In-Line

This is the final picture from the Northern California series. On the last day, we went on the trolley that goes up Lombard Street and through downtown San Fransisco. During one of our many crossings at streets, I noticed the straight streets and rows of buildings. I liked the architecture and symmetry, so I took many pictures of numerous streets. This one is perfectly centered and has everything I am looking for, now onto Boston and Cape Cod!

Alcatraz

Once we stepped off the boat and onto the island, the wind appeared to die down a little. After stepping into the prison yard, I realized how much wind there was. Also, there was bird poop everywhere, and ten-foot-tall walls surrounded the center. It seemed very hard to escape, and if someone did escape, they would have to swim a mile in freezing cold water with very gusty winds.

Looking Back at Downtown

After the bridge, we headed south and east to Alcatraz. The day was a typical San Fransisco summer day, highs around 80F and clouds in the morning but dissipating by noon or late afternoon. Once we were 2 minutes into the boat ride to Alcatraz, the winds picked up substantially causing the temperature to drop. Disregarding the weather, on the way to the island prison, I turned my camera back to downtown. I used my wide-angle lens, and even then downtown was too big to capture everything.

Looking Beyond

I took pictures of the bridge from many different angles with many different objects in the fore and background. This picture is my favorite of the bridge. I like how there are the flowers as the main focus with the bridge in the background. I also like the color of the flowers and how they are contrasted against the bridge and clouds. The bright colors of the flowers really showcase them next to the dark-colored clouds and bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge

After leaving Monterrey, we traveled north to San Fransisco. One of the first sites we visited was the Golden Gate Bridge. I wanted to take pictures of it but didn't want to copy others. Instead, I went down to the bay and near some large rocks. This way I was getting the bridge while also getting something different in the form of nature.

Shoreline Sunset

I turned my camera from the goats to the sunset, adjusted a few settings, then took this picture. For my of my sunset picture, I only change the shutter speed. For this one, I changed my aperture to a bigger number (less light let into the sensor). This meant that the shutter speed wouldn't be as high fast, but I didn't need a fast shutter speed because nothing was moving. 

Goats


This picture is the beginning of a spectacular sunset. We were eating at a restaurant when I noticed the goats. They were all in a group and even had the ocean in the background. Everything was lined up perfectly. Thin wispy clouds, sunlight casting on the goats, and the water. I wish I was a little closer to the goats, but I think it still is a great picture.

Greenish-Blue

This picture stands out to me because of the crisp colors and focus on the crashing wave. The front is broken up into tiny droplets of water created by the force the wave had when it crashed down onto the ocean. The back is smooth, greenish-blue with hints of white. The green is from the algae, blue from the water, and white from the crashing wave.

Pebble Beach

For this picture, I moved into the golf course and behind the first hole. There are many places with clocks like this, but each is different because of the location. This clock had tall bushes surrounding it covering the pedestal it was on. I like the separation between the green plant and the bright blue sky. Some clouds in the sky help to give it a better appearance.

Lone Cypress

Pebble Beach Golf Club is known for this lone cypress tree. It is the iconic symbol that many people think of when they hear Pebble Beach. The tree is around 250 years old and has been held up by cable for 65 years. Earlier this year in February 2019, the tree lost its leftmost branch.

Ocean Guard

At another spot on the 17-mile drive, I found this seagull. It was standing on the edge, looking over the ocean. I like this picture of the seagull because there is more than just the seagull. There are the green plants in front and ocean in the back. There is also the other seagull's head just barely sticking out above the green plants.

Standing Tall

In Monterey, we went on the 17-mile drive. It had 17 different sites that were all unique and fascinating. One of them was this beach that had many rock towers. I positioned myself close to the sand to showcase the magnitude of it and to capture the water. On the other beaches, I had never seen it before and found it unique and special to that beach.

Full Picture

Nearly all of my pictures are short exposure. It wasn't dark enough for a full 10-30 second exposure, but 1/13 was still able to capture the motion of the ocean. This picture was harder to take because you had to take it when there was a big wave. The wave also had to have crashed and was creating streaks in the air.

Crashing

During the sunset, I took hundreds if not thousands of pictures trying to capture the perfect shot of the crashing waves and the sun projecting onto them. I kept the shutter speed high and focussed on the different colors of the water. Depending on the depth of the water, the water changed color. Shallow water is more yellow from the sand, the middle is green from algae on the bottom, and the deep is for deep blue colors.

Teepee

Also on the beach were some teepees and other natural but man-made objects. One of these objects was this teepee. It was made of sticks and covered in a seaweed covering. To make the picture even better, I set it behind the setting sun. The sun reflected across the water, creating a stripe leading to the teepee.

Blocked by Nature

This tree has probably been at the beach for hundreds of years. It is hard to see because of the silhouette, but it is very smooth, and the top half was not on the tree. The smoothness came from the wind-driven sand that had hit the tree and smoothed it. I am guessing that is also where the top half was ripped off. There was a strong gust and the top of the tree flew away.

Hill After Hill

From Santa Barbara, we took Highway 1 up to Monterey. The highway was beautiful with the ocean on one side and hills covered in green plants on the other. This picture came from up high on one of the hills. The highway has a single lane with many sharp turns. Signs were warning long vehicles to not go up the highway, but two semi's decided to go up. They were too wide, so they blocked traffic, creating a standstill. During this, I walked outside our car and took this picture.

Fishing

This bird is a long-billed Curlew. I spotted it while we were driving up to San Fransisco. It's built for standing in shallow water and using its long bill to catch food. Its head looks a little small for its body. You see the long bill and legs then look at the head, and it looks tiny.

Bands of Waves

Many waves have accompanying waves behind them. I have found that many waves come in groups of three. Two small one followed by a bigger one, then another group of three in the same two small one big, but the second group is bigger. Basically, every sixth wave is the biggest. I took the picture in a way that I was able to capture all seven of the waves in a single picture followed by the open ocean.

Sand Dollars

On the third beach, I found around ten sand dollars. Using my macro lens, I moved as close to the dollar as I could. I wanted to capture the design on the dollar and the individual grains of sand. All of the dollars I found had this five-pointed star shape on it. I don't know why it is like that, but it is very interesting and cool.

Bright Colors

The flowers in California are unlike any I have seen before. Every place I visit has different types of flowers that I have never seen before, but these are different. All of the flowers are brightly colored and really stand out against the green, grass background. I have never seen a flower that looks like an egg or a flower, like this that has bright purple as one of its colors.