Documenting California Precipitation 2023: Full Lake Folsom and Snowcapped Sierras

The effect of all the precipitation in the past 5 months in California can be easily seen in this pic. That’s Folsom Lake. That tree has been on dry ground for the past few years when you could hike up to it just walking on the lakebed of rocks and pebbles. Now a good chunkContinue reading “Documenting California Precipitation 2023: Full Lake Folsom and Snowcapped Sierras”

Mt Shasta juxtaposed with our consumerist selves

Mountains can be teachers. They can show us our place, help keep our ego in check, and give us the dose of awe we need to stay grounded. We were driving back from Mt Lassen when we stopped for a coffee and from the parking lot of a Starbucks I caught this view of MtContinue reading “Mt Shasta juxtaposed with our consumerist selves”

Startrails over a Community Observatory in California

So I have been taking night sky photos for a few years. Just as a hobby. Never seriously. Have only read some blogs and watched some videos and a lot of experimentation with the goal of just having fun. I know that star trails is yet another way to process those images but in allContinue reading “Startrails over a Community Observatory in California”

AI to re-colorize old photos and videos

Some very promising projects that are re-colorizing old photos and videos. A project called De Oldify has shared some very impressive results. DeOldify is a state of the art way to colorize black & white images. You can try it right now by visiting the free Google Colab notebook for photos or video. The notebooksContinue reading “AI to re-colorize old photos and videos”

Neighborhood Walk during Sheltering in Place

Everyone in California right now is sheltering in place. We have been asked to minimize travel, work from home and not leave home unless absolutely necessary. No driving to places for an evening walk etc. What’s allowed is to go downstairs for a quick walk in the neighborhood. Luckily, we live close to this spotContinue reading “Neighborhood Walk during Sheltering in Place”

What if there was a giant, snow-clad mountain in Silicon Valley

For years I was obsessed with this mountain. Old habits die hard – I always try to fly only at sunrise or sunset in Seattle. Just to get a glimpse of this awesomeness in perfect lighting. Seeing Rainier is a hit or miss. It is not visible everyday. Yesterday, I fell asleep on the wayContinue reading “What if there was a giant, snow-clad mountain in Silicon Valley”

Poznań at Sunset

Labels are very tricky to navigate, especially through the lens of history. Poznań is the chief city in the historical region called Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) which used to be at the heart of the 10th century Polish state. After more than a century of partitions between the Austrian, the Prussian, and the Russian imperial powers,Continue reading “Poznań at Sunset”