Morning Dip

COVID has made it difficult to be a landscape photographer. I haven't been able to do the travel that I'd normally do, with my camera in tow. That doesn't mean I haven't gotten out with the camera, I have. It's just been within California. In December, though, stricter rules meant that we couldn't even really travel out of our county, so I've had to resort to photography nearby. A couple friends pointed out that a nearby park, which had previously been open to city residents (of which I was not) had now opened to the public. I had been there a few times for some friends parties (which we were allowed to join) and I knew the park was gorgeous and had a cute little lake with some boat launches for kayaks and the like. Willie and I had visited here a week or so earlier but we were in a bit of a cloud-hole and the sunrise wasn't quite as nice as we hoped. This sunrise filled in a little better, with the clouds just reaching the top of the frame. To the right, the clouds lit up a bit more before fizzling. I used a slightly longer exposure to try to smooth out some of the ripples in the water. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 24mm, f/11, 0.8 sec, ISO 64

Morning Meetings

Foothills Park in Palo Alto has, for many many years, been exclusive to residents of the city of Palo Alto. Visitors were only allowed if accompanied by a Palo Alto resident, or if a Palo Alto resident was having a party at the parks picnic grounds and put your name on "the list". As such, I had been to the park 2 or 3 times but never really explored. Recently the city opened the park up to non-residents and Willie and I ventured here, to Boronda Lake to catch reflections in the sunrise. On our first visit 2 friends arrived just as we were packing up. They popped their trunks, got out some blankets, and then 2 coolers, some snacks, and coffees. They walked out onto the pier, put their blankets down 10 feet apart, and proceeded to have a wonderful morning picnic. I can imagine this is a peaceful place to enjoy the morning. Escaype was predicting a nice sunrise but Willie and I didn't want to drive far, so we ventured here. We had hoped for a brighter sunrise but just enough of the clouds caught light that we were able to enjoy a nice sunrise. To the south (the left of the photo), the clouds caught more color but lacked texture. To the east, in this direction, the clouds were more interesting but didn't quite glow pink and red and orange. None-the-less, it was still a quick and nice morning. Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/13, 1/3 sec, ISO 64