cool
Butterflies & Damselflies
While out an out about, I spotted theses little guys buzzing and fluttering around.
Dino Tracks 1 Mile Ahead
During this trip I wanted to find some dinosaur tracks. I searched the internet for secret locations and imagined a long hike out in the middle of no where and then stumbling on a great find. It was towards the end of our trip and I was running out of opportunities. Then just outside Tube City, AZ there was a road sign, “Dinosaur Tracks 1 Mile Ahead”. We had time to kill and said “why not?!?” and pulled into the makeshift parking lot. The “tour” was by donation and Jennifer our guide told us that this land was Navajo lands and in their stories, no one came out there because of the ‘bones’. It was only a short time ago when they realized that the bones where dinosaur fossils. She grabbed a bottle of water (to highlight the tracks) and it was maybe 20 – 25 feet from the parking lot and you could see all the tracks.
When the Earth Moved
Hiking in the back country near the PCT, I found this cool formation. The Tahoe basin was formed about 24 million years ago and several areas show evidence of this rise & fall of the landscape due to faulting.
Real? or Reflection?
This was a fun shot. It was hard to tell where the reflections ended in the lake. The granite shoreline juts into the water and appears as one with reflection of the Crystal Range.
Stern of the HMS Surprise
The ship now known as HMS Surprise began life in 1970 as a replica of the 18th century Royal Navy frigate Rose. During the next 30 years Rose sailed thousands of miles as an attraction vessel and sail training ship prior to her conversion to HMS Surprise. For the academy award winning film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the filmmakers made a painstaking effort to recreate a 24 gun frigate specific to Great Britain’s Nelson era Royal Navy. The result is a replica vessel unmatched in its authenticity and attention to detail.
Nature’s Intricate Design
Nature is pretty amazing! Intricate design on this dragonfly that goes from translucent to flaming orange. Functional and beautiful in one shot
Marked by Time
Walking along the coast, in Pescadero there were these cool rocks eroded by the tide.
Pacifica
Ventured out to get in some night photography shots. This is Pacifica, CA, the lights in the far background come from freeway just beyond the hill.
Moonbeams & Cupid’s Span
Taken at along San Francisco’s Embarcadero. Cupid’s Span to the right, the Bay Bridge in the background.
Statement by the Artists (Cupid’s Span)
Inspired by San Francisco’s reputation as the home port of Eros, we began our project for a small park on the Embarcadero along San Francisco Bay by trying out the subject of Cupid’s stereotypical bow and arrow. The first sketches were made of the subject with the bowstring drawn back, poised on the feathers of the arrow, which pointed up to the sky.
When Coosje van Bruggen found this position too stiff and literal, she suggested turning the image upside down: the arrow and the central part of the bow could be buried in the ground, and the tail feathers, usually downplayed, would be the focus of attention. That way the image became metamorphic, looking like both a ship and a tightened version of a suspension bridge, which seemed to us the perfect accompaniment to the site. In addition, the object functioned as a frame for the highly scenic situation, enclosing — depending on where one stood — either the massed buildings of the city’s downtown or the wide vista over the water and the Bay Bridge toward the distant mountains.
As a counterpoint to romantic nostalgia, we evoked the mythological account of Eros shooting his arrow into the earth to make it fertile. The sculpture was placed on a hill, where one could imagine the arrow being sunk under the surface of plants and prairie grasses. By slanting the bow’s position, Coosje added a sense of acceleration to the Cupid’s Span. Seen from its “stern,” the bow-as-boat seems to be tacking on its course toward the white tower of the city’s Ferry Building.
Sea Anemone Rock
At first glance (see yesterday’s photo) I thought this was a rock covered in barnacles. I moved closer to it and realized that the rock was covered with small sea anemones.
Snapshots by Kats 