Passing Into the Unknown

This image is #9 in my 100/365 project.

I love American holidays, as it gives me a chance to take a break from work and recharge my batteries out in the nature. This is precisely what I did on Friday, as I went hiking out in the Great Basin Redwoods State Park, located in the Santa Cruz mountains, which is just south of San Jose. By the way - most beautiful forests I have ever seen and if you can endure driving 20 miles an hour on a windy road for an hour, it's well worth a visit.

As I drove up there, I went through several patches of fog, as it was rolling away after the night (common occurrence in the Bay area, as some of you may know). There was something mysterious about this scene. Fog.. Big trees.. No one was around.. Clear air.. Fall color.. I had to stop and capture what I was feeling. I had no idea where the road was leading or when I'd arrive at my destination (kind of like my life), so I decided to compose this image in such a way as to lead the eye into the unknown, amid the fog surrounded by these tall ancient redwood trees standing there and looking down at us little humans passing by.

Indian Summer in Napa Valley

This image is #8 in my 100/365 project.

While driving around in Napa Valley, I kept looking for this very scene - a farm with an easy access and rows of grape trees extending into the horizon. In fact, I wanted to take this kind of image ever since I got into photography. Finally, as we took a turn, I saw this spot, just as I visualized it. We immediately turned around and I had to take this picture.

I like this scene because it speaks of order. There are all kinds of patterns in this image that are pleasing to my eyes - how trees extend in to the distance, how they are parallel to the road, the curve of the road, the angle of shadows, etc. I also liked what I saw in the skies and the color that presented itself well. Overall, my favorite photo in a while.

Mumm Napa - Trees Exhibit

This picture is #7 in my 100/365 project I started this month.

I took this picture yesterday during our visit to the Mumm Napa fine art gallery, located in Napa Valley, which is just North of San Francisco. As we walked into this gallery, I loved the solitude and a sense of dimension that I saw in this scene. I wanted to keep people in the picture (my wife and my son, actually) so as not to leave the art alone, but this kind of angle allowed me to focus the eye on the path, leading it into the image.

To read more about the visit itself, please jump to our family blog.

The Edges of Light

This picture is #6 in my 100/365 project.

I like contrast. Light and darkness, color vs no color. I think our brains are made in such a way so as to like contrass, and this is what I saw when I took this image. Again, I wasn't pleased with color combination (and recently, I been really into B&W photography), so I took the color away. This allowed me to focus on the different shades of light we see in this frame - all kinds of spectrum of light and contrast.

Tank Made of Steel

This picture is #5 in my 100/365 project.

One of the more recognized building is San Jose is the HP Pavilion, aka Sharks Tank, located in downtown San Jose, where San Jose Sharks play their home games and various artists and show perform on a regular basis. It was built in the early 90s, and architecture and style is rather modern.

I really liked the stormy skies that were gathering over the Tank, as if those who come to play the Sharks there shouldn't be thinking they'll have an easy life there (by the way, Sharks are currently 10-1 at home, and have no. 1 record in the NHL). So I wanted to shoot an angle where sharp part of the building interacted with the skies. I also had that same idea I was pursuing in post processing and I felt that the B&W conversion was appropriate here.

Bamboo Forest in Hakone Gardens

This picture is #4 in my 100/365 project.

One of the secret beautiful places hidden in the heart of Silicon Valley are Hakone Japanese Gardens near Saragota Springs. I will no doubt go back there again with my camera, but my biggest impression on my first visit was a bamboo forest I saw for the first time in my life. Geometric shapes and how close these trees were growing next to each other was a contrast that I thought was pleasing to the eye.

His First Haircut

This image is #3 in the 100/365 project I started earlier this week.

While I said I will not post family related pictures in this project, I'll make exceptions sometimes. To me this picture is more than just a family snap shot. It represents one of the important steps in maturing process, getting your first haircut. It also a moment parents will always remember. It took Maks 16 months to reach this important milestone.

Ocean Parking

This image is #2 in the 100/365 project I started earlier this week.

I actually took this picture just an hour or so after the previous one. The sky was stormy and because the sun was still low, there was plenty of contrast remaining in the sky. I liked the pattern of how these boats were lined up against the horizon, with this one random boat on the right guarding the other boats.

As I looked at an image on the screen, I figured there was nothing special about the color, and I thought the best way to express what I wanted to with this image would be through a B&W conversion.

100 Images in 365 Days - #1 Heavy Skies of the Monterey Bay

For a while now I been looking for something that will push myself back to regular shooting, and I think I found it. I used to shoot a lot more when I got my first SLR couple of years ago. I had more free time then while I was still in college, but I also had more motivation. I had a goal to post new picture every day on Flickr. After a while, however, I got weary of it and decided to stop the 365 Project. I describe why here.

However, if I don't have goals, I find myself not doing very much. So in my search for a new project, I came across a project that one of my favorite photographers Brooks Jensen started to keep himself motivated to produce new work, and that is, post 100 new images in 365 days, or one image every three days. You can see his project here.

I will do the same thing. In the next year I will post 100 new images here. The rules are simple:

• this should be a new image I have not posted before (although I don't have to shoot a new picture every three days, as I can dig in my archives to process some images I haven't published here before)
• I can't post family related pictures
• I can't post pictures from paid assignments, such as portrait sessions which I do on occasions
• I will also post a short description about the picture.
  

With that, here is the first image in the series.



I took this image last Sunday as we visited Monterey and this image was taken during a sunrise. I always wanted to take a picture of these colorful structures at Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, but I knew I needed a right light for it or else the saturated color of these house won't come through.

It was a stormy morning, and I didn't think I'd see much of anything in the skies, but just as the sun appeared on the horizon, it illuminated the stormy clouds above it with all kinds of color. I quickly set up my camera as I knew the light and the color won't last long and took few long exposures to smooth out the water and to capture more color as it was changing in the skies. The light from the sun also allowed me to capture the color of the buildings, just as I wanted. Five minutes later the color was gone, as was the sun, and the rain returned.

Lonely Door

Do Not Land Here

I guess that's one way to protect yourself from bird presents.