Vacationeering

Every year in May I get the same warning from work; I've maxed out my total vacation time and will lose the next year's accruement if I don't use up some time soon. Usually this leaves me scrambling to find three to four weeks of road trips and photo expeditions. Those adventures could easily fill three to four blog posts. But as one can see from the time since my last posting this year's vacation experience was a little different.

With a beautiful baby girl on the way and an eight-months pregnant wife who probably shouldn't be forced to ride thru obscure, windy, wilderness backroads I decided to keep this vacation close to home. In fact it was all at home, for four weeks. Sounds a little boring, or relaxing depending on your point of view, but it was exactly the time I needed to finish a project worthy of a good blog post.

After a few days of drawing up some plans, and being a little lazy as any good vacationer should, I headed up to the lumber yard to pick up some hardwood...


and started making a mess of the garage.



I took a few breaks to do some painting inside the house. Here's Dexter helping me show off the homemade stenciling in the nursery


The beginning woodworking class I had taken on campus a couple years ago made building projects seem easy. But tackling corner joinery for the first time without any training chewed up a whole week of the vacation. And little did I know that after meticulously cutting everything down to a hundredth of an inch the hardest part would be trying to put them together before the glue hardened, which can happen very fast on 100º+ days.


I pieced together a frame...


and tested everything to make sure it all fit.


Somehow I actually measured everything right. I guess some of that money I gave UC Davis for an engineering degree payed off. The original plan was to paint the dresser white to match the crib we bought. I almost felt bad painting over some of the nice grain on the wood..


but seeing the final product in all white left no doubt it was the correct decision



It might not be as beautiful as Multnomah Falls in Oregon or Bryce Canyon in Utah but it was a rewarding and useful vacation that Abby will hopefully be able to cherish for a long time to come.

Of course, being a dedicated photographer I still found time to take a few photos worth sharing from the past couple months as well as building furniture.

In late May we were still getting rain here in NorCal and I wanted to incorporate those skies with the agriculture here in the county. I was on my way to this freshly planted tomato field near Conaway Ranch...



when nature surprised me with a rainbow over the growing corn fields I had photographed earlier.



Yolo county almost looks like Hawaii in that shot, something you really can't say too often. I few days later, while bored at a rivercats game, I was treated to another kind of rainbow. I was lucky enough to look up after a jet has passed high overhead, its contrail leaving a shadow on the clouds below it that were creating the sun halo, a very strange thing to see.



Of course my favorite thing about Rivercats games are the Saturday fireworks. The trusty photo near the bridge:



Wanting to try something different I headed out again the following week when they were doing Friday and Saturday fireworks. On Friday I tried a shot along the river further away from the bridge...


but really didn't like it. So Saturday, July 3rd I tried a really different angle, to shoot the fireworks from Davis. Miranda tagged along since we wouldn't be going too far and we headed into the fields east of town. Those were still just a little too far away so we went to the edge of the causeway and set up on top of the levee. For some reason several other places decided to have fireworks on the 3rd of July, too. So we got to sit and watch two distant shows in Sac and another, closer one in Woodland while waiting for the Rivercats game to end. Despite the mosquitos it was a fun place to sit and watch the show and the city skyline.

Wheat and Sun

As anyone who reads this blog knows I have a little infatuation with sunsets. From hanging out on campouts and cookouts to climbing the roof of our old house in Suisun or finding a beach in Monterey on the day of my engagement just to watch the last light of the day, many great memories have been made under the setting sun. They are both astronomical and artistic, spiritual and scientific. A wonderful coincidence of time and space that greets us everyday. They are the ultimate subject for photographers who live to be at the right place at the right time.

For many years in Davis that right place was a field on the northeast side of town, just between Pole Line Rd and the old cannery. The field was home to one of the most unique and magnificent trees in the world. I would frequently drive or ride past the gnarled and weathered old Valley Oak, occasionally at sunset, and think about what a great photo she would make. But I always had someplace to be, too busy to stop and enjoy the moment. There would be time to come back and admire its majesty. Then one day there wasn't. Her end had come during a wet and windy late winter storm. As her time on earth had run out, so had my chance for time with her. And at that time, it was the awakening I needed to help reinvigorate my photography teaching me that time is precious and I should seize every opportunity I can. In a sense the death of the tree gave birth to this era in my photography (I know, it's like, whoa, that's deep man)

Over three years later I still find myself riding out to that field around sundown hoping a new old tree has sprung up. The tree is gone but the photogenic old barn is still there. I really should take advantage of it while it's still standing.



The field where the tree stood is still cool but exploiting a few deficiencies in my very expensive optics helps make up for the lack of a strong subject.





Here is the old tree from the one and only time I stopped to take a picture of her back in 1999.



There's no telling how many great sunsets she witnessed.

Changes Afoot

As most of you who read this blog know my life has changed a lot since my last post. I've married a great girl and together we are expecting another great little girl to join our family. Combine the search for American made baby products with the usual uptick in work that comes with spring and I haven't had time to get out and take photos for myself in a while.

Last week I did a short bike ride around Wildhorse golf course to check out the burrowing owls. Mostly they were just hanging out next to their burrow but when a dad came by with his dog off leash it scared one of the owls up into a small tree nearby.


In the field just to the east of the golf course and the owls a northern harrier was being harassed by a red winged blackbird as it cruised low to the ground.



The bike ride was supposed to be a short one as Mir and I had some shopping to do but the clouds told me to hang out just a bit longer. A small creek near the owl dens set up a nice foreground for the sunset.



The reflections in the creek were a good enough show by themselves.



Last friday evening I had an assignment out past Rumsey. While I wasn't excited about the 50 mile drive, each way, I figured it would be a good opportunity to check out the scenery around the county. I found a nice old oak in the middle of a field near Madison and, with a young crescent moon following the sunset, I trekked through the dirt to try and capture it.



Yesterday, after an assignment in Woodland, I again took advantage of a drive through the country and stopped at a freshly planted corn field. Clouds from the passing storm and vignetting from a large aperture helped set up a moody shot.



Not having to travel very far for cool photos has made life a little easier. And, as if on cue, a pair of white tailed kites have set up a nest in a tree three houses down from us. Now I barely have to leave my front porch to get cool photos.



The thing I'm looking forward to most, though, is when I will have a beautiful new subject to shoot every day here in our house.
Someday soon.

Weekday at Burney's

Two years ago last week Miranda and I found ourselves on the doorstep of the Grand Canyon in the middle of a big winter snowstorm. I had just been to the canyon that summer and it was amazing to see how different everything looked under a blanket of snow. That trip got me hooked on finding more scenic winter wonderlands. My attention turned to Yosemite, one of the most beautiful places on earth that is only a few hours away and a frequent recipient of snow. I bookmarked the live webcam page and weather reports waiting for the right time to strike. Unfortunately the park service's tire chain requirement for snowy conditions (an absolute no-no according to the Audi owner's manual) made me hesitant to make the journey. And so I missed winter 2008 and then winter 2009, kicking myself in regret every time I looked at the fresh snow on the webcams.

After pondering my options, renting a 4x4, buying snow tires, getting a whole new car (not!) I found a simple solution. Skip Yosemite and head north to Burney Falls. I didn't know the falls existed until googling waterfall pictures after our trip to the columbia river gorge last summer. I found a pic of the falls in snow, mapped out the easy 4 hour drive, then waited for the right weather. Although I'd hoped that 'right weather' would be on a sunday so Mir could go too, the forecasts showed a good storm on sunday and monday clearing by tuesday morning. Hopefully that would give me snowy photos without becoming a snowy photographer.

I set the alarm for 4:30am, got to Redding by sunrise, passed thru the tail end of the snowstorm on the peaks about 20 miles from Burney, and pulled up to the park just as the ranger was plowing a path to the highway. The only part I didn't plan well was forgetting to bring small bills with me (trying to force a pay envelope with 32 quarters in it thru the tiny pay slot wasn't happening) Unfortunately most of that snow I drove thru had skipped over the falls while the mist from the falls kept the snow from collecting at the base of the falls.

Burney Falls from the top of the trail:

Burney Falls from the bottom:

The falls looked like something you'd see on Hawaii or Fiji and not in the middle of snow covered California mountains.

The amount of water flowing over the falls was almost deafening. For every shot like this i had two that turned out like this

I was a little sad I didn't get any great snowy waterfall shots. The trail just a hundred yards downstream of the falls had a nice blanket on it.

The best part of the trip was something I hadn't expected. When I told the park ranger it was my first time to the falls she said she'd go ahead and plow the road all the way down to the lake in case I wanted to check it out. I didn't think anything of it but as I was leaving I thought it would be stupid to drive all that way and not at least see what was down there. Except for some melting snow dripping off the boat dock into the lake it was dead silent there. Quite a contrast from the falls. I walked around a bit in the silence then noticed I had a companion.
This was the first time I'd seen a fox in the wild, plenty of coyotes but never a fox. Interesting fact; the grey fox is the only member of the dog family that can climb trees (well except for that youtube dog) Seeing my first fox got me excited. I'd read that eagles spend the winter in the area as well. Could I get my winter waterfall and bird nerd fix in the same day? I scanned the tree line around the lake and there it was, about 800 yards away

I had just enough time to get out the 400 and 2x before the eagle left its perch and snatched a meal from the lake, cropped in as tight as I could go.


I thought about hiking around the lake to get a closer look at the bird. But I was so content finally getting to see one not in captivity that I decided to leave it alone on the quiet lake and just go home happy. Even though the waterfall and eagle pics are far from award winning getting to see so many new things in one day was very rewarding. I'm still going to keep my eye on that weather forecast, though. And if the right storm comes thru I'm definitely making the trip back.

A photogenic New Year

A few days after Christmas I headed down to Fairfield to go hiking in Rockville Park. Along the way I stopped in Vacaville again to explore the open space I'd found before. It's amazing how photogenic such a small park can be. Here's another lone oak with a large boulder in front of it.



For New Year's Eve Mir and I took a few friends out to the overlook on Treasure Island to watch the San Francisco fireworks over the Bay Bridge. Yet another photogenic location that never disappoints.



A new year requires new adventures so last Sunday Mir and I headed out to Point Reyes to try a hike down to Alamere Falls. Unfortunately a late start and a disagreement between Miranda's stomach and the twisty road that is Highway 1 conspired to cut our adventure short at Stinson Beach. A walk on the beach and a stop at the ice cream shop left us with enough time to get back to Muir Beach and do some exploring before sunset. Miranda got ot play in the secret sea anemone and starfish hideout

before I set up for a nice sunset shot.


Here's the shallow part of the mini-river flowing onto the beach that I was standing in to get that shot.


I'd been to Muir Beach several times but never at sunset. It was nice to find another familiar spot still held beautiful surprises.

VacaHills

Davis has always been a big proponent of open space and land preservation. But the flat, boring land around town isn't the the most fun, recreationally or photographically. Thankfully that love of the land has rubbed off on some of the neighboring cities as well. So when a few oil spots in the driveway turned into a big oil slick in the two weeks since Miranda's mom had her oil changed in Vacaville, I used the opportunity to take advantage of Vacaville's more recent open space additions.

If only UC Davis had been UC Vacaville instead. I'd love to ride my bike around these hills everyday instead of seeing nothing but flat the ag land surrounding Davis. The rolling Vaca Hills spotted with oaks, boulders, and wispy grasses are easy to hike and rank up there with the most beautiful of California landscapes.



I limited myself to two fixed lenses, to keep not just the camera but also the pictures simple. I also tried to think in black and white.



Both lenses had large apertures which can give shallow depth of field and light falloff on the corners reminiscent of antique cameras.



Something about an old dead tree sitting alone on the crest of a hill always makes for a cool photo.



I filled up the memory card pretty quickly but on the way back to the car I had to find a file to erase to make room for one last image. About a hundred yards from a sprawling subdivision was this criss-crossing of trails made by several different sized creatures (including a people trail on the left.) It's great that Vacaville decided this space should be open for all of us wandering souls.

Lucky

Working the evening shift has two big advantages. The first is that I love shooting sports and most sporting events take place after school or at night on my shift. The second is there is usually great light available for photos. Far too often that great light is wasted on boring subjects or by being stuck indoors. But every so often I get lucky.

On Thursday the late afternoon light helped liven up a blowout water polo game. As the game wound down the clouds began to glow perfectly for a nice sunset shot. Not knowing of any good places near the pool to shoot a sunset I started on the bike ride back to the office. Luckily that was the right way to go. Last week's rains had turned ucd's construction south of Russell Blvd into a series of small ponds. A quick hop of a fence and this sunset was mine.



Thankfully my luck extends beyond photography. I've been blessed with a cute girl who is able to put up with most of my idiosyncrasies and is not afraid to kick a dead seal.

So while in Monterey I decided it was time to make it permanent and proposed. Luckily she said "yes."