I've been busy too...

[another view]

I've been lucky enough to have two nice trips in the last couple of weeks. My wife and I were in San Francisco and wine country to celebrate our 10th anniversary (I don't know how she does it) at the end of August. It's a really beautiful area that we visited several years ago and since she continued to mention it I surprised her with this trip. Shots to follow, a whole pile of RAW files await me...

I also got up north for a kayaking trip. This one was in Door County Wisconsin on Lake Michigan in a wilderness park. It's like being in the middle of nowhere when tourist-land is only a couple dozen miles away. This shot is of a friend coming off of a wave he was surfing. Wish I had a better shot, it was a really fun area. Since it was backlit and my flash wouldn't come close to lighting him, I decided to turn this into a B&W silhouette. It's cropped quite a bit (happens fast and had a slow camera) and some other minor tricks in PS. This was the Olympus 720SW waterproof that I'm pretty impressed with.

[another view]

OK, playing with images is more fun than responsibilities, so here goes from California. I guess I was into themes, but the last one reminds me of one I took at the Chicago gathering a few years ago.

[another view]

The rest of the story...

[racingpinarello]

Hey Steve,

Congrats on the 10th anniversary. I'm glad you got to enough the Napa Valley. It's a beautiful location, and one of my favorite in California.

Loren

[Old Timer]

Congratulations on your 10th Steve. There is nothing like a good woman to make life what God intended it. Sounds like you know how to treat her as well. I think my wife would faint dead away if was able to pull off a surprise like that. The California images are great. I love the shadow patterns and the corners shots, it would be hard to pick a favorite here. Nice job. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you trip.

[Speed]

The rest of the story...

Congratulations on your 10th buddy!

I love the sixth shot you posted. That one really jumps out and gets your attention. The others were nice too, but that sixth one...

[Sebastian]

That chair and windows shot is incredible.

[another view]

Thanks everybody. Speed, I'm guessing you're talking about the first shadow shot - it was taken in the courtyard of the same place that the other corner shot was done - a very busy winery in Napa. I do like wine but decided to forego another tasting in favor of getting a shot.

Sebastian, thanks! It was a handheld shot with my Sigma 10-20 probably out all the way or at least at 12. That's an extremely wide lens to handhold when you're trying to get angles to line up. I didn't do it perfectly (obviously) and moving the camera just slightly will make a big difference. There were 302 steps (yeah, they're numbered) to get down there after a half-mile hike. Now I wish I would have had the tripod and level but not when I was climbing all those steps!

[walterick]

Wow Steve, you have a really great eye for patterns, textures, light, and lines! Beautiful shots, all of them!

[another view]

I credit Chunk for a lot of that. Anybody heard from him lately? Thanks!

[walterick]

I credit Chunk for a lot of that.

Why? Was he there pushing the shutter?

No, I haven't seen him in a while. He might be in the middle of Nevada on his motorcycle.

[Liz]

Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary Steve! Your wife is lucky to have such nice surprises! I think you're both blessed to have a happy marriage. Thanks for sharing the good times with us.

I really like this set of shots - they're all nice, but these are my favorite. I love the patterns, and my favorite one is the window and the chair. Great composition on all of them.

Good to have you back......and posting pictures.

Liz

OK, playing with images is more fun than responsibilities, so here goes from California. I guess I was into themes, but the last one reminds me of one I took at the Chicago gathering a few years ago.

[mjs1973]

Congratulations Steve! I with Speed, I really like the first shadow image. They are all very nice, but that's the one that sticks out to me.