While the summer is almost here in Northern California, the spring has been a beautiful one this year. There were good number of spring storms that passed through, and a few of them were clearing right around the sunset.

I took this shot few weeks ago in a park nearby my house. We’ve lived here for few years now, but I can count on fingers of one hand how many times we’ve seen a sunset like this.

Sorry for the lack of Flickr activity recently. The month of May has been a crazy one, with lots of work, and two weddings I’m shooting (one today!).

Nikon D300
10mm, f/16, 1/6 sec, ISO200
Lee ND Grad 0.9+0.6

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)

We visited the pumpkin patch in downtown San Jose yesterday. When asked which of the two pumpkins Maks was considering we should buy him, he made a very smart decision and headed for the exit..

In the past when I used to shoot just on the coast, or just nature, it was easy for me to shoot images that sort of worked together. However, recently I expanded the scope of subjects I photograph (landscapes and architecture seldom look good together), and in fact, I decided to stay more focused and work in projects for a while. I find that this way I am more interested and more excited to go back to the same location and shoot the same things. I don’t think I have patience to work on one project at once, but I am trying to limit it to three. So currently I am focusing on three short term projects I will introduce in the next little while.

As a start, let me introduce a project that I think is the most short term – capturing the details of Cathedral of St Joseph, a beautiful structure located in downtown San Jose, within walking distance of my workplace. Downtown San Jose, as most of Silicon Valley, is rather utilitarian and boring (high tech companies seldom care about the architecture of their buildings), but that one place has always stood apart from the rest of the bland structures, as if reminding the visitors that there was life in Santa Clara Valley before technology companies and venture capitalists took over the region. I’d like to come up with 5-10 images I am happy with that capture the details of the building, and I been visiting the place in the past couple of weeks. In the next few post I will share a few of my favorite images that are becoming part of the project. Here is the first one.

Old Citizen

The pictures I always find the hardest to take are from those scenes that I see every day.