A door is a portal to life inside.
Since we are doing doors, here is one from the archives…
I don’t have much in the way of new work. I occasionally dip into the archives of unedited photos and see if there is an overlooked image that needs to be shared after a bit of spit-and-shine. Here is another slice of life in San Francisco.
Waiting for the game!
Shuttered for the winter.
Silos #1
Remnants #2
Sticks and Snow.
Cables & Curves.
Remnants! (2025 Reissue)
Sometimes all you need is a little rain and a moment to pause for a dose of serenity. And yes, this is an iPhone photo :)
I wake up every morning, do my thing, and then I sit down to write. It is mostly in my journal. Usually it is dark, and I write in the light of a candle. The change of seasons means that the sun's position relative to my apartment changes. And early morning light streams in quite early -- thanks to daylight savings -- and I get to write basking in the warmth of the morning sun. I looked up and caught a shadow of me writing. The many layers reflected the state of mind. My attempt at a self-portrait. I wonder what Amanda has to say about this!
“The rose that blooms in the soul has no thorn.” - Rumi.
“Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.”
—Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
William Allen White — once described Coca-Cola as “the sublimated essence of all that America stands for.
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers the little things, long after you have forgotten.” “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers the little things, long after you have forgotten.”
“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” — John Burroughs
“America is an idea, not a geography.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“What is left unpainted is as meaningful as what is painted.” Japanese saying.
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with light.” Henri Cartier-Bresson
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers the little things, long after you have forgotten.”
Just another pretty sight from somewhere in the Bay Area. I am truly blessed to live in a region where magical photos just present themselves, as long as you move slowly and are willing to look. And then imagine.
FYI, this is my reality-distorted interpretation of a very normal afternoon.
We have had some rains over the past few days. A friend calls it the sky was sobbing. What a wonderful way to describe the weather. In between rains, there have been some beautiful moments: magnificent light, shifting clouds. This past weekend, I woke up to this early morning light. I walked out to the balcony of my apartment with my Leica SL3 and a Leica 55-135 APS-C L mount lens. This is a 200mm equivalent shot of Oakland on the horizon. I cropped the annoying building bits at the bottom of the frame and ran a slight Gaussian blur over the water. The color of the image is what the camera captured. I kinda love this photo. It’s blue. It’s nothing. It’s just how I feel when I am at peace.
Life and everything else has come in the way of photography. On rare occasions, I get a chance to pick up my camera (Leica Q3 43) and go out for a quick photo jaunt. And when I do, it is about enjoying the process rather than the final outcome. I don't really want to carry a tripod, filters, a camera bag, or anything. I just want to breathe in the moment and enjoy the feeling of seeing something and saving it for another time. I loved being out there in Inverness on a rare rainy day in Northern California. Sharing my moment of zen with you.
Street photography, Svalbard style. Another great aspect of Leica Q3 43 is that it allows me to get super low to the ground and use the flippy screen to find an unusual point of view. And I hated the flippy screen initially. Once again a reminder that good reviews need time and being open minded enough to be wrong.
You don’t need a big camera or massive lens to really create the vision you have imagined. This image was created using a Leica Q3-43. 61 megapixels are enough to give me a big enough file to crop right how I want it. The lens is sharp even wide open. And the 43 mm focal length is roughly equal to my preferred focal length of 50mm. The The Leica Q is small enough to go everywhere and as a result has become my only landscape camera. I don’t like the flip screen, but can’t argue with the other upsides. A decade after it launched, the Q has finally won me over.
Six years ago, I was on a photography workshop with Michael Levin. He had found this spot, captured it and immortalized it, and then shared it with all of his students. I was one of them. This edit, six years later, is my interpretation of that gift he gave me.
Michael has been so instrumental in helping me find my path, learning what I don't like and what my eyes see. He is the one who pointed out to me that I gravitate to shapes and abstraction.
That remark led me to explore my desire to photograph differently. If my memory serves me right, this was the last time I actively tried to do "long exposures" in the classic sense. Most of my work now is handheld, in quest of imperfection.
Anyway, that is a long-winded way of saying -- enjoy this scene, share your knowledge and don't be so precious. You live forever by sharing.
It is almost a year since I was in this magical place. Time might not fly, but it sure moves 💨
Silence
Done for the day
Sometimes you just have to stand there and appreciate the little things the divine Mother Earth has gifted us. Have a pleasant week, one and all.
This is how San Francisco does summers! Any questions?
“Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.”
— Francis Bacon
“Silence isn’t empty. It’s full of answers.”
— Unknown
Made with Leica Q3:43 @leicacamerausa
Their breath clouds the dusk —
what they seek is not the food,
but the unseen hold.
There is always something weird in San Francisco.
Racing Ahead! By the way, in case you didn't notice -- those cranes in the background are in Oakland, and fairly sharp if you zoom in.
Fingers in the sky!
Something about these cranes and how they were arranged got my attention.
I love this photo. It just shows the harmony between the camera, the lens, and my mind's eye.
More sticks in the water. What can I say!!
I like rotting sticks in water! What can I say 🤷🏽♂️
Just walking around the neighborhood with my iPhone Pro 16 Max, capturing photos of sticks on a rainy morning
"In the deepening spring of May, I had no choice but to recognize the trembling of my heart." - Haruki Murakami
@cm was let loose on the beach and it was my cue to capture him in this silent alien environment. Or as he says, Sometimes in front of the camera! Obviously in my style 🤣🤣
One last one for this month’s special category!
