Since my previous post highlighted this marsh, I thought I’d share a B&W image made with an old Fuji S2 digital camera. The view is from deep in the marsh looking west toward Mt. Tam across tussocks of Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana). Over the course of a couple weeks, I made a series of images in this area last spring. This was one of my favorites.
Audrey Hepburn on her bike at Paramount Studios, 1957
I wanted to give credit to the photographer; but, try as I did, I couldn’t track down the individual’s name.
August Sander, Forester’s Child, Westerwald, 1931. Gelatin silver print, 10-3/16 x 7-1/2 inches. Copyright © SK-Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn. Deborah Bell Photographs
August Sander is one of the most esteemed portrait photographers the medium has produced. I did not know of this image, however, until discovering it in the current issue of The New Yorker magazine.
The geo-link below the photo is only accurate at the level of the town (it would be interesting to track down the exact location).
Since I’ve already digressed so greatly from the Angel Island ride report and photos I keep wanting to post, I may as well list some other (mostly contemporary) photographers that interest me (in no particular order):
And then there’s my current favorite photographer, Laura Mcphee.
This past Friday I intended to ride to Alpine Lake and back, one of the top 10 short bicycle rides known to humankind IMHO.
But I got distracted by all the wildflowers and only made it to the top of Azalea Hill.
Last time up here I made this photo. I thought I’d share an alternative version highlighting my flashy yellow wind breaker.
And here’s a clumsy attempt to make another 10-second timed exposure at the nearby trail head. (The ground is super saturated and muddy. I had trouble getting set before the shutter released.)
Azalea Hill Trail Head
Atop Azalea Hill
There’s a lot of cloud cover, but the East Bay is just visible on the far horizon. Mt. Tamalpais is the third peak from the right with Bon Tempe Lake right below.
(I combined five images to capture the whole panorama. Here’s my favorite example of this technique: Nicasio reservoir.)
The making of this photo: (1) place camera directly on road (2) set the 10 second timer (3) grab bike (4) run into the frame and hope to hit a good mark to optimize composition and hope for no cars (5) wait for shutter to fire — still hoping for no cars to come up from behind (6) get the camera and myself off the road as quickly as possible.
I tried this twice (this was the first). It worked just as I had hoped!
Azalea Hill pass
This is an important spot — the intersection of Bolinas-Fairfax and Pine Mountain (fire) roads. Mountain bikers and hikers will often drive here to start at the trail head; road bicyclists will often rest and take water here.
By all means, make the short 10 minute hike from this pass to the top of Azalea Hill (EL 1,217′). You’ll be rewarded with a 360 degree vista including a great view of Mt. Tamalpais and Bon Tempe lake and sight lines extending across the bay to the Campanile on the UC Berkeley campus and continuing on to Mt. Diablo.
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