Parallel Lines – Page 2 – KelsonV Social Posts

The Sign Says: Don’t Even Think About It!

I couldn’t decide between these two photos for the latest photo challenge. The first is a warning sign at the edge of Del Cerro Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. It’s a part up at the top of the hill, ending in if not exactly cliffs, a steep drop hundreds of feet down as the hills roll toward the ocean.

“Danger” signs are a dime a dozen. It’s the “Don’t even think about it!” that struck me as photo-worthy.

As for this second one, it’s not so much the sign that I found interesting as the fact that the bird looks like it’s staring at it, dismayed.

“Gee, I hope this doesn’t apply to seagulls, too!”

I collect pictures of funny/odd/interesting signs at K-Squared Ramblings, so if you’re interested in more, head over there for a look.

Palace of Fine Arts

The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, originally built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, as seen on a November afternoon. This place would fit in perfectly in a Maxfield Parrish painting, and I was pleasantly surprised when we left the museum that evening to see a Maxfield Parrish sky behind it.

Outside WonderCon

Sometime in the past year, the Anaheim Convention Center tore out a street between two hotels and turned it into a pedestrian plaza with fountains and lights. It turned out to be a great gathering place for con-goers who wanted to take a break, socialize, hold photoshoots, etc.

I’ve written up my experience of the weekend over at K-Squared Ramblings, and you can see more photos on Flickr including exhibits, people in costumes, and sightseeing.

Santa Monica Bay at Dawn

I don’t usually get out before sunrise, but on this particular morning in 2011 I was up to watch a lunar eclipse. I found myself out on the road running along the top of the cliffs near the beach, watching the eclipsed moon set through the haze above the ocean.

You can see the Redondo Beach power plant near the right, with the pier in front of it and King Harbor jutting out into the bay. Way off in the distance you can see the lights of Santa Monica and Malibu, with the Santa Monica mountains behind them.

Holes

I know this little hole-in-the-wall place….

(Todo: add tagline to Flickr post)

Sunset Double Rainbow over LA

I was on the top of a parking structure near LAX to take pictures of the clouds, and was just about to head down when I saw a fragment of the primary rainbow appear. I decided to stick around and keep watching, and was rewarded when it brightened and lengthened, and then a faint secondary bow (just to the right of the airplane) came into view.

Crane

Every once in a while you get a perfect shot from the car. I was stopped at a traffic signal next to an area of road construction, and looked up at this crane, backlit by the sun.

Mt. Saddleback

Today is moving day. I’ve spent most of my life in Orange County, where the eastern skyline (when not blocked by trees and buildings) is dominated by the Santa Ana Mountains. The two highest peaks, Santiago Peak and Modjeska Peak, are known locally as Saddleback because of the shape they form together.

We’re not moving far — just to the South Bay — but it’s going to be weird not seeing this landmark on a day-to-day (well, non-smoggy day-to-day) basis. You can see it from that far away, but it takes a very clear horizon and a very clear sky. On a good day I can just make out the silhouette from LAX.

This shot was taken in Lemon Heights, where you can (usually) see a lot more than just the silhouette.

Barn After the Storm

Well, technically, it’s Old Town Irvine during a lull in a storm last December. The clouds were moving very fast, with light and shadow moving over the empty fields and office parks, and I waited several minutes for the sun to play over this scene.

I particularly liked the contrast of the dead brown tumbleweeds scattered around the bright green meadow.

My one regret with this photo is not being able to capture the steep drop-off into a wash right below the frame. I could get the wash, or the sky, but not both.

Gate

Next to the first gas station south of CA-152 along I-5 in California’s central valley.

Here’s to maps+satellite views. I’ve identified this as S. Mercey Springs Rd, at the parking lot of Mercy Spring Shell. The private road runs up into the hills past this gate. Off to the right, it makes a sharp turn to cross the freeway and then head north to Los Banos as Highway 165.

UCI Student Center: Then and Now

Composite of two photos of the University of California, Irvine Student Center: One taken in 1997, the other in 2007.

The biggest difference (aside from the time of day) is that the Student Center itself was torn down and replaced with a new complex, which is why I focused on the center area for the cut-out. The Irvine Barclay Theatre, Administration Building and Student Services II, ring road, and the office building in the distance are all still there.

See also my write-up about taking the second photo.

Not a Rainbow

An amazing circumhorizon arc that I saw last May. I had just crossed the street while walking to lunch when I looked up, saw it…and walked back to the office to get my camera!

It started out as just a couple of small segments, but as the clouds drifted into position it quickly grew, and at its strongest it was just long enough to fill the field of view on my camera. There were also a couple of fragments of a 22° circular halo visible at the time.

It looks like a sort of straightened-out rainbow, but it’s actually caused by ice crystals. If the right type of crystals cover the entire sky, this will actually stretch in a circle all the way around the sky, parallel to the horizon.

At times like this, I really wish I had a DSLR, but the point-and-shoot will do in a pinch.

Location: Irvine, California. May 14, 2010, 1:30pm

Downtown LA Skyline

Los Angeles skyline seen from US Highway 101, taken on a clear April day…and a much cooler day than today’s record-setting 113 degrees!

Palm Tree Alley

The walkway between the Hilton Anaheim and the Anaheim Convention Center. The blocky wall to the right is a large area full of staircases at one end of the convention center.

Taken this past April, during Anaheim Comic Con. The convention center was also host to a much larger coffee convention.

Yerba Buena Gardens

Looking north across the park on a spring afternoon during WonderCon 2010. It rained most of the weekend, but the one day we were (mostly) indoors was the one day that the sun came out.

The tiered building to the left is the Marriott Marquis, the convention hotel. The church across the way is St. Patrick’s. The tall building behind it is the Four Seasons hotel.

Photo: Yerba Buena Gardens

MLK Pool

Another view of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

Taken during this past April’s trip to WonderCon.

Photo: Pool.

Santiago Canyon in Green

Santiago Canyon after Rain, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Looking roughly southeast on the side of Santiago Canyon Road, somewhere between Irvine Lake and the turnoff for Silverado Canyon. The peaks of Saddleback, with a dusting of snow barely visible at larger sizes, are shrouded in clouds.

Taken between rainstorms last January.

Gnarled Tree

Somewhere in Cuyamaca State Park (now Cuyamaca Rancho State Park) in the mountains east of San Diego, California. We camped at Paso Picacho, but I don’t remember whether this was near the campsite or spotted during a hike.

This was taken in April 2002, about a year and a half before a devastating fire destroyed large areas of the park.

(It was also about a year before I got my first digital camera, so this image was scanned from a print.)

Santa Ana Mountains Snow II

According to Flickr, this is my most interesting* photo that isn’t someone in costume at a fan convention. It’s #68 on the list!

The photo was taken December 18, 2008, after a storm passed through Orange County and did something unusual: it blanketed the Santa Ana Mountains with snow. Saddleback typically gets a light dusting a couple of times a year, and the next peak down sometimes gets a little snow that melts by noon, but it’s rare for the snow to reach any lower.

The vantage point is a housing development on Quail Hill, looking southeast over the Irvine Spectrum area. You can see the Great Park Balloon near the left. Saddleback itself is out of frame to the right, but you can see its base (the peaks are covered in clouds) in the panorama I shot at the same time.

*Flickr’s “interestingness” is a measure that combines a count of views, comments, and “favorites.” The exact balance is secret, but from what I can tell, comments outweigh favorites, which outweigh views.

Maxfield Parrish Sky

Maxfield Parrish Sky, originally uploaded by Kelson.

One night last October, I stepped out of the office building and felt like I’d stepped into a Maxfield Parrish painting. The whole sky looked like this. (Or at least the half that was visible.) It literally stopped me in my tracks.

I spent the next 15 minutes walking around the parking lot, watching the lighting on the clouds change as the sun set and taking pictures.