Two years ago, New Years Eve, we wanted to photograph the fireworks though
the Golden Gate Bridge. We had seen pictures of it and thought it would be
worth trying. We picked out a spot at the top of the hills only to find out
that the area closed and the park rangers asked us to head down. We moved
to the bottom then on the spur of the moment decided it was a nice warm
night to walk down to Kirby Cove. Though I have been to Kirby Cove several
times all my visits had all been during the day. When we reached the bottom
of the steep road we found the campground was empty and we had the entire
beach to ourselves. We threw out the blanket and kicked back on the sand
with a hot cup of coffee and just sat and enjoyed watching waves breaking on
the beach. Kirby Cove is quite a site at night. When the fireworks finally
started we realized that unlike the 4th, the show was only by the Bay
Bridge. The pictures we had seen with the bridge and fireworks had
obviously been taken during the 4th of July. So we figure we will try again
this July. The night wasn't a loss at all. It was quite romantic just
sitting there with my wife on a beach lit by San Francisco and the Golden
Gate Bridge watching the clouds move over the city. Something we both
remember to this day as one of our best New Years Eve.

-Darv
LiquidMoonlight.com
Darvin Atkeson
California Photographer

Tags:   Kirby Cove Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco Golden Gate Beach Ocean Pacific City Bay Area reflection reflections Marin Headlands California Darv Darvin Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com LiquidMoonlight Landscape USA U.S. America 美国加州 カリフォルニア州 캘리포니아 바닷가 ビーチ 海滩

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Nude Fishing!!!? Ya gotta be kidding me! You've got to agree that the two
words just don't seem to go together, right? There are just some things
you don't want exposed to barbed hooks or stinky bait! But that's what we
found at Red Rock Beach. This guy out in the waves throwing his pole and
lead weights out in to the surf. I don't think he actually caught anything
(lucky him) but it was his advice at the top of the hill that prompted me
and the wife to head down a fairly steep trail to the beach known as Red
Rock Beach. There are some nice red rocks down at the bottom of the trail
and while the skies were not as dramatic as I would like but I did find a
descent location to shoot from and got some nice reflections in the daytime
shots. As the sun began to set we headed back up the steep trail and so not
to look like I was gasping for air I pointed the camera back at the last
glow soft glow of the sunset to shoot a hap hazard shot. I mean as I was
gasping I really didn't even bother to aim since it had been a while since I
got any descent exercise. Wouldn't you know it, when I got home it would
turn out to be one of the better shots and I wished I had taken more but I
think the shot turned out great. And yes, it was definitely a nude beach
with a bunch of guys letting it all hang out. I've run in to quite a few
nude beaches in the Bay Area so it's nothing new to me. However I've yet to
find the beach with the nude girls but then again, I haven't heard my wife
complain either.

Darv

© Darvin Atkeson
LiquidMoonlight Photography

Tags:   Red Rock Nude Beach San Francisco Marin Headlands Stinson Pacific Ocean Sunset Pastel Soft Surf Shores Bolinas Bay Trail Cliffs California Darv Darvin Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com

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Anyone who shoots outdoors will undoubtedly have opportunities to photograph
birds and I have many. None as brave as this California Scrub Jay,
sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Blue Jay. While walking though San
Francisco's Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park we happened across a lady
holding a peanut in her hand. This Scrub Jay would swoop in with lightning
speed from atop a large pine tree to snag the nut. Unfortunately this
isn't permitted in the gardens and the lady was soon reprimanded for her
gifts to the bird by one of the park keepers. I had a sat the camera up
where she had been sitting and it wasn't long before the bird returned and I
was able to get some fantastic close-ups. If you look at the large version
of this Scrub Jay you can see the details in his feathers.

The scrub jay can be identified by its bright blue feathers with brown to
light gray feathers covering the center and underside of the bird. You
will also note a white row of feathers just above his black eye patch. They
are fairly large for a song bird and not intimidated by much. This one
hopped over to the bench I was sitting on and was within arm's reach.
Unfortunately I had my long lens on and he was simply too close to
photograph at that distance. I chose this image of him sitting in a bush
in front of us for the rich color and details.

If you like birds, bookmark my stream as I have many more to upload.
-Darv
LiquidMoonlight.com
© Darvin Atkeson

Tags:   bird San Francisco Golden Gate Park Botanical Gardens Blue Scrub Jay California Nature Photographer Darvin Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com LiquidMoonlight birds Golden Gate Park Botanical Gardens feathers Gray Black Bird Watching High Resolution Wallpaper Screen Saver screensaver Aphelocoma californica songbird song california photographer Darvin Atkeson Nature Photography California Photography outdoor photography outdoor photographer color Darv Portrait USA U.S. America 美国加州 カリフォルニア州 캘리포니아

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BEST VIEWING I just added this new viewing method so any feedback is welcome. Thanks.

This was my first visit to Sequoia National Park. It was pouring rain in
the valley and we thought the day would be a bust but it was anything but.
The fog in the redwoods only added a mysterious effect to the forest. It
kept everything damp and thus color saturated. This is a stitching of 8
images in to one panorama. I have found it best to take multiple
overlapping shots with very little change between pans. This technique
seems to give Photoshop exactly what it needs to do a good panorama without
much effort. Some after editing was done but it was minor. The
resulting full size image 10524 pixels by 2049 pixels. I have shrunk it
down slightly to a maximum of 1200 pixels tall.

I ask that if you wish to use the image for anything other than personal use
as desktop wallpaper you first contact me. I am happy to provide prints of
the full size image for optimal clarity without the LiquidMoonlight.com
watermark. Please respect my copyright so that I might continue to upload
images of this size and quality.

Thank you,
-Darv
LiquidMoonlight.com
© Darvin Atkeson

Tags:   Sequoia National Park Tunnel Tree Redwood Redwoods National Parks National Park Fog Forest Forested Huge Panorama Massive Largest High Resolution High Resolution Nikon D200 Nikon D200 Sequoia National Park Camera California Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada Dogwood Bloom Fallen Tunnel Tree Drive Through Nature Natural Conservation Preservation Wallpaper Desktop California Photographer Photographer Outdoor Photography outdoor outdoors Nature Photography Scenic Screen Saver Darvin Atkeson California Photography outdoor photographer color Darv LiquidMoonlight.com LiquidMoonlight Darvin Atkeson ABigFave USA U.S. America 美国加州 カリフォルニア州 캘리포니아

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If you have come across this image, be sure to also view the previous one in
my stream that was taken earlier. In this image I was trying to clearly
get the American flag and it was getting pretty dark requiring longer
exposures. This is where it comes in handy to have a good lens. Better
yet would have been to have a prime lens but I was working with my Nikon
17-55 f2.8 which has been one of the best pieces of camera equipment I have
purchased. The result is that the flag is only slightly blurred at the far
lower edge. You can even make out the stars.

Santa Cruz Lighthouse sits on the top edge of Monterey Bay and is currently
made of brick as you can see in the image. The original lighthouse was
about 300 ft further out on the cliffs but due to erosion it had to be moved
inland. The only part of the lighthouse that is original Is the part above
the square base. The area is quite busy especially on a weekend but I
lucked out and got a shot of the lighthouse with no one in the shot.

-Darv
LiquidMoonlight.com
© Darvin Atkeson
California Photographer

Tags:   Santa Cruz Lighthouse Santa Cruz Pacific Ocean Light California Coast Coastal California Photographer California Photography Darvin Atkeson Darv LiquidMoonlight.com LiquidMoonlight Lighthouses California Lighthouse California Lighthouses Lightshouses High Resolution Wallpaper Size Large outdoor photography outdoor photographer Nature color USA U.S. America 美国加州 カリフォルニア州 캘리포니아 灯塔 灯台 등대 岸标

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