to my personal blog. Here I post examples of my photography and writing. I specialize in making unique and highly detailed photographs. Notice I said making and not taking. Yes I take photos but a lot of time and work is involved in pushing and punishing the pixels in my images to achieve the look I like.
Please feel free make comments about any of my words or photos. I enjoy constructive critiques, learning about locations to shoot or photography techniques. Click on the "Share Article" link to share any of my photos via Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Want to use one of my posts in your own blog? No problem, but please make sure it links back to the original post here and do the right thing and give me credit. Don't copy my words, crop the images, remove the watermarks or claim my work as your own. This has happened more times than I can count so I've had to report copyright violations to ISP's and regrettably the violators blog is usually taken down.
Can't we all just get along?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 6:11AM | in Aviation, California, Chino Planes of Fame Museum, HDR, Museum Two pristine P-51 Mustang fighters line up for their afternoon flight. An American design powered by a British engine, the P-51 was greatly feared by German pilots during World War 2. Kathy and I waited to see them take off and I have to say there is nothing in this world like the sound of the Merlin engine.
Monday, June 14, 2010 at 6:12AM | in California, Chinatown, HDR, San Francisco In the 1970’s, this was probably the most famous restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. They have a ton of signed photos of old celebrities, athletes, politicians and even a president on their walls. It was unique for a few reasons. One was that to enter, you had to walk through the kitchen which was so narrow that the line cooks and servers would have to press themselves against the stoves and woks to let you get by. Then to reach the second floor dining room, you had to climb a steel stairway which was so small that two people traveling in opposite directions would never be able to pass one another. The tables were small and the seats were wooden benches.
Back in the 70's the owner would openly solicit tips from the queue of people waiting for a table. If you tipped him well, you went to the front of the line. If you objected, he chased you away and told you to go to another restaurant. Once you were inside he often would tell you what to order as well. He was funny but could also be rude. I had the opportunity to eat here a couple of years ago and found out that the owner had passed away, and the food which was fantastic was now just mediocre. When I took this photo, I didn’t notice the little girl looking down at me from the dining room. Sam Wo’s, now a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to eat there.
Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 11:09PM | in Academy of Science, Creative, Golden Gate Park, HDR, Museum, San Francisco Ok so maybe my imagination was running wild, but when I reviewed at this HDR sequence it looked like my favorite T-Rex was stalking this blissfully unaware kid. Maybe it was wishful thinking because I remember that he was being such a little brat and his parents, like many modern parents were ignoring his bad behavior being too busy with their cell phones to give a crap. Uggh don’t get me started on modern parents. Anyway in my mind this kid was the appetizer, his aloof dad was the main course and his compulsively texting mom was dessert.
Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 11:54PM | in Academy of Science, California, Golden Gate Park, HDR, Museum, San Francisco, Travel Global warming simulator. I think Al Gore claimed he invented this place. Or was that the internet?
Friday, June 11, 2010 at 7:14AM | in California, Lensbaby, Macro, Muir Woods, Travel As Kathy and I were walking through Muir Woods, we saw that at some point a large tree had fallen completely across the trail. Park rangers must have used a chain saw to cut away just that part that was blocking the path, leaving the rest of the tree to lie where it fell. A close look at one of the sections revealed that a tiny plant that was actually growing from the bark of the tree. I took this shot with my Lensbaby Composer with a macro ring attached. The plant itself was no larger that an inch across. It’s amazing how life can hang on given a little moisture and some soil.
Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 7:26AM | in California, HDR, Pasadena Pasadena's City Hall is a beautiful place and I am lucky enough to be able to visit once in a while. If I see that the sunset is particularly pretty, I often walk over and make a few images.
This is a pretty nice 1932 Ford Coupe. No idea if it's real or a recreation. Doesn't matter much to me. I just thought it was cool.
Post a Comment | tagged California, Car, Car Show, Creative, HDR, Santa Ana | Share Article Permalink Email Article Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 8:47AM | in Greg, Travel, Washington DC, White House Right after Manny and I dropped our suitcases off at our hotel in Washington DC, I asked him where he wanted to go first. He answered "Ford's Theater". Knowing that he had recently been studying Abraham Lincoln in school, I asked if he wanted to go to the White House first and walk the route that President Lincoln took to the theater on the night he was assassinated and he agreed.
Once we got to the White House we took some photos and video as well as checking out the secret service agents on the roof who were keeping a close eye on us tourists. I remember Manny saying "Wow, I can't believe I'm standing here!" I could definitely relate to he how felt, as I often feel the same way when walking around our nation’s capital.
We then decided to walk across Pennsylvania Avenue and explore Lafayette Square. While there, we were asked several times by other tourists to take photos of them with the White House as a background. I think they were fooled into thinking we knew how to use a camera based on the DSLR's we were carrying. We asked one these folks to return the favor and this is the shot they took. I think it turned out pretty nice. I like how you can see the Washington Monument rising behind the executive mansion.
Monday, June 7, 2010 at 6:03AM | in HDR, Travel, Union Station, Washington DC Manny and I had been told by security that we couldn't use our tripods on the floor of Union Station, so we climbed up some stairs to an elevated open air resturant. I asked the seating hostess if we could use our tripod during our lunch and she said "sure no problem". This is one of the shots we took. Union Station is a beautiful place.
Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 7:49PM | in California, HDR, Pasadena I had been working really late night after night and found myself once again sitting in front of my computer at work, feeling really sleepy. I thought that maybe a walk around old town Pasadena might wake me up so I headed out camera in hand. I decided to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and upon walking out, I saw four students from the Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts College walking side-by-side. I couldn't resist taking this shot. I walked back to work in the fading light.
