For some reason, these signs always catch the artistic part of my eye — I have no idea why. They’re not particularly aesthetically pleasing — they’re just plain old warning signs. But they somehow fit in quite nicely with the art deco style of the Tower Bridge in downtown Sacramento, and so I finally got around to taking a picture of them. They actually kind of crack me up. A bit of paraphrasing as my brain translates the signs:

Sign 1: Keep away from the gate.

Sign 2: No, seriously, stay away from there.

Sign 3: DUDE. GATE. GET THE HELL BACK.

If there were a fourth sign, I think it would involve an electrical shock.

I’m so weird. :-)

Tower Bridge sidewalk signs

But at least the weather in Sacramento has been more or less phenomenal since we’ve gotten back — a few hot days, but overall it’s been unseasonably mild, and, I hate to say it, definitely nicer than most of the weather on our trip. So I’ve been enjoying being outside, and soaking up the last of the golden rays that bathe everything in the most amazing late-afternoon light. I don’t want to hurry through this time — I’m not ready for it to be autumn and winter. But since it’s inevitable, I’ll make the most of what summer that’s left.

Feet running across the Tower Bridge in downtown Sacramento.

Anyway, in the meantime, I had the privilege last Saturday of going down to Old Sac to meet up with a former student (he’s attending a different school for his senior year) to take his senior pictures. I think we spent most of the time making fun of each other, but all in all, it went pretty well. I’m not done with the post-processing yet, but I wanted to toss up a couple that I liked from towards the end of the shoot.

I had so much fun with the light — I couldn’t have asked for better portrait-taking conditions. :-)

The urban forest in which I live, originally uploaded by Kari_Marie.

When I first moved to Sacramento, I must have heard at least a dozen times the statement that this is the second most treed city in the world after Paris. I don’t know how true that is, but I like driving past downtown on the freeway and looking down into the city and seeing a sea of green, and, even more, I like living downtown, in the midst of that sea of green. I love the flowering trees in the spring, the shade in the summer, the fall color, and even the bare skeletal shapes in the winter. It’s crowded and raucous and dirty and parking stinks, but it’s home.

I live in an urban forest: vibrant, dense, and full of life, and I love it. I may not always stay here, but for now I can’t imagine living anywhere else, and I’ll miss it this summer when I’m gone.

This is my haul from today's farmer's market. More than any other fruit, apricots represent summer to me. Not sure why that is, but they do. :-)

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Neon sign on the MAARS building a couple of blocks from me, originally uploaded by Kari_Marie.

This is a sign on the MAARS building a couple of blocks from my apartment. I’ve been meaning to take a picture of this sign ever since I moved to this town–there’s something I really like about it. Even when it’s light out, it still looks neat.

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One of Sacramento’s more distinct landmarks is the lovely art deco Tower Bridge, which spans the Sacramento River and leads to the state Capitol building. While I’ve driven across it, I for some reason never got around to actually walking or riding over it to take pictures. Now that I’ve finally gotten that new used* wide-angle lens that I’ve wanted (it’s the same one I rented for my trip to Rome last fall) I figured it was a good excuse to go and take bridge pictures, so I played hooky from work for a couple of hours yesterday morning and rode my bike dolwn there to get some lovely morning light pictures. And then I rode down there again this evening to get some lovely nighttime shots. Now I just need to go down at sunset — the bridge really glows at sunset, and I want to get a few pictures of that. I think that this is my second favorite downtown thing to photograph, after the Capitol building.

*I’ve been looking for this lens used on Craigslist ever since I got back from Rome. While it’s fairly common in the Nikon mount, it’s darned near impossible to find in the Canon mount, AND forget trying to get it new — it’s ALWAYS backordered everywhere, unless you want to pay an exorbitant (33%!) markup. Ummm, how ’bout NO. I’ve bid on eBay auctions before, and FINALLY won one…

Anyway, well, these aren’t the pictures I took with my new lens. Those will be forthcoming though, at some point. These were taken with my cameraphone, since I like how it looks and I like being able to post pictures so easily. As you can see, I had some fun with the sketch filter in the photoediting program on my camera for one of the pics… good times. :-)

Tower Bridge glowing in the Friday morning sunlight

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Fun with the sketch filter

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Just after sunset earlier this evening

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Reflection on a window in downtown Sacramento during Second Saturday on May 8th, 2010.

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This is my favorite shot of the bunch, and I knew it the second I took it. Not sure how I did... sometimes that just happens.

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She looks like she's having so much fun... Not sure I'd be having a good time with a fiery hula hoop, but she was a pleasure to watch.

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I love the clarity of this shot and the look of rapt concentration on her face. Not bad given that I had my left elbow crooked and my left hand holding onto my right shoulder, with my camera propped on my outstretched elbow to use it as a tripod of sorts.

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The neck, the neck, the neck is on fire... (sorry, song reference... it's not that obscure, is it?)

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Long exposure meant that it looks like she has multiple sets of arms. So so so neat.

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