Confessions of a Hobbyist

Alex

2011-12-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

Alex and I had planned to shoot some sunset shots on the beach. As luck would have it, the day was overcast and foggy, with very little visibility. So we decided to do something different...

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Athletics vs. Red Sox

2011-04-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

I went to see the Boston Red Sox play the Oakland A's at the Oakland Coliseum on April 20. The weather was cloudy with a chance of rain. And you're not supposed to take back-packs to the game either.

So most of my gear stayed home, and I just took my 40D with the 70-210mm f/4 lens - in a shopping bag.

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Official Web Site Created!!!

2011-04-05T02:08:00.000-07:00

I now have an official web site at my own domain.

I have started putting my portfolios there, and the photographs are available for sale.

As special appreciation for readers of my blog, I'm returning the favor by taking 30% off the top of all products. Just enter Coupon code: BL_VIS_111 during the checkout process.

The coupon applies to everything other than Shipping & Handling (it is out of my hands).

There are many interesting products available, from several print sizes to wall clings to statuettes to sweatshirts and items like magnets, coasters, mousepads and puzzles.

Since I'm still working on populating the photographs on the site, if you don't see something from my Flickr stream that you'd like (or for select photographs get the "resolution not high enough" error), just send me an email, and I'll be happy to take care of you.

Of course, don't forget that I'll be glad to capture your memories into photographs. Here's a link to my contact information.

Dissecting "I Still got the Blues..."

2011-03-11T02:07:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been taking a few pictures of my acoustic guitar. I decided to get something a bit dramatic, playing with some light and shadows.

Continue for details...
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My Yamaha Guitar

2011-02-21T01:33:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, I used to play the guitar. I've sort of given it up since I took up photography. Didn't make a conscious decision, but rather have just not made the time needed to keep practicing. Over time, the callused fingers heal, the finger-strength and speed diminish, and after a bit longer, the finger memory goes. Now you have to actually think about what notes to play next.

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What a mess!!

2011-02-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

Go Packers!!!

2011-02-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

The Green Bay Packers are in the Super Bowl. It has been several years since their last trip, and I am very optimistic for the win.

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Homeless in San Francisco

2011-01-25T04:13:00.000-08:00

The cold nights that we've recently had in the San Francisco area reminded me of this photograph I took a couple of years ago (December 2008).

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Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

A quick post to wish every one a Happy New Year. I spent New Year's Eve taking pictures of the San Francisco fireworks from Treasure Island. It is a great view, and overall it was a beautiful night (with some rain showers here and there).

Tried shooting a video of the finale, and it came out "decent". I had my camera set to Bulb mode for the still pictures, and that ends up shooting the video in Auto mode. I think the video's a bit over-exposed at times, but sharing it anyway :-)

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Full Lunar Eclipse (12/21/2010)

2010-12-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

A photo-shopped composite of 17 photographs...

Continue to see how this image came about...

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Phone Bouncer

2010-12-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

I call this self-portrait the "phone bouncer". The idea is that if someone picks up my phone, they have to go through this tough guy to get inside, and they better be on the guest list :-)

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Roger Waters - The Wall (live)

2010-12-05T01:15:00.000-08:00

Saw him at Oracle Arena in Oakland last night (12/3).

Great show. During the show, he built up the wall. Then the wall was used as a huge screen to project video onto. Of course, at the end the wall came down.

He was AWESOME!!!!

I recommend this show to everyone who's a Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan. Well worth the ticket price.

More pics/videos at: Flickr.

Egyptian Tapestry

2010-12-03T01:39:00.000-08:00

A simple photograph of a tapestry I got from Egypt last year.

The thing to notice is that the texture is perfectly shown, and you can tell exactly what kind of material it's made out of.

That was my goal - to reproduce it as closely as possible. The viewer should feel that they are looking at the actual object, or to put it another way... if they see the actual tapestry, they shouldn't be surprised at how it looks and displays.

Continue for the technical details ...

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Wise Man Statue

2010-11-23T00:15:00.000-08:00

This is a little trinket that I brought from the Serengeti (I never completed the "Places I've seen" series, but beyond Europe was Giza, Egypt and then a safari in Tanzania).

I really like the 3D look of this photograph.

Continue for the technical details ...

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Medieval Barbecue

2010-11-16T01:12:00.000-08:00

Out shopping, I came across a toy dragon. I thought it looked cool, so it went into the cart. As I continued shopping, I imagined it breathing fire at a small animal - I liked the cow, so got that as well.

As I imagined the final shot, I began building the scene around it - fire, ashes, bricky type building, etc.

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Oh, the places I've been ... (Part III)

2009-12-11T00:46:00.000-08:00

... and the things I've seen!!!

(Day 2 - Rome to Florence to Mestre (Venice). October 2, 2009)

After 2nd night in Rome, traveling begins again.

I had booked the night's stay in Venice. Turned out it's not really in Venice, it's about 10-20 minutes away in a place called Mestre.

I had tried booking train tickets from Rail Europe while I was still in the States. After figuring out all the schedules, and about to pull the trigger, I found out that you have to be in the States for at least 3 working days after you book the tickets. They FedEx the tickets to you.
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Oh, the places I've been ... (Part II)

2009-12-04T22:53:00.000-08:00

... and the things I've seen!!!

(Day 1 - Rome. October 1, 2009)

First real day of vacation. Woke up, got ready, went downstairs to get some breakfast. Breakfast was good, but one sip of the cappuccino, and suddenly I knew why Europeans are so ~~snobbish~~ ~~elitist~~ choosy about their coffee. It was unbelievably good.

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Oh, the places I've been ... (Part I)

2009-12-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

... and the things I've seen!!!

(Getting there)

I managed to make a trip of a lifetime happen, with literally zero notice.

I have always loved traveling, seeing new places, meeting new friends, and for lack of a better term, just gaining new experiences.

Changing jobs, I had about 3 free weeks till I started at my new job.

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Muir Woods National Monument

2009-09-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

Friday, I took a day off from work, and went to the Muir Woods park near Muir Beach, CA.

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Praying to the Sun God

2009-08-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

Saw yesterday that this was "explore"d on Flickr. Not very high, but made #306.

It had been a while since I took any "real" photos of my car. Decided to go and get some sunset shots. Took the long way to the beach through some twisties (our term for twisty mountain roads). Timed it so that I was at the beach at sunset. Took a few shots, and this was one of them.

I also bought a gorilla-pod that day, and played a bit with that on the way back.

Other photos that have been explored:

Passing Time in the Driveway

2009-08-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend in LA, I was waiting for other folks to get ready. Instead of watching TV, I decided to just see what I could photograph in the driveway.

Here's a few of the "good" shots. I like the first one quite a lot; the other ones I'm not too sure about.

Montara State Beach

2009-08-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, I went to Montara State Beach on California Highway 1, north of Half Moon Bay. Didn't have a lot of time, so ended up taking just a couple of photographs... one of the scene and a self-portrait.

I think this one came out pretty nicely.

I then took a self-portrait. You can see the flash in the photo - no time to set up stands, etc. I could have photo-shopped it out, but chose not to spend the time. Kind of gives it a "real" feeling to me.

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Santa Monica Beach

2009-08-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

I was in LA last weekend, and among other activities, managed to spend a few hours at Santa Monica Beach on Saturday afternoon. While enjoying the atmosphere, I started shooting characters that caught my eye for one reason or another.

I did the same technique that I first tried on Gay Pride 2009... which is to meter the light in a couple of directions, and save those settings in the Custom dial positions, and just switch between them as need.

Unfortunately, I had to leave around 6pm or so, so no sunset shots :-(

Two of my favorite shots.

Some more...

This one seems to be the most popular based on the number of views. Not quite sure why :-)

You can check out the rest on Flickr.

Photographing Laser Light

2009-07-12T01:35:00.000-07:00

My attempt at a technique taught by Dean Collins for photographing beams of light.

Light itself is invisible. Think of your car headlights. You don't see the light coming out of the headlights, but rather the areas where it hits.

To photograph it, you make the light beam visible by making it "hit" something in all the areas you want it to show up in your photograph. Pretty simple concept and pretty simple to do.

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Photographing Fireworks

2009-07-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Every year around the 4th of July and New Year's Day, there are several people asking for advice on how to photograph the upcoming fireworks. It seems that the questions are almost always the same, just new people asking them.

I'll share my technique and offer some tips. If you're a seasoned photographer, then most, if not all, will be redundant. Other people should hopefully find this useful.

In some ways, this article is late by a couple of days; being written on July 5th. Or you can see the glass as half-full, and realize that you now have many months to get ready :-)

Quick Guide

Preparation

Set your camera to ISO: 100, Aperture: f/11, Shutter Speed: Bulb
Turn off Long Exposure NR (on my camera, it doubles the time for an exposure - essentially forcing a break between photographs)
Put the camera on a tripod, with remote release cable attached
Set the zoom on your lens to cover the desired area
Set your lens to manual focus, and focus on infinity

The Photographs
The Fireworks
As the fireworks go off, anticipate the bursts and shoot away. Take as many photographs as you can. You may end up throwing away a bunch of them.

You can usually see the rocket go up before it explodes. Press the shutter as it's going up and keep it pressed till the sparks fall off.

The longer you keep the shutter pressed, the more fireworks you'll capture in that photograph.

Beyond that it's practice. Anticipating the bursts, capturing cool shapes, keeping the photos from being too busy, etc. comes from experience. The more you shoot, the better you'll get.

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