Recent Photography: June 2014

I carry a camera with me almost everywhere I go. Phone cameras have made that easier than it once was, and I usually have a phone with me, but I usually carry a full-sized camera as well. This month that allowed me to take advantage of serendipity in capturing two virtually monochromatic scenes that I chanced upon. At a restaurant in Calistoga I found myself the last diner, lingering over a late lunch. The table across from me had seated a party of eight loquacious Chinese women, tourists apparently. Each had left a cloth napkin at her place after eating. The piles of cloth were lit obliquely and from above by high windows. The piles of cloth were beautiful. I photographed several of them quickly before the busboy whisked them away into a grey plastic bin and left the room with them.

Ocean Beach in San Francisco afforded another such opportunity. Ocean Beach is mostly a long stretch of rather flat, monotonous, grey sand, but it forms small dunes along the roadway that parallels the water. These little dunes can be fascinating. I love the patterns created by tiny sand slides, the ripples molded by the wind, and the lines drawn by insects walking across the surface. Unintended art, serendipitous art.

Found Art: Patterns in the Sand, Ocean Beach, San Francisco (September 3, 2012)

Patterns in the sand at San Francisco's Ocean Beach. A composition created by gravity and time. Found art.

For more found art, see my blog

Serendipitous Art.

Food I'm Eating: Tarts at Tartine

Enjoyed the lemon cream and coconut cream tarts at Tartine this morning. I've come to the conclusion that the coconut cream is the tastier of the two, but both are good. The layer of chocolate in the coconut cream tart is unorthodox, but a tasty variation on a classic. Thumbs up.

Later in the day, stopped briefly at Ocean Beach, near the San Francisco Zoo. Saw a small group of Sanderlings playing tag with the waves. Also saw Least Sandpipers, identifying these with certainty for the first time.