We’re in the middle of winter storms here in SF Bay Area.

Last week as the day was coming to an end, there was a short break right around the sunset time. I quickly grabbed my gear and headed out of the door to the nearby park that our house is close to. The color was there, but not spectacular, since there were too many low clouds. So I decided the scene is better suited for B&W. Standing there in this weather I couldn’t help but enjoy the fresh air that these storms bring. Next few weeks will also be the best time for landscape photography around here, as storms tend to clear the air and bring high clouds.

The nature is mean out there right now, but that’s expected for January. Please drive safely.

Nikon D300
1/20 sec, f/16, 24mm, 100 ISO
ND Grad 0.9 (3-stop)

The first Panther Beach clean up that we organized was a success. There were a total of five of us who showed up and two more got lost on the way and ended up cleaning the beach nearby. It is amazing how much trash there was on such a little piece of the coast – I’ll never understand the people who simply leave their rubbish behind.

We’re planning on doing these on a somewhat regular basis, especially on those beaches that counties typically ignore. Stay tuned for more details in the future.

I was going to write more, but Jim Patterson (who’s idea started this all) had an excellent write up with highlights from the clean up that does it better than I ever could. He also posted a picture of yours truly in action taking a shot I posted on Sunday after the clean up. You can see Jim’s write up it here.