The tonality here is of course not of such quality as with 16*20"
prints...
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Star trails somewhere in the Californian
Central Valley. This was on my first field trip in the Winter Quarter 1996 for my new
night portfolio. I just felt like leaving far away, and it was not till I hit my final
destination that I realized that it was completely new moon... But even then, I didn't
realize how dark it was. I mean, no light pollution, no anything. When shooting the
picture (which took about half an hour), I came up with the name "trees behind a
fence". Needless to say that there is no fence visible... Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak
TX400, about 25 minutes at 3.5 January 1996 |
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Same night, just facing east to Fresno (that's
where the light pollution comes from). First I looked through my 70-200 lens at what it
possibly could be there at the horizon, then I aimed my 20-35 at "it". I was
somewhat surprised when the presumed trees turned out to be a farm house... Canon T90,
20-35L, Kodak TX400, about 15 minutes at 3.5 January 1996 |
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Ocean Cliff Pier. My photo professor, Robert
Dawson of San Francisco, went ballistic when he saw an 8*10 of this. I really mean it. He
was not just happy, he went ballistic. So did the class. I could not make them give me any
comments on the other prints that day... And I don't even like the picture that much! I'd
like to stress though that this PhotoCD scan is really, really bad. It is soooo bright
it's hard to believe. You should be able to see the lights of Monterey back at the coast,
but it's just all washed out... Sorry! Canon 1N, 28-70L, Kodak TX400, about 2 minutes at
3.5 January 1996 |
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From under the Pier. When I was taking the
picture above, it was just starting to rain. But I wanted to get down to the pier...
Because I respect handicapped parking even at 2am, I parked where I was supposed to,
walked with my tripod all the way over, and shot this picture. People say that it's a
common shot, but where I come from we have no piers, so I like it -- it's my first of this
kind! Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TX400, about 3 minutes at 3.5 January 1996 |
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The $2000 picture. Now it was starting to rain
for real. So I thought, let's get out of here as long as you can. But I could not resist
this log. It was there so peacefully, in the very very peaceful Pacific... It could
have been the most expensive shot I have ever taken (hence the title). By the time I set
up the tripod in the ocean (now call me stupid) it was already pouring and storming, but I
wouldn't give up. Then, a big, I mean big wave came and swept just below the
tripod head (Bogen 3221 with a 3047 head). Fortunately, it was heavy enough; the original
picture (not shown here) was badly shaken, not stirred. This was the second attempt. Note
again that these are bad PCD scans; the 16*20 looks great. Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TX400,
about 1.5 minutes at 3.5 January 1996 |
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Another Star trails. Well, this one was
actually constructed so that the stars go in the same arch as the trees. The PCD operator
cut about 30% of the picture away -- apparently it was too hard to tell where the picture
began :-) Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TX400, about 10 minutes at 3.5 February 1996 |
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Some trees in Marin County, CA. I forgot the
precise location; I shot them when I was coming back from a friend in Santa Rosa. I forgot
that I had TMX in the camera and so I hopelessly underexposed the whole bracketing series,
and just this one made it (kinda). Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TMX100, about 8 minutes at 3.5
February 1996 |
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A Farmhouse somewhere near Modesto, CA,
around 4am. The absolute silence and peace at that place was almost frightening. On the
large representation you can clearly see the stars in the clear sky. Canon T90, 20-35L,
Kodak TX400, 60 sec at 3.5 April 1995 |
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A tree in the fog about 5 miles east on
CA-17 of San Jose, CA, then off-road in the hills, around 4am. When you watch closely you
will see the hills dividing the Silicon Valley from the Pacific rising on the very right.
Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TX400, 20 sec at 3.5 April 1995 |
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Coastal highway CA-1 with approaching car
between Pigeon Point and Pescadero Point, about midnight. Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TX400,
20 sec at 3.5 March 1995 |
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Rock in the Pacific at Pescadero,
about midnight. It was soooo cold! You have no idea! I was wearing a T-shirt, a
sweatshirt, a winter sweater, a jacket, gloves and a hat; it was windy as if there was no
tomorrow, and I had to watch the tripod all the time not to fall over... Canon T90,
20-35L, Kodak TX400, 30 sec at 3.5 March 1995 |
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Pigeon Point (CA) Lighthouse on a
rather clear, calm night. You can see the clouds passing by. Here, too, what you don't see
is the freezing temperature which I had to be in in order to take this picture: The wind
coming from the Pacific is rather cold at that time of the year! Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak
TX400, 15 sec at 3.5 March 1995 |
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Twin Peaks radio antennas in San
Francisco on a surprisingly clear but extremely chilly night, about midnight. Canon T90,
20-35L, Kodak TX400, 20 sec at 3.5 May 1995 |
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San Francisco Exploratorium, or
better the lake in front of it, with trees on the right and a street to the left, about
3am. Canon T90, 20-35L, Kodak TX400, 40 sec at 3.5 March 1995 |
