Summer Solstice

Prime

I spent the afternoon in my backyard rediscovering my love for my 50mm lens. Despite the restrictiveness of all prime lenses, you really can't compare anything to their sharpness, focus, and fast shutter speed. The super-affordable 50mm is definitely my favorite lens.

It's Freezing!

A shot of the snow on the mountains from this freezing (by California standards) weather

A Current Favorite

Photo taken by my sister, of me and Ata, wearing Zara & John Varvatos (in case anyone's wondering).

Clips

The past few weeks...

...too much time at home, and a lot of time with my niece and nephew*

*now, nephews :)

Through the Looking Glass

I spontaneously ordered a new lens last week. I wasn't prepared to spend hundreds of dollars so I opted for a generic brand. A few negatives from buying a generic brand: the auto-focus is a smidge noisier than that of my other canon lenses, it's heavier despite being advertised as light-weight (but it has a crazy zoom so that might account for the extra weight), and there isn't any image-stabilization which makes it a little difficult when fully zoomed out, but as a beginner not willing to invest megabucks into a new lens, so far so good. Lately, I've been shooting everything with my 50mm lens because the colors are much more vibrant and clear than the kit lens. Since it's a prime lens, that presents some obstacles but for the most part, I'm pretty satisfied with it. I was getting a little tired of it though, so I wanted a better day-to-day lens. The lens I ordered turned out to be a macro lens (I'm not sure how I missed that when I was buying it...). I'm not really interested in macro photography or super detailed close up shots, not right now anyway, but after playing around with the lens today, I think I'm going to keep it. It still works great for normal framed shots. I did some shooting around the house and I'm pretty pleased with the color and clarity. Maybe you don't need a macro lens for everyday shooting but the quality is pretty impressive, and I can't deny the great price tag on this lens...I think I'll keep it!

Suddenly the hinges started to unhitch

I love finding hidden gems in photos, like a cool fluke effect that you serendipitously produced, or a stranger in the background picking their nose.

True, when looking through my viewfinder for this shot, I was trying to get the tattered canopy of our backyard swing to show the intensity of the rain/wind/thunderstorms we've been experiencing this past week. But at the time, I didn't notice the ripped pattern was shaped like a heart. I guess it brings new meaning to the phrase "broken heart" ha ha...was that cheesy? Oh well, it's been a long day.

Black & White

I'm getting tired of photographing nature, so as an attempt to make it more interesting, I decided to shoot in only black & white today. I'm not sure if that makes this any less boring, but I just felt like taking pictures. I wish I had more people to shoot every now and then. I'm always willing to take volunteers to learn on :)

Does anyone else see a little tiki man/santa clause face at the top of the fountain?

Leonids

I've never seen a meteor shower. Tonight was the first time I made an effort to sit outside and stare at the sky. Other than what I remembered from random movies and tv shows, I wasn't exactly sure what to look for. Camera propped on the tripod, I sat outside for about half an hour in awe of how brightly lit the sky was. I noticed a couple of falling stars, but no meteor shower. I've lived in Chino Hills for 20 years and I must say I've never seen the stars as bright as they were tonight. My house is on a hill, so there wasn't a lot of city light stealing attention from the stars. These are shots of what it looked like directly above my roof...

None of them are great shots, but I still wanted to share.

I could've sat outside all morning waiting for the meteor shower, but eventually the darkness and quiet started to freak me out. I think I'll use the buddy system next time.

Bright Skies

These pictures were taken around 5pm in my backyard (the poor, neglected part of it that no one ever goes to) and have been uploaded straight out of my camera. The natural lighting was great.