I live about a ten-minute drive from St. Mary's College in Moraga, and I go there often late in the day to wander around the campus taking photos. I especially like to visit during the summer, when school's out, and there's almost no one there. Cloudy days are the best times for photography, because I [...]
I prefer portraits where the photographer and subject plan a shoot together ahead of time. But I rarely do that. I still like portraiture, though, so I take street portraits. These are somewhere between a planned session and a candid shot. I talk to the subject ahead of time and ask them to pose for [...]
For the fifth year, I went to Carnaval in San Francisco over Memorial Day weekend. It's ideal for street portraiture and event photography. The participants are in colorful costumes and are all willing to pose for pictures. Despite that, there are challenges. The overcast day provides even, soft light, but it's also a flat, dull [...]
We visited Tavira, Lisbon and Porto during our two weeks in Portugal in April. The people were friendly and helpful, and they all spoke English because they're required to study it in school. We talked with this goat-and-sheep herder in the hills above Tavira. He was selling his animals. I didn't buy any, because I [...]
I was in Seville, Spain for Holy Week (Semana Santa), April 2 through 8, along with a million other people. The photo challenge was to show the crowds, but also individuals and elements of the event. I shot mostly with a 28mm lens, which enabled me to include lots of environment. But I also had [...]
I take photos of my granddaughters when they're at my house on Thursdays. Many are not good, for various reasons. Some are mediocre, a few are valuable for documentary reasons, and, very occasionally, one is special. Like this portrait of Eva. I took it with my 28mm fixed-lens camera, when I was seated just [...]
Snow fell last Thursday on Mt. Diablo in Contra Costa County—not an everyday occurrence. The day after, I hiked up a steep, muddy trail near my house to reach an overlook on the Lafayette Reservoir Rim Trail. These photos were taken with my monochrome camera. I used 35, 50 and 75mm prime lenses, all with [...]
Pier 7 is a popular spot for tourists, couples taking selfies, wedding photographers, and me. I've been there at all times of day and in a wide range of weather conditions. The pier provides a perfect example of single-point perspective toward a vanishing point, at which sits the Transamerica Pyramid. Recently, I arrived there before [...]
I drove into San Francisco in the late afternoon on Christmas day to photograph City Hall lit up in Christmas colors. It looked like this at 5:45. before the lights came on. The city turned on the lights at 6 p.m. There was still too much light in the sky for them to be very [...]
I was in New Orleans on the Friday night before Halloween. I'd heard that Bourbon Street was crowded and loud, so I went to Frenchman Street, which was more sedate. I walked up and down only a short stretch of the street, but there were plenty of revelers out in their costumes. Here are [...]