A Saturday Adventure

I spent some time along the coast on Saturday. We stopped in San Francisco to take some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge from a direction not seen often. The city behind the bridge mimicked the shape and lines of the bridge.

We changed directions a bit and headed to Point Reyes National Seashore. The drive was interesting. During the rains this winter and early spring there have been mud slides and other dangers along the road. There is even some closed roads due to damage. I spent more time paying attention to the driving, bicycles and other traffic that no pictures of this portion of the trip were taken.

But at the seashore I felt more like I was on a safari. Harbor Seals, Turkey Vultures, Crows and Tule Elk… oh my.

I met a lovely couple where we saw the Tule Elks. They were pulled over and that is what caught my eye before the Elks did. I am so glad they had pulled over. I was excited to get a chance to see this herd.

 

California State Fair Photo Contest.

My May 3rd 2017 I will need to choose at least one photo, possibly more, to enter into the California State Fair’s photo contest. There are 15 divisions with between 2 to 10 classes.  The competition is open to Amateur photographers both adult and youth, and the entrant must be a California Resident. I can not submit a single photo in multiple divisions, so I am considering which of the following I want to do, and of course what to submit. I would love feedback on the photos I post as possible entries. Or even suggestions on any of my previous photos that may work well for this.

Per http://www.castatefair.org/photography/

Division 27 – Animals
Class 1 – Domestic/Pets
Class 2 – Farm Animals
Class 3 – Wildlife (non-captive)
Class 4 – Animals (captive)
Class 5 – Insects/Bugs/Arachnids

Division 28 – Architecture
Class 1 – Bridges
Class 2 – Cityscape
Class 3 – Monuments
Class 4 – Rural Buildings
Class 5 – Urban Buildings

Division 32 – Fair (Any County or State Fair)
Class 1 – People
Class 2 – Places
Class 3 – Things

Division 34 – Landscapes
Class 1 – Landscape
Class 2 – Nightscape
Class 3 – Panorama
Class 4 – Seascape
Class 5 – Skyscape

Division 35 – Life in California Note: Photo must be taken in California.
Class 1 – CA Agriculture
Class 2 – CA Landscape
Class 3 – CA Nature
Class 4 – CA Water/Drought

Division 36 – Nature
Class 1 – Flora
Class 2 – Macro
Class 3 – Weather
Class 4 – Any Other

Current candidates:

 

 

Red Tailed Hawk

 

This Red Tailed Hawk was sitting on a tree across the parking lot from my car.

I have not done any editing on the shots to improve the framing or colors. I was so excited to have gotten the series I just wanted to share them.

The Beach Dogs

On my trip to Asilomar I found myself taking many pictures of the dog out for walks. I thought I would share them.

 

 

Christmas in Asilomar

This year for Christmas I went to Pacific Grove CA. This area is known for the monarch butterfly wintering over. I admit I did not know this till I had left the area. So I will be planning another visit before the butterflies leave for the spring.

Here are some of the pictures taken from 12/24/2016 to 12/25/2016.

Super Moon

Here is a group of pictures, un-edited, I took of the Super Moon in November.

 

Results …

Answer	Votes	Percent
Butterfly and Thistle	47	21%
Smoke no mirror	23	10%
sunset on treasure island	19	8%
moorings at emerybille marina	18	8%
Sunset at cliff house #2	13	6%
Vulture in Black and White	13	6%
Sun Touched Redwood	11	5%
Vulture in color	10	4%
Glass Coral #2	9	4%
Harness	7	3%
Love’s Bouquet	7	3%
Glass Coral #1	6	3%
Petal in Pink	6	3%
Fallen Redwood	6	3%
Moss	5	2%
masts emeryville marina	5	2%
Desert Drive	4	2%
Fairy #2	3	1%
Fairy #1	3	1%
Mermaid #1	3	1%
Desert Flowers	2	1%
Vegas Sunrise	2	1%
Mermaid #2	2	1%
Sunset at Cliff house #1	2	1%
Fairy #3	1	0%
Almost Full Moon	1	0%
Fire Touched Redwood	1	0%
Hill-Cat #1	0	0%
Hill-Cat #2	0	0%