Lilac in LA

What a pleasant surprise! Lilac in California! Today we went with a guest from Vancouver to the Descanso Gardens (http://www.descansogardens.org/site/), between Glendale and Pasadena in Los Angeles. They had weeks of rain and miserable weather up there in Vancouver, so we thought a little California spring bloom would be the right cure. The garden was in brilliant display, a wonderland of spring flowers and blooming trees. The tulips were about 2 weeks post peak, but still very impressive. Plum and cherry trees were in bloom around the Japanese tea house, generating a little O-hanami feeling 5000 miles east of Tokyo. But the biggest surprise however was the lilac garden. Several hundreds of lilacs in glorious bloom filled the air with sweet fragrance, humming birds were hovering between the clusters of lilac, creating an almost out-of-this-world scene. The fellow visitors all had smiles on their face, and cameras were clicking everywhere. But how to catch this serene scene in a photo? A good picture should trigger the memories of the smell of blooming lilac, and should focus on the bloom, without distracting elements. So, no wide angle shot, no shot of a full lilac bush either. You need to get close, find a lilac cluster with contrasting background, and then apply composition skill and good depth of field technique. The day was sunny, yet slightly windy, causing some gentle movement of the limbs. Not ideal, but certainly a good tripod would have helped – but mine was sound and safe in the trunk of the car. So, I used a lens with image stabilization, extended the exposure to 1/20, resulting in a 22 aperture at ISO 200, all for a good depth of field. And then I took series of exposure bracketing shots to get the right combination of overall sharpness and correctly exposed highlights. Nice exercise in photography 101. Having lived in Germany and on the East Coast, Lilac at the end of March is a very unexpected sight. And while the brilliant orange of California puppies is the regional signal that spring has arrived, the fragrant elegance of lilac is the true symbol of warm, sunny spring days announcing the onset of summer.

Alternative Routes

Last Thursday I had to make a short drive to Santa Cruz to pick up some enlargements for my photo contest entries at my favorite photo lab ( www.bayphoto.com ). The shortest route from Los Altos to Santa Cruz is over Hwy 17, a notoriously dangerous and traffic prone four lane stretch of road over the Santa Cruz Mountains. Looking at the oncoming traffic, I felt lucky as I was driving counter to the morning commute. My pictures were ready so i was quickly on the road again. Now i was in that awful bumper-2-bumper traffic on Hwy 17. Weighing my options, I decided to take an alternative route, Hwy 1 along the Pacific Coast I would head north and then cut over to the Bay Area on the San Gregorio - La Honda road.
The sun and bright blue spring skies put a smile on my face. It was still a little blistery from a cold front that came through the day before, but it was nice enough so that I dropped the top of my Miata, turned on the heater and a few minutes later Santa Cruz and traffic jams were far behind. In front of me the narrow, twisty band of Highway 1 stretched in front of me to the horizon. This time of the year is especially beautiful on the Pacific coast, the winter rains have left the hill sides lush and green, the meadows are covered in bright yellow bands of mustard and along the road patches of California puppies and lupine. The ocean was choppy and the waves were crashing against the rocks creating fountains of white spray. A few para-surfers played with the wind , soaring several yards over the crest of breaking waves. As a snowboarder I have to admire these guys for their graceful playfulness.

I stopped at Pigeon Point light house (see picture above), one of my favorite spots on this stretch of Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. A few whale watchers were snuggled under blankets next to the light house tower hoping to get lucky. March is a good time to see whales migrating from Bahia up to Alaska, but Pigeon Point is not really close to the migrating route so chances to actually see a whale are slim as compared to further up north Point Reyes. It has a lot of traffic and visitors but it is a place where you are more likely to get lucky. Weekends are always busy at Pigeon Point too, but weekdays it is quiet and serene.
I was happy that I decided to avoid the traffic jam on Hwy 17 and take the road less traveled. It was a wonderful spring morning on a beautiful stretch of the Pacific Coast Hightway and i had a chance for some beach pictures. The coast undisturbed by tourists or random foot prints. As so often is the case, the best moments and opportunities for finding that special setting for a good picture are found off the beaten track, taking the alternative route.

Welcome

Hi Everyone!

Beginnings

Remember the old adage "Never start quitting, never end beginning!". Today is such an event. The start of my blog. I am a photo enthusiast, and I want to use my blog to reach out to friends and family distributed over the globe. My intention is to let them know how I am pursuing my hobby, but also to get in touch with my fellow shutterbugs. Photography is a lifelong journey. Even after you have mastered the basic techniques, you never stop learning about composition, color contrast, lighting, subjects, effects, the interactions of light and shadow, and so much more. I will use this blog to document my ongoing journey. I hope to get feedback from the community on my pictures, technique, and concepts.
My pictures are displayed in the homes of friends and family, but have yet to take the step of showing my work in public or publishing them on a web page. Well, my pictures will be soon available at a new web site featuring several photographers. You will be able to find it under www.pictr.biz

I also took another first step last weekend, I entered six of my photos into a photo contest. The Napa Valley Mustard Festival hosts a yearly photography contest at the end of March. This coinsides with the end of the mustard blooming season. Amateur and professional photographers can enter in 3 main categories (Traditional, Digital, Creative) and two sub-categories (Carneros and Silverado Trail). Photos should highlight mustard at its best, in bloom and glorious. The above photo was one of many taken during my quest for what would be the "best" photo for this years competition. It was taken in the Carneros region of Napa Valley. It is about an hours drive north-east of San Francisco. Carneros is the region at the south end of Napa Valley, closest to the Bay. It has more exposure to the fog which rolls in from the Pacific Ocean. This creates a micro climate that is about 10 degrees cooler than more interior parts of the Valley. It is home to great Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The Silverado Trail is the less-traveled road on the east side of Napa Valley. It meanders from the city of Napa at the southern end of the valley, to the charming town of Calistoga at the northern end.

While Carneros has rolling hills covered with vineyards, Napa valley's vineyards are predominantly on the flat valley floor. This opens the opportunity for two completely different ways to compose a picture. While Carneros offers the play with curved lines of vines up and across rolling hillsides, Napa Valley allows strong geometrical set-ups with lines of vines going straight to the horizon. More on these two different challenges later in a different posting.

Enjoy the journey with me. If you like or dislike what I write, please post your comment, good and constructive feedback is always welcome!