Photo Challenge: Warmth

Living on the west side of the Bay Area four miles from the Pacific Ocean and about two miles from the San Francisco Bay the weather is pretty mild. Summer rarely gets real hot and when it does it only lasts a few days. Those westerly breezes from the cold Pacific get sucked into the hot Central Valley and before you can say “fog” it cools off. So when those rare, really warm days show up you get to see things you may not recognize at first… heat waves. Looking through a long telephoto lens toward downtown San Francisco you even get some man-made art filters. Here’s a look at the Castro District from about a mile away on the top of Twin Peaks. Warmth adds distortion from a mile’s worth of heat waves.

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Photo Challenge: Yellow

Yellow is that burst of color just before the dawn.

The color of our breakfast meal just after a yawn.

Yellow is the sound of buzzing circling a bloom.

It can never ever be the color of gloom.

Yellow makes me smile.

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Photo Challenge: Twinkle

My kids love the end-of-year holidaze. They spend eleven months looking forward to the celebrations, excitement, gift-receiving and general merriment. Can you blame them?

When they are little they tolerate the pop of flash bulbs that document the year-end joy. But… things do change. As they grow older they snarl and spit “point that camera somewhere else!” Can you blame them?

I managed to get two of my (adult) kids to sit still for my camera a few years ago. There was joy and merriment and the twinkle of tree lights and the twinkle of eyes reverting back to a being a little kid at year end.

May all your holidays be filled with twinkle!

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Photo Challenge: Gone, But Not Forgotten

Cemeteries are fascinating. I live nearby the Golden Gate National Cemetery on the San Francisco Peninsula and it is a place of beauty. Cemeteries are places of awe. It probably started before I can remember. I can imagine my mother saying, “Shhh, Joseph, be quiet, don’t step on the grave,” as we walked through a family plot. A visit to the cemetery in Batsto Village in South Jersey where the headstones went back to the late 1700s, if I recall correctly, was a hike back in time. When you touch a headstone that is 200 years old you ignite the switch on a time machine. How did you die? Why so young? So many little children? The bodies are gone to rest but the spirits are not forgotten.

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Photo Challenge: Converge

I like it when things come together. They meet and meld into a cohesive whole. Lines do come together if you give them enough space to play. People converge when they are motivated. A nice wide angle lens will facilitate convergence. So, let’s all meet in front of a camera and draw the world together!

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Photo Challenge: Angular

Lines, diagonals, perspective. It’s my life. Even as young kid I liked to doodle by drawing shapes in perspective. Oh, do I have a few angles to show you!

Have a great weekend!

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Slowdown, You Move Too Fast

The housing market has flattened out in the third quarter. See the Bay Area housing price trends page above for the most recent data on housing.

Tiburon, Belvedere and Mt. Tamalpais in the distance. Marin County, CA

Tiburon, Belvedere and Mt. Tamalpais in the distance. Marin County, CA

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Photo Challenge: Achievement

As a kid I grew up playing baseball, football, soccer, tennis and running track, so, when I think of an achievement I think of sports. There is usually a goal in mind. Not just winning. Breaking down the event into little parts and accomplishing each small task the best way possible. A 4 x 100 relay requires a quick start, smooth handoffs and a strong kick to the finish line. You can’t win a baseball game unless each fielder sees the ball and catches the ball. The hitter has to know the situation, anticipate the pitch, see the ball and hit the ball where the other guy ain’t. So achievement is not the finish line… it’s the outcome of all the steps in between. The beauty of sports is that you get to see those steps played out on the field in front of you. Beautiful, challenging and entertaining to see.

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Photo Challenge: Minimalist

Minimalism… the old “less is more” canard. Don’t believe it! More is better! Why have one car when three in the driveway looks so much better? Okay, so, sarcasm aside, sometimes less is more. It does make it easier to focus on a theme. Here I am. Focused! Have a great weekend.

See the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

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Fall Back

It’s that time of year. The craziness of the end of daylight savings time is here. Soon it will be dark before your late lunch is digested. That, of course, is normal. Winter brings an early end to daylight at this moderately northerly point on the globe. It’s just that for a week my body tries to adjust to the sunrise/sunset change… it tries, but it doesn’t do it very well. It’s like flying past multiple time zones for me. It takes days to adapt. So, I, for one, would not hesitate to adopt a “no daylight savings” policy if elected King. Would you support me?

A few snaps from along the coast with my son as my guide.

p.s. Go Giants! Congrats to the 2014 World Series Champions and thanks for a memorable post season run!

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