But I'm getting ahead of myself..... :-D
After getting the new USB card, I again went to the BayLands Preserve in Palo Alto to see if I could find some birds to photograph, but unknowingly arrived almost at the peak of high tide so few if any birds were there. It was still a great day with the hot sun floating in a clear sky provided a nice respite from the noisy busy City.
So nice was the walk and silence that it was worth walking the long wooden path we took, braving the cobwebs that had drifted onto the path and hung there seemingly on an invisible breeze. To me, there seemed to an endless amount of seen and unseen spider webs that we walked through... and now and then we would feel a spider crawling on exposed skin, or hanging from hair or clothing. Even this reminded me of the countless spiders floating on a dreamy breeze in Spain, and later in Eugene.... sigh.
The waters were calm and almost mirror-smooth but without birds, so I started snapping away at the water and still scenes before my eyes.
calm changed to rippling abstracts as the tide started to drain
Staying there almost three hours, finally received a call stating my car was done and waiting. The tide was starting to change and what a shame that I would be leaving just as the birds returned....Returning by freeways in the starting rush hour, it was a hassle and by chance, had to switch from I-101 to I-280 in order to return to get my car with new tires (expensive!).... By time we arrived at the tire shop the sun was low in the sky and as I spotted clouds, I decided to head to the Presidio Bluffs to capture the setting sun. As I neared the ocean in the busy traffic the clouds were already flaming orange and I thought I was going to miss the sunset completely.
Imagine this: Your only goal in life for the next few minutes is to get close enough to anywhere where the sun can be seen, and while driving, your eyes are seeing other places nice for future fotos, checking out clouds for their intensity, and even watching traffic also. Now this driver is getting lost, never having driven in this area within the past century, driving into streets that lead nowhere and now thinking: I'm going to miss the sunset! Finally reaching the Great Highway that parallels the Pacific Ocean, I have a sense of relief and disbelief: relief that I am closer to my goal and can actually see the sun... DISbelief as I now realize the traffic is bad here too, there's no place to pull over and possibly too long before I reach an intersection where I can get to a parking area on the beach..... and again the fear of missing the sunset!
Another mile I spot an unpaved part left of the highway, trails of many other vehicles which have turned into this area also, and I get into the left lane to get into this area between the highway.... park and get the camera, then rush/run without getting hit across a busy two-lane highway to a small parking strip with a lot of cars already parked and LOT of people sitting or standing but all watching the intensity of a gorgeous sun already more than halfway below the horizon.
I have never in my life seen so many people watching a sunset! Usually I am the only fool watching and snapping pixs - here there were more than 20 and on the beach 30 feet below me were about 20 more.... what a shocking surprise!!
After about 30 minutes there, the sun having set, disappearing in a slight sliver of golden light, topped with layers of wind-shaped layers of clouds reminding me almost of the great layers of Jupiter..... I am talking with my friend who after 15minutes finally appears, not having parked where I parked and drove on to find a spot to turn around and that was faaaaaaar.
My car is still parked there in the middle and now it's dark, my blinker still flashing, my cell is in the car too, and the GPS is on and its brillant screen can be seen even from where I stood. Twenty minutes later, I am still there, watching the last of the gold as it softly disappeared from the sky, when my friend turns and says: there's a police car next to your car! So, I go walking over toward my car, other cars on the Great Highway zipping past at 50mph or faster.... the officer sees me and though we cannot hear each other, sense that he's asking me if that's my car... I finally cross the highway and he asks me about the keys still in the car, to which I show him my camera and mention: sunset.... right away he understands ~ this probably happens a lot I keep thinking ~ and he just smiles and turns around heading for his car, then driving into the dark with a wave....
Do you think it was worth it all? When have you seen the storms of Jupiter before your eyes? When was the last time you had a purpose in life.... My passion is in my Photography... the only thing that keeps me alive, yet miserably content I can capture such scenes and more.
did I say how I loooove pelicans?
2 comments:
Ohh, wow I love this your photos, really great ones :)
@reply to ur last comment, abt my photos, yeah I got paid for my work, not so much, but we were planing to get another order... But... I moved to Lima. Dec. 2007 time when I made these photos.
Sky is also my Passion... I like it so much, and I will also think about sunset sky :)
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