fstopandsee

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!

I wanted to make sure I got this shot before all the snow was gone in the mountains. There was supposed to be some interesting weather that night, but I wasn’t lucky enough to get crazy clouds for sunset. What I did get were some great colors to offset the little tree on the rock.

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’m not sure exactly where I was flying over, but I knew there was a sunrise and that I needed to capture it.

I was in San Francisco recently to cheer on my favorite runner in the Nike Women’s Marathon. I don’t think I’ve ever been in Union Square for sunrise before so I took the opportunity to work on my photography!

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!

I saw a massive moon rising over the highway on my way home recently. Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me. By the time I got back to this spot, the moon had risen further and become smaller in the sky. The sun continued to set behind me, so the sky did become more colorful. Overall I like the lights of the traffic, the sky, and of course the way the moon turned out!

A beautiful purple orchid, as seen at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

This photo is dominated by the U.S. Bank Tower in Sacramento, whose bright lights slowly change color all night. You can also see the glowing golden Tower Bridge off in the distance. I was out to take advantage of some clouds in the sky, which won’t be that common for the rest of the summer.