.

As I was ready to leave the beach and head inland, swirls of water caught my attention for one last photograph.

It took me three wonderful days to get to LA, but I made it home a week later in 5 hours & 5 minutes. No beaches, no sun rises, no crescent moons, just a straight shot up I-5.

You can see more of my photos from this trip on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

My Story

This post is a little different than my others. Rather than a slew of pretty photographs, I have just one, a before & after picture. Let me tell you the short version of my story.

Five years ago, a CT scan revealed a large tumor in my brain. A month later, my head was shaved, my scalp was laid back, and my skull was carved open like a Halloween pumpkin. The tumor was a benign meningioma that had been growing in my head for 7 years. A few of the tumor cells were attached to my skull, so the surgeon cut away that section and replaced it with a titanium plate before fitting it all back on my head. (I actually do have a hole in my head.) After my scalp was stapled back in place, I spent four days in the hospital with two black eyes and a head swollen to the size of a Klingon's.

I'm telling this story now because I am so pleased with this photo I took on Tuesday: one of the most satisfying I have ever taken. On the right is the MRI from 5 years ago. On the left is the image taken 2 days ago showing nothin' but brain. (The view is an aerial shot, looking down on the top of my head.)

Coping with a brain tumor wasn't easy. Many of the procedures and tests were painful and scary. I have a permanent 13 inch, horseshoe-shaped scar on the top of my head, and I took powerful drugs that had harsh side effects. But if I could go back in time and erase this entire episode from my life, I wouldn't do it. I gained strength and understanding and compassion. I learned valuable life lessons. I met amazing people, built new friendships, and had extraordinary experiences. It was the best gift I have ever received.

City Art

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As a newly appointed member of the Morgan Hill Library, Culture & Arts Commission, I joined in on a project-in-progress to create a virtual tour of all the city owned art. My job: photograph the art. When finished, a city map will have pin points that show the location of each art piece. When the point is clicked, a photograph (taken by me) will appear. How cool is that?

These first two sculptures are owned by the library, but they were included in the city inventory anyway. The photos in this post are just a sample of the 50 pieces of art I photographed.

This is a downtown mural ("Harvest Your Dreams")
that is now partially hidden by an overgrown tree

The murals on Third Street are temporary,
but will probably remain for several more years.

I liked how the fall colors created a
backdrop for "Waiting for the Train"

I took this photo of, "Liberty" (next to he CRC) with my iPhone and processed it with an app called, Big Lens that allows you to select a part of the composition to stay in focus while rendering the background a blur, allowing depth of field to be determined after the photo is taken. I love my iPhone.

When the virtual tour is complete,
a link will be added to the city's website.
I'll keep you posted.

Oh Feathers!

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Had some fun playing with macro shots of feathers in the indoor studio of a member of the photography club. We used many small objects, but I liked the bird feathers best, like this shot of peacock plumage.

For this one, I arranged the tiny feathers on a piece of blue construction paper. Looks like a bird in flight, huh?

The background for these cobalt blue feathers
was a piece of patterned gold foil.

Lots of fun, but I'd rather photograph outside.

Blowing in the Wind

December 1st. Only a few autumn leaves still clung to their trees. With the wind howling, I knew this would be my last opportunity to photograph the fall color, which seemed more resplendent than in years past. (This was possibly due to the cataract surgery I had in July (right eye) and August (left eye), which made the entire world clearer and brighter.) Whatever the reason, natural or implanted, I was enthralled with the colors.

I wanted to capture the wind, but the sky was too clear and bright to get a slow enough shutter speed, so I attached my new variable neutral density filter and blocked 6 stops of light. The photo above is a 6 second exposure. The saturated color is natural.

This is the tree in front of my house.

Woody & Buzz don't care about the colors or the wind.
They just liked playing in a pile of leaves.

Clos LaChance Winery

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I arrived at the winery, which is just 6 minutes from my house, at 6:15am. That was suppose to give me 30 minutes of twilight shooting and then a colorful sunrise. Not to be. The morning was shrouded in fog. A few others from the photography club joined me and agreed that the diffused light was perfect for capturing the fall color on the vines. The key was to not include the gray sky in the frame.

Compared to a blue sky, fog can seem dull, and many inexperienced photographers express disappointment, but fog presents a different photographic opportunity. With even light and no bright spots from the sun, foliage color just pops, and since that's what I was after, I was happy. Many people might think that I saturated this red in the computer, but I did not. I didn't have to. Around 8:30 the fog started to break up a bit and we were treated to bits of sunlight on the foothills and the vineyards at their base.

This looks like a small river running through the vineyards, but it is just the driveway reflecting the blue sky

It didn't last long. By 9:30 the fog was back thicker than before. I didn't care. Enough light shone through to light up the leaves to perfection. I hiked up a hill above the parking lot and found this graceful arc of vines.

and this lovely red leaf.

You can see more photos from Clos LaChance on my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

Yosemite in the Fall

Click on a photo to view a larger image. The photography workshop in Yosemite started on Thursday. A friend I had met at a previous workshop (Mary) and I arrived on Wednesday to have some extra time in the valley. This buck was intent on eating the abundant grass in Cook's Meadow and ignored the many people taking his photograph. I composed this shot and then waited a long time for him to lift his head.

In the 5 days that I was in Yosemite, I took 1,035 photographs, which is a lot for me. I try not to shoot indiscriminately, because more photos mean more time at the computer sorting through them. One of the many things I learned from Gary Hart (http://garyhart.aminus3.com/) who led the workshop, is to shoot purposefully. He stressed the importance of bracketing, not the exposure, but the composition; trying different angles, zooming in to isolate, or zooming out to include context. A vertical view is among the shots posted on my Flickr photostream.
Mary and I were up early on Thursday morning hoping to catch the first light on El Capitan. We missed the turn to El Cap Bridge and had to circle the valley, but we made it back in time to talk to a few climbers, and catch the early light reflecting off a very thin cloud cover.

Of all the many locations we photographed, my favorite was Valley View. I took this photo in the early morning and left the bright sky out of the frame to emphasize the fall colors. This is my second favorite photo from the trip.

If you have followed my blog for any time, you know that I am a self-proclaimed lunatic. After a 40 mile drive to Olmsted Point, Gary led us over a rock strewn, boulder laden path to capture this view of the crescent moon hanging above Half Dome. This illustrates one of the many advantages of joining a workshop. Gary took us to the overlook on the night that the moon lined up with Half Dome at sunset. I never would have found this spot on my own. Photographers usually prefer a sky filled with clouds that add interest, color, and texture, but on this night, the clear sky allowed the moon and 3 bands of color to radiate.

During the workshop I realized that I am drawn more to intimate subjects than grand vistas. I enjoyed finding and photographing the details, like this leaf circling in a pool at Bridalveil Creek. After taking several mediocre shots, I anticipated its path and clicked when it floated over the dark rocks. This is one you should not look at too closely because the leaf is blurred. I should have bumped up the ISO to get a faster shutter speed, but I didn't think to do that at the time.

Fern Spring is a small gem of a spot right next to the road: lots of fallen leaves, a reflective pool, and a small waterfall.
The path along the Merced river across from Fern Spring (near Pohono Bridge) provided dozens of opportunities to photograph the fall color. I am pleased with this photo of isolated leaves against the dark background of the tree.

Cathedral Beach provides majestic reflections of El Capitan, especially in the morning when the river is still. I skipped the Rorschach-like photos and walked along the bank searching for interesting patterns. The golden glow along the pebbly edge caught my eye; the leaf was a bonus. I included just a portion of the reflection of El Capitan. None of the photos I took here during the workshop turned out, so I returned Monday morning to the same spot, tried again and got this one.

I had been wondering about the brown ferns that cover much of the wooded areas in the valley. I thought they must be damaged or diseased because they were not green. Fortunately, I was wrong. These healthy, brown ferns grew along the path from Cathedral Beach that led back to the road.

From a distance, Milkweed looks like cotton. Up close, you see silky strands spilling out of an almond shaped pod. I had to photograph one before I left the park. On my last pass through the valley I found a few that were back-lit in the frost-covered meadow near Sentinel Bridge. I attached the macro lens and got the shot I wanted.

You can see more of my Yosemite photos on
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

This group photo was taken at Olmsted Point (where we shot the crescent moon)
by Doug Otto (http://binaryemulsion.photoshelter.com/)
who assisted Gary in the workshop.

Playing at the Pumpkin Patch

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This is the third year that I have photographed at the Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Patch in San Martin. I think I have enough pumpkin photos, but when I go back I see everything a little differently. This year the photography club had an hour and a half access before the park opened and the swarm of school children arrived. The overcast sky provided ideal, diffused light for macro shots of Indian corn husks.The clouds eventually departed to leave a clear blue sky as a perfect backdrop for the orange pumpkins. When the sun appeared, so did the bees (and the wind). Because of their constant movement, bees are tough enough to photograph. When the flower is swaying, it is doubly difficult. I took a lot of wind-blurred photos with bee blobs. To catch this shot, I backed off the telephoto a bit to get more light and a faster shutter speed. The bees are laden with pollen.This bee has more clarity because the sunflower was hanging low and out of the wind, and the bee stayed put. This must have been his first flower of the day because he is not covered in pollen.

I purposefully over exposed this back-lit flower because I wanted to keep detail in the dark center. In Lightroom I pulled a little color out of the white-washed petals, but kept the high key effect.

If you have been following my blog, you may remember that last winter Buzz and Woody frolicked in the Virginia snow. (http://visual-journey.blogspot.com/2010/12/playing-in-snow.html) On this day they played in the pumpkin patch, clambering over the fancy gourds.

Cinderella seems to have stayed out past her midnight curfew.

"The Three Gourdos"

Maybe I was the one who was playing with the fancy gourds.
You can see many more pumpkin patch photos on my
Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/