So many flowers!

I had expected rhododendrons, and there were some in their glory, but there were also many other glories.

Saturday in GGP

I stopped believing the weather forecast last year: this was supposed to be "cloudy" all day... 

Fast lights on an inky bay

Coming on the heels of long exposures of cars, I decided to create some long exposures of boats.  San Francisco Bay is VERY deep black at night, and there are some evening ferries that pass near a fishing pier, so I could get reasonably close to them before the bright lights of their piers flooded them.  So last night, after dinner, I grabbed my tripod and Lomo Instant Wide Glass camera (with fresh batteries!), and headed to that pier.

The way light scatters on the surface of the water, reflecting more brightly than their source shines directly, is quite interesting to me. 

This was a fun experiment, and I'm glad I tried it with bright, close boats rather than with more distant ships at night.

Echoes sculpture by night

The sculpture "Echoes - A Voice from Uncharted Waters" by Mathias Gmachl looks fabulous at night!  

(This installation is part of the Port of San Francisco's Big Art Loop.)

The Refreshed 'Bay Lights' are even brighter!

So bright! So vivid!  I'm delighted that the Bay Lights installation has returned, and looks so wonderful. 

Sunday Colors

I had big plans today, but by noon I realized it was too hot to stay outside.  But: there was a lot of color while I was out! 

Saturday Colors (28 March 2026)

It was bright once I left the foggy beach! 

No Kings 28 March 2026

 That combover costume is SUPERB!  Here are just a few favorite scenes.

Looking down at beaches, looking over batteries

There were a lot of people out, but it didn't feel or look crowded. 

Battery greens

The mix of greens is pleasing... 

Presidio Plants

It felt like summer, but it may still be spring. 

Battery Graffiti

There was more colorful graffiti on the battery I first passed through, but what made me laugh was a collection of bird watchers on the roofs, while a hawk just sort of perched on a corner beyond their notice...  (See photo on the lower left, above.)

There was a good range of color and styles.

Batteries to Bluffs

I took a vacation day!  (What?  No, really, this is a thing that sometimes happens.). I went to the west side of the Presidio and had a lovely day, though I got too much sun.  The light was muted by high clouds all morning, but the sun blazed all afternoon. 

Long Exposures with Instax Wide

I spent the darker months of 2025 making abstracts on color film through long exposures of neon and other colorful lights, and it was FUN.  But I haven't really made any representational (non-abstract, recognizeable subject) long exposures in YEARS.  I have a roll of film of planes taking off at SFO from some distance, but...  It has been a while.

Yesterday, a clever friend sent me his first, HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, technically superb long exposures on film made with a grown-up camera.  I oooh'd, aaah'd, and was delighted.  

And then I thought: how can I do something like that, but less sensibly? I happen to have an absurdly large Lomo Instant Wide Glass camera weighing down a stack of books, and confirmed it has a BULB mode.  I put batteries in it; it didn't work.  I put new batteries in it, got a happy blue light, walked for blocks, set it up on a tripod, and then found it didn't work again: I HAD PUT MORE DEAD BATTERIES INTO IT.  (D'oh!). I put everything away, charged two sets of batteries, bought a battery for the camera's remote control (in the lens cap!?!?), waited a couple days, and found myself ready to try again.  For my first several frames, I dramatically overexposed the film, based on my experience of shooting ISO 200 for two seconds, yet somehow thinking that I should shoot for 30 seconds at ISO 800.  (HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahwaaaaaah.)

Anyway: I figured it out.  Maybe 8 seconds for distant traffic subjects is good.  Streetcars are far more abstract than I realized, as are buses.  The lights atop fire department vehicles are AWESOME, and now I'm at risk of loitering near my neighborhood firehouse for ART REASONS.

Sunday, So Warm

A lovely brunch with a friend, a walk, and then a return to my errands on a roundabout route...  Today has been a good day.

Out in the city with a neutral density filter

After some washed out (pale) Instax prints, I located a half neutral density filter (half dark, half clear) that came with the Lomo Instant Square Glass camera, to see if I can improve my results. 

This succeeded in giving me darker results, though sometimes darker than I had hoped.  I'll get a feel for it with more practice.

 

Ranunculus (which sounds like a cloud, but is really a flower)(21 March 2026)

 

More walking around SF (21 March 2026)

San Francisco can be so visually satisfying! 

Sunny Mission Walk (Instax)

The weather was nice, and I didn't want to work on any of my medium format projects, and so I went for a morning walk through part of the Excelsior and the Mission.  I enjoyed myself!  And quickly used up all the film I had with me.

 

White blossoms

Perhaps it really is spring, though it is hotter than summer this week. 

Ripples (toasted air 17 March 2026)

These patterns mesmerized me...  This isn't the first time, but it's the first time in a while that the horizon has been so brown. 

Dawn with Bay Lights and Birds (17 March 2026)

The light installation on the Bay Bridge called the Bay Lights has been reinstalled, and will officially be back on starting March 20th! 

The Seashore (15 March 2026)

The Pacific Ocean is vast and makes amazing sounds... 

Alcaraz and Nihonmachi on Instax Mini

 The Alcaraz Theater needed a look, and if only I'd brought along a neutral density filter (which I had in a box elsewhere), I could have brought out the colors in the tiles at a level that would satisfy me...

Ah, well.  I also took a trip to Japan Center for tea, and took a few images while there.

My neighborhood's first cherry blossoms (14 March 2026)

 

Fiery Urban Sunset (13 March 2026)

 

Alameda Highlights (13 March 2026)

 There is beauty everywhere...

San Mateo (7 March 2026)

I recently wondered how the San Mateo Japanese Garden is faring, and whether or not Spring properly arrived, so I took Caltrain down to have a look.

San Mateo was festive: several blocks had been converted into lively restaurant and pedestrian districts, with festive murals and abundant outdoor seating.  What a great update!

The garden was filled with people with strollers (despite signage warning that the paths can't accommodate them) and stroller parking: I must have hit the exact time of day everyone decides to visit?  Several trees in the garden were leafless, and so the forms I recall (and shot in infrared) were missing.  I'll have to visit again sometime later in the year.

The park surrounding the Japanese garden is undergoing a playground renovation, and so was mostly fenced off.  The camellias I could access were lovely.

My return walk featured a very odd security camera display plus a lovely mural.  I'm glad I satisfied my curiosity!

 

Night's lights (5 March 2026)

Color at night is appealing. 

Low sun, yellow light (5 March 2026)

I like how the shadows of passersby interrupt the gold sunlight... The fountain is in 525 Market Street's plaza.

Late plum (3 March 2026)

This plum tree has most of its leaves, but one part of the tree just got the memo about spring arriving...  This one is in Alameda. 

Yellow bird with giant echium (5 March 2026)

So small! So brightly colored! 

Wispy Clouds Above the Bay (27 February 2026)

You know what I'm like.  (A partner observed that I speak of San Francisco Bay with such love...) 

San Diego Arrival (23 February 2026)

I went to San Diego for a brief business trip, and went to Coronado for the first time.  Since the time was dominated with meetings, I didn't take photos - unusual for me! 

Posters Post Bowl (9 February 2026)

I like the design of these posters, trying to mimic older printing styles... 

Fog Wanders in and Drapes Itself over the Bridge (8 February 2026)

When we say to be ready for anything when you are out in San Francisco, we don't usually mean Godzilla, but we do usually mean dramatic changes of temperature and weather conditions. 

Super Bowl Night Lights (4 February 2026)

The hype was... pretty: three views at the San Francisco Ferry Building plaza of lights associated with Super Bowl LX. 

Magnolia and camellia days (1 February 2026)

It feels like spring!  Perhaps it is. 

Early magnolias (31 January 2026)

What spectacular flowers...

 

And the plum trees exploded with flowers (31 January 2026)

...and my many friends believe they are cherry blossoms...  They are similar!  But the timing is wrong.  (The local sequence really is: plum trees with purple leaves, then plum trees with green leaves, then single cherries, than double cherries.) 

Skies above the bay, and often the bridge (29 January 2026)

Still surprised tugboats aren't called pushboats or shoveboats. 

Brilliant morning (28 January 2026)

I love when the sunrise builds suspense. 

Atmospheric Tuesday

The air is so packed with pollution and moisture, you can almost grab it…

Plum blossom morning

Saturday with a big camera

That doesn't narrow it down within my camera collection, I admit. I'm trying to get to know the Lomo Instant Wide Glass, which I haven't taken out often enough.