Self portrait

If you look carefully you can see a chubby photographer reflected in the armored glass of the gun turret.

Pony ride

There’s nothing worse than the “pony ride” assignment. The public relations or as we call them pony ride (pr) assignments are usually nothing more than glorified photo ops for some public official. Today’s groundbreaking was a good example as San Francisco mayor and gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom traveled to Tracy for the groundbreaking of a water treatment plant outside town that serve the Bay Area.


Now this is the kind of assignment that a reporter wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot-pole but they will stick a photographer out there without batting an eye lash.


It was your typical grip and grin, speech making event with plenty of opportunities crafted especially for the camera. The highlight of the event was the mayor opting for the controls of a backhoe instead of the handle of a gold-painted shovel for the ever popular turning-over-the-dirt photo.

Lucky shot

Sometimes I guess I'd rather be lucky than good. I was assigned to shoot a pair of baseball games as Tracy and West High schools played in the first round of playoffs. That means shooting two baseball games back-to-back. The trick is to try and make the pictures look different form each game.





I really lucked out on this one. West high was the second game and the falling light was going to be a problem. I tried to get enough shots before my light disappeared altogether. I got my usual shots, pitcher, batter, and then locked on to the second baseman in case he made a play on a groundball. This is a manual follow focus shot as he dove at a sharply hit grounder that just passed by his glove on the diving attempt on the stop. There is one more frame in the sequence but the ball is just too far out of the frame for my liking. For all you camera techies this was shot with my Canon Eos 1D Mk II camera with a Canon 300mm f.4.0 lens with auto focus off but image stabilization on. Exposure was 1/1600 of a sec at f.5.0 at the ISO sensitivity setting on 1600.

Swing and a miss

Nothing like a cat with an attitude. This guy let me know I was getting a little too close on assignment. I was just able to dodge an attack from those deadly claws and was still able to fire off a frame or two of the attack.

Going coastal

With the valley temperatures heating up Alice and I decided to begin our coastal explorations. We looked over a few short hikes from everywhere from point Reyes to Humboldt County and then settled on a trip to the Marin Headlands and the Coastal Trail for a cool trip along the coast.



Set just off the Golden gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands are a beautiful collection of beaches and trail that are part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The opportunities range from the lighthouse at Point Bonita to museums and bike and hiking trails.





Our plan was to make our way along the Coastal loop but looking at the map we decided to hug the coastline and hike along the magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean and the rugged cliffs that line the headlands. Our hike started from the old Fort Cronkite and Rodeo Beach and climbed up the cliffs. The temperature was warm at times but stepping near the edge of the cliffs we were greeted with a chilly blast of near 50 mph winds coming in from the ocean.





The sights were grand as waves crashed into the black rock of the cliff face. Seagulls and pelicans skimmed the coastline before soaring up a few feet away from us. Wildflowers sprung out among the ice plants that lined the trail while abandoned gun emplacements from World War II stood silent guard toward the bay.





We finished our windy hike and headed back home. Our next coastal visit will probably take us to the Point Reyes Trails as we continue or coastal views.

Die(t)

A new study shows that diets high in candy and other sugary snacks can actually be healthy for you. Pictured above a test subject from the study describes how he survived on a diet of nothing but cotton candy, losing over 60 pounds in just two months.

Size matters

All I want for Christmas is this beast. Say hello to my little friend, a Canon 1200mm f.5.6L series lens. This bad boy has a minimum focusing distance of 49 feet, is 32 inches long and tips the scales at a hefty 36 pounds. It comes with a leather lens cap, an aluminum suitcase and the knowledge that you own a camera lens that costs the same amount as a small home. This lens is available in the used camera department of BH Photo Video for a paltry $120,000.00 bucks. This is the longest fixed focal length lens ever built by Canon and was a special order item taking almost 18 months to produce. Just think how cool you would look on the sidelines of a Tracy Raiders game using this puppy to take pictures?

Flower power

With bouts of summer heat and winter cold covering the valley Alice and I decided on a hike at the Morgan territory to see if we could catch a glimpse of spring wild flowers on the hills.





Cold winds greeted our arrival as we headed out on the Coyote trail. The sparse rains has left the once lush emerald green covered rocks and trees bare as we made our way along the trail.




Wild flowers in hues of blue and purple sprouted up along the trail along with flashes of yellow and green. Leaves have not withered yet and they stood out backlit by the occasional shafts of light breaking through the canyon.




We are hoping to see more color in the Diablo area hills before we head to the coast for our hikes to beat the summer heat.