Don't Get Lost

Griffith Park, Trail above the old zoo - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/125 @ f 6

North or South?

In front of Mission San Miguel - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/200 @ f 22

Now That's a Bridge!

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Dec 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO + yellow Holga Filter

HTC One V Cellphone Camera via Instagram

Today's post is the only digital/analog comparison I've attempted thus far. I wasn't really trying to do it, but I just happened to shoot the same scene with both cameras. While I do like the coloring in the bottom one, I'll only be framing the one on top. It'll be in a REALLY big frame too.

Which one do you like out of the two?

I Found the Real Farmville

Farmland adjecent to Mission Soledad - Soledad, CA, December 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO, Yellow Filter

Mission Soledad is smack dab in the middle of a huge farming area. I took this shot using a yellow filter to darken the sky and to make the clouds stand out a bit. Unfortunately, it looks like my thumb was trying to make itself seen in the bottom right corner. It's not too fun going to a place that has a dirt and rock parking lot just after a good rain. At the entrance there was a big mud pit that looked like I would get stuck unless I sped through it fast. Thankfully, I didn't get stuck.

A Pleasant Afternoon at the Theater

Sebastiani Theater, Sonoma, July 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO

This was at the very end of the historic El Camino Real. This was about a block away from the last mission which was off to the left here. I love seeing these old towns that have the look of being around before the 50's. Very cool area to check out if you visit the town.

Follow the Water Trail

La Purisima Concepcion, Dec 2012 - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/1250 @ f 10

This was a mini aqueduct the natives built to bring the water down to the village from the cistern just about a hundred yards away. Make sure to bring a bag full of salt when you visit this mission. It was on Ghost Adventures and creepy as hell when you walk around the buildings. Fair warning. :-)

Down the Halls, Between the Walls

Mission San Miguel - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/1250 @ f 10

I stopped at this mission on both of my trips up north earlier this year.This is probably the easiest mission to get to since it is directly off the freeway and there wasn't any creative driving involved, like there was with mission Santa Barbara. 

Fermentation Sensation!

Firestone Walker Brewery Tour - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/60 @ f 2

This part of the tour was Very interesting. These were filled with Firestone Walker DBA. They actually fill the kegs with 10% of this and 90% from the steel fermentation tanks. They are one of 2 companies in the world that still ferment beer in barrels on a full time basis. I hear the 100% barrel version of DBA, that they have on tap there, is incredible!

Cartoon Landscape in a Real World

In front of Mission San Miguel - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/1600 @ f 11


The clouds always look like they are straight from a cartoon just after a good rain, like it was on this day. It was just like this all the way from Pismo Beach through Mission San Juan Bautista. I love those kinda days.

Rolling Hills and Sky's a Blue

Near San Luis Obispo De Tolosa - Shot with Canon 10D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO 400,1/1250 @ f 10

Solvang: A Real Danish Town in America

This year, I started going on vacation. I had been putting it off for several years. And you can't really count Vegas as a vacation, at least if you stay on the Strip and don't explore the region. As you've see from my previous posts, I've been working on a photo project with the El Camino Missions in conjunction with my vacations. 

My second trip brought me to the cute little town of Solvang. For me, this city was a big mystery. I had driven through back in December and discovered a ridiculous amount of foreign visitors from Asia. As it turns out, this city, in the Central Valley of California, is more historically accurate then modern cities in Denmark are, which all of the tourism is based on. 

I had a nice little walk about the town and then enjoyed a burger at Solvang Brewing Company on the main highway/street through town. There was soooo much located in such a small area it is sensory overload for us ADHD folk. 

At the end of the main strip through town, You'll find Mission Santa Ines. It's a real trip to see these historic locations because you almost get a window into another time. 

Below is one of the supports from the original building.everything was made out of rock and adobe. I wonder how the adobe was made so it didn't wash away during rain storms.

The statue below was built in recognition of the famed danish author. This was near the center of town. There was also a huge boulder on display for reasons unknown to me. I took a picture of it, but it wasn't very good.

This area is full of activities and worth a day or more. To the south on the 101 is the Gaviota Wind Tunnels, shown here a few weeks back, as well as Nojoqui Falls, and La Purisima Concepcion which is on the opposite direction of the main road going through Buelton.

If you are looking for some fresh beer in the area, The Solvang Brew Co is in the middle of town, but its just ok. Their imperial red was awesome though. There is also Figueroa Mountain Brewing and a taproom from Firestone Walker both in Buelton, right off the 101 Freeway. Take some time off and take a trip to the town that really shows the American dream, one of the few places left in California.

To read more on Solvang, you can visit the Wikipedia entry here, And to view the entire set from my trip, click here

Firestone Walker, Quality From The Central Valley

I'm not sure why I was sitting on this post, but Today I would like to share a brewery, which is now in my top 5, with you all.

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. is an easy enough establishment to find. It is just off of the 101 Freeway as you are coming in to Paso Robles. About an hour north of San Luis Obispo and somewhat 3 hours south of San Jose from the north. You can literally see the building below as you drive by on the freeway, but the dead giveaway are the grain silos.

Now, I go to my local breweries ALL the time, and I've been to a few others like Stone, but there was one characteristic that I got from this place that the others all seem to lack, the insane bubble of wort aroma wreaking havoc on my smell receptors in my nose. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad thing. I actually love the smell. The wort is the part of the beer making process that contains the boiling water and the malt, whether it be extract or actual malt grains.

I really was interested in taking the tour. I have toured several other facilities(to varying degrees), such as Noble Ale Works, Bootleggers Brewery, and Stone Brewing, and I was very interested to see what a middle level brewing facility would look like. The lobby contained a small tasting room. They had most of their regulars on tap that day, such as Wookey Jack, DBA, and Union Jack along with some imperial variants DDBA and Double Jack. 

There were some special releases that day which made the trip special for me, Velvet Merkin, featured in the photo just above, and §ucaba barleywine, not pictured.

The brewery tour was quite an experience. They have several different departments with which they do research many people would never have thought would take place at a brewery. They have an entire lab that caters to all of these needs. one of the machines tests the liquid to determine the amount of alcohol for one of their product lines and it can tell them if there is anything wrong so the brewers can find out what they did wrong easier. 

The other main science they do is yeast reclaim. They can use a batch of yeast for up to 8 different times. Then its kind of exhasted. So they take up a sample of spent yeast and they regrow the same strain of yeast. It gives them the same taste. Using s different batch of yeast, no matter if its the same style, can throw off the flavor ever so slightly, but could be noticable, which is not good when you are known for excellence and quality.

Bottling line as seen from a window outside the lab.

One of the brewers is releasing the steam from the wort by opening the lid on one of the brewhouse tanks. Stand back. That steam is really hot and shoots out very fast.

These batrrels are in the fermenting step. The barrel actually gives off a slight smokey flavor that effects the final product. I think the guide said these were full of the DBA (Double Barrel Ale). The version of DBA you buy in the bottle  at the store contains 10% of product from the barrels and the other 90% were aged in the normal steel fermentors.

This bucket is full of used yeast.

Gotta stay on schedule.

This guy was loading a pallet with full kegs. Its gotta be a hard job.

A weird random fact about Firestone-Walker is that they actually brew house beers for several restaurants. The one that comes to mind is the Yardhouse. I went to another place right on the border of Little Tokyo that had their house beers made there as well. Its an interesting deal to have. that must be what those few without any product name on the schedule above were. 

This brewery was indeed a sight to be seen and it is most definitely one of those places that are one timers. Ya really gotta go see it at least once. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience much better than Stone Brewing. There was no real snobbyness and the service was incredbile. The only thing I didn't enjoy so much was the burger over at the taproom. It seemed to me to be one of those pressed premade burger. Everything else made up for that tiny tiny point.

You can view the rest of my pictures from the shoot over on my Smugmug page. 

Are there any brewerues local to you that you would reccomend?

Gaviota Wind Tunnels

My last stop on my most recent expedition to the Central Valley of California led me to the Gaviota Wind Tunnels. I had been contemplating this minor hike for a few weeks previous and made it my goal to attempt it when I was driving back.

The trail head for this hike is right off the 101 as it turns down towards Santa Barbara. You just exit the freeway at Gaviota Beach Rd and stay right while you go up the hill. Then its the first parking area you cross on the right hand side. you can check out all of the details on the Hike's Peak.

a recurring theme that day. I wanted to show the elevation of the hike.

Gas lines like these are littered throughout. I saw at least 3 vents including one in the middle of nothing.

I'm going to have to travel up this route sometime. Looks like more fun than driving for sure!

Here is the final view from the top..... Or at least as high I was willing to go. My camera ended up out of battery right after that, so I was lucky.

I just want to throw a couple of cautions out to anybody looking to do this hike. It really isn't as long as it seems, so you don't need a boatload of it, but make sure to bring water. I was a real idiot for not doing that. Next. watch the ledges inside the caves. Where I shot #20, the hole is on an underside and didn't have any real place to stand. Just play it safe and have fun out there.

I only used about half of the images I took on this post. If you would like to see the entire set, check out the gallery on my Smugmug page