Tomorrow is Obsolete

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Olvera Street

I am in love with the metro lines in LA. It has made it so easy to get to places like downtown where parking is usually a major headache. One beautiful day in July we decided to take the kids for a ride on the Gold Line to Olvera St (the Union Station stop). Among the many treasures we found were those colorful umbrellas.

We also found colored eggs,

guitars,

and ceramics.

At the end of a long afternoon, the kids cool off in Union Station (did I mention it was an unusually humid July?)

Sunday, February 28, 2010

LA Arboretum in macro

I've taken pictures at the Arboretum many times but this time I thought I'd take only my macro lens. Since I was there with my dad & sister, who were also taking pictures, and two 2 1/2 yr olds, I took a lot of mental notes of spots to come back for another time.

I could have stayed in the cactus garden all day.

I love the patterns on the pottery.

Getting under this plant to catch the sunlight through the leaf was tricky (not to mention looked silly) but was worth it.

I couldn't get any closer to these orchids.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

My two hometowns

That's a view of my neighborhood. I can't imagine living any place else but that was not always the case. I came here from Los Angeles and when I first moved here I thought I would never adjust to such a small town after living in LA. I look at picture like this and all I can think of is how lucky I am to live here. Then, I go to visit LA and look at those pictures and remember how much I love it too. So, here's to my two hometowns!

Saturday, February 06, 2010

3-day weekend

All this rain was making me dream of warmer days. So, here are some photos from Memorial Day weekend in LA last year.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Flower macros

I feel like I have been blogging a lot of flower close-ups lately. I did not realize how many I had taken until I started to put them all together. They do say flowers are the most photographed subject. I know for me it was the excitement of a new macro lens, the bright colors, and the fact that flowers don't move away from you while you spend 10 minutes fiddling with tripods and camera settings.

So, here are a few miscellaneous flower macros and then I promise I'll put up pictures of something else.

A dying pink rose.

A dandelion clock.

Purple flowers.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Morro Bay

I am so lucky to have a place as beautiful as Morro Bay to call home. I have never had a day where I felt like taking pictures and was unable to find something amazing or stunning to shoot. The picture above is a view of sunset from Black Hill.

Some people don't like the fog but I love it. It always fascinates me how fog can make a place look completely different. On this morning I set out to take pictures of the bay at sunrise so I could capture the orange-pink glow on the rock, water and boats. When I left the house is was a completely clear morning. I was all set up and waiting for the light, which was minutes away when the fog came pouring in. It is hard to believe how quickly it comes in but within 10 minutes it had engulfed everything.

Morro Rock became a ghostly shadow.

The sun finally came up and I took one last picture and went home to have breakfast.

Monday, January 18, 2010

A pink rose

One day it was me, my 100mm macro lens, my 50mm portrait lens, and a pink rose.

Handheld reverse mount of the 50mm lens:

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sunset and Silhouette

When I was taking a photography class last spring, one of the assignments was creating silhouettes. I thought that Baywood Pier at sunset would make a great backdrop. I grabbed my camera and my trusty assistants (Tom and Mae this time) and we walked to the pier.

Getting in position to take a picture looking up at the underside of this daisy was pretty funny since it was only about 12 inches off the ground. People walking along the boardwalk past me were giving me looks like I was crazy. I wish I had taken a whole series of shots of the other flowers because this one came out so cool.

My lovely model, Mae, watches the boats and the sunset.

The boats and sandspit made great silhouettes as well.

As the light was almost fading, this man walked over to water's edge to watch the last of the sunset. I couldn't resist the image.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Fiesta Salad

Fiesta Salad is one of my favorite dinners not just because it tastes great but it is so colorful. I was making it one day last spring and thought how much fun it would be to take macro pictures while I cooked. It did slow down my progress and we ate a bit later than planned, but it was so worth it.

Who knew a colander could look so cool?

Yellow corn

Cilantro

Radish slices

Purple onion

Cherry tomatoes

Saturday, December 26, 2009

World of the tiny

One of the things I love about my macro lens is, no matter where I go, there are more things to photograph than there is time. I could spend the day in a 5ft by 5ft space and not run out of things to look at. This day I found myself drawn to flower, butterflies and rusting farm equipment. Oh yea, and a drinking fountain.