Golden Gate From Marin County

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Wide view capturing highway 101 leading into the Golden Gate Bridge

Dusk shot of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from the Marin county. Took a hike from Marin headlands to the other side of the Waldo tunnel with fellow photographers Bill Taylor, & Don Taylor;
to capture this unique view of the Golden Gate Bridge

Point Arena and the North coast

Just recently got back from a three day trip to Point Arena and the Mendocino coast. We had a little bit of everything, rain, fog wind and sunshine. We stayed at the Point Arena Lighthouse Point Arena Lodge We shot @ bowling ball beach during sunset with a minus tide. Under idea conditions you can achieve stunning results. We shot Point Cabrillo Lightstation morning, late after noon and dusk. One day we had to sit in the car for and hour or so before the rain stopped. Finally the skies cleared and the sun came out an hour and a half before sunset. We shot the Point Arena lighthouse. While we were staying at the lighthouse lodge we had access to shoot anytime.
See the entire gallery here

Bowling Ball Beach. The tide was still going out in this shot,not quite @ minis yet.You still can get very good results with some water surrounding the rocks.

This shot was taken with the setting sun and a minus tide!

Behind the scene shot of Photographers Bill Taylor, & Don Taylor amp; Sherman setting up for the shot.







Point Cabrillo Lightstation. Minutes earlier we were sitting in the car waiting for the rain to stop. Photography reminds me of fishing, you have to be patience.










This is a morning shot,We had to wait for the fog to clear before getting this shot.





Point Cabrillo Lightstation silhouette

Elk Grove Harvest Festival 2009

This was my second year participating in the Elk Grove Harvest Festival. I had my photography on display for promotion and also to sell. I really enjoy this festival, its a fun event . Lots of good food, music and family fun. I enjoy meeting the people that visited my booth. I want to thank my friend Zeb Woods for driving up all the way from the bay area to purchase three of my photos.

This panorama of the famous San Francisco Victorians created a lot of conversation, most of the younger generation associated it with the television show full house. Others talked about visits at Alamo Square Park. One couple reminisced about living in the neighborhood.

My Booth

Big Sur

McWay Falls, I nearly missed getting this shot. Well I left my home in Elk Grove around 1 p.m. My GPS told me I would get to Big Sur in aprox 3.5 hrs. I stopped along the way taking a few shots of the Bixby bridge and some seascapes/landscape shots. My intentions were to capture McWay Falls about an hour before sunset and maybe a couple of shots right at sunset. The last time I was in Big Sur at McWay falls was three years ago.Well I made it to the park entrance and asked the lady at the booth how far is the water fall. She said it's a twenty minute walk from the parking lot. So I parked and started walking to the falls. The sign said Pfeiffer Falls, about midway to the falls I said to myself this walk seems longer then what I remembered. (click to view larger image)
As I was walking I saw this young couple walking towards me and the young lady said, did you know that the falls are closed, I said no. There was a barricade about 100 feet from the falls but you could still see the falls. When I got to point where I could see the falls, I said to myself this is not the the falls I remembered. I turn back and started to get disappointed because the sun was going down fast. I went back to the parking lot and asked one of the workers at the lodged where is the waterfall that flows into the beach. He said, oh you mean McWay Falls. Its 10 miles south of here. Thats when I realized I was at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and not Juila Pfeiffer Burns State Park. I jumped in my truck and hurried down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP. When I got to the parking lot the sun was just setting. So I rushed down the 1/4 mile path to the water fall to this shot I got. The sun had already set, but I was able to get a long exposure.

I captured this shot from the observation area overlooking the beach.

Low wide view of Bixby Bridge. It was foggy at the bridge, but 1/4 mile south was sunny.

Facebook photo contest

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I entered a facebook photo contest hosted by John Batdorff. The catagories were for sunset, sunrise & night shots. I entered photos in all three catagories. I did not win but was happy to get a honorable mention for my San Francisco Baybridge sunset pano. This is a unique perspective of the Baybridge. Fellow photographer friend, Bill Taylor and I had to climb down the steep hillside under the Baybridge to get this shot. It was well worth the climb. I also took a night shot from the same location. See link San Francisco Baybridge Pano at Dusk

California Capital Air Show 2009

I attended the California Capital airshow over the weekend. The USAF Thunderbirds were the headliners. I got there early so I could get a good spot for taking pictures. The show overall was
very good. I have attended all of the shows since it was first inaugurated in Sacramento. They added a few new acts, the airforce reserve jet car and Kent Pietsch a comedian flying stunt act. These acts added a new dimenson to the air show.

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The Thunderbirds soared by displaying precison and speed.

Lots of people showed up to watch the airshow and the weather was really nice, mid 70's .

Pilot Gene Soucy & wingwalker Teresa Stokes put on an exciting show for the crowd. This was my favorites of the prop planes.

Skydiver displaying the American flag as he descends to the ground



F-22 displaying its maneuvers & speed

See more Capital airshow photos here
California Capitol Airshow 2009

California State Fair 2009

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This is a ride from Michael Jackson Neverland Ranch

I have been shooting the carnival rides at the state fair the past few
years. I was not going to go this year, but decided to go at the last minute when I notice the clouds. They always will add a dramatic effect to your pictures. See more California State fair photos here California State Fair

Sacramento Gold Rush Days

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I attended the Sacramento Gold Rush Days over the Labor Day weekend. The streets of Old Sacramento are tranformed into scenes from the 1850. Its an interesting event that takes you back in time.





The gun fight is another interesting event that occurs during the Sacramento Gold rush Days.
See more Sacramento Gold Rush Photos here Sacramento gold rush days

Bodie's Swazey Hotel

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I made the mistake of going to Bodie over the labor day weekend, it is one of Bodie's busiest weekends of the year. Although it was busy, I was able to get this photo of the Swazey hotel.
The weather was nice, around 70 degrees. There was a bit of excitment on the way to Bodie while driving through Monitor pass there was a single car roll over accident. The road was blocked for an hour while emergency crews remove the person from the wreckage. The driver escape with non life threatening injurys.

see more photos of Bodie here Bodie "Ghost Town"