Here is an infrared from Sunol’s visit that turned into the wild kingdom. It took a few days to process because this weekend has been very busy. I had to get 4 prints ready for the Alameda county fair and drop them off on Saturday. I will hear later this week if they ‘hang’ and maybe place. This is my first experience with the county fair so my fingers are crossed.

As a follow-on to the Wild Kingdom outing, I talked with the ranger out in Sunol. He says that the park has many bobcat and it is not uncommon to see them (except for me apparently). The mysterious blue heron was probably a kingfisher. He wondered if the dead deer was a cougar kill. Hmmm, hard to believe there is a cougar there even though there are warning signs.

Tonite, I wanted to shake off the effects of a bad work day. Chip had to work late so I went out to Sunol alone. There has been light rain all day and it was getting foggy. Good weather for photography.

The entire outing should be “Wild Kingdom”…

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Here is one more photo from yesterday’s hike. Last nite, I was too tired to finish processing. I think this is a weaker image than yesterday’s but still worth posting.

Tonite after work, Chip and I took a quick hike out to Little Yosemite. We went just past the main falls and explored along the banks of Alameda Creek.

Went out today for a photo adventure to the coast with Aphra. I had been out last Sunday and picked up nice shots and a wicked case of poison oak. I have been laid low all week and Saturday. I was hoping to go out today and gather a few more nice shots. However, plans are different than results. Instead, we ended up threading our way through the start of the Aids for Life, a 585 mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA. The day was beautiful with bright blue skies. Unfortunately, not good weather for photographers. Stable Road veers off Hwy 1 about 15 miles south of Half Moon Bay. It is very scenic, beautiful and has little towns that feel they are in a time warp from about 80 years ago.

Did a quick trip out to Little Yosemite in Sunol. Chip and I were rushed for time. I did not check that my lens was on auto-focus and so lost most of my shots. Doh!

Realized that I was late for my Granny’s birthday. I try to send her an original flower photo for every occasion and she loves pink. I had been noticing a lovely planting of blush roses at the gas station ringing the pump area. I zoom off to our local Shell station, start pumping and ran around with the camera and macro lenses. Unfortunately, the rose blooms were now past peak and I had a -2 exposure compensation, I thought that every shot was a loss. However after a week, I took a peek and think this is a keeper. It is a little grainy for a larger print because of shooting at ISO 800 and having to do severe exposure corrections.

Continue reading for a black and white shot…

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Returned to Coyote Hills this evening. I wanted to re-make my earlier photos and see if I could improve them. Again, I like the marsh the best.

For the hillside shot…

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Took the dogs out for a walk at Don Edwards Wildlife Preserve. I intended to try some color shots but forgot my camera! Instead, took one infrared panorama. This set of shots really shows that my sensor is incredibly dirty and I am unsure how to fix it.

Went with Chip and the girls for a short walk at Coyote Hills. The evening was lovely with a soft breeze blowing off the bay.

Continue reading to see the second choice image…

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