Down the I-5S

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A couple months ago, B and I roadtripped from SF to LA (we had some business in Silicon Valley again). The I-5 is such a boring route, especially when you do it often. Fortunately, I frequently get to be the passenger and am able to take photographs along the way. :) I don't recall what the white sticks were (probably for crops). The clouds were definitely an added bonus to what would normally be a boring mid-day shot.

Anyway, I'm trying to sync up G+ to my blog and will probably be sporadically posting over the next couple days here on my blog. Please pardon the interruptions.

Seagull & Tugboat

Here's a shot from when I was in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago. The seagulls on the pier are so not afraid of humans that this one let me fire off a dozen shots before being annoyed with me and flying off. I had enough time to wait for the tugboat to get in position. ;)

Crepuscular Rays

This was originally shot in Tagaytay, Philippines and was actually a very dark, silhouette-y picture. I used the fill slider to recover the mountainside at which point I discovered there was a little flare toward the bottom. However, I like this image because the heavens appear to be opening up. I almost expect horse-drawn chariots to come flying out of the sun toward the earth. haha. :)

Rural Malibu

I shot this off Mulholland when I was coming back from Santa Barbara a few weeks back. I have a major case  of flare here but I don't care. I just can't believe something like this can exist in Los Angeles, too.

I've finished posting my photowalk pictures from last Saturday for now. Maybe I'll use the rest in the future. Now I've got to start clearing through my backlog of pictures or start shooting new stuff. It's the first day of summer (vacations), though, which means I now have a new element to battle: tourists. lol ;)

Apples and Pears, Oh My!

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B and I did a food pitstop at the Grand Central Public Market to pick up a massive horchata and burrito during the photowalk last Saturday. Everyone else ate at a Famima (ick!) up on the hill. The vendors were putting away their products, so I only had a moment to snap this. What's hilarious was that I didn't realize I had put the focus on an object that was dead center. lol. It's fine. I like the colors so I'm posting it. :P

Security Camera

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Translated conversation I had earlier today in Tagalog.

Me: So, I have a spare camera strap now. Do you want it? I know yours is older and more worn out.
K: Why do you have a "spare" camera strap now?
Me: Oh, I got a new one at a photowalk I went on on Saturday. B won it for me.
K: Cool. What does it look like?
Me: It's pretty! It has a floral design.
K: LOL. Really?
Me: Seriously! Here, let me link you: http://www.blackrapid.com/product/camera-strap/rs-w1/
K: It's a BlackRapid ?!!?!?!!?!?!
Me: Yeah? You know it?
K: I'm so jealous!!! I've been wanting one since 2010!!! They're like 4,000 pesos here!!!
Me: Um. So, you don't want my old one?
K: I want your NEW one!!!!!
Me: *Facepalm*

DTLA Skaters

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I snapped this during the photowalk on Saturday. We happened to come across a group of skaters doing their thing on the deserted streets of LA. I loved the leading lines, but I didn't wait for that "moment" when the skater would have been aligned with the foot of the stairs. Oh, well. Next time.

I also don't normally shoot those who go on the photowalks with me; so, this photo will be an exception.:)

I'm playing around with my processing technique (yet again), so please bear with me on this one. :)

A Tree

I spotted this tree during the photowalk on Saturday and thought it was odd to find greenery midst the concrete that is DTLA. I want to say something about the sun too, but it's 2AM, I just got back from a friend's birthday party, and I'm wiped out. I'll spare you my attempt at poetry for now. G'night!

LA (Downtown): Walt Disney Concert Hall (part 4)

Here's an abstract of the Walt Disney Concert Hall again. It was part of the G+ photowalk I went on yesterday.

On a side note, during the photowalk, I received a new BlackRapid camera strap . It's incredibly novel to me as it allows me to wear my camera on my side (not awkwardly, as I've been doing in the past, but on purpose!). I really, really like it. It's only slightly annoying when I need to mount my camera on my tripod because I have to unscrew the strap from the bottom my camera. But, other than that, it's seems fantastic. I just have to remember which shoulder to put it on for now. :)

LA (Downtown): G+ Photowalk

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Wow! Things have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to catch my breath. I didn't even realize I haven't posted in a couple days again. Yesterday, we did a marathon of a photowalk (I think ~5+ hours?) when I had only anticipated staying for a few hours (meetings and other plans were getting cancelled as the day wore on, haha). But B and I were having a good time meeting G+ photographers and decided to stick it through to the almost end (didn't quite make it out to Philippe's :( ). I'll be posting more images throughout the week when I get the chance to finally sit down. But, for now, I gotta run...

LA (Venice): The Boardwalk

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I originally wasn't going to post this (in fact I've been sitting on it for a couple weeks), but I'm absolutely wiped out after having worked on another project for the past 3-4 days straight that I can't tell if this should go in the "post it" or "reject" pile. Rain or shine, I'm hoping to get out and shoot something this weekend. I need to get outside for sure.

Anyway, I shot this (above) when I did the Venice Artwalk Photowalk. I'm not sure why the photograph turned out drawing-like after I processed it, but I like the cartoon-y feel, considering that the boardwalk does seem to have a delightful cast of characters. I have had the flyer that they handed out sitting on my desk to remind me to go, and I figured other locals could use a reminder for this weekend. Maybe I'll see you there!

Malibu Sunset

I never thought I would be so glad to edit a picture. After spending today and yesterday creating and editing a video, I decided to post here -- and boy does it feel good. Everything's so much easier with photographs: I just have to deal with ONE frame. In pariticular, I actually salvaged this image because the original is so dark that I didn't even know the rocky side had texture (yay for the fill slider!). Now, I just need to bang out one more video (probably by Friday) and I'm free to go photographing again!

Travel: San Diego - Imperial Beach

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Oh, man. When it rains, it pours. I am sifting through a ton of backlogged photos and videos and I'm not sure when/if I'll be able to get through it all without taking a break from everything. Here's a shot near and dear to my heart (but not the greatest shot ever). I've been to beaches from the French Riviera to Hawaii and, for some reason, I adore this beach. I don't know why it looks instagrammed though, but I assure you I did this entirely by ACR. Geez -- now that I look at it again, it even looks crooked (but I think I double checked it to see if it was level!).

Anyway, here's to editing both pictures and video...because that'll certainly be my life for the next 2 days straight.

Travel: San Francisco - Palace of Fine Arts

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I just got back from a quick trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley. I had actually intended to take another picture in SF but the weather was seriously not cooperating that day ("super duper dense fog" would be a massive understatement). But I did get this on the way to that failed shot.

Also, I'm testing out a new processing technique. I didn't have a whole lot of time to check reactions to this shot, so I'm curious as to how G+ will react. Yay for publishing untested materials!

LA (Downtown): Walt Disney Concert Hall (part 3)

I just wanted to let everyone know that my postings will not be daily for the next week (or so). I'll try to post whenever I can but my schedule is going to be very erratic due to travel and whatnot. In the meantime here's a shot of the Walt Disney Concert Hall that I took during my lighting class a few years ago.

Finding My Way

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I think this picture describes how I feel at them moment. I'm on a journey but all I can see clearly is a tiny portion of what's in front of me. I know I want to take my photos to another level, but the question now becomes how. I know I'll have to begin refining my "vision" of how I see the world. Earlier, I was flipping through past pictures and wondering how I had the gall to ever post some of them (they're so bad!). But I now know that when I was creating my photographs before, all I cared about was rules and lacked overall cohesion. I'll think about this some more...

LA (Venice): Long Walks on the Beach

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I shot this from very far away; we never actually reached the water while at the beach. That's the story of my life: live relatively close to the beach, but rarely go.

Anyway, I think this'll be the last of my Venice photowalk photos because the others are testing poorly. Well, they're not horribly bad, just mediocre bad. One thing I've learned from having an audience that gives immediate feedback (especially on G+) is that I don't want to post too much work that is just blah.

One last thing: it was especially nice today when one follower made me realize the impact my photos (could) have on people who view my work. His eloquent interpretations of what my photos meant actually made me question the purpose of everything I was doing with this blog and my G+ page. When I started all this, I just wanted to make photos that somewhat adhered to what I've learned in my photography classes about composition, lighting, storytelling, etc. I never really thought about the effect they could have on others (e.g., make someone smile, show someone something they've never seen before, change their life). I now feel like I have an obligation to produce work that actually means something (whether it be for me or for others). I want to make photos that matter.

I have a feeling things are going to change around here. :)

LA (Venice): Skatepark

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Here's another from the Venice photowalk. I was shooting straight into the sun quite a few times, so I ended up with a few nice silhouettes. I liked the curving lines leading up to the skateboarder. It was actually quite a busy day at the skate park (it was a friday afternoon), so I was pretty happy to create an image giving a sense of solitude or contemplation (or both!). :)

LA (Venice): Street Art

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How to photograph a massive mural and still convey that you're in Venice, California? Add a palm tree, of course. lol. Oh, man. I'm not sure if this image works. Definitely not my usual style. We saw graffiti and street art in several places during the Venice photowalk, so it made sense to have to try to capture it somehow. I just couldn't figure out how (other than shooting it dead on).

LA (Venice): Sunset on Venice Beach

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So, today, I participated in the G+ Venice Artwalk Photowalk. I, unfortunately, had to leave right after sundown, just when things were beginning to liven up on Abbot Kinney. I haven't decided if this shot will be the first in a series that I took while in Venice, CA, but I am not worried because I'm planning on returning for the main event during May 19 and 20.

From what I understood (in between taking shots of quirky Venice), the Venice Art Walk and & Auctions (occurring in a couple weekends from now) will benefit the Venice Family Clinic. There will be architectural tours, studio tours, music, food and more! For more info, please go to http://theveniceartwalk.org and please help this amazing cause. :)

Travel: San Diego - Botanical Garden

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So here's an orchid(?). Sorry, I'm not a big flower person (other than a recipient of roses :) ). It was inside the Botanical Garden at the Balboa Park. I decided that this will indeed be the last of my San Diego photowalk shots simply because the others didn't test as well. :(

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LA (Downtown): 110 Freeway

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I photographed this Tuesday night. It's just a simple 20-second exposure shot. I was in and out in under 4 minutes. The other bridge had a newscaster filming, so I had to use this one. No biggie. This gets its point across. I decided against posting my planned Balboa Park pictures anyway because they just weren't receiving the kind of feedback I normally like. I'll just post one more tomorrow and be done with that series. :)

Travel: San Diego - Balboa Park

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Here's a classic shot of Balboa Park as seen from the front of the Botanical Gardens. It's too bad the sky was rather bland, so it's not terribly interesting. We were shooting in the middle of the day as well (so, so much for spectacular colors). I'm not totally sure what other pictures I should upload the rest of the week. I'm getting quite mixed reactions about the others. I may upload something else entirely tomorrow. We'll see...

Travel: San Diego - Organ Pavilion

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OMG. Some woman in a black visor and pink sweater photo-bombed me. Oh well. Too bad I only noticed when I got home two days later. Then again, as if it wasn't distracting enough having (presumably) a dad shooting to the right of the organist. I only had less than an hour to spend at the park after taking the photowalk's group shot. I spent most of my time listening to these children. It was a fun day. I'll be uploading what little I was able to take the rest of the week.