August in brief

I have been… occupied with other things, but don’t want to forget August’s many highlights. So this is a shorthand entry for many things. 

Sunday was fun

I had a great photo walk, learned that a fellow commuter is also a film photographer (and she appreciates monochrome films), and wore myself out after weekends without direct sunlight. 

Grey Sunday Morning

Clearing my mind before returning to my audiobook…

My favorite dry dock

I'm just saying: the west-facing wall looks like a contemporary painting, and gives me many painting ideas... 

Sun on our eastern shore

My neighborhood remained tucked under blankets of fog and clouds all day; and yet, just across town, the skies were so blue... 

Union Square Station (Powell) Public Art in Greens

 

A few nights in Seattle

I went to Seattle on business for a few evenings this week...  It was warm, the skies were clear, and it was generally UNLIKE Seattle is for most of the year!

After hours in a plane the first night, and in meetings all day the second, I needed to walk.

It's been perhaps ten years since I was last there...  The waterfront (in what I think of as the tourist district) has been built up significantly during that time, with new buildings bursting from older industrial ones, and vast blocks of new apartments with gorgeous views of the water...

The Seattle Aquarium has expanded dramatically since my last visit!  The cycle lanes, pedestrian overpass, and theater-like plaza are all lovely on a warm night.

Ranier, so often hidden in clouds, was fully visible from Mercer Island...

In short: it was a lovely trip with improbably glorious weather.  

 

Nowhere In Particular (boat tram)

One of the conductors pretended to row…  I ran my errands in style today!

Reddest Bathroom

SFMoMA is a rare place where I am glad to use the bathrooms, because they are visually so satisfying.

 

Art: Possibly Watersheds (5 July 2025)

I like the arrows and topographical forms! This is a detail from one of several panels on (South) Van Ness between Market and Mission Streets.

Good font (5 July 2025)

Good font, good shadows. 

Out and about on Independence Day (4 July 2025)

The sky was clear and the light was great by the time I got downtown on our national holiday...  I had two types of expired film to use, and so visited downtown to continue my architectural details series in Lomochrome purple, and the botanical garden for expired color slide film.  

The fact that it is expired makes for low expectations and the opportunity for the pleasant surprise of my expectations being exceeded. 

I shot the slide film with a portrait lens, and realized that my golden era of plant photography involved the special recipe of a single lens reflex camera, a fast (f1.4) lens, and various cheap close-up lenses which provided soft backgrounds of high quality.  I've been trying to get the same results with other equipment (including my newest digital camera), and hope to be pleased with yesterday's experiment, but must admit that my old approach gave me unusually good results...  I understand how special they were more now that I struggle to achieve similar looks.  (I can't easily go back: work I had done on the camera created new problems...)

So let me say: I appreciate phone photos very much: they give me very satisfying results.

June Highlights: Arms Alone (26 June 2025)

There was no reason for these to be here, on a utility box, and yet there they were... 

June Highlights: Nightclub

I have just one friend who enjoys dancing, and I don't know how this is possible, but she joined me, and we had a great time! 

June Highlights: Near Pier 70 (20 June 2025)

I have a rust fetish that exceeds normal ranges, and had a great time with wonderful light at and around Pier 70. 

June Highlights: Sunset (18 June 2025)

I rushed across town after work in hopes of seeing the cliffs lit by the setting sun, and made it just in time. 

June Highlights: Asian Art Museum (15 June 2025)

I dropped by the Asian on a hot afternoon, and refreshed myself with gorgeous art.

 

June Highlights: Yerba Buena (15 June 2025)

 

These are festive - and VERY large!

June Highlights: Mission Festivals

Carnaval returned during a local street festival, when the dancers who had worked so hard for the parade were able to share the spirit with locals by dancing again and posing for photos. 

June Highlights: Presidio Flora

I went for a walk on an overcast day with friends in the Presidio: the lighting was just fine for flower portraits.