Category Archives: Commute

Shots from my daily commute.

Commute, Photos

African Iris

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Where I work there’s are two atria, one at the front entrance and the other at the back (employees) entrance to the building. The only plants in either atrium are several very broad and tall clumps of long, spiky green leaves. They are called African Iris, or the Fortnight Lily. The blooms start in late Spring and go well into the Summer. Here’s a close-up of a fresh bloom I took today as I was leaving for the long ride home. (The natural lighting was quite nice so other than a little cropping and a bit of sharpening after reducing the size for the blog, the shot is as the camera captured it.)

African Iris

Canon G11 taking a parting shot.

Commute, Photos

Bright afternoon light

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My commute photos are mostly taken between the hours of 2:30 and 4:00 PM. Not the best time for grabbing scenes with dramatic light, but I work with what I get. Here are a couple of shots I took during yesterday’s commute, one towards and the other away from the direction of the sun.

This is the ocean view just southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The coastal view just south of the Golden Gate Bridge

And this is a bay view of Alcatraz from the upper Presidio (for people not familiar with the Bay Area, the dome is part of the Palace of Fine Arts).

Alcatraz from the upper Presidio

Lens: Canon EFS 15-85mm.
First image: 20mm, f/16 for 1/320 sec, ISO 200.
Second image: 70mm, f/16 for 1/200 sec, ISO 200.

Canon T2i working with the light.

Commute, Photos

Down by the river

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Yesterday, at the end of my commute, I went down by the river to grab some shots. Off 1st Street there are several streets that dead end at the river that have new sitting areas. These two shots were taken from one of the sitting areas (actually at the end of H St.).

Old pilings and river side industrial plant

Very old river pilings

Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm
First image: 26mm, 1/250 at f/11, ISO 200
Second image: 18mm, 1/200 at f/11, ISO 200
Black and white conversion: Nik Silver Efex Pro (version 1)

Canon T2i at the river’s edge.

Commute, Photos

Pretty in pink

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Hwy 101 through the Novato narrows is either the first or last leg of my daily commute. Midway through the reduced lane section of highway is the dump. In the wee dark hours, the brightly lit dump looks like something out of a Mad Max movie. In the afternoon, it’s hardly visible–especially in the Spring when the grass is still green, the mustard is in full bloom, and the oaks are swelling with new growth. I’d been seeing some streaks of bright pink way out the dump road for the past week or so, so today I decided to have a look. I figured it was iceplant, and I was right. It’s probably been planted next to the slough for erosion control (though that’s just a guess).

Ice plant bloom by dump

Lens: 15-85mm at 20mm. 1/125 second at f/16, ISO 200.

Canon T2i chasing streaks of pink.