Yellow Cake

Wait, Yellow Lake, not Yellow Cake... Great, now I'm on a watch list.

Me:  What do you say we get this thing going again?
Me:   OK, why not?  It’s been a while and I have pictures to post.
Me:  Because I’m busy, that’s why not.
Me:  Well I’m not that busy.
Me:  Yeah, but too busy to sit down and spend a few minutes writing up a post to accompany the photo.
Me:  No, not really.
Me:  No, you’re right; I guess I might as well share this one.

I think this is an interesting photograph.  I took this at Silverwood Lake, shortly before taking this fishy photo.  When I looked at this picture after taking it, I noticed the background was out of focus, but a narrow part of the flowers were in focus, and I was intrigued.  It was technically winter, but these flowers were luckily still alive, and the slight wind was no match for my sweet mid-western grown, wind fighting skills.

Exif information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2009:11:21 1:45PM
Exposure time	1/500 sec
Focal length	20mm
F-Stop	f/9
ISO speed	ISO-100
Exposure Bias	-1

Stop Motion

I really dig this photo.  I took a few similar ones but this one stood out because of the water movement in the background.  Of all the pictures I took this was the only one where the water got high enough to run down the rocks in the back.  I took this at sundown at the Little Corona part of Corona Del Mar Beach (my favorite!), so I was able to get this sweet two second exposure without any filters.

It amazes me how many times I’ve been here and had someone ask what I’m taking pictures of, or why I’m taking pictures.  It happens elsewhere too, but these times have been the most recent.  I never know exactly how to respond because I don’t want to sound like a jerk and say ‘uhh, because I like taking pictures’ so I usually manage some variation that comes off in a pleasant manner.  I should start making up stories about why I’m taking pictures; the more outrageous the better.  I’ll let you know how that goes, but until then, enjoy this!

Exif information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2010:02:13 5:47PM
Exposure time	2 sec
Focal length	50mm
F-Stop	f/8
ISO speed	ISO-100
Exposure Bias	0

Uno Mas From The Huntington

I showed you the outside of one of the pagoda's at the Huntington Gardens on Tuesday so today I’m showing you the inside.  This is looking straight up towards the ceiling of the Pagoda.  There isn’t a whole lot else to say about this photo.  There was a small old Chinese lady looking at me funny when I took this picture though.  I wondered at the time if she thought I was disrespecting her in some way.

I like the patterns in this picture.  You don’t see extravagance in ceilings enough these days.

Exif information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2010:01:17 11:05
Exposure time	1/6 sec
Focal length	10mm
F-Stop	f/8
ISO speed	ISO-400
Exposure Bias	0

Life Saver

Saving lives is serious business.  This life saving flotation device is but a small tool utilized by the Seal Beach Life Guards in Orange County.  These guys have a lot of saving to do since Seal Beach has the second longest wooden pier in California (just ignore the fact that pier length is not necessarily indicative of overall beach size or the number of people at the beach on a given day who may or may not need saving).

Seal Beach is pretty cool.  Aside from the sweet pier, there’s this restaurant a couple blocks from the beach called Walt’s Wharf, and they serve some excellent seafood.  If you’re ever within 20 miles or so, I’d suggest going there for lunch, or maybe dinner but you might want to make a reservation if it’s a weekend.

Exif information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2010:01:17 11:01
Exposure time	1/200 sec
Focal length	22mm
F-Stop	f/8
ISO speed	ISO-100
Exposure Bias	0

*This post was sponsored by the City of Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce.*

Huntington's Pagoda

My Dad and Stepmom came to visit me in LA last month and among other things, we visited the Huntington Botanical Gardens near Pasadena.  It is a pretty cool place and interesting because of the broad range of gardens.  It has twelve different types of gardens; everything from a Japanese garden to a Chinese garden!  Seriously, it ranges from desert gardens to jungle gardens, and all sorts of gardens in between.

This picture is from the Chinese garden, which is one of the largest classical Chinese gardens outside of China.  This traditionally styled Chinese Pagoda is the Pavilion of the Three Friends, which refers to the ‘three friends of winter’ in Chinese culture.  These three friends are bamboo, pine, and plum blossoms.

It was cloudy that day, so the fact that some blue came through in the clouds is pretty cool.  There are a few things I like about this picture (hence me taking it), but I’ll let you all decide what your favorite parts are on your own.

Exif information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2010:01:17 11:01
Exposure time	1/200 sec
Focal length	22mm
F-Stop	f/8
ISO speed	ISO-100
Exposure Bias	0

Put Him In!

Today’s bonus post is a crossover, not unlike popular TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order, which have also done crossovers.  Last summer I went out shooting in Wichita with my Cousin and as I was taking this picture, unbeknownst to me, he was taking my picture.  As a cross-promotional endeavor, we decided to post each of our perspectives of the same scene.  I wanted to get a different angle on this statue that is in front of Wichita State’s Eck Stadium where they play baseball.  It isn’t always easy to set up for certain angles, and as you can see on Matthew’s page, this was one of those times.  As you’ll see, I’m pretty sprawled out on the concrete to get this angle.

Check out my Cousin Matthew’s take on the scene at http://matthewwellsphotography.blogspot.com/.  While you’re at it, check out his other work too.

Edit: Damn!  He outdid me in the humor department.. this time!

Exif information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2009:09:05 14:19
Exposure time	1/200 sec
Focal length	10mm
F-Stop	f/10
ISO speed	ISO-100
Exposure Bias	0

Little Corona's Rocks

Well I caught some flak from my aunt this weekend for not posting enough photos from California, so, by popular demand, here is another photograph from California!  I got a 10-stop neutral density filter for Christmas and this is exactly what I wanted it for.  This type of filter is very dark and reduces the amount of light that gets through the lens to the camera’s sensor, allowing for long exposures during the day.  The results, as seen below, are pretty cool when photographing moving water.  I took this at Little Corona Beach, which is part of the larger Corona Del Mar Beach in Orange County.  Corona Del Mar is quickly becoming my favorite; I actually went there again this weekend and did some shooting (this photo is about a month old).  There are lots of pretty rocks and tide pools, so there are plenty of subjects for photos.  I took this one near sunset, so I got a lot of warm sunsetty colors.

As you can see from the EXIF info below, this was a 30 second exposure.  I did some editing in Photoshop to get the colors and a few other things exactly how I wanted them.  This was really my first attempt at shooting with this filter and I’m pretty happy with the results.

Exif Information
Model	Canon EOS 20D
Original date	2010:01:22 15:33
Exposure time	30 sec
Focal length	10mm
F-Stop	f/8
ISO speed	ISO-100
Exposure Bias	0