Driving Up the Pacific Coast Highway
Destination Google!
On Monday Feb 1, I’m speaking at Google for their [email protected] program. The whole thing will be recorded, so I’ll be able to share it back with the world here once it goes up. You can find out more by following @GoogleTalks. And thanks to Mike Wiacek @MikeWiacek who is the head of the Google Photog Club and to Cliff Redeker @mcrsquared for getting the whole thing set up… I am excited!
Later that afternoon, I’m giving a private photography workshop to people at Google back in one of their secret rooms… That should be a lot of fun too. I’ll be going through, in person, what I have in the HDR Tutorial here on the site.
There is a public photowalk on Thursday, Feb 4 at Stanford. We’ll meet at 4 PM at the The Oval. There may or may not be a talk after — it depends on if we can secure an auditorium!
Private Tour at Hearst Castle
I’m driving up the coast towards Silicon Valley, and I decided to take my time and leisurely drive up Highway 1. I’m doing my best to fill the trip with planned and unplanned adventures.
I spent a big chunk of the day up at Hearst Castle. I was given a private tour whilst guarded by one of LAPD’s finest, who is now a security guard at the castle. I had carte blanche to go anywhere and shoot everything – it was totally amazing! I got into the wine cellar, into the top two spires where there are tiny bedrooms, and all over the place. It was just amazing — I have not had time to process the photos yet… but… you won’t believe it!
Daily Photo – Big Sur in the Morning
5:30 AM. Alarm goes off. It’s always painful. People that say they are “morning people” — I think they are lying. But, when in a beautiful place, I always force myself, military style, to pop out of bed. There are hikes to be made and photos to take!
I stayed at the Ragged Point Inn. My room had a little fireplace and everything (which made it even harder to get out of bed!). After I got downstairs, I started a little hike to get a good vantage of the coast and the sunrise. Of course, there was a fence blocking the best bit, so I jumped over it like Carl Lewis (a much older, whiter, and less jumpy Carl Lewis), and edged along the rocky coast to get a good spot. I forgot to put on my hiking shoes and mistakenly donned my Cole-Haans while in the dark. Big mistake. Those don’t make for good hiking shoes, especially after five minutes of getting soaked in morning dew from the foliage I was ripping my way through.
But, I had on my earphones and was blasting away music… all was good… the sun came up, the clouds were perfect, and I took this photo.