fstopandsee

Everyone in this town knows that the middle lane is the fast lane.

There is nothing more American than watching fireworks after a baseball game. This is exactly what I did last night in celebration of Independence Day!

This…is the super moon. Tonight the moon reached perigee, the closest it will be in its orbit to the earth all year. It appeared 14 percent larger than any other moon of the year and dwarfed the traffic on the highway. Enjoy!

I recently hiked the Grand Canyon and spent some time in the Southwest, so this blog may have that kind of vibe going on for awhile. After watching the sun set facing the other direction, I went back to this spot. The light seemed flat at first, but also really brought out some of the colors and removed all the shadows that previously darkened many of the details.

A friend asked me to check out his 8-16mm lens and see what I could do with it, claiming I was some type of “wide-angle expert.” I decided to try shooting Sacramento’s Tower Bridge. In a perfect world, there would be a safe place in the middle to stand, but there is not, so I settled for the sidewalk. I learned a couple things. First, 8mm versus 10mm isn’t as much of a difference as I thought. Second, I shouldn’t be so lazy and need to bring my tripod next time.

In addition to experimenting with 8mm, I took the opportunity to try out DNG files. I’m not sure I’m sold on the benefits yet, but the space saving is going to come in handy pretty soon!

I’ve driven through the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island many times, but never stopped to check it out. When I finally did, I learned there really isn’t that much there except a lot of “No Trespassing” signs and abandoned buildings. I did find this vantage point in a precarious spot overlooking the Bay Bridge. It wasn’t easy to hang out there very long, but the view of San Francisco was worth it!

The Cottonwood is a fantastic old ski lodge overlooking Truckee, CA that has been restored as a restaurant. An abandoned ski lift stands nearby that used to take skiers up all 700 feet of available vertical. Since then the resorts in Tahoe have greatly expanded their terrain, but this place remains to show what skiing in the area used to be like.

I’ve been in Boston quite a bit recently, so I decided to enjoy this particularly cold night out at Piers Park photographing the city. A few tiny clouds rolled in at just the right time to make things a bit more interesting.

Call it the Stevenson Expressway, call it Interstate 55, but I call it a nice photo from the air. I was in Chicago and caught this view on my flight out. Of course I was hoping for a strange and unlikely route back across the city skyline from Midway, but that didn’t happen. Then I was hoping for some beautiful light from sunset that happened a few moments before this, but they turned the plane around and went back to the gate to pick up a passenger (honestly!) burning my precious time. In the end it all worked out, and I got some nice lighting in the sky and an interesting interchange below.

Sometimes I like things just a little off kilter. In this case, Capitol Mall in Sacramento at night!