My brief outside time, Saturday, was spent at the beach with Peter and Nancy. I shot surfers and flowers–all shots taken before.

I like this coastline image, also taken before. It’s looking north toward Twin Points (h/t Google for knowing everything) from Thalia Street.

I used Photoshop to bring out more detail than today’s haze allowed. Cheating? You make the call.

There’s a technique I’ve recently started using. It uses layer masks which allows me to paint in detail or contrast or nearly any mathematically quantifiable parameter.

There’s a tiny contrast lift everywhere, but a larger boost to the headlands. There I did some sharpening and level adjustment.

I could have enhanced the waves crashing against the rocks, but even I draw the line!

No Santa Catalina today. The perfect day at the shore doesn’t come often enough. There’s always haze or some obstruction to visibility.

For the true nerds, it’s F/8.0 1/2500 ISO500 using a 300mm lens.

If you want to see how the East Coast and West Coast differ, just look down. In Connecticut the ground was covered in green. Here in the OC it’s mostly brown.

Little grows without irrigation. Sprinkler heads outnumber people.

Every construction site has large, state mandated signs about dust abatement. It’s a big problem. Precautions are taken, but they’re only partially effective.

Ten months after moving in our windows are dirty. Our screens are worse.  I don’t want to think about what my lungs are filtering.

With out-of-town guests this weekend it seemed like the right time to get the windows cleaned.

As I discovered today we have 27 windows. That’s a lot for a 1,900 square foot home, but it makes the place light and airy.  They’re all double glazed, energy efficient.

A crew of three with ladders and squeegees went to work around noon. They’re gone now. What a difference.

There’s still construction in the area. More dust to come. For now we’re spotless.

It’s 8:39 and I’m in bed.  Bad sign.  My throat has that “here comes a cold” feeling.  I’m achy.   I’ve got a headache. I’m weak.

Every cold is different,  but this one is arriving with both barrels blazing.

We have friends arriving from the east,  Friday.  I need my strength in a hurry.

How is it possible the common cold has not been cured?  I know so little I forget whether it’s a cold or fever you starve!

How did this happen? My mother and father come from New York City. My sister and brother-in-law come from New York City. Not any more. Milwaukee! Helaine, Stef and I flew in for Melissa’s shower and also to spend time with the family. These are my niece Jessie and her husband Evan’s kids, Judah and […]

I like photography. My niece, Melissa, asked me to photograph her baby shower. I was thrilled. It’s no small honor. I’m not a lighting guy. I own very little lighting gear. All I brought was a strobe. On top was a piece of Ikea plastic shelf liner. It scatters light everywhere and removes shadows. Cheap […]

Bad weather in the east is often felt nationwide when you’re flying.  We’re at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.  The monitors are showing lots of delays.  Stef’s flight to LAX and ours to SNA are included. John Wayne Airport is a special case.  At 11:00 PM the runway turns into a pumpkin (10:00 PM for […]

I just checked the GPS in my tablet.  Our 737 is climbing through 23,000 feet at 430 mph ground speed.  We’ve just poked through the clouds into the late afternoon sky.  Our heading is 273 degrees.  That won’t last long.  We’re headed to Phoenix. It was a late departure.  We left the gate, pulled a […]

Helaine and I flew to Milwaukee this morning.  We’re still at the airport waiting for Stef.  Too much time.   My mind wanders. It’s a cheese based economy!  That’s the takeaway from the newsstands.  You can buy ornamental faux cheese!  They’ve got footballs,  ties and even a top hat. They also sell a lot of Aaron […]