On the Verge of a Milestone

There is something exhilarating about being on the bubble.

As I approach the 100th hour of this project, though I am comically far from my goal of 10,000 hours (status bar: 99% incomplete), I still feel a sense of proud accomplishment and renewed zest to keep on keeping on.

Perhaps it is the fact that I took this last set on New Year's Day and that has me reflecting, but I really have come a long way from six months ago.  When I began this endeavor, if you had asked me what I expected to gain from this experience, I would have referred you to this blog's tag line:  "Looking at the world through a viewfinder, going on adventures, establishing a work-life balance, and reclaiming my personal life."  Yes, I have learned some technical aspects of photography, and yes, I have exercised my creative right brain in developing an artistic eye... but as with most of life's experiences in which you pour your mind, body, and soul, it's been so much more.

Focusing on this personal project has really been a process of self-discovery: gaining a firmer understanding of what I want out of life, what I value, and what I want to spend my time doing.  From the time I was a small child, I was always taught the importance of delaying gratification - to work hard and save to reach a goal... but nobody ever taught me how to enjoy the ride along the way.  It's an unpredictable world out there; knowing how to find happiness is just as important as working hard and saving for a rainy day.  At least in honest conversation with my closest friends, I've found that my generation doesn't always know what makes us truly happy.  We like to think we know because of what society or our parents tell us, but all too often once we actually attain whatever that is, be it material object or professional accomplishment, we end up feeling like we were sold a false bag of goods.  At the end of the day, there are 7+ billion people in this world and I have no doubt that we find happiness all a little differently - it truly comes down to identifying what drives your happiness, be it person, place, thing, or experience.

And after that rather long-winded attempt at profound rumination... actual photos:

Chance juxtaposition in the line for The Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, colors punched up in post-editing

Long Beach, through the periscope of the Scorpion attack submarine

Rivets along the hull of the RMS Queen Mary, holgaish filter applied in post

Up to the crow's nest

Active Shooting Hours: 2
Review Hours: 1
Hours to Date: 99

Fireworks and "Snow"

The beauty of having an annual pass to Disneyland is being able to go for a few hours, just for the fireworks on a random Sunday night.  There are so many interesting things to photograph and it's constantly evolving.  I love being able to head there whenever with a DSLR in tow... though I may try a series with just an iPhone or normal point & shoot just to test my photographic eye.

Lights during the candle lighting ceremony

Shooting stars... do you believe?

Soap snow!!!

Sleeping Beauty castle... iced out.

Active Shooting Hours: 2
Review Hours: 2
Total Hours to Date: 96 - almost to the first 100 hours!!!

Christmas, Christmas Everywhere!!

I really enjoy attractions that decorate for various holidays, particularly Halloween and Christmas.  The Long Beach Aquarium had Christmasy decor in the various exhibits and even a diver dressed as Santa - although I would argue he was much too skinny to be Santa and more like the Elf on a Shelf terror.

The lorikeets also had several Christmas trees at their disposal for hiding and pecking at.  Those little buggers bite quite readily - I didn't chance trying to buy food and taking pictures of them at the same time.  I can't wait to go back to feed them though!!

The challenge du jour was really learning to work in completely manual mode.  Since most of the exhibits are in the dark and behind shiny acrylic, I couldn't use flash and had to focus with the manual ring since there's an absurdly bright focus light that the autofocus employs.  As a result, a lot of the pictures came out pretty horrifically blurry.  In some cases, it was pretty frustrating since I know the shots would have been great had they been in focus.

In such cases, the law of large numbers to the rescue and I got some pretty awesome pictures anyway.

A nautilus, floating about its exhibit

Seahorse

And a lorikeet in a Christmas tree - long lost mysterious 13th day of Christmas gift?

Giant Pacific Octopus

Active Shooting Hours: 3
Review Hours: 3
Total Hours to Date: 92

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

I love Christmas... there's something about the cold bite in the air juxtaposed with the spicy scents of nutmeg and cinnamon.  Not to mention all of the shiny things - ornaments, lights, gift wrap...

To make this season extra special, I got myself an annual pass to Disneyland - not only the happiest place on earth, but also the singular place that turns me into a fantastically giddy five year-old princess.  This also gives me a new venue to take photos, so I'm looking forward to the new inspiration!!

I traipsed around the park all day with only my 35mm lens in tow with a polarizing filter since I knew I would be distracted by jumping on my favorite rides.  I still managed to capture some decent shots, despite the throngs of people.  The lighting was also a hindrance for most of the day - it was incredibly cloudy over half the park and the other side was sunny blue skies.  Looking back through the shots, I could have used a neutral density filter to adjust for some of the blown out skies.  Hilariously, a Christmas gift arrived in the mail when I got home with a ND filter in it!!

I'll be headed back soon, hopefully on a day with fewer people stepping into my shots, although that's doubtful given the holiday season.

The man and the mouse

Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

Sleeping Beauty Castle, all decked out!

Even more impressive by night.

Active Shooting Hours: 6
Review Hours: 3
Total Hours to Date: 86

Fourth Quarter Fumble

Fourth quarter has been busy.  Like really busy.  Like crazy busy.  I've been all over the place either preparing for meetings or actually in meetings.  I'm really glad I got some shooting time in this past weekend at the San Diego Zoo.  

As it turns out, the animals are way more active in the morning and I got several great shots of animals actually up and about.  And in many ways, I found a lot of humanity in their expressions and mannerisms.  Hopefully, I'll have some more time to clock some hours in the coming weekends even amidst big meetings.

An indignant owl

Koala!!

A glorified kong toy for a panda... cinnamon biscuits are inside!!

Gorilla daydreams

Water drops on a green mamba snake - probably my favorite shot of the day

Active Shooting Hours: 4

Review Hours: 3
Total Hours to Date: 77

Some Days and Some Places are Just More Inspiring than Others

I've felt a certain photographer's block for the past month - images just didn't manifest for me and what I saw didn't translate to what was captured.  I've come to find that the largest discrepancy between what I see and what my camera sees generally occurs when the lighting is poor.  My favored light is just natural sunlight - it's not too yellow and not too blue, both of which just mercilessly  flatten interesting contrasts and focal points.  Part of it was also due to the fact that I've been busy in suburban paradise (hell?) lately and the cookie cutter nature with tract housing isn't exactly conducive to interesting photos.

In any case, when I found out I needed to travel for work, I immediately took the opportunity to tack on a side trip to Philadelphia to practice looking for interesting subjects.  I've never been to Philadelphia before, so I took the opportunity to learn some Jeopardy-esque factoids:

• The city is actually quite literally called "Brotherly Love," from the Greek philos (loving) and adelphos (brother). 
• It's the 5th most populous city in the United States, behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.  Also fun factoid, I've now been to all Top 5 cities.
• Founded by William Penn, a Quaker, as a colony of religious tolerance.  Despite having a charter from the British, he actually bought land from the local native tribes to maintain their good will, which actually helped the colony flourish more quickly than others during the time.
• Best known regional foods include the cheesesteak and soft pretzels - largely from German influence and roots.

Of course, as luck would have it, I ended up in Philly amidst the federal government shutdown, which meant that every national park operated landmark (i.e. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the homes of Edgar Allan Poe and Betsy Ross) were all closed and in some cases, barricaded.  To add insult to injury, it was raining, so I traipsed about negotiating an umbrella, a smart phone based map, and my actual camera.

Still, Philadelphia is a fascinating city with Old World and New World feel - I do love my Federal & Greek Revival architecture and in a city with the history of Philadelphia - these are intertwined with the newest and shiniest of high rises.  In some ways, that was a challenge - to capture the character of buildings without the noise of people, cars, and other buildings intruding on an otherwise interesting shot.  I wonder if long-time Philadelphians (or other big city dwellers) rush past these buildings and monuments because they're so everyday for them.

Photographically speaking, I think I made some real progress with this trip.  I actually shot many of the photos with a circular polarizing filter, which was moot since it was shrouded in a cloudy and drizzly haze the entire time I was there, but at least it protected my lens from the wet.  Also in the review time, I actually experimented with some digital editing to punch up the qualities of the photo like color and contrast to better evoke what I felt in the moment.  I'm sure there are purists out there who would argue that that digital manipulation and filters is cheating, but I would rebut that photography is about capturing the mood and visually interesting aspects of a scene.  After all, it's a form of art.  And even Ansel Adams, one of the photographic greats, was known for using filters and developing processes such as dodging and burning to enhance the mood of his images.

Contemplated jumping this barrier to the Liberty Bell (which is outside) until we saw a guard posted, probably to prevent us from doing just that.

So close, yet so far.  Focal B&W filter applied.

The Signer - to commemorate the courage of those who signed the Declaration of Independence
and put their names to their words.

Chinatown gate, with lomo effects applied.

The menu at Tommy DiNic's in the Reading Terminal Market

City Hall through the urban jungle

This T. Rex was animatronic, with a motion sensor - a fact I discovered when I went to take a shot and nearly dropped my camera when it roared at me and started moving.  I wonder if there was a hidden camera feed into the Academy of Natural Sciences... that would be amusing to watch because I was definitely startled.

Active Shooting Hours: 6
Review Hours: 4
Total Hours to Date: 70

Wake Me Up When It's All Over

I am completely and totally obsessed with the new Avicii track "Wake Me Up" - it's the perfect eclectic blend of indie rock and EDM.  Also, because the lyric is entirely relevant to the last two weeks of my life.

I've been uncharacteristically quiet and also not at all active with this project in the last two weeks largely because I sustained a minor concussion and a small cut in the most ridiculous of ways involving samurai swords falling onto my head (seriously, I can't even make this up).  Given that, I've spent a lot of my free time relaxing and also doing various mental exercises (words with friends, jigsaw puzzles, etc.) to try and regain some neural connections.  I can't even imagine taking hits like the guys in the NFL do, because even with a minor concussion, I was wobbly the first day and then had trouble recalling common sayings for the next several days.  I definitely felt dumber than usual. 

To add insult to injury, just as I was feeling better and more myself post concussion, I started developing a kraken of a head cold and spent the better part of the last few days sleeping an inordinate amount of time... so much for the four-day weekend.  In any case, I think I've finally beaten the cold into submission just in time to clean, cook, and do laundry for the upcoming work week.

I have done some reading on the subject of filters and I think I'll be ordering some soon, will post about my learnings later.  More adventures to come in the next few weeks, just felt like the silence merited a post.