The Calm Before…MORE EXAMS!

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It's final exam week here at Pacific Union College in hills above the lovely Napa Valley. 
  I woke up very early this morning (not on purpose!), but thought I'd head out to see if I could find a vantage point for capturing the sunrise…
   It's been clear and near triple digits the past few days, so I was quite surprised to find the temp at 50 degrees with fog, mist, and drippy trees…so I thought I'd try to catch the mood of the campus while students were still sleeping…
  BTW, my office and classrooms where I teach are in a building about 100 feet behind me here.

#landscapephotography   #napavalley   #PacificUnionCollege  

The Calm Before…MORE EXAMS!
———————————————–
It’s final exam week here at Pacific Union College in hills above the lovely Napa Valley.
I woke up very early this morning (not on purpose!), but thought I’d head out to see if I could find a vantage point for capturing the sunrise…
It’s been clear and near triple digits the past few days, so I was quite surprised to find the temp at 50 degrees with fog, mist, and drippy trees…so I thought I’d try to catch the mood of the campus while students were still sleeping…
BTW, my office and classrooms where I teach are in a building about 100 feet behind me here.

#landscapephotography   #napavalley   #PacificUnionCollege  

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Making Lemonade

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You know the old saying… when life gives you lemons…
I love the beauty of the Napa Valley, but in late spring and summer we almost always have clear blue skies… While most people love that, it makes it a lot tougher to do interesting landscape photography!
  
….so the challenge is to find something interesting to put into the frame as you play around for the scant few minutes between harsh sun and sun dipping beyond the western hills.

I just discovered this spot north of Calistoga a few days ago, and you can be sure I'll be back at different times of the year when the sun will drop behind the hills closer to sunset time, and the weather gives us some fun clouds to play with! +Angelika Perry & +Dallas Perry were here to share the fun.

#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 

#hqsplandscape , +HQSP Landscape curated by +Michael Garza +Nader El Assy +Vinod Krishnamoorthy +Luca Ferroglio +Craig Loxley +Dorothy Pugh

#napavalley  

Making Lemonade
—————————————-
You know the old saying… when life gives you lemons…
I love the beauty of the Napa Valley, but in late spring and summer we almost always have clear blue skies… While most people love that, it makes it a lot tougher to do interesting landscape photography!

….so the challenge is to find something interesting to put into the frame as you play around for the scant few minutes between harsh sun and sun dipping beyond the western hills.

I just discovered this spot north of Calistoga a few days ago, and you can be sure I’ll be back at different times of the year when the sun will drop behind the hills closer to sunset time, and the weather gives us some fun clouds to play with! +Angelika Perry & +Dallas Perry were here to share the fun.

#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 

#hqsplandscape , +HQSP Landscape curated by +Michael Garza +Nader El Assy +Vinod Krishnamoorthy +Luca Ferroglio +Craig Loxley +Dorothy Pugh

#napavalley  

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The Office Cubicle

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Day 4 of my #fivedayquest  , thanks to +Elizabeth Hahn 
5 days / 5 photos / tag a new person each day to join
1 photo for 5 days of your daily life.

I am blessed to live in a rural community, with a short 2-minute drive (or 10-minute walk) to my office on a small college campus.
  As a teacher, I end up doing a lot of work at home (grading, lecture prep, etc.)… and this is my "home-office".
  I love my backyard Redwood tree… with scrub jays and squirrels at play, humming birds feeding, along with the occasional family of deer meandering by… we've even had a coyote take a nap at the edge of the yard, and just yesterday a cute red fox was exploring around in the brush beyond the tree.
  Of course I get focused on the computer screen for hours at a time…but the occasional pause to look at the beauty in the back yard always lifts my spirits.

 +Ron Clifford  once challenged me to get out and shoot something from every possible angle until that something got tired of being shot at….and I did that with this tree…and found some really cool new ways to view it…
 +Colby Brown  once wrote that if you can't find inspiration in your back yard, you're not trying hard enough  and I think that's true even if you don't have a big Redwood tree. Just keep an eye open for the interesting things all around… take a look from a new perspective once in a while…not just in your photography, but in all that you do.

For this fourth day of the five day quest, I tag +Joe Frazee.  Joe, you are under absolutely no pressure to do the fivedayquest, but if you want to, you can! Just post a photo of daily life for five days. :-)

#5dayquest   #landscapephotography   #napavalley  

The Office Cubicle
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Day 4 of my #fivedayquest  , thanks to +Elizabeth Hahn 
5 days / 5 photos / tag a new person each day to join
1 photo for 5 days of your daily life.

I am blessed to live in a rural community, with a short 2-minute drive (or 10-minute walk) to my office on a small college campus.
As a teacher, I end up doing a lot of work at home (grading, lecture prep, etc.)… and this is my “home-office”.
I love my backyard Redwood tree… with scrub jays and squirrels at play, humming birds feeding, along with the occasional family of deer meandering by… we’ve even had a coyote take a nap at the edge of the yard, and just yesterday a cute red fox was exploring around in the brush beyond the tree.
Of course I get focused on the computer screen for hours at a time…but the occasional pause to look at the beauty in the back yard always lifts my spirits.

+Ron Clifford  once challenged me to get out and shoot something from every possible angle until that something got tired of being shot at….and I did that with this tree…and found some really cool new ways to view it…
+Colby Brown  once wrote that if you can’t find inspiration in your back yard, you’re not trying hard enough  and I think that’s true even if you don’t have a big Redwood tree. Just keep an eye open for the interesting things all around… take a look from a new perspective once in a while…not just in your photography, but in all that you do.

For this fourth day of the five day quest, I tag +Joe Frazee.  Joe, you are under absolutely no pressure to do the fivedayquest, but if you want to, you can! Just post a photo of daily life for five days. :-)

#5dayquest   #landscapephotography   #napavalley  

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St Helena Roses

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Just a fabulously lovely day in the Napa Valley today.. but just enough time for a quick phone snap on my way back home from an appointment.

#androidography   #androidphotography  
#napavalley  #landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 

St Helena Roses
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Just a fabulously lovely day in the Napa Valley today.. but just enough time for a quick phone snap on my way back home from an appointment.

#androidography   #androidphotography
#napavalley  #landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 

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Howell Mountain Sphere

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Just another lovely day on our little mountain…
Click inside for the 360° view.

Shot with my trusty GS5
#androidphotography   #photosphere 
#androidography   #landscapephotography   +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 
+Landscape Photography Show 

Howell Mountain Sphere
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Just another lovely day on our little mountain…

Shot with my trusty Samsung
#androidphotoraphy #photosphere
#androidography
#landscapephotography

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Hanging out by the observatory hoping to catch something fun from tonight's big…

Hanging out by the observatory hoping to catch something fun from tonight's big event.

#lunareclipse #lunarphotography #landscapephotography +Landscape Photography

Hanging out by the observatory hoping to catch something fun from tonight’s big event.

#lunareclipse #lunarphotography #landscapephotography +Landscape Photography

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Life Returns to the Castle

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The vineyards are finally starting to show signs of life in the Napa Valley. 
Any day is a good day to explore around the lovely +Castello di Amorosa near Calistoga.

#napavalley     #castellodiamorosa  
#dofmonday    curators +Mara Acoma +Mark Hall +Alan Gurling +Nigel Smith 
#landscapephotography   +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 
#castlephotography   #hqsplandscape  

Life Returns to the Castle
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The vineyards are finally starting to show signs of life in the Napa Valley.
Any day is a good day to explore around the lovely +Castello di Amorosa near Calistoga.

#napavalley   #castellodiamorosa
#dofmonday  curators +Mara Acoma +Mark Hall +Alan Gurling +Nigel Smith 
#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky +Bill Wood 

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Walking on Broken Glass

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Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, CA is really quite amazing… instead of sand, the beach is almost entirely made up of the remnants of broken glass bottles dumped here in the early 1900s… polished smooth by decades of pounding waves.  
I think it's also the perfect place to catch a lovely sunset!

My very first visit here was last night… I hope it's not my last!

#sunset    #sunsetphotography   #beachsunset  

#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky

#hqsplandscape  +HQSP Landscape curated by +Michael Garza +Nader El Assy +Vinod Krishnamoorthy +Luca Ferroglio +midori chan +Craig Loxley +Rob Tilley 

Walking on Broken Glass
—————————————-
Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, CA is really quite amazing… instead of sand, the beach is almost entirely made up of the remnants of broken glass bottles dumped here in the early 1900s… polished smooth by decades of pounding waves.
I think it’s also the perfect place to catch a lovely sunset!

My very first visit here was last night… I hope it’s not my last!

#sunset    #sunsetphotography   #beachsunset  

#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Sheila B. DuBois +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky

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My, What Lovely Papaveraceae You Have!

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Ok, I'd never seen that word until today either… it's just the name of the family of flowers that the California Poppy belongs to.
  I never get tired of seeing them, and they are blooming all over the Napa Valley right now.

#FloralFriday The +FloralFriday theme was created by +Tamara Pruessner and is co-curated by +Beth Akerman, +Kiki Nelson, and +Eustace James.

#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Tom Sloan +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Tony Heyward +Sheila B. DuBois +Sandra Brown +Vishal Kumar +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky

My, What Lovely Papaveraceae You Have!
————————————————————-
Ok, I’d never seen that word until today either… it’s just the name of the family of flowers that the California Poppy belongs to.
I never get tired of seeing them, and they are blooming all over the Napa Valley right now.

#FloralFriday The +FloralFriday theme was created by +Tamara Pruessner and is co-curated by +Beth Akerman, +Kiki Nelson, and +Eustace James.

#landscapephotography +Landscape Photography +Landscape Photography Show +Margaret Tompkins +Jim Warthman +Kevin Rowe +Johan Peijnenburg +David Heath Williams +Tom Hierl +Carolyn Lim +Tom Sloan +Howard L. Smith +Kai Kosonen +Tony Heyward +Sheila B. DuBois +Sandra Brown +Vishal Kumar +Toshi Nakamura +David Pilasky

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Hey Buddy, Could You Spare Some Chlorophyll?

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Yes, it's springtime… and yes, these are brand new leaves…
This is a quick snap of our front yard Japanese Maple tree… I've always been fascinated by its bright red color.

#landscapephotography  +Landscape Photography 

Hey Buddy, Could You Spare Some Chlorophyll?
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Yes, it’s springtime… and yes, these are brand new leaves…
This is a quick snap of our front yard Japanese Maple tree… I’ve always been fascinated by its bright red color.

#landscapephotography  +Landscape Photography 

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