Duck family (1 May 2026)

I startled them by saying, "OOOOH!" too loudly. 

Two pale blue-green boats (27 April 2026)

 Boats come in so many shapes....

Ceiling (26 April 2026)

 The ceiling above Shiota's show was also vivid, but more geometric.

Blood and biology at Chiharu Shiota show (26 April 2026)

I work at a cancer medicine company, and some of the art by this artist, who was treated for a cancer, really resonated with me!

 

Tilted and Filtered Bridges (25 April 2026)

Being able to distort a view is a handy thing.  These were tilted in my phone, then filtered with "Shift."
 

Hydrangeas in a Vase

The blues really perked up once I trimmed their stems so they could absorb more water. 

Go Vals! (Valkyries vs Storm pre-season game 25 April 2026)

This is one of the most cheerful, family-friendly, women-friendly, diverse, feels-safe-bringing-the-baby-(with-sound-blocking-headphones) fandoms EVAH. 

Art on Hyde

 Up top: the rear of the Orpheum Theater has a mural by eL Seed called "Chiaroscuro: Light Within the Shadows," (missionlocal.org) which has a partner mural within San Quentin.  

Bottom: neon sculpture by Kongkee titled "Taotie" on the east terrace of the Asian Art Museum.

Both pieces look great to pedestrians walking down Hyde toward Market Street.

Metal sail and government reflections

The big metal sail, and the reflections of an older federal building, give the shady, north side facade visual interest. 

2026 SF Cherry Blossom Festival

It's that time of year again, and even though I'm STILL recovering from this week's massive migraines, I braved the "cloudy" weather and went out to watch the parade.  

The parade is short (2 hours!), it has firetrucks and toy-like cars, it has popular dogs marching along with their owners, it features TAIKO DRUMMING (which I always love), and it features people in colorful costumes filling the street.  I'm a huge fan of the Yokakoi dance supergroup, made up of multiple teams that are so energetic and fill the street with sound, movement, and color.

The parade is so cheerful!

This is one of those especially festive days when I want to SHOUT the thing that everyone already knows, that  'I LOVE SF.'

The mikoshi (a portable Shinto shrine) looked amazing (and SUPER HEAVY), and the volunteers who carried it on their shoulders, packed closely together, did a great job.

(Somehow, while this was all going on, I did NOT have a headache!  What a nice break from that.)

Hydrangeas (18 April 2026)

Just looking at them is refreshing... 

Double Cherry Blossoms (18 April 2026)

SO PINK!  SO RUFFLED! 

Superb door hardware (18 April 2026)

Such a good door. 

Mikoshi blessing (18 April 2026)

I arrived in time to participate in the prayer to bless the mikoshi that will be in Sunday's parade, and for the safety and well-being of all who carry it, plus the community.  It was sweet.  (Also: great hats.) 

Hard Civic Surfaces (18 April 2026)

It was bright at Civic Center yesterday, despite the "cloudy" forecast (and updated yet inaccurate hourly conditions).  I liked looking at each of these. 

Three images of Robert Woodward's Peacock Fountain (nicknamed Dandelion Fountain)

Peacock Fountain by Robert Woodward is well-known in my family: my father photographed it extensively in black and white in my childhood, and his photographs hung in his parents' home.

I think of it fondly.  Embarcadero Center casts a long shadow over it, which makes taking well-lit photographs difficult.  I spent time sitting in the shade, waiting for the slot of sun between buildings 2 and 3 to light it.  My patience paid off.  While it was never FULLY lit by the narrow shaft of sun, it was lit well enough for me to photograph it to my satisfaction. 

Views in and Around Embarcadero Center

I had an elaborate discussion with my Cousin based on how NEW Louise Nevelson's 'Sky Tree' sculpture (the dark, shiny one) looks, before he concluded that it has been retreated (re-anodized?).  It looks so clean!  So new! I didn't recognize it, though I have images of one side of it in my archive. 

Levi Plaza

Designer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon has been such an influence in California!  Not just her amazing work at Sea Ranch, but also at SFMoMA, and now Levi Plaza.  

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.