2021, nearly a year after the lockdown. Things have started to up a little bit, and like a prairie dog, I've ventured out a bit, always keeping an eye out for possible danger.
These pages are getting longer and longer to upload and edit. so I'm breaking the year into two pages.
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June 7, 2021
Here is the texture photography I might have made at City College in the early 1970's. One could say this image was 50 years in the making.
May 31, 2021
May 28, 2021
May 21, 2021
Numeric redundancy. Strange juxtaposition of a house number.
Succulents appear to be very popular in water-scarce environments in the city. Somebody thoughtfully added a true citizen of the desert, a horned lizard, or horned toad as they are often called. Alas, if it were only real.
May 3, 2021
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| Goldfish, San Francisco. May 3, 2021 |
When photography gets slow, I tend to forget the "Where and When" of the photos. It suffices to say that the harder you look, the more you find.
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| The Claymont, San Francisco. May 3, 2021 |
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| Traffic Jam, Child's Garden, San Francisco. May 3, 2021. |
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| Flower, Cole Valley San Francisco. May 3, 2021 |
I came, I saw, I took, I Photoshopped, I posted.
April 29, 2021
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| Child's Shoe, 17th Street In San Francisco. April 29, 2021. |
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| Fish On 17th Street, San Francisco. April 29, 2021 |
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| Anthers, 17 Street In San Francisco. April 29, 2021 |
March 31, 2021
March 27, 2021
My chance encounter with a school of sidewalk koi on Levant Street made think about where these fish originated. I remember seeing them on a storefront in Noe Valley, so I decided to return the scene of the crime for my morning walk. While walking down 17th Street, I found a pair of shoes, neatly positioned, heel to toe, beside a light pole. Why anybody would neatly place their shoes thusly is beyond me.
I found the storefront with painted Koi on the windows, but not on the sidewalk as I mistakenly thought. The storefront window, situated in the shade, reflected the sunlit storefront from across the street. Sometimes these reflections make for distracting mashup of unrelated color, but this morning, I like the effect.
Fish On! While walking back home, I found a major school of seven sidewalk koi, complete with properly placed, painted shadows. Either the aqua-artist has embraced adding this illusion of depth or a second artists, so inspired, has just raised the bar on sidewalk painting. Here's looking down, keep up the good work!
March 26, 2021
I found another koi painting on the sidewalk on Levant Street in Corona Heights. It's the first I've seen with so realistic a shadow rendering. Other samples have been seen on Corbett Street and on 17th Street.
March 12, 2021
In contrast to the open shade, the direct sunlight seems to excite colors, as it did here. This photo was taken with the sunlight nearly on-axis t the lens. In fact, I had to struggle to keep my own shadow out of the frame.
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March 4, 2021
Tank Hill: I was looking for a possible location for an upcoming Daily Journal feature, so I ventured up Tank Hill, a flat piece of land with a spectacular view of the Bay and Marin County. There was apparently some sort of storage tank on the hill, but it was long gone by the time I was old enough to climb the hillside for a closer inspection. The concrete slap is still there, as are some artifacts related to its past life.
Near the base of Sutro Tower, there is what could be a large octagonal concrete platform that is unidentified on Google Maps. It could be the roof of concrete bunker or the lid of a third area reservoir. Whatever it is, it can't be used much, judging from the rust on these nuts securing the cover plate to some sort of duct. One wonders if anybody still has a key for the two padlocks.
March 3, 2021
My morning walk crossed two districts. It started in the Castro and wound in up in Noe (pronounced NO-ee) Valley. I haven't spent much time exploring the area, even though I knew it well in the late 70's. On my way, I found a bit of light highlighting this bench. I really like the way the Fuji sensors respond to color, as you can see in the the warmth of the reds in this photo.
Noe Valley Town Square: Considering the cost of land in San Francisco, it's almost a miracle that a lot of this size in one of the more expensive neighborhoods in San Francisco should become a town square. Bulletin boards, a free lending/exchange library, Covid-safe seating, and a toddler-appropriate play area make this a welcome play to enjoy a welcomed respite.
These whimsical owl sculptures stood guard over the square's visitors. I was once told that photographing sculpture was something of a cheat, since it was the sculptor who created the three dimensionality and not some photographer's fluency with capturing the interaction of light and shadow. Still, I made the image as a recognition of the creative talents that made these two bronze sentinels sentient.
Not exactly Covid Art, as this yoga-nymph was painted on the walls surrounding a construction site. I wonder if the mushroom head had some special significance. The juxtaposition of the poster in the corner makes this an odd sort of image. The poster was just there, nothing more.
I've walked past this whimsical façade many times, but this was the first time I had an unobstructed view from across the street. After seeing this, I really want to meet this fellow.
February 22, 2021
Color is a funny thing. I experimented with this image, trying to fine a compromise between a clinically accurate and esthetically pleasing rendition. When I moved the midpoint towards the highlights, the petals started to blow out and lose all sense of color. Here the image is probably too dark, but I get a better sense of the "pinkness". As you can probably guess, it was photographed in open shade, using the Overcast white balance preset.
February 13, 2021
January 20, 2021
This is the fourth, and last, fantasy birdhouse on Romain Street. Whimsey in abundance!
This morning the sun rose at 7:22am, a more "civilized" time to start a morning walk. This later start allows me to find more interesting shadow patterns.
It's had to imagine that a two-unit bungalow this small could actually exist in high-rent San Francisco, let alone at the edge of Noe Valley. Yet here it is.
Two pastel-painted houses in the Upper Market. This seems to be quite a departure from the brown earth tones that adorn most of the east-facing houses.
January 18, 2021
January 17, 2021
This discarded shopping casts a long shadow on this winter morning. The sun being lower in the horizon appears to change the depth of the shadows, leading me to believe that winter photos are distinctly different from those taken during the warmer months.
When walking on Corbett Avenue, one finds that gaps in the housing provide glimpses of Castro and Corona Heights. This is the same view I saw as a child walking to my elementary school. Now, I notice fewer empty lots and a bit more traffic on the route I walked many years ago.
The reflection from a window on the other side of the street created a shaft of light the found its way to the recessed entrance to this home. Had I stayed to watch, I could have seen the light move to another spot on the wall.
January 16, 2021
A back-lit hanging fuchsia. There were some missteps in composition causing the tip of the stamen to betoo close to the lower edge of the frame.
More Pandemic Art.
January 09, 20201
I found this quaint letter box during my now infrequent morning walks through the neighborhood. It looks like authentic patina, but these days, you never know. Of course, it could be an antique mailbox.
January 1, 2021
I don't walk as much, primarily because the sun rises much later, and after eating breakfast in the dark, I'm less likely to hit the trail while digesting my prey.
This wooden garden sculpture was installed in a neighbor's yard late last year. The gardens are a joy to behold, and it's interesting to see it cleared to bare earth each winter, then have it explode with color a few months later. I hope the sculpture holds up to the weather.
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