busy busy busy as a lost film can...

...on a bumpy and windy road. The last few days I've been running all over the place. Had a foto shoot-out in Fremont and drove there in the pouring rain with my bad night vision.... the rain was so pouring-down hard that I couldn't see a thang but apparently better than other drivers who kept drifting between lanes with invisible land-markers in the wet mess, or whose cars just simply straddled two lanes. I just would find a car with very bright taillights and stay a safe distance behind them. The drive over the bay bridge and continuiing to Fremont is over an hour - I must confess it was the first time I've ever driven on the bay bridge and seen the cars driving less than 50mph!!

Upon arriving, my GPS unit didnt have the street number, so I hunted around in a very dark industrial area till I saw someone outside the side of one building, then saw the number sought as I turned into the parking lot. There I stayed with other photographers for over three hours. Three models were in attendance and most of us just took turns shooting; the big shadow-box to the right of a solid-white background created the studio effect which I don't like. Eventually, I started shooting without the benefit of a flash nor the synched studio-lights there... which startled quite a few.
It poured when we departed and this time drove south to the San Mateo bridge, and through the rain made my way back up to the City. It was a longer trip but faster I thought not having to pass over the Bay Bridge and the bottleneck that is created by going through Oakland.... of course it was pouring-down buckets of rain again!

The next week I had a photography club meeting close to the Ferry Building at the Crossroads cafe. It's my third time meeting with the various photographers and others interested in the magic of imagery.... I enjoy discussing photography with others but rarely get the chance... this is a great way to meet others. Many brought their cameras, others brought their prints and/or portfolios, and there were quite a few very impressive images!

The next day I drove for my latest follow-up in San Jose with my eye clinic. The drive was pleasant enough and even this journey was a test for my eyes as each time I've done this hour and ten minutes drive, my eyes has changed. Easily remembering the first loooong drive, made even longer by the simple fact that I couldn't see a thang on the highway!! To top it off I wore some cheapo glasses ~ so cheapo that it actually lessened my vision - or, what I could see! I later threw those away. My last checkup in September rated my vision at 20/40. This day it had increased to an approving 20/25 and with time I am hoping it'll be even better than that! I hated driving during the late hours as my vision is noticeably worse in dim lighting; for the past few weeks I've been driving at night with better vision, and I know that will improve also. The halo effect everyone talks about for me is minimal and as my eyes are moistened, it's even less apparent. My next follow-up will be in January just before I leave for a long-awaited month in Europe and at least 20 days in Rota where my apartment has been sitting empty for the last few months. I am also planning to spend at least 10 days in France to shoot with a model there.

I've only had my plane tickets for over five months! :-)

Returning from the clinic, I stopped by the Baylands Preserve in Palo Alto hoping to get some great shots of masses of migrating birds flying or feeding.
I did get some birds but not en masse as I had hoped for.... the mass must have departed on a train to a restaurant to dine out.

I then went straight to a wine bar in the downtown area of San Francisco - only over an hour early - as I arrived back in the City during the peak of a early rush-hour. Not wanting to get into the mess of traffic again, I just stayed there waiting first in my car, then going inside to wait till my group eventually showed up on time, but not before I had time to discover the rustic brown interior and even grab some shots!
It was very pricey with a white house wine priced at $12 {wow} but hey, this is San Francisco! In my little place in southern Spain, for that price for just one glass, I could've purchased in a local market four to six bottles of reds or white, of better or similar taste and body.

my wine glasses and plate of fried squid
yummmmy!

I was shocked at the amount of people who were there drinking and eating!! The least expensive glass of wine was priced at $9 - perhaps I'm in the wrong business!

While in San Jose I went to a big chain-store electronics store to buy a PCI card for my newest external hard drive which has SATA capability but unfortunately the card is crashing my system. So right now am copying files over from the older external drive to the newer at a slower rate ~ only 1gig per second ~ but at least it's moving faster than a few megabytes as previous!

Fast is so relative!!

So, here I have been for the past 20 hours again, copying image files..... my life is a circle!!!