City by the Bay

This image was taken a few weeks ago. I went up to Sibley park in the Berkeley hills and set up a tripod. Originally, I was disappointed that the horizon was not as clear as it had been a few days before. However, I was happy to see the light ray effect as the sun set over the fog bank. Can you hear the angel chorus in the background?

I was playing with a lot of manual adjustments during this photo shoot. (I'm still learning the in's and out's of the D70s). One thing I think I will have to remember in the future is to turn off the auto-ISO setting when I want to shoot dramatic low-light stuff. Leaving it on tends gets you ridiculous ISO values (1600+) and grainy blacks.

Purple Carpet

This shot was taken last spring during another walk through the neighborhood. It was near sunset and the late afternoon light was being filtered by some nearby trees and hitting this flower carpet just right. The intense color caught my eye.

Old Budapest

Budapest is actually divided into two halves, Buda and Pest, by the Danube river. The old city of Buda lies on the west side and was the location of the castle. This shot was taken at the foot of the castle, near the river, in an old part of town. The wrought iron balcony caught my eye first. The whole scene reminded me of something from an old movie. I shot this intentionally for black and white. I still can't put my finger on it, but it makes me feel nostalgic for times long gone

Dolphin Dive Bombers

This was taken in Honaunau Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii. We had finished snorkeling in the bay when a large pod of dolphins moved into the bay. I grabbed my camera and rushed back into the water. I swam several hundred yards off shore and found myself in the middle of the pod of about 40 Pacific white-sided dolphins in VERY deep water.

It was a pretty incredible experience. There were male, female and newborns. As I was looking for a shot, I dove down to about twenty feet and was swimming horizontally, scanning for dolphins, when these three juvenile males dive bombed me from the surface. It was obvious they did it on purpose. They passed within feet of my head, startling the crap out of me. I recoiled and snapped the shot. Not bad, all things considered.

Double Rose

This was the first time I had ever seen a rose with counter-rotating whorls. I thought it was quite distinctive. This was taken while walking through the neighborhood last spring.

Spanish Bay Sunset

Spanish Bay Sunset, Monterey, California

Besides being a beautiful sunset, the sand on this beach is quite amazing. Made from the constant pounding of the granite and marble rocks of the bay, the sand is incredibly fine and packs together very solidy. It's almost like walking on a concrete sidewalk. You don't sink and you hardly leave footprints. Talk about being environmentally friendly! You could drive a truck down the beach and scarcely leave a mark.

Sunrise Breakfast

"Sunrise Breakfast in Monterey Harbor"

This shot was taken in the Monterey Harbor Breakwater just before sunrise last December 23. This guy was right near the docks, diving for kelp and chomping away at it with great gusto. My flash made him curious, so he would often swim by and take a peek at what I was doing.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to Random Light!

This is my place in the sun, so to speak. I don't usually have a whole lot to say, but I am an amateur photographer so I usually have a picture to post. While I have various online galleries, this is a place where I can comment on the images or on anything else in the world that I think is interesting. I hope you will come along with me!

( All images posted to this site are copyrighted by myself. If you are interested in any of them, please contact me. )