Kitty up a tree

Kitty is posing for me near the creekside in Atascadero.

Creepy Clowns

This clown looks pretty creepy to me.  But colorful too, so we can ignore that hint of the creeps.

Ghost Pepper Sauce

Here is just the stuff to make your ghost coffee.  But use carefully as "a little dab will do ya".

More Hot Chili

Hot chili display from the Cambria Chili cookoff.

Hot Chile!

On a cold morning, there is nothing like some hot coffee to wake and warm up.  Put a little bit of hot pepper in your morning mocha, and you create a Mexican mocha.  Add some ghost pepper hot sauce, and you make a "ghost coffee".  Just a drop will do it, though.

Kitten's Helping Hand

This little kitten needed a "hand up" and was surprisingly cooperative in looking at the camera for his photo.

Abalone

Close up detail of abalone shell.

Dogtober Festival

This energetic guy was practicing for the Atascadero Dogtober Festival dogs races in the Sunken Garden park during the Colony Days celebration.  I'm not sure what place he won, but he sure was fast.

Big Cat

I like this photo of the cat sculpture at Sculpterra Winery.  He looks to be stalking something through the tall grass.

Garden Art

Here is a detail of interesting shapes and shadows, in black and white, from the garden.

Black & White, or Color

Detail, to the photographic eye, looks good in either black and white or color.

Templeton Sunsets, Round 2

These photos from the weekend are from west of Templeton off Las Tablas Road.  The sunset was limited to only a little section of the sky, but it lit up the vineyards and grasses quite well.

Templeton Sunsets, Round 1

The recent storms provided some great sunset, and the sky provided a tremendous contrast to the new greening grasses.  Here are a few photo from just east of Templeton.

Irresistibly Cute Kittens

These little kittens were found at the dump - Chicago Grade Landfill in Templeton. They were 2 weeks old, and were rescued by the fine workers up there from under a pile of trash. They were cared for by the staff at North County Humane in Atascadero, and were all adopted yesterday - within minutes of arriving at the shelter.

From left to right - Dancer, Donner and Diva

More of the Tractor

Here is the same tractor image as the previous post, with a little bit more processing.

More Rusty Farm Equpment

I drove out Santa Rita Creek road in Templeton to check the stream levels and look for waterfall and flowing water photos.  The water color was ugly - not clear or even brown, but almost yellow.  So I didn't take any creek photos.

The hills are greening up nicely and provided a good contrast with this farm tractor.

Pentax K-5, 16 to 50 mm lens, f14, ISO 400, 3 bracket photos, Photomatix Pro

Our Tern to Explore the Beach

We found this group of terns on the beach near San Simeon Creek on a recent rainy Sunday.

Central Coast Cloudy Skys

Finally!  Rain.  And great puffy clouds in the blue sky between storms.  I took some photos in the Santa Margarita area yesterday featuring the clouds and now turning green grass.

Photos taken with the Pentax K-3, 16 to 50 zoom, ISO 200, f14, bracketed photos processed in Lightroom and Photomatix Pro

Old Truck - Santa Margarita Ranch

Old Salinas River Bridge - Las Pilitas Road

Old Hearst Pier - San Simeon

Here are a couple of photos of the remaining pilings from the old Hearst pier in San Simeon Bay.  Recent storms and waves have "rearranged" the beach so many of the old pilings are now exposed.  Photos were taken at low tide on a rainy day with a Canon Powershot S90 point and shoot in "raw" mode.

Old San Simeon Pier

Detail, Old Pier Pilings

Old Orchard in Black and White

I needed to get out of the office during  a break in the rain, and I stopped by an old hillside orchard a few miles from home to take this photo.  The light was pretty flat, but the subtle colors in the orchard and grasses let me apply some color filters to make a more dramatic black and white scene.
Canon 5D MkII, 24-105 @75 mm, F16, 1/20th, ISO 200, Lightroom and Silver Efx