Before it was known as the Silicon Valley, Santa Clara county grew crops and raised livestock for the entire country and exported products throughout the world. The springtime beauty of the flowering orchards and the variety of crops grown here from the 1880’s through the 1960s made the area a…

It’s February and that means people from around the world go to Yosemite National Park to capture a photo of Horsetail Falls. In a previous post I mentioned the years it took me to capture this photo. This week I wanted to revisit the experience. Park staff has made it…

I saw this incredible sculpture at Tiburon, California a few weeks ago. The community had commissioned a sailboat for their plaza by the bay. I was having coffee across the street when the glint of the sun off the sails caught my eye. Looking across the street I saw the…

David duChemin writes about composition and intent all the time. The overarching theme on his blog and in his classes is composition is more important than equipment. I couldn’t agree more. The two photos here are a good example. I’m happy with each but for a different reason. The top…

We stopped by the Palo Alto Art show on August 25. Of course I took my camera but being an artist I had no intention to photograph other people’s art. That would be like stealing their intellectual property. So what do I photograph? The answer jumped out at me as…

I love the island life. My island doesn’t have umbrella drinks, hot sandy beaches or reggae music. My island has foggy mornings, evergreens and conifers, and orcas. I can drive to my island. San Juan is my island. Situated below Victoria Island in Canada and northwest of Seattle it is…

Susanville is a unique place. Situated near the base of Mr. Lassen National Park, it is the only town with full services in the Mt. Lassen neighborhood. Long the staging place for cowboys, ranchers, logging, and mining. The town was profiled in a 2007 PBS special titled “Prison Town” that…

Silver Falls State Park in Oregon is a local gem for mid-state Oregonians. For us urban Californians it offers a couple of things we generally need to drive to see, waterfalls and endless forests. According to the Oregon state parks website (www.oregonstateparks.org) this is the “Crown jewel” of their state…

Memorial Day was established as a remembrance of Civil War soldiers, all of them American. According to History.com tributes to the fallen began as early as 1866. While the exact chronology seems to be a little vague, it became a federal holiday in 1971. Originally known as Decoration Day, it…