Lmst

The flowers and seed spike of tall grasses, narrowly focused against a sea of other grasses in the background. The flowers are pinkish-purple, with multiple branches of feathery petals spreading out from the stem in all directions. The seed spike is wheat-colored, with spiky seed pods pointing up and out from the stem in a long tight cluster.

A narrowly focused photograph of the seed pods of different tall wild grasses against: a large number of brown seed spikes - a long narrow cylinder at the end of a stem with spiky seed-bearing florets - in the middle of the photo, and in the lower part of the photo, a green seed spike side-by-side with a pinkish-purple multi-branching flower. Other grasses and seed pods are visible behind those, growing more and more out of focus, until the background is a wash of brown at the bottom and green and black at the top.

A simple wooden bench in front of a moss-covered stone wall. The bench is made of a thick wooden plank supported by two equally-thick slab-like legs on either side, with a graceful inward curve at the front and back of each leg. The wall behind is made of large stones, completely covered by moss and with sword ferns growing out of the cracks and gaps. Most of the wall is in shade, while a sunbeam highlights the bench itself.

Sorry folks. between lack of brain-power to sift through photos and running out of my themes, i'm sort of going on pause for a while, except for the silent sunday posts that i'll try to keep going.

#photography #SilentSunday #Filoli

A tall fern growing from mast-littered ground is highlighted by a patch of sunlight in this photo from Filoli's Shaded Garden. At my best guess, this is a Giant Wood Fern, with several fronds growing from a central point; each frond has pairs of many-leafed mini-stems (called "pinnae" in ferns) extending from either side of the central stem ("midrib"), with the mini-stems growing shorter towards the apex of the fronds.

Behind and beyond the sunlit fern, a park bench sits in the shade.

My Saturday "Street Level" photos: These are interesting architecture, or patterns, or juxtapositions, or whatever caught my eye as I walked around various towns. I'm tagging these as "Urban Fragments" based on a comment I saw on another photo.

This set is photos taken at, near, or _of_ the San Francisco Ferry Building. I'll be skipping some due to near-duplicate photos or some that are, bluntly, boring :)

#photography #architecture #UrbanFragments #ArtReference

Looking up at the San Francisco Ferry Building's clock tower from next to the Ferry Building's entrance block. While partially obscured by the wall and roof of the entrance block on the right, you can still see part of the clock face as well as the colonnaded tiers rising above it at an angle, culminating at the flagpole and US flag near the top of the photo.

The Ferry Building clock tower and roof-line as seen from the terminal plaza on the waterfront side of the building. Two faces of the clock tower are visible from this angle, showing the clock reading 1:00 below the two square and two round colonnaded tiers rising to the flagpole at the top. The unlit neon signs announcing "PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO" stand at the edge of the roof of the main building, and the tops of the tall arched windows are just visible below the signs at the bottom of the photo. Behind the clock tower, the buildings of the Embarcadero Center rise, shaped like wooden slabs standing vertically against one another, thin-edge towards the viewer with their six sections of building 4 windows across, each a different height and each set back a bit more from its neighbor.

Another pair of dahlias (of unknown variety) from the Golden Gate Park Dahlia Dell, a dahlia garden managed by the Dahlia Society of California (see https://www.dahliadell.org/ for more info).

#photography #FloralFriday #dahlia #ArtReference

Blooms from two different dahlia plants, one in front of the other. Both are decorative style dahlias - with no visible central disc, and multiple layers of petals from the double-bloom, spreading out from the central petals pointing the same direction as the stem to the perimeter petals laying perpendicular to the stem.

The flower in front is peach-colored, with petals that are yellow at the base and fade to pink at the tip, darker on the outside face of the petal. With the light shining from above, this dahlia gives the appearance of glowing.

The back Dahlia is a rich dark red-wine color, solid around the entire flower.

The two blooms are surrounded by the serrated leaves of the dahlia plants, with one as-yet-unopened bloom on the right.

Photos from Washington, D.C.

We never made it to the Capitol itself, but I got two photos of it: one in "golden hour" from the National Mall near the Capitol, and one at night from the Washington Monument.

#photography #WashingtonDC #USCapitol

The U.S. Capitol building as seen from the National Mall. This vertical photo shows the central part of the Capitol containing the rotunda and the signature Capitol Dome and Statue of Freedom, as well as the original southern wing which held the House of Representatives.

The neoclassical building is painted white, with broad exterior stairways on either side of the terraced western face. Above the two-and-a-half visible stories accessible by the stairs, a central balcony with 10 columns spans the upper two stories of the main building. Above that and behind the US flag rises the dome itself - two "wedding cake" layers, the lower layer surrounded by a colonnade of 36 tall columns, supporting the dome itself, topped with a "tholos" (a ringed column capped with its own dome) on which stands the Statue of Freedom, seen from behind in this photo.

To the right of the Capitol Dome is the lower domed top of the old chambers of the House of Representatives, now the National Statuary Hall.

The US Capitol building at night, as seen down the National Mall from the Washington Monument.

The Capitol occupies the lower quarter of the vertical photo, mostly dark against the black night sky with a few lit windows. The Capitol Dome is well-lit, however, both from exterior floodlights and from interior lights in the lower "wedding cake" layer.

A flagpole in the foreground, slightly out of focus, rises on the right, with a floodlit American flag (reversed from side to side) fluttering in the upper third of the photo.

Photos from Washington, D.C.

Even though there were people inside the Jefferson Memorial, we weren't allowed in because we arrived too late, so all I have are my photos from the outside.

#photography #WashingtonDC

On the right, the tall marble columns of the Jefferson Memorial's circular colonnade span the vertical photo. On the left is open sky above and the top of the Washington Monument rising from behind a tree in the lower left half.

A look at the capitals of the colonnade of the Jefferson Memorial. In a photo taken at an angle, because I used to think it "looked cool", four marble columns rise to meet the rim of the domed marble roof of the memorial. Each column is capped with an Ionic capital, looking like a papyrus scroll rolled up on either side of the column.

The Jefferson Memorial, taken from the back side. The memorial is circular, made entirely of marble, with a ring of Ionic columns supporting the outside of the roof. The main building has openings on all four sides, allowing us to see through it to the tall bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson (seen from behind and in silhouette against the late day sky) and the crowd of people around its base, giving an idea of its size (19 feet tall, standing on a six foot marble base). Above the statue and colonnade rises the memorial's shallow dome, also made of marble and resting on ever widening circular bases that are supported by the colonnade and interior walls.

Photos from Washington, D.C.

#photography #WashingtonDC #WorldWar2Memorial #LincolnMemorial

A night shot of the Washington Monument standing tall in the distance behind the World War 2 Memorial.

The World War 2 memorial is an elaborate set of fountains in an oval pond, surrounded by a plaza with an outer ring of cement pillars with verdigris-copper wreaths, one pillar and wreath for each state and territory as of 1948. The two main fountains, one towards each end of the oval pond, both consist of several water spouts, presenting tall central fountains surrounded by several lower fountains. An oval ring of additional water spouts in the pond each shoot an arch of water towards the main fountains.

In the background, the Washington Monument is a tall obelisk with a ring of flagpoles at its base, looking relatively tiny compared to the height of the Monument.

A night shot of the World War 2 Memorial.

The World War 2 memorial is an elaborate set of fountains in an oval pond, surrounded by a plaza with an outer ring of cement pillars with verdigris-copper wreaths, one pillar and wreath for each state and territory as of 1948. The two main fountains, one towards each end of the oval pond, both consist of several water spouts, presenting tall central fountains surrounded by several lower fountains. An oval ring of additional water spouts in the pond each shoot an arch of water towards the main fountains.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln, the only lit object in this low-exposure shot of the interior of the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln is presented with his curled bang over his right temple and curly beard. He is sitting on a broad throne-like chair, hands curled over the armrests, wearing a long unbuttoned frock coat over shirt and waistcoat. The front of the chair arms are decorated with bundles of wooden rods, the fasces of Roman authority.

Photos from Washington, D.C.

#photography #WashingtonDC #WashingtonMonument

A vertical, long-exposure photo of the Washington Monument at night. The monument itself stretches the vertical height of the photo, with the pointed tip just below the top of the frame. Red warning lights for aircraft are visible on either face of the pyramidal top. Around the base of the monument, a ring of American flags flutter in the wind, blurred by motion during the long shot. And just to the left of the monument, about a flagpole's height above the ring of flags, the moon is a disc of solid white, no details visible from being over-exposed.

The base of the Washington Monument. The lower portion of two faces of the Monument are visible at the right side of the photo, with the single-story visitor's entrance jutting out to the left. The rest of the width of the photo is black, except for the ring of American flags on flagpoles lining the bottom edge, all of the flags blurred from motion during the long-exposure shot.

The Washington Monument, as seen from right next to one corner of its base and looking up at the two visible faces rising to a point towards the top of the photo.

#photography #SilentSunday

Yellow-green ivy growing against a brick wall. The main ivy stem rises vertically up the center of the photo, while two straight leafy branches right and a bit up, and left and a bit down.

My Saturday "Street Level" photos: These are interesting architecture, or patterns, or juxtapositions, or whatever caught my eye as I walked around various towns. I'm tagging these as "Urban Fragments" based on a comment I saw on another photo.

This set is photos taken at, near, or _of_ the San Francisco Ferry Building. I'll be skipping some due to near-duplicate photos or some that are, bluntly, boring :)

#photography #architecture #UrbanFragments #ArtReference

A twilight photo of the Ferry Building and one of the Embarcadero Center buildings. The dusk sky behind the buildings fades from pale gray to blue-gray at the top, contrasting with the dark silhouette of the Embarcadero Center building and the lit-up Ferry Building. The upper colonnades are lit with a soft golden light from inside, as are the center of the clock dials. The brightest part of the photo are the words "PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO", lit with red neon tubes around the outline of the letters that sit atop the bay edge of the Ferry Building roofline.

A twilight look at the southern face of the Ferry Building clock tower and the upper portion of the main building and main entrance. The upper colonnades are lit from within in the same golden-yellow light as the center of the clock dials. The rest of the building is dark, except for the front face of the main entrance and the flags above, which are lit from the street lights below.

The front of the Ferry building, looking up from just in front of the main entrance shortly after sunset. The upper colonnades of the clock tower are lit from within, as is the center of the clock dial. The roof of the main entrance is also visible, lit from below by the streetlights in front of the ferry building.

A Matthew Juul dahlia from the Golden Gate Park Dahlia Dell, a dahlia garden managed by the Dahlia Society of California (see https://www.dahliadell.org/ for more info).

#photography #FloralFriday #dahlia #ArtReference

A simple Dahlia bloom, framed by the green-painted iron railing surrounding the dahlia garden. The flower has 8 petals, each varying from crimson at the center to a pale creamy yellow at the tip; the petals surround the bright yellow stamens and one presumes a set of pistils hidden inside. A narrow stem, fading from dark red at the bottom to pale green just behind the flower, supports the bloom. The background is the unfocused greens, yellows, reds, and purples of the rest of the dahlia garden.

#photography #SilentSunday

Tall redwoods and pines rise straight into the blue sky from the shore of a pond. The almost-still waters of the pond reflect the tree trunks, the ground, and the patches of snow that surround some of the trees.

My Saturday "Street Level" photos: These are interesting architecture, or patterns, or juxtapositions, or whatever caught my eye as I walked around various towns. I'm tagging these as "Urban Fragments" based on a comment I saw on another photo.

This set is photos taken at, near, or _of_ the San Francisco Ferry Building. I'll be skipping some due to near-duplicate photos or some that are, bluntly, boring :)

#photography #architecture #UrbanFragments #ArtReference

The San Francisco Ferry Building (which is Pier 0) as seen from the sidewalk in front of Pier 1. This photo captures the upper story of the ferry building and the full height of the clock tower in its center.

The face of the upper story consists of a row of arched windows with stone molding above and below. The middle part of the building, around the clock tower, juts forward. Lining the top of the main building are a series of different flags; I'm not sure what the ones on the two wings are, but the center section hosts the California state flag and San Francisco city flag.

The 30-foot-wide square clock tower rises 245 feet over the roof of the building, with a 22 foot clock face in the center of each side. Above the clock face, four colonnaded sections gradually decrease the width of the tower and transform it from square to circular, until the top of the tower is capped with a dome above which rises the US flag.

Beaux-Arts meets 20th Century Skyscraper: The Ferry Building's clock tower and the Four Embarcadero Center building behind it show their different styles.

The ferry building's clock tower is captured at an angle from the clock faces up, showing the east and south facing sides of the tower as it rises past the clock faces and through four diminishing colonnades, the lower two square and the upper two circular, before it's capped by a dome and flag pole.

Four Embarcadero Center, on the other hand, is a 1970s/80s skyscraper, 45 stories tall, built to look like it's several narrow "slabs" of building propped against each other: six sections of building, each with 4 windows spanning the narrow eastern face, and each different in height and width, fill the sky to the left of the clock tower.

In front of the clock tower, the two words "PORT OF" can be seen along the roofline of the main Ferry Building, part of the "PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO" sign that greets ferry riders.

The top of the gateway leading to Ferry Gate B, constructed in 2001 to accommodate the once-again growing demand for ferry service.

The gateway consists of two square concrete pillars rising to support a concrete header and decorative angled roofline. The concrete is patterned and carved to look like tilework, and the "GATE B" title is carved in roman lettering below the peaked center of the angled roof. Between the two pillars, a metal lattice supports a metal awning jutting out several feet in front of the gateway structure.

A batch of California Poppies, both the natural orange flowers and the common mutation of white flowers.

#FloralFriday #CaliforniaPoppy

As the post description said: A batch of California Poppies, with both orange and white blooms mixed together.

It's summer; have some sandcastle photos :)

(Won't be posting much this week)

#photography #beach #sandcastle

A large-ish sand castle sitting well above the waterline of its beach. The castle has a cylindrical tower on the left, a spire on the right, and a mountaintop keep with conical roofs; all are decorated with lined brickworks and windows.

The same sandcastle as the previous photo from a different angle, this time showing a closeup of the brick decorations and the stairs carved into the sandy "mountain".

A simpler sandcastle, this time just two towers with a wall and arched gate between, and stairs on either end of the towers. This one is also decorated to look like brickwork; the towers are done in such a way that they look like they had a coating that has "peeled away" to reveal the bricks.

A bit late today.

#photography #SilentSunday #Yosemite

A fast-moving creek rushes and tumbles over water-rounded rocks and low drops as the creekbed winds through the shadows of a copse of pine trees. Where the light shines in, the pine trees show a covering of green fuzzy moss.

My Saturday "Street Level" photos: These are interesting architecture, or patterns, or juxtapositions, or whatever caught my eye as I walked around various towns. I'm tagging these as "Urban Fragments" based on a comment I saw on another photo.

This set is photos taken at, near, or _of_ the San Francisco Ferry Building. I'll be skipping some due to near-duplicate photos or some that are, bluntly, boring :)

(And yes, I do like taking photos of the Transamerica Building; why do you ask?)

#photography #architecture #UrbanFragments #ArtReference

Client Info