I have been going through a bunch of my old photos and ran across this photograph that I took back in 2005 with my first digital camera. It was a 3 megapixel Canon point & shoot. When I first ‘discovered’ the old image I liked the photograph, but was a bit concerned with it’s lack of resolution. Then I had the thought of “Well, let’s take it into Topaz Adjust and smooth it out a bit”. Of course, it still does not have a lot of detail, (actually even less than before) but with the painterly effect, you don’t really need the detail and you end up with what I would consider a very pleasing photograph.

I look at this image and I literally smell the fresh air of the forest. It’s interesting how the different sensory inputs can trigger sense memories. Often it is a scent that will trigger a memory or emotion. (That’s why perfume is a billion dollar industry). At least in my case it is rare for something visual to trigger a scent. However this one does it. For me it’s better than a bottle of air freshener.
Next time you are in San Francisco take the short drive to the Muir Wood National Monument. While you are there, whisper a big Thank You for the late John Muir that convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to forever protect our greatest national treasures including Yosemite, Sequoia, the grand Canyon and more.

Lake Tahoe is a magical place. A beautiful crystal clear mountain lake. On the southwest corner is Emerald Bay. It’s said that in order to be a successful landscape photographer, you must be willing to spend much of your life waking well before dawn. Places like Emerald Bay make it all seem very worthwhile.

San Francisco is such a beautiful city. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting what would be one of my favorite cities many times & shot this from my hotel room during one of my stays. I knew the image was of Telegraph hill, but I did not know the history of the tower until this morning when I decided to do a bit of research before posting the image on my blog. Coit Tower on Telegraph hill was designed to resemble a fireman’s fire hose nozzle and was built as a memorial to the philanthropist & honorary fireman Lilly Coit. She sounds like quite a woman. It’s worth clicking on the link to read more about Lilly and her history with the San Francisco Fire Department.