Visit to Monterey, California
During a one week July visit to Monterey and Carmel, California, scoping out the place to once again return to, I conducted a Sunday night photo workshop that was not only quite successful in image making, but a serendipity event took place during the first hour of getting to know and hearing needs and questions from the students.
Conversation about the previous night’s sunset at Carmel beach and the fact that it is so dog friendly brought up viewing some photos I’d made that very evening, which included people around beach fires, playing Frisbee, and walking with their dogs. From the bordering footpath above the beach I’d taken numerous pics. In several of them a couple and their dog had been walking in my direction. As two of the students, a married couple from Greece, he attending the Naval Post Graduate School, looked at the images on the computer screen they suddenly exclaimed, “That’s us! And our dog!” I went through several photos and in each enlarged them to full size. Sure enough, it was them!
If this wasn’t synchronistic a few more pictures brought another exclamation, “Those two women are friends of ours!”
It just goes to show you what photographers bring to the table!
The trip started out just as weird. The Southwest Airlines’ plane from Houston to LA and on to San Jose contained a similar happening. The aisle passenger in my row, I wanted the window seat in front of the right side engine to take photos from, asked half-an-hour into the flight where I was from. “Houston,” I answered.
“Where abouts in Houston?”
“Bellaire.”’
“What street in Bellaire?” he asked.
“Laurel, just outside the 610 Loop,” I answered again.
“What number?”
“4708.”
He then said, “Guess what my number is.”
“4707,” I replied.
“4706,” he came back, “but on Willow.”
He was two houses past the front of mine across the block!
We had good conversation into LA where he was checking on construction of one of several projects totaling $180 million! He had a stack of yellow pads he was writing on, each a different project.
I gave him my card!
The workshop itself.
We met at Morgan’s coffee and refreshments establishment in Sand City, about two major city blocks north of Monterey, known locally as the Ol Factory and the West End (I don’t know why it’s the West End since it’s the east end of the building, the south edge of tiny Sand City, population like 92, or was it 29?). No matter, the workshop would begin here for answers and questions and getting to know a little about each other.
The two who showed for the workshop were married, from Greece and the husband was in the Air Force studying at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey. Those that didn’t show missed a very good workshop. Maybe I should be more strict and require payment up front but I’m just a softy when it comes to money. Everyone tells me to get real. I’m too trusting.
Since the sun doesn’t set until around 8 PM, we had plenty of time for questions and answers and explaining techniques they were not familiar with. I set my camera onto a coffee mug and tethered it to my MacBook Pro. From it I could control the camera completely, although the camera does not have real time viewing. After some manual changes to shutter and aperture, some interesting photos began to appear. We were watching the monitor and paid little attention to the camera. Folks around us were completely unaware that the camera was working! Darkness came into the coffee shop so we were able to make some interesting time exposures. With the programs available for modifying colors, the blue from the dimming daylight coming through the huge windows could be neutralized to match the tungsten setting the camera had been set to.
The pull-over on the back of the chair had been a saturated blue because of the daylight. The moving bartender is not seen behind the bar, nor the person who got up and left a bar stool. It’s amazing how long a person can sit still while at a computer. This exposure time was 8 seconds.
We left the coffee house at twilight stopping by a small lagoon that reflected the Embassy Suites in Seaside. Numerous Canada Geese were along the shore and slowly moved into the lagoon as we left our parked cars to see if we wanted to begin shooting here.
We decided to continue on into Monterey and both wharfs, beginning at the commercial wharf where a couple of 65 foot commercial fishing boats were preparing to leave. From this wharf we had an excellent view of the tourist wharf, Fishermen’s Wharf as well as the side of the long metal building housing the cleaning and packaging of fish on the wharf we stood on.
Numerous people were using fishing poles from this wharf as no fishing license is required in California for fishing from a public pier.
As the large vessels pulled away we began taking time exposures. Only their running lights and reflections in the harbor waters were captured.
From the commercial wharf with the fish cleaning and packing building on the right. An anchored commercial boat in the center, the tourist Fishermen’s Wharf in the distance.
We then walked over to the other wharf taking several photos of the tourists leaving for it was getting close to closing time on Sunday night. The ghost images of the moving people created strange pics.
This is from an observation deck surrounding Rappa’s restaurant at the end of the wharf looking back towards Monterey.
Five of many dinghies tied to the wharf, the means for boat owners to get to their moored boats in the outer harbor.
As we walked the length and fingers of the wharf there were many good images to be captured. Several show the commercial and pleasure boats within the inner harbor. I used to live on a 45 Jenneau sailboat on a mooring in the outer harbor and tie up on H tier in the inner harbor. Sea lions can be gotten used to, most of the time. The sea gulls and their droppings were another thing!
A main channel into the inner harbor. The largest boats were in this area and as you moved further into the harbor the boats were smaller. The commercial wharf is seen in the distance.
The weather was perfect, the clouds held nicely above the city and the light was fabulous!
War Horse Farm sitting
June 29th, 2009A new move for me and Max, my three year old German Shepherd. Since I first read Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charlie”, the first edition and year it came out, I thought it fit my profile quite nicely. I was brought up traveling the country with my traveling salesman father, if only in the Northeast. Now it’s become a reality.
Since July 2008 when I visited a GMC motorhome rally near Waco, TX, I thought this particular vehicle would suit my purposes better than the original idea of a pick-up with an Alaskan camper/cab over 10 footer. Reasons being a far broader and community oriented group of GMC owners. There’s literally 8-9,000 of them registered and on the roads of America. These vintage home on wheels were made between 1973 and 1978. It’s sort of like folks with vintage cars who enjoy the era and mystic of what they have. They also share an enormous amount of knowledge and help is only a phone call away from almost anywhere you need it.
Max and I moved out of a rented home in Bellaire, TX on June 2. I’d spent a week in the Fort Collins, Colorado area staying with my youngest son and his family while purchasing the 1977 Elengaza II from its owner in the Boulder, Colorado area. There’s a long story that I’ll be making available in the near future about this complex and bizzare event!
I parked the coach in my eldest son’s driveway, which happened to be next door to the home I’d vacated, which also happens to be his as well. During the next couple of weeks I worked on the coach a bit and loaded it up for the trip to Sarasota, Florida. I had been contacted by a nephew there to see if I’d be interested in caretaking a war horse ranch! What the hey? Why not? It’d be a sort of second break in for the coach since I’d already driven it some 1100 miles from Colorado and now another 1200 miles but this time with Max. He took to the trip beautifully as we’d done it before in the Isuzu Rodeo a couple years earlier to visit my 100+ year old Dad during Thanksgiving.
So the evening of June 11 we parted ways with Texas and headed for Florida via New Orleans to rephotograph some of the places we’d shot 18 months after Katrinna on our way to Florida.
This would be the shake-down trip.
We made it with little difficulty and only a minor problem or two.
So here we are for the summer, just a bit east of Sarasota, watching over an Arabian horse, taking care of a nice swimming pool and cutting some four acres of grass!
Max loves the place! Runs faster and farther than ever. Enjoys the horses our neighbor has as well as Bert, the Arabian, and swims when ever it pleases him. Seems I’m working for him.
The photo is of Toby and Max. Toby has left the ranch with all the other horses for jousting events across the country. Thus the name of this place, War Horse Farm. Thought you’d never find out, eh?
Toby the War Horse and Max the German Shepherd
Tags: German Shepherd, Max, Toby, War Horse
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