Can Spring Be Far Away?

It has been so miserable here for the last week or so that I had to put up something spring-like. Today the rain has let up, at least for now. The mountains are snow capped and California is GREEN. The long drought has come to a crashing end. But man-o-man, am I tired of cold and wet.

I'm getting ready to head out for San Jose and the first shoot with Will which is our first joint effort under the banner of California Photo Services. (Do drop in and take a look at our wowy-zowy web site that Will has built.

Another Day on The Central Coast

I have been incredibly busy for the last two weeks or so. Only problem is, nuch of what I am busy with is not the sort of thing I want to be busy with. I have been trying to make money which has nothing to do with getting our photo business up and running. On the other hand, if I didn't make money, I wouldn't eat. If I didn't eat, well you get the picture.

So, here is a picture from the archives. I shot this over in Carmel a few months back. They have more money than God over there.

It is raining again here today, I mean RAINING. It is also windy as can be. Reminds me of a Noreaster back up in New England where I grew up.

Tomorrow Will and I are shooting a charity ball up in San Jose tomorrow. That will be fun and good experience. It will also get the name of our shop out there a bit nore.

XP / Vista Transition or Lack Thereof

Well, things are up and running at last.

I installed my old hard drive with XP in the new machine along with the new hard drive with Vista. I am finding I use the former but not the latter. There are just way too many compatibility issues with Vista. Not even the Firefox browser is compatible with Vista. It was not easy for my guru to get the two hard drives to play well together, but that was resolved eventually. However, as things come along in Vista, I am ready to go and I will eventually migrate over to the new OS.

Now, back to our usual programming...


















For larger image click on picture.

In the Hobby Shop

Boys and their toys :)

This was a HUGE model of a Corsair with perhaps a 5' wingspan.

For larger image click on picture.

Spring has Sprung...

Da grass has riz,

I wonder where da boidie iz,

Da boid is on da wing,

But ain't that absoid,

I tought da wing was on da boid!

A little Brooklyn verse.

For larger image click on picture.

Art Gallery - Carmel, California

For larger image click on picture.

Something a Little Different - Let's Go to Carmel - Visit to Robert Knight Gallery

I am not a big fan of Carmel, but it does have it's positives. There is a lot of stuff to photograph. There also are a few interesting galleries stocked with quality stuff. There also is a lot of schlock.

Be that as it may, Anita and I decided... really Anita decided, that it would be a good idea to go over there today. She wanted me to see some of the photo galleries to get an idea of what it was I was getting myself into as I inch toward commercial work.

So we loaded Anita's 91 year old Alzheimers mother, Christine, and her wheel chair into my car, and off we went. We were no sooner on the streets of the most fabulously wealthy town in the country than Christine started calling out to folks, "Help me! Help me! I'm being held prisoner." Butterfly McQueen could not have put on a better performance. Yes, it's sad, but it does have it's comical side.

Anyway, one of the places to which we went was the gallery of Robert Knight. Oh my gosh. I was humbled. This guy has some of the most spectacular images I have ever seen. He was kind enough to talk with me for over thirty minutes. What a nice young man.

Please pay his website a visit at Robert Knight Gallery.

Photo Credit: Robert Knight

You should see this picture in a 3' (or so) frame.

More later.

Mortuary... er, Monastary Beach, Carmel, California

For larger image click on picture.

As noted in a previous post, this can be a dangerous beach. The rip tides here are ferocious. Like Monterey Bay, Carmel Bay is 1000+ feet deep not very far off shore. The resulting undertows are impressive as a number of SCUBA divers have learned to their dismay.

In the trees you can just see the Carmelite monastary for which the beach is named.

Footprints in the Sands of Time

I know... too deep :)

I took this at Carmel beach yesterday. This is the hardest beach to walk that I have ever been on. It is a coarse sand suitable for making concrete. You just sink in it. I was pooped after 50'.

Incidentally, the proper name for this beach is Monastary Beach as there is a Carmelite Monastary across Route 1. But to the locals it is known as "Mortuary Beach" due to the large number of drownings caused by the incredible rip tides and foolish SCUBA divers who choose to play in them.

For larger image click on picture.

"Rasslin'" with the 100-300mm lens

For larger image click on picture - take a look!

I got some advice from "Wingnut" after my post about how I might solve my problems with the 100-300mm lens I highlighted yesterday in my egret shot. The focus was not holding or was just plain soft at 200-300mm. She suggested using manual focus at the long end. So this afternoon I was over in Carmel. I trod over to the beach and shot waves at 200-300mm using manual focus. Ta-Da! It worked!