fstopandsee

Sometimes it is the darkest skies that have the best colors. After the sun goes down the little light that was left over San Francisco was deep blue and purple and very moody.

I’ve wanted to experiment with day time long exposures to capture waves like this for a long time. I finally got the right ND filter to smooth these waves out and make them look more like smoke floating around than waves. The jagged rocks of the Mendocino Headlands provide contrast to the soft look of the waves with their crazy shapes and unique arches.

Because everything around me is so red I guess.

Summer is winding down to its final days, and as usual I already have snow and ski season on the brain. We got our first snow in Tahoe this week, and I dug into the archives to find this image of some early snow in the Eastern Sierras. Winter is coming and the mountains are calling!

Scouting out the perfect sunset spot. Standing around in the cold. Being late for dinner. Sometimes it all pays off and the sunset happens just as you pictured it with the perfect red rocks, clouds and colors from the sunset.

The hike to Lake Aloha is well worth it, especially if you take the water taxi across Echo Lake to cut off a few miles. This ended up being a 13 mile hike with a few extra detours. I took the extra trip up the loose rocks to get a good view of the whole lake and Pyramid Peak hanging on to some late summer snow.

I love taking photos when I travel, and my trip to the Midwest this year had some great opportunities to do just that! The sky seemed clear earlier in the evening, but later crazy lightning streaked almost sideways across the sky for at least 45 mins. The weather is just more exciting in the Midwest!

This wasn’t the shot I was going for but it was the shot that I got! I was playing around with my ND filter to smooth out the waves and make the lake look misty. I got a little bit of that effect, but ended up making the picture more about the sunstar I was able to capture shortly after sunrise. The smoother water also lets you see the rocks above and below the surface clearly.

Pebble Beach on Washington Island has many rocks, but you can’t take any of them home! That would be against the rules. Instead I just enjoyed all the layers of color in the water.

Sometimes it’s nice to take a ride, and sometimes it’s nice to take a picture of the ride!