Tuesday, November 30, 2010

First Game


Defending the Inbound Pass
Originally uploaded by Wayne-K
Today was the Amador High School freshman basketball team's first game of the season. They played hard and started out the season with a win.

It was a tough game for the team's volunteer photographer. Seems like I couldn't get the right angle on a lot of shots and the referee made a better door than a window. Fortunately, I have a dozen or so more games to figure things out.

249/365 - Sky

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Team Photog


246/365 - Trapped
Originally uploaded by Wayne-K
The Amador Valley High School freshman basketball team was looking for a volunteer photographer. I'm not much of a sports photographer and I don't have the ideal gear for it, but I figured it would be fun.

I practiced shooting at the team's scrimmage this past weekend, experimenting with different lenses and shooting perspectives. It's a lot tougher than it looks, that's for sure!

"What's That in Your Pocket?" (Cropped)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Duty, Honor, Country

I flew to Washington D.C. for my good buddy's retirement ceremony. Mark retired from the US Army after 21+ years of service. I had the honor of being his commissioning officer back in 1989, when he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army. I can't believe it's been 21 years already!

Here's a photo taken at the Air Force Memorial. I loved the reflection of the Air Force Memorial and Washington D.C. in the wall. I asked Mark to step into the photo to add a human element to the shot. It was a challenge getting an Army officer to pose for a photograph at the Air Force Memorial, but friendships override inter-service rivalries!
241/365 - US Air Force Medal of Honor Recipients

While in Washington D.C., we also visited the U.S. National Arboretum. Here are the National Capitol Columns.
240/365 - National Capitol Columns

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Love

"To love and to be loved is to feel the sun from both sides."
-- David Viscott

The bible says, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13). More recently, Alan Jackson sang about it in this moving September 11 tribute.

Show your loved ones how much you love them. Hug them and kiss them every day (and several times a day)...even if they are just a frog.

About the Photo:
Darling Angel gave Mia this beautiful sunflower. When I saw it last night, I stuck it in water because I knew I wanted to take a picture of it. I decided a sunburst would add interest to the sunflower. I used the cedar tree in the front yard to shield the sun (for a more controlled sunburst), a small aperture to create the sunburst, and my flash to illuminate the flower.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Happy Veteran's Day


229/365 - Stuck in Autumn
Originally uploaded by Wayne-K
Happy Veteran's Day and a big thank you to all the men and women who serve or have served in the Armed Forces! Our country is free and our flag waves proudly because of your service and sacrifice.


Here's a leaf that just isn't ready for winter yet.  I don't blame him because I'm not ready for the cold either!

The ducks at Shadow Cliffs send their thanks to our veterans too!

Two Pairs

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Light


228/365 - Geese Drafting
Originally uploaded by Wayne-K
Photography is an art dependent on light. Light brings out colors, contrast, and textures. Light creates mood. Confucius says, "Bad subject with good light is better than good subject with bad light."

Darkness falls upon us so early nowadays. I need to make some adjustments to my photography to accommodate daylight savings time. I either need to get to work earlier and get off earlier, so I can shoot after work in the warm afternoon light....or I need to shoot early in the morning and go to work a little later.

I got to work early today and got off early, so I could head over to Shadow Cliffs Regional Park for some quick shots. I shot these beautiful birds on the back lake.

Duck

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Happy DST


Happy California Cow
Originally uploaded by Wayne-K
Happy Daylight Savings Time!

Before I went to bed last night, I set my alarm clock to 6 AM so I could take some photographs of the sunrise. However, when the alarm went off this morning, I did not want to get out of bed. But, I thought about it....sunrise is at 7:30 AM today...and it will be at 6:30 AM tomorrow! It won't get any easier....so I got up and headed to the Morgan Territory Regional Preserve.

Here's a picture of a cow grazing....she was totally oblivious to the beautiful sunrise behind her. Perhaps she was just checking out my nice camera?

Here are two more California happy cows.

225/365 - Grazing at Sunrise

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Pleasanton Fire of 2010


Pleasanton on Fire
Originally uploaded by Wayne-K
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 burned for days and killed hundreds of people. The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 destroyed hundreds of city blocks and left a quarter of a million people homeless. Hurricane Iniki hit the Hawaiian Islands in 1992 with gusts up to 160 MPH and was the third most damaging hurricane in US history.

On Nov 4, 2010, the city of Pleasanton, California was on fire. Fortunately, it only lasted a few minutes and the fiery flames were extinguished before many even noticed it. You won't read about it in the newspaper, you won't hear about it in the news, and your grand kids won't learn about it in school. But, you read it here first...and I captured the moment on Kodachrome digital film.

Here is what I believe to be the first photo of the fire, flames licking away at the heavens and smoke filling the early evening sky.

Photography Mathematics

Ideally, one's photography skills and images would plot like a linear graph over time (ergo, y = ax, with "a" being a constant greater than zero). An exponential graph would be even better, but not realistic. For me, it seems like my images have been following a cosine graph (or sine, depending on the phase).

I'm sure a few of you (ergo, non-Iolani or USC grads) are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, so let me explain in non-mathematical terms. Some days my photos are cool, other days they look like Facebook snapshots, then they look cool, then they look like elementary school artwork....get the picture (no pun intended)?

Being a non-professional photographer, I need to work for a living, and having a family, I often have other commitments...so, some days, I'm too tired to create a nice photo, too lazy to seek out a nice subject, or my brain is so cluttered, I just can't focus on photography.

I've been in a rut for the last few weeks and yesterday, I decided I needed to snap out of it (no pun intended). I left the office at 4 PM and headed to my happy place....the Pleasanton Ridge. I'm at home on the trails and it's a great place to clear my head and let my spirit loose.

The challenge this time of year is the sun. The trail head is east facing, so the ridge blocks the late afternoon sun. I walked briskly and jogged up the ridge to get to the beautiful light at the top. Fortunately, I got to the ridgeline before the sun hid behind the next ridge.

Here's a picture of a few oak trees soaking in the sun. The temperatures have been near 80 degrees this week, so it was a great day to hit the trails.