The Dos Amigos Pumping Plant helps transport water in the California Aqueduct. The water is lifted 113 feet, and then descends to the next pumping station 164 miles away.

I suppose a sunrise or sunset shot would be more interesting, but with the plant located half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, reaching this location by mid-day is about par for the course.

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 58mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/400s

During a noon hike, I spotted a Lockheed P-3 Orion taking off from Moffett Federal Airfield. At the time, I was using the D7000 because the D800 would not turn on and had to be sent to Nikon for repairs. Hopefully, the repairs will not take too long because I miss that camera already. It functions as expected.

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 300mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/1250s

Earlier, I was using the D7000 for video work. On the D800, I can adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO while in Live View. On the D7000, the camera settings could not be adjusted in the same manner in Live View. Fortunately, I had internet access in the field and was able to lookup the instructions. The quick answer is shutter speed can be adjusted in Live View, but aperture cannot not. I had to exit Live View, adjust the aperture, and return to Live View. As for ISO, setting Manual Movie Settings to “on” enables ISO to be changed while in Live View. That setting can be found at Shooting Menu > Movie Settings > Manual Movie Settings.

I had the versatile Nikon 28-300mm lens with me on an exceptionally clear afternoon. I was focused on Hanger Two and Hanger Three at Moffett Field at the time. It wasn’t until I was looking at the photos under higher magnification that I noticed Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton in the background.

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
ISO: 160
Focal Length: 250mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 1/1,250s

In the other direction, I could see the skyscrapers in San Francisco quite clearly. As it turns out, both Mount Hamilton and San Francisco are about equidistant from Mountain View. They are both a shade under 40 miles away.

During Super Bowl 50, I was on the side of a mountain with a view of Moffett Field and Levi’s Stadium. I wasn’t sure which direction the Blue Angels would come from, but from my vantage point, I was fairly confident that I could spot their arrival.

The more pressing problem was the atmospheric haze. Nearby objects were crystal clear. However, objects (like Levi’s Stadium) that were located further away were not. Here is the original photo.

I had just upgraded to the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC, which added the de-haze feature, so I was eager to return home and test the function. From the original, I was able to restore the colors and contrast, and salvage the situation. Sometimes you just have to shoot regardless of the circumstances and hope for the best in post-processing. I think this latest edit is an improvement on my first attempt.

The Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers competed in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. I was 15 miles away on the side of a mountain overlooking Silicon Valley.

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II and AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III
ISO: 360
Focal Length: 600mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/2000s

Fortunately, 30 minutes before the start of the Super Bowl, the Blue Angels flew over Silicon Valley. Nothing better than a test run before the real deal…for them, as well as for me. 600mm was a bit too close since I wanted to see the Blue Angels in their surroundings, so I removed the teleconverter and waited and waited and waited.
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If you are fortunate enough to live in Florence, you can make multiple trips to Piazzale Michelangelo to witness the gorgeous sunset. The best that I can do is dig through three-year-old JPEGs and experiment with different post-processing workflows.

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 44mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter: 1.3s

Visiting the Nazca lines is not the most pleasant experience. On board a small plane, we headed out on our aerial tour. Now to see these lines, our pilots would sharply roll the plane left or right so that the passengers would get a clear, downward view of the geoglyphs on the ground. The end result is that about a third of the passengers developed motion sickness. This is truly unfortunate because the geoglyphs are quite amazing. It really requires some talent to construct objects of this scale.

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
ISO: 320
Focal Length: 48mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/2000s

While soaring along the coast of Peru, I could spot the plots of cultivated land squeezed into whatever area that the ingenuity of man permits. Meandering through the fields is the outline of what once was a river. Maybe it will return in a wetter season. However, on that day, it was nothing more than a thick line of dry sand etched into the landscape.

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
ISO: 320
Focal Length: 72mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/2000s

On the last day of the year, I headed up to the hills for a sunrise photography session above Silicon Valley. Shoreline Amphitheatre, which is surrounded by the Google campus, is easily identifiable in the bottom of the photograph. Along the rolling hills in the background, wind turbines transform the winds into clean energy.

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 200mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/20s