Christmas 2008

Family Christmas
The twins' house
December 2008

I took 462 pics yesterday and narrowed it down to 60 after post processing. 35 pics made it to our picasa album (so I can share it with my family), and only 7 made it onto this blog. Out of the 7, I really only liked the first one and the last one. I love the lighting and colors in the first one, and the composition for the last shot. The technical quality of the last picture could be better though. Enjoy the pictures in between. I shot entirely in manual yesterday, I'm really proud of myself! (Yes, I know it's about time.)

Happy holidays!

Samy's Camera Olympics Night

Robert Beck, Robert Hanashiro, Rod Mar, and John McDonough

Us with Rod Mar- his blog is awesome. He used to do sports for the Seattle Times but recently accepted a buy out and is now freelancing.

Random chair

Pacific Design Center from across the street.

Samy's Camera Olympics Night
Pacific Design Center
November 2008

A really fun event. Nikon sponsored it so we were able to play around with diff camera models and lenses. I enjoyed meeting really talented photographers as well as listening to their "behind the scenes" stories of the experiences they had while photographing the Olympics. I wish I was lucky and talented enough to photograph the Olympics! Side note: PDC is a very interesting venue!

Death Valley

A different perspective on the way to Father Crowley's Point.

Marble Canyon

Marble Canyon- looks like a heart haha.

Sand dunes

Sunlight hitting the dunes

More pics of dunes

Jer on the dunes

Zabrieskie Pt

Salt pools (yes Death Valley has some water!)

I like the lines of this pic (Badwater Basin)

Salt formations at Devil's Golf Course

One of the salt crystals

Starry starry sky- 30 sec exposure

Jer taught me a cool trick- you can use a flashlight to shine some light on your object if there's no other source of light. However, the above pic is when you do it for 3 seconds.

This was for 2 seconds and it came out really nice! Again, a 30 sec exposure. The rest of our campsite has to be really dark though for it to work.

Borax wagon.

Yet another diff image of Death Valley.

All pics taken at Death Valley by me or Jer in Nov 2008. This place was a photographer's dream. Next time we go back, I want to bring a wide angle lens!

WIP- Images from the new lens

Okay Ben, I realized this lens does more than produce cool bokeh. :)


It had just come in the mail that afternoon so we walked outside and took some random pics.

Bar lighting usually sucks. No that's not Asian glow! We were sitting under some red light.

I'm so surprised that these flowers came out really clear. I think b/c the guy was standing under a white light.

That lady is Sarah Jones, a Tony award winner. She did this amazing show for us. This pic was taken w/o flash and again I can't believe how clear it came out. Hand-held too! I <3 the new lens!

This is a crappy pic but I wanted to show how amazing this lens is in low light. It was pitch black in La Jolla and my friend insisted that she saw seals. None of us could really see anything, but we could make out some movements though. I decided to take a picture (w/o flash of course) to see if there were really seals. And yep there are! My friend has GOOD eyesight, haha. Mine are so lousy, I want Lasik someday!

I wasn't really happy with the quality of this photo b/c the lighting is ugly. But omg what a cute cupcake!!!
With the exception of the first two pics, the rest were all taken in SD. None of these pics are the quality that I'd like them to be, nor did I compose the pics all that correctly, but I decided to post them b/c I'm still learning how to use the lens. So, works in progress. :)

New Toy

We just got a new toy! The Nikon 50mm f/1.4 D. We're going bokeh crazy. Pics to come. Ooh I can't wait until all the xmas lights come out, the bokeh possibilities!

Ferris Wheel

While waiting in line

On our way up, up, and away!

Looking down...Pacific Park is so colorful!

I love this pic except for the dumb bar in the way. Damn safety measures to make sure we don't fall off the gondola. :P

Man if we had a wide angle I could have gotten the whole thing! Well, good enough. I still <3 our prime lens. All this pics came out really well considering they were hand held.

All pics taken at Pacific Park
Santa Monica
October 2008

A Night in SM

Enjoy!

Jer really liked this pic for some reason. I think it's kinda boring- I actually deleted it orignally but he insisted I keep it. I'm still working on how to make boring pics seem composed and interesting. What do I need to do to get on the right track!? Or am I just overly critical of myself??

Man, I'm a little annoyed this pic was a bit off center. Also, they were walking too fast so I wasn't able to take the pic until they were over the hump. I think I would have preferred them a bit higher up the bridge.

I really like this pic except I wish I had a tripod and it would have been better quality. But I love the muted colors.

Joint bday dinner at Buca. Fun times, tasty food. I hate taking pics in dark restaurants b/c I gotta play with the white balance (or I just hand it to Jer and I say, FIX IT PLEASE!!) and still all my pics come out with a red/yellow tint which I gotta fix later. Must learn how to remedy this directly on the camera!

random

random again

Jer took this pic. Nice capture of the moment!

All taken around SM and SM Pier
October 2008

Which ones did you like the most? I'm partial to the 3rd one from the top. Too bad it's a bit off center.

If You're in LA Nov 6:

Samys and Nikon are hosting an "Olympics Photo Night"!

We're already registered (as students of course!) and set to go.

I love going to photography events! :)

Manhattan Beach AVP

Jer took this pic, great timing


These dudes were OLD, they played on the tour in the late 80s


Closer pic showing how aged they are!


He is married to


her...


My favorite shot! Too bad the "n: on "Wilson" didn't show up. Oh well!

The rest are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/photoists/ManhattanBeachAVP#

Manhattan Beach AVP
MB
September 2008