Looks like the Cypress are swooping down to pick-up an unsuspecting traveler.

The building at the end is a radio station (KPH.) This radio station was responsible for ship-to-shore communications for the central west coast portion of the United States back in the early Twentieth century. This station has been credited as being one of the last to broadcast Morse code in the United States. The powerful transmitting antenna was located 20 miles away as so it won't interfere with the sensitive receiving antenna designed to listen to ships that were hundreds of miles away.

Darwin is the most eclectic community I have ever seen in my life! It is clearly that charm which has captured the local inhabitants! I'm guessing the town got it's roots from mining.

Been by this place several times going up and down 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This is not the first time I have stopped here however it seems that the grapevines have not completely lost all their leaves so I thought I would take a shot.

Hardly seems like a ghost town when it includes a gas station. Bodie also had a hydro-electric generator to power the town.

Happened to revisit Bodie just a few months after my original “Gas Station, Bodie, CA” capture. Much nicer looking skies this time around.

Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that once had a population of nearly 10,000 people. The town is named for Waterman S. Body (William Bodey), who had discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. In 1875, a mine cave-in revealed pay dirt, which led to purchase of the mine by the Standard Company in 1877. People flocked to Bodie and transformed it from a town of a few dozen to a boomtown.

Not the sharpest shot in the world you can notice a little camera jiggle if you zoom in. The ferry building is 1 ¾ miles away so there is a little distance (shot using 200mm lens.) I also had a six foot chain link fence to contend with. I have meant to come back to this spot but just haven't had the time. Meanwhile, I decided to B&W the background to bring out the San Francisco Ferry Building

Fireworks over the San Francisco Ferry Building celebrating the 50th Super Bowl.

This photo was taken from Treasure Island located across the Bay from San Francisco.

I guess it is kind of obvious why I like this one. I would have been really cool if both happy faces were facing up. This photo was taken from Treasure Island located across the Bay from San Francisco.

This photo was taken from Treasure Island located across the Bay from San Francisco.

Pier and Tide Gauge Station, has been providing over 150 years of near continuous tidal observations of San Francisco Bay. The station is one of the country's major scientific landmarks, the oldest continually operating tidal gauge in the Western Hemisphere. The first bit of data was recorded on June 30, 1854, and this station has been providing data ever since.

I was fortunate enough to attend Opening Day at AT&T Park in 2008. They began their existence as the New York Gothams in 1883 but changed their name to the Giants in 1885. The Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958 and hence the 50th year celebration in 2008. BTW, Giants beat San Diego Padres at a score of 3 - 2.

Nestled in a remote valley between the Cottonwood and Last Chance Ranges, the Racetrack is a place of stunning beauty and mystery. The Racetrack is a playa (a dry lake bed) best known for its strange moving rocks.

Darwin California is an extremely eclectic almost ‘’ghost town’’ like community. I say almost ghost town because people do live here. Darwin is located in Southern California near Death Valley National Park.

Racetrack Playa, Looks like ''Lefty'' is making a move!

Great day here with the clouds. I was planning on spending a couple of days here but those ''great clouds'' turned into absolute overcast the next day.

I like the way the shadows work here with these amazing clouds.

Nestled in a remote valley between the Cottonwood and Last Chance Ranges, the Racetrack is a place of stunning beauty and mystery. The Racetrack is a playa (a dry lake bed) best known for its strange moving rocks.

Racetrack Bride, no visit to the Racetrack Playa would be complete without crossing paths with the Racetrack Bride.

The Alabama Hills are a formation of rounded rocks and eroded hills set between the jagged peaks of the Sierra Nevada and the geologically complex Inyo Mountains. Both geologic features were shaped by the same uplifting occurring 100 million years ago.

Visitors enjoy touring film sites, photography, rock climbing, exploring natural arches, and viewing the swaths of wildflowers that bloom every spring. Horseback riding and mountain biking are popular activities.

The Joshua tree is an important part of the Mojave Desert ecosystem, providing habitat for numerous birds, mammals, insects, and lizards. Joshua tree forests tell a story of survival, resilience, and beauty borne through perseverance. They are the silhouette that reminds those of us who live here that we are home.

This is a very sad place. All you have to do is drive along this river to see how the local population has destroyed it. Very sad!! I had to ''zoom'' in on this shot just so I can keep the trash out of the picture.

Darwin, an eclectic town near the Mojave Desert in California. Found this old tractor sitting around and decided it was interesting enough to take a picture of the engine compartment.

These power poles of course are what attracted me to take this shot and behold I look up to the clouds and it looks like a shark is getting ready to eat a much smaller sea creature.

This is somewhere out in the middle of nowhere in Nye County Nevada. I am right next to a small ¼ mile dirt track complete with nighttime lights otherwise it looks abandoned. I attempted to look up this racetrack on Google Maps but cannot find any information Maps does not even show it.

Another eclectic scene in Darwin California. Looks like an oil distribution system?

This is one of my first attempts at urban photography. The windows you see are the same windows (on the opposite side) that are allowing the sunlight to peek through and dance on the graffiti.

On adventure for blooming flowers in the beginning of April. We had a real nice winter in terms of rainfall. We (NorCal) were working on a ten-year drought and everyone was getting a fine if they did not reduce their water intake. Unfair to the people who were already conserving (like me.) Luckily, we just ended the drought with four months of rain. The temperate is now beginning to warm up and the cherry trees are starting to blossom. However, we have more rain coming later this week which will destroy the blossoms on the Cherry Trees. I have seen this happen before and so I feel blessed to get such a nice capture here.

The San Francisco Botanical Garden is in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Its 55 acres represents nearly 9,000 different kinds of plants from around the world, with particular focus on Magnolia species, high elevation palms, conifers, and cloud forest species from Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia. This flower garden can be found right in front of the main greenhouse (Strybing Arboretum.)

This is in Half Moon Bay CA. Known for artichokes and pumpkins this is just one of the many pumpkin patches you can visit up and down the Pacific Coast Highway or Hwy 92.

This is in Half Moon Bay, CA. Known for artichokes and pumpkins this is just one of the many pumpkin patches you can visit up and down the Pacific Coast Highway or Hwy 92. Pretty awesome how they move this old tractor into view.

With a population of 643 Pescadero has a real “small town” feel to it. Pescadero is a farming community located on the Pacific Coast 30 miles south of San Francisco. There are a lot of “rolling hills” around this area which can make for some very nice scenes with the sunset and fog rolling in. Anyways, this is not one of those scenes. The small “roll” on this hill coupled with some dramatic clouds (and high fog) are what attracted me to this shot.

It is Mid-February, and we are having a small break in between six weeks of storms. As a result, the grass is green, as you can obviously see. I drove into the hills a few miles from Hwy 1 (PCH) to shoot a couple of barns. As I was returning to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) I noticed the sun dancing on this beautiful green slope. Of course, buy the time I stopped it was over. However, I looked up and noticed there will be more opportunities. Sure, enough I wasn’t disappointed. This capture is around a farming community located about 30 miles south of San Francisco and about one mile from the Pacific Coast.

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This is one of my more 'frequent captures' because it is one of my gateways from the beach to home. I named it Summer Wine because I was captivated by the music of the moment (aka car stereo) created by LDR. Otherwise, it does not make sense. Funny, does not even look like summer.

Strawberries, cherries and an angel's kiss in spring.

My summer wine is really made from all these things.

- (c) Lee Hazlewood 1967

I came here to catch the moonrise, but it was clearly way to overcast. Imagine that! So, I decided to make the best of it and this is what I came up with.

Only been here a couple of times. I have now concluded that it is impossible to get a nice sunset with a really well-lit cityscape! I guess it should be a no-brainer: If there is light out (even sunset) then there are not going to be many lights on in the city. Fortunately, my new friend Darvin Atkeson saw this and processed my original RAW into something much better than what I originally posted (or hope to post ever!!!).

This was originally in landscape format with the Transamerica Pyramid taking center stage, but it just didn't look good. The problem was that the city skyline (and the Transamerica Pyramid) was just too dark. Now perhaps if I possessed the skills of a post-processing genius like Darvin Atkeson (a fellow Flickr member) I could have pulled it off but that is not reality! Instead, I decided the crop this into a portrait style capture with Coit Tower in the background. My main complaint here is that Coit Tower is too small, even for a background image. Never-the-less, I thought it was worthy of a show.

This is the first time I ever tried to get a large moon shot I was surprised at how far away things must be to make the moon look so big. I measured it On Google earth and those shipyards are exactly three miles away

Does not seem long before this thing falls into the water. I kept waiting for the ship to cross over but realized after a few minutes that it was anchored. Guess it is waiting for a doctor open probably in Oakland.

The James Johnston House sits on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, east of Route One, just south of the city of Half Moon Bay. Isolated, its silhouette is a remarkable sight against the rolling hillsides golden brown until the winter rains turns them green. The classic New England saltbox (two stories in front, one in back) was built by '49er pioneer James Johnston between 1853-1855, for his Californian bride, Petra Maria de Jara.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house has survived 150 years of weather, abandonment, vandalism and high winds and celebrated its sesquicentennial year in 2005. The Johnston House is open to visitors the third Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is closed October, November, and December, except for the Holiday House held the first two weekends of November.

This is a barn that is less than two miles from Scenic Hwy 1, 20 miles south of San Francisco. I cannot believe I captured this eight years ago! Glad I went back into my archives to rediscover this!.

I am guessing this machine is a platform for people to put their baskets of whatever they were picking. Looks nice with a mustard plant in the background.

Palo Corona Ranch is now part of the Palo Corona Regional Park. It is one of Central Coast California’s most significant undeveloped open spaces. In the largest land conservation project in Monterey County history, The Nature Conservancy, The Big Sur Land Trust, State of California (through several of its agencies), and Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District partnered to acquire the 10,000-acre Palo Corona Ranch in 2004.

Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him.

Not much of a subject here I guess just liked the angry looking skies from above.

Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him.

The Old Seaside School is near Swanton, a small community located about 15 miles north west of Santa Cruz, California. The community has numerous small residences and two big occupants – Big Creek Lumber Company and the Swanton Pacific Ranch campus of California Polytechnic State University which is located just a couple miles from the school.

These windows have what I call “cutouts” that are inside the windows. I love the Art Deco combined with the Greek Revival architecture shown here in the windows and the facade above. These two art/architecture forms were meant to celebrate the architecture of the time (Art Deco) with Greek Revival (Greeks building one of the first “modern day” observatories.)

Completed in 1935 the Griffith Observatory was built less for scientific purposes and more for the public. This is why the observatory is so close to such a large city like Los Angeles. Of course, in 1935 there were a lot less people living in LA and a lot less light pollution. Anyways… it is quite successful in interesting the public in astronomy and universe as it was intended.

Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him.

At one time, the I.O.O.F. hall (on the right) was bustling with meetings, and later became a “health club” of the times, where members would come to use the barbells and primitive workout machines. I.O.O.F is an acronym for Independent Order of Odd Fellows. I guess back then being odd was good.

The Dechambeau Hotel (on the left) was also home to the “Bodie Cafe,” one of the last businesses in town.

I struggled to wait late enough in the day to allow the sun to hit the front, But It was already late afternoon, and I had a six-hour drive in front of me which also included crossing the Sierra mountains.

Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him.

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It is all about the lights! None of the color is enhanced. The Sodium Vapor streetlights behind me are bathing the nearby water, posts, and seagulls with a mystical golden tone. This golden light is also bathing the Oakland Shipyard (far center) along with the streetlights on the Bay Bridge. I looked so fake to me I never bothered to publish it now, three years after I captured it. I think what grounded me here are the white lights that cross the span. They were a nice edition in the 1988, 50-year celebration. There is going to be a new, cool lighting edition capping off the 75-year celebration. I have seen some of the lighting tests and it is going to be really cool! It is 30,000 LED lights controlled by a computer and will project different images according to the weather and you position relative to the bridge. These lights are installed on the vertical support cables facing the city! This seven-million-dollar show is produced by private funds and will last two years.

Death Valley, Zabriskie Point. The Toes of Time are Reaching Out!

Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.

The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California.

I was hesitant to post this one because I cheated a little. I pasted in the Zeppelin because the original shot was too blurry due the exposure time. The Zeppelin you see here was copied from a shot I took a few frames before and then pasted over the blurry spot.

Tea Kettle Junction, Darwin, CA. Not to be confused with the better-known Tea Kettle Junction in Death Valley located less than one hundred miles from here.

Darwin, an eclectic town near the Mojave Desert in California. Found this old tractor sitting around and decided it was interesting enough to take a picture of the engine compartment.

Sunrise on the Alabama Hills with Mt. Whitney in the Background.

You can see the remains of Owens Lake (north end) which was sucked dry by the city of Los Angles in the 1920s. They tried to do the same with Mono Lake and almost succeeded but luckily, they were stopped. The snow-capped Inyo Mountains can be seen in the background. This is a panorama was stitched together from three frames (film) I captured in April of 1994. Really did not know what I was doing back then but I thought this one looked nice.

I really like this because of the lighting. Obviously, the lighting on the sand dunes is nice but I also like the dark background (almost surrealistic) of the mountains behind the dunes. It looks like ancient glaciers are still carving their way down the valleys!! It's like a serpent headed towards its sanctuary before the sun rises.

Standing on Treasure Island looking across the bay from San Francisco. The Bay Bridge is on the left. Obviously a little later at night so there is no skylight but does bring out all the lights of the city.

This was taken at the same time the ''San Francisco Bay Bridge'' shot was taken. Obviously, this shot was taken later in the evening with just a slight bit of light still left in the sky. I cropped both the top and bottom because I liked the way it made me look ''suspended'' above the bridge.

The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to 1974, it is one of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition.

Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic gathering place, and one of southern California’s most popular attractions. The Observatory is located on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park.

Inspired by Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria which I have a photograph of in my Europa collection.

I live about 40 minutes from this location. At times when I'm in the mood I'll look at the San Francisco webcams to see how the clouds are forming. I also check the internet for the fog report. Even with all this forethought I feel blessed to arrive at this location and to be treated to a wonderful light show like this! The original capture included the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower but I removed it because it was too wide and I was afraid the city would have gotten lost.

This is a panorama (obviously) and a composite using 13 images. Typically, when I do sunsets I expose for the clouds and then take another shot exposing for the subject or the shadows. This was no exception except it is a panorama (multiple shots stitched into one image) so aligning the two different images was quite challenging. I took the original sunset pano and dropped the city buildings back in using a pano that was exposed for the city 10 minutes later (this is the ‘composite’ component.)

I have been to this spot before but not after the rain has passed through. I knew when I was here in the summer that I would want to come back to see how green the rain can make this valley. This area is approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco.

This is the first time I visited San Francisco with the intention of nocturnal photography. Knowing the moon was going to make a nice presence was the final incentive!

Capturing one of the buildings in a mirror like setting bouncing off another one. Was lucky enough to catch this kid running across and just added something to it.

I came here to the Annenberg Space for Photography to see a National Geographic exhibit called ''Water: Our Thirsty World.'' The exhibit is fantastic, and I will recommend you to see it if it comes to your town. It is a photojournalistic view that both celebrates and alerts us to the human quest for water. This exhibit is also in the April 2010 issue. You can go to nationalgeographic.com to see it!

I like how the sun reflects off the 2029 Century Park East building. It is this light that gives the stairs it is ''shadowy'' look!

I have noticed this image so many times! I knew there should be something I could do with this to make it more exciting! This is the first time I have ever turned an image into B&W while keeping some color. I kind of like it. This image is of an old caboose rail car. It still had some red (as all old cabooses had) but I turned it into B&W. It was not exciting enough for me, so I left a little color in the entry way! Due to technology, the railroad has not used a caboose in probably 20 years! This shot was taken in Rhyolite, California next to an abandoned railroad track.

Boone store and warehouse are full of hundreds of interesting artifacts from the years gone by, this 1879 building was owned by Harvey Boone (a direct descendant of Daniel Boone.) In July 1884, this building was almost destroyed by a fire that destroyed almost the entire block of Green Street.

It is hard to believe that wind could be pushing these rocks around. Some of these rocks look like they are sailing.

Rhyolite grew as long as the gold holds out, from 1905 through 1910. By 1914, Rhyolite was well on its way to becoming a ghost town, but in its heyday, Rhyolite had 3 train lines, 3 newspapers, 3 swimming pools, 3 hospitals, 2 undertakers, an opera and symphony and 53 saloons. By 1919, Rhyolite was a deserted ghost town.

The complex which houses the Amargosa Hotel, Opera House and Café was built in 1924 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. The town of Death Valley Junction was established in 1907 with the T & T Railway line, which carried Borax from the area to southern California. By 1940, the last train had run through the area and the building passed through several owners. In 1967, Marta Becket, a ballet dancer from New York City, moved to the town and transformed the social hall into the Amargosa Opera House, taking 6 years to paint the walls and ceiling with a renaissance audience. We have daily tours and performances from October through May. The town of Death Valley Junction is a non-profit organization. Our mission is to continue the artistic legacy of Marta Becket and the historic town of DVJ. We are working on restoration of the adobe buildings and hope you enjoy your stay in our remote desert location.

The complex which houses the Amargosa Hotel, Opera House and Café was built in 1924 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. The town of Death Valley Junction was established in 1907 with the T & T Railway line, which carried Borax from the area to southern California. By 1940, the last train had run through the area and the building passed through several owners. In 1967, Marta Becket, a ballet dancer from New York City, moved to the town and transformed the social hall into the Amargosa Opera House, taking 6 years to paint the walls and ceiling with a renaissance audience. We have daily tours and performances from October through May. The town of Death Valley Junction is a non-profit organization. Our mission is to continue the artistic legacy of Marta Becket and the historic town of DVJ. We are working on restoration of the adobe buildings and hope you enjoy your stay in our remote desert location.

The complex which houses the Amargosa Hotel, Opera House and Café was built in 1924 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. The town of Death Valley Junction was established in 1907 with the T & T Railway line, which carried Borax from the area to southern California. By 1940, the last train had run through the area and the building passed through several owners. In 1967, Marta Becket, a ballet dancer from New York City, moved to the town and transformed the social hall into the Amargosa Opera House, taking 6 years to paint the walls and ceiling with a renaissance audience. We have daily tours and performances from October through May. The town of Death Valley Junction is a non-profit organization. Our mission is to continue the artistic legacy of Marta Becket and the historic town of DVJ. We are working on restoration of the adobe buildings and hope you enjoy your stay in our remote desert location.

This is a tower on Yerba Buena Island. The tower was built 1917 to be used as a signal tower for moving ships throughout the bay. Can you imagine doing that with today's seafaring commerce! In the 1940s it was used by the Navy as a control tower for seaplanes. Afterwards the tower was used by the Navy as an officer's club. It was condemned in 1989 after the Loma Prieta earthquake damaged it.

The light is created by a sodium vapor streetlight. The light was very bright toward the bottom, so I tried using HG ND filters (hung upside-down) and although it ''evened'' the lighting. I decided I liked the ''brighter on the bottom'' capture so I used it instead.

Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him.

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