observations

Stand By Me

2012-02-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

I find it interesting that at times one has to resort to social media to get the exposure one needs to stand out. I read somewhere that Picasso was very good at that. He befriended the French Resistance while sipping wine with the Nazis. The alternative is one dies and hopefully gets discovered after decades like what happened to Van Gogh and Vivian Maier.

What does this have to do with this picture? Actually, nothing.

But the last few days, I've found myself hysterically campaigning to get my photo entry noticed that I've lose sight of the trees from the forest (or was that the other way around?) In one of my previous post, I quoted Magnum founder Henri Cartier-Bresson, "You want to give something to know that somebody will accept it. In fact, when you love somebody, somebody will not turn you down, your love is accepted. And this is communication to me. To give something which is..." At the end of the day, art should be about communicating. That is sobering to me. It is not about scoring points and receiving accolades - although that in itself is not bad. But when that becomes the end, the pursuit of art becomes vain and empty.

I still think that the brilliant minds were able to convey their messages effectively through their art... perhaps they got their art published through some social connection but that's the way it is for most competing endeavors. Social networking it seems is neither good nor bad -- but when it becomes quid-pro-quo then honest art is compromised. At least, that's what I think. But I would also like to think that my heroes in art never gave in to just be popular. True art is about being true to oneself.

Featured Comments:

Anne: How do you make the background dark? Did you take this at night and used a flash?

Juzno: With a regular camera, flash is needed at night time to provide this kind of result. In my case, it was early morning so the sky was already blue. Because the camera was converted to capture only Infra red and filter out any Ultra Violet, which is mostly blue, I was able to get this kind of contrast without flash and at day time. In post processing, I further reduced what leftover blue color there was (mostly in the sky) and then converted everything to BW. Because there is practically no blue in the captured image, the sky is very dark -- almost pitch black. After converting to BW, I layered a bit of blue tint to make you happy. I know you likes some blue tints.

Anne: Oh. Sounds complicated. Thanks for the explanation. It is definitely from Mad Max. The tree is dried up.

Juzno: I think I may have kept some expired Tylenol here somewhere. The dried tree was taken at the same time as the nuked cow farm so yeah the colored version of it is also red.

Just think of the camera as converted to not being able to capture anything that has UV light, which has mostly blue and green. That is why the green leaves turn white and the blue sky turns black. I've shot portrait with the camera and people with blue eyes look like vampires and people with green eyes look like ghosts.

Anne: So, if you take a picture of your emerald eyed (is it uncle Tom?) member of your family, with white fur, what would come out in the pic?

Juzno: If he grew his hair long, he would look like scary looking white eyed Gandorf of the Lord of the Rings. If his fat, he may actually look more like Yeti.

Anne: Nothing like cousin IT?

Juzno: Close. If he is skinny and doesn't have hair, he may look more like Golam of the Lord of the Rings.

The Last Place on Earth and the Greed that Threatens It

2012-02-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not really the last place on earth but that's how I feel about it. The cow farm that's only a stone's throw away from where I live is threatened with those ugly giant high voltage towers. Even though the cables have not been installed, they already looked ugly and have destroyed the last few remaining pastoral views that we have in our community. Edison does not care that those 200 foot towers are less than 100 feet away from some of the houses. It just doesn't make sense. If one of the tower falls, it would easily struck down a couple of houses. No, I take it back. It does make sense. I get it... because when you follow the money, it's all about greed.

Pray for the children.
Fight the deceit.
Resist oppression.
Power to the people, right on.
In the meantime,
this too shall pass.

Featured Comments:

Dear Edison,

Bury the cables, make hammers and nails out of towers and go build a barn.

Sincerely,

Kissa My-Cow

Anne: I think I like this photo, but at the same time it scares me. it reminds me of the future, like that movie with Tina Turner, is it Mad Max & the Thunderdome??? The future where water is scarce, land is barren, the sun scorches, rain is acidic. Money no longer matters, the possession of food and water gives you the power to rule. I think it is the orange color, the color of fire, that makes me think of that movie. Should the color be greenish in the background, it will make me think of Heidi, the girl in the Swedish mountain...

Juzno: Heidi is now a grandmother, and her granddaughter Heidi II takes after her. She has a calling to save the oppressed people in Timbuk2 so he leaves her green Swedish mountain and heads off to meet Mad Max, who badly needed counseling from years of alcohol abuse. Mad Max is already 70 years old but with Heidi's badgering and cajoling, Mad max goes to a 12-step rehab. After three days, Mad Max collapses as his heart is too weak to be wean off alcohol. Heidi II needs help so she calls Juzno. Juzno says, "No probs. But I'm kind busy campaigning here. If you like, just take over my link below and I'll take care of Timbuk2."

(Please re-vote.)

http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/189277/voteable_entries/43393828

Le: First, the unusual red color of a peaceful scene of a farmland immediately draws my attention. I know it's not just because of sunset. I sense some conflict or anger. Reading your commentary, I clearly understand why. You convey your emotion and your thought very skillfully through your artwork.

Juzno: No I wouldn't say I'm angry. Dismayed at powerful entity without regards to humanity and the creation is what I was channeling thorough my art. But yes the scene is conflicted in my view. The contrast of "good" and "evil". (Nobody is truly good.) Powerful versus the oppressed. Strong versus weak. One is led to believe that the oppressed will lose because they have no redeemer.

The concept of David and Goliath comes to mind. The high towers represent Edison or any powerful entity (you can even put the government in this category). The David here is the savior of the oppressed that needs to be heard. David isn't in the picture yet but we know from the biblical account that he will redeem his people. He is coming.

Techie Note: The colors are what came out of the camera. Just some minor tweaks to fine tune the contrast and remove some color cast. Taken with Canon Rebel XT converted to IR, EF 50mm 1.8ii, iso 400, f16, 1/640. Chino Hills, California.

Stone Garden

2012-02-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

I would like to think of this as a stone garden -- rising up into the air of post-modern loftiness. This could have been from any cosmopolitan city in the world: Sydney, Tokyo, Frankfurt. No, but it's in Makati City, Philippines. These are but some of the many condos hovering over the city -- a small pocket of a place that was exclusively a business district. It has now accommodated city dwellers who no longer want to go on a long commute to work. I suppose it's their version of Manhattan. And just like any cosmopolitan city, it is surrounded with ghettos and poverty stricken communities. Yet the city is impervious to these. Perhaps, the stone gardens were erected to remind the outsiders of their proper place in relation to the privileged.

Happy eve to Happy Thursday. - R

Support your friendly neighborhood artist (In my Imperfect Solitude)

2012-02-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hi to all,

I usually don't like asking people for favors because I have a serious inferiority complex and would die if I my request ever gets rejected. I usually don't enter photo contests for the same reason. But something in my right brain made me do it just the other day. I just entered a photo contest at http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/189277/voteable_entries/43393828. Perhaps if you can find the time I would appreciate if you check out my entry. If you like it, please vote for it. If you really-really like it, you can re-vote the next day (heh). If not, then that's fine too. The image I entered was small to my regrets. I should have entered a bigger file like this one. But it is what it is. It's done and I'll have to deal with that.

Why did I choose this image? One commented that it looked like Purgatory - dark and melancholic. I think that's an apt observation. I think of this place as somewhere I can expurgate my transgressions. It exists in my mind as an imperfect solitude. Perhaps, all of us have some kind of place where we run to and seek refuge. I happen to choose a dark place where my angst is free to roam. It is imperfect but I can relate to it.

Taken with a pinhole camera on medium format film. Long and multiple exposure. Sycamore Canyon, Diamond bar, California.

Thanks. - R

How good are you in reading someone's mind?

2012-02-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

Guess what this man is thinking?

[a] "Will it be corn or flour tortilla?"

[b] Humming "Dancing Queen" by Abba.

[c] "The intensity of electromagnetic is proportional to the reciprocal of the square of the distance from the source of the property."

[d] "In the words of the great philosopher Michael Jackson, there is no difference whether you're black or white."

[e] "If I close my eyes long enough, maybe this photographer will pay me for posing for him."

[f] "if I close my eyes long enough, maybe this photographer will go away."

The Island She Loved

2012-02-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

French Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, "You want to give something to know that somebody will accept it. In fact, when you love somebody, somebody will not turn you down, your love is accepted. And this is communication to me. To give something which is.."

The image here was taken during my last visit to the Philippines. I went there with my family to commemorate the first anniversary of the passing of my mother-in-law. The sleepy town of San Antonio... In my mind, this image may have been one of the things that she always thought about when she was still here in the states. She was 96 years old when she returned to this island. She probably wanted to be at peace with the world and her Maker on the island she loved because a few months later she passed away. I've been at this place a few times before, and I've taken several pictures of it but never got to share them with her. I think that was my one small regret. Fortunately, it's never too late to share with people you love.

Hope your day goes well. - R

Techie Note: To get the surrealistic effect, the image would have been impossible to capture in one take. For one thing the waves are flowing very slowly but the bird is drifting faster than the waves. So really it's a composite of several takes with same aperture but different shutter speeds to get a very high dynamic range. As you may know, the process is called HDR for short. I usually don't use this process as it tends to make images look artificial but I thought this one worked well for me as I was going for a surrealistically ethereal look.

California dreamin' on a winter's day

2012-02-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

"Oh, look... there's a squirrel."

This image may have been a worthy entry to National Geographic if not for the fool whose shadow ruined my shot. Heh. Maybe he thought he was Moses. But now he is upset because the squirrel ran away with his staff. Without it, he thinks he couldn't part the water.

Aren't we glad we can experience summertime on winter here in SoCal?

Happy Eve of Groundhog Day. Cheers.

And your bird can sing (Nokia-ring tone)

2012-01-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Whenever I ran out of photo idea, I start to shoot at random things. Sometimes I'll get lucky. But there are times when I think I'll have a brilliant idea of what to photograph. Then I'll look back and ask myself what the heck was I thinking. This is one of them. This image has no significance nor philosophical underpinnings. There is no sublime message except it's goofy. Maybe it's to remind me that I need to replace my antediluvian cell phone. Hope you're having a good day. Cheers. - R

Love is the Answer

2012-01-30T08:19:00.000-08:00

Shot with my Yashica Mat 124G Twin lens Reflex on a iso 400 medium format film. This capture made me imagine a jazz singer with a rim light coming from behind. But that's an afterthought. That was not the intent when I shot this photo. I made her stand next to a venetian blind - so hence you get that sweep (or a rake) of light from the side. There was no other source of light so I was shooting at very slow shutter speed, I think 1/30 or lower. At this speed, it was difficult for my small hands to hold the bulky medium format as steady as humanly possible. I must have made five takes on the 124G, and all except this one were blurry - except on this one she closed her eyes. I thought that was a great moment that I captured.

Moving on to the beat of the New York March

2012-01-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

I know people in New York and they are some of the friendliest people around. Wait, rewind that? I mean it. They are some of the friendliest people around. New Yorkers get a lot of flak for being unfriendly. They are often portrayed as going about their ways without regards to their surroundings -- like this couple.

Taken last summer on Saturday morning. I can't remember the name of the river but it was where my family and I got lost trying to look for SoHo - we ended up in Noho, I think.

I miss New York. I miss my friend who lives in New York. I miss her and her family. They are the kindest people I've ever met.

I'm trying to rebound and get past the dark clouds looming over me. Sometimes the dark clouds can be a cool place to pause and reflect on life. But we also need the sunshine to lighten up our day. I am talking in metaphors -- but that may not be obvious. There are times when I tend to just ramble and not make much sense. Maybe that is why I shoot pictures. Sometimes my pictures convey a clearer message than my words.

Cheers, and happy Thursday.

This is how she sleeps and how I killed her

2012-01-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Some flowers are very sensitive to light or the lack of it. I took this poppy indoor and by the time I was set up to take its picture, the petals already closed. More appropriately, it has fallen asleep because there is not enough sunlight indoor. I screwed up its circadian rhythm. I hope the poppy police will not go after me for floral abuse. Actually, I found out that poppy flower doesn't live long enough once you cut it off from the plant. So, really I killed it -- well, eventually I did by mutilation. It must have been the shock for her to undergo a severing off its branch. Yikes.

There is also side story on this poppy. The purists will cringe if they learn that the flower was actually yellow and not white. I was trying to enhance the color in post processing when I accidentally hit a button and the yellow poppy turned white. Not pure white because it retained some interesting luminosity. I thought it was cool so I left it like this. A happy accident if you would. I happen to like it. I hope you like it too.

Cheers - R

P.s. After watching the State of the Nation address last night, I am forced to increase my 4x6 prints to $75. The 8x12 is now on sale for $399. To take advantage of the 300% discount on this Wednesday Special, you must like this post now.

In my own private mind

2012-01-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hope your day is going well. It was foggy this morning, and it reminded me of this picture taken a couple years ago. There are still pockets of pastoral activities in Chino Hills. I remember when Kamilah was younger, and I would bring her to this place. It's only a stone's throw away from where we live. Back then, there were more cows and a couple of horses at the other side of the fence. We would call them with our urbanized version of moows. The barn is still there and have a few cows. In a few years, the bovine activity is probably going to be replaced by gentrification and suburban sprawl. It is what it is.

The picture was captured in 35mm film. The photo quality is immaculate compared to some of my digital captures. I still like to use film. Maybe it's the funny smell. Maybe it's the lack of LCD feedback screen that makes it mysteriously exciting to operate. Maybe I'm just an old fashioned luddite. Definitely old. Hah.

Hope you enjoy this. - R

p.s. It's Tuesday so I'm running another Tuesday Special on 8x12 prints for $25. Obscene profit announcement but it does help pay for this silly photo blog.

Nothing is Real at the Parking Lot

2012-01-21T02:00:00.000-08:00

The clouds are not real. They were inserted during post processing. Those expensive looking SUVs cannot run on the freeway. They are actually cheap cardboard cut-outs borrowed from the Public Advisor office. And the trees are really wilted lettuce obtained from the Cafeteria's Salad Bar. They have been smeared with mustard. This is not really the District parking lot. In fact, your computer monitor is not real. What you see is but a dream. Go back, sleep in and enjoy the weekend.

Monday Morning Salad

2012-01-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

Here in SoCal one of the best times to do a landscape shoot is right after it rained. Usually, the smog would have been cleaned out. And if you're fortunate, you might be able to see some lingering clouds for those gorgeous skyscapes. Well, Sunday it rained. So naturally Monday had potentials. Weary from the flu, I managed to drag myself out for an early morning walk. I was wrapped in layers of layers under my hooded wind breaker. Still, it was cold. It felt that way. But it was worth it, I think.

The image here was from the park, a few blocks where I live. It's actually a composite of several images. I shot this way so I can get better details. The stitch program in Photoshop doesn't always do a seamless stitch. If you look closely at the high tension wires, you'll notice some break ups. Apart from that, no photo manipulation was employed except for some clean up, dogging and burning. The creamy white cloud covering the mountain is as real as the whip cream on your café latte. The purple sky is as tangible as the plum from Albertsons. The greens are as fresh as your garden variety Cesar Salad. The white fence is plastic -- like the forks down at the cafeteria. Heh.

Featured Comments:
Cindee: Nice picture - I like how you get just a glimpse of the top of the mountains peaking thru the clouds!

Juzno: Thanks, Cindee. Like Charleston Heston, I just waved my staff and commanded the mountains to hide behind the clouds. Oh, wait, was that Moses?

Cindee:It's supposed to rain this weekend and I have to go to Hemet - could you part the clouds for me?

Scott: Great pic and write-up, Rob ☺ Just for the record, the wires are “distribution” lines (brings power to houses) not “transmission” lines (brings power from generation to substations). My wife has worked for Edison for over 30 years and this stuff is drilled into my head!

Juzno: Aha! And I always thought they were placed there for the Trappist Monks to walk on. No wonder they never showed up.

How to turn your Avocado Breakfast into Art

2012-01-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

If I had told you that this photo was taken by the famous Dada artist Man-Ray, do you think it is worth exhibiting at the Museum of Modern Arts in New York? Neither did I. Apparently, there is a lot of debate in what is considered art. One of the prevailing postmodern theories is that the process of making art is as important as the product itself. In other words, the entire process beginning to end is part of the art. To illustrate, here is how a postmodern artist would have created this picture:

1. Order an exotic coffee at an avant-garde cafeteria. (No, Starbucks is not avant and skip the creamy froth.)
2. Find a nice clean table preferably next to the window. (It's important to be seen from the outside.)
3. Look haughty while sipping coffee.
4. Place point and shoot camera on the table next to the coffee along with the Jack Kerouac hardcover purloined at boyfriend's apartment.
5. Point camera at ceiling.
6. Sip coffee. Make sure that that little finger is always pointed upwards as coffee cup is raised.
7. Fire camera with the other hand preferably with little finger also pointed upwards.
8. Repeat step 6 and 7 if necessary.
9. Admire the result while bopping head left and right. (Man, I'm good.)
10. Call it art and give it an inscrutable title that no one will understand like "Still Life with My Avocado-Inspired Breakfast".

Hope your day is going well. Enjoy.- R

Featured Comment:

11. Note to self: Avoid green eye shadow and embrace frothy mustaches. - Martha

River Sebaste

2012-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hope your day is going well.

In case you may have noticed, Juzno of the Day had to take a few days off last week because I was out with a flu.

I took this picture last year when I visited the Philippines. The same camera that fell on this raging river. In fact, it's one of the last few images that the camera saw before taking a dive. The picture is deceiving. It may look like a refreshing haven but the stream was raging and the water seemed to be rising. The roaring sound was deafening. There was a huge rock in the middle of the river where I propped the camera so I can take a long exposure. It was difficult to hold the camera steady as the water current was dragging my feet away. The things we artists do to get the perfect shot.

Hope you enjoy. Cheers. - R

p.s. A couple of people have approached me for a print of this image. I'm running a Tuesday Special for $20 on an 8x11 print in case you know somebody is interested. Heh.

Back Pages

2012-01-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Somebody once observed that life is like a book. Pages and pages are turned unto new events. The stories in the book may be uneventful, or it may be exciting, or both. But like all books, one comes to the last page. I was not expecting to post this picture today as I mourn the passing of my friend's husband. Would it be more appropriate to put a moratorium to Juzno of the Day, even for just a while? My better sense tells me that life is not just about the beautiful. Real life is about the struggle we face with everyday. Sometimes we come out triumphant. Sometimes we moved on after conceding defeat. But to be certain, life will end. The sooner we accept it the better. I have no wise words to offer. The words may not necessarily come out comforting. The answers to our questions or the lack of it may not make a whole lot of sense. But God allows these things and He must have a good reason. Cest la vie... cest la vie.

Old Rose Holly

2012-01-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

Hope your day is going well.

Today is my sister's birthday. I printed this image the other day and sent it as a birthday card to her. When she gets it, she'll probably complain that the image is blurry. She'll probably lecture me on how expensive my cameras are and how I couldn't shoot a decent picture with them. She's one of those people who doesn't understand my art. I'll tell her that I sent it to her because she might forget her birthday. I'll also tease her that she needs new glasses because she couldn't see the image well. I think I'm one of the few people who make fun of my family publicly. But I love my sister.

This image is a rework of an old one I shot when I started dabbling seriously into photography back in 2008. You may have seen the original though I don't think you would remember. It was one of the photos I posted down stair at the lobby a few years back. This reworked version has more definition in colors and tone. It's still blurry. It was intended that way. I shot it with the Lensbaby, which allowed me to selective focus on the subject. Conventional wisdom would dictate that the focused area should be the rose. But I am non-conventional so I chose the holly instead. If I were to shoot this again I would do the same. Don't know why but it seems to look better that way -- at least to me. I know some people would not like the blurry effect but I like it because it imitates the impressionist style. It also reminds me of how I see things when I get out of bed in the morning, which is basically blurry.

Hope you enjoy. - R

Leaf Doggerel

2012-01-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

I've
run dry.
Time for renewal,
refreshment and stay happy.
Weekend seems like
a good
idea.

Featured Comment:

Glenn: Taken with your IR camera, I presume?

Juzno: To get this shot, I used a converted disposal camera (that was on sale at Target since Kodak was dumping their items before they go bankrupt). I duct taped the camera to a can of Pringles Mr Potato Chip (empty of course) and further duct taped to my expensive Carl Zeiss 100mm Makro. Now if only I could just remove the Zeiss that's stuck in this gizmo. No, I'm kidding... yea this was with the converted IR. Cheers

Unfazed and Looking Heavenward

2012-01-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there are no obvious story to tell about a work of art. Sometimes, one just have to look beyond the aesthetics and see with the heart and not the eyes. This image has no exciting story. There is not much narrative to tell as it is a tree that is relatively young (compared to Oak trees and Sequoias). When I reflect on it, I think of how I need more time to grow.

I hate being rushed. I prefer to take my time. I don't want to be pushed around. I don't do well when I'm subjected to stress. Trees are different. Change usually produces little stress on them. Sometimes, I want to be like a tree for that reason. This particular tree reminds me of what I would like to be. Even though the wind tries to sweep the leaves away, the young tree is unaffected for the most part... laidback and resilience are its strength despite its inexperience. On this image, I see this one leaf drifting away from its branch. Eventually, all leaves will fall but new ones will grow. Obviously the tree knows that. She doesn't mind. She knows how to be still. Ah, we can learn so much from her.

Happy Thursday. - R

Nerdy philosophical note: Taken last November at the District parking lot with the converted IR camera. We really don't have to go that far to appreciate nature. Sometimes we just have to look below our noses. In this case, we may have to look above our heads. Hope you enjoy.

Happiness is a warm car

2012-01-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

Hope your day is going well.

Some old cars don't die... they just get dirty. I couldn't find a clean flashy car for a photo op so this will have to do. It's actually very clean compared to what it was like a few days ago. Rose took it out for a wash and wanted me to take a picture of it. Always looking for a photo op, so I did.

My benevolent loving sister-in-law and her husband gave us this car last year. It's a 2001 Acura TL. About 95k miles with a major transmission problem when we got it. It was going to cost them more to fix it than sell it. It was on its way to charity when I was able to convince them that the best charity would be The Castros. At that time, we were in need of a third car because Kamilah was returning to California and needed the Integra back. (We gave her that car years ago but she never took it to Baltimore -- so we're able to use it for a while.)

So we were happy to have the Acura. Truly God sent.

What's interesting about the car was we didn't know that it would nearly give us four heart attacks, one for me and three for Rose. Sometimes at high speed, the clutch would disengage and the car feels like its skating out of control. One time it went on a Limp Home Mode (LHM). It's actually a technical term from the car manufacturer because it will literally limp on your way home as a safety feature. The experience of driving in this mode was like riding on a wild bronco at a Texas Rodeo. One has little control of the car once it automatically goes on that mode. I was forced to drive it on LHM going down on a steep hill, and I began cussing myself for procrastinating in doing my last will and testament -- something I should have done a long time ago.

I think we finally got it fixed. And now our blood pressure is not as high as it used to be. Yes, we love this car.

Cheers. - R

Going to California

2012-01-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

Diamond Bar, California

New Year's blessings to you!

I shot this using my converted Infra Red Canon EOS Rebel Xt last Thursday at one of my fave places (you guess - the rooftop of the District 5-story building where I work). It was late in the afternoon when everyone else were sauntering to get home and probably to stop by the store to stock up for New Year's Eve. Hence, this was the last image I captured for year 2011. So, I thought this image would be my first post for the year 2012. I uploaded the image on my Facebook page on New Year's day and have received modest hits. In fact, it was probably the most that I've received since I started posting in FB. Not bad to start the year for photo blogging. Hope you have a wonderful start like I did. Cheers and enjoy. - R

p.s. On the eve of New Year, I kissed Rose, danced with her and the dog, drank Moscato and smoked the Romeo Y Julieta corona that I have stashed for a nice occasion. What did you have?

F22 and forget about focusing

2012-01-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

Taken during Thanksgiving. These two young adults were fighting on who gets the wishbone. Heh. I love the story here even though I just made that up. I also like the selective motion blurs as I think it makes the image more dynamic. The trick is to get the rest of the elements in the image sharp and detailed. Maybe you know how this was shot. Anyway, here's how I did it:

I shot this at smallest aperture on my 35mm lens - which would be f22. I think the shutter speed was at 1/15. The slow shutter speed gives this image that ghostlike motion blurs. And yet everything else is tack sharp. That is because the camera was on a tripod and I had the flash on. Since the aperture was very narrow, it didn't matter where I focused the camera given the depth of field I was shooting into. In this case I set the focus on the turkey but even then as you can see everything from the foreground to the background is pretty sharp.

Try this next time -- maybe on your New Year's eve party. But wait until everybody had a lot to drink. That way you can be sure to get those motion blurs.

Cheers - R

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

2011-12-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

This image I think is not bad but appears quiche. Kind of reminds me of the pop B&W book covers in the late 60s when colored covers were very expensive. Possibly one that Rod McKuen would have used (did I just hear "yuck"?). If you don't know his highly sentimentalized works, you are probably too young or too stoned back then to remember. He was one of the forgotten heroes on my generation. Wrote poems and songs. People either liked him or hated him because of his anti-intellectual ambivalence.

Presuming you've read this far, this commentary will not be one of those inspirational musings that you may have received at the end of the year. No, it is what it is... because I choose to -- being a rebel and a free spirit that I am. So I'm throwing away all the profound sayings in the bath water... at least for now. They seem self-aggrandizing, and doesn't serve any other purpose.

So why this image? If it's not inspiring, so what? I chose this image to be my last post for the year partly because I don't want to undermine the mundane uneventful events of the year, which I believe we ought to be thankful for. They were uneventful for some good reasons. Consider the alternative; it could have been worse, huh? I hope I could get that message across at the pain of disappointing you about my art. (I refuse to accept that art is only about the beauty of things.) Perhaps for now I am without shame about sharing the other side of being an artist -- one of the many mere mortals easily susceptible to failures. But to paraphrase Nietzsche, "that which did not kill me only made me stronger." So I raise my glass... cheers to 2011, the good and the bad... cheers to 2012.

Have a great weekend and a safe New Year. I'm moving on, so should you. Cheers. - R

Editor's note: My inscrutable penchant -- I was using the word "quiche" to mean cheesy. McKuen is forgotten for A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the theme from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (a classic movie I think but would not be understood by today's generation). McKuen's poems were popular among bourgeois college girls in the Philippines when I was growing up.

"January did not open differently.
It just continued." Unpublished Rod McKuen

Techie Notes: My first roll from the Hasselblad came out botched. I think I may have agitated the chemical erratically during developing because ghost-like cloud stains appeared on the top left area of every shots, and I know I didn't shoot any clouds. Some shots had more conspicuous stains than others.

On the more noticeable ones, I was able to remove those stains by burning that area during post processing. To make the burned area look natural, I have to apply a bit of burning on other areas to even it out. I ended up with a high key look -- such as this one. I've lost most of the highlights on the left tree but I was still able to retain some on the grass. I have another roll waiting to be developed from the Hasselblad. I hope I'll get it right the next time around. Then I could write about the heady days of Manson (the actress -- not the singer).

Featured Comment:

aU writes:

~r:

here's wishing you all the 'party favors' that the new year has to offer...

enjoyed immensely the little time and space of life's journey as chronicled through a thought-provoking and a few times whimsical interpretation stemming from your discerning eye to the many technical variations of camera shots.

overall, just like the English would say, i absolutely had a wicked time this year, 2011. it would not be fair if i decide not to mention that your pictures coupled by affecting analysis elevated the jovial to wicked. much obliged, my friend.

cheers.. do not drink too much, a few shots of asbach uralt will do... san miguel beer will do the trick, as well.

Cold weather is hot again

2011-12-29T17:42:00.000-08:00

On to a salubrious winter solstice. Did it come later than usual this year?

Somewhere in the Masonic part of the world, sub-cultural groups of Wiccans and sun worshippers are still engaged in Macarena dancing as part of the celebratory ritual associated with the solstice. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the Stepford wives have systematically invaded their houses so they can replace their children with their own kind. Their androgynous husbands have planted Heavenly Bamboos such as the one on the picture -- but really each one is inserted with a cleverly disguised antenna so their children could effectively report everything that is happening inside the house.

Okay, Rob…. You’ve gone too far in the deep end. Right. That’s because it’s Happy Thursday (my fave day of the work week- remember?).

Hope you are enjoying this day.

Happy New Year: feliz año Nuevo, manigong bagong taon, ein gutes neues Jahr, akemashite omedetô, selamat tahun baru, xin nian hao, 새해 복 많이 받으세요 and yo' git yer sucka out da closet!

Kind of Blue

2011-12-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

Hope your day is going well.

Blue seems to be the color of the season. Reds are still in. I see quite a few people in their Holiday Reds. Green seems to have taken a recess. Even I who likes green have tepid feelings for it lately. Yellow... I don't know - I haven't really seen much of yellow except for some teeth flashing from the neighbors' dogs. I've noticed some people try to combine colors but I tend to get thrown off by their bold choices (you know what I mean.) I'm sticking to blue for now. Not because I'm blue. But just because I like blue. As in Blue Cheese, Blue Moon, and Blue Jeans. Yay for blue. Hope you like it too. Cheers - R

P.S. for the techies: The image is a recent capture. It's one of the trees at the District parking lot. It may look surreal, and that is because the camera I used only captures the Infra Red light. The colors are what comes out from the camera. A bit of saturation and contrast were tweaked in post processing. That's all.

Christmas Greetings from the Castro Household

2011-12-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Family& Friends,

Greetingsfrom the Castro household! Rob recentlyhad this preoccupation with clocks, old towns, and time. Those pictures Rob took of clocks in variousplaces and times reminded us of the significant moments we had this year:

For Kamilah,it was a time to go back to Johns Hopkins University after studying abroad atSydney, Australia and traveling around various Asian countries; a time tograduate from college, do a job search and finding one at USC Department ofImmunology. It was also a time to learnand understand cell structure, proteins, bacteria, Rubicon, Korean English andpippetting; a time to be independent and living in an apartment. Most of all, it was a time to recognizeGod's generous provisions and loving-kindness, and a time to pray for wisdom inchoosing the right path amidst the opportunities that He has opened up.

For Rob, itwas a time to adjust to a new position at work, deal with difficult people andlearning oil and gas and "environmental justice" whatever that is; atime to pick up and play guitar to some old tunes with some old folks andreminisce about old times; a time to study, learn and teach Sunday School (whata blessing that was!). It was also atime to see the world with a new eye, taking pictures using view finder cameras,SLRs, film, digital, black and white, colored, infra-red; sharing pictures withfriends and making friends through pictures. It was a time to see the world with its beauty and appreciating theCreator who made such handiwork; a time to recognize the darkness and theugliness caused by man, and the dilemma of capturing such darkness and integrateinto it the promise of hope through redemption, a time to ask for God'sblessings to convey this message effectively.

For Rose, itwas a time to celebrate for being freed and healed from a frozen shoulder, atime to appreciate regaining the strength of ones arms and putting it to gooduse. It was also a time to handlestress and pressures at work through music ( hint: listen to Orff's CarminaBurana but using ones own words especially the things that bother you. For Rose it was AECD, OBD, DPF, PIP, de-SOx,de-NOx, etc.), humor and by hanging on to Psalm 73:26. It was a time to visit family in thePhilippines, a time to realize age and ones finiteness, a time to considerretirement from work, a time to pray for discernment on future activities topursue.

Then we havethe two special members of our household, Jerry Mew and Mimi. They don't have any concept of time, onlystreams of consciousness consisting of daily food, clean litter, combing, dailywalks, treats, attention and care. Without them, they grow berserk -- Jerry gets bulimic by throwing uphairballs all over the place and Mimi gets wild, reverting back to being a straydog, getting lost for hours before it comes home. They remind us of our daily needs and we are thankful that we arewell provided for by our heavenly father. He gives us our daily bread and His loving hand is upon us so we won'tstray away from Him. He loves us somuch that He gave His only begotten Son so that through Him we are saved.

May theblessings of Christmas be yours today and the years to come.

Love In Christ,

Rob, Rose and Kamilah

Howdy Buddy (Looking for Love)

2011-12-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

Today, my friend Buddy called to tell me that he spotted eight old maids milking on Wall Street as symbol of protest against the Ten Lords of the Corporate Kingdom.

My friend Buddy is my go-to model. Every time that I test a new photography equipment he is always around to pose for me. This portrait head shot was taken using my newly converted Infra Red camera. Natural ambient light courtesy of the soft California sun. Hat by Armani. Make up by Revlon.

Incidentally, Buddy is a single straight guy currently looking for a relationship. He speaks different languages, such as High Mongolian, Low Mongolian and Middle of the Road Mongolian. He likes listening to the music of Men at Work, Midnight Oil and all those Australian have-beens from the 80s. (He has been to all the Choachella concerts.) He loves to cook his favorite Spam using only organically grown ingredients. I was wondering if you know somebody who would be a perfect match for Buddy.

Lotsa Cheers. - R

Featured Comments:

Glenn: Given Buddy's construction, I'd have thought Buddy would enjoy the "Hard Rock" music of The Stones more. Nice pic.

Martha: I've got a friend for Buddy. She's a real picnic. Enjoys the outdoors and doesn't mind ants. Thrives throughout Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. She lives underneath a palm leaf, weighs about 40 pounds and is made of stone. She's a turtle with a hard shell and a soft heart. Her name is Tur-Dee.

p.s. (she digs spam tacos) ... Happy first day of Winter.

Red and White Conflated (an environmental-friendly alternative to Christmas decor)

2011-12-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

Back from a few days off - Rose and I helped Kamilah moved in to her new apartment over the weekend. I put up some of my art photos to decorate her place. What it now needs is Christmas spirit - so I'm thinking maybe assemble that old plastic tree from some years ago and embellish it with ornaments. Since I couldn't find enough decors, I'm thinking that I'll use the red shallots and white garlic that I found at the local farmer's market. After all, we are suppose to promote environment-friendly alternatives. Do you think that would work?

Extra Holiday Cheers.

Chum Bubbly

2011-12-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

And this cute little chum makes my day. He reminds me that in a few days I'll probably get that new 256 megapixel DLSR camera that I've always dreamed of having - except that camera has not been invented yet. Oh well. Still, who could resist this cute gazebo bear? Just look at that GQ red bow tie -- stylish. Hair styling by Supercuts -- gorgeous. Robert De Niro grin -- suave. Kung Fu Panda pose -- priceless. Ki-ya!!!

Taken some time ago with the Original LensBaby when I started to shoot seriously. Reprocessed recently. Hope you enjoy his company. Holiday Cheers.

In·glo·ri·ous Remnants

2011-12-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

The good folks in Culasi like their beer – especially if someone else is paying for the drink. For them, beer after all is considered a rich man’s brew, which is reserved for times requiring mandatory celebrations. On normative nights the choice could be a mixed of local concoction that guarantees even the professional drinker an Excedrin hangover. Contrast that to special occasions – like when the house rooster lost in a cock fight, or that time the neighbor’s piglet found its way to their backyard – these are sure to provide the impetus for breaking out a case or two of the best San Miguel brew. Cheers!

Featured Comments:

Glenn: All empty. How sad.

Juzno: Well we can't let that happen... time to break out another case of brew -- it's 530 somewhere.

Glenn: When people would say "it's 5:30 somewhere", I'd sometimes think about being at the North or South poles, where all the time zones converge. Take a step East, and it's midnight; West, and it's noon. The poles are where there is always a good time to break out a case of brew, which of course explains the jolly man in the red suit.

Martha: Well what do you know, a trio of singing bottles. Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la... laaaaa!

Juzno: And Ringo on sideline playing the castanets. The girls just can't contain themselves. "With a love like that you know it can't be bad... whooo!"

Joyce: You come up with some unusual subjects.....I prefer Dos Equis amber (dark)......Prost...... I like how the bottles show up red -- can I assume they were brown?

Juzno: Yea they were brown but after several rounds they turned red from singing. The jolly old man in the red suit made sure everyone had their share.

A Day on the Boardwalk

2011-12-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hope your day is going well.

Rained a lot yesterday. The dog didn't want to go out. The wind blew the fence down. The cat demands that his litter box be changed. But I couldn't do much because I was under the weather -- so to speak. And it does look gloomy outside. But sometimes a gloomy weather can be cool. Outside can still look dark even though it really isn't. It's what one sees with the heart. Sometimes it may be sunny outside but it feels gloomy. No, rainy days and Mondays never let me down. I welcome them.

Hope you enjoy. - R

Featured Comment:

Martha: Yesterday, I stepped out in full blown color. Harley boots, favorite jeans, Santa t-shirt, long fuzzy scarf, over-sized wool coat, two tasseled knit cap. Rain gives me a green light and makes my heart happy. Best of all, I got to use my Neiman Marcus hand-made in Italy wooden handle umbrella I purchased for $2.99 at the Goodwill Store.

If I owned a yacht, I'd name it "La Gurumina."

Juzno: Cheers to great fashion finds. Now... Baby, you can drive my car.

Martha: I wanna be famous, a star of the screen. Beep beep'm beep beep yeah!

Anything you can do I can do better

2011-12-12T07:25:00.000-08:00

It was market day at Culasi when I took this picture. Clearly, the two women do not see eye to eye. They are fighting over on who gets to go home with the most eligible bachelor in this small rural town. Remember the dude with the pink Seattle's Best T-shirt? Same guy. Apparently, he is hailed as the best pie maker in town. He is also a barber and the mayor but that's another story.

One of women sang, "anything you can do I can do better."

"No, you can't," sang the other.

"Yes, I can."

[*] Apologies to Irving Berlin, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, the Barber of Seville, Seattle's Best, men who wear pink shirts, women who like to wear hats, and women who can't smile because they just have their root canal.

Dude, where's my car?

2011-12-09T02:00:00.001-08:00

"Oh, no," she cried.

She was getting a hair cut when she recalled that her parking limit has lapsed. Although her haircut was only half completed, she hurried out to where she thought she parked her car. Her ultra high heels made her feel like she was sprinting on stilts. A rush of caffeine in her head made her dizzy. She couldn't locate her new mini-cooper.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten this haircut. And darn, these new shoes are killing me," she murmured.

Turns out she parked it in NoHo. Five giant blocks down where she was. "Oh, no!"

- - - - -

A collage of street photos I've taken while in New York last summer. On its own, the individual photo tells a specific story. Collectively, the photos tell a story that has a potential to get wild.

Hope you enjoy.

Featured Comment:

Martha: Sign, sign everywhere a sign...

"All this bleach is eating my brain" she thought. I know wearing these Manolo Blahnik "Something" blue satin pumps cause my dark circles. I know extra shots in my coffee go right thru me. Why do I continue to wear Lee Press On Nails and my name around my neck?

Strawberry fields forever.

Walk faster! I'm not giving up my Sketchers to Whatabuncha.

Is there life on Mars?

2011-12-09T02:00:00.000-08:00

Is there life on Mars? You betcha. I have the photo to prove it. Their highway system is complex that it surpasses even the best freeways in SoCal. They even have a Holiday Inn close to the freeway - very convenient for tired transients who have been on the road for so long. Wait a minute? Isn't that the 60 Freeway? Heh.

I shot this test image yesterday at high noon to see how my converted Infrared (IR) camera would perform. What you see here is what came out of the camera unprocessed except for some contrast tweaking. The colors are the result of the IR camera.

My crappy Canon EOS 350d was crapping out so I converted it to shoot IR exclusively. Basically, the digital sensor on all DLSR have a filter to block the IR light so the colors of the pictures come out looking normal. Remove the filter and it will let the IR in - which produces surreal colors. It would be difficult to do this in Photoshop. I didn't do the conversion myself as I would have probably killed the camera. There are places where you can take your camera and they'll gladly do it for a fee.

Hope you enjoy. Have a great day.

Real men are not afraid to wear pink shirts (or any similar colors)

2011-12-08T02:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday.

This is my fave day of the work week so I guess I can post one of my fave shots, which doesn't usually translate to what is popular. For one thing, the colors are weird. And the horizon is skewed --maybe so the lady at the store can tip the scale. Heh. If I have shown this to a photography instructor, I would immediately get an F.

Taken late last year when I traveled back to the Philippines. It was on a crowded market place. With my normal lens, I must have been standing about 10 feet in front of the old man when I took his picture. No flash, just outside light. I love this shot because the man appeared to be looking past me. It's as though at that moment I was invisible to him. Maybe I was. My theory is you keep doing street photography and eventually even while wearing a Walrus costume you'll be inconspicuous like the vegetables in this image. Koo-koo-koo-chew.

I recall the market that day was a trip. Walking around with a DLSR camera hanging on my neck was sure to get attention at this small rural town. Every time I pointed the camera to shoot at someone, other people would try to warn my subject, "hey you're going to be on Facebook!" I love it.

Hope you enjoy.

The Egg man says, "Cheers!"

Featured Comments:

Glenn: Hey, isn't that Raman, and what's he doing in the Philippines?

Juzno: Raman was following Lady Gaga on her worldwide tour but all he got was a Seattle's Best T-Shirt.

Glenn: Okay, that explains his expression.

Brown Shoes Don't Make It

2011-12-06T10:34:00.001-08:00

This pair is for my business attire.

Hope your day is starting out well.

It's the first day of the work week although it's already Tuesday. Usually, I try to dress up on Tuesday and dress down on Friday. This system of dress code really works well for me as I have only two pair of shoes. So I have one pair for dressing up and another for casual Friday.

Old sneakers never die.

I've always wanted to do product shots so here are images from my wardrobe. So if I show these to Macy, do you think they will hire me to do their catalogs? (Heh)

Have a good one. Cheers. - R

Juzno Unplugged

2011-12-05T10:19:00.001-08:00

Old Man Geezer

Today, I've made one of the biggest decisions in my life. I've decided to post my picture un-retouched -- with wrinkles, eye bugs and gray hair. I don't really know what has gotten inside me but the the the the closest analogy I could think of is when KISS decided to perform without their make-ups. Maybe because my own make-up artist didn't show up today. And the coffee was cold. And my hair dresser came in late and spilled her latte on my Persian rug. My pom ate my diamond ring. And the bill from Ritz Carlton just arrived. And I found out that my Rolex is fake. Maybe I just don't care anymore. Maybe I'm just tired of hiding behind the veneer of superficial mystery. I came to believe that is just BS. I'm tired acting out the part. Juzno is just an ordinary man. He is old and gray. But he lives for the moment.

It is only Monday. Who knows what I'll do next tomorrow or the following day. Cheers.

P.s. I've decided that my future lies beyond the Yellow Brick Road.

Clock the Grove

2011-12-02T10:37:00.001-08:00

Hasselblad 500CM, Kodak Tri-x 400, f8

Oh, no. not another photo of a clock! I know. I know. But seems like any ole town I go to there is always an interesting token of a clock in the middle of some frenzy. I asked myself if this observation is coincidental. What if some highly evolved aliens from a different time have planted these clocks in strategic places so that when they return from the future they will know what time it is? Or maybe a devilish imp left these clocks so that we as humanity would be slaves to time? What if?

Taken at the Grove on Miracle Mile. This was a test shot using a Hasselblad 500CM. A real nice medium format camera. The camera is more than 20 years old but it still performs well. It's hard not to like the look and smell of this film camera.

If you are ever in the neighborhood, check out the Farmer's Market. Lotsa food shops with great eats. I recommend Monsieur Marcel Restaurant & Wine Bar. While there, another photo enthusiast visited me at our table after learning I was shooting with my Hasselblad. He quickly showed me his vintage Rolleiflex, and asked if he could take a picture of my camera with his. Aww... we quickly felt like two excited parents comparing notes about our children -- except we were talking about our cameras. Hah.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers. - R

Featured Comment:

Martha: I'm involved with a playful love affair with time. I ask it to hurry up, slow down and don't be cruel to me. All I get back is... tic-toc-tic-toc...

Still Life with Glass Luminosity

2011-12-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Rose likes glasses. We have ones for wine, brandy, sparkling, mixed drink, and so on. But no one usually drinks at home except me. Both Rose and Kamilah hardly drink. But I could see why she likes them. The forms and shapes are nice to look at - especially in subtly shimmering lights. Yet glasses are difficult to photograph if you want to get some details because the reflections from them are often hard to contain.

The image here has no story. In fact, I think it may seem superfluous. But that's okay. Sometimes one does not need a clearly defined story to appreciate photography. Sometimes the story will just come out later.

This shot required tedious set-up. I placed a black cardboard behind the glasses. Behind it was an off-camera flash. The cardboard has to be the right size so that when you look at the camera viewfinder it should only slightly overfill the edges of the viewfinder. A few inch larger would not have worked because that would prevent the right amount of rim light to illuminate the glasses. If it were too small, the reflection on glasses would have been everywhere. When done correctly, the results can be rewarding.

Once in a while, I like doing this kind of still life. It tests my patience - something that I badly need.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers to patience. - R

Featured Comments:

S: Pretty - my first thought looking at them was of an iridescent bubble. I see that the blue is you wearing a blue shirt! I like how the black background makes parts of the glass disappear, making them look even more delicate.

Juzno: Thanks. I actually learned this trick from Hunter's "Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting." Interestingly in one chapter, the authors call it "The case of the Disappearing Glass."

I bought the book because I was interested in learning how to do product shots, e.g. jewels, food, etc. The book is a bit boring but I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more on how to capture light falling on different surfaces in different conditions.

Crimson Pages

2011-11-29T14:06:00.001-08:00

Hope your Thanksgiving was good. Ours went well... thank you very much. Rose made pork roast and Inday Cheryl baked the turkey. We ran out of cranberry for the sauce so I scrounged around our backyard - knowing that we got plenty of organic supplies back there. So I found this pile of crimson leaves. I mashed them up, poured bourbon and passed them up as substitute cranberry sauce. Everybody loved it. No, I'm just kidding.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers - R

The Great Mr Jerry Mew

2011-11-23T09:14:00.001-08:00

"You look good in blue... did I tell you that?"

They say that the easiest way to win a photo contest is to send a picture of your pet. After all, who can ignore these lovable creatures? I've never won a photo contest in my life. Maybe because I don't follow this advice.

But now Mr Jerry Mew would like your undivided attention. His dazzling emerald eyes and great charm are hard to resist. How could you not? He is kind of big for a cat. He weighs nearly twice as much than our dog. He traces his heritage back to the days of Beowulf of the Middle Earth. Although of noble birth, he is an all-American feline, born on the fourth of July. Really... well, we thought he was -- so we decided we would celebrate his birthday every Independence Day. And Mr Jerry Mew is a skilled hunter and a relentless outdoorsman. Knowing him, he'll probably bring home a turkey tonight -- alive. Heh.

Have a pleasant Thanksgiving. Cheers - R

The Harvest and Happy Thanksgiving to You All

2011-11-22T14:11:00.001-08:00

Wild thing, you make my heart sing.

It looks like it's ready for harvest. Except you can't really harvest these. At least not for human consumption. They're wild grass. I'm sure they're good for something. Maybe wild animals could feed on them? I'm attracted to the color here. These wild plants are probably the only gold left here in California. That's probably why we can still claim that this is the Golden State.

Not sure if I've posted this before. If I did, I'm sorry. Reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's speech to a university crowd. He said that the first thing they teach you in public speaking is not to say you're sorry. After which, he shouted "Sorry! I'm sorry for this stupid rule!" I thought that was funny. If you didn't get the joke, that's okay - no need to say you're sorry. Hah!

Hope you enjoy. Happy thanksgiving to all! - R

The time the end started or Ruminating on Black White Photography

2011-11-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Need a camera to tell the time? No Problem.

Happy Friday.

How could you not like BW? There is something about Black and White photography that I think either people really like it or just don't care. If you belong to the latter group, I forgive you.

I am one of those who really like it. There is a sense of timelessness about BW. I think I can make a case out of this image. At first glance, one could think that this was shot decades ago. The truth is that the picture was taken a few months ago at Old Town Santa Barbara.

Metaphysical Alert: This image kind of reminds me of that Chaplin movie Modern Times. In the movie, dehumanized humanity is depicted as passively going through the motion. The powers-to-be have fooled the laboring people that this was the pursuit of happiness. I think that it some ways we have been led to believe that this ought to be the way of life. Our society becomes so obsessed with the mandate of time that ironically we become slaves to it. I reject this rubric.

Techie Notes: Shot on medium format film using the vintage Mamiya-Six. The last time I reported on this camera I was having problems with its sticking leaf shutter. I decided to revive it - thinking that I was able to fix the sticking shutter. As it turned out the shutter was still sticking. I've gone through two rolls of medium format film. After developing them, everything was all black, which meant the shutter never opened -- except for only two decent pictures. This is one of them. The other one is also on the same subject but with a slight difference in angle. I chose to post this one as the composition is a bit more balanced.

This is definitely old school. The camera did not have any light meter. Fortunately, the sun was cooperating so I was able to use the Sunny f/16 Rule. It's really easy. Set the aperture at f16 and the speed at whatever film ISO you're using. In this case, the film was rated at ISO 400. So I just have to set my shutter speed at 1/400.

But wait -- apparently my camera only goes to 1/250. It suppose to go higher but it seemed to stop at 1/250. Not to worry -- I should be able to extrapolate the setting to where I thought the right exposure would be. Kind of hard when your brain froze a few days ago, so I'm guessing f/22 at 1/250. With 1/250 sec being slower than 1/400 sec, I needed a narrower aperture like f/22 so less light can get in. Did I guess right?

As you can see, the exposure on this image is perfect. Thank you very much!

But I can't take all the credit. Apparently too, I didn't mention my other secret - film is very forgiving. You can overexpose or underexpose your shot and still be able to push or pull the image during developing. On this one I cut down my developing time to 5 minutes (usually it's 7-1/2 minutes) so the final cut comes out tasting like a juicy medium rare. Yeah!

Minimalist Reflection of Tea Leaves and I'm Turning Japanese (I really think so)

2011-11-17T10:20:00.001-08:00

Maybe it was the water that I just drank but I'm seeing Japanese.

I can still remember how I took this image. It was a yellow drenched afternoon and the tea leaves were turning Japanese. It felt like everything was at a stand-still. I kept on rotating the camera until I got the right composition. At that moment, I pressed the shutter. The sound of it reminded me of Jackie Chan's kung fu moves -- swift and crisp. I was in love with my camera and the tea tree.

I shot this image using the Lensbaby. This was back in 2008 when I started to take photography seriously. I already had a digital SLR that I got around 2005 but I was only taking pictures of my daughter and our two cats. What got me interested in shooting other things was when I discovered the Lensbaby. It's a dopey little lens that can be manipulated to blur out a desired area anywhere in the frame.

With the Lensbaby, the camera had to be operated in manual mode. It was all low tech, which I also love. It taught me how to shoot without training wheels. Back then, I bought the Lensbaby for around $60. Nowadays, they go for almost $400. I guess the folks at Lensbaby got greedy.

Yes, that lo-fi lens put the mojo on me to get serious into art photography. One of these days I'll have to take the original Lensbaby out for a spin again. In the meantime, here's an oldie that I hope you may enjoy. Cheers.

Pressing Forward and Just messing With Your Mind

2011-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

And off they go...

Baba La Teengah kept pressing forward. He had to win this race. Losing was not an option. He knew in his heart that he didn't want to go back. Except for the taste of the hot humid wind, his numb face couldn't feel the hard blast of stream in front of him. His legs were melting just like the rest of the runners. He knows he can't stop now...

At times, I'll get into an artsy mood and see potential for making art. For instance, I see a botched shot that I just made. Then I'll add texture to it to make it look like a painting. After I'm done, I'll call it Art. There is really nothing to it. The hardest part is to convince your audience it's Art.

Now seriously, what makes this image in my estimation universal is that the runners representing different ethnicities all have one goal -- to win the race. You can spiritualize on that. Some view ourselves in some kind of race -- whether material or philosophical. It doesn't matter. All of us are in it for something. What is there at the finish line?

This is how I see this image. What are they thinking in order to win? It's hard to get into what they are going through. I like it that it's takes quite an effort to make out the faces of the runners - leaving the viewer to imagine how it's like. Are they grimacing? Or are they stoic-like? Their combined structure forms a directional pattern - we see that as all the runners are going in the same direction -- but it is not fluid, which I think suggest to the viewer that the running competition is edgy.

In reality, most of us will not notice this edginess at that very moment. It is just too fast for the untrained eyes. So what we see is what we just see in our mind, and not what is really happening. Our brain tricks us into thinking based on what we have previously experienced and been taught through years of indoctrination. Such is our predisposition. Really.

No, not really -- I’m pulling your leg. Heh. Hope you enjoy.

Featured Comments:

Annie: Maybe it's just me but they look like zombies on the way to the point of no return.

Juzno: Annie, you're beginning to think a lot like me.

Question to Juzno: I really need to learn to take pictures in the dark

2011-11-11T09:58:00.001-08:00

Blue Moon... uh woooo

Rachael: I really need to learn to take pictures in the dark. All of my pictures are in the dark at a cemetery, but I can't seem to get them right.

Juzno: First of all, you're weird. I don't know of any person who shoots exclusively at the cemetery.

Looking at the lighting condition of your pictures at the cemetery, that is to be expected. (We shall spare Rachael the embarrassment so we won't publish her pictures here.)

Photography, whether night or day shots, is all about capturing the light. Obviously at night, you don't have enough light. Once you understand that this is what you are dealing with, it gets easier to get around this hurdle.

There are at least two ways to get the decent image at nights: [1] increase the exposure time, or [2] use supplemental light.
The first option is you're basically allowing more time to capture light. Think of a water faucet that gives off a few drops per second. Well, it you want to fill a bucket, it's going to take a longer time to fill it as compared if you want to fill a shot glass.

The second option is you're supplementing light to where there aren't much to begin with. This gets tricky because you need to know where to supplement the light. Otherwise your subject could be getting too much light but your background may not. Or vice-versa, your background could be getting the supplemental light and your subject is not getting much.

I would usually increase the exposure time if I'm shooting in this environment. How much time? It's trial and error. Sometimes, I'll start with 5 seconds. Then depending on what I get and see the result on the LCD screen, I readjust up or down. When you shoot in this mode, everything that moves will either be blurry or it won't appear in your final image. You would benefit from using a tripod or setting the camera on a stable spot. Holding a camera for 5 seconds even with the most stable hands will guarantee a blurry image.

The second option is to use supplemental light, which is what most people do. That could mean using your flash or bringing in an additional light source (like professional do).

You can also increase your ISO and shoot at an EV of +2 or higher. But this usually makes the image noticeably grainy. (I noticed that your camera is set at ISO 3200, which is already tops. So I don't think you can further increase the ISO.)

Creating Background Motion by Jay P. Morgan

2011-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

ISO 1200 Magazine | Photography Video blog for photographers: Creating Background Motion: A new Lighting Lesson ...: In this Slanted Lens lesson we are going to show you how to create background motion by moving the camera and subject together on somet...

Great use of snoot from Bryan Peterson

2011-11-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

ISO 1200 Magazine | Photography Video blog for photographers: Learn to use a snoot with a flash by Bryan Peterso...: AdoramaTV Presents You Keep Shooting with Bryan Peterson. This week, join Bryan in Seattle to learn about using a snoot with a flash. ...

Tangled up in Green

2011-11-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, there are days like these.

I started my day on the wrong foot again. Rose took my regular car today so I have to drive Kamilah's car -except I didn't have the car key and both of them left for work. Against my better judgment, I ended up driving Rose's car, which has been giving her problems. Driving is probably not the right word here because I felt like I was trying to ride a bull high on crystal meth or something. After a few yards, the car stalled. It would not start right away but when it did it sounded like it was trying to imitate the sound of my neighbor's lawn mower. With much fear and trepidation, I tried to steer it back home but it seemed to have a mind of its own. It was not a beautiful mind. Finally I was able to bring the car back to our driveway.

By this time, my mind is messed up and I'm thinking if I should even go to work. I chilled out while waiting for Rose to bring back the car key to the other one.

I think this image is how my mind looks like right now. Isolated, in the dark, a bit blurry and some tangles all around.

Techie Notes: Taken with the Lensbaby mounted on a film camera Canon Rebel 2000. I think I must have used Kodak Gold film ISO 400. It's grainy but I like it.

Featured Comments:

Annie: What is that purple thing underneath? Looks like a butterfly.

Juzno: Nah, I think it's a discarded bubble gum wrapper with the Lakers logo on it.

Fish for Art Sake (It doesn't have to make sense)

2011-11-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

Please help and donate for the cause of the Fish. Send in your check payable to National Aquatic Commune Host and Oceanography (NACHO).

Hope you like fish.

Not too long ago, I visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and observed the absurdity of post-modern arts. I came to the conclusion that the objective of post-modern art is to kill the arts including its own. An interesting concept, I suppose. I'm posting this image as my reaction to what I've seen.

     Fish Vendor: Will it be da fiskh or da fiskh?

     Customer: I hate fish. Do you have anything else?

     Fish Vendor: Sorry, only fiskh.

Still in the mode of celebrating my Point and Shoot here. The neat thing about it is you can take it almost anywhere without being conspicuous. I snuck it one time at an ethnic grocery store and took a picture of their fish product. They usually don’t want you to do that as some competitors have been known to steal their marketing ideas. But I don’t care about their market gimmick. I just want to shoot the fish. They look like they’re in need of help. Just look at the ice shavings on top of some of them. This inhumane treatment ought not to be tolerated. The red eyed guppy in the middle is their spokefish. She complained to me that they have obviously been subjected to harsh and cruel condition.

     Customer: Can I have a Coke?

     Fish Vendor: No, only Pepsi.

Cheers.

Featured Comments:

El: This looks like a painting. So these are the fish at the market? Did you use your lightroom editing. The colors looks like they are painted on a canvas. I love it.

Juzno: Yea usually I import all my files in Lightroom. I globally tweak the curves a bit where I could see everything, apply some noise reduction (Lightroom has probably the best I've seen) and then I export it to PS. In PS, I can selectively dodge and burn using the curve layers -- which I find real neat because the adjustments don't have to be applied globally. For this image, I also applied the color saturation layer and selective tweak the colors, e.g. blues are applied only on certain areas and not on the entire image. So, in a sense, it's like painting.

Rate-cha: Sorry, right of the bat, and I don't like bats, but I also don't like this picture. I went into a Hong Kong grocery store and they had barrels of fish squirming on top of each other, apparently, still alive. That is cruelty!

Juzno: So... will that be "eat in" or "take out?"

ISO 1200 Magazine | Avoiding Flash Reflections in Eyeglasses

2011-11-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

ISO 1200 Magazine Photography Video blog for photographers: Avoiding Flash Reflections in Eyeglasses by Adoram...: AdoramaTV Presents Digital Photography One on One. In this episode Mark shows us how to adjust the angle of your light source to avoid f...

Red River

2011-11-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

In hindsight, I must have been crazy to even try to take this shot the way I did. It just rained so the rocks were slippery. Right behind me, just a few feet away was a ten foot drop. I'm not going to do that again.

Hope your day is going well.

Taken last year at Sebaste, Antique, Philippines with my Point and Shoot. This image was the last thing my camera saw before it plunged into the raging river. I was still able to retrieve the camera and after I let it out to dry for three days it seems to still work. Lately, I have noticed that the image quality I get has been degrading. But that's probably because I’ve used it immensely. I've probably shot about a thousand images with this camera. So the sensor is probably not as responsive as it used to be. The camera has served me well. I sense that it may well be on its last leg. I would like to remember it as providing me with great images that I will always have pleasure to share.

Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

aLone (again)

2011-11-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Wanna dance?"

She came as the headless fashionista, and she was a blast at the Halloween party. They loved her. But I think she may have partied too much. She was by herself alone when everybody left. Left in the dark, she is still waiting for a taxi to get home.

Featured Comments:

S: She's sad because she has no head - maybe you should've given her a pumpkin head, Rob!

L: She partied so hard that she lost her head. Freaky!

Annie: Very nice shadows. Where did you find a mannequin with no head like that? It looks like a photo fit for a fashion magazine.

Juzno: Found her at the mall. She kept me company while my wife was trying out new clothes.

Rach: Wow a husband that takes his wife shopping; can't find many of those.

Juzno: Well it gave me opportunity to flirt with the mannequins.

Martha: He brought her headless body to the party on piggy-back. Her jealous troll boyfriend refused to see her smile and hear her laughter. He returned to his spot under the bridge and cradled her head. He's destined to remain ugly muddy and cold. She was not sad and alone for long. The taxi man picked her up. She now decorates his shower. Water is life and her clavicles make excellent soap dishes.

Juzno: Was that why her jeans shrunk? She was decorating in the shower.

The Crawl

2011-10-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

“I’m sick of people who don’t appreciate their blessings… " (John, Saw 2004)

I have a dark side I must confess. Maybe all of us do.

The image is one from a series of images I worked on some time ago. I think that this kind of art is not for everybody. But being close to Halloween, I may be able to get a pass here.

Have a safe Halloween. Cheers.

Techie notes: Canon EOS 5d, EF 24mm, Model by KC.

Featured Comments:

Martha: This witch has slipped on salt. Is she being preserved or is she dissolving? Is she a he? 'Tis the season of the witch.

Looking forward to this worked-on-some-time ago series. Keep the camera near, you never know when a ghost or goblin may appear.

Swil: Please explain how you got the "exposure" like that ... I guess I'm a novice on your techie stuff!

Juzno: Sure no prob.

As you can see, this was an indoor shot. The lighting source was all from the ambient and whatever incandescent light was available at that time. No flash. I used a wide angle lens to get that semi-distorted perspective. I put a neutral density filter (probably a 4x or a 6x) in front of the lens, and I'll explain why: I wanted to expose at the longest time possible so I can create a motion blur. The camera was on a tripod so the stationary elements on this shot would not be blurry. (Only the moving elements would be blurry.) I think the aperture was on f22 or something. I wanted to get the longest exposure I can get. Next, I set the bulb setting on manual. When I was ready to shoot, I asked the model (in this case my daughter) to do push-ups on the floor. I probably exposed at about 10 seconds or more -- to get that motion blur. Since her hands were relatively on the same spots as she was doing her push-ups, they came out relatively sharp compared with the rest of the body.

In post processing, I converted the image to BW with a bit of brown tone and just adjusted the contrast to get that film-noir look. I added vignette on the corners to up the creepiness factor.

Hope this makes sense.

Swil: Yes it does make sense ... I'll keep my day job too as I'd have never figured that one out! Your secrets are safe with me by the way!

Juzno: Whoops.

Anxiously Waiting, Life with Dignity

2011-10-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

I need a new provider.

I was sitting on a bench during a graduation ceremony when he stood in front of my view point. So I shot him… I mean with my camera.

One of the images I like to capture has to do with street photography. While technically, this may not be considered street photography but more in the category of photojournalism. I caught this man at a moment that I thought looked cool. What was he doing? Was he on a phone? Or maybe he was just scratching his left ear? (That would be really weird.) Was he a secret agent? Who was this person? I don’t really know. He looked like Shaft to me. Or maybe Seal, the artist-singer.

You might say, well what’s the point of taking his picture? Actually, there are at least two points. The first point I think is life with dignity. Created in the image of his Creator. Life with dignity even though he may be just a lonely man who is in the middle of something, who just don’t seem to understand [*]. The second point is I just like to take pictures of things and of people that nobody else would. This image is just another facet of what I like to shoot, which doesn’t always appeal to most people.

I remember in the days of film, people would chastise me for wasting my film on trees and cats and little ditties and people I didn’t know. The rubric was that film being expensive was best used on people you actually know. I never paid attention to them. I just shoot whatever I wanted. With the advent of digital, taking different pictures on different genres made it more accessible.

Talking about techies: The first thing I love about this picture is the pose. Taken at a moment when the person appears anxious… waiting for something that will never be visible to us. One could just imagine. I also love the contrast and the shadows and the depth of field. This image works for me.

[*] Apologies to Sir Paul McCartney.

Featured Comments:

"That is an odd way to hold a phone. I think he was scratching his ear."

"I have to disagree - this man clearly is a head body guard to someone famous who's there to see a relative graduate. He's checking out the scene, letting his men know everything's secure - it's OK for them to come in. There was a little kid screaming on his right so he switched sides to try and hear a little better, hence the disgruntled look on his face."

"Too bad nobody told this man that he could have used a blue tooth wireless. He also probably need to switch provider."

"You see... the capped gent is informing the undercover half brother that the gray haired dude, is a fake. Just like his papers, Ray Bans and the baby in the buggy... Reporting from a graduation ceremony under threatening clouds and wearing flats, I'm Edeluvina dela Whoo-Yah."

"I believe that the gray haired dude's hair is also fake. It's really a wig that he borrowed from the Salvation Army."

Pearls descending from heaven

2011-10-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's all by grace alone.

Hope your weekend went well. Mine was not too bad but today I seem to have started on the wrong foot. Maybe the weather. I mean I’m feeling kind of lousy and kind of under the weather. I don’t know why I’ve entitled this image as such. Really random except for the cloud-like background and the buds that appear to be descending from it. I’m thinking maybe I could call it Obscured Botanica but I’ll save that title for later when it’s more appropriate.

More ramblings going on here. I think of this image as borrowing from the Impressionists. Not so much because of the blurry rendition, which does resemblance some of the Impressionist paintings. No, but actually I attach the Impressionist influence more on the lighting, which seems to sneak up in different places. It’s what attracted me to this image in the first place. I think some people will miss that and just see the blur. Maybe that is how we see sometimes at life – everything is a blur but the light is there; we just don’t appreciate it. Enough rambling. Hope you enjoy.

Requiem

2011-10-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

It was long ago. Salud mi Dulcinea.

My last image for the week before I head off to my imperfect solitude where the sunshine of my mind will never die. Okay that may just be the worst first liner in prose writing history. I know – I know… I should stick to photography. But I love commenting on my own work. I see this image and it beckons me. I don’t know why. Somehow the mood evokes melancholy with a vibe of eeriness. Maybe this is not an appropriate photo for Friday. Anyway, hope you like it. Enjoy your weekend. Cheers.

For the techie: The image was taken some time ago and was my first attempt at HDR. I think it stands for High Dynamic Range. I usually don’t like the HDR look as it seems to always make the photo appear artificial. I’ve re-processed this image the other day and tamed the obvious HDR artifacts as much as I can. I’m happy with the results here.

Rach: Exactly my thoughts - I am like "what 'never die'?????" "Whateverrrr." Okay, now that we have that taken care of. Was it really a white rose?

Juzno: Yea, that rose used to be white. Now it's olive green as in dying. Kidding. The yellow cast is actually the result of the lighting.

Annie: "... imperfect solitude where the sunshine of my mind will never die" this line is just too poetic for me. Very cryptic. I am trying to understand it. I don't know if I know what imperfect solitude is. Sunshine of my mind, will that be God? You made me think what is the sunshine of my mind...hmmm....????

Juzno: Try 1Peter2:9.

Annie: 1Peter2:9: "....so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Thank you.

L: I do like this tamed version. It's very good. I can feel the eeriness in the photo. It looks like from the blackness comes forth beauty. Because of the HDR it looks like some of the pedals are in a state of brittleness; like they are frozen still but if you would touch them, they could easily fall. Yet some of the petals are still subtle and soft and they are hanging onto life. You can see the texture in the pedals; especially along the edges. It's beautiful. Excellent! Did you have a light on the rose or did you add that in the process?

Juzno: It was kind of dark when I took the picture. No flash here. I believe each exposures where about 10 seconds more or less. That's one reason I HDR'd it. I noticed that the initial image was flat when I saw it on the LCD screen. So, I thought to add some range to it. I used a free HDR called Picturenaut. Then I exported the image in PS and blurred out some of the petals to give it a softer look.

Swil: One should always follow their gut feeling ... it is indeed too melancholy for a Friday !

When Roses Bleed

2011-10-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

Canon EOS 5d, Lensbaby 3G

A good drizzly morning to you. Ever since I could remember, Thursday has always been my favorite day of the week. Thursdays tend to make me moody. Strange as that may sound I sometimes welcome being in a moody spirit. It makes me reflect on things. Re-evaluate things. I have to make a confession here. I’m such a sucker for sentimentality. The image here evokes quaint emotion for me. It’s like somebody left the scene and then there is just silence. A soft voice whispers, “why did you leave me?” Sorry. Somebody pass me a Kleenex. I’m really old fashion hiding behind the Harry Potter glasses and the fake goatee. Don’t mind my ramblings. Hope you enjoy the image. Cheers – R

Techie notes: Taken with the Lensbaby mounted on a Canon EOS 5D. I think this was shot at f2.8. Very long exposure. Newspaper courtesy of the Daily Bulletin. I don’t really read it but I always find one at the porch every Saturday. Must be from my neighbor. I finally made good use of it. Hahza…

Featured Comments:

P: Love the shot. And isn't this weather fantastic! I love the fall. Fridays were always my favorite day, I always felt like such a free spirit on those days, lots of anticipation for the coming days. I get the moody thing. I guess I just see it as reflective and thoughtful. Better that than blind to the world and others in it. I get "moody" on a daily basis. I keep looking for a little enlightenment each day. Trying to keep the vision of the glass half full, sometimes it's difficult when I look at the state of the world. Humanity definitely needs to go back to school and learn a few things. When I saw your picture I thought of two people at the end of a glorious night of making love and sharing coffee and the paper. Interesting, huh? Haha Don't give up your "moodiness" it makes you what you are which is a very thoughtful fully engaged human.

Rachel: Beautiful as usual! I love the emotion of the shot. Maybe it was your commentary, but I did get the sense that the wilted roses were looking for their long lost owner and wonder why they had been abandoned on a newspaper. Or perhaps they were getting ready to be wrapped up and sent off for delivery. Nah, they were too worn to be fresh and new. Kinda saw myself in those roses...ok, I digress. (Fake goatee, huh? I was wondering...j/k).

Martha: Above the blurry and clear verbiage of the Daily Bulletin lays my confidant of 41 years and myself. She lives in Vegas. She's the crispy brown edged rose. I'm the veiny rose. Tito, hold the tissue. We laugh at our too-pooped-to-pop moments. Cheers to moods and ramblings.

The Loners

2011-10-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Canon EOS 60d, Carl Zeiss 50mm

Good day. Here’s another oldie image. Nothing fancy. Maybe even mundane. The flowers appear to me as if they were almost hesitant to get their picture taken. Even with their fiery red color, they seem to want to shrink back into the dark. For me the photo is a bit conflicting -- on one hand the flowers seem to beg for attention but on the other hand they want to be left alone. I suppose one can say the shot is about wall flowers. Growing up I knew what it was like to be one. Maybe that is why I can relate to this image. (I heard that Bruce Springsteen was once in a band called Wallflowers but now I’m totally digressing.) There is really nothing witty about it but I happen to like it. Hope you’ll like it too.

For the camera techie: Taken using Canon EOS 60d at iso 100 using a tripod with a Carl Zeiss 50mm lens at f/16 aperture. I also attached an extension tube so I can get real close to the flowers. The shot was my early attempt with off-camera flash photography. “Off-camera” simply means that the flash is not sitting on the camera shoe but somewhere else. [Why would a camera have a shoe? I am not really sure quite honestly. ] To get this shot, a black cardboard was placed behind the vase as background. The flash was set at the back of the cardboard. The flash merely provided enough rim light so the vase would be discretely illuminated. In other words, the light is really coming from behind.

Veronica: I can feel the shyness, yet beauty still shines, no matter how much it tries to hide in the dark.

Annie: I like the shot of the vase, it is like you said discreetly illuminated so that only parts can be seen in the picture. I like the black background. It makes such nice contrast to the red lily. I wouldn't call it wallflower. It is too beautiful to be a wallflower. To me the flower is screaming "I am beautiful."

P: Pure beauty, elegance, standing together...... Funny how things can seem so different between people. I love this one. And I too was somewhat of a wall flower myself, in a way. I was actually quite shy until I was about 12, then all hell broke loose! Haha Thanks for sharing.

Rose Strawberry Ice Cream Forever

2011-10-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

Canon EOS 5D. 35mm Carl Zeiss

Hope your weekend was good. Mine was productive. Seems like my diligence in laboring on my Sunday school materials is paying off. My last two classes had good turn outs. Yay. Still don’t have much time to do new photo post processing. But I dug up this one from the archive. This was the same faded rose that I’ve posted before but taken on a different day. I believe it was on a Saturday morning just after it rained. What you see are actual rain drops and not from the sprinklers. (I actually only use drip irrigation on my backyard.) This photo has been reprocessed to show more details. I think of strawberry ice cream and icy droplets. Yummy. Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

Rach: Truthfully, can't tell what it is and it looks like warts on the bottom right. But I guess it's just the mood I am in. Love the colors, except for the ones on the right.

Juzno: Ouch! Warts on colors you love? For this you have just won the Most Brutally Frank Comment of the Day. LOL. Well, I hope your mood improves.

Anne: Rach, you are funny. I would think of chicken pox, but not warts...LOL... Actually, I usually read Rob's comments before I see the picture. This one looks like a painting, you can see the brush strokes on the petals. The drops of water adds to the painting, like accessories to a dress.

L: Beautiful coloring. I’m thinking strawberry parfait. The water droplets came out so clear. I like the flow of color; how it comes in strong and almost fades into a nice light orange sherbet.

Juzno: Sherbet!

J: Nice - Very Nice - are you sure you didn't spit on the rose? Tee hee. Thanks for sharing - you know that I love close-ups of flowers, mushrooms etc etc...

Blue Contentment on a Wack-o Friday

2011-10-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Bahia Bay, San Diego, Canon EOS 5d

Before you tweak your monitor or clean your eyeglasses, let me just say that you probably don't have to. Towards the end of the week, my eyes start to play trick on me. And this is one representation of how I sometimes see things. It's an indication that I want to be in another place. Maybe another world.

Taken at San Diego. It was getting late that day when I saw the contented ducks swirling around the water. You could also see a hint of smog across the skyline. Oh yea, even San Diego gets smog.

Now I know I have posted this image on this blog before but I thnk that's okay. Also, it's wack-o Friday so it's probably okay to be wack-o.

Andee: Happy Friday! Thanks for the pic, very unique! Did you use a special kind of lens?

Juzno: No special slens... I just used the bottom of an old coke bottle. Hahzahh.

Epson: I know what you mean. Sometimes you just wanted to be away from it all. No worries, No pain, No anxieties, but only peace and harmony. I guess the lively ducks connote that we must move forward though and do the best we could do to make our daily lives meaningful. Good shot. I always enjoy your pics as they always have some stories to tell one way or the other. Have a nice weekend to you all and God Bless!

Look to the west and you might just find gold (Revisited)

2011-10-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

The title could have been "If everything fails, convert to Black and White". Except I'm not at that stage yet. Well, almost. I've belabored on the first image for so long that I think the Black and White nuclear option is the next step.

Last Monday I had a bit of time to do some post production photography. I was initially excited to see the results on this image of the golden hill (see left insert). It was taken a week earlier at my usual hangout -- on top of the office roof top. Yet the next day as I review the picture somehow that excitement had dwindled. I felt that the color was too pale for my taste – a huge departure from my usual style. I seem to want to darken the shadows and enhance the color of the clouds in the sky. I kept it the way it was thinking that my impression would change. I've also asked for comments from other people. After hearing what they said, I ended up revising it. Hence, the second image below. I think it's an improvement but now I think I've lost the grand composition of the first one in favor of a more cropped and saturated image on the second. I mean personally, I like them both but I felt I wasn't confident enough to share them. Anyway, here they are. I’m giving them a chance. If you have an opportunity, let me know what you think. (Be nice.)

Diamond Bar, California, Canon EOS 60D, 100mm Carl Zeiss Makro

Last Apple Standing and Raindrops Keep Falling

2011-10-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Tribute to Steve Jobs

I think it was a combination of several events that led me to create this. Yesterday, it rained. A few people asked me if I have gone out and taken a picture of the rain and what was out there. I took that as a neat opportunity and challenge to try to do something related to the rain. Someone suggested maybe some raindrops. But raindrops by themselves are not that interesting. I needed a background or something that would go with it. Then I turned on the news: a fountainhead visionary just kicked the bucket. We knew that Steve Jobs was on his premature twilight days but his passing was (at least for me) still a bit hard to accept. He will be missed for sure. This is my twisted way of paying tribute. The battle scarred apple is still standing. And raindrops will keep falling (but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red... Cryin's not for me... Nothin's worryin' me.)

Ham and Egg Landscape: Not quite there

2011-10-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Diamon Bar, California, Canon EOS 60d, Carl Zeiss 100mm Makro

In the contrived solace of my mythic refuge

sheltered from breathing the foul ozone of the outdoor air,

and withdrawn from the searing heat the day has gained,

my gadfly priggishness incessantly resounds its sullen voice.

Now intoxicated by caffeine, I begin to settle on a lazy chair.

My perception is obscured as I wathced the streams of tiny metal boxes flow along the brambly circuits of parched cement.

Framed unto a glass window, eclectic images are conveyed from the odious urban landscape,

an ugly bearing of the immanet reality of the burgeoning post-modernization.

These stark reflections of patterns trek in contant flux,

yet inchoate, ever becoming but never being.

Wherever they are going,they are apparently

not quite there.

Hope you're keeping dry. Yesterday, while everyone rushed out of the office building, I decided to pursue my photo walk at my one favorite hang outs: the district roof top. I don't know if it was because I wanted to get home quick and I was hungry but the skyline looked like ham and eggs to me. The sunset in the Southland is arguably one of most peculiar ones around. I think this is one example. I like it when the sun is hiding behind the clouds. The light spills looked like melted egg yolk squeezing out under a smoke ham. I think I have a weird imagination.

This was taken using the Canon DLSR 60d and the 100mm Carl Zeiss Makro. On a small monitor, I think there is not much quality difference with that produced from my Point and Shoot. Does that mean I overpaid for my DLSR and Carl Zeiss lens?

Featured Comments:

SWIL: The pic is better quality than the P&S ... I think the quality lens was worth it. As far as your imagination ... very creative indeed.

Glenn: Looks like the eggs were sunny side up!

Anna: Now I'm hungry! Great shot.

Lisa: Cool but.... I don't see the ham and eggs. That must have been your stomach thinking for you.

R: I wonder sometimes, if I overpaid for my camera. I might be able to take better photos with a point and shoot. This was a beautiful shot you took! I saw the beautiful sunset, I wanted to go home and grab my camera, but as quickly as the sun was setting behind the clouds the moon shown through the white misty clouds. The perfect scene for Dracula or the Wolfman.

Juzno: Hey R... I was merely being facetious when I commented about my pricy camera. As for me, I don’t have regrets for the stuff I own and use. I don’t think you can find a camera that’s a one size fits all. I still like my DLSRs for the image quality and reliability. My P&S works well when I want to carry a bang up camera not fearing that it will be stolen or banged up. I still like my film cameras because it gives me a different thrill when I take pictures with them. And yes, I still like my homemade pinhole camera that’s all taped up and falling apart. I love the blurry lo-fi quality it gives me. So, no I don’t think you would be better off with a P&S. I think you just need to use your camera more often.

BTW, the night image shot with the P&S that I sent you yesterday took a long time to set up, and I have to spend hours in post processing to get it to look the way it did. The image today only took minutes to set up and there was not much post processing. So, there really is no comparison. Sorry, if my comment made you second guess yourself. Just keep working at it. My one repeated suggestion: Bring your camera every day. Use it. Don’t worry if the images are all botched as you can erase them later.

S: OK – I’m not quite getting the Ham and Eggs feeling on this one but beautiful picture! The busy freeway against the calm of the sunset – they complement each other. Hey, I think that’s my car down there - I’m leaning out the window taking a picture of you on the roof...!

Purple haze on the last Friday in September (or Green Eggs and Ham Landscape)

2011-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Diamond Bar, California, Panasonic DMC-LX3

Last Friday was exceptional because of dramatic cloud formation on the west. I used the old Point and Shoot on this image. Set it on manual mode and exposed it for about 15 seconds. If you’re wondering how I was able to hold the camera steady for that long, I didn’t. I placed the camera on top of a wall, and set it to two-second timer delay so I could avoid any shaking while the shutter releases. I made sure that the image stabilizer on the camera was turned off. (The IS will actually ruin your image if the camera is set on a tripod or something solid.) I think it must have been around 7 in the evening when I took this shot.

What I like about this image: I love how the purple blends with the grayish smog on the horizon. The vibrant green provides a nice contrast to the skyline and the dark trees. I also like how the twinkle from the street lights add a nice to the overall scene. Try getting that from your P&S.

For this image, the tone and colors were enhanced. I post processed it using Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. I played with the curves, desaturate some colors and added some vibrance.

What I least like about the image: I wished that there were less of the trees on the right hand side but that would mean either cropping a good portion of the image, or moving from a different location -- but I would lose some of the nice elements like the street lights and the light streaks. Oh, well.

What I wished I would have captured: I wished that alien warships would emerged from the sky. Man, that would really be cool.

The Big Apple in the West

2011-09-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

"I'll take a bite of that."

Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that one morning, or I was still dreaming. But several minutes later through our morning beach walk, the wind temperature started to drop, the sand began to turn into snow and suddenly a big apple appeared from nowhere. Maybe it was a sign – trying to tell us something. Who knows.

Well, okay... it's Friday afternoon so maybe this will help you get through the day. Have a great weekend.

Featured Comment:

SWIL: I'll have what you had to drink for lunch.

kamileepants: Haha -- very surreal. Reminds me of Magritte.

As Dennis Frates pursues the big picture, he never forgets the details

2011-09-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

As Dennis Frates pursues the big picture, he never forgets the details

First Fruit Framed

2011-09-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

Photo of last year to document the first fruit.

Our Golden Delicious Apple tree has been more productive this year. They are not as big as the ones you normally see in groceries and they don't look as appealing. But they are very sweet.

Last year, we only had a few, and there was only one that we have the benefit of enjoying. I thought since it was the first fruit that I should frame it. (Well, they do that with the first dollar you've earned, so why not with the first fruit?)

Integrity: Maybe a Hepburn

2011-09-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Chino Hills, California

I dug this up the other day while going through my archive. I’ve been reworking on my older photos with newfound knowledge of luminosity technique. I think I might have used the nifty-fifty lens on this one. It’s a great 50mm normal lens. (By normal, I mean it gives a normal perspective on a full frame format. As opposed to say a wide angle lens, which does make the images appear “abnormal”.) I got the lens years ago for less than $100. I think it still sells around that price range. For this image, magnification was achieved by threading a cheap diopter on the 55mm lens so it looked like it was shot using a macro.

As you can see, the color of poor old rose had began to fade. It used to be pink. Very pink. The middle part had also aged a bit. Yet, it still stands with integrity. If she was a woman, she would be of strong character. She probably could be one of those who have aged gracefully. I’m thinking maybe a Hepburn. Or maybe a Joni Mitchell. Whatever happened to them?

Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

ISO 1200 Magazine | Photography Video blog for photographers: Post Pro with Kevin Kubota: Week 2

2011-09-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

ISO 1200 Magazine | Photography Video blog for photographers: Post Pro with Kevin Kubota: Week 2: Internationally known and award winning Top Ten Wedding Photographer, Kevin Kubota , is widely known for his post processing knowledge and...

That Fleeting Moment

2011-09-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

Diamond Bar, California, Panasonic DMC-LX3

Sarcasm alert: Photography can teach one patience.

Late September is probably a good month to capture gorgeous sunsets here in the Southland. I've been noticing a lot of gorgeous sunsets but just haven't had the chance to take a picture -- I'm either driving or I'm busy with something else. Until now. Last Friday before I left for work, I noticed some popcorn clouds on the horizon from the fifth floor. I thought that would add some interesting items on a sunset shot. I know I shouldn't be at the office rooftop but that was the best place for this photo op. I wanted a modern industrial look as a foreground for my pre-visualized image. Once up there, I positioned myself where I thought I could capture the sweet spot on the horizon. I waited and waited. When the right moment came, I clicked on the camera but that darn bird sneaked right into my sweet spot. By that time I realized that the sun was gone. Now I'll have to wait next time the popcorn clouds show up.

Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

Featured Comments:

kamileepants: I like this photo a lot. Even though you got pissed at the bird for getting in your shot, I think it is actually an interesting visual component of the photo. My eye was definitely drawn to the bird. To me the picture is a unique blend of artificial and organic. Ironically the organic elements (clouds, sky, bird) seem unnatural due to your manipulations with the saturated color. Also, the bird because of its symmetry and lack of details almost seems like a cutout or manmade construction. It actually echos the satellite and tower or whatever manmade elements are there in the background. By contrast, the tiles of the rooftop, despite being a manmade construction, are more organic because of their imperfections (the lines aren't straight and the color varies with each tile). I also like the rosy glow and glint of light that reflects off the edges of the tiles and wall. It reminds me of how it feels to be immersed in sunlight, you know the kind that washed over your whole being and warms you from the inside. Thanks for sharing!

Marv: We have to thank the particulate matter in the air for colorful sunsets we have been having lately.

V: This golden sunset has its own beauty, reminiscent of richness and satisfaction after a lifelong toil and sacrifices. I like the clouds flying from overhead and swiftly drifting away towards the horizon. Crimson sunset is beautiful, too. It’s like looking forward to a peaceful, yet colorful roosting, to where the daily chaos don’t have a place. Maybe you can capture a crimson sunset also.

Juzno: I love crimson sunsets. I think crimson sunset is a result of too much smog in the air. We’ll have to wait for another smog alert.

Swil: I think the bird really makes the shot, it rounds out the concept of industrial/nature contrast.

L: Wow when I first saw this I thought that you were on a pier (thus the seagull). I like the seagull in the picture. I actually think the equipment takes away from the bird’s flight. Hmmm…I wish the gull was more on the left side of the equipment or the equipment gone completely. Either way the colors are gorgeous and the “popcorn” clouds are beautiful. Hey I think we all need to do a photo shoot on the roof.

Juzno: LOL... you're sharp, Laura. I really believe that the seagull was smuggled 140 miles from Santa Barbara, and was released there at the roof top that very moment to sabotage my photo op. But seriously, on this image, I wanted to create a contrast between natural and the industrial elements.

ISO 1200 Magazine | Photography Video blog for photographers: Ten secrets to be a street photographer like Bruc...

2011-09-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

ISO 1200 Magazine Photography Video blog for photographers: Ten secrets to be a street photographer like Bruc...: Bruce Gilden joined Magnum Photos in 1998 and became a full Member in 2002. Quote "I'm known for taking pictures very close, and the...

Barbie After Dark

2011-09-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

St George St in Sydney where the vamps hang out

"It has that sense of a doll being child-like; or innocent -- and what lies beneath it or out there in the world is sinister and gloomy," said one photographer about this image.

Some people are already gearing up for Halloween. Well, I don’t have any Halloween photos for you (not yet though… I’m not really on the hunt for pumpkins). Perhaps, I could indulge you on a haunted house. It’s not really haunted but somebody suggested that it appeared like it was – maybe it’s the eerie image of the doll (dolls can be creepy). Maybe it’s the image of the person on the window. Maybe it’s the blue monochrome that makes the clouds look more ominous than they are. Then again, maybe not.

Shot in Jpeg through a store window somewhere in St George, Sydney. The doll is inside the store while the building and the clouds are reflections on the window. No digital manipulation here except for converting the image to monochrome, and some dodging and burning. What you see is for the most part what came out from the camera.

Hope you have a good day. Cheers.

Yearning

2011-09-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Which planet are you from?

Hope your day is going well. I haven’t done much post processing so I’m scrapping the bottom of the barrel here. This one was taken recently on one of my morning walks with Rose and Mimi (the pom). (It’s getting less and less frequent for me but that’s another story.) I couldn’t think of anything fancy or witty to say about this image. No existential reflection. No deep rumination. It’s a picture of leaves with droplets from the morning sprinklers. What else can be deep about it?

I set out to take pictures of droplets on leaves that day. This one came out the strongest. I used my beat up Point and Shoot because it was crying out to be used. My other cameras don’t complain much because they get their regular exercise. Although there is nothing really special about this image, I’m pretty satisfied with it considering the kind of camera I used. With P&S, it’s not easy to get the background blurry even at wide aperture. Perhaps, it was the challenge that gave me satisfaction. Looking at it, it does yearn to be seen. Just like my P&S, it yearns to catch moments in time.

Reflecting on the Absent

2011-09-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

Channel Island, California

I speculate that the moral police will have some problems with this image. It is what it is. Two men holding hands along the Pacific Ocean. Friends? I would say hardly. I think they are more than friends. I'm not going to be judgmental. The reality is this is the world we live in. People do the things they do for whatever rationale they have. Beyond that, I see emptiness. Not because of their sexuality. This would have been true regardless.

I've mentioned to a good friend that in my art I try to convey the darkness and the light -- the curse and the redemption. That is not easy. On this one, it is ambivalent. It's hard to see redemption in this picture. The subjects are reflecting on something -- whatever that may be. But it's all senseless to the viewer unless one fills in the blanks. Hence, the title "Reflecting on the Absent". There really isn't anything out there. Is there redemption in this scene? Hardly at face value. Yet I would hope there is. Again, one has to fill in the blanks to get to that conclusion.

Like I said, it is what it is.

Addendum (Updated September 21,2011): Shot taken at Channel Island the day before the 10th year of 9/11. I used my Point and Shoot on this one. This was actually one of the many test shots, which I used as basis for composing and setting up my old Mamiya 6 medium format film camera. Out of 24 shots there were only a few that came out okay. This beach scene wasn’t one of them. Good thing I still had my faithful P&S.

Featured Comments:

sista' moonshine: Did you shoot this in black and white or converted it after? What time of the day was it shot? It’s a very intimate photo. The beach looks entirely empty except for their set up at the far end. I like the use of rules of third in this photo. I sort of wish that boat in the distance wasn’t in the photo. Is that a boat or a bird or a plane? Even though it’s small, it sort of disturbs the intimate moment. Beautiful. I love black and white.

Juzno: This was shot original in RAW and converted to BW in post processing. It was late in the afternoon when I shot this image. The clouds were originally not that dark but I burned some parts using curve layer technique in PS. There was a bird on the sky that I removed. The boat is really an ant that crept into my lens :-) No, I think it is a boat. I may try to remove it now that you pointed that out. Good idea. Cheers.

sista' moonshine: You named it “reflecting on the absent”. What does that mean?

Juzno: It could mean anything. Maybe remembering a loved one lost in 911. Personally, I would like to think they are reflecting on what is not there -- whatever or whoever that may be. But I think that may not be the case for the two people.

sista' moonshine: That's a good meaning -- you can read a lot into your photo; especially with the title. There are two people looking out into the distance...there is nothing there that we see. (well except for that boat) -- but we can understand that they too maybe remember what is lost; what is gone; what was once there and is not there. And yes it could connect to the anniversary of 9/11.

Two people alone having their time remembering what once was there or what they once had before 9/11.

Excellent Rob! Feel free to copy and paste our comments to your web page. I think your responses about your photo are very insightful.

Rachel: Your photos always convey a sense of humanness or earthliness that is conveyed through your art. I always welcome the shots.

A great shot. I like the dark shadowing of the sky. It really gives a lot of depth to the sky, which could be overpowered by the emotion of the people.

Rachael: Beautiful! Makes me want to touch the sand. If I didn't know if was just before the celebration of 9/11, it wouldn't make me feel so sad.

101 at LAX

2011-09-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

LAX, Canon Rebel XT, Lensbaby Composer, view large at Juzno ofthe Day

Hope you're keeping cool. Sorry, I haven't shared any photos in a while. Just too hot to be working in the studio. Plus by the time I get home I am already enervated from the searing heat. Just part of getting old. Really, if you think about it, photography is a young person's sport: hauling the camera, tripod and various lenses, and hiking several miles to get to the desired location. One needs to be mentally alert to be able to set the appropriate camera settings. Also one must be on a lookout for those magic moments. Mentally composing as part of the whole process. Then post-processing: developing the film (oh yea occasionally I would still use film), Photoshop, and other embellishments - not to mention shameless self-promotion ramblings (like this one). All these just to capture that one elusive image. Not many people know what it takes because no one really cares about the process. And that's fine. All I'm sayin' ...

The above image is an old one. Meaning I've shot it within the last couple of years or so. I was striving to get that pseudo-impressarsio impressionist style painting. I remember blogging about this image some time ago. I had been waiting at LAX and it must have been 101 degrees. It felt that way. The humidity was so high that people were literally melting. Heh. So I thought the blurry rendition was appropriate for this one. I shot this with my Lensbaby, which allowed me to create artistic blurs. The Lensbaby is great for creeative renditions, and if someone comments, "your picture is out of focus", I take that as an opportunity to evangelize on the merits of using a great expensive lens that will actually make your photos look like they were shot by a two-year old using a disposable camera. "It's art... so it's suppose to be blurry." Then I tell them that I actually printed this on a very special paper (used napkin) and let it get wet out in the park while all those green icing flowing down. Meanwhile, someone left the cake out in the rain so I don't think that I could take it 'cause it took so long to bake it and I'll never have that recipe again (I mean the one for the picture). But again, no one cares about the process.

More shameless self-promotion: See my Lensbaby Gallery

My Bad

2011-09-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

I was awakened by a text message on my cell phone. It read: U11illeDx

It was a sloppy code for “you killed the wrong guy.” My initial reaction was this was some sort of a joke. When I verified the sender’s phone number, I couldn’t believe what I had just been sent.

This was a first. I usually make sure I’ve covered everything up to the minute details. I’ve rehearsed the plot in my head so many times that I knew it would be a cinch to complete the job. What could have gone wrong? I remember arriving at the scene a little after seven. There was still enough ambient light to counter the steady darkening of the sky. I don’t like this time of the day. Twilight is the worst time to see things clearly. But it’s the best time to be covert. It works both ways. This is the window of time that our eyes are the least effective. So for doing a job where there is a potential witness, this is a good compromise. If I can help it, I always work in the dark. But this seems to be the only time that would work. I was nearing the end of my deadline. So I have to do it quickly.

The Raven

This time I was furious

2011-09-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

This time I was so furious. I have vested interest in this gig. For a while now, I have been rehearsing in my mind how I would do my job. I have all the details worked out. Usually, I don't have to think much about it. Killing somebody is something that I have become proficient in doing. I have done it so many times that it's in my nature -- embedded into my skin and core.

There are at least a couple of ways I employ in my work, both of them confrontational. I don't like striking the victim from behind. That style has never really appealed to me. I want my victims to see my face... I want them to see how I would respond to their reactions. And similarly I want to see their response. There is that dark satisfaction in seeing the victim's face turn from surprise to anger and eventually to fear. I never get tired seeing this even if I've done the gig so many times. Hey, I take a lot pride in what I do.

The first method I use is to stick to 'em. Get really contentious. It's usually not that hard to offend and rile up people. I seem to have a knack for it. Then I wait for the victim to fire back. I usually give them a chance just for kicks. Their false sense of hope will rapidly disappear as soon as I aim for the jugular and make the kill. You'll see this on the victim's eyes -- the disappointment turning into terror. The second technique is similar to the first but more subtle. This takes more planning and requires a longer time to employ. The intent here is to make it look like the victim has the upper hand. I usually want it that it looks like the confrontation was initiated by the victim. I won't give away details here... hey, there are trade secrets in this game but this I'll say: It's all orchestrated to look like the victim had it coming.

I don't need to document my work once I'm done but sometimes the client wants evidence that I have delivered up to spec. The requirements run through the gamut, e.g. piece of private belonging, or at times pictures. Oh yea, there are some sickos who want me to take pictures of the crime scene. In fact, this kind of requirement has been in great demand that I decided to learn photography. In the past, my mentors would use the Minox -- you know, that pocket camera that James Bond used. Nowadays, a camera phone would do the trick. But the problem with that is it leaves a foot print. The cops will be able to tell where it all came from if the jpeg image got leaked. Of course, I could always erase the Exif data but some college hack could always figure out something to retrieve the erased data. That is why I have been using film cameras. All I do is after I finish the roll of film, I just ship it to the client. This way it ensures that integrity of the work. Definitely no digital manipulation occurred when everything is all on unprocessed film. Sometimes, I wonder if they ever even bother to get the film developed. I don't want to risk sending a fake roll. Man, that would ruin my credibility. I got a reputation to protect here.

The Raven

Freckles

2011-08-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

Chino Hills, Panasonic DMC LX3

Hope you’re staying cool. I am not sure if I have already posted this image here. Some time ago I took this picture while on one of my morning walks. Lately, it has been too hot to be walking outdoors. Thankfully, I don’t have to walk to work. Although the car’s transmission acted up again despite spending a couple of K’s to fix it. If I have walked to work, do you think I would stumble into this one again? Anyway, its peculiarity is what I’m reminded of amidst the searing heat in the last few days. Believe it or not, this is how the true colors look like. No digital manipulation here except some contrast and brightness tweak. I suppose it’s a result of global warming. I blame Bush. Hah!

Dignity in Human frailty

2011-08-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

Holga, Lomography Iso 100

How can one as an artist depict human frailty and at the same time show dignity?

Whenever I have a chance, I want to take pictures of people. Not just casual pictures. But pictures that tell stories. And one of the things I've always been drawn to is when the picture depicts the essence of humanity. The image above was shot while walking along the streets of Old Town Pasadena. Now this place is filled with interesting people. There are street musicians, hobos, parking attendants and so on. I've always considered this a haven for street photo ops.

I do not know much about the man in the picture. Yet I see pain and suffering as I look at his face. He is troubled but it seems he has learned to live through many difficulties. As his left hand dangles on his knee, I sense that he doesn't let his pain bother him. He is almost immune to it. You don't see it in the picture but he has a beat up electric guitar by his side. I imagine him to be a blues player. Perhaps he is living the blues... literally.

The picture was taken a couple of years ago but I've struggled about posting it for fear that people may accuse me of exploitation. This is certainly far from my intent. In my mind, this man is made in the image of his Creator. He has inherent dignity, endowed and not a result of what he has done. It doesn't matter what he does, or who he is. I wanted to convey a balance image of this man consisting of both dignity and frailty. It's not easy.

Dear Irene

2011-08-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

San Antonio, the island she loved

Dear Irene,

Hope you are doing well. It must have been hard to get all kinds of flaks from the media. They thought you are feisty and expected that you would bring terrible damages to the children of the East. It's not your fault. Media and self-proclaimed prophets are full of hot air. They say things to sound lofty. They predicted that you were going to bring a big one. I think they were disappointed. Yet I do thank your boss. In his wisdom, he has spared numerous people. I stopped asking why he does the things he does. It is all beyond me. I admit that sometimes I want to question him. But I've learned that it is not cool to second guess him. Anyway, I thought I would just post this silly banter. Regards to all.

Sincerely yours,

Juznobsrvr

Artist in Vain

2011-08-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

Pinhole Blender Mini 35mm

Non-engaging: “Artists are obviously gifted people.”

Politically Incorrect: “God is the source of the artist’s gift.”

More Politically Incorrect: “God gives gifts to artists for his own pleasure and good purpose.”

Today was another hot day. I had difficulty concentrating on my work. And I couldn't stand Rush Limbaugh whining on the radio. I blame the heat. I decided to listen to Electric Light Orchestra instead. Now that's a great British band. Whatever happened to them? I remember that one of the reasons some bands break up is one of the members turn to religion and decide he doesn't want to play secular music anymore. Sometimes religious conversion can have a funny effect.

For some time now, I’ve always questioned with what it means to be a Christian artist. What kind of art would be appropriate for somebody who has now been redeemed by the blood of Christ? Most evangelicals will probably insist that Christian art is sacred and therefore devoid of any secular elements. I remember one time when I used to do music gig at a local coffeehouse; I met another artist who also played there. We talked about how we like the Eagles and other rock groups (don’t know why I remember talking about the Eagles and not the other ones) and how their songs influenced our own songwriting. I asked him why he doesn’t play covers. He told me that since he became a Christian he stopped playing “secular” music. I thought that was strange at first but later found out that there are evangelicals who will not even listen to non-Christian music.

Art in Vain

2011-08-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

"An artist is a man who tries to express the inexpressible. He struggles and suffers knowing that he can never realise his most perfect ideal.” - Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1916

I think that Coburn was right to some degree. Without stating the obvious, he implies that the artist will never be content with his art. What I disagree about Coburn's statement is that his reason for discontent is based on his assumption that man's intelligence will continue to expand in the light of more perfect knowledge of himself and the universe. I think that it is precisely this expansion of man's knowledge that he talks about that will drive man to despair and anxiety. As I look at myself and as soon as I'm past my physiology, and if I am truly honest with my assessment, the more I learn about my condition and the environment I am in, the more things don't make sense. The more I strive to achieve the perfect art form, the more I realize that such pursuit will likely result in vain.

Ruination (iv)

2011-08-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

La Brea Tar Pit, Canon EOS 60d, Carl Zeiss 100mm Makro

“Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

[Le Petit Prince (1943), Antoine de Saint Exupéry]

I think there is a consensus among people on how aesthetics are applied. The concept of beauty is after all universal. Socrates taught the standard for beauty exists in the realm of ideas, which all of us mortals have access to. Hence, for the most part we could all agree what beauty is. I am quite sure that this image on the other hand evokes something else apart from beauty. Most people will find this image not only strange but repulsive. Was that too strong a language? Why would someone want to stare at dead leaves on top on a tar pit? I don’t know. I do find inner beauty in dead leaves on odious tar pit. I must be strange.

"What makes the desert beautiful," says the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well."

Featured Comments (Updated August 30, 2011):

This in particular, does not strike me as ugly. Call me an optimist, but I sensed something different. For instance, what if the leaves were laying on pure white snow? Would it then be prettier? Do we automatically associate substance with beauty? If the leaves were orchids, would we imagine they were laying on the black sands of Hawaii? I know I’m thinking a lot here, but it’s true, beauty is all perception.

Why can’t we see beauty in the life of the leaves and the experience the leaves had from sprouting, to their green rich tone to the autumn color they acquired until their demise….instead we see dead leaves. No longer beautiful? Seems strange when you put it that way, huh? Seems to me we have a choice, but we either don’t realize it or we choose to think like all the rest.

Thanks for this message. I will try to keep it in mind. Next time I see an elderly person, I’ll try to see the beauty in their life and character as opposed to what features they no longer possess. - R

Interesting. I find anything connected to nature beautiful, hence I do find beauty in your photograph. I would not think it repulsive at all. Tar also can come naturally from nature so it too is beautiful, very sensual liquid form……. We are all too programmed for what is considered “beautiful”. And everything of course is relative. Too a skin cancer patient’s mother a small pill which might heal her scarred son/daughter could be the most beautiful thing in the world. A tear, which is usually related to pain and sorrow, might be “beautiful” to a woman who sees it in the man who is so overwhelmed with love for her that is spills out uncontrollably. And I love your quote from the Little Prince and it is so true. And I do agree that the heart is what matters in all things. If we spent more time on healing our hearts and eachothers hearts and concentrated less on “beauty” as our society/humanity label it, this world might be a lovely place to live. Thanks for sharing, my friend. - P

Seeing a dead leaf on a tarpit is not beauty (as defined by the masses, including myself). Capturing this dead leaf and giving it life in your picture, that is art. - Marvin

I happen to find beauty in dead things – maybe I should re-word this – dead plants…there, that sounds better – so this really appeals to me. When I looked at it I saw burnt ground and what was left of a tree – a branch with withered leaves that somehow didn’t burn up. - SH

The tar pits might be odious, however the dead leaves have meaning. It too has experienced the seasons in life. At one time those leaves were beautiful and full of youth, providing to the exquisiteness of this earth. Now they have reached the end. I can’t help to stop and wonder… how amazing our God is to create a part of nature which to some, is insignificant but to other who see the delicacy that He has endow us with so that we are given the privilege to appreciate.

As always, appreciative for the beauty that you behold and the desire to share it with me. - Lisa

This image tells a story about an unfortunate piece of arid land with not enough water for things to grow, dry and barren. Looking out the window, one experiences the undeniable power of the seething eyes of the sun, ready to contribute further the desolate feeling of this forlorn, uninteresting desert. And this suffocating heat causes these leaves to seek refuge, where there is none. With the triple digits that we are experiencing nowadays, readily I empathize with what the leaves are going through.

Be cool - aU

Eastside Veiled

2011-08-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

How are you doing
I wish you can come soon
I am lonely here
I miss you so much

The easiest job to do is murder... especially the ones that no one will know. If there is no body, cops wouldn't even know if the person got killed. Sometimes the client wants me to display the body... why they would want that is none of my business. I suppose they are trying to teach a guy a lesson and want to send out a message. Quite frankly, I don't care. I hate it as it always get messy. But it's a job. Somebody has to do it.

The Raven

The Hills are Alive (r)

2011-08-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Diamond Bar, California, canon 60d, 50mm Carl Zeiss, rework of previous post

I get to experience some wonderful views here on the top floor. Particularly where I sit, the window close by provides a nice display of this hill. The hill forms a nice shape that on a cumulous day, the shape is further enhanced by cloud formation. Aside from the clouds, what I like about this image is what is not there: there seems to be something behind the hill. It makes me curious. The hill offers two paths to go upward. Which path do I choose? The one on the left offers a straight and narrow way. Yet it is very open. The one on the right seems to provide more protection (from what I don’t know). It is wider and looks more challenging. Then the paths converge just before one gets to the top. Since the two paths do not go all the way up, at this point the hill challenges the viewer where to go. Do I go left or right or straight? I think too much.

Hope you enjoy.

Red Marked Draft

2011-08-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Rose from my backyard, Canon 60d, 50mm Carl Zeiss, tripod

Tested the Canon flash 580 ex-ii some months ago so I can't really remember how I set this up. I know I placed a black card board behind the rose. I think I used a diffuser over the rose and pointed the flash on top to get those shadows. The text was an afterthought. It was from a different image of a post-it note that my engineer placed on his folder. If you looked closely, the post-it was addressed to me with words "marked draft". The post-it image was originally yellow and I converted it to BW and further converted to negative. (I forgot how to do negative conversion so I'll have to try that again.) Anyway, I also erased some parts of the text to give it a "chalk on blackboard" look.

This piece is actually a rework of previous post. (I couldn't find it so I must have deleted that one -- very likely because I wasn't satisfied with the photo.) On this version, I've emphasized the shadows using the curve layer in PS - a trick I've recently learned from Craig Tanner. (I highly recommend the website The Mindful Eye, where he provides tutorials.) The technique that has been very useful.

Hope you enjoy this one. Please leave a comment as to let me know your thoughts. Take care.

K notes... foggy and layered

2011-08-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

k notes, Canon 5d, Pinhole Body Cap, hand-held

I'm writing this when everybody here is fast asleep. It's early morning - probably past 4 o'clock. I think this is what happens when one gets old.

The image above is how I usually see things when I don't get enough sleep. Foggy and layered. It's made from a using a digital camera with the body cap as a pinhole. There is no lens - just a hole - a pinhole. Heh. I can't remember the camera settings but it must have been at high iso and long exposure. I do recall hand holding the camera when I made this shot.

The new prophets speak... but the song remains the same

2011-08-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

LACMA, California, Canon 60d, 100mm Carl Zeiss

I really don’t know what this is but the forms intrigued me. Is this art? It must be. It is displayed in LACMA. I often wonder who decides which art are worth displaying in museums. What are the criteria? I suspect that part has to do with the cult of personality. Just because it’s a Picasso or a Mondrian, then it must be good. But I wonder what the artists thought about their work. I sense that maybe it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, I suspect it is all driven by money. My friend once told me that one way to find out why things happen is to follow the money. I am not that smart to comprehend all these things.

Experts are often heard to say that it’s art because they said so. How does one become an expert? Schooling? Training. Or does one get special revelation from the gods of confusion? The experts are the elites in our world. They seem to know all the answers. I think elites believe themselves to have special insights to certain things that mere mortals are not able to comprehend. Lofty things like arts, economics and science. Nobody else understand things better than them. Unwittingly, they proclaim themselves as the new prophets. Somehow, this is akin to a new form of Gnostics, who hold the power to interpret strange things.

I don’t know. I think at the end of the day, one will have to walk away and either agree or disagree whether such things are worthy of being called art. As I told my wife while commenting on one famous artwork, "I think our dog can do better than that." Heh.

Featured Comment by Moses: Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:1-5)

Romance of the Film

2011-08-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Until the film gets processed, it is only in my head that I can imagine the images captured with a film camera. That restless anticipation... Really, what I want to get into is to go back to film - particularly that Black and White film noir. But I get into a snag trying to create a blurb for these images. By the time I finished writing, my feelings have changed.

A side note: As some of you may have noticed, I have been trying to give my blog a fresh look. In going through the motion, I stumbled into an old post on my interview with an art student. I thought it was such a good read that I included the link here:

An Art Student Interviews Juznobsrvr

Here's an excerpt:

well the project i'm doing at the moment is about imperfections, ill write the briefs out for you so you can maybe get a rough idea; 'the photograph as an object: an investigation of imperfection and obsolescence in relation to the photographic print.' so basically.... i only work with film i hate digital photography, and i began to ask myself why, an i looked through photo's i've used and taken before and i realised i only choose those that have gone a little bit wrong, or the lighting is bad, or different as the case may be.. or there's a water mark on the photo or a smudge, or a fingerprint from the film (t hats the best) i just really appreciate the little mistakes, it makes every piece so different.... and when i look at your work, some of it, where you've fiddled with the films or whatever just comes out so wonderful... if i had more money id seriously invest in some good cameras but right now i've got my lomo fisheye.. a bunch of out of date lomo disposables.. 2 box brownies and some slide films...

Holga Girl, Nikon FE, 50mm f1.8

Juzno of the Day

2011-08-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

I just launched Juzno of the Day, a photo blog to serve those who cannot put up with my inscrutable blurbs. The blog will strictly contain only images, which I hope to post one a day. Hope you enjoy. cheers.

http://juznooftheday.blogspot.com/

Meditating on the Austere

2011-08-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

You are too much:

I thought I was underweight the last time I look. Pass the steak please.

What beautiful result:

Thanks!!!

All of that Photoshop stuff is way over my head:

Mine too. I tell people that I do Photoshop but that’s really the original un-processed. (No, I’m kidding.)

Do you spend lots of time doing your tweaking??

No, I don’t tweet.

Have you ever thought about teaching a class??

No, but I taught about it.

Looking at this picture makes me feel tranquil.

Hmm… if it’s making you sleepy then it must be boring.

Probably someone will catch me if I just stare at it…

I hope so… in case you fall asleep and fell off your chair.

And maybe do a little meditation but I guess that is out of the question…

Try humming Ommmm

Rocks San Antonio (iii)

2011-08-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Who needs High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging when one can do it all in one shot?

Who needs HDR? Maybe all of us who aspire to shoot like Ansel Adams.

San Antonio, Antique, Philippines, Panasonic DMC-LX3, f8, iso 80

I’ve never been successful in shooting HDR. Mainly because it requires shooting a bunch of images with different exposure values (EVs). Also, the subject has to be very still so each image will align with one another. This means using a tripod, which I don’t usually carry. If I’m shooting waterscape I might as well forget it because of the constant water movement. Similarly, landscape with trees and bushes can be problematic even though they may appear to have no movements. The trees and bushes will still sway with the wind although not very noticeable. It’s hard enough for me to shoot straight.

Lately, while browsing the net, I’ve discovered a layer technique in Photoshop. Basically, you add an adjustment curve layer. Tweak it so you get the desired result. Convert the layer to Fill. And paint over the areas which you want to tweak. This way one can selectively tweak areas in the image. What I found out on my own (I’ve not read this anywhere) was that one could add several layers and tweak each one for highlights, shadows and blacks. I’ve done it on this image and was able to reproduced that phony HDR look. Maybe this technique is one of the best kept secrets of digital photographers. If it is, it is no longer a secret.

Nota bena: The image was shot at Antique, Philippines using my Panasonic DMC-LX3, which is a poor man’s Leica C- LUX3 . My Panasonic point and shoot costs about a third of the Leica. It’s gone through many abuses. It’s fallen in a river. I’ve dropped it on concrete. I’ve banged it and the darn thing still works. I almost wanted it to fail so I can have a reasonable justification to my wife to replace it. Heh.

You might say, well my photo still doesn’t look anywhere near Ansel Adams’. Yea, but did he ever had his camera soaked in a river?

Does anyone think this is art? (I'm just asking...)

2011-08-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Norton Simon, Panasonic DMC-LX3, f2, 1/40, iso 800

When does art becomes art? I ask because the response to this leads me to my next question. Is a picture of art considered art at face value? In other words, if I survey a sculpture and find an angle that would show a magical side of the artwork that very few people or no one else has seen except me, and I paint an image of it, does that make the painting art? If instead of painting, I use my Holga camera so I can get that dreamy look, is that still considered art? If instead of the Holga, I used my iPhone, would it still be art?

I suspect that discussions on art are looked upon as lofty and perceived to have no real practical use in everyday living. But before we get into its raison d'êtrethat, first we must define what art is. Does art exists for its own sake? Does it need a reason to exists?

I’m just asking…

Thomas Chang with Nature (3 of 3)

2011-08-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Third of the series with the talented Thomas Chang. Thomas has produced a short slide showing the Wildlife of San Gabriel Valley. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Here's what he says about his work:

Many of my photos were taken from the Santa Fe Dam nature area where I volunteer as a docent. This is a rare habitat for native plants, birds, and animals; a true sanctuary in the midst of a vast urban environment. The Nature Center opens Tuesday thru Sunday from 10 to 1:00pm. I lead the nature hike first Saturday of the month at 10am. We also have a bird walk on the third Saturday of the month at 8:00am. You can find out more about the Nature Center at http://www.sgmrc.org/

Thanks for sharing with us your talent and the beauty of San Gabriel Valley's wildlife, Thomas.

All images taken at San Gabriel Valley, California.

See all posts.
. . .

Up on the Roof

2011-08-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Nipa, Culasi,Philippines, Panasonic DMC-LX3

This is what the natives in Culasi see before they go to bed and when they wake up. This is a picture of a ceiling of a nipa hut or bahay kubo. It's made from bamboo and nipa leaves tied together to form a roof. It provides cooling during hot spell, and some water when it rains. The latter feature is not always welcomed by those living under this roof. It's not very sturdy and usually last for only a few years. The materials are indigenous so it can easily be replaced.

My my my Mamiya

2011-08-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Diamond Bar, California, 60 Freeway, Mamiya-Six, f22, 1/500, Fujifilm Neopan 400, expired 6/11

This is the first time I have written about the Mamiya-Six. This will probably be the last.

This is not the same Mamiya 6 that is popular among film enthusiasts. This is a Classic Mamiya-Six folder camera. It looks better and definitely retro vintage certifiable. Because it's a folding camera, one can pocket it in a large coat. A nice feature if you travel a lot. It uses 120 film roll so the resolution beats my Canon 5d and 60d. In a good working condition, this camera can take fabulous images.

A segue: Back in the 70's, the only camera I could afford was a Diana. Anyone using a Mamiya was considered pro. (It's like playing a Gibson Les Paul instead of that copycat mongrel.) I've never used it back then so I always dreamed of owning one. Thirty odd some years later, I got my hand on a Mamiya. I was stoked.

My Mamiya-Six is temperamental. The pictures on my first roll were all blurry. That indicated to me that the rangefinder didn't work. So on my next roll, I decided I was going to focus to infinity for all my shots. The result is the image above. Nice one, huh? Doesn't that look like Northern Europe like Scotland or somewhere? Fooled you... that was shot on top of the roof of my office building (Diamond Bar, California). Pretty retro and creamy shadows and highlights. And this was using an expired film.

But... The problem was this was the only shot that came out in that roll. I think the shutter probably didn't work on the rest of the shots. My wife assured me that it was worth it. I'm not sure if I want to shoot with this camera again. It's great when it works. But I'm not sure when it will. This is why I think that this will be the last time I will write about this camera.

. . .

Journal No. 7

2011-08-08T12:34:00.000-07:00

Inspired (meaning stolen) from German Expressionism
Canon EOS 5D, 20mm Voigtlander, iso1600, f5.6, 1/30

Last Saturday, we went to visit LACMA. The consensus was that the Surrealistic Photography display was the hands down winner. I think all of the photographers were from the German Expressionism Movement. The picture above is my paltry attempt to copy the style of that period. I think I don't come close. Most of the artists probably were experiencing angst and produced remarkable works that expressed their feelings. I've noticed that there has been a resurgence of artists from eastern Europe who have similar sense of art work. My guess is that most of these artists experienced repression and are now coming out of the woodwork. A lot of dark themes.
. . .

I love NY (the day everything sold for $1)

2011-08-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

Canon 60d, Carl Zeiss 50mm

We were on our way to MOMA one Saturday morning when somehow we stumbled into this street filled with vendors. Almost everything was being sold for a dollar. Food, drink, T-shirt… You got to love New York for that. Things may be expensive all around but once in a while one can get lost (just as we did) and find things that are sold on a cheap. One Dollah… one dollah.

A rework of previous post, which I thought was kind of busy. Busy? It's New York. it's supposed tpo be busy. at least that's one of the commentators told me. I followed one of the advice by converting it to BW. Well, I sort of followed. It's kind of BW. I wanted to focus on the people and the T-shirt display was drawing some of the attention. It's where the title of this post came from.
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