Thursday, April 30, 2009

A Dôminating Performance

A Dôminating Performance
Behind Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis Church in the Lower Marais, Paris

Travel Thursday: Monet's House & Garden, Giverny

Chez Monet

Claude Monet's house in Giverny, France. The garden and water-lily pond are maintained in a controlled-wild state, and are spectacular, especially on a hot summer day.

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Monet's Pond II

Les Fleurs

Foliage in Giverny

Visitors at the Water Lily Pond

View from the Bushes

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Fairmont Hood

Fairmont Hood

There was a car show at the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill Sunday, and I got this picture of the hotel reflected in the hood of a beautiful red Maserati.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Monday, April 27, 2009

Swirly

Swirly 03
Elevator ceiling at the Hotel Tomo in Japantown.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday: In My Neighborhood

Street Lamp Fire Escape

A view straight across Polk Street from the fire escape on the second floor of my apartment building with mid-morning sun creating patterns on the bricks. It's another Shadow Shot Sunday!

(I was going to link to last week's contributions here, but a note at Harriet's blog says her computer has died, and may not be repaired before the weekend is over. I'll try to update here if the situation changes, but either way, I send my sympathy and best wishes to Harriet!)

Friday, April 24, 2009

Magazine Flowers

Magazine Flowers

New Camera

Coit and Tam
My birthday present to myself. Still a point-and-shoot, but with higher pixel resolution, a better macro, and a stronger zoom (which I'm playing with here). Should be lots of fun.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Travel Thursday: The Giant Buddha at Leishan, China

Buddha Without Otis

In a small town called Leishan in Sichuan Province, at the confluence of three rivers, the world's largest seated Buddha is carved into the side of a mountain at the edge of the rivers. There is a large complex of buildings there (including the Giant Buddha Post Office), most of which are filled with various smaller Buddhas and Arhats, leading to the zigzag path down one side of the mountain and back up the other that visitors travel to view the enormous sculpture. Along the stone path are intricate carvings in the red rock of the mountainside. The day we were there it was misty and wet, and a lot of the pictures I took have rain spots in them. One of them also features my brother.

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Buddha

Pagoda in the Mist

Carved

Yin-Yan

Buddha & Friends

Arhat

Buddha and Otis

Louvre

Louvre

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wood & Rust

Wood & Rust

Part of an old fence sealing off a now-defunct business in the industrial southern part of town not far from 101.

Crosshatch Reflection

Crosshatch Reflection
Bus shelter at Balboa & Park Presidio.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Monday, April 20, 2009

In My Neighborhood

Lowrider II

Lowrider parked on Polk Street at Hemlock Alley Friday night.

Poppies

Poppies 03
At Navarro Vineyards in the Anderson Valley.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Big Brother is Shadowing You

Chinatown
It's only Chinatown. (And Shadow Shot Sunday #48.)

Shadow Shot Sunday

Glass Door Shadows

A glass door that's had innumerable fliers and notices and what-not taped to it over the years casts a late afternoon shadow into the entryway of a building in South San Francisco. Here in the US, it's Saturday; at the same time, it's also Shadow Shot Sunday. How does that work?

Magic.

Here's last week's collection of SSS entries.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Poppy 03
It's spring (in the Northern hemisphere, anyway) and the wildflowers are blooming, so I thought I'd do a seasonal Shadow Shot Sunday. This is a California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) in Morgan Territory Regional Park.

Shadow Shot Sunday explained; this week's edition here.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Travel Thursday: Point Arena

Arena Cove Pier 01
Had a lovely weekend up in Mendocino County (hence no Shadow Shot this week); here are a few images I picked up along the way. This is the pier at Arena Cove, where we stayed.
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Shacks
Coupla shacks near Arena Cove.

The Minnow
In the pier master's office there was a sign: "The two happiest days in a boat owner's life are the day he buys a boat, and the day he sells it."

Sun House
House along Main Street in downtown Point Arena.

Gianninis 02
Hard times all over, but especially on the north coast.

Lighthouse Stairs
Inside the lighthouse, on the way up.

Lighthouse Vista
And hey, why not just one obligatory Point Arena Lighthouse vista type shot.

Travel Thursday: Occidental Color

Liquidambar Leaves

About an hour and a half north of San Francisco, Occidental is a small community nestled in the hills near Sebastopol and Bodega Bay. Mrs. Generik's sister and her husband and sons live on some mountaintop property there, along with some apple trees, pines, a few cows and various forms of wildlife. When we go up there for Christmas in December, the liquidambar trees are always a riot of color. Here are a few examples.

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Leaves II

Leaves I

Liquidambars

Leaves & Branches

Leaves IV

Leaves III