i got a very quick but detailed photoshop tutorial from my buddy tim this morning. i really enjoyed messing with this creepy shot of jg's right eye.
before
after
i have been very naive about digital photography, constantly wondering why my camera can't capture the contrast and vibrancy that others can. now i know. it's amazing what a few photoshop steps can do.
this past weekend was jg's routine visit. it was good to see him. only because i could torture him with my camera.
sb from shoreline park, saturday 09 sept 2006
the temperatures were very pleasant despite the dense overcast. we brought mcdonald's for a picnic breakfast. it was all very routine until the dolphins showed up. there were all manners of them in the channel. i couldn't help filming some.
the sun came out around noon. jg and i both took to the yard. he scrubbed down the back patio. i repotted plants in the front yard.
a few were adopted from erin
our sunday morning was also very routine. we got our breakfast from xanadu and then took it to hammond's. it was clear and sunny so i took a whole mess of pictures.
tea rose
petal-less
run piper run
bearded face
one smoldering log
one caring surfer
smiley face on lobster head
crab who had too much to drink
jg to the rescue
purple
giant half eaten spider crab
knitting needles
jg waiting for me to catch up
x marks the spot
fun with hollow rocks
the next four shots were inspired by this flickr set. no better way to abuse jg.
vertical head vice
neck vice
horizontal head vice
self vice
we didn't spend much time at hammond's because it got very sunny and neither of us brought our hats. still, i took over 200 pictures.
hammond's trail, aka bougainvilla tunnel
sheffield crossing
we heard the train coming so we put two pennies on the tracks. we watched the train fly but but we couldn't see which way the coins went. next time, duct tape.
i got that at ichiban kan this past weekend. it's a new product in their snack section. it's green tea flavored, and anything with green tea is irresistible to me. this one comes with a bonus chuckle.
i got back to work on monday and the parking lot looked as if it was covered by dusting of snow. except gray. there isn't much of it left today so i thought i'd take a few pictures for keepsake.
that's a book my boss lent me. it has some archaic information i need for my current project. he says it was written by one of his professors back in college. the information is good and all. but the cover is better!
no caps
i love the no nonsense lay out and the utter lack of caps. i even love the abstract sketch they added for good measure. the cover alone would have sold me the book. but wait, there's more!
appropriately interesting inside cover
note the fine year it was published
i even like the name firmage. i wonder if he's mormon. anyway, copyright date is actually 1963, not a big surprise given how the covers look.
i love this font
i tried to get my boss to bequeath this book to me but he didn't bite. so i got on powells.com and got myself a copy: $2.50 for the book and $3.85 to ship.
that's the best shot i took while camping this past weekend at my favorite spot in big sur. the weather was perfect but the camping was borderline disastrous. jg and i had never experienced so many unpleasantries at this campground before. despite it all, we had fun. i think.
skippy the squirrel
stealing food from adjacent sites and eating it on ours
so innocent who'd guess it's poison?
campground was packed like i had never seen it before. there were loads of bicyclists hanging around the entrance because the camground was hosting some sort of race. then there were all manners of cars coming and going looking for available camp sites or hooking up with camping parties. it was quite a zoo.
not sure what went on at site 27
but it must have raged at site 3
jg and i tried to avoid the crowd by hiking every trail we know of. we were sucessful except once: on the trail down to the water, we happened on a college age woman holding an open can of beer and squatting in the middle of the wide open trail. jg immediately turned around and hiked back up. i wandered off trail to take pictures of flowers and spider webs.
wild raspberry flower
a paraboloid of a spider web
i had never seen one like it before
close up of web glittering in the sun
eventually the woman crawled into a hole and we continued safely to the water. jg waded in tidepool after tidepool. i was only foolish enough to wade in one and promptly got myself soaked. i grossly underestimated the depth of the water and the power of the waves.
snail the size of my fingernail
crab the size of my thumb
jg about to get splashed
happily submerged anemone
one of many starfish
i bravely touched one for the very first time
giant limpet or tiny abalone, 2.5" wide x 3" long
jg disturbing the peace
again
and again
the weather just couldn't be any better, warm and clear all day long. it got a bit chilly around sunset. we returned to camp to prepare dinner.
camp standard pork tenderloins
day fast coming to an end
what the blind man sees
over all, it wasn't the best big sur experience. i would have preferred a bit more isolation. but, for $22 per night, it's hard to complain.
