Casa de Fruta Pick-up

This old red pick-up truck

makes for an appealing display

inside one of the shops

at Casa de Fruta,

a popular way-station

on the west side of Pacheco Pass

between I-5 and Hwy 101

along California's Central Coast.

What I didn't notice

when I took the picture

was that unknown lady's

bare leg

in the bottom left corner...

Taken 28 August 2011.

A Study in Light and Shadow

Looking a lot like

angry eyes, nose, furrowed brow,

this abstract photograph,

stark with geometric simplicity

and subtly shaded perspective

is a relatively ordinary shot

of a hyper-ordinary subject -

the portico of a building

past which dozens of workers

rush every day to make a living.

In the fuller original photo below

you can see the converging lines

of the post and headers;

and beyond the portico to the left

the amazing blue tone of reflected moonlight

on white stucco.

The optical illusions caused by the

play of light and shadow

with the straight lines

drawn to a central focal point -

that's what caught my eye.

Taken 14 January 2011.

Blue Wall #4

Something about

the condition

of the paint

draws the eye.

And

the shades of blue,

with a wedge of clear blue sky

rakishly adorning an upper corner;

then

the lines and the shadows,

especially all of those

straight, parallel lines

crowned by the single

curving line of the roof,

foreshadowed in miniature

by the vent-cap

just below the roof line...

plus

the three louvered vents

leaning into the frame

at opposing angles...

and the corner

formed by the two walls

coming together -

a focal point

that calls attention to itself.

Pleasing.

Taken 7 October 2011.

Deer on Break

I briefly,

very, very briefly,

considered titling this post

"Splen-deer in the Grass."

Clearly,

the restraint that kept me from 

typing that into the title field

was not sufficient

to keep that silliness

confined to my brain-pan.

While this is not

NatGeo-level

wildlife photography,

I was very pleased to capture it.

It is a restful, beautiful,

natural scene.

It makes me smile

and sigh.

Taken 11 January 2011.