Inside a shop in Chinatown (San Francisco).
I love the flattened sense of depth in this image. Is that a contradiction? The large blurry lantern in the foreground leading to the sharp items in the background add depth as the view looks through the store. At the same time there are so many objects with similar colors and lighting that they just blend into each other, resulting a flattened jumble of colors and shapes.
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As a surprise I was taken to go blueberry picking out in the countryside. I picked several handfuls but very quickly became distracted by taking photos of the berries instead. I started by taking the standard photos of berries on the bush, in various clusters and of various colors, but found that capturing the intense colors, contrast, and shadows to be far more interesting.
To capture the image on the left, I held the bucket up directly in front of the sun, tipped the bucket toward me so the berries would pile up, and took the photo with the camera in my other hand. Holding the bucket high and shooting upward made it easy to ensure that only the pure blue sky was in the background. In addition, the simple blues and reds help emphasize the silhouette of the berries.
The image on the right was captured with the bucket on the ground. I placed the bucket so that the blueberry bush cast its shadow while still allowing direct sunlight to hit the bucket and to cast the red light over the berries.
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If you want to go fruit and berry picking (and live in the Puget Sound area), see the harvest schedule to know what's in season at http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/fruits_nuts_berries_harvests.htm
An idyllic moment on a hot summer day in New York City. I like how the tree, the bicycle, and the man on the right frame the image while also giving a great sense of depth when compared with the buildings and cars in the distance.
The Grand Coulee dam is the biggest dam (and concrete structure) in the United States, but I bet that when people think of big dams, the Hoover dam comes to mind. The rivalry between the dams was made clear by our tour guide who was born and raised in the city of Grand Coulee. During the tour she kept throwing out impressive facts emphasizing how much more powerful and bigger the Grand Coulee dam was over the Hoover dam ("the Hoover dam could fit in the Grand Coulee and still have four hundred feet to spare.") Her angle made the tour both informational (intentional) and amusing (unintentionally).
The Hoover dam is in a very scenic location and has amazing art deco architecture and statues, but I think the Grand Coulee dam still comes out ahead. Sure, the Grand Coulee dam has some impressive stats, but feeling and hearing the massive structure shake like a rocket ship (from the water flowing through the turbines) gives a concrete sense of the enormous power of the dam (if you'll pardon the pun).
Looking up the dam funicular, which rides on top of a massive octagonal concrete water tube that feeds the turbines.
One single shot capturing the myriad angles and spacing of the textured concrete walls.
Detail of the buffalo on the dedication plaque of the dam.
The image above only shows about half of the width of the entire dam. If you look closely, you can see the funicular and concrete landings from the other photos. Bonus: the dam architecture looks like a level from Quake II (particularly the massive octagonal concrete tubes curving around the rough rock underneath).
Color is everywhere, even around something as drab as the massive concrete Bonneville Dam. The images below show part of the turbine with the red floor below, the fish ladder and green algae within, and the striking power tower above and against the rich blue sky.
I almost always take two cameras with me if I'm planning on taking photos -- a Digital Rebel XT SLR with a 24-105 f/4 zoom and 50mm f/1.4 prime lens, and a little (but full-featured) Powershot S70 point-and shoot-camera. The SLR allows for better quality photos, but I find that I get the best macro shots with the little S70, as you can see below.
I carry two cameras because I never know where I may end up, especially when out for the day or on a trip.
I was walking along the beach and found this great rusty seawall mottled with rust and seaweed. I love the rich rusty reds against the pure blue sky. It's all about using natural light and knowing your camera. I found that the sky looks washed out, almost white, when using the automatic settings. Setting the exposure manually for slightly longer produced the deep blue sky.
These were taken at Alki, just around the point from the main beach.
The blurry shadows help make my sharp silhouette really pop. They also contribute a sense of depth even though all the shadows are flat against the same wall.
I love photography. Maybe it comes from the habits of my parents. Maybe it's because I love being able to compose shots in-camera, and it's a great alternative to my lack of drawing and musical abilities. Maybe it's just fun to press the shutter release. Really it's about taking a subject and finding a fun, unusual, or just beautiful way of portraying it. I still have a lot to learn.
I realize that most of you don’t know the people in the wedding (nor did I except for the bride and groom) but the point is to enjoy the compositions, expressions, and key moments.
I've managed to acquire both an iPod Shuffle (the original style) as well as an iPod Touch. As attractive and fun as the iPod Touch is, for listening to music the iPod Shuffle wins for me hands down. Why?
It's all about touch.
With the iPod Touch changing tracks, changing the volume, fast forwarding, or pausing the tracks require me to swipe my finger across the display and then figure out where on the screen I should tap or touch.
With the iPod Shuffle, I can control it blindfolded. I need to make it louder? No problem, just feel for the round ring and press up. Pause the track? Just find the big round button and press. The tactile feedback is wonderful (and the way it feels when pressed is very intentional, I'm sure). Even better, I can control the iPod through gloves or clothes, whereas the iPod touch I would need to hold it and have the skin make contact with the screen.
This reminds me of some fascinating research done by Patrick Baudisch on audio-based user interfaces, where sound cues are used to let the user know what is happening. The video below demonstrates the work:
See http://research.microsoft.com/users/baudisch/projects/earpod for the writeup.
I love this kind of word play:
"Pricey Popcorn Prevents Premium on Picture Show"
[Santa Cruz Sentinel - http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8345238]
The San Francisco Chronicle has been doing fun headline puns for years on their website. Recently it went through a major redesign. I wrote to the Chronicle and asked if they were going to continue writing puns. Sure enough, they wrote back, with a pun!Thanks for the nice comments. Check one.
A. SFGate will go all serious in its headlines.
B. We'll never have any fun again.
C. Pun of the above.
(I'd bet on C)
-- News director, SFGate
