Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a coyote at Point Reyes National Seashore at sunset.

I photographed this coyote yesterday just before the sun set  I spotted it about fifteen or twenty minutes before sunset and stayed with it until the sun actually set.  It’s my favorite time to photograph wildlife, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.  I assume the light is just ad good at sunrise, but it’s a heck of a lot harder spotting anything to photograph in the dark.

Tiburon

Corinthian Island, Tiburon, California

This is a photo of Corinthian Island in Tiburon, California, taken during the blue hour.

Here’s another photo I took in Tiburon, California.  It’s of the west side of Corinthian Island.  I took this photo during the evening blue hour.  The blue hour is my favorite time for landscape images.  The evening blue hour begins a little after sunset.  There is a blue hour before sunrise as well.  If I were to shoot the island’s east side, I would shoot it before sunrise.

According to Wikipedia, the blue color spectrum “is most prominent when the Sun is between 4° and 8° below the horizon.  When photographing during blue hour it can be favorable to capture subjects that have artificial light sources, such as buildings, monuments, cityscapes, or bridges.”

While I’ve never timed it, my recollection is that the blue hour starts about 15 minutes after sunset and fades away 30 to 40 minutes later.

Historic Landmark

Old Saint Hilary’s Church, Tiburon, California

This is a photo of Saint Hilary's Church with a more nocturnal look.
This is the same photo that I posted yesterday, but it has been processed to look more nocturnal. If this post has been shared, and thus is not shown together with the earlier photo, you can find the original image here. Of course, what the “original image” was is subject to debate in the digital age of photography and even back in the film era. For a good instruction in developing night scenes, see this.
Historic Landmark

Old Saint Hilary’s Church, Tiburon, California

This is a photo of historic Saint Hilary's Church, Tiburon, California with Angel Island, Alcatraz, and the San Francisco Skyline in the background.

Here is a view of Old St. Hilary’s Church at dusk with Angel Island, Alcatraz and the San Francisco Skyline in the Background.  I took this photo in 2011 and I’ve been meaning to re-process it for a while.

When I took this photo the Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest building in San Francisco at 853 feet.  Salesforce Tower became the tallest building in San Francisco at 1,070 feet when it was completed in 2017.

Technically, Old Saint Hilary’s Church is now Old Saint Hilary’s Landmark.  The Catholic Church built a larger, more modern church years ago and was going to demolish Saint Hilary’s when a group of citizens bought the property from the church to preserve it as an historic landmark.  It is a popular site for weddings and other events.  The property is administered and maintained by the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society.  You can find it here.

The grounds adjacent to the building contain a large wildflower area named the John Thomas Howell Wildflower Preserve.