Still Alive after all these [UNpacked] Boxes

So, we are still alive, just barely in this blistering humidity of New York state. A few weeks ago I saw a bulldozer moving an almost intact wooden shipping crate over to the side of the road to be taken off as trash. I mentioned this to Sheila, and we went over to check it out. Seems it was trash that had been sitting around for some time, with a lot of dirt and webs on it. 

Nobody wanted it but we took it to our new home and thought we might use it as a shell and a helping start for a shed, though small. That was weeks ago. We finished the move but the unpacking and organization is taking time, especially on my end. I hate boxes, but they hate ME more and I have the cuts and scars of many years on my shins to prove it!

So we've been working on this shed even before we even finished moving our stuff from the old to new. We had called a small local company to move the piano, a small upright that Sheila's had for decades. Our biggest items were still in the house also: bed frame and mattress, three big and awkward heavy dressers, portable air conditioning unit, a refrigerator we were going to swap between one left at the old and new home, and a few big heavy bulky boxes of miscellaneous items. The local Buffalo moving company did so well, the piano didn't even have to be tuned, but that in itself isn't a problem, since Sheila knows how to tune her piano also!

Is there ANYthang my Sheila does NOT know how to do? Nooooo, I've learned over our many years that Sheila has a vast knowledge, plus the power tools to build every and anything!

So we are up to our last few major steps in this shed. No blueprints. No downloaded online plans. Not even a scribbled plan on a torn sheet of paper. We are working completely out of our minds [really!] and without a script or plan of any sort, with our limits being the sides of the crate we salvaged! Really!

I estimate about a week has been lost in finishing this shed due to the high humidity. We will go out after the sun is much lower in the sky, to avoid the heat. Then the other problem was the rain, which has been extreme in the last weeks! We might work for two days, with three days off due to rains all day!

We had the roof of our little shed lower than the current wooden hand-built shed we inherited with our new home. It's a bigger shed but obviously handmade as ours is, but just more worn....  a lot more worn. We had already nailed down the roof, BUT slowly but surely, raised it to the same height of the older shed. In addition, we left a gap between the old and new sheds of about two feet wide. Within this narrow space will go our trash and recycle bins, plus yard tools with long handles. 

Today we put the finishing touches to our doors for the shed, and placed the two uprights on either side to hold the doors. Sheila nor I have never mounted a door hinge before, so that will be a first. Even the hinges we are using will be second-hand, as these were saved from an older door that was removed! Sheila calculated today that we have spent less than $25 on this 4x4-foot shed as we are constantly using old wood she's had or purchased for other projects, and had wood left over! 

I am just hoping that the coming days will NOT be as immensely humid as it's been for several days along with hours of rain recently, so we can actually spend a whole day to finish it! 

I might even post a picture of it when it's completed!

I still haven't had the time to get my portable folding solar panels mounted on the roof yet! Actually, we have NO idea where it will be mounted, but hopefully within the next week, it will be mounted, and start anew in charging our three 300w solar batteries!

Otherwise, I have also updated my online portfolio gallery, revamped the site menu, added more pictures, along with a few new galleries:

  ~ On the Road:: Travel imagery

  ~ Panoramas

  ~ Faces People and Sports

  ~ Architecture Churches and Bridges

  ~ Western New York - Upper Niagara Areas

Of course YOU are invited to visit/reVisit my portfolio, which was most likely created while I was still living permanently in Spain before I booted meself out due to the high cost of living due to the monetary change from pesetas to the gawd-awful euro....  a lot of people I know have departed the premises.

If you do visit to see my galleries, por favor drop me a line please to advise me you did visit, and if you didn't like the changes!

I thank YOU in advance, and hoping you and yours stay safe and well! 

New Year New Insights

Haven't been here in what seems to be forever. Busy here and busier there. But the camera is always with me....

Brought into the Olympus digital system about two years ago - tis strange since in the past century I had a film Olympus camera: the ever-popular OM1 then later the OM2. It didn't last long though, before I swapped those out for a different camera. I cannot count on both hands and feet the numerous film cameras I've had, and now in this new digital era the story is the same: I cannot count on both hands nor feet the digital cameras I've gone though!

I currently have two EOS R5s with a few RF lens, and will be swapping those out for a single Sony A7c, replacing the Sony camera I picked up over a decade ago while in San Francisco, and now that A6000 is in Andalucia with my grandson Dylan. Hoping he'll enjoy it as much as I did!

The R5s were just too heavy to carry and I am NOT getting any younger! I need lighter and just as robust and capable, and liked the way it handled and the great sharp images it gave me!

It's raining in western New York (WNY) as I type. My leased Hybrid Kia Niro is now just a wee bit over a year and a half into a three-year lease, BUT if I could trade it in for an EV or another hybrid with a better range and eMPG at a price NOT in the clouds, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

Other news: today closed my only active site featuring my imagery for sale, and now have only this blog and a portfolio online now. I just had waaay too many websites and it's difficult to stay on top of everything. I do NOT know how others do it all, and are successful on their virtual platforms. I ditched facebook a few years ago, this time permanently. I was back on twitland for a few months, but I just closed that just minutes ago also. 

Now I'll have more time to "image-archive" which is changing also: now instead of archiving, I will just simply delete all my images.

I am not a famous well-known photographer and I don't didn't ever get a lot of visitors to my many image sites. You know what happens when one isn't getting the foot traffic to a physical store, and virtually it must be the same. I see no sense in populating a site with my imagery if few will even take the time to see my imagery let alone purchase one. It's a huge world out there, and with more people thinking they are master photographers which I never have been, to compete with....  well. It was just a matter of time that I closed up my shop. No one will miss my imagery. No one will miss me!

Hoping everyone is staying as possible. The wife and I still wear our masks at the ready - around our necks -while outdoors to wear so we try to keep ourselves and others as safe and healthy as possible.

Upper Niagara River Sunsets

 Are sometimes just the best and most colorful!! Don't believe me? Is this not a wonderfully golden and unique sunset?

Thoughts of Kodak

I never knew this about you Kodak, but now that I DO know, how could I ever buy Kodak products again?

Since coming to the western New York (WNY), I've been hearing stuff about Kodak that I had never known nor suspected, but never had the time to check till now. What a letdown!

It seems most NYers and many others always knew that Kodak just dumped their toxic waste into Lake Ontario, and decades later, the lake is still a glowing mess.....  but who cares?

NOTE: Due to the timeliness of this archived article, some links may not be available.However, some of the links are still good, and are listed below.

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/06/nyregion/eastman-kodak-admits-violations-of-anti-pollution-laws.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/02/nyregion/rochester-parents-fret-and-sue-over-cancer.html

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-and-epa-announce-agreement-eastman-kodak-company-clean-rochester

http://scorecard.goodguide.com/env-releases/facility.tcl?tri_id=14652STMNK1669L

http://www.fiscalfairness.org/KodakRelease2.pdf

Listed below is the original article link but as some of the links are no longer active, I decided to list those still-active instead. Here is a little tidbit I would have never believed!!!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2144225/Kodaks-New-York-HQ-housed-secret-underground-nuclear-reactor.html

Are YOU a longtime photographer and Kodak-user? What are your thoughts?

Back in western New York

It was a loooong drive back home, but we made it back safely. After 88 days in western Michigan, not including the week we drove to WNY to get new tires and have the car in for its annual inspection, etc; we only spent one night on the road to sleep but otherwise enjoyed a nice drive. It's over 500 miles on the roads south of the lower Great lakes, but this time we were delighted to have missed the worst of the rush hour on departure, and enjoying fairly good weather along the way. 

We saw only one bad accident that had westbound traffic backed up for several miles, but this is what can be expected when states set their interstate and highway speeds to 70 (or higher) miles per hour! When the speed limit is so high, I do not believe vehicles are able to stop within a safe distance. Only by encouraging people to drive so fast, is just asking for a massive loss of life and for future accidents of a major type to be the norm instead of the exception. 

You'll remember months ago WE were stuck in a major accident just miles from our Michigan destination, and traffic was at a standstill for over five hours! As you can guess, I am against high speeds for any roadway anywhere. Just because you can drive at a high rate of speed doesn't mean you have to....  and Michigan is a state where cars come up to your back bumper and ride along for some time, hoping you'll be frightened enough to move over so they can finally pass. How close is that "back-bumper" riding? You cannot see their license plates ~ THAT is how close they get! Add to that, the typical Michigan driver who pass you even when the lane has a double-solid yellow line(s), and on curves, and not even use their turn signals, thus building dangerous situations!

We enjoyed being with Sheila's grandchildren, the two twin boys who are more like rockets than little three year old boys. Add to that an adorable little girl who has a gorgeous smile and has now learned to crawl in a forward motion, and when we departed, is now standing on her own and taking exploratory little first steps, and it's a grand occasion to laugh and cry at the same time! 

What's most important - as always - is Family, and being there for each other. 

We enjoyed being able to see a tiny bit of Michigan's lake shores and lighthouses, and a getaway Thanksgiving weekend to the north staying in an old victorian house restored as a bed and breakfast. The Inn at Ludington was built in 1889, and is a delightful flashback to an long-gone era, but the breakfast was tremendous and delicious! According to their website, the morning meal consists of quiche, sausage potato egg bake, bacon, saute mushrooms, oatmeal, cereal, fresh bread, cinnamon rolls or muffins, fresh cut fruit, yogurt and, offering alternatives, such as vegetarian options and choices in meats. That sausage potato egg bake was fantastic, and I had two helpings of that, enjoying it immensely!! After breakfast, we stayed at the dining table and chit-chatted with several other guests for quite some time!

Talking of food, we ate fish and chips at a few places while in Michigan. While it was good, the quantity and appearance really lacked to what we get typically in WNY. One cannot beat the price and quality while in western New York for a Friday Fish Day, or any day of the week for that matter! We continue to get our Fish Fry at a certain TOPS supermarket store near us. You just cannot beat the taste, size and price!

Now THIS is a real Fish Fry!!

We also had time to search for, and photograph a Snowy Owl near Muskegon. As you know, we always attempt to responsibly seek out wildlife without scaring or flushing them, nor do we believe in baiting them in order to get a good picture. We were finally able to photograph one, but as usual, it was so far away that even with our long lenses, it was no larger than a tiny dot for us and the world to see! We've also seen quite a few Bald Eagles while in Michigan, and even along the route while driving to and from WNY and Michigan!

The Niagara Falls weather has been good too; during the past few weeks while in western Michigan, temperatures had been at, or just below freezing, and not improving, and that was without the chill factor considered. Grey overcast skies also do not make for good sunrises or sunsets either, but today Sheila dashed out to snap a sunrise, her first in four months!! You can also see the image at her website, and comment on her fantastic sunrise, as well as other lovely images she has posted! 

Sheila's fabulous sunrise on the Niagara River 
days after returning from Michigan

Work still continues within our humble tiny home, with great expectations for the future ~ so please stay tuned for exciting news. Once someone tells us of the excitement, we'll be sure to share it with you!

Here's another picture link of tonight's sunset from a different perspective  
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/golden-dark-reflections-tony-lee.html

It's Saturday morning outside

......and there's about an inch or so of the white stuff on the ground after a few hours of snowfall during the night. The Fall colors are still very apparent in some spots, and we are hoping these scenes will still be available by time we get out on the streets later today, or tomorrow. I usually do not get these chances of seeing such wondrous scenes, and now that we are here, we might as well try to see the sights, when not surrounded by the grandchildren! The change in the hour now puts the time of sunset as we are still with the kids, so we are missing a lot of sunsets since the time-change last weekend!

On the other hand, while in Michigan, I have been continuously checking for online sightings of Snowy Owls! Last winter, though we departed for two months in Spain, before we departed in December 2017, and after returning from Spain in late February 2018, we were darn lucky to see and snap a few pictures of Snowy Owls! Last winter's record was in seeing a total of eight Snowys!!!

Please click to see a collection of my Snowy Owl images posted at ebird

Interestingly enough, according to ebird.com, there have been Snowys reported all this summer throughout the Great Lakes areas! I am also surprised to see there have already been sightings of this gorgeous snow-white Arctic bird recently, both in western New York (WNY) area we call home, and within a few miles of where we are in SW Michigan!

We have been very fortunate recently in seeing Bald Eagles too!! Granted, those grand birds have been more than a mile usually, but we have been lucky to see some seemingly just a hair closer! As always in these situations, even though you think you have the longest lens around, oftentimes while shooting wildlife, it seems that even with what we have is way too short and inadequate! We are still hoping to see more of these majestic birds, and our last sighting was a week ago in a local park! 

Here's two memories from months previous when we were at a favorite WNY spot, and suddenly the perched eagles we were observing, suddenly went active and passed much closer! These images are cropped, but it still is a great moment for us!!!

The time always comes sooner or later.....

Rota sunsets are always gorgeous

... to make a critical decision, which I have made. My life, or what I perceive as a life, changes continuously, and now with my life in Rota once again, things have come to such a point that I have decided yet another important stage in my life must be made.

I am moving my stuff back to the states, and will eventually resettle in Eugene, Oregon. I love the greenery there, the people are just as friendly as in Rota (though they don't speak spanish), and the sunsets are just as wonderful. It'll once again be only the third location in my life where I will not have a ocean near me but after a curvy two hours' drive, that can be resolved.

As I type this, I am in Charleston SC awaiting a flight to Rota, after having gone through my boxes in SF and taken some things with me, and eventually left more of my Rota things in its place. This will be my life for the next year as I continuously fly back and forth to get my things back in the states. Eventually am hoping to sell my spanish apartment to resettle in Eugene permanently. The ash-cloud of mid-April was a nightmare for me and now I cannot get a refund for the unused portion. I expected that response though hearing it hits home sadly. I feel for those who are still away from their homes due to that event, as they possibly face the same fate.

It's not easy being a nomad, not in any life or country..... moving from one country to another is not easy and takes a lot of pre-planning. I just cannot wait to get back to someplace where I can call home and to continue to practice what is my passion: photography.

There are advantages to living in Spain and it's a gorgeous culture and life, but there's just so many things that I cannot tolerate, and a few of those is the constant smoking in restaurants and bars, and my inability to freely practice my love of photography. This has been an ongoing problem for over a decade, and I am putting an end to it. Does it mean I will never return to Rota/España? No, I can return anytime I so desire and I will....

there are other places with sunsets just as gorgeous

Now I just have to get accustomed to speaking english all the time!!! hahahaaa

San Francisco's Russian Orthodox Church

I've been here before, but wanted to get some better images as the first visit was without a tripod and handheld, I lacked a bit of detail. Priest P. Perekrestov is very kind to allow me to return to snap new images so I try to get in quickly to do what I must, and not interfere with anything. It's a glorious church and though one may not think the interior looks nice by the size outside, it is a mansion of beauty within!

Have a new toy....

I went and purchased the newest Canon toy on the market... the EOS 7D and at the price paid, I am surprised and disappointed it doesn't drive me home and collect the mail. Hold it ~ that's what I do every weekday!!!The camera has a great feel, very sturdy and weighty, which is what I like. I am in the process of testing it with my various lenses of which I have varying from a Tokina 12 ~ 24 to a Sigma 170 ~ 500. In the meanwhile, my new Sigma 28 ~ 300 was being repaired and am retesting this lens too. In less than a few months, already am having problems with this new lens and of course that doesn't make me happy. The 28 ~ 300 focal length makes that lens my primary lens covering almost everything I need a lens for without having to carry a multitude of various lens.

Just a few test pictures, though I really wish I had a model to work with this new camera. Soon I'll be gone on a two-week trip to Sydney, so will be absent.... maybe! :-)

streetwise.....

.... things are always changing, and no matter what your destiny holds for you, each day brings new surprises for us all. I love being on the street, and hate to be closed in as has happened to me various times in my life, and even voluntarily when I have so much work to do on this computer before I leave in just a few months.

To help in taking a break from all the sitting, I had an opportunity to take a short cruise aboard the USS Potomac, formerly used as the presidential yacht of President Franklin D Roosevelt. A gorgeous ship, it's now touring around the bay waters from its Oakland home-base, and educating guests of the fine FDR legacy. Also during Fleet Week there are always some participating naval ships inport for general tours, and this year it included two Canadian naval vessels, two Coast Guard cutters and one US naval ship: USS Green Bay (LPH-20). Very new - just a year commissioned so I made it a point to visit before they departed. Wow, am I ever so surprised by how the Navy has adjusted to the new technologies available. I wish I could've seen the sleeping quarters also, but I know those areas are closed during inport tours.The navigational bridge ~ where the steering and navigation of the ship is conducted ~ seemed to me the most interesting area... no longer are circular radar screens used but now square computer screens! Wow!! Most of the duties I previous had in plotting and manually computing approaches and collisions to objects and/or vessels are all now computerized and done in seconds with a higher degree of accuracy!
Streetwise, there are surprises that abound around us as we traverse those concrete halls throughout the our cities, IF we elect to see. Recently with a friend, I went walking around the San Francisco Embarcadero and the Financial District and saw things I haven't seen on previous occasions.... I was walked toward the corner of Spear and Howard Streets, where my friend told me she had read somewhere that there is a statue of a tourist with a camera. When we reached that corner, I realized I had passed this corner many times, and don't recall not one statue. The address was for the Folger Coffee Company Building.... among the people outside and passing by, we did not see not one statue that looked like a tourist, let alone holding a camera. Walking around the building, we noticed a small side sidewalk lined with steel benches on Howard that lead to a small plaza.... walking slowing down this area were people sitting and enjoying a snack or a late lunch, talking on cell phones or (yuck) smoking... and as I moved further into this shadow-darkened walkway, noticed a couple sitting on the first bench, which turned out to be a statue of a couple, complete with a purse on the bench. Around the corner was the tourist permanently implanted in his footsteps with rock-steady outstretched arm pointed out, steadily diercting a friend on how to stand or where to look, while a oldtime Instamatic camera held with the other hand.Wow, I've never even seen these "people", let alone the the walkway they are located in, though I'd passed through this intersection many times. Instead I am always with eyes skyward, neck aching as I snap the huge and reflective skyscrapers.

As this day ended, the fog started to sneak in... smooth and silky, this was a change from the usual cottony fog I have seen on other occasions. It was gorgeous and reminded me of fog in my youth.... some things never change.

I often have to look elsewhere in order to see changes in my environment, which opens my eyes to new sights.

ESCAPE south!!!!!

I've been gone a very long time stuck with computer work. I hate the computer work that's forcing me to sit at the monitor for so many hours non-stop. It seems that aside for small Bay Area trips, since I've returned from Eugene even sunsets is a fading memory! I am just too busy with the image archiving I've been doing the last year and especially the last few months. So I really need a break from the many hours in front of my monitor, and I planned an escape for a weekend... though it could have been a more comfortable trip.

Leaving the big City behind, I drove south with traffic seemingly building up due to the rush hour when I departed, but eventually giving way to smooth fluid traffic. After months and seemingly years of hearing everyone talk about the Big Sur area, I wanted to see whhy everyone speaks of the area with such excitement! To be honest, I was more impressed with the Spanish coast, and the Mendicino and Marin County coastline drives more than this! I'm sorry ~ though there were some great scenics, I just like the other visually-appealing drives instead as they offered more in my opinion. Everyone who has ridden with me in any car knows I love to drive curvy narrow cliffside roads and this was NO exception ~ when I reached the Big Sur area.

Friends had "warned" me about a very steep hill leading to the Big Sur area, but surprisingly I didn't see anything.... not one steep "plunge" at any point. I have been to Italy and their Sorrento cliff scenery and drive were more narrow and hair-raising than this! I must confess that contrary to rumors, I am not a car racer of any sort BUT I do know my car.... I don't use brakes that often driving these curves and if I do hit the brakes on a tight turn, it's probably because the slow car in front of me (there were many) is going toooo slow! Now it seems I even missed a waterfall in the Pfeiffer Burns State Park (Monterey County), but I had not read anything about this or any waterfall in any research I did before the trip, nor did anyone I know who has gone to the Big Sur area mentioned any waterfalls.

On the other hand I was able to see a California Mission finally! Carmel Mission is located off the busy streets and before this mission, I had already drove by another mission.... it was was well worth the stop there to enter and learn a bit of history.... and to see how those in the mission lived and worked. Open to the public is the Basilica of the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, and it's a basilica worth seeing. As I walked through the area, preparations were being made for a wedding.... what a grand backdrop for a wedding and imagine: to be wed in a place founded in 1770!Okay, I do apologize to others who have been to the Big Sur area and think I do not appreciate the "beauty" of the lovely drive and scenery, and I do admit: it was! But - and a very big BUT - I truly believe I have seen better and "worst".

hahahahaahaa

Do YOU like being in a car that's holding on to the curves and twists and turns of a narrow mountaintop road? Enjoy the feel of a vehicle that is "one with the road" whether down- or uphill? Come join me for a ride and see how often I tap my brakes - if I do at all - driving downhill on narrow and tight curves.... with the ocean on one side and the cliffs and rocks on the other!

For the night I slept in the back of my car with a sleeping bag I haven't seen or used since I left Eugene.... car camping wasn't comfortable at all and I now wonder if the years are beating me up? I usually stop for the night at a rest area with plenty of trucks but on HWY 1 on the coast, there doesn't seem to be room for a rest area let alone any safe-looking spots where I could park, and sleep safely and silently. For the very first time in my short life, I "checked" in at a RV park and was surprised by its size and facilities!! wow!! Before bedding down for the night was able to see reddish-pink clouds at sunset through the trees to keep me happy!! ;-)

I avoided the Hearst Castle like a plague... it's located high upon a mountain with its own road and entrance, though it can be seen from the highway and that's where I snapped a pix.... I don't really need to see luxury and nicely-kept grounds after spending a night in the back of my car!! Am sure the elephant seals I saw later were more exciting and interesting than the castle though am sure a few of y'all would disagree with me.

Almost a year ago friends in Wisconsin told me about the drive to Big Sur and even described a stop before reaching the famous Bixby Bridge. They also told me of a very steep drive before reaching this very bridge but I didn't experience any drop in pressure or attitude and wonder if this could be something old and now replaced with a new road as the highway during this section seemed new and recently paved. I've seen steeper hills in SF!!

When I reached the bridge the fog was coming in thick toward the tops of the coastal mountain range. Back-tracking I did find the vantage point mentioned by my friends, and was lucky the fog had disappeared. The sky was full of nice clouds though it was several hours too early for the sunset unfortunately, and I was not about to wait around. I had decided to bypass HWY 1 and take HWY 101, discovering later the highway was packed of cars and delayed the trip but still, I had a good time.

the eyes and ears

So I drive down for what I believe is my last appointment for my eyes in San Jose. It's been months since my last checkup and my eyes feel like it's always been without glasses, though I know it's been the other way around.

It's incredible to think that sight is such a gift that we all take so much for granted. As a photographer, I see things in a different light and if I were to ever lose my vision, I'd be more than up a creek!!

In the months it's been since I've had my "new" eyes, I've been blinded while shooting the sunsets, I've been jabbed in the eyes plus I've poked myself in the eyes several times and also jabbed my eyes with my camera straps. It wasn't easy to do and to do it several times wasn't easy ~ actually very painful! I've seen a lot and even as I write this, my vision improve each and every day and I can SEE the differences.....

When I make the hour drive from SF to San Jose for these eye appointments I try to make it a day-trip to shoot things and places; this won't be any exception..... will post results of the appointment plus any fotos later....

The other day attended for the first time the Stupid Parade which started near the Ferry Building. It's my first time as I've been away from the City for so many years. So many events, so much uniqueness and so little time. sigh..... I had the chance to meet with a fellow-blogger and flickrite who is from the Costa del Sol, plus yesterday I met with a fellow Yelper and flickrite bubbletea1 who BARTed over from Fremont and we met at the Museum of Craft + Design, then walked over to Polk Street and Washington to see a Yelp-friendly art gallery. I got back to my car parked near the museum just in time before it was towed!!

UPDATE: Well, it was harrowing drive to San Jose - leaving at a later hour but stopping at the Daly City cemetery to see family, I lost track of where all of my family were as they had cut the grass and one tomb marker was completely covered by the grass!! It took me a few minutes to find it - I haven't been there often as I lived out of the country for decades - and now have the location etched permanently into my brain! It's disgusting to see that so many tombs have no flowers which means that they are forgotten... so sad. Will I too be forgotten and just a piece of blowing grass or trash when I am gone?

Because of that search and the outbound traffic, I had only 20mins to drive from Daly City to San Jose!! I couldn't believe it but I arrived and walked in on time! Usually I select an appointment time much earlier but as it was my last I decided on a later hour - big mistake! So my eyes are improving as can be expected. I should be using eye drops but I haven't - too busy - but I do try to remember to use the drops at night to see better. Within a half hour, I was out of there and enroute other locations. The day ended with a grand sunset from Immigrant Point at the Presidio....

Did you see it?

On a more somber note, while I was eating at a downtown restaurant the other day, I sat at a booth with a few people behind me. Of course, it's the typical situation where I could everything said.... and at one point, these tourists I overheard "have you seen all of the homeless on the streets here?" then laughed loudly. It bothered me... and for the next few minutes words floated and bounced through my head. I determined that when I left, I would turn to them and tell them that homelessness is a WORLD problem and it could be them next week or month, and would people point at you and laugh? I tossed the words inside my head, but when I left, I didn't turn to them, nor did I say a word....

I knew they would not care, I knew they would not understand, and I knew I would be looked upon as the stupid one to bring up my thoughts that interfere with their private conversations.....

sigh....

the Valley of Glass

It's not too often I get a chance to walk in the City any longer. When I lived in Spain I used to walk about seven miles in less than a week and now, I don't even make five miles in a month let alone two. I used to walk every week when I first arrived, but that's before I started madly snapping everything in sight of my great gorgeous hometown, and now I have thousands of image files. It seems the only walking I get to do now is when I grab that old magic-box and go somewhere to take pictures! More often than not, at some stage of taking pictures, I will run - for a position, to get a camera, to use the tripod, etc... you get the picture.

I now practically spend all day on the computer, organizing my files - an endless project as each week I create newer files to add to the pile. Right now I've been spending the past few days moving all of my older 2008 image files to an external hard drive, archiving the old while making room for the newer 2009 files yet to be created. There's a lot of files to organize and archive, 190gigs at last count and growing as I find lost files hidden in some obscure folder as I ran out of room on my 160gig internal hard drive on the desktop. What I am doing now and the constant changes to improve my filing and down- and up-loading influences how I now download to the desktop and later archive.... I've been filing my imagery as negatives and now digital files for over 30 years, and along with a folder under every theme and subject matter to make filing and future retrieval very easy, I've changed the matter in which I date my folders and it just again changed some months ago.

A few weeks by chance I met a North Beach neighbor as I was returning from shooting the sunset at the top of Lombard Street, and we spoke and exchanged website addresses. We've spoken a few times online and today went together on a short two-hour walk from North Beach toward the Financial District....

It was a very leisurely walk at a nice relaxing pace, and talking as we walked, reminded me of a time looong ago in Spain when I would get together with spanish friends on short foto trips.... Except for that time, almost all of my life behind a camera has been quite solitary - not that I mind... It's strange to be with someone, even another photographer, when almost all your life behind the camera (and in my case it's been over 35 years of being a magic-box operator) and in studios, location shoots, weddings and all sorts of environmental portraiture, I have been alone. So today was a unique day.....

The first thing I noticed right off was that being Sunday, the grand masses of people mixed with tourists and frantic bankers (ok, jes kidding) were nowhere to be seen. The streets once we passed through Chinatown were basically empty as compared to the normal weekday chaos. It was actually a welcome silence except for the few cars traveling through these streets and of course: the clang and historic rumble of the cable cars.

I love the architecture of the City and though it's quite different from the centuries-old architecture of Europe and my familiar Spain, what the City offers is no simple sand-dune sculpture!
I don't drive through the Financial District often but the few days I do, you can recognize me easily: head and eyes looking up from the depths of the Valley of Glass, eyeing this and that, and even sometimes grabbing a camera - or cell phone - and snapping a few quick images of the great scenics the downtown offers. I love the huge glass windows but I also love the tall seemingly endless climb to the sky the building perspective offers. But what intrigues me most are the gorgeous reflections spied that is displayed from the glass.... it's to die for!!!

On foot and with camera in hand, I can spend time to catch little details I wouldn't otherwise see from a moving car... and I love the details in the downtown. To see the differences between a buildings dating back several life generations, then to see the comparsion with a nearby glass building is something so beautiful yet strange, is to invoke a sense of madness in the modern architects, wondering what they must have thought when designing something so far-fetched and in what seems a modern-day struggle for slim lines and out with the detailed and beautiful yesteryear architecture that I love and appreciate.

Sigh....

So, the next time you want to celebrate Spring, go out to the downtown area... you'll be looking both UP and in front.... and you'll be pleasantly surprises at the eye treasures you'll find in the Valley of Glass in San Francisco!

Thanks to teamuck for her company and if you'd like to see some of her images, you'll enjoy her great flora imagery!

Always One Step ahead of the Other

Went to see the sunset again tonight, but I went to a location I've never been since living in the City.... I arrived late and lots of people about, mostly tourists - locals never watch the sunset as they are too busy - but I was there....

It's amazing how something so simple as seeing a sun disappear, can make one so sad. One would think it'd be a pleasure to watch, but it's been a long time since I "watched" a sunset. These days I observe it to determine my best position to record it... then I start looking around for a better vantage point (there's always a place better than where you're standing). I try to see where the sun will disappear from my sight, and how it might appear in my camera.... you get the drift: it's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of watching and enjoying a sunset....

sigh.....

This sunset ~ and many others ~ make me reflect on Life... I won't look back. My thoughts are on my future and how to arrive to that point of time in my future when I can stop dreaming about it and it becomes a reality finally. I am "counting down" to my return to my own apartment and small as it might be, it's mine. It's clean, it's bearable and perhaps not the nicest but it's mine. It's my home and I miss being in my apartment. I know where everything is and everything belongs to ME. I clean up after myself and when I get bored, I take a siesta....

The hardest thing I have had to adjust to and to attempt understanding while living here, is why some people analyze the smallest simple thing and how it is blown all out of proportion... from something so harmless it could be put off till doomsday, but in their mind, it's a life and death situation and it has to be done right this instant!

I can see why this culture has such sickness and phobias, some real and others imagined. Why can't things just be better and simple, as it should be?

Oh yea: that greed thang is very annoying too....

I have so many sunsets remaining... I can't see them all but that doesn't worry me. In my corner of Spain, the sunsets are gorgeous and I'll see them when I can, and if I miss one - there's always manana....

I am impatient to leave and I'll miss the great things I've seen, but I'll be happy... I'll be looking forward, thinking of my future joys and never to look to what was and only to what will be. Why dwell on something that has happened and you can't change anything? In fact, why even stress over things that are beyond your control, that you cannot change? Time for a siesta!

On the other hand, I am always interested in, and looking for new things to do in my passion of photography. I've just "spoken" with a friend, model and photographer Naomi Strange who lives in the East Bay, and we are now tentatively planning a virtual exhibit with another photographer of a very interesting concept: how two different photographers SEE and capture one subject - stay tuned for details. I've photographed her as a model (she has gorgeous skin and eyes), and she has a very nice eye in the things she photographs.... it'll be an unique personal project to see how a male and a female photographer sees one subject and creates their two separate and individual imagery! If we are lucky enough to find a locale for hanging prints, perhaps we will have an exhibit that will be both a physical and virtual display of the photographs! Surely the idea has already been done, but it'll be different for us as we work alone.

Stay tuned to this space for updates on this concept!

ooooh, how embarrassing!!!

I was driving back to get my sister and her grandson who I had dropped off in the Marina earlier. I then drove downtown to a gallery to see an exhibition - afterwards I dashed back to the Marina to get my droppees (iz dat a word?) when after parking, I spotted the glorious view of the crescent moon and a bright planet not too far separated. I thought this is even better than the Jupiter, Moon and Mercury of last summer! So after having everyone in the car, I dashed home and after dropping them off, got the camera, tripod and my newly-acquired remote camera timer (never used) and went downstairs to the street below to capture the rare scene! If you've ever been to my part of North Beach ~ or any part of this City for that matter ~ it's shewn with telephone cables and wires all over the place! I thought Europe was bad at obstructing what would normally be a gorgeous view with those awful ugly useless cables and wires! Well, I discovered after returning here that SF is even much more worst! grrrrr

It's so disgusting to think that while on that sidewalk, many people walked past me, not looking at where my camera pointed, or even a bit interested in the rare performance above their heads! What a sorry state of our society where we think the iPod attachment to our "minds", the texting on the cell.... or even the stress of a workday is much more important that the heavenly and visually beautiful things we avoid/miss in a day, week or during our lives... simply because we don't take a split second to look around us or even take an interest of what's going on around us on the street and look up.

sigh......

After testing out my timer - how cool - I thought what an useless foto to just show the Moon and lovely Venus ~ why not get a picture of both with some City landmark? So I looked around... I could only see Coit Tower as a possible point of interest that I could even possibly think of finding it together with these heavenly stars right now. So jump in the car, dash yet again to the Embarcadero and drive slowly and all the way looking to the right to see whenever I even had a view of the moon and Venus. Eventually finding a spot when I could see the two players, I parked, got the tripod then set about looking for a place where I could SEE Coit Tower and the performers behind the lit tower. At one time, I was on a street - or thought I was on a public street when a car stopped not 10 feet away, and with the window glass lowering, the driver stated that I was on private property and if I could step OUT to the sidewalk.... I pointed I wasn't photographing the buildings but the moon, and he insisted still I move out to the sidewalk to which I obliged..... how stupid... and also the sentiment of several people who saw and heard the exchange of words.Getting off a few snaps but as the moon and planet were sinking lower into the skyline, I moved across the street where there was a uniformed privated security guard standing, hands in pockets. how unprofessional!! I went about setting up the tripod again to snap some shots and when I moved into an adjoining green area which again I thought was public property, this guard jumped up and stated in a clear voice that I should stay on the sidewalk! I looked at him and stated I was leaving the area and walking through the green area to the other sidewalk... and left that stupid area and its guards. How paranoid can a society get as to not even allow a photographer snap pixs of something beyond its property... what a sick society this is beginning to develop into.

On the other side, I could see that I was going to have problems... the moon and its companion were too low, there were too many trees and lamp-posts and other obstructions, so I had to get farther away... so with extended tripod and mounted camera, I cross two major and busy thoroughways to look... and after a few monutes I found a place where I could see not only Coit Tower and its two dancers, but a good portion of all three not blocked by things. Having the long 170-500 Sigma lens, I would get only a very tight closeup view of the scene before my eyes. A lot of people passing by commented on the scene we observed and I replied between snaps - I was happier that here on the Embarcadero the people were much more human and I felt better.... happier that I was again among people who took the time to observe and therefore... to live! sigh..... I just cannot wait till I am back in my spanish apartment to live permanently!

Another photographer showed up eventually, his tripod-mounted camera at the ready. At one point he set up about 30 feet away from me, and though he had nodded his head at me and waved as he passed, later whn I attempted conversing with him, he never replied and within a few minutes, he left in the dark without even a wave.... still many people here spoke to me and even stopped to snap pixs with their own cameras, as if I were their inspiration.

sigh....

Then when I uploaded these pixs to my photo website, I mislabeled the images as being the crescent Moon with Mercury when it was actually Venus! I wasn't going to change the pictures but I hate being wrong, and displaying inaccurate information, so I deleted them and uploaded corrected versions of the images that you enjoy now....

the wind never arrived....

Big storms were forecast to hit the Bay Area over the weekend with heavy rains and even high winds last night. The winds did pick up... then died weakly. I was happy. I rather have wet stuff on my face dripping down rather than wet stuff blown into my face.

Saturday I attended the exhibit closing party of a friend's gorgeous display of flora images. Held at the Collectively GRASP environmental art gallery in North Beach just a few meters from me, I've attended quite a few of the exhibits in my short year and a half in the City, though I have no hopes of ever showing there.
Even the previous owner promised me a gallery show there, then prompted closed the gallery and moved away. This owner seems to be following the same path of not showing my work..... I don't care either way.... it's no use worrying about something beyond my control.... but still: it hurts when I see others' work hanging there and seems so easy for them, but so difficult for me. Still I am always happy when a fellow photographer has the good fortune to exhibit and even to sell some work; of course there is nobody who wishes the same good luck for me, but I am used to that.....

Now it's Sunday and I've been lazying around the house all day..... okay, I keep forgetting I am not in my house, and I actually have just one room that I live in, work in, etc. It's sad and gets me miserable, so I have been trying to stay out of the place as much as possible..... spending as much time possible on the street weather permitting when not spending my usual 29 hours on the computer working on fotos. I still cannot believe I have been living over a year in a tiny filled room instead of my roomy clean apartment back in southern Spain.

sigh....

Right now as I look out the window, it's been raining all day and in the last 45mins, has increased to a steady downpour. If the rain continues I probably won't go out at 6am tomorrow to see if I can snap Lance Armstrong zipping across the Golden Gate Bridge, with many other riders who have paid $500 each for the "honor" of riding with him..... geeesh.....

Tuesday starts my first day of jury duty - my first ever as I have been out of the country for so many decades!! I have a book I carried with me from my spanish apartment that I'll bring with me, and hopefully I won't finish it on the very first day of jury duty! I have mixed feelings about the US court system.... sometimes I don't think it first or just, and other times I think it's downright stupid. Of course, my opinions won't count as I have no experience in this area.

It's still raining..... but I can also see it's been in the high 60s or low 70s back at my apartment location.... but I know it'll be actually warmer than that.....

Walking with a new vision...

....can reveal so much. Glasses slipped down on my nose for nearly four decades and from my very first to the very last pair of glasses owned, they have always been progressive, meaning the glass will turn dark when I am outside, and when I enter a dark interior the glass turns clear automatically. I couldn't understand why people would have a clear set and a dark set, switching from one to another when in- or outdoors. Why trouble yourself when you have have one set capable of both uses?

With camera in hand, I stepped outside today for the first time in my adult life without glasses upon the bridge of my nose, and was promptly blinded by the brightness of it all. How can people tolerate this on a daily basis? WoW! I now understand the following:
1. Having glasses serves several purposes:
a: Protective
b: Sunglasses
c: Something to do with your fingers on a hot day



Whatever will I do now with my bored fingers on a hot simmering day and there aren't any glasses to push back up? Oh, the misery!

I spent some time at the Marina where there was a festival of family kite-flying, and enjoyed the bright colored-kites but didn't appreciate the strong breeze blowing through the Golden Gate. Another use of those old glasses: a wind-block! Now I have to tolerate air blowing directly into my eyes, and it wasn't pleasant!

During this time of discovery, I stopped here and there to snap a few pictures... adjusting the camera viewfinder diopter now, a few minutes later, and again... and again. I found sometimes my left eye would see sharply, then not. Another time not, then later yes; sharply. It's a progression and I am happy I use auto-focus!

But it was something new.... though many take it very for granted to be able to walk outside with or without glasses, this is the first time since my teen-years that I've stepped outdoors without anything sliding down my nose. It's amazing the things we grow accustomed to, and how we tolerate it and even make it a necessary evil and a routine... a habit of our individual lives.

I am glad I am able to put aside finally one small but important detail of my life, and though I haven't yet purchased those reading glasses, I still am very grateful for the vision I have, and now enjoy the liberty of a vision free of other items... hanging around my neck, hanging off my nose, or something I need to remember to take with me in order to see.

It's a great sensation and very liberating!