The Tourist Thing

After work Friday I decided to do the tourist thing and walk from the Levi Strauss Plaza up the Filbert Stairs to Coit Tower and back. While up Telegraph Hill, I also went up Coit Tower. In sum, a nice walk and gorgeous day for some nice views.


1/8th, f22. Capturing water flow over a few seconds can make water look fantastic in photographs. Water with slight ripples become smooth. Waterfalls become curtains. Fountains, well, they just don't become more interesting.


1/250th, f5.6. Lying in the fountain looking up at a tree branch.


1/60th, f16. I admit I don't get the block nor what it has to do with jeans, unless the rock and water represent stone washing. Who knows. It's nifty, though.


1/125th, f29. Arches adorning the top of Coit Tower.


1/125th, f32. Slightly grainy because the window was dirty.


1/60th, f16. Oops. The negative was touching the negative in front of it. I could repair that in Photoshop and, someday, I may. But this is why it's important to be careful when loading film onto reels.


1/125h, f11. Downtown San Francisco.

Bad Weather, Bad Waves, Great Splashes

Last Tuesday saw some rain and a good deal of wave energy within the bay. As I walked up the Embarcadero, the waves on the rocks and along the piers broke upward with










A sea lion statue by AT&T Park.


A reflection of the Ferry Building. I'd hoped it to be a clean reflection with a couple ripples. It didn't turn out that way.


1/8th exposure, luckily timed so that the trolley began moving late in the exposure, making only part of it blurry.

Not Every Day has Ten Good Photos

Yesterday was one of those rare, prolific days that photographers love -- every shot seems to be perfect. Some mix of gear, film, light, and timing combine through nothing shy of divine intervention to create a nice mix of quality shots across the whole roll.

Today is not a repeat. The Minolta SRT102 and 135mm Celtic lens are a great combination and work very well together. But none of the shots today have a great 'wow' factor. That said, let's see what we've got.


1/1,000th, f6.3. The Giants' mascot moonlights as The Giants' bouncer. He's clearly taking no gruff.


1/60th, f22. "There is Light Somewhere" -- Noor. This shot exemplifies why correction filters are useful. I left this lens unfiltered and wish that I had brought a green for this shot. The paint, red, blends into the pavement almost invisibly. Had I used a green filter, then it would have been near-black against charcoal shadows. Much more easily read.


1/1,000th, f5.6. A marching percussion troupe outside Giants Stadium. They were good.


1/1,000th, f6.3. Giants Mascot, moonwalk us into the weekend.