Tossing the stick

There are a bunch of dogs at Crissy field that LOVE to chase sticks into the surf. I loved the view of this kid getting ready to toss it to the dog, who is at least twice as big as he is.

Driftwood

Taken on our Sunday morning dog walk at Crissy Field.

Sp-u-lash!

Wave versus rock.

Taken at Pescadero beach last weekend, before the ugly stuff started to fall around here.

It's rainy season, so you'll likely see pictures taken at something approaching weeklong intervals, then meted out one a day for a while.

Beach rock, plus, some movies...

Went down to Sharp Park beach in Pacifica to get some beach/waves pictures. Loved this rock and the way the water and foam swirled around it as it crashed into the shore.

I've been toying around with what I call "motor-drive movies". That is to say, I take a couple of dozen or more pictures with the motor-drive mode on my D70, then stitch them togther using iMovie on the Mac. The effect is a little like stop-action movies (which, technically, they are).

Here are a couple of them that I've done.

This first one is of the same rock as today's picture.



This one is one (again of waves) that I took when we went out to the Point Bonita lighthouse a couple of weeks ago.



And here is one that has a series of glacier calvings from our 2005 trip to Alaska's Hubbard Glacier.

Someone walked to the ocean...

Sometimes pictures just throw themselves at you. I needed to go into the city, so I decided that I would swing by Ocean Beach on my way in and snap some pics. I couldn't find a parking spot until almost all the way to the cliff house, but when I finally did, I stepped out of the car, and saw this.

The footprints speak to me -- they speak of action, without action. It almost seems like that old "footprints" story about walking with Jesus.

Marine Layer coming in...

I liked this picture because of the contrasts. The close focus of the bird and the guy looking out onto the beach versus the shrouding of the Cliff House and "Bird Poop Rock" by the fog (aka Marine Layer).

Beautiful day in SF ...

click on the picture for a larger version

It was TRULY gorgeous in San Francisco today. Mid-60's/low 70's and barely any clouds. We left work early to pick up Clem from the dog sitters because we have a concert to go to tonight.

On the way home, we decided to go via "Great Highway", the road that runs along Ocean Beach. It was nearing sundown, and I had to stop to take some pictures of the sun on the ocean (go to the flickr page to see more, plus the ones of BOB taken from our dog sitter's back yard).

This one, while it doesn't have the sun on the water that I was looking for, jumped out. It probably would have been a better shot for Wednesday (Valentine's day), but, I took it today, so it goes in today! The shadows on the sand of the friends and the lovers -- the whole composition makes me pretty happy.

One last chase ...

I went to visit my son today (he's at UC Davis, which is about 70 miles from here). On my way home, I was still trying to find that great picture to take, when I noticed that the sun was going down, and, if I hustled, I could get to the beach in time to get a sunset picture.

Of course, I didn't count on the backup at the tolls on the Bay Bridge, so, alas, when I got to Ocean Beach, the sun had finished its journey below the horizon. Dejected, I turned the car down Great Highway and started home. At a stoplight, however, I looked out at the ocean, and saw a surprising site.

The beach was still FULL of people. Many were starting to wind their way back to the parking lot, but litterally hundreds of folks were still out on the beach -- a fair number of them with dogs, still splashing around in the surf.

I hurredly parked my car, grabbed my trusty D70, and headed down the sand.

I particularly like the fact that I caught the little guy completely in mid jump. I also liked the way the shadowy reflections in the wet sand blur the line where the people end.