enginerds's Xanga

Step In, Step Out

Mon, 19 May 2008 19:32:24 GMT

It's been so long since I've last used xanga that I've forgotten almost everyone and everything. Sorry!

Sooo what's new with me ? Just a couple things since typing the other things require long stories which would probably bore you to tears.

1. Traded the 1d mk III back down to a 5D. Full frame is too irresistible and sexy for me.

2. Forcibly (meaning not by personal choice) moved from the Engineering and Design section to Transportation Services Division. So instead of being a newly licensed civil engineer, I am now designated as a newly licensed customer support representative handling the complaints of people (mostly elderly or rich and white) who have nothing better to do aside from asking and bitching at me to install traffic calming devices or re-stripe road stencils and markings. How fun. (sarcasm intended)
Ugh, just writing this gets me irritated and annoyed about this position I was rotated into. I'm not even going to say half the negative things I have in my mind but I know I have to pretty much bend over and accept it since I am obviously a public servant working in the City of Oakland. Once I get a year under my belt, I'm taking the transportation engineering exam, and getting the hell out of this god forsaken division and going to another division that actually utilizes my engineering knowledge and skills properly .
However, there is probably ONE good thing going on here - the schedule. "Come whenever you want, leave whenever you want. " Well, I'm probably exaggerating, but it's pretty much come whenever you want and work your 7.5 hours and getting the fuck out of here. lol.

3. I've gained 200 pounds of "more-to-love" fat, grew a nice mustache and mohawk. Ha I'm joking but wouldn't that be a sight.

Ok, so where the hell are the pictures ? I posted these on facebook, but as you all know facebook greatly reduces the size of them. Here's some crappy ones that I think are somewhat worthy to be posted.

Specs: Canon 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8L, Singh-Ray 4 stop hard edge (z size), Gitzo GT1540 tripod, RS-80N3, Kirk BH1

Ocean Beach (Portrait Log and Light Study 1)

Ocean Beach (Landscape Log and Light Study 2)

Ocean Beach (Landscape Log and Light Study 3)
Side Note: Usually in SF, its either THICK fog or NO clouds but during that unusually warm spring day, the clouds appeared to make this scene so dramatic. Use your eyes to follow the lines to the warm creamy center. :)

Ocean Beach (Portrait Log and Light Study 4)
Side Note: Ultra last light at around 9:00PM PST.

MISCELLANEOUS PICTURES

Some other junky pictures that might benefit from the seeing the light of day or umm, xanga ? lol I will just post a few since the 56ker's would die from this post. :(

5.

6.

7. Do you guys prefer this one ?

8. Or this one ?

9.

10. Final (Misty Duxbury)

Does anyone know how Bodie/Mono Lake/Devil's Postpile is like during this time of year ? Is there still snow on the Eastern Sierra/Owen's Valley Mountain ranges ? I might be heading out there this memorial day weekend for some photoshooting. :)

R.I.P. Canon 5D 2006-2008

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:05:18 GMT

Sadly my Canon 5D finally had its last days working for me. I was shooting in the ocean(should be no surprise to anyone. lol) and a monster wave smacked my camera and myself with ocean water. I shipped it to Canon of Irvine for repairs but they sadly rejected it saying it is beyond any kind of economic repair costs. :( Well, now I'm a proud(more like sad) owner of a Canon 1d Mark III (1.3 crop) as a compromise between the full frame and the 1.6 crop of the 20-40d line. It also doesn't hurt when I got a $1000 discount on a new body as well as another $425 off for "professional development" from work. I'm still going to miss the full frame of the 5D so when the 5D Mark II comes out I'm going to be all over it like a fat boy on cake!

Lastly, I passed the California professional engineer's exam for Civil Engineering and I am now a licensed civil engineer! BTW, if anyone knows of any traffic engineers willing to sign me off for the PE Exam for Traffic Engineering next year, introduce them to me! lol Dual license here I come!

Sorry no pics this time but I promise by the time I put up my next post there shall be a few pics! :)

Hustle and Bustle

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:34:52 GMT

The photo reflects the typical New York lifestyle - hustle and bustle. Canon 5D/16-35mm f/2.8L, Gitzo 1540GT tripod, 10 second exposure at f/16. Cop chased after me when he saw me shooting with a tripod in the middle of time square. Again, I reiterate my absolute hatred for the police.

I cloned the fat black chick out of the pic, but I thought it was a unique photo to have the girl stare in awe at the red streaks. Ha.

I can't think of anything to say at the moment except negative things about NYC so I will just hold them back. lol.

New Years..umm Facial ?

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:01:39 GMT

Yes, I did get a facial and it was quite salty and NO it was not the cum se cum sa variety either. lol. I got blasted in the face by the ocean twice during high tide. I tend to shoot alone, but I think I need to shoot with someone who will restrain me from becoming reckless and going to the lower areas during high tide. But anyways, I suppose one of my new years resolutions is to shoot smarter and keep my eyes open during my shoots. Another one is to stop dropping my remote timers into little pools of ocean water. I'm still pissed my $100 TC-803N broke because I dropped it into a tiny tide pool. But anyways, I got too many to post, so I will just keep it down to a few since it takes forever to load.

Hopefully you peepz are using firefox to view this since internet explorer somehow displays the resolution incorrectly.

Specifications: Canon 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8L, Singh-Ray 4 stop hard-edged GND, Canon TC-803N(switched to RS-803), Gitzo GT1540 tripod w/ Kirk BH-3 ballhead.

EDIT: 2 more from low tide.

Spiderman starfish

Gloomy low tide.

Last Sunset of 2007. Shot on 12/31/07

Vertical Starburst. And no, I did not use a star filter. Shoot at f/22 and you will get a nice star effect. Helpful tip for anyone interested. :)

After the sunset, a beautiful red/orange hue showers the sky.

One of the greatest displays of light I have seen in a long time is the finale of 2007!

New Years Day

Although I was totally disoriented from the night before, I somehow managed to sneak in a few more shots that day. This is of Rodeo Beach.

One more vertical of the Stacks.

The famous sea stacks of Rodeo Beach. Do you guys prefer this one ?

Or this one 10 minutes later or neither since they both suck ? lol.

I'm too lazy to post the rest, but if I somehow find the energy to do it, I shall. lol. Anyways, I'm going to be in New York next week and I'm hoping there won't be rain to ruin my jaunt across the city.

Pescadero and Pigeon Point Lighthouse...AGAIN

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:40:51 GMT

I went to the 135th commemoration of the lighting of Pigeon Point Lighthouse and god damn, there were thousands of people there. I got to the lighthouse 3 hours before the event and I still had to park a mile away from the freaking lighthouse. Apparently, many people came from out of state a day before and camped there, waiting for the show. What's strange is that I saw two license plates titled "FRESNEL" from California and Oregon. These people are hardcore lighthouse freaks. Well, the lighting of a fresnel lens is quite rare nowadays, so its somewhat understandable.

I can't believe people are THAT obsessed with this lighthouse to camp a day before the event. Mind you the event only lasted 2 hours. Crazy people I tell ya. This was shot with a 5D/70-200mm f/2.8L IS @ f/22 with a singh-ray gold and blue polarizer. Technically this polarizer rocks on slide film, but when you put it on a digital SLR the camera freaks out a bit so you have to go into ACR, set to daylight. then hit the grey eyedropper and select something you want to be a neutral color such as a cloud, rock or snow. I still have to work on this though. :) I guess the reason why I like this photo is the little star in the lens housing.

A Pescadero Sunset

5D/16-35mm f/2.8L @ f/22 with Daryl Benson 3 stop hard-edge reverse GND. Portrait View.

Same setup, landscape view. The area around the ice plants was actually a graveyard of sorts where the bones of small birds, shells of crabs and other mollusks litter the area from the raptors(hawks, kites) that visit the area. Lens flare was not removed as seen in 2 pictures above. lol

Lighthouse Rising

As the fog stormed into the lighthouse, it got totally wet and cold, but I managed to snap off some ok shots. Here's a couple before the fresnel was lit. These were lit using a 24" aero beacon I believe. Another shocking thing to me was that people were setting up their cameras at 8 freaking AM. I don't believe how obsessed they are with getting their shots. I just like to hit and run. :)

All shot with 5D/16-35 @ various apertures and long exposures. No filters.

Longer exposure. :)

Showtime!

Portrait View.

Second one. Note the lighthouse master stood in the doorway to generate a nice silhouette. It reminded me so much of aliens exiting from a spacecraft. lol

Third. Which one do you like better ? the second one where its zoomed out or this one where its zoomed tighter to show the silhouette in more detail.

I made a in-camera custom white balance to make the lights nice and white. Thought it would give the picture a different flavor. No silhouette though. :(

Landscape View. The half moon is on the top left.

Second one. Note the two silhouettes in the doorway. Again, I thought it added a cool effect. Which one do you guys prefer ?

I'm kind of debating on whether or not I should do this again because I missed my friend's birthday party, but if there isn't going to be fog, I'm definitely making that one hour drive again next year! That's it for now. :)

-Alan

Of Rock, Light and Life. A Free Study at Twilight in Ocean Beach

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:42:42 GMT

I posted this on my facebook first, but for those who want to see the larger versions, here they are. What's important is that HDR was NOT used in the harming of these photos. :)

As stated in previous entry, Canon 5D/16-35mm @ f/22 with Singh-Ray 4 stop hard-edged GND.

#1 - Landscape view of a picture I posted in the previous entry. The "hook thing" is an old anchor ring from the original 19th century Sutro Bath house.

#2 - A possible #10 dowel that was used for the foundation for the old Sutro Bath house.

#3 - A serene view of Seal Rock with a jellyfish stained with oil that washed ashore. Yes, for people that are not aware, there was an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay.

#4 - View 1 of Jellyfish foreground/Sea Gulls and Seal Rock background.

#5 - A different type of jellyfish. Still stained with some oil.

#6 - 10 minutes later, the clouds were gone. Fog is coming..

#7 - The rock was my anchor in the picture as the clouds were on the move.

#8 - 10 minutes later. I moved beyond the green rock to these rocks.

#9. Tranquility.

Tomorrow, or Wednesday or whenever I have time, a few pictures from the 135th anniversary of the lighting of Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

-Alan

Back...and Gone...

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:44:22 GMT

It's been a long time since my last posting. Now that my engineering licensing exams are over, I have a little time to take some pictures. I'm going to the 135th annual commemoration of the first lighting of Pigeon Point Lighthouse on November 17th so if anyone is going, do say hi to the guy in the yellow rx-8. :) I think once that event is over, I'm going to start posting more often, but for now here are a couple of the uglier pics that I want to post up.

These were shot in San Francisco, using 5D/16-35 @ f/22 with singh-ray 4 stop hard-edge GND.

EDIT: The hazy whitish look on the small peaks are not a result of any kind of dodge/burn in photoshop but rather when you have a 15-20 second exposure, the water mists up leaving a whitish hue on the rocks.

EDITx2: I finally made up my mind. I'm going to splurge on the 300mm f/2.8L IS but I'm now debating between the 40d for its lightness or the 1d mk III for its awesome construction and technology. Ugh, touch choices.

Old anchor ring from 1860. (Yes, the year.)

dSLR Transformers

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:44:59 GMT

I saw these pics on another forum. I thought they were pretty cool.

Decepticanons and Nikonobots. DSLR's in disguise.

Back to my regularly scheduled programming of scratching my ass at work.

You can tell the person who created this was a Nikonian. Look at the Decepticanon. His CMOS sensor is exposed!! What person would do such a thing to their Canon body ? Ugh, Nikonians and their CCD sensors...

Monterey Bay 2-Day Trip Set #5 (Misc shots and 3 panoramas(1 monterey, 2 SF))

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:11:33 GMT

I got raped when I was down in the Monterey Bay area. I paid freakin $4.29 per gallon at a crappy gas station at a little hamlet called Ragged Point. Check this butt rape out.

Anyways, I think this one of the best 2 day vacations I've ever had. I stayed at a $25 hotel that was freaking nice!! Free hbo but I had to seduce the Indian clerk to get her to give me a cat5 cable to get free dsl! Still, sweet deal. My rx-8 got great mileage on the trip so I only filled up once..at that crappy gas station. I think the total I spent was about $150 total for both days making it by far my cheapest vacation ever.

After I finished up in the San Simeon area, I drove back up to Julia Pfeiffer State Park to see the tiny waterfall at the beach. The lighting sucked at the time (4pm) so forgive me for the horrible picture. Here's the pano. Shot using 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8L, pano'd rectalinearly.

If you want to view the crappy full sized version go here....

http://www.zoto.com/alanglc/img/original/9ff24956f17ce6b12d69786153ebb034.jpg

After that, I continued my drive back to SF and noticed a nice arched bridge. This was called Big Creek Bridge somewhere between Big Sur and Carmel. I saw a nice place to park and took a decent photo while I was on the vista point. I looked down the 200 foot cliff and said WOW..I think I can climb down there and take an even better photo of it. So I lugged my 4 pound manfrotto tripod with all my gear down there. I slipped a couple of times but that did not scare me one bit. I suppose photography helps me conquer my fear of heights. But anyways, this is the shot I got after scaling down there. Not too bad. As I was scaling up, this white guy was cheering me on chanting,"go my yellow friend go!" I wasn't offended and thought that was hilarious. Anyways, he later said, "boy, you must be either very stupid or very brave to go down there. Look at all those rocks!" I said, "I'd do anything for photography." Thinking back about it, I think I realize I was very stupid to go down there.

This shot was a TWO SECOND exposure shot in extreme light. :) Gear = 5D, 24-70mm f/2.8L, Singh-ray Vari ND filter at EIGHT stops of light. :) That is how I achieved the motion blur in the water.

Meanwhile back in SF.........

This is the SF Skyline from treasure island. Shot with 5D/70-200 f/2.8L IS, TWELVE exposure, @ 30 seconds each. Pano'd rectilinearly. Neat Image'd to reduce noise. :)

View the full sized one here! -->
http://www.zoto.com/alanglc/img/original/72fdee1c3ba85aff87908d2c57930559.jpg

Palace of fine arts late afternoon haze. Shot using 5D, 24-70 f/2.8L, three shots, @ 8 seconds, pano'd spherically. Neat Image'd to reduce noise. :)

View the full size one here! --> http://www.zoto.com/alanglc/img/original/16217a208ebbcf3b4f41fe10cb979377.jpg

Palace of Fine Arts after sunset with fog. Same specs, 30 second exposure, pano'd spherically, and neat image'd.

View full sized here -->

http://www.zoto.com/alanglc/img/original/1b4f2b9f6daf5c1c2cc0c3f2c9d4fc5d.jpg

This will be it for now. I'm going to take a LONG hiatus(3 to 4 months to prepare for the p.e. exam and if anyone knows, California has the hardest of them all. ) This doesn't mean I won't be shooting, just not posting on xangay. Anyways, I hope everyone has a good one, and I will see you all later!

P.S. if anyone has a hard time viewing the full sized images let me know. I will fix it. :)

EDIT**** New Links!!! Copy and Paste into a new tab for firefox users!

Monterey Bay 2-Day Trip Set #4 (Elephant Seals)

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:00:25 GMT

These elephant seals were shot in Piedras Blancas about 8 miles from San Simeon, CA. My goal was to shoot Heart Castle, but the tours sold out by 10AM. Yes, I am a total idiot for not booking a day in advance. (That's what everyone told me AFTER I went there and got rejected. ) However, I remember, as I zoomed through highway 1, there was an elephant seal sanctuary close by. I finally found it and wow..it was all white people watching the elephant seals. Another thing I found interesting was the number of biker gangs on their Harley's using dSLR's to take pics of the elephant seals. One was even using a 70-200 f/2.8L. Yes, that made my day - biker gangmember using big white lens.

These photos below were all shot with the Canon 5D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS WITH a 2X T-con. Ugh, I wish I had my 20D with me for the 1.6 crop. Anyways, here are the angry elephant seals of Piedras Blancas...

Elephant seals battle for the harem.

First Strike!!

I WIN! (Although the harem didn't give a shit.)

Or wait, I don't think he's getting any hence the sex cry.

Two young elephant bulls prepare to fight.

Mother and pup

Getting stalked by an elephant bull. Yes, female in the foreground, male stalking her in the background.

Ok, the chase begins! One thing I like about these chase shots is the red eyes that seals have when they are stressed in someway. Shows character!

Sandbathing...

Say AAHH and open wide! I think he's expecting a dentist visit or something. OR expecting to swallow a large load. lol. Yes, there goes my sexual innuendo for the day.

This is what happens when tourists tease the elephant seals.

This is what I do everyday at work.

Tomorrow, miscellaneous pics of my trip and several panoramas. After that, a LONG hiatus from xangay.