A Day in San Francisco

Yesterday was a gorgeous, splendiferous, incredibly wonderful day in San Fran. And, every man, woman and child with their family pets within 50 miles, and within the city proper, showed up to enjoy a day outside in all the places we wanted to photograph. It has been a very long time since I have been in such a human-crowded space! Take this girl back to the Redwoods!

No whining, please! We did drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, had lunch in Sausalito, visited the National Cemetary, stopped by the Palace of Fine Arts, marveled at the new Bay Bridge, and managed to get though some extremely slow traffic without losing our cool. I would call that a pretty darn good day. My hat is off to those hardy individuals who can live in this environment day in and out!

This next shot is what I call my 'hurry up and get this'. Wrong lens on and this guy was really moving!  But, it made me laugh and I hope you get at least a grin out of it.

The next two images are from the Palace of Fine Arts, originally built for the 1915 World Expo.

If you are in San Francisco you need a photo of a skyscraper. Taken from the Bay Bridge in a moving car and catching it between the vertical suspension cables. Must say, he is getting pretty good at shooting from the car!!

We still have a lot on our list to shoot in and around San Francisco.  After a good night's sleep and some down time, we are entertaining another foray into town.  There is the allure of a new Sammy's store, fewer people, that long list . . . There is also wine country close enough, and the possibility of the end of our government's shutdown gives us hope that it will open up some photo opportunities such as Reyes Point. We are in great spirits and still having a lot of fun. We are glad you are along.

We wish you a very nice productive week.

Wine Country

We spent the day with Kati taking in the wine country around Calistoga. We shared breakfast, a late lunch, a Classic Flight at Rombauer Winery, and just an awesome photogging day!

We stopped for a number of roadside shots before heading to the winery. The vines are in all shades of green, yellow and orange and some bright red.

Rombauer Winery has a great garden to roam around as you 'sip' your way through your flight. We took photos of flowers and statues before we started sipping, however.

The horse at the right end made me laugh.  The expression says it all. Confused. "So why am I just standing here?"

Once Tom and Kati had their wine glasses they started photgraphing wine color, glasses, bubbles on the edge, shadows on the table . . . of course, there was ample experimentation, moving of glasses 'just so' and discussion about how to approach the best shot. Everyone looking thought they were shooting for a winery pamphlet or travel guide!! Tom said that Kati started it!! I could believe that.  I just watched. Great fun!

Finally, as we checked into our hotel last night, I got the following from Kati, taken with her iPhone.  She arranged a still life photo with grapes she had picked, her bottle of Ronbauer wine and whatever she had at hand.  When Tom first saw it he thought it was a display at the winery. Ha! So, she really can do a travel guide . . . Thanks for the great day, Kati.

This morning we are in Concord, just outside San Francisco.  Tom has a list of 20 to 25 places we should see while we are here. Hmmmm . . . we may just be here all week (assumes I can put up with California traffic).

We appreciate friends and family that are sharing our trip.  Knowing you are going along with us makes it more special and we have enjoyed your comments.

A Classy Dock Junkyard

Photographers should not look down while crossing a bridge.  All too often it results in "Let's go down there. We need to check that out."  Short time later there is a U-turn (legal or illegal) and a trip back across the bridge looking for a road down.  Such was this morning's first bridge crossing.

What we found was a very classy dock junkyard.  It is being put together in loving fashion by Rusty, a guy with some money and a whole lot of 'memorabilia'.  Story goes that Rusty built all of the iMax theaters on the west coast and is now 'downsizing' and putting much of it here.  Whatever the story, the 'crime' scene tells all.

This store sells books. Very nice ones, in fact. I bought one about oceans and the importance of sustaining them, oceanic ecosystems, tragedies caused by man, etc.  I bought it for a gift.  The photography is inspiring. Only cash is accepted, by the way.

Bet the rental on this baby is reasonble.

Then Tom got personal and intimate with this lady.

This is taking container gardening to an extreme.

Every junkyard, to be legitimately classy, has humor.

To be a REAL junkyard, classy or otherwise, you need a DOG.

We spotted a boat entering the marina.  It should feel right at home.

We finally drug ourselves away from these treasures.  Heading south towards Calistoga on some very winding roads, we ended up at Clear Lake for the night. Tomorrow we will meet up with Kati for breakfast and cook up a great photo shoot for the three of us.

Have a great weekend.  We are thinking about you.