Went with Aran to Redwoods Regional Park. We had a lot of run wandering along the stream. At about the halfway point, the sun came and out then I could pull out the infrared camera. I even went bushwacking up to get one of the shots. Going up was easy but coming down ended up sliding down on my rear. Hopefully, Aran got some keepers from her shooting.

I read about a funky little lens called a Lens Baby. It is described as a love child between a old-fashioned bellows camera and a stuffy tilt-shift lens. When you look at if from the side, it looks like a child’s Fisher Price screw.

The lens baby has virtually no point in focus and every shot of even of the same scene turns out differently. I will have to try out a photo trip which I only use the Lens Baby. I need to perfect my “fingertip” focusing technique.

Spent most of the weekend using my new infrared camera. On Saturday, went with Aphra to Ardenwood. We were trying to shoot the Monarch butterflies that are roosting there. However, we only saw a few fluttering around and none roosting.

On Sunday, took the girls for a walk out in Sunol. It was a beautiful sunny day and perfect for infrared. Took several panoramas and found it fun to shoot with the streaming sunlight.

Still have to practice more with infrared because the results are surprising.

These prints are exhibited at Aran’s Colour and Glaze Studio. The prints are archival and are already mounted and matted. You can also order unmounted prints. Available sizes are 5×7″ to 12×16″.

The shop is located at 3330 Village Drive, Castro Valley, CA. If you have never tried, painting your own ceramics, you are missing out on a lot of fun. For details, visit http://www.aranceramic.com/ for all the information.

For those that do not want to read, my recommendation is try infrared. Digital infrared is great because you can see and adjust your results right away. Plus, it is fun!.

After much consideration, I decided to convert my Canon D30 to an infrared camera. I attended a workshop where George Lepp spoke about digital infrared photography. With George’s recommendation, I sent my camera to IRDigital.net.

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For New Year’s day, we were planning on going to the city to the Conservatory of Flowers. However, Chip wanted to go closer to home. So, we packed up the girls and went to Sunol. To my surprise, there were a lot of folks out hiking and even more walking dogs. Bocifus met a lot of new friends, and Cho-Cho did her roaring act on all dogs that were leashed. I noticed she craftily ignored the dogs that were off-leash.

The light rain really highlighted the tree trunks. I have taken many shots of this tree but this is my best to date.

We were supposed to go kayaking in Tomales Bay today. However, the weather did not cooperate and provide cold and rain. Both, Mother and Chip, were greatly relieved. Both were dropping broad hints about not wanting to after they signed up. I felt the same way for my first time kayaking but then loved it.

Instead, we went to the Tilden Park Botanical Garden. We had a few wrong turns including having to find a detour around the road closed for the newts. I had been to the gardens once before in late August. At that time, everything was very brown and dried out. Now that I see the gardens while they are green, it is a very beautiful place. I will have to return.

While attending a workshop in Wyoming, David Black showed his light painting work. The effect is very beautiful and reminds me of an old work master painting with deep rich tones and a glowing light.

The technique for light painting is simple. Choose (or setup) a scene in a dark room (or night). Set your camera for a long exposure and small aperture. Release the shutter and start painting the scene with your light source. If you have never light painted before, choose a small scene and a small flashlight. If you are shooting digital, you can fine-tune what you highlight and your exposure after each shot.

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With all the nasty weather over the holidays. We delayed the holiday dinner for a day and went to Point Reyes instead. It was a lovely day. We started at the Bear Valley Visitor Center. However, could not stay because a lady told us that whales had been sited at the lighthouse. Chip was ready to roll immediately.

Chip did spot a whale while Mother and I were lagging behind. We waited around for another siting but Mother and I never saw a whale.

Went to Sunol on Saturday morning with Mother. When we started, it was still pretty cold with some frost. By the time we left, it was warming up and mist was rising from the ground. With all that photo magic, I only got one keeper shot. This looks like an infrared shot but is actually a straight conversion to black and white. The trees had bright yellow leaves that look very white in B&W.