Agapanthus, Millbrae, CA

House, Millbrae

This needed color too.

Yellows, Millbrae

House and shadows, Millbrae, CA

I have made a lot of these house pictures in black and white for the graphic values. This house needed to be in color.

Tree and shadows, Millbrae, CA

California light is so wonderfully dramatic.

Nandina, Millbrae, CA

Nandina, or Heavenly Bamboo, grows rampant in Florida. It is listed as an invasive plant here. I have two very well behaved ones at home. But they have to be watched as their red berries are a favorite of birds and spread that way. I do not think California has the same problem. These bushes have been this size for the last few years. Lovely leaves all year round.

Pearly light, Jax Beach.

After three days of heavy clouds even this watery light was a treat to see for this totally spoiled Florida resident.

Beach chairs, PVIC, PVB

A gray day. Weese weather we call it here.

Odd couple, PVIC, Nor'easter

We had a three day Nor'easter last week. This is when a front sits out on the Atlantic and sends clouds, rain and high winds from the Northeast, thus the name.

Hickory nuts, dock, Roscoe

For the next three weeks, walking under the hickory tree is risky, as these little bombs fall when even a small breeze stirs.

Ducks and koi, St. John's Town Center, Jacksonville

For Daniel of course.

Layers, Jax Beach

There are still enough old houses on side streets in the beaches to create angles and layers like this. Alas, one by one they are being bought, knocked down and houses with zero personality are filling the lots. Sigh.

Tree bole, Roscoe

I had a Soundimageplus moment;-}

Peacock, driveway, Roscoe.

Life is never dull here in Palm Valley. I came out on afternoon last week to discover this peacock walking around the driveway pecking for bugs. He was totally unintimidated by me, or, a few minutes later, by my car, as I left to get groceries. When I returned he was gone. Somebody down the road has a bunch of them and you can hear their calls echoing down the road in the mornings.

Sun room, Roscoe

This is the small room where I change to go out in the garden. I keep supplies and garden clothes out here, one layer removed from the house. Like most rooms of this sort, it collects objects not used every day.

String and ribbon, P.V. Beach

Palms, Nocatee

This is in one of the last developments in Nocatee that has not restarted after the recession.

Rain, Intracoastal Waterway, Roscoe

Blue and terra-cotta, Millbrae, CA

Cottage, Millbrae, CA

The same picture as below. Here, I think, the color works better.

Cottage, Millbrae, CA

Geometry, Millbrae, CA

Sitting out in the late afternoon, these shapes just came together.

Shutters, Millbrae, CA

Millbrae, CA

Subaru, Millbrae, CA

Window and shadows, Millbrae, CA

Window and pole, Millbrae, CA

Lines and shadows, Millbrae, CA

Going to a new place always freshens my eye. The light is different, the buildings are different, the streets are different, the trees are different, and, most of all, the shadows are different. In Millbrae the shadows are everywhere and drape themselves on every available surface. I never go anywhere without my camera there as I see these shadows all day long. I shoot better when I sit in a place and let the pictures come to me. This last visit I sat a lot just waiting for the light to change and it usually did.

Alley, Millbrae

I'm showing a real Eastern sensibility here. I have not been to California often in my life, and most of it in the last 18 years. I think of the west coast as "new" to the country, with all of the leading edge technology that that implies. So, the overhead power lines that seem cobbled together grated on my preconceptions. Of course, California has been inhabited by Europeans, Africans, Pacific Islanders, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans and, originally, by Native Americans, who might have come across the Bering Straits. So "new" really doesn't fit.....but I'm old, so I still expect flying cars when I go to San Francisco. Sighhhh

Icons, Millbrae

Waiting for the garden to go back together.

Camellia, Millbrae

I love camellias. I have some here in Florida. In Millbrae they seem to fill out better and there is a larger variety. A member of the same family as tea, Camellias bloom here in the winter, when all the other plants are dormant, so they are valued highly.

Millbrae, CA

Millbrae, CA

Balance, Millbrae, CA

This is the shot that made me decide to shoot around Millbrae in square format. It balances better to my eye. As an old Rollei TLR and SL66 shooter I have always loved square format.

Trellis and ladder, Millbrae, CA

Millbrae, CA

Millbrae, CA

Millbrae, CA

Millbrae colors.

When we go to Millbrae I am presented with totally different light and shapes. My sister-in-law lives on a street in Millbrae, lined with cottages and small houses. There is a line of sycamores on both sides of the narrow street that greatly resemble the plane trees that line so many French allees in Provence. With the crystal clear, humidity-free air and a sun that is getting lower in the sky, I had all kinds of new light to play with. This is the polar opposite of the flat light that Carl Weese loves. The colors are rich in this light, unlike Florida, where the haze/humidity makes the colors more pastel.

Having said this, most of the pictures from our last visit are looking better to me in black and white.  This shot demanded color because of the flowers.

California flattop hydrant #14-106, Millbrae,CA

Japanese maple, Millbrae

Lone tomato, Millbrae, CA

Portrait, Gnome, Millbrae

Portrait

This was taken in my little side yard studio here on Roscoe. I bought a cheap background support, a cloth background and a stool. It is on the north wall of our house, so it gets lovely soft north light. I like this one.

A big change.

Ever since a friend begged me to bring him some Amora mustard from France, and I had a taste, it has been my mustard of choice. I recently bought Bouchon, Thomas Keller's cookbook from the bistro of the same name. He suggested that Edmond Fallot made the best Dijon mustard. I got some and he's right. A changing of the guard in the condiment cabinet.

Garden tools, Roscoe

After a six week absence this summer and a ten day visit to Millbrae, you might guess that my garden has gotten away from me a little.

Hose and rose, Millbrae, CA

Front porch, Millbrae, CA

Kitchen shelf, Millbrae, CA

I know, I know, Millbrae is not North Florida. We travel to Millbrae a lot so it is now part of North Florida. This picture has been on my Google+ page , but I like it so you get it here too.

Discover the real YOU..., Jax Beach

And yet....they couldn't help me;-)