Morning at Sanborn Park in Santa Cruz Mountains
Today I took the kids out into Sanborn Park in the Santa Cruz mountains. The redwood forest is always a spectacular place to visit. This was my first time in this particular area. Below is small collection of photos from the morning, starting with the log cabin type hostel.
I love the look of this building. The fact that moss grows absolutely everywhere out here adds tons of character to everything. It was a challenge to capture things with just the right amount of light since the most mossy structures were also in the shade. This collection is comprised of both single-shot and HDR images to bring out the looks I was going for. With most of my HDR images, I prefer the more natural look.
Towering Redwood Trees
Creek outlet under path
Mossy Stairs
Creek in Sanborn Park
Creek in Sanborn Park
The first image I used for the Daily Shoot assignment: #ds103 – Novelty can help goose creativity. Go somewhere today you’ve never been, even just a different street, and make a photo.
Golden Glass
Downtown San Jose, taken on the same trip as yesterday’s golden clouds. The building was lit up wonderfully from the clouds and sun from the east with the nice pastel colors on the clouds to the north. The negative space adds to this one so I am using this as my Daily Shoot submission for DS102.
#ds102 - Negative space can be just as important to a composition as your primary subject. Explore negative space in a photograph.
Only Amazing Clouds have a Golden Lining
One more shot today of the spectacular sunsets we’ve had lately. This one was taken as a passenger in a car barreling down the freeway. It was also taken out of the driver’s side window, which was a shot only available for moments before it had a chain link fence in the way.
Tomorrow, I’m hoping sunrise will be good and I can be setup for it!
There is a tiny bit of horizon, so I’m stretching for meeting this assignment today.
#ds104 – The horizon can be a strong composition element. Make a photograph that emphasizes the horizon today.
Firey Sky
This evening I walked out of the office and was treated to a wonderful array of colors in the sky. It has been some time since I have seen anything like this. Other than adding a bit of dark back into this photo, the colors are as they were seen. Amazing after a super rainy day. I only wish I anticipated it so I could have gotten to a place with a bigger sky.
I think this counts as a background for this Daily Shoot assignment. 
#ds98 – Backgrounds are tricky. They can make a subject stand out or distract from it. Make a photo with a good background today.
Magnolia in Bloom – Daily Shoot 97
Photowalks have been eluding me lately. The flowers are in bloom all around and I haven’t been stopping to capture it. The magnolias near my office are blooming and the trees are short. I can actually get shots pointed down. This shot took some time as I am not quite tall enough to frame it with either the viewfinder or live view. I was shooting by feel mostly and have lots of throw aways. On this shot I used a mild flash to bring out the detail inside the flower.
#ds97 - An old adage in photography says if you want to improve your photographs, move closer. Fill your frame today!
A Handsome Seagull
While shooting at Travis Marina, I found this fine seagull model. He made sure to pose a few times for photographs. In the end he looks quite stunning with his bright plumage and yellow eye and beak. This is my contribution for Daily Shoot #80, a tack-sharp focus.
#ds80 – Make a “sharp” photo today any way you interpret it, either tack-sharp focus or a subject that is sharp itself.
Travis Marina
After a busy week at work and very few opportunities to use my camera, I returned to it again over the weekend. The following four photographs were taken around Travis Marina just northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge. A great chance to catch up on my Daily Shoot assignments.
This is Travis Marina with a faux tilt-shift technique applied.
#ds88 – “We often get stuck in a rut of always zooming to the longest focal length. Break out today by making a wide-angle photo.“
I love the detail in this pelican. For this assignment, this is titled “The Pelican Brief”. Yes, I know it’s literal, but it is a nice pelican portrait.
#ds89 – “Continuing the Friday fun theme, make a photo that goes with the title of a book you’ve read.”
A couple enjoys the view of the San Francisco Bay.
#ds91 – “Sunday (Valentine’s Day) challenge: What is love? Make an interpretive photo today. Keep it clean, people.”
Fog Under the North Tower of Golden Gate Bridge
#ds90 – “Odd or even: Compose an image with an odd or even number of subjects today, and make a photo.”
Caltrain Engine 919 at Diridon Station
San Jose Diridon Train Station with Caltrain Engine 919 underway.
Curse of the Golden Flower – Daily Shoot 82
Experimenting with different development techniques today. This flower was shot with a flash which really brought out the texture detail which also made it look very plastic. Some adjusting with a high-pass filter combined with a color-burn in Photoshop gave it a metallic look. Back in Lightroom, I did some final adjusting to match it to the Daily Shoot movie theme.
#ds82 – More fun on a Friday: Make a photo that goes with the title of a movie you’ve seen, interpreted any way you like!
Pig-tailed Fence – Daily Shoot 83
Today’s curves come to you from the Campbell Community Center.
#ds83 – Curves carry the eye along with them. Make a photo that creates a sense of movement with curves today.
Corking a Corona – Daily Shoot 81
I thought about this assignment for two days. Finally, I thought using the rabbit corkscrew and a corona would fit the bill perfectly. The only change I think I would make to this is to have the corona label less-than dead-center.
#ds81 – Contrasting ideas engage the mind. Make a photo today that tells a story with contrasting elements. (via @dibytes)
Confused – Daily Shoot 79
With the constant endless rain, winter is still going strong. The blossoming trees give hints of spring. This made for a tough choice for Daily Shoot assignment 79. (Which was completed a few days late)
#ds79 – It’s Groundhog Day in the U.S. Make a photo that illustrates whether it’s more like winter or spring where you live.
Locked Down Caltrain
Gate at San Jose Diridon Station. I tried this as an HDR, but it didn’t look nearly as good as the single exposure shot.
Past Prime
I like this shot. However, I have no idea what kind of plant it is. If you know, please let me know and I’ll update this post. I took this at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View.
Oranges – Daily Shoot 78
#ds78 – Time for another color theme: Orange! Keep your eyes peeled for anything orange today and make an interesting photo.
I borrowed a friend’s speedlte flash yesterday. It was perfect for this assignment, or at least it was better than what I had without it Considering I have, to date, only ever used an in-camera flash before, the speedlite is a treat. I now wish I had more lights to get behind these oranges more to make the water light up.
Seagull in Flight
This was shot at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View. This time, the camera was properly setup for bird photography. I like the tones and position of the Seagull here.
Red Tailed Hawk – A Lesson in Widlife Photography
Sunday morning, while at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, this hawk flew into the bushes nearby where my friend Jose and I were setup. Since I knew it would be moments before it would take flight again, I took the camera off the tripod and set it up for servo focus. It was overcast at about 8:30am. I forgot to set shutter priority and oh how I wish I had the camera set for a higher ISO. I think the solution is to setup one of my camera presets for bird photography.
This shot is slightly out-of-focus since it was handheld. Then the bird took flight and flew right at us. They were framed wonderfully, but each was blurry due to the slow shutter speed. Despite the issues with this shot, I still like it and how close I was. I suppose I can tell always people I took this with my iPhone.
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