Crashing at the end of the day

Here is another post for today. Came across this picture while looking through the shots from the weekend. I did a little burning and dodging to the photo but nothing else. Amazing!

Northern California Landscape

Here is a shot from the camping trip that the Grammatical Fairy and I took over the weekend. This was taken while standing on a cliff that was shooting out over the water. I love this picture because of the comparison of the calm sky against the rough water. While the web has downgraded the quality of the color a bit, the actual photo is BEAUTIFUL!

More to come from this amazing weekend.

Welcome Home

I look at this picture and I think of my grandfather (Papa). He always looked over us, made us feel welcome, did what was needed, and never said no. He ensured that we were safe and we were happy. Through any kind of stormy weather, he made us comfortable. He showed up in places unexpected, sat in the back row and always gave a cheerful smile, wave and nod, which was all we needed to know his approval. For a man that never asked for help, but accepted it when it was offered. For a man that made us who we are today.

This picture was from the Marin county side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The statue is known throughout the Navy community as the Lone Sailor. It is said that he guides naval ships out to sea and welcomes them home after a tour a duty.

California Sunset

Well what can you say about California sunsets? THEY ARE F***ING AWESOME!!!!! They're definitely one thing about California that never gets old. This shot was taken while camping in Santa Cruz last fall. If you are in the area around that time I recommend watching at least one sunset. I do not, however, recommend camping at that time of year as you will freeze your tuchus off. (For those of you not familiar with the tuchus, it is your bottom. If you need help saying tuchus I would tell you to say it like this: "tukas," with a little phlegm between the tu and the kas.)

Long Jump!

I know that it has been a few days since my last post, so I am bringing some Photoshop fun after a break. Over the weekend the Fairy and I and a couple of friends went camping at Costanoa, a beautiful campground that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

While we were hiking along the beach we all took turns jumping off of sand dunes. I set up my camera to shoot in sports mode and captured the Fairy doing her jump. This is the first time I have tried to combine this many photos into one action shot. Hope you enjoy!

For today's post I am following up with another long exposure shot. This one was taken while we were staying at a Friends cabin up in Washington State. It was about 5 hours north of Seattle. The cool thing about this shot is that it was really sunny outside and leaving the shutter open for 1 second produced this night style shot. Enjoy!

Long Exposures

Well for all your readers out there (8 total from what I can see) a special treat you way. TWO PHOTOS! I am a huge fan of long exposure shots. I wanted to share a couple with you today that were taken in two different settings (one day, one night), but both had over one second exposures.

For the cat picture: I took it last night while I was wondering around MTV (aka Mountain View). I put my camera on the sidewalk, prayed that the cat would sit still, and set the shutter for two seconds. Luckily it only took one try to get the image right.

For the picture of the rocks: I was on a hike with GF near Juno Lake California. At about two miles up there was this incredible stream that we sat around for awhile and just listened. I perched my camera on a rock and had to try ten different exposures before I was able to get the image the way that I wanted.

For the rest of the week I am going to focus on night shots and long exposure pictures. Let me know what you think each day. Well let's face it, if one person comments on this site I will be more than excited, even if you just comment HI!