Mountain top

I'm feeling the urge to get away an hike to the top of Diablo again.  I do it at least once a year and I think it is about time.  If the weather holds up in April I think a quiet solo journey to the top will do me a world of good about now.  I could use the solitude.

Bad moon rising

The full moon on Saturday will be about 221,567 miles away from Earth. This will be closest approach to the Earth in a decade or so.  Some say this "Super Moon" will bring  fire and brimstone raining down from the sky while other say the apocalyptic predictions range from earthquake and flood to the end of the world.  I plan on having my camera ready with a freshly charged battery.  And a cup of coffee, maybe two.

Just another day in downtown Tracy

(Note the shameless plug for the Tracy Press)

Destruction

This is a fascinating post from the New York Times show the changes caused by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.  The satellite imagery shows the destruction in frightening detail.

Ball two

So this idiot-moron-pervert decided to interrupt the Tracy High baseball game to show everyone his ass in the rain.  What a jackass.  If he gets caught I hope they charge him with a lewd act in front of a child as there were some young people sitting in the stands.  His ending was some stupid dance in the outfield then climbing the ivy-covered chain link fence in left field. A better ending would have been getting tazered by a cop.

Spring colors

With the official start of spring a week away the colors of the season have already begun to spring forth as wildflower bloom along the trail during our hike at the Briones Regional Park's Lafayette Ridge Trail.

The trail is a popular one for dogs and their owners as they wind their way up along the dirt path.  The trail was steep and muddy in spots as a light rain fell occasionally on our hike.  On the side of the trail wildflowers emerged from the grasses as the first sign of springs approach.

The light rains sprinkled drops on spiderwebs and the plants making for some interesting photo opportunities.  I packed my macro and shot most of my photos on the hike today with it.

We are planning a return trip to the park next week to the other side where the trail is said to be even more colorful.  We hope our first day of spring will bring us a bounty of colors to see.

Warning sign

I shot this during a hike at Half Moon Bay in July of 2009.  It is hard to believe that a wave from 5,000 miles away crashed into the California shoreline this morning causing almost $17 million worth of damage in early estimates.

The images from Japan this past day seem unreal.  It was a horrific site watching live on the news as the water swept through the farmlands into the urban zone leaving a path of destruction in its wake.   The 8.9 earthquake will leave a mark on the country for years to come.

The long and short of it

While both of these sports photos have the main subject at about the same size in the frame they couldn't be more different.

The hurdler picture was shot with my 300mm f.4 lens set to the widest aperture.  The long jump shot was taken with a 16-35mm zoom lens set to 16mm and the f-stop around f-11.  I didn't even look through the lens but set the camera down just shy of the sand pit and aimed toward the runway.

At first glance it may look like I held the same distance to the both subjects but I was several dozen  yards away from the hurdler-I was well behind the finish line as she was cross the second or third to last hurdle when I snapped this shot.  For the jumper I was crouched just a few feet way hoping not to get pelted by the sand on the landing.

Two different perspectives with two different lenses that yield a sort of similar shot.  It never hurts to try a different location or lens on assignment and look for that different view.

Spring has sprung

Melanie brightens up the newsroom with some daffodils on her desk.

I have have empty coffee cups on mine, go figure.

Room with a view

A shy dog at the Tracy Animal Shelter enjoys the view from between the legs of an animal services officer Beth Palacios during a photo shoot for pet of the week.

Split second

I've always thought a good sports photo can give readers a glimpse of the event that they may not see during the game.  This shot comes to mind as it seemed like everybody saw this moment from the first softball game I covered this year.

The picture was taken at 1/6400 of a second with my Canon Eos 1D MK II with a 70-200 mm zoom lens with 1.4 extender attached.  The call by the umpire was the runner was out at first but it looks clearly like the runners foot is on the bag.

I'm not judging the job of the umpire, it is hard to make that split second decision safe or out and be correct every time.  It is more interesting to see a moment of action frozen in time like this and we can take a second look at it.