NikonGear'23
Travelogues => Travel Diaries => Topic started by: Frank Fremerey on October 09, 2016, 17:21:04
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First morning here in California.
Sunday morning.
Shower, shopping, church.
A window view from the room we rented for the first night
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Greetings. If you're in San Francisco proper, drop me a line!
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You got mail...
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Yesterday I went to church. Took a few shots but did not download or develop these yet.
We spent the day with my brother, went shopping for some trousers shoes and T Shirts
Later went to a Chinese place where they make their own fresh noodles.
Due to the extended shopping efforts it was dark when we drove home.
Now I go shooting. CU later. NG meetup planned for Tuesday evening.
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Another phone only image. Too much to drive and care and meet and talk. Not much time for shooting, let alone editing.
Today at Google I took pics with the big cameras and in the morning in St Clara and in the evening in Berkeley. SF pano at night from the Bay Bridge only with my eyes from the drivers seat.
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And a last one before the battery is gone....
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Your on to something here Frank! Your very much picking up on California style shooting ;)
Enjoy your endeavour!
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Have fun on your trip, Frank. And save your daily postings ;)
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There is so much to do and the distances to drive are huge. My son is 15 and does not drive.
I cannot shoot much driving on the Freeway at 65 mph....
I will take some time to develop pictures. It is 3 am here. Have to catch up some sleep.
Thank you for the encouragement!!!!
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A little catching up in a sleep deprived night
1) Frankfurt waiting on the gate
2) Breakfast in America (@7/11)
3) A street near the Lawrence parish where I went to Sunday Service
(all edits with no mouse. NX-D only)
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AirBnB.
Hey, we got all infrastructure inclusive here for 110 Bucks per night: Airplanes going over the house 24/7, Huge gasoline tanks, a central transformer station, an amusement park with a noisy roller coaster, a big Football-Stadium ... only the freeway and the Amtrack are too far away to hear ... pity
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gated community (series)
PLS tell me if you can see the pictures right. I am not on a calibrated device currently, try to guess by Histogram...
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They all look great Frank! Lovely photographically accommodations indeed! ;)
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All American plumbing (series to be continued)
It is fascinating how some things are done differently abroad.
Sometimes there is no best way, no single solution.
Yet there is a reason why Japanese create the same or better standard of living on a 33% Energy budget...
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California light, two examples
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bird, cat, bird
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lemons, jalapeno, chillis
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can someone please identify this plant? It smells like a brewery or spilled beer from the night before (bad photo, sorry)
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They all look great Frank! Lovely photographically accommodations indeed! ;)
Thank you so much. Good to hear!
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@Google (series, only two now, I am tired)
They serve some great food to their employees and guests... The fennel salad, the Olives, the peppers... YUMMY!!!!
Technical: D500 & 1.4/35 Ai-S @1.4
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can someone please identify this plant? It smells like a brewery or spilled beer from the night before (bad photo, sorry)
That's Japanese privet, Ligustrum japonicum, a common ornamental plant in lowland California.
California is an incredibly diverse place, with elevations from 96 meters below sea level to 4700 meters above sea level, average annual precipitation from 60mm to 3000mm, temperature extremes from 56 C down to -42 C, and snowfall from zero to an all-time record of 2245 cm (88 feet). This great range of conditions result in everything from desert salt flats to temperate rain forests and mountain glaciers, all laid out over a distance of almost 1300 km which is farther than the air distance from Berlin to Rome. That means tremendous photographic opportunities, even before considering the human-made environment and the great diversity of people found here.
Frank is currently visiting the San Francisco-San Jose area, which has valleys, hills, and low mountains having a coastal Mediterranean climate (somewhat rainy winters with little frost, and dry summers). This mild, sunny climate affects everything from ecosystems to architecture to culture. Coastal southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego) has a warmer, drier, and sunnier version of this climate. Other parts of the state diverge greatly from these conditions - hotter, colder, wetter, drier, cloudier, etc. There is no one typical California, but what people hear about in other parts of the world are either the mild coastal cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco) or the famous sights elsewhere (Yosemite, Death Valley, etc.).
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That is a record purple fringing shot ;)
Seriously this is great to see your eye for the foreign,,,
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222050.jpg Is seriously cool Frank .....it could be the first image of a 2016 version of "The Americans"
Have lots of fun, and keep posting images of your adventures.
Cheers
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great travel log Frank, thanks for sharing it
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I should extend my day to 30 hours .... editing time missing
Today Golden Gate Bridge SF downtown and surroundings
Thank you for your encouragement
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We had a small meetup only six of us and we took a fisheye group shot when my son was watching baseball with my brother so only four in the shot. Damian is on Nikongear more or less since the beginning in 2006 or 2007 like me. Bill came with the revival.
Thank you for the explanation and the name of the plant, Bill.
Is the smell typical or did I possibly misassign the source of the smell?
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222050.jpg Is seriously cool Frank .....it could be the first image of a 2016 version of "The Americans"
Bez, I love you and you know that I hook up well with the history of arts. My wife is Arts Historian MA and I love museums and photo books.
The scene, the picture and the edit are made with the inevitable Mountain of shots, movies and paintings in mind that I saw of California before having been here.
Your compliment is very well received though possibly not earned. It is too much of a mock off.
Personally I am more proud of the AirBnB text & picture ... it transports my way of makin fun of reality in a nice way.
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Erik. Yes. Lots of vegetative abberation.
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not always sunny
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Beautiful Rollercoaster detail Frank. Like the photo with the gate and the bird/building as well.
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look!
Konstantin just won my "Golden Gate Picture of the year" award:
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there are some floating homes in the bay too...
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a concrete solution
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I like concrete ;)
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Enjoying your blog.
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look!
Konstantin just won my "Golden Gate Picture of the year" award:
Cool shot Frank. :)
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Mac Donalds ... very different from what we know in Germany. An Institution.
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Cool shot Frank. :)
Yes Anirban. Super Son. Although sometimes difficult to handle due to puberty.
What shall I complain? Erik has 3 of these...
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The scene, the picture and the edit are made with the inevitable Mountain of shots, movies and paintings in mind that I saw of California before having been here.
Your compliment is very well received though possibly not earned. It is too much of a mock off.
Love you too Frank ....."'good artists copy, great artists steal"
I know the style well, but have never seen this image before. My eyes are drawn to the lush "blacktop" searching for detail. The pickup on the left catches my attention. The wayback diner then the flags "only in America" are my thoughts. The power lines shift me left to right, the concrete wall right to left, the road lines back to the right. Then I notice the sloping hills in the background against the blue sky. One last scan and I find the glint of a bumper on the right. I smile and am happy to have found it, now perfect balance.
Most images do not catch my attention, this drew me in. As I said, cool image Frank.
Cheers
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We had a small meetup only six of us and we took a fisheye group shot when my son was watching baseball with my brother so only four in the shot. Damian is on Nikongear more or less since the beginning in 2006 or 2007 like me. Bill came with the revival.
Thank you for the explanation and the name of the plant, Bill.
Is the smell typical or did I possibly misassign the source of the smell?
It was fun to meet, and sorry the first place was so noisy!
The smell is normal for this plant; we had one at one house I lived in long ago.
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I got myself a mouse & pad at "best buy". Now it is prime time editing
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another strike of genius Konstantin:
2 edit
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evening hike
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evening hike
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evening hike
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evening hike
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evening hike
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evening hike
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catching up is not so easy if 30 minutes walk cause 90 minutes editing and I am not done yet
Off the Internet in Yosemite tomorrow....
Here is a random collection
Surfin the skyline:
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a few SF downtown by Frank
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a few SF downtown by Konstantin
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@google (series, two more)
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A Tribute to Ron Scubadiver
from the Goden Gate Collection
1 original frame
2 crop
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little house below the bridge
from the Goden Gate Collection
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Downtown SF according to Konstantin
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Downtown SF according to Konstantin
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Single shot from SF pano
from the Godel Gate Collection
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Downtown SF according to Frank
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Really like he SF series
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Surfing the skyline is super 8)
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Downtown SF according to Konstantin
Looks like up the river to me, though some are reputed to have paddled off that rock.
Dave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qka6JrKUM5U
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Konstantin just won my "Golden Gate Picture of the year" award I bet. I really like this shot.
Thanks Frank for the travel and the 3 points of view.
I see some weird purple noise in the shadows of some pictures. Have you or anyone else notice this? It is pp or the camera, or me?
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evening hike
I'm really enjoying your and Konstantin's photos, Frank! In particular, I appreciate the different look at a location (San Francisco) where it's all to easy to fall into taking the same old tourist shots.
The photo between the "high voltage" and "no trespassing" shots depicts California buckeye tree Aesculus californica in its typical autumn condition, leaves gone and fruits (drying skin over a huge shiny seed about 5cm in diameter) getting ready to drop to the ground. The brown grassy hills seen in some of the photos will soon be green after the autumn rains arrive and soak the landscape.
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Konstantin just won my "Golden Gate Picture of the year" award I bet. I really like this shot.
Thanks Frank for the travel and the 3 points of view.
I see some weird purple noise in the shadows of some pictures. Have you or anyone else notice this? It is pp or the camera, or me?
1. I am not on a calibrated system
2. I love to use the 1.4/35 Ai-S wide open which features a certain combination of faults like a fiter. That is basicly why I bought the lens. I wrote a thread about it in "lens tak"
3. I use my phone somtimes with strange filters
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I'm really enjoying your and Konstantin's photos, Frank! In particular, I appreciate the different look at a location (San Francisco) where it's all to easy to fall into taking the same old tourist shots.
The photo between the "high voltage" and "no trespassing" shots depicts California buckeye tree Aesculus californica in its typical autumn condition, leaves gone and fruits (drying skin over a huge shiny seed about 5cm in diameter) getting ready to drop to the ground. The brown grassy hills seen in some of the photos will soon be green after the autumn rains arrive and soak the landscape.
Thank you Bill. Yesterday night we had 2255 clicks on our machinery without mobile phone shots.
As we do BKT +/- 1 Stops on all shots more or less there should be roughly 650 unique perspectives plus today. Say ... 800ish ...
I managed to upload 70ish.
Lots of driving.
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This is actually a picture I took with my phone from the LCD of my cam. I am too tired to fire up the Laptop...
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Another one.
ANNOTATION:
The D600 screen is unusable.
Put the card in the D500 to avoid moiree.
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Ditto
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Frank, thanks for sharing your varying experience in California!
So, have you met any NG members?
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More from today
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Akira. I already met Damian and Bill. Will meet them again. I will sure meet Gary and hopefully Keith
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Schwett escaped somehow. Did not call back...
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Very impressive all, Frank. Enjoy your trip there.
The 3872 kite-surfer is super !!
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A wonderful trip Frank!
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
It brings back great memories.
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Akira. I already met Damian and Bill. Will meet them again. I will sure meet Gary and hopefully Keith
Frank, that would be great and unique meet up! Am looking forward to the results.
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This is actually a picture I took with my phone from the LCD of my cam. I am too tired to fire up the Laptop...
Maybe you should relax and enjoy the trip and you can edit the images when your back safe and sound,,,
These recaptured 'phone images' are not really worthy of sharing,,,
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yes, go to bed and share the best possible pictures when you can!
Enjoy the trip
Olivier
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Maybe you should relax and enjoy the trip and you can edit the images when your back safe and sound,,,
These recaptured 'phone images' are not really worthy of sharing,,,
I do not think so. Technical quality is generally overestimated. Most of these pictures are flawless in their original RAW and it is possible to already see what I saw through these representations.
The Robert Frank Style second image in this thread is a phone image actually degraded intentionally by editing on the phone....
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Well the we just have to disagree Frank, I would not like to see this site full of such images.
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I think this is about priorities - technically perfect or in real travel time at the technical degree which one can squeeze in.
I like the capture in #67 for it's scifiness and the first in #69, which is a bit alienesce.
Some others could be considered disputable, but I prefer to see them in the context of close to real time travel reporting.
There are somewhat exhausting times when on the road, affecting what one can do and what not (who is free of that?).
I appreciate he's keeping us in close.
I'm sure Frank will fall back into his usual quality style once he gained his power energy balance back.
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Personally, I would rather see pictures like the one in e.g. post #65 than seeing none at all. I did not think "degraded" when I saw that.
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I am back on my Laptop....
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... first step is downloading ...
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Mariposa (Series)
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This is actually a picture I took with my phone from the LCD of my cam. I am too tired to fire up the Laptop...
Is that photo on the Angeles Crest Highway? It looks very familiar.
Dave
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Is that photo on the Angeles Crest Highway? It looks very familiar.
Dave
It is in Kings Canyon National Park on Highway 180
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Today I took many pictures.
Editing is a pain on my Laptop:
only two cores / four threads (instead of 16/32)
only 8 GB of RAM (instead of 64 GB)
only 1366x786 pixels instead of 1900x1200
Most of my time is lost on waiting for the computer...
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First set: Some Swiss guys rented one of the legendary "Tarantino" Motorcycles. An "Indian with suicide shifter"
We met them at the "General Grant" Giant Sequoia site
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of the many Landscape shots I took in the breathtaking light of Kings Canyon today, the day before the rain...
"clouds in a flow"
"trees out of stone"
"folded mountains
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"Technically perfect" ? Sorry to be rude: I don't like the color grading, the composition, even the subjects of most of the pictures (yes, there are a few good ones). I have the impression of browsing an amateur photo book. Or may be there is a sort of intellectual approach; in that case, I completely missed the point, and you should disregard my comments as coming from an old fart. Sorry Frank, I've seen much better coming from you.
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"Technically perfect" ? Sorry to be rude: I don't like the color grading, the composition, even the subjects of most of the pictures (yes, there are a few good ones). I have the impression of browsing an amateur photo book. Or may be there is a sort of intellectual approach; in that case, I completely missed the point, and you should disregard my comments as coming from an old fart. Sorry Frank, I've seen much better coming from you.
which picture exactly are you referring to?
or are you referring to Thomas' comment possibly?
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one more from the "armpit of California"
This time a RAW development
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and the last one today: A file I posted yesterday in a low tech version
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one more from the "armpit of California"
This time a RAW development
One could call Fresno the armpit of California, but perhaps Bakersfield better deserves that appellation. There is a lower level than armpit but that's reserved for the town of Trona, near Death Valley, which you have not been to.
I lived in Fresno for three months long ago. The only major redeeming value is its proximity to the mountains; otherwise it was a rather depressing experience. Among other things it has some of the worst air pollution in the U.S.. Fresno is not the tourist California, and actually is located in one of the poorest regions in the entire nation.
Regarding the photos along highway 180 in King's Canyon, the area you photographed had a severe fire last year. It's quite spectacular as it's the deepest canyon in North America, up to 2400 meters deep. There are deeper valleys in the state and the nation, but even the Grand Canyon is not as deep as the King's Canyon.
The American word canyon come from the Spanish word cañon, with the spelling Anglicized since English doesn't have diacritical marks.
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I lived in Fresno for an afternoon while my father's 1957 Mercury Monterey had its radiator rodded out. It was 112F (44C) in the shade that afternoon. A radiator hose that looked fine on this outside and rotted out on the inside plugging radiator. We were coming back from a cabin near Cascadel, CA in the Sierra Nevada where we stayed for a week. There was a stream near the cabin where my sister and I played.
The Mountains: Yes!
Fresno: No
I wish I had pictures of the cabin.
Dave
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of the many Landscape shots I took in the breathtaking light of Kings Canyon today, the day before the rain...
"clouds in a flow"
Frank, that is a breath taking view !
I also like the landscape shown in #67
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I do not think so. Technical quality is generally overestimated. Most of these pictures are flawless in their original RAW and it is possible to already see what I saw through these representations.
The Robert Frank Style second image in this thread is a phone image actually degraded intentionally by editing on the phone....
The quality of Robert Frank's photography comes from his very sharp vision on what surrounds him. If this vision would have been absent from his pictures, all what would be left are badly framed, technically sub-par photographs.
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The quality of Robert Frank's photography comes from his very sharp vision on what surrounds him. If this vision would have been absent from his pictures, all what would be left are badly framed, technically sub-par photographs.
That is true for most Capa and a lot of Ray also
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We are in Monerey on the Pier searching for a decent
Seafood restaurant
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Seafood by the pier in Monetrey
"Scales" .... hopefully edible
Mobile phone sshot
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Loulou's Griddle in the Middle. Municipal Wharf 2
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The food was edible with very elevated prices
due to location. Took some serious pics also with D600
and D500....
Need time to develop
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Loulou's Griddle in the Middle. Municipal Wharf 2
Too late. Next time. Thank you.
We now fancy a coffee and WiFi. Where do we go
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The Cafe at Wave Street
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The Cafe at Wave Street
Super. Need editing & uploading. Son must do Latin home work.
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Wave Street Studio is it.
Wave Street Cafe is a Restaurant that does not allow for computing and cofee...
soooo:
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Yesterday:
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Wholefood shopping & Lamb Stew Cooking & drinking French White wine with Damian & Linda
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& a little catch up. Santa Clara last week
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Mariposa @night
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Wave Street Studio is it.
Wave Street Cafe is a Restaurant that does not allow for computing and cofee...
soooo:
Sorry, it was some time ago.
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Sorry, it was some time ago.
Thank you anyway. Wave street it was. only 2 blocks on...
Computer is so slow I spend 90% editing time waiting for it...
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Halloween preperations
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... does not allow for computing and cofee...
Sounds like to work of the devil! Frank, you must not be in California any more.
Dave Hartman
Kansas?
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one of the "mobile screenshots" developed from the RAW
same sunset, different perspective
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another of the "mobile screenshots" developed from the RAW
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look what we found on the 17 Mile drive!
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avoid under any circumstances. What they served there on Friday in Los Banos cannot even be categorized as food. Any Denny's or Wendy's will serve you much better. It was basicly deep frozen stuff made warm and with garlic. I looked ugly and it tasted even worse. Price category: 70 US$/2 persons including beverage, tax, tip. It was so disgusting I do not have words to describe it properly. The cook obviously had never eaten any Italian dish in his life.
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Hotel Lobby, Los Banos, 2016
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Tom and Laurie at the Cedar Lodge in Kings Canyon. On their way back from the "Desert Trip" concert featuring Bob Dylan, Paul Mc Cartney, Niel Young, The Who and the Rolling Stones AND Bob Dylan
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Breakfast maid at Hotel in Los Banos, 2016
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Wild turkey
grass
y
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To be honest, I find the swarm of pictures in this thread takes over completely. May I suggest you follow Ron (Scubadiver)'s method by including just a few and then include a link to the rest.
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Honesty is always appreciated.
Currently I am happy to provide some pictures at all. I might later create a "best of" thread. I cannot see far enough yet to do this.
So be picky tell me what you like and what you do not like or ignore this thread for the time being.
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So be picky tell me what you like and what you do not like or ignore this thread for the time being.
The thing is Frank that it is (on the front page of NG) hard to see what else has been posted when a user keeps updating one thread so often that it pushes the other postings off the grid. That's why just ignoring this (and similarly behaved threads) won't solve the issue. A certain, "natural" flow of thread activity is easier to cope with.
Having said this, I do appreciate your pictures though.
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One could call Fresno the armpit of California, but perhaps Bakersfield better deserves that appellation. There is a lower level than armpit but that's reserved for the town of Trona, near Death Valley, which you have not been to.
Bill , have to agree on Bakersfield. In fact I have no fond memories of Highway 99 and its surrounds, but I always knew when Manteca was 50 or 60 miles away ;) . HW 395 is totally the opposite, particularly the further North. I have probably been to Trona but it did not leave any memories at all . I guess the term "no redeeming features" could apply to many places I've been.
Frank, I agree with Sten but that is how the site is laid out. You've some good images and a lot not so good. It's like someone inviting you over for dinner and then showing colour slides of their holiday for two hours.
Tom
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(and similarly behaved threads)
as Sten puts it,
For instance the "Daily" thread except for the participants there appears to be no further ado.
Often have considered to stop further contributions, yet in a positive sense, its but a social game.
Frank may think of lumping his photos and comments more into one entry, instead of posting every 'burp' individually,
that should clear up the front page.
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Thank you, Gentlemen. I did not think about the way you might use the site.
I have bookmarked the "unread topics" page as my entry point.
On that page every updated thread only appears once even if it was updated 5000 times since my last visit. I ignore a lot of threads and follow other threads very closely that way. Once through the list I mark "all read" and next time I come I can again freely chose to ignore or participate.
I will suggest to Andrea to change the list that annoys you accordingly.
Any opinions on that?
*****
Concerning the "quality" of the pictures it starts with myself having preferences and others having fully different preferences in the general and the special. So I obviously cannot satisfy Bez and MFloyd with the same picture.
If you are invited to friends and they force pictures on you it is a much less free situation than here.
Be picky.
Love
Frank
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I use Unread Posts to view this site. I am fine with the way Frank adds the photos. I prefer to stay here rather than be directed to an external site, as it makes commenting on specific photos easier.
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I also use the "unread posts" option, and never click to external links. If the images don't show here I would not see them.
We all have different personalities, this thread gives a glimpse of Frank's. Which I for one am thoroughly enjoying.
Cheers
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I find it unreasonable to expect a thread like this to be a finished work when it's a log of things that *are* happening. A finished work can't come now, it must come later. I'm enjoying it and if a particular photo doesn't catch my fancy I just pass on. Again I'm enjoying this thread.
That's my ha' penney,
Dave Hartman
This thread is under travel diaries...
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The Homepage contains the last 15 previous posts.
We could probably extend it to 30 previous posts, but I firmly believe that it wouldn't be the right way to follow up on action on NG, because you won't see the 31st one :)
As already stated above by others, I too use the "Show unread posts since last visit" to get a complete overview of what has happened on NG since my last visit.
Frank, the wild turkey image is miss-focused ;)
But I do like the grass immediately after it!
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#114 landscape , very nice Frank !
+1 Show unread posts - but I rarely go beyond page 1
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The Y chromosome with the lonely pole made me smile. So manly!
I don't mind many pictures and post, as long as they are of this quality.
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Frank and Konstantin called in on Saturday to see us in Hayward, on the east of the San Francisco Bay.
Near us is a park called Coyote Hills, which often offers a great view down the bay and shows the Dumbarton, San Mateo and Bay Bridges to good advantage when the light is right. This part of the bay was formerly used for salt production by evaporation and still has many remains of the equipment used to shuffle water from one pound to another. Much better photographers than me have documented the way the ecosystem has rebounded (http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/hiddenecologies/?p=1543) from its former uses.
When we went to the park the light was brooding and monochromatic, so naturally I wanted my pictures to be the same.
(http://www.damianharty.com/GreyBayOct2016/content/bin/images/large/DH6_0527.jpg)
The now-abandoned equipment included helpful warning beacons to alert me to Frank's whereabouts, which made keeping track of him quite easy:
(http://www.damianharty.com/GreyBayOct2016/content/bin/images/large/DH6_0571.jpg)
Some pelicans with what looked to my eye to be immature plumage were fishing in the shallows as we looked down the hill, and I realised I had no idea how they fish until I watched them. They skim the surface with lazy strokes and every so often plunge their heads down into the water while still in flight. In some of my other pictures it's clear that they turn their heads on the side as they do so, but this picture just shows a pair, one with his head already in the water and one just on the brink:
(http://www.damianharty.com/GreyBayOct2016/content/bin/images/large/DH6_0630.jpg)
The dark overhead cloud cover - very rare here with so many clear days - and the bright light the other side of the bay gave the water an extraordinary texture looking down on it from the hills and made the birds much more appealing as subjects for me than they would otherwise be. It also made me realise I have a lot to learn about photographing birds, but I find the images pleasing nonetheless.
Randomly, a 1929 Ford Tri-motor (http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/flight-experiences/fly-the-ford-eaa-ford-tri-motor-airplane-tour/ford-tri-motor-5-at-b-history) (yes, Ford made planes for a while) flew over the hills as we were walking around and posed itself rather nicely with a bench for me:
(http://www.damianharty.com/GreyBayOct2016/content/bin/images/large/DH6_0709.jpg)
Normally light in the bay is a bit hazy at best, with not many days giving clear views of the San Francisco skyline. However, on this day the rainy mist had a different quality to it and I tried several different approaches to capturing the mood of it. None were really successful, but this one was perhaps the "least bad":
(http://www.damianharty.com/GreyBayOct2016/content/bin/images/large/DH6_0718.jpg)
I like it because at first glance it appears a traditional "foreground feature" recipe for a landscape photo, but on closer inspection the city appears on the skyline.
There are more photos (http://www.damianharty.com/GreyBayOct2016/index.html) from the day, but these were just a few to tell the story of what I saw on the day. I don't get many days just photographing these days, it was very enjoyable to be back at it.
I hope Frank doesn't mind me crashing his thread, and I hope he and Konstantin are enjoying southern California. Thanks for a great day.
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FOOD
avoid under any circumstances. What they served there on Friday in Los Banos cannot even be categorized as food. Any Denny's or Wendy's will serve you much better. It was basicly deep frozen stuff made warm and with garlic. I looked ugly and it tasted even worse. Price category: 70 US$/2 persons including beverage, tax, tip. It was so disgusting I do not have words to describe it properly. The cook obviously had never eaten any Italian dish in his life.
Frank, you have discovered one of the dark sides of American food. Despite the vast overall improvements in my lifetime, the widespread interest in fine cuisine, the high-end restaurants and the merely good ones at reasonable prices, there is a long history of atrocious food being served here. This often applies to what's called "ethnic" food - food from nationalities such as the Italians (formerly), Chinese, and Mexicans that were or still are not as assimilated as the older English, Scottish, and German immigrants. Such food has often been "dumbed down" to fit traditional unsophisticated American tastes, to the point of being little like the genuine article. Italian food has long been in the category of ethnic food, and I learned as a child to avoid Italian restaurants even though I'm part Italian and loved my mother's Italian cooking.
Things have changed since then and many excellent restaurants can be found in these categories. You can still find the awful ones, though, most likely in towns far from the cities and in other more rural areas. Or sometimes in the cities as well, as in the case of the Mexican restaurant I ignorantly directed us to last Tuesday when my first choice proved to be too noisy.
BIOTA
look what we found on the 17 Mile drive!
Bull kelp, Nereocystis lutkeana, which often washes up on beaches. The larger giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, forms large underwater forests and is a vital part of California's coastal ecology.
Wild turkey
grass
Neither is native to the state. The turkey is from the eastern part of the country. The plant is Harding grass (Phalaris aquatica). Nearly all the grass you have been seeing on your visit is from other parts of the world; native grasses are scarce in most parts of the state.
PHOTOS
Despite the complaints I'm enjoying the show. People might try thinking of it as a stream-of-consciousness presentation.
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Oranges in Gary's garden made into a perfect juice
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Kings Canyon
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Los Banos, breakfast time
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I love to see forces of nature at work.
Stone origimai in context...
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Frank and Konstantin called in on Saturday to see us in Hayward, on the east of the San Francisco Bay. ...
I hope Frank doesn't mind me crashing his thread, and I hope he and Konstantin are enjoying southern California. Thanks for a great day.
Damian, long time no see !
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Oranges in Gary's garden made into a perfect juice
what has happened to Gary, he ran out of photos?
The origami shot is fantastic
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what has happened to Gary, he ran out of photos?
No, he is too busy .... preparing orange juice ;-)
I feel he takes a lot of photos, yet he runs his company & household & beautiful paradise of a graden....
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Frank, welcome to Southern California.
Where are you planning to visit and how long is your stay?
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Frank, welcome to Southern California. Where are you planning to visit and how long is your stay?
We are staying at Gary's till Friday night. Plane home on Saturday. Today we do a photo tour of Downtown LA. Keith (pluton) will join us.
View of Gary's paradise garden (series one):
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I love to see forces of nature at work.
Stone origimai in context...
Wonderful shot, Frank. Also love the close-ups that follow.
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Some pictures were destroyed in the upload process. Terrible big artifacts. I managed to replace some already. More when I am at home away from home again.
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Frank, #5803 is impressive!
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Frank, #5803 is impressive!
Yes...lovely muted color.
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Yes...lovely muted color.
Funny thing is I cannot see this picture online
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Funny thing is I cannot see this picture online
Should be there .. just checked. Refresh the page and/or empty your browser cache?
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Should be there .. just checked. Refresh the page and/or empty your browser cache?
I have now attached them anew. That might solve it. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your help.
I cleaned out the computer and reinstalled the browser from scratch
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catching up a bit:
The basket ball place at the Korean Bell. Pacific Ocean in the back.
Meeting of generations: Gary's M4-P ... and some "film" for my D500
Three Palm trees I saw walking the dog with Gary
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The basketball shot is great, Frank!
A pity the basketball is not seen flying toward the basket :)
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Very nice basketball shot! Even the almost vertical shadow is dead on perfect. Also the cliff side Stone origimai in context... shot is fantastic
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Another vote for the basketball shot.
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The basketball shot is great, Frank!
A pity the basketball is not seen flying toward the basket :)
Jakov of all people you should appreciate that the ball is Imaginary!
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Jakov of all people you should appreciate that the ball is Imaginary!
We did not have a basketball!
It was only the boy jumping.
And I cannot see the attachments anyway, even after a full uninstall cleanup and reinstall of firefox
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Gary in Downtown LA
A rare car at the Griffith Observatory
@the getty 1 ... 4
EDIT: Got rid of invisible & destroyed pictures
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PS: I cannot see most attachments in any thread. Also applies to Chrome, Edge and several browsers in Android
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I also like that basketball shot. Nicely executed!
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Attachments flaws on page "4" starting at post #150:
In #152 I can not see "email_KC1_8395.JPG (1285.17 kB, 882x1366 - viewed 64 times.)"
In #158 I can not see "email_KC1_9914.JPG (967.49 kB - downloaded 0 times.)" and "email_KC1_0683.JPG (1111.47 kB - downloaded 0 times.)"
corrupted are the files: "email_KC1_0361.JPG (1065.87 kB, 911x1366 - viewed 8 times.)" and: "email_KC1_0722.JPG (939.31 kB, 911x1366 - viewed 8 times.)"
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The first of the NG meetups in California:
Bill de Jaeger, Damian Harty, Frank Fremerey, and Huiting, my brother's wife. Son & Brother were avidly following a football game on TV.
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NG meetup: Keith Barefoot, Gary Ayala, Frank Fremerey in the Griffith Observatory. Shot by Kons with Keith's camera...
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Frank, no image can be seen in any of three latest posts. Unfortunately the server problem seems to persist on your side...
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Frank, no image can be seen in any of three latest posts. Unfortunately the server problem seems to persist on your side...
Does it work now? I experienced some technical problems that might or might not have bveen connected to the server trouble. Currently everything seems to work alright again.
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This was in one of the earliest Missions used by the Spanish to colonize California. I sat with Gary in this little chapel and was impressed by the Aura of this statue. It felt completely loaded by all the people touching it and sending their wishes to god. It felt very much like A Buddha sitting in a temple. Watching it I tried to figure out how to take an effective photo of it that transports the mystery I experienced...
Does it work for you?
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I will be in San Francisco for just a short time, from Nov 1st thru 3rd (the latter being my birthday). I have not decided if I am bringing the Df yet (my other options are Nikon D5500 but if I was going to carry that I would bring the Df, or Sony NEX-7, or Sony RX-100 IV). Given my limited time, I might opt for the little Sony. Although I might be taking pictures AT might meeting (its very interactive). So still up in the air. Many years ago I lived in San Francisco in the Marina district, Filmore Street. A beautiful city for photography and food!
Cheers,
Rob.
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I will be in San Francisco for just a short time, from Nov 1st thru 3rd (the latter being my birthday). I have not decided if I am bringing the Df yet (my other options are Nikon D5500 but if I was going to carry that I would bring the Df, or Sony NEX-7, or Sony RX-100 IV). Given my limited time, I might opt for the little Sony. Although I might be taking pictures AT might meeting (its very interactive). So still up in the air. Many years ago I lived in San Francisco in the Marina district, Filmore Street. A beautiful city for photography and food! Cheers, Rob.
I found that the starck light of california calls for base ISO & f=8 because even the 1/8000 s of my D500 maxes out so fast, not to mention the 1/4000 s of the D600
My beloved shooting at wide apertures finds its limit very fast.
My last post for today. Need some sleep:
Magnolia trees as impressive backdrop for a downtown LA high key street shot (and alt edit):
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Does it work now? I experienced some technical problems that might or might not have bveen connected to the server trouble. Currently everything seems to work alright again.
Both posts in question work now as well as the latest ones! Great to see the faces of U.S. folks of NG! Thanks, Frank!
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I found that the starck light of california calls for base ISO & f=8 because even the 1/8000 s of my D500 maxes out so fast, not to mention the 1/4000 s of the D600...
...Magnolia trees as impressive backdrop for a downtown LA high key street shot (and alt edit):
The light was very stark...brutally so...on the day I spent with Frank and Gary. Absolute clear sky and hot sun...and about 95ºF/35ºC. The Europeans are lucky to have their frequent clouds.
Frank: Fascinating tonal rendering of the [color] magnolia trees.
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Keith, the Magnolias felt and feel like arms spawning from the ground reaching up to the sky.
The somewhat dirty street scene adds to that impression.
Here a short time frame, there a huge time span.
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A hot day in downtown LA
I decided for fast primes, a Circular Polarizer and shooting directly into the light
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Disney Concert hall
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Hi Frank,
interesting and insightful travelling impressions!
I sympathise with your dilemma of enjoying the trip while longing to share your impressions online. Last year in Canada I was in a very similar situation: all day long on the road and at least two hours each evening spent on editing and uploading pictures to a blog for the family (just vacation snapshots, hardly up to the standards of this forum).
@italian Food: I experienced a similar desaster another few years back in San Francisco. It was in the supposedly Italian part of downtown and after two weeks of cheap fast food, I longed for some real food. The presentation of the food was top notch, same as the service and the price, but the Lasagne was obviously micro waved to death. Gruesome! :(
Just bad luck. I was way more fortunate when I went for Chinese food in China Town.
If I gleaned correctly, your flight back will start today. Wishing you a good flight!
Maybe after thoroughly reviewing your pictures you will have some more "gems" to share.
Looking forward to some more highlight pictures,
Guenther
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Hi Guenther!
We flew back last Sunday, arrived 10:00 O'Clock German time @home, but my body is still confused.
I love it that you changed your surname to "something" ... reminds me of the first song on the album "Abbey Road" by the Beatles!
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Disney Concert hall
Oh, I love Frank Gehry's design! Thanks for sharing!
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Oh, I love Frank Gehry's design! Thanks for sharing!
I am still working on a special treat, but not yet fully satisfied with the result. Look:
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new edit of Kons Golden Gate bridge shot (old edit for reference below)
please comment & inspire me!
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new edit of Kons Golden Gate bridge shot (old edit for reference below)
please comment & inspire me!
In this particular case, I prefer the new version. The rather artificial color (at least on my monitor) looks like those of picture books, which is appropriate for this somewhat enigmatic image.
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3 years of work had to pass before I can now take my time these holidays to really dig into my body of 2016 work in America.
Most of the shots I will post now I have not posted anywhere before.
Let me start with Keith and a Californian pipe dream:
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a country road in California, Trumpland
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Keep ‘m coming, Frank! It must have been a wonderful trip! The last one could have been a movie shot.
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3 years of work had to pass before I can now take my time these holidays to really dig into my body of 2016 work in America.
Most of the shots I will post now I have not posted anywhere before.
Let me start with Keith and a Californian pipe dream:
That must be Keith, pluton i recognize from his avatar! :)
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The blasting sun is very different from the sun here at home...
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flora (japanese liguster stinking like a brewery)
fauna (a brown squirrel, could not really decide which of the series was best, might add some later)
railroad crossing
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Keep them coming. It is always interesting to see my home state through someone else’s eyes.
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That must be Keith, pluton i recognize from his avatar! :)
Yes, we met a lot of members from the forum...
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Yes, we met a lot of members from the forum...
Very nice thread, i am enjoying, Frank!
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Very nice thread, i am enjoying, Frank!
+1 :)
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Nice to see you continue this thread, Frank!
So varying, so spontaneous...
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Nice to see you continue this thread, Frank!
So varying, so spontaneous...
It took me a while, yet, there are points of interest like the third-worldisch water and electricity installations ...
Or: the hot water delivery truck in the country
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Very nice thread, i am enjoying, Frank!
While I feel that in Germany safety is the major concern in trucking (better not ask how I took this shot!), the just-do-it-approach in America has something to it ...
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+1 :)
Meetup in Hayward with Bill de Jaeger (Biologist, first pic), Blackbirdblue (Electrical Vehicle Engineer Damian Harty) and my brother's wife (Environmental Engineer)... my brother and son were watching sports on the other end of the diner ...
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Keep them coming. It is always interesting to see my home state through someone else’s eyes.
Infrastructure, SF Bay area
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Lovely set, Frank. It is always fascinating to see familiar objects and scenes as talented others see them. Inspired by you in your California travel thread in 2016, I have collected a few local (my neighborhood) infrastructure shots that I will post elsewhere after this thread is done.
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Lovely set, Frank. It is always fascinating to see familiar objects and scenes as talented others see them. Inspired by you in your California travel thread in 2016, I have collected a few local (my neighborhood) infrastructure shots that I will post elsewhere after this thread is done.
you and the Californian pipe dream is my favourite so far. Iirc I guess it is the water inlet for fire extinguising in the huge court building in downtown LA near the LA Times building where we went with Gary and Kons...
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Great series, Frank.
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One more of so many, but family & work first
A foggy day at the SF bay
California 2016 Series
Berkeley, United States of America
Nikon D500 & 4/300PF @f/4.0
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LA Woman
same lady, different times of day and different parts of the city
I probably should have chosen an AF lens insteal of the Ai-S 1.4/35mm
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Always good to see a familiar place through someone else's eyes. That shot from Berkeley really captures the feeling along that shoreline.
We are entering my favorite time of year for photography around here. Skies are less monotonous, colors more saturated and if it ever rains it will start getting green again.
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Always good to see a familiar place through someone else's eyes. That shot from Berkeley really captures the feeling along that shoreline.
We are entering my favorite time of year for photography around here. Skies are less monotonous, colors more saturated and if it ever rains it will start getting green again.
When I finish my construction here I promise I come to California to meet you and Schwett and Damian hopefully and Bill and my brother with wife and kid that is in SF bay only....
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When I finish my construction here I promise I come to California to meet you and Schwett and Damian hopefully and Bill and my brother with wife and kid that is in SF bay only....
If you have time, please come visit my project. We will be building until summer of 2021.
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If you have time, please come visit my project. We will be building until summer of 2021.
same planned finishing time here
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Bill de Jaeger likes this picture, so here is an edit of the technical crappy shot with the nice expression:
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HOLLY may the WOOD be, but it is all PHONY these days ...
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to the hills?
over the fence!
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Some of the stuff I just start to discover ...
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more bewildering perspective on Pre-Trumpland
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I like the street surface abstract with the telltale 'Farmer Frank' shadow.
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I like the street surface abstract with the telltale 'Farmer Frank' shadow.
Yes, small_EDIT_KC1_9783.JPG ist my favourite of the series too...
But I also like "Farmer Frank reflected in the Sprinkler water inlet"
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The first ist possibly taken by my son ...
The second shows the fat & aggressive Cortisone me (+13 kg)
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more of me ...
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a Raven in the garden of our AirBnB