Life Thru Lenses

View from a Pedal Boat part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:43:00 +0000

I've never taken this many turtles pics ever.

I really like this shot

The bird is extra blue b/c I forgot to reset my white balance. Anyways, I pointed the camera up to take this shot. Next thing I know...

It laid a juicy one right smack in the middle of us!! Thank goodness not on the lens. Or us.

Stow Lake
Golden Gate Park
September 2009

View from a Pedal Boat part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Stow Lake
Golden Gate Park
September 2009

Got great views while in a pedal boat. The 70-200 helps as well.

DC Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:45:00 +0000

At the National Archives

Don't remember where this was taken but there's random fountains/memorials everywhere.

Best crabcake sandwich ever at Matchbox

@ Matchbox

Air and Space Museum. A tad disappointing.

Granville Moores

Tried moule frites since Bobby Flay did a Throwdown there. It was pretty good. Expensive for what it was so now we do our own version at home whenever mussels are on sale.

Washington DC, Day 2
May 2009

Man I'm still thinking about that crab cake sandwich.

Before and After, or We Need a Macro Lens

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Before

After

Hmm a bit over exposed

The 70-200 was good for this shot, the bkgd is totally blow out!

His parents' pear tree

I love the light bouncing off to the side!

Need to improve on the placement of the ring for this kind of shot, but the color of this flower was so intense that I had to use it.

love this too, but too bad its white on white. ooh can't wait to try this shot on a purple orchid!

Any suggestions for places to do a ring photoshoot? Flowers are easy, I should be more creative and think outside the box.

All pictures by Jer
Taken at Liberty Diamonds in Irvine, Venice Canals in Venice, and his parents' backyard in Union City
July 2009

Lance and Maggie's Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:20:00 +0000

At Cal Tech (for alumni only)

The happy couple!

My second favorite photo

I took this with one hand, with the 17-55!! Surprised that the pic stayed somewhat sharp

My favorite of the night- love the mini bokeh

Lance and Maggie's Wedding
Cal Tech
June 2009

Bringing SGV to the South Bay

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:03:00 +0000

Made new batches of wontons from scratch since we can't just drive to Sam Woo for $4.00 wonton soup on a whim

Made green tea with boba since we are too lazy to drive to Gardena (not bad for the first try!- needs more sugar). This boba only took 5 min to cook, impressive!

Decided to try a bunch of different wrappers to see which were the best.

This picture by the way does not correspond to the above since we were so hungry I didn't remember to line it up correctly. In this case, starting at the NW corner, it is the "Quon Yick" brand, NE is "Chuan Wei" or "Wei Chuan" (don't remember), SE is Twin Dragon, and SW is "Hong Kong Wonton". So basically NW and SE got mixed up.

The winner? Hong Kong Wonton was the hardest to wrap (it kept breaking/ripping) but was the tasiest. The easiest to wrap was the Twin Dragon brand. Twin Dragon and the CW or WC brand tied for 2nd/3rd for taste, and we definitely didn't like the Quan Yick brand- too doughy. It was also the yellowest of the bunch. However it was quite easy to wrap, though it seemed to have the most flour when packaged. Looks like Twin Dragon wins for general taste/ease!

This all of a sudden feels like an episode of America's Test Kitchen.

Dinner/Drink
At Home
June 2009

Oh, and the quote of the day comes from Jer: "You can't put food in front of a dog and expect it to just sit there while you take pictures!"

DC Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Dulles

Not your LA subway

Pseudo Chinatown

That is not a fortune!

Weird, all these stores near Chinatown had chinese words...

Do you see the helicopter?

Maybe Obama's in it!

And there it goes

Washington DC, Day 1
May 2009

We stayed a few blocks from the White House, and the only time we went was our first night! We didn't even get to go during the day. Oh well. Jerry's highlight of the night was taking all those helicopter pictures. More photos to come!

Fish Canyon Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:39:00 +0000

Hmm I think this came out a bit blurry

I didn't really follow the rule of thirds, but I still like how this picture came out

Haha, look at her facial expression and body language

Fish Canyon Falls
Duarte, CA (or is it Azusa, I dunno)
April 2009

Fun hike for all ages! It was my 3rd time going in 2 years. I'll be back again next year.

Hollywood Heights

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:48:00 +0000

The elevator for residents only

What a view!

Hidden Staircases
Hollywood Heights
May 2009

Thanks to LA-ist, we found a fun diversion literally next door to the Hollywood Bowl. The area is called Hollywood Heights, and there are all these random staircases that make for a nice walk. Now I can't wait to go on the Beachwood Canyon stairs. I'm looking forward to exploring more areas!

Fish Canyon Falls preview

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Family Hiking
Fish Canyon Falls
April 2009

Here's a quick pic...more to come!

Random Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:07:00 +0000

A little out of focus, but I still like it.

I love kids in bangs!

Cousins for the nth time
SGV
April 2009

Bobby Flay Colors and Flavors, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Cooking with Rachel (class project)
At home
October 2008

I thought I'd change it up a little and show some non-animate pictures. My subjects are usually of living beings, and with food being such a big part of my lifestyle, I should really showcase the ingredients that I use more. Here's some edibles from a class project that Rachel and I collaborated on. I'll have part 2 another time! And if you watch as much Bobby Flay as Jer and I do, then you'll know what I mean by the title of this post! :)

At the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:23:00 +0000

A little out of focus, but I still like it.

Trying out a diff angle

We are getting way too big for the tube slide

Hehe.

At the park
Sunnyvale
March 2009

It's always a bit tiring to take out his nephews to the park, but it's worth it, and I usually get some good shots, like last year. I have some great T-ball shots coming up later!

Thai New Year Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:31:00 +0000

Thai New Year Festival
Thai Town (Hollywood)
April 2009

Eh, I'm disappointed in my pictures. Most of them came out overexposed or underexposed, or just plain lousy framing wise. It wasn't a great day to take pics- it was hot and crowded and random limbs kept getting in my shots. Plus it was too sunny, I forgot my lens hood, and I stopped caring about setting my exposure correctly since I couldn't see my pics after I took them. The above pics came out okay. We went when the festival was winding down in terms of performances so I didn't really get any action shots. The food vendors were going strong, but I was more focused on making my way through the crowd than I was taking pictures of it. But hey, the recyclemobile is cool. :)

Doggie

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Random doggie
In front of Sushi Mac
April 2009

The owners were waiting for their take out. The doggy was nice to me until I pointed the camera at it...then it looked weirded out, and started barking at me haha.

Bubbles

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Bubbles
Sunnyvale
March 2009

Bubbles are so much fun! I like all the pics- each bubble is so unique! If you look closely, you can see my FSIL standing on the street. Too bad my frames didn't catch the boys and Jer riding their bikes. That would have been pretty neat. But overall, I'm pretty happy with how these shots came out.

Nutcracker Ballet

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:57:00 +0000

I love this pic the most! I need to tone down the vignetting though.

Okay just to give you all an idea- we sat in the last row in the last 4 seats on stage left. You couldn't sit any further than we did (unless you were in the last row in the last 4 seats on stage right, then we'd be equally far :P ). So we busted out the 180mm. I wanted to take more pics but our shutter is so loud and annoying that we had to wait for ppl to clap when taking pictures so we wouldn't be too bothersome! I <3 this lens though- I think I did pretty good considering the lighting conditions and seating arrangements! (The ballet was boring though)

Nutcracker Ballet
Wadsworth Theater
December 2008

Pasadena Artwalk

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:20:00 +0000

Pasadena City Hall

Some free band

If I had a tripod this picture would be better

Jenta

Inside the Norton

Trying out something new

I really like this frame. I wonder if they cut the picture to fit in the frame, or if the picture was already like that. Or if both were originals. I should have read that caption on the bottom right corner but I was standing too far away and didn't feel like going closer.

Random couple. We liked her tights.

Pasadena Artwalk
City Hall and Norton Simon Museum
March 2009

I want to be better at low-light photography. I also wish I had more to walk around and take pictures. We only made it to one stop on the Artwalk too! Well, there's always next time. I definitely will be back. Thanks for being my date, Jen!

Academy of Sciences

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:05:00 +0000

The members-only line. At like 8:30am!

The regular ppl line, literally about 30 minute after we got there. We were 10th in line? Being early 30 min saves you over an hour later!

When you walk in. I love the natural light!

We had a game plan (based on reading dozens of reviews on yelp)

A bit overexposed. Oh well. Brings out the bright colors more!

I really like this picture.

The line for the rainforest. We were not 10th in line anymore.

I just like this picture for no reason.

Rainforest roof

I used the 17-55 on this but could have totally used the 180mm. We left it in the car, boo!

I have a thing for butterflies.

The planetarium. This looks like an opening credit scene for a Gene Roddenberry show.

The line at 2pm! (We went back to get our lens)

Which I used to take pics in the aquarium b/c we were sitting so far back.

Fun job?

I had to wait forever for ppl to stop walking by so this pic would turn out clean.

Colorful! I should have cropped the top. Oh well.

I used the 180 for this too. Caught the penguin surprising the other penguin with a kiss! (hence the blurriness)

I like this perspective. Must take more pics from above!

Academy of Sciences
San Francisco
December 2008

Way back in Dec, we decided to visit the Academy of Sciences. Bad idea, it was so packed! Duh, the kids were on winter break. We also inadvertently had chosen a day that members got to go in an hour early. But with helpful advice from yelp and friends, we had a game plan: 1. arrive at least an hour before opening, 2. run upstairs and get passes to the planetarium immediately, 3. then run somewhere else to get the bug show passes immediately, 4. stand in line for the rainforest, 5. go see everything else in btwn the assigned times on the planetarium/bug show passes. We had heard that planetarium passes sell out for the day by 10am, so as soon as we got in that door at 9:30, we made a beeline for them. I don't think we're going back to this museum for a really, really, really long time. So it's a good thing we saw almost everything in the whole place!

It was a really fun day, we got to take some interesting pictures, and I learned a thing or thing about the environment that I already didn't know from Al Gore. However, we also both got sick the next day. Germy kids + hands-on exhibits + standing shoulder-to-stroller-to-shoulder + alternating btwn being cold (standing in line) and hot (exploring the rainforest) = the nastiest flus/colds ever. But don't let that stop you from visiting someday. :) Btw, they should ban strollers from all museums (including the LB Aquarium)! Who's with me on this??

Queen Mary

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:54:00 +0000

On the free shuttle! I actually cropped this.

I tried to make the a regular shadow pic different by incorporating the various layers into the shot

It looks like something's coming out of Jer's head haha

Oh geez, it took me like a dozen tries to get the exposure right for this shot. Though I'm more comfortable shooting in manual, I still don't remember all the right combinations of settings for each lighting situation...so each time I fiddle around with my metering, fstops and iso, I always have to check my picture and re-adjust. If I was ever a professional photographer, I can't waste time like that- esp if it was a sporting event. Once the moment is gone, it's gone! But yeah for this picture I was trying to expose the dark part correctly by showing some detail around the window opening, but I didn't want to overexpose the rest of the pic. I guess this works.

Jer was quite fascinated by the mechanics of Queen Mary. I thought it was cool to see history preserved!

I'm used to being behind the camera, not in front! Wow, I need better posture. I look pregnant.

I love, love the lines and curves in this pic. The flags make the top part of the pic not boring.

Jer says this is my best shot of the day. Eh, I like the flag/lines pic better. I'm not that confident of my low-light shooting abilities, but I should practice more. I've always favored outdoor light conditions and not so much low and indoor lighting situations. But if I ever want to improve, I gotta challenge myself more.

The propeller under the boat. It was so surreal in person!

Queen Mary
Photoist: Me and Jer
March 2009

The Queen Mary is free for So-Cal residents until the 15th I think. I don't think it's really worth the $25 admission price PER person, esp since you gotta pay $7 to park, so if you get a chance to go when it's free, definitely take advantage! There's plenty of photo opps. Wear hiking shoes or good walking shoes though, there's lots of nooks and crannies to explore.

SF 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:37:00 +0000

Thought I'd try something new, here's some pics from our venture out in the city last year. You can see the pics here as well.

Dang, the quality kinda sucks, haha. Well that's FREE for you. :)

Firecracker Run

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:44:00 +0000

Cornfields

When was the last time you used a payphone?

Stuck my lens through a hole in the fence for this shot

Props to the old lady for finishing her 5k!!

Jer just finished

Firecracker 5k/10k
Chinatown
February 2009

I had a great time shooting this event. I really need to get out more often. The community offers much richness to be captured.

Christmas 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:15:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:10:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jeannie) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:46:00 +0000

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!