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Until today, I had succesfully resisted stores’ pressure to jump-start the Christmas season. I had even held off on one of my holiday favorites–the Starbucks gingerbread latte, which arrived in stores a couple of weeks ago. But this morning, I spotted a box of Clementines at the store, and I caved. For me, Spanish Clementines will always be associated with my Grandmother, who had made them one of her holiday traditions. So, the instant I peeled the first one, and the burst of citrus scent hit my nose, I was catapulted into the Christmas spirit. Now…bring on those feel-good Coca Cola ads 🙂

If you just HAPPEN to be in San Francisco on December 2nd (6pm-9pm) or 3rd (10am-5pm), then you should swing by the Fort Mason Holiday Photo Show that I am participating in for the 5th year in a row. I’ll have several new images from my Venice at Night series (two samples below). This show is always festive and exciting, with about 10 of my friends/classmates participating. Every artist has a unique style or personal perspective.

And did I mention that there is free wine on Friday night? 🙂

With family and friends reporting in from many corners of the country with a mixed bag of cool-to-cold temps, rain, and even snow, I’m pleased to report that California is the place to be this week 🙂 San Francisco is sunny with highs in the low 70s and a pleasant breeze.

So, this past weekend, Jeff and I got out and about early on Saturday. We headed down to the Ferry Building to buy some veggies for the week. Sunny days bring out THRONGS of people from all walks of life–locals, visitors, street performers, artists. Frankly, it can be a bit overwhelming just to buy sustainable, organic green beans!

But hey, Prince Charles visited the Ferry Building a week ago. And if its good enough for Royalty…

This is just a picture from my office one morning this week. At this time of year, the light plays some wonderful tricks on the morning mist on the Bay, just as I’m arriving at work. This picture hardly does it justice.

And if you happen to be wandering through the Presidio, take a detour through the new Letterman Digital Arts Center. The primary tenant in this new space is Lucasfilm. So tucked away among the historic-style buildings, rolling landscapes, and babbling stream is Yoda. A fun surprise…not in the tour books yet!

The primary reason that I have taken the Photography Portfolio class at Ft. Mason for so many years is the people–the instructor, my classmates, my friends. We challenge each other. We inspire each other.

Every week, we bring in works in progress, and in return, we exchange healthy critiques of each others’ work. Our instructor, Richard, is terrific at offering appropriate levels of praise and encouragement, while often picking the quirkiest bits of our work and saying “explore more of that direction…try it out and see where it takes you”.

Lately, we’ve been selecting single themes to take away as “homework”. I thought it would be fun to share the results of these first two assignments. First, simply enough: chairs. Here is what I saw during that week.

Next assignment: “take something that evokes surrealism”. Here are my interpretations.

I had about an hour to kill on top of Nob Hill this past Thursday night. The hotel where my coworkers were staying was across the street from Grace Cathedral. While I had driven past it on numerous occasions, I had never had the chance to visit.

To start, it was an enchanting evening already. The sky was a dusky dark blue, which set off the well lit gothic details of the building (built 1928-1964). Entering the cathedral, I was immediately struck by two things: 1. the choir singing a capella, and 2. dozens of white, yellow, and red ribbons of sheer fabric flowing from the front of the cathedral to the rear. These sheers were held in place by invisible line, such that they seemed to float and flow through the room. Both the choir and the flowing sheers drew me in and enticed me to sit and observe.

As I was leaving, I took notice of the heavy, bronze-like doors at the outside-center of the cathedral. These doors looked strangely familiar, so I looked them up. Coincidentally, they are replicas of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s “The Gates of Paradise”–Jeff and I saw the originals this spring and 2003 on the Baptistery in Florence. My picture from the Grace Cathedral replica is below.

Now, compare these with the photos of the original door in Florence. We took these pictures in 2003–coincidentally, we photographed the same panel. (For the record, even the doors on the Baptistery are not the originals. The true originals are across the street in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo.)