California – Page 6 – Circadianreflections Blog

P52 34/52 Dawn Santa Clara County

August 24, 2014August 24, 2014Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Photography, Project 52-2014Tagged Dawn, landscape, Lonely Tree, Photography, Project 52, Sunrise4 Comments

Mornings are arriving a little later, and chillier these days and with that I’m finding it a little harder to get out of the house for a hike or walk. Once I get out I am usually very happy that I did.
This morning was especially nice as we had a lot of clouds which meant there might be some color, and I got lucky and had “God Rays” too, and there was a bonus; the sign marking the trail’s boundary is gone!

YEAH! I have spent years framing around it, cloning it out, or cropping it out. It was lovely shooting and not have to deal with it, or deal with it later in post development. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they don’t replace it, and if they do they put it somewhere that doesn’t hinder the view.

P52 33/52 A new day, a new beginning…

August 16, 2014August 16, 2014Posted in California, Fine Art, Photography, Project 52-2014Tagged CA, Fibonacci Spiral, Hope, Inspiration, Moss Landing, Project 52, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Seashell, Seashore, Shallow Depth of Field2 Comments

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm| Hand-held

August Super Moon over the Giant Dipper, Santa Cruz, CA

August 10, 2014Posted in Astrophotograhpy, CaliforniaTagged Astro-imaging, August Super Moon, California Historical Landmarks, California Tourism, Moon, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Santa Cruz6 Comments

This isn’t exactly the image I had in my head, but it’s close. There is a telephone pole on the left I wish wasn’t there, a light pole on the right that is spilling light, and flare into the image, and the train which is just about to the top of the hill hasn’t any running lights so, no light trails from it. I did get light trails from passing cars though.

I cloned out several wires that were running through the sky, but left the telephone pole because that’s beyond my Photoshop skills, and… it is what it is. I really dislike wires, traffic lights, signs, and garbage cans right in front of Historic, and beautiful buildings, and things!

One thing I am happy about is that this isn’t a view you see often in photos of the Giant Dipper.

This is my favorite Roller Coaster. It took me a couple of years to get the courage to ride it. I’ll never forget that first ride. I was 12 yrs old. That hill is STEEP and it scared the crap out of me, but it was fast, and thrilling! I still love riding it.

If you’re anywhere near Santa Cruz in the Summer I recommend giving this Coaster a ride. It’s fun, fun, fun!

For the History Buffs:
The Giant Dipper is a historic wooden roller coaster located in Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. It took 47 days to build at a cost of $50,000. It opened on May 17, 1924 and replaced the Thompson’s Scenic Railway. With a height of 70 feet (21 m) and a speed of 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), it is one of the most popular wooden roller coasters in the world. As of 2012, over 60 million people have ridden the Giant Dipper since its opening. The ride has received several awards such as being named a National Historic Landmark, a Golden Age Coaster award, and a Coaster Landmark award; it has been ranked annually in Mitch Hawker’s Best Wooden roller coaster poll.~Wiki-pedia

Sunset at San Jose City Hall

July 24, 2014July 25, 2014Posted in California, Food Photography, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro Photography, Photography, TravelTagged Architectural Photography, Landmarks, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro photography, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Sunset, Travel and Tourism2 Comments

Alex and I met downtown at City Hall early enough to catch any evening color, and we hoped there might be some because there were clouds on this evening. We called it right, but missed the best color. That was behind us further North. After this we passed the time taking images of the Rotunda, and Tower as the light faded, changing our angles and views while waiting for the Moon to rise.

Plus one more from my little hike earlier in the week-taken with my Lensbaby Composer Pro w/Double Glass & macro converters

I won’t be on the internet too much beginning tomorrow I’m spending a long week-end of imaging with a couple of friends. I hope you all have a great week-end!

Image at the top| Nikon D700| AF-S 24-70mmGTripod

A Bridge to the Stars

July 22, 2014July 22, 2014Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, Photography, US National ForestsTagged Astro Photography, Astro-imaging, Milky Way, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Stanislaus National Forest, U.S. National Forests, Wide Field Astro-Photography10 Comments

This image of the Milky Way is one I made several weeks back while on a camping trip with friends in Stanislaus National Forest in Northeastern CA. USA.
While imaging the sky I saw several shooting stars, and hoped I’d capture some on film. I got lucky and got one in this frame. You see it streaking down in the upper left of the frame.
The Bootes Meteor Shower was happening on this night, but don’t think this is one of those. This is coming from the wrong direction.

It was a gorgeous night, and the sky was gorgeous filled with so many stars.

Ring-necked Pheasant

July 16, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Nature, Ring-necked Pheasant, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Wildlife3 Comments

This one is from my Archives. I made this image in late May this year. This was a really neat and thrilling experience seeing this male Pheasant. I see them so rarely, and most the time they’re on the run the instant they spot me. This male was so busy eating, and I think used to people being around so, he didn’t pay much attention to my presence or the sound of my clicking shutter button.

I really liked the light on his back and face.

Nikon D3oos| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| Hand-held

P52 29/52 Moon over San Jose, CA City Hall

July 14, 2014July 14, 2014Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, Photography, TravelTagged Astro Photography, Cityscape, Moon, Night Photography, Project 52, San Jose California City Hall, San Jose California Nature Photographer4 Comments

I met my friend Alex downtown last night to shoot the Moon over City Hall’s Rotunda. City Hall is comprised of the Tower where the Mayor has an office on the top floor, the plaza, and the Rotunda which has council rooms, meeting rooms and a large space for events. The space and rooms in the Rotunda can be rented out for events such as weddings.

The Rotunda reminds me of an Observatory very much like those at Lick Observatory that sit high atop Mt. Hamilton which overlooks San Jose from the East side in the Diablo Range. Lick Observatory was the first permanently occupied mountain top astronomical observatory. Constructed between 1886-1887. I don’t know if that reference is what the architect (Richard Meier) had in mind when he designed the Rotunda though. I can’t find that information.

This new City Hall complex opened to the public in Oct. 2005, replacing the former City Hall complex civic center located on North First Street, which was used from 1958 until 2005. From 1889 to 1958 the city hall was located in what is now Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San José.~Wiki-pedia

I shot the foreground then switched lenses then waited for the moon to rise above the mountains and buildings then I exposed for the Moon to make the second frame, finally in post development I blended the two frames together.

Nikon D700| Tripod
Frame 1- AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm @ 24mm
Frame 2- AF-D Nikkor 80-200mm @ 200mm

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