Travel theme: Flow

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
—Carl Sandburg, Fog

Fog flows, pure and simple. In the Bay Area we call it ‘Nature’s Air Conditioning’ and at the Golden Gate Bridge we announce its presence by activating the fog horns until visibility clears across the Shipping Channel below the bridge.

July marks the traditional start of Fog Season, averaging 161 hours of fog horn operation for the month. The highest number of hours of fog horn operation was in July of 1979, when the horns ran for a total of 361 hours.

Small vessels that do not have radar still use the Bridge fog horns as guides when visibility in the Golden Gate Strait is low. Each horn has a different pitch and marine navigational charts give the frequency, or signature, of each fog horn. Vessel operators heading into the San Francisco Bay steer left of the south pier horn and right of the mid-span horn. Outbound vessels stay to the right of the mid-span horn.

Fog Flow
Photo © Allan G. Smorra, All Rights Reserved

Photo Notes: iPhone 4 camera, Camera+ app, edited in Snapseed.

Related articles:

• Golden Gate Bridge Foghorns
• Fog Season at the Golden Gate Bridge
• Fog City Video
• Fog City Science

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

You can’t go wrong with Frank Lloyd Wright!

Marin County Civic Center
Photo © Allan G. Smorra, All Rights Reserved

Photo Notes: iPhone 5 camera, Camera+ app, edited in Snapseed.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

Phoneography Challenge: Macro Mobile Photography

Here is a disclaimer to start this challenge:
My entry this week is not a macro photograph, it is a macro fauxtograph. I am splitting hairs between macro and close-up photography.

My perspective was altered last week when my boss and I went into the South Anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge. Imagine a room the size of a football field, 50 – 60 feet high, and filled with concrete posts, beams and cables. Security concerns prevent me from posting photos of the interior of the structure so you will have to take my word for it, it is impressive!

OK, back to my visit, we were there to replace a burned out lamp in a wall-mounted light fixture when I paused to look at a bolt that was protruding head-high from the wall. It was so large that it looked like a macro photo of a much smaller bolt. You can see the difference in the second photo where I put a hard hat in the frame to give a sense of perspective.

I hope that Sally doesn’t mind my deviation from the norm in this week’s challenge.

Macro or Close-up?
Photo © Allan G. Smorra, All Rights Reserved

Size is relative

Definitely a Close-up
Photo © Allan G. Smorra, All Rights Reserved

Photo Notes: iPhone 5 camera, Camera+ app, edited in Snapseed.

Phoneography Challenge: Macro Mobile Photography

New Era Museum architecture curation

Reblogged from rubicorno:

I was appointed two months ago curator of the architecture section of the New Era Museum, and since then I selected the above images among more than 700 mobile photos submitted to the NEM architecture album on EyeEm.

These are really outstanding images that I wanted to share with you and that you can see better on the NEM architecture page…

Read more… 25 more words

I am humbled and honored to have two of my photos in this collection. It is especially meaningful because the reason that I have transitioned into Mobile Photography is the result of finding Davide's blog and following his excellent example. You owe it to yourself to check out his blog: www.rubicorno.com to see the work of a master.

Reflections on Life and Loss

“The process of living, for each of us, is pretty similar. For every gain there is a setback. For every success, a failure. For every moment of joy, a time of sadness. For every hope realized, one is dashed.”
—Sue Atchley Ebaugh

Today is Memorial Day and a time to reflect on those citizens who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our country. Too many of my generation did not return from Viet Nam and too many of the current generation of soldiers are returning in caskets, or with psychological wounds too deep to see.

It is my observation that “Thank you” needs to be accompanied by, “How can I help?” when addressing our Veterans. They/We are not alone in this Post-war world and together we can begin to move forward and heal the wounds, physical and mental, that affect us all.

Thinking Inside the Box

“…Learning to be creative within the confines of our limitations is the best hope we have to transform ourselves and, collectively, transform our world …It really became a moment of clarification for me that we need to first be limited in order to become limitless.” —Phil Hansen

The video below is an amazing story of an artist who developed a handicap and embraced it in order to move on with his life and his dream of creating art.