Photography

The spring rains and cool weather yielded the most abundant flowers I’ve ever seen in Edgewood Park, near Redwood City. I hiked the Serpentine Loop. Serpentine is a California rock formation that has the beneficial property of killing non-native grasses, and thereby allowing the local wildflowers to thrive. It’s a greenish rock. In my first photo, of the poppies on the rock, note the lizard. Redwood City was so-named because it was a port from which redwoods were shipped. you can see the channel to the seaport in the distance. To see the pictures larger, click any photo. ...

We went out looking for life in Death Valley. We found long vistas of wide valleys and dry mountains;lakebeds that haven’t seen water in ages; and, ghost towns with tales to tell. We crossed the Tehachapi Pass and found some Golden State dreamscapes. Here’s our trip: Mojave Desert We first struck gold in the Mojave Desert, when we came across huge superblooms of “Desert Gold” flowers covering the sandy basin. The air was clear and the views were vast. Behind us, we could see the micro-burst storm clouds that had pelted our car with rain in the Tehachapi Pass. Ahead of us, an AirBnB awaited in sunny Ridgecrest, California. ...

Upon arriving in Vancouver for the AAAI Conference, I took a photo walk and water taxi to False Creek. In two hours it was misty, then sunny, then it hailed, then sunny, then gale force winds. Welcome to Vancouver! There is a wonderful public market on Granville Island, and I found smoked salmon, some rice paper rolls, and a little soup for lunch. Granville Island was an industrial area and became an art gallery area, perhaps best illustrated by the “Giants” painted onto cement towers. The final photo is from the conference site, the next morning. ...

For Martin Luther King weekend, I drove up to NYC to see Mom & Paul. We had a fantastic visit. And I always love taking photos in New York, so brought my camera along. Our first destination was the Bowery, via the trusty 15-SBS bus. In particular, we were going to the New Museum to see their Judy Chicago exhibit. When we got off the bus, we were on Houston St right near the famous Katz’s Deli. I had to go into to see a sign I remember from my childhood “Send a salami to your boy in the army.” It was still there and the deli looked exactly the same. Need some Dr. Brown’s soda with that pastrami? ...

On their first night in DC, I took Micah and Victoria for a walk around the Tidal Basin at night. It was a warm, calm evening. Perfect for a winter walk. And Thomas Jefferson was glad we visited. Martin Luther King seemed to have a few things to say to the Washington Monument. While Micah and Victoria read all the MLK quotes, I set up my tripod for some clear night shots. ...