Wednesday, April 22, 2009

San Francisco To Tiburon

My friend Katy was in town so we revisited a favorite bike ride of ours, from San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge to Tiburon and back on the ferry.


This lucky guy was waiting for his turn in the three person elevator to the top of the south tower. Apparently: (A) It is possible to get a tour if you know someone...and are willing to wait two years for one of about four tours per year. (B) There are elevators inside the towers. (C) Robert will try his darndest to talk his way up an elevator for a tour.

The hand painted sign on the inside of the door says:
bridge towers footage
746 - height
500 - sidewalk to top
246 - sidewalk to bottom
4,200 - tower to tower
1 mile 8 tenth - length of bridge
2 miles - south parking lot to north parking lot


south tower


north tower


The San Francisco Bay
random facts:
400 square miles - surface area
14 feet - average depth
360 feet - depth at the Golden Gate
67,000,000 tons - annual cargo passing through the Golden Gate
1/3 - amount the bay has shrunk over the last 150 years
1/4 - original wetland, riparian, and tidal mudflat habitat remaining
40% - California’s land mass drained by the bay-delta watershed
<50% - fresh water flow coming into the bay compared to 1930


Photographic proof that Katy can ride no hands.


Another beautiful day in the Bay Area.
(l-r) Katy, Laura and Helen

note: All photos in this post taken with my GOPRO Wrist HERO camera mentioned in the previous post.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Sea Otter Classic


My buddy Rich called the other day and suggested going to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey and snapping some pics.


We recruited Adam (lower left with camera) and Rob and had ourselves a guys photo safari complete with burrito stop on the way down at some random Mexican dance club/bar in Morgan Hill.


Found a nice little spot by the downhill event. I was able to get some action closeups with my 50mm and taste some dust when this guy landed.


After the events we wandered through the sponsor induced tent city. I commented that all I really wanted to check out was the GoPro tent to get a free t-shirt. I have several of their older cameras and love them. Some random nice guy walking next to us said he would show us where it was. Turns out he was their Managing Director. Adam bought one of their new cameras and I got my free t-shirt.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Random Quotes

Katherine to Sara, regarding fresh vegetables: I like my green beans more processed than you do. I like my green beans eaten by a cow, then I eat the cow.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Planet Granite Friction Series

Planet Granite presented their first annual Friction Series roped comp tonight at their Belmont location. My co-worker Kate had a table set up representing our Palo Alto The North Face store. I grabbed my camera after a nice trail run in Foothills Park then headed up to help represent and snap some pics. I randomly ran into a fellow photographer buddy that used to live around the corner from my family. I've run into him in some truly random places.





Thursday, April 9, 2009

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Last Photo Class - Round One



The teacher's pet award this week goes to Veronica for her truly original piece entitled "Gray Steel" In her artist's statement she says, "Notice the not-so-subtle use of the rule of thirds" used to frame her subject.

photo credit: Veronica Schindler
post processing: me

Special mention goes out to Mike for this sweet shot. Nice example of narrow depth of field and a fine looking strat!

photo credit: Mike Knippers

Random Quotes

me to my photo class: "So, your homework tonight involves this cool looking window of a little tanning salon down the street..."
Jessica and Veronica in unison: "Oh, Ingrid's!"

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I Love My Professional Modeling Gig...

...and if it helps my photo students understand camera controls and lighting concepts, then I say all the better!






photo credit: Adam Findley
post processing: me