Holiday Treats

Sweet treats from a holiday party I attended last night.  
Taken with my Blackberry..

Photo Shoot in Napa

Sunday I went to Napa with my photography meetup group. We tour the beautiful Trefethen winery. Below are some of my favorite images. You can view more images on my flickr page. 

click on the images to enlarge.

Wine Tasting

Riesling

Red

Wine Barrels

more wine

View from above

Suisun Lighthouse

This is one of my favorite lighthouses. 

Napa photo walk.

I went on a photo walk to Napa with the local meetup group.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  Below are some of my favorite images from the shoot.  More images can be seen on my flickr page

  

Veins

I saw this leaf laying in the driveway while out on my walk this morning.  I found the sunlight and the veins on the leaf  interesting.  

D365: I Did it!!!!!

Today is the 365th photo.  It's been fun.  I asked myself, have my photography improve 300%? 
Looking back at my first images, I would say yes.  I've learn a few new techniques, viewed some amazing work by fellow photographers and I read my camera manual at least 4 times.  What's next? I'm going on a 4 day silent retreat next week.  This means no internet access or  cell phone which means no twitter.  I'm really looking forward to it.  After I get back I  may start another blog.  who knows maybe another 365???. 

What better way to end my 365 project than with my favorite subject. 

Book:  Read pages 182 to 185 "Sponsorship'

Images:  Viewed images on Flickr

D364: A Candle's Flame

Came across this beautiful poem and thought this image fit. Today is 364 of my 365 photo project.

A Candle's Flame 

Another day past
Another one gone
We can't get it back
But we must move on

Life is like a candle
Burning in the night
It brightens all around it
With its beautiful golden light

The wax is like our body
Strong hard and whole
But the wick is like our heart
Within it lies the soul

The burning wick is the candle's life
Of that there can be no doubt
But like the burning wick, our life
Will in it's own time, brun out

By: Matthew MacGillivray

Book:  Read pages180 and 181 "Contracts"

Images: Viewed images in Outdoor Photography magazine.

D363: Quiet Your Mind

So that's what I did for most of the today.  It was very refreshing.

B

Book:  Read page 178 "Business and Finance"


Images:  Viewed images in Vanity Fair

D362: Lighthouse (Night View)

Book: Read pages 175 to 177 "Three (Bad?) Metaphors about Competition"

Images:  Viewed images in Flickr "Light Fantastic Group".

D361: Lighthouse

Book:  Read pages 173 to 174 "Go where they ain't"

Images:  Viewed images in Studio Photography Magazine

D360: Leading Lines

Or converging lines
.

Book: Read pages 164 to 172:  "Visionmonger Karl Grobl"

Images:  View images by Scott Stulberg

D359: Shoot the Moon

When you love someone
You'll Shoot the Moon
Put out the Sun
When you love someone
              ~ from the song "When You Love Someone" by Bryan Adams

Book: Read pages 159 to 164 "Making Contact"

Images: Viewed images in American Photography magazine.

D358: Bells of San Pablo

Book: Read pages 151 to 158 "Visionmonger: Gavin Gough"

Images:  Viewed more images by Gavin Gough.

D357: The Path

Two projects, One photo;   My potd and  Day in the life image.

Book:  Read pages 134 to 149 "Marketing 2.0"

Images:  Viewed fashion images in Vanity Fair magazine.

D356: Last Sunset of Summer

Today is the official last day of summer.  What better way to end the summer than with a photo of my favorite subject.

 

Book: Read pages 126 to 133 "Visionmonger Dave Delnea"

Images: Viewed food images in Vegetarian magazine.

D355: Flower Power

This flower remind me of the flower Children  that use to hang out in Berkeley on Telegraph ave when I was a kid. 

Book: Read pages 120 to 126 "Hey Cool Card"

Images:  View new work by Roman Loranc

D354: Sunset over the Bay

Book:  Read pages 116 to 119 "You Need A Logo"

Images:  Viewed images in Lenswork Magazine

D353: A Sliver

Just before it dip below the horizon

Book:  Read pages 113 to 116 "He Said She Said"

Images:  Viewed images in Flickr's Explore page.

D352: Survivor

The weather has been strange in the bay area this week.  Heat, wind, muggy, cold. Everything except rain and according to the weatherman, it will be here on Sunday.   This little guy weather it all.  The purple daisies weren't so lucky.

Book: Read pages 112 to 113 "Word of Mouth"

Images:  View images by Mark Wetters.

D351: More Cake

Although yesterday was my Birthday, a friend surprised me with this cake today.   Ice cream cake.  Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip.  : )

Book:  Read pages 107 to 111 "Visionmonger: Grace Chon"

Images:  Viewed images by Grace Chon.

D350: Door Knob

Book:  Read pages 105 and 106 "More Conversations, More Opportunites"

Images:  Viewed images in Shutterbug magazine.

D349: The Rose Garden

Such  a gorgeous summer day in the bay area today.  A day like this is too nice to spend indoors, I went to the office and worked till 3.  I then drove over to the Oakland Rose garden.  It is such a beautiful and peaceful place. When I lived in Oakland, I use to visit the garden at least twice a week.  Great place to exercise (lots of stairs) or just sit and read a book.
.
I saw these beautiful roses at the garden.There was no name plate for this rose, but it was planted between the "Ingrid Bergman" and "George Burns" roses. Very Pretty.

Book:  Read page 104 "Keep Going"

Images:  Viewed images in September edition of Rangefinder magazine.  Good article on Architectural photography. 

D348: Hard at Work.

I woke early this morning and drove over to San Francisco hoping to catch the fog over the Golden Gate bridge.  I got there and there was too much fog. Since I was already on that side of the bay I to drove to Sausalito and had a Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks. I then drove back across the bay and took a nice stroll around Lake Merritt.  As I was walking I notice these flowers near one of the benches.  I like how the sun create nice shadows on the petals. As I was taking a few shots, this little fellow landed on the flower.  I snap a few more then left him to tend to his job.  A good morning indeed. : )

Book:  Read pages 101 to 103 "Make them love you"

Images:  Viewed more images in B/W magazine. 

D347: Crab Grass

If you want to see some pretty cool kites, Cesar Chavez park is the place to go.   Highland Kites  are out there every weekend displaying some of there most interesting kites.  Below are some of the kites that were in flight today.  The favorite  was the crab kites.   They don't necessarily fly,  but instead hover close to the ground  moving horizontally like real crabs.  They were pretty cool.  They didn't have kites like this when I was a kid. 

Book:  Read page 100 "Master Photographer"

Images:  Viewed images in B/W magazine.  This month edition has some beautiful images by photographer  Yamamoto Masao. 

D346: Here comes the night

Beautiful summer day here in Cali.  Spent most of the day at home just relaxing.  Later on I decided to go out for ride up to the basin.  On my way back  I found this nice spot near the marsh and decide to park and watch the sunset.  The sunset was not that great but the after glow was pretty cool.  I like how orange glow  blends into blue sky.  This view reminds me of the following line from Janis Ian song "Here comes the night" 

  Before the Dawn and Light, here comes the night ~  Janis Ian 

Book:  Read pages 97 to 99 "Perception is Reality"

Images:  Viewed newly release images by Patrick Di Fruscia. 

D345: Light Trails

TGIF!  This was a long week. Looking forward to a nice quiet weekend. 

Book:  Read pages 94 to 96  "Branding isn't (Just) for Cattle"

Images:  Viewed images in Architectural digest magazine.

D344: Homeward Bound

My view on the way home.  Taken with my blackberry.  I was a passenger.

Book:  Read pages 91 to 93 "The Four Pillars"

Images: View images in American Photo magazine.

D343: Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

My sister woke me up this morning to see this beautiful sunrise.  This is the best one I've seen all summer.  I slipped my sweats on over my pj's, hop in the car and drove down the road to get a clear shot. The sky was gorgeous. On the opposite side of the road directly behind me, the sky was a nice blue with pinkish clouds.   I couldn't decide which one I like best so I posted my favorite three. Great way to start my day.

sky view opposite the sunrise

Sunrise

Book:  Read pages 89 to 90 "What Can I Sell You?  How Can I serve You?"

Images:  Viewed images by Nigel Turner.  Awesome landscape images.

D342: A Sunset

Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon Like a magician extended his golden want o'er the landscape; Trinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.  Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Book:  Read pages 86 to 88 "Sounding your Barbaric Yawp"

Images: Viewed images Photography BB magazine.

D341: In Flight

Went on a photo outing to Napa with my photography meetup group. The weather was gorgeous! Our first stop was Vine Village, which is a residential 25-acre ranch for people with special needs. Very beautiful place and so much to photograph. My favorite point of interest was the egret and blue heron rookery. Although the egrets were a bit shy this morning, I was able to capture one in flight. He flew directly over my head and I had little time to focus and snap the shutter.   I wish the image could have been more sharp. Around 12:30,  we all left to get lunch,  shot some more scenery and ended the day at Adastra organic farm for a little wine tasting and more photography.  Perfect way to end the summer. 

Book:  Read pages 81 to 85 "Visionmonger: Darwin Wigget"

Images:  Viewed images by Darwin Wigget.

D340: The Last Sunset

of summer.  That is unless I capture a better sunset  tomorrow.   Labor day always signal the last days of summer.  It was usually back to school on Tuesday.

Book:  Read pages 77 to 80 "Your First Assignment"

Images:  I went to Borders bookstore tonight.  Skim through several photo and food magazines.

D339: My New Toy

Book:  Read pages 75 to 77 "You Need Help"

Images: Viewed images in Flickr's  Holga group.