Category: Menlo Park

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Black and White iPhone 14 Pro Max Menlo Park Photography - Black & White

Sunday Morning Zen

On my morning walk this morning, I came across this young woman sitting on the pavement adjacent to pond at Sharon Park – looking across the water to the fountain and a sunny Sunday morning sky.

The fountain in the pond was just re-activated a few days ago – and it adds so much to the image by creating a point of interest where otherwise there’d just be negative space. It was blessed with great timing – both her being there and the fountain now active again.

There’s a walkway behind where she was sitting which is elevated by about four feet so I walked around behind her on to that walkway and snapped a few photos with my iPhone 14 Pro Max. This is the most peaceful and Zen-like of them – and I opted to post-process into black and white to remove all of the color and focus the eye on just the contrast between light and shadow.

Hope you also enjoy this image!

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Audio Books Living Menlo Park Walking

The Couple

On my morning walks around the pond, I often see a married couple taking their own constitutional. They walk in perfect sync, stepping in time as if trained in a military march. In their right hands—always the right—they clutch large mugs emitting wisps of steam. Their elbows press close to their sides, steadying the mugs as they promenade along.

Every so often, maybe every 100 yards or so, some invisible signal makes them halt in unison. They raise their mugs and take long sips, black coffee I envision, turning to each other to exchange a few private words before pivoting in tandem to continue their measured pace.

This morning, while watching the couple’s syncopated steps carry them farther from view, I listened to Meryl Streep narrate Ann Patchett’s new novel Tom Lake on my headphones. She read a passage set at a Traverse City cherry farm, describing a summer visit before the harvest. The lush depiction of endless orchards with lush green grass under the trees heavy with green fruit made a lovely soundtrack for my walk through the neighborhood.

It was a peaceful start to the day, with the air very still and heavy with humidity. High overcast clouds blanketed the sky in an unbroken slate grey. The solemn couple marching away added a faint visual rhythm to accompany the cadence of Streep’s voice recounting the verdant cherry trees. I found myself wishing I could capture the mood of this moment – the mingled sights and sounds that made it so uniquely serene.

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iPhone 14 Pro Max Menlo Park Photography

Reflection

Sharon Park – Menlo Park CA

On my morning walk yesterday the skies had some moisture in them that combined with the morning sun to make a lovely pattern. The surface of the pond was smooth because the fountain which is usually running and making subtle waves is still offline due to damage from last winter’s storms. Most of the time I’ve missed the fountain but this morning I was happy the surface of the pond was like glass!

The questions about this image include:

  • Color or monochrome – I tried both and decided the subtle color of the original worked best.
  • The tree limb – there’s a pesky (actually pretty) willow tree at the end of the pond that likes to intrude in photos taken from this particular spot. I debated about removing it in Photoshop or not and decided it was a feature worth leaving in.

This particular pond is among my most photographed locations. I’ve captured it in all seasons and from many angles. It’s truly one of my favorite photographic subjects! Yesterday the light/cloud combination was just lovely! I make the image with my iPhone 14 Pro Max.

See also: Spotted: Gorgeous reflection on Sharon Park pond

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iPhone 14 Pro Max Menlo Park

A Rainy Walk in the Park

Yesterday we had some periods of rain – including a brief spattering of tiny hail. During a break in the rain, I headed out on my morning walk – only to have rain move in again by the time I reached the park. I enjoy walking in the rain – if it’s not too cold and not too windy – so I enjoyed it.

I wanted to play around a bit with Cinematic Mode on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. I made several movies – a couple of them included below. It is interested to see how the water and the splashes from the raindrops made focusing challenging for Cinematic Mode. I didn’t override anything manually – these two videos are straight out of the camera.

Sharon Park in the Rain #1
Sharon Park in the Rain #2
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iPhone 11 Pro Max Menlo Park Photography

Saturday in the Park

Went for a walk on this lovely brisk January morning at Menlo Park’s Sharon Park.

iPhone 11 Pro Max Live photo – edited first in Photos (to change to Long Exposure) and add a bit of warmth. Next, edited in Snapped to add a touch of ambiance, a bit of negative structure (more painterly), and added a No. 12 black border (size: 20).

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iPhone Xs Max Menlo Park Photography Portola Valley Uncategorized

Early Spring along Sand Hill Road

It’s early spring here in Menlo Park and the drive west into Woodside and Portola Valley along Sand Hill Road is one of my favorites. Along the way there are several wonderful old trees – including this one, perhaps my favorite! Shot with my iPhone Xs Max.

Early Spring

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Menlo Park

SFO

Learn about “SFO: A History of San Francisco International Airport” on June 19 at Menlo Park Library.  #menlopark

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Fujifilm X-Pro2 Menlo Park Photography Photography - Fujifilm X-Pro2 Street Photography

I Love a Parade!

DSCF1060Here on the mid-Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area – as in many places across the country, the fourth of July is a big day for parades. And, I love a parade!

We have a very big one nearby each July 4th in Redwood City – the organizers claim it is the largest parade in Northern California. I’ve enjoyed that parade several times over the last few years. For a street photographer, it’s great fun – although it can be a bit daunting logistically in terms of parking, etc.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Menlo Park 4th of July Parade – an event that focuses on kids and families instead of the big marching bands, drill corps, and parade floats. For a street photographer, it’s also great fun – much simpler logistically and a much shorter (15-20 minutes) event – but still a lot of fun.

This year I opted to go to the Menlo Park parade – along with InMenlo editor Linda Hubbard Gulker – see her post on InMenlo.com. I used my Fujifilm X-Pro 2 with the Fujinon 18-135mm lens for this photo shoot. I had face and eye detection enabled and, most of the time, shot in burst mode at 8 frames/sec. I came home with over 500 images from a 20 minute photo shoot – and then culled those down to about 15 keepers.

Good fun – always a delight to see the kids and their parents all decked out in red, white and blue having a great time together! I’ve included a few of those keepers below.

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Menlo Park Photography

100 Years for Menlo Park Fire

Menlo Park Fire District - 100th Anniversary Parade

Menlo Park Fire Protection District held a parade up Santa Cruz Avenue this morning to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Lots of families with kids turned out to enjoy the parade of fire engines – old and new. Here’s my post on InMenlo.com with more photos.

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Menlo Park Photographers Photography

Photographer David Burnett at Kepler’s

David Burnett//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Photographer David Burnett spoke with Angie Coiro today at Kepler’s Book in Menlo Park – part of her In Deep Radio series. A selection of Burnett’s photographs are currently on display at Cafe Borrone. He also spoke this afternoon at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center.

Coiro is a great interviewer – and David is a great story teller. The combination was just delightful! While just an hour, this interview could have gone on for two or three more – listening to Angie’s questions and Burnett’s stories.

A couple of the highlights for me included Coiro’s introduction of Burnett where she used the phrase “collectible whispers” to describe his photography. Burnett suggested he might just use that wonderful phrase for a book title!

Another was his description of his JFK photograph – shot as a young man in Salt Lake City. When he first looked at the film he shot that day he thought it wasn’t worthy – but 35 years later he went back and found the negative and found it told another story – an example of how photographs often aren’t technically perfect but are still powerful images.

Hearing Burnett describe photographing Olympic runner Mary Decker’s fall in the 1984 Olympics made me appreciate what he later called “the speed of life.” Sometimes it just comes together – and you’re in the right place at the right time – and it’s a gift.

There was a lot more – this is a very special interview worth listening to!

I met David last summer while attending a Peter Turnley workshop in New York City. I captured Peter and David heading out – with Dave shooting all of us from above! When I met him today and showed him this image – he said “Oh, you’re in my photo!”

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