Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Spicy Neon

Spicy Mexican Food

This restaurant on Haight Street has been closed for years now, but the sign remains. I love this sign.

Bowed Head

Olivet 18
Olivet Memorial Park in Colma.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Klee Ice II

Klee Ice II
This is a leftover from last year at this time, but I'm clearing the decks in hope of a similar opportunity in the next few days. "Klee Ice I" is here.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Red Lights

Red Lights 02
Seasonal decoration in the window of Banana Republic.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday: Fort Point

Ft. Point Light

Light streaming through the girders of the Golden Gate Bridge create an interesting network of shadows inside 150-year-old Fort Point. It's the last Shadow Shot Sunday of 2009; to see some entries from the penultimate week, go here.

Happy Shadow Boxing Day!

Snow Shadows
Snow shadows from Christmastime last year, in Ludlow, Vermont.

Shadow Shot Sunday rules here; here are some results.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Kestrel Manoeuvres in the Light

Hawk 02
This guy was hovering motionless in the wind above Battery East on the Presidio. (Note the banded leg--somebody is keeping track of him.) Apologies to Ahab for treading on his turf...

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday

21st & Anza 04
An (apparently) uninhabited house at 21st & Anza.

Want to join in? Here's the meme, and here are some results.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A Season in Hell

A Season In Hell

Took this last Friday night after Mrs. Generik and I walked back to the car from Cirque du Soleil (her company Xmas party).

Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach 10

Monday, December 14, 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Piazza Venezia

Piazza Venezia
This will have to serve as just an honorary Shadow Shot Sunday.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday: Profile in the Sand

Profile in the Sand

A misshapen fire pit at Ocean Beach in San Francisco casts a long shadow that resembles the profile of a baboon. How does that work? It must be Shadow Shot Sunday, just like so many Shadow Shot Sundays past.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Ice Scraper
Early morning ice-scraping at the seasonal rink in Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco.

Shadow Shot Sunday is sound both in theory and in practice.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Vanishing Muni Line

Vanishing Muni Line

Last weekend, Muni canceled service on a number of lines, some of which had been in existence for many years. One of the lines cut was the 4 Sutter, which ran right where this disappearing bus is today.

When I looked out the window this morning, I saw that the streets were wet, and something clicked. I took my tripod out with me and set up next to where the car was parked, used the remote and a long exposure (ISO 100, f16, about 10 seconds) and waited for traffic. This is the result. I'm pretty happy with it.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Travel Thursday: Route 66 Liquor Store

Route 66 Liquor

Seen in Upland, California, when I was down there earlier this year.

Travel Thursday: Lake Tahoe

Tahoe 01
The last time we were all together--all four brothers and our folks (plus SOs & my niece)--was in 2006, when we rented a big condo in South Lake Tahoe. The dates overlapped by a couple of days with my Monarch Divide trip, so I got home from Kings Canyon and the next morning we set out for Tahoe. Coming from the farthest reaches of the middle of nowhere to the sprawl and traffic and crowds of Lake Tahoe was a bit of a shock. I kept thinking: to a lot of Northern Californians, this is the Sierra.

Disorientation aside, though, it was a great time. We went on a paddle-wheel cruise; we went up to Eagle Falls; we went to a casino; the usual stuff, I guess. And when you look past the crowds and the overdevelopment and all, it really is a beautiful lake. And of course I have to remember it fondly, because it was the last in a series of family vacations that began (for me) 40 years before.

This was shot at a big old estate west of town, now a park of some kind.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

See Your West

Mt Whitney 03
Mt. Whitney from the Alabama Hills.

On Balance

On Balance

A couple of British acrobats perform near the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero on a Saturday afternoon.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Sculpture Guardin'

Sculpture Guardin'
At the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Skating Rink

Skating Rink 01
In Justin Herman Plaza. It may not actually be cold enough to freeze a pond today, but it is pretty darn cold.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Segway Army

Segway Army

Spotted last week at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco: a gang of Segway riders cruising up Jefferson Street. The morning sun gave me the opportunity to make them unknowing participants in this week's Shadow Shot Sunday. To see some of last week's SSS shots, go here.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Footprints

Footprints

Seen on Ocean Beach last Saturday.

See Your West

Cabinet Mountains crop
The Cabinet Mountains from the Bull River Valley, northwestern Montana.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Pinball Quartet

Pinball Quartet

Saturday I did something I almost never do -- I went to Fisherman's Wharf. While I was there, I checked out the Musée Mechanique on Pier 45, which is a free exhibition of all sorts of old-time arcade games and mechanical amusements from yesteryear. Here's a close up from a vintage pinball machine.

Broken Wing

Olivet 22
At Olivet Memorial Park in Colma. (This one is for Donna, who wanted some color lichen shots.)