Winged Victory, originally uploaded by Pacific Landscapes.

November 5, 2008. What else can be said?

marin-wildlife-2435, originally uploaded by Pacific Landscapes.

The transition period after hard rains is often a great time for photography, and the end of this season’s first storm was no different for us in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We went chasing rainbows and pulled off the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge at the San Quentin exit, near the scenic area overlooking San Rafael Bay. The rainbow dissipated rapidly and yielded unremarkable shots.

Our reward came when this seal climbed on on the shore next to the road shoulder and barked. We got a chance to observe it for a while as it sunbathed and lolled underneath the newly sunny skies.

This image was made with a Canon xTi and a Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens.

Pelicans - October 11 2008-2067, originally uploaded by Pacific Landscapes.

When the fall high-pressure systems hit San Francisco Bay, the photo opportunities get rich. This image is part of a set taken during dawn feeding by a flock of pelicans cruising some light of-shore thermals caused by Treasure Island.

As the available fish swam determinedly to avoid being picked out of the water, brown pelicans lofted back and forth overhead, and diving for quick strikes. This loner had drifted away from the flock and found a retreating school of fish all on his own.

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Photos from our wilderness rafting trip down the Kongakut River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska. August 20-31, 2008.  Individual images will be posted for sale very soon.

If you’re not familiar with ANWR, this snippet from their website aptly describes this territory:

“Renowned for its wildlife, Arctic Refuge is inhabited by 45 species of land and marine mammals, ranging from the pygmy shrew to the bowhead whale. Best known are the polar, grizzly, and black bear; wolf, wolverine, Dall sheep, moose, muskox, and the animal that has come to symbolize the area’s wildness, the free-roaming caribou. Thirty-six species of fish occur in Arctic Refuge waters, and 180 species of birds have been observed on the refuge.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the refuge is that large-scale ecological and evolutionary processes continue here, free of human control or manipulation. A prominent reason for establishment of the Arctic Refuge was the fact that this single protected area encompasses an unbroken continuum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Here, one can traverse the boreal forest of the Porcupine River plateau, wander north up the rolling tiaga uplands, cross the rugged, glacier-capped Brooks Range, and follow any number of rivers across the tundra coastal plain to the lagoons, estuaries, and barrier islands of the Beaufort Seas coast, all without encountering an artifact of civilization.”

I’m pleased and honored to have had one of my 2008 images selected for the juried Emeryville Art Exhibition. This is the 22nd annual exhibit, which is open to artists who live or work in Emeryville. A wide variety of visual arts are on display including painting, sculpture, kinetic art and mixed media.

["Rodeo Beach IV" by Steve Lefkovits]

The opening reception is Friday October 3, 2008 at 6:00 PM. The venue is the BRE Properties office in Emeryville, at 5815 Shellmound St., convenient to the Powell Street Exit from 80.

The show will hang from Friday October 3 until October 26th. The exhibit space is open from 11AM - 6PM daily.

More information on the exhibit may be found online at http://emeryarts.org/ .

Thank you to Robert Taylor, Fine Art Critic for the Contra Costa Times for his coverage of the Albatross Pub show in his piece in the Sunday magazine. I’ll try to get a reprint I can post, or at least a permanent link to the story.

We are thrilled to have several images on display at the Albatross Pub, a long-time patron of the arts in Berkeley. www.albatrosspub.com. These abstract landcapes on canvas are new work, and very exciting. If you’re in the East Bay, and drive near University or San Pablo, please stop in one evening after 6PM and have a look at some of my newest work.

I was recently invited by Nathan Wong of the Sonoma Wong family to tour Carriger Creek where it flows along their property. The creek is beautiful - and part of a threatened eco-system. Fortunately, the entire Sonoma Creek Watershed is starting to get appropriate attention and energy from local, state and federal groups. Development has encroached, but it is still a magical place to explore.