For 77 years the eastern span of San Francisco's Bay Bridge(left) has allowed people easy access between Oakland and San Francisco. In 2013 construction was completed on the new eastern span(right). Demolition of the old span began in January of 2014. It will be gone from the landscape in 3 years time. Had some requests for a desktop 16:9 sized image, so I put one under the original image.
Exposure.so - Easy Photo Narratives
Exposure.so offers an easy interface and beautiful image rich layout creation that allows some really wonderful photo essays to be made with ease. I highly recommend giving it a try!
You can check out my first photo essay covering a visit to Rialto Beach on the Olympic Peninsula here.
Enter Macbook Pro
I built my first PC in 1999 and have always felt at home in Windows. The entire Windows environment has become second nature to me. I have never had to rely on outside assistance or support to troubleshoot problems and issues. It has been a reliable and productive environment that I feel has never hampered or hindered my productivity. However, for the last two years I have been considering this purchase.
Aesthetically, Macbooks have always had a certain appeal to me. From the unibody construction to the clean simple lines they have a certain elegance and allure that is hard to match. More than that though, the solid build quality of the unibody construction has been something sorely lacking in virtually every windows laptop I have owned for the last decade. Even high end laptop bodies were almost unanimously made of some various concoction of plastic and metal. My current laptop that this will take the place of can be seen below. You can see the reason that Apple decided to forgo the Ethernet port as well as a CD/DVD drive. They simply would not fit in the form factor of the new Retina Macbooks.
I am quite excited to start this new journey and begin to relearn the Mac OS. The last time I used a Mac was during the reign of Photoshop 7.0. The switch to PCI-e SSD drives has bumped up the read and write speeds an incredible amount as well. Looking forward to putting it through its paces soon.
See the pictures below for an unboxing and a size comparison between the Macbook Pro and my Asus bamboo u43jc.
The specs are as follows:
15" Macbook Pro W/ Retina
2.3ghz Intel Core i7
16GB DDR3 SDRAM
512GB PCI-e SSD
2880x1800 IPS display
Intel Iris graphics
Nvidia GeForce GT 750m GPU
Portraits of a Northwest Icon
A selection of photographs from my recent trip to Mount Rainier National Park. Click on an individual photo to enlarge it.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Shots from a hike up Burroughs Mountain in Mount Rainier National Park. Photographed by Jillian Raymundo.
There is something magical about getting away from industrialized areas of civilization. Immersing oneself in the environment is incredibly liberating. No cell service or other distractions to muddle the grand and beautiful natural world that we are all a part of. This is so easily forgotten in metropolitan areas where there are almost no traces of the natural world. For the first time in history the majority of the planet's human inhabitants live in these developed areas. What this means for our connection and appreciation for the earth and nature remains to be seen.
As deep black skies speckled with countless stars give way to glowing domes of light from our cities, are we losing contact with our world? Hopefully, as we pack ourselves closer and closer together in an effort to sustain our ever increasing population growth, we can also reinvigorate our appreciation and understanding of our deep connection to this planet that we call home. With any luck we will recognize that we are part of it, no matter where or how we live. Whether we live in metropolitan areas or rural areas people all around the world are part of one large interconnected system of which we are just one small (but increasingly influential) part.
While city life shrouds this connection in a deep fog, the natural world continues to operate within the confines of the laws of nature. If we continue on our current path, what will that mean for our future? How will our lives change, and will it be by choice or necessity? What will the world of tomorrow look like, and will the increasing rift between humanity and the natural world continue to widen? There is something to be said for the few remaining areas where the drone of a freeway or the sound of city life are unable to reach. As our species moves into cities at an increasing pace, some areas are given a brief respite and can begin to regenerate. However, fallow land is nothing but potential profit to some, and once reborn this land will end up as it was if not worse. In the United States, we are lucky to have a park system that protects some of our most treasured lands. Around the world this is a practice that is seldom utilized. Also, the few parks that exist in the U.S. do not make up for the amount of land that has been lost. Still, I fear as the trend toward city life continues we will end up losing something even more important.
Children growing up will never see a starry sky or a beautiful moonlit landscape. They will never escape the deluge of sights and sounds from the city. They will never take a breath of crisp clean mountain air. These children will never be able to gaze in amazement at a sweeping vista or seascape. Open plains and amber fields will be but images on screens struggling for airtime against reality television and the nightly news. It is troubling to think what will happen once generations come of age without experiencing or appreciating the natural world that we rely upon. Through no fault of their own they will be deprived of some of the most beautiful and inspirational experiences that have inspired some of the greatest individuals throughout history. Nature's ability to astound and inspire is unprecedented on any level.
This is where photography comes in. Though I always hope to craft a beautiful image, I also hope to inspire people to want to see what I have seen, and to go where I have gone. I hope to make people lust for these natural places and thereby reinvigorate the reverence and appreciation for our planet. In a time where digital media is so accessible and prevalent, a photograph can do so much. A beautiful image takes us to a different place and reminds us of what is out there. We are not confined to just our city or town, there is an entire world out there to explore. I hope in some small way, through one image at a time, I can help foster a mindset of appreciation and preservation toward our natural world.
Up high on Si
Mount Si is located near the city of North Bend in Washington state. It is one of the most popular hiking destinations during the summer months. If you choose to go, embarking on weekdays and mornings will allow you to avoid most of the crowds.
The landscape and views are incredible, especially considering its proximity to Seattle and other cities. The hike is relatively strenuous and rises several thousand feet over the course of 4 miles, but the climb is well worth it. On clear days Rainier and other mountains are visible in the distance as well as full views of the lowlands all around the mountain. The forests are rich and vibrant and feel mystical and enchanted.
It is wonderful getting up the trail a ways as the drone of the freeways and city life all drop away leaving you in a wonderfully quiet and serene setting. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.
Here are a few shots from my last trip:
Forest on Mount Si near North Bend, WA.
Trail near the top of Mount Si.
Nearing the top of Mount Si near North Bend, WA.
Mountain Goat with a kid on Mount Si.
Looking out across the lowlands from Mount Si in Washington.
Andy at the top of Mount Si.
Wild flowers and plants on Mount Si.
View from the top of Mount Si.
Descending off of Mount Si.
Down the trail on Mount Si.
Gazing upward
Here are a couple shots from earlier in the week. The first picture shows 2 Perseid Meteors and the Milky Way. Taken near Cle Elum, WA between Aug 12th and 13th 2013. (Cle Elum is the glow in bottom right).
Out of 300 shots, 7 had meteors. One shot had two, as seen here.
Also seen here is a single picture of the milky way, sans Perseid meteors.
"Chasing Ice" A Documentary by James Balog and Team
For anyone interested in climatology or the changes occurring on our planet (hopefully everyone), I highly recommend the documentary "Chasing Ice" by photographer James Balog and his team. It is available to stream on Netflix and iTunes and is very well put done. The documentary is beautiful. But more than that, it helps to show the immediacy of the most important problem our planet faces.
James Balog employs time lapse footage of glaciers from all over the world and how they change over just the last several years. The resulting footage is astounding. Seeing entire glaciers deflate, calve, and melt away entirely is troubling to say the least. And the fact that it is happening in the passage of months and years instead of decades or centuries is troubling. The immediacy of the problem of climate change seems to be lost in the minds of politicians and the public as well.
Occasionally a change or regulation is legislated but it is too little and at too slow a rate. There is not one simple solution and it will take a change of many things across many industries and societies to attempt to tackle the challenges that our planet faces. We feel good about ourselves as we vote to increase emissions standards by 10 or 20 percent, or ban plastic bags, or any number of other things. But these changes are only small drops attempting to fill a swimming pool. These changes are happening to our planet NOW and at rates that are almost unfathomable. We do not have time to make one (admittedly beneficial) minute change every 6 months, or each election cycle.
For more information, check out the documentary on iTunes or Netflix or read more here:
Get Outside
Whether it is for a minute, a day, or longer, try to find time to immerse yourself in the outdoors. The clean air, reduced distractions, and unadulterated beauty are not only wonderful to behold but can actually improve your state of mind and health. And on the same token, it is imperative that we keep our natural spaces free from human destruction. These places serve to keep us sane in a world full of constant multitasking and endless stimuli. However, corporations view these spaces as sources of profit. Whether it is what is on the ground or in the ground, these areas are seen not for their importance to the whole, but to a select few. These areas are beneficial to each and every one of us, and it is up to us to protect them. Whether you make it out into the wild daily or once in a blue moon, the importance of these areas only grows as they continue to shrink the world over.
Stream in the Cascade Mountains near Snoqualmie Pass, WA.
Stream in the Cascade Mountains near Snoqualmie Pass, WA.
Eerily Empty
Though it is quite often very crowded, if you find yourself spending any time in San Francisco, Alcatraz Island is a must visit location. The stories, location, views and mystery surrounding the island are too good to pass up. Here are a few shots from my visit last year.
On the boat heading out from Alcatraz Island. The view out behind the boat looked like a scene out of a movie.
View up the stairs that lead to the prison hospital at Alcatraz.
This is the New Industries Building on Alcatraz Island. This area once housed a sewing room and several other services where inmates could work for money. It was constructed in 1939.
This is a window through one of the guard residences. Itt must have been hard to sleep with some of the most notorious criminals nearby while waves crash and wind pounds on the windows.
View up through the skylights in the cell block. I can't imagine looking up at this scene every day for year after year.
A cell in the Alcatraz prison.