_08/18/10_ Red Leaf A leaf, resting on a cycad plant. [last year] happy 1 year anniversary, condo...
cycadleafplant
![<span id="date">_08/18/10_</span> <span id="title">Red Leaf</span>
A leaf, resting on a cycad plant.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#623929542_a3qFr">[last year]</a> <em>happy 1 year anniversary, condo...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-zHfqL8t/3/8758f966/L/2010-08-18%20Red%20Leaf-L.jpg)
![<span id="date">_09/01/10_</span> <span id="title">Foggy Palms</span>
I took advantage of some super-foggy conditions this morning to take some photos. I'm not very experienced shooting in fog, so most of them are less than spectacular. I'm guessing a tripod and a long shutter speed would help. I do like this shot though - the palm tree is very... hairy.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#637052998_VQMdg">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-MKfRVCh/3/71e9162e/Ti/2010-09-01%20Foggy%20Palms-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/31/10_</span> <span id="title">Cherry Tomato</span>
One of many fun-colored cherry tomatoes from the farmers market. I first wanted to shoot a bunch of them to show off the different colors (red, green, yellow, orange), but I grew fond of this little guy and gave him a solo shoot. This is a single shot, one off-camera flash, macro lens at f/22, minimal editing.
See the <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Utility/Setups/8246339_SpVpq#990388643_8UxcL">setup</a>!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#636293379_QqMnE">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-fqXG9pQ/3/c676952e/Ti/2010-08-31%20Cherry%20Tomato-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/30/10_</span> <span id="title">Dragon Fruit</span>
How cool is it that I can buy dragon fruit at the local farmers market? I've bought dried dragon fruit at Trader Joe's before, but we didn't care for it. The fresh stuff is much more mild, maybe even a little too mild - there's not really a distinctive flavor. Regardless, it's pretty fun!
I cut it up like it was a kiwi, since it was about the same size and density. I bought two small fruits; they also had some larger ones that were the size of a small pineapple.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#635178274_Zs5iA">[last year]</a> <em>and so it began...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-dRbnRF5/3/717a87a8/Ti/2010-08-30%20Dragon%20Fruit-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/29/10_</span> <span id="title">Fountain</span>
This is the water fountain at Howard Hughes center, where I saw Avatar in IMAX today. $16 for a ticket sure is steep, but I'm glad I went. It's pretty awesome in IMAX 3D.
The symmetry of the fountain caught my eye, so I decided to make a daily photo out of it. Have a great week!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#634163396_8xj3i">[last year]</a> <em>we've been moved in for 1 year! ... </em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-PQnrKXN/3/3d1bc643/Ti/2010-08-29%20Fountain-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/28/10_</span> <span id="title">Square Shadows</span>
For the geometry-challenged, I should point out that these shadows are actually <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=triangle">triangles</a>, not <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=square">squares</a>. They are framing squares for woodworking, of course, which temporarily live at our house while our bay window is rebuilt.
I set them on top of a glass wall that stops about 1.5 feet from the ceiling. I ended up setting them on a book to get an extra inch and make the point closer to the ceiling. My remote flash is on a tripod behind them, creating the shadows on the ceiling.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#633160445_iy8EE">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-vLtFTmD/3/f513ffe9/Ti/2010-08-28%20Square%20Shadowsd-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/27/10_</span> <span id="title">Fancy Mac</span>
Even Apple haters can't deny the beautiful engineering of the Mac Pro chassis. This one is a couple years old, but I just got it at work to use today. This shot was taken with my phone, it's pretty much a desperation shot.
Have a super weekend, y'all!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#632372508_ximNP">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-tW2LQmf/3/5d6dc98c/Ti/2010-08-27%20Mac%20Pro-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/26/10_</span> <span id="title">Light Bulb and Shadow</span>
Taken with my phone while out on a late afternoon walk.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#631496431_imd4L">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-4XXw8kf/3/e9c14fc5/Ti/2010-08-26%20Light%20Bulb%20and%20Shadow-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/25/10_</span> <span id="title">Tea Strainer</span>
Water flowing over/through a tea strainer. See the <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Utility/Setups/8246339_SpVpq#982954794_43Nxc">setup</a>.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#630510149_AcZc6">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-2R2Gzqj/3/5540eaf0/Ti/2010-08-25%20Tea%20Strainer-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/24/10_</span> <span id="title">Hot Dog Stick Stand</span>
I took the day off today and it was wonderful. I slept in and later my wife and I went to the beach and got corn dogs from lunch, where I took this shot while we waited in line. We also went to a movie and grabbed dinner at the new Santa Monica Place mall.
I'd never been to a Hot Dog on a Stick before. It wasn't all that special.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#630012709_xmU5s">[last year]</a> <em>fail :( ...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-28Nk4gW/3/c3b925ab/Ti/2010-08-24%20Hot%20Dog%20Stick-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/23/10_</span> <span id="title">Hollywood Bowl</span>
This grainy iPhone shot was taken at the Dave Matthews Band show at the Hollywood Bowl. It's a great place to see shows - you get to bring a picnic lunch! Of course you can't tell in this photo, but the Hollywood sign is actually right under those four lights above the stage, a few miles away. In the daytime, you can also see Griffith Observatory from here.
I took ~70 photos when the lighting was cool in order to get something interesting like this; most of the photos were black. I can't believe how many people recorded video of the show on their phones - are they really going to go back and watch that?
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#628515348_CPavx">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-FnWV53h/3/e016c755/Ti/2010-08-23%20Hollywood%20Bowl-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/22/10_</span> <span id="title">Caffeine</span>
The chemical formula for <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=caffeine">caffeine</a>, spelled out in coffee beans. After I uploaded, I checked iStockphoto to see if someone else had already done this and indeed they had, although it looks like they used ground coffee for it. I prefer my version, and will submit it shortly :)
Placing the coffee beans involved some excellent toothpick control and took about 20 minutes. The beans are on a white reflective surface (our tv stand) and it was lit with an off camera flash placed just out of frame at the top. I used a step stool to position myself directly over the beans, and I had to use a magazine to shield the lens so the light from the flash wasn't going directly into it.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#627196255_wsXM3">[last year]</a> <em>glass eyed...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-JBbSqts/3/0f325005/Ti/2010-08-22%20Caffeine-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/21/10_</span> <span id="title">Geese on the LA River</span>
Today my wife and I took a tour of the LA River through <a href="http://hiddenlosangeles.com/">Hidden LA</a>. Here's a preemptive "har har" to all the jokes you might be inclined to make about LA's river.
Of course, the reason behind the tour was to promote awareness of the river, which despite being confined to concrete for most of it's length in the 30s, is a <em>real</em> river. I'd recommend it to anyone - it was a fun and educational experience, and I saw places in LA that I never would have been to otherwise.
This shot is from our first stop at the Sepulveda Basin, just upstream from the dam that you see near the 101/405 interchange - it's one of the few places where the bottom is natural instead of concrete. Other stops included the Glendale Narrows, the Arroyo Seco confluence, and an area south of downtown where a lot of movies, tv shows and commercials have been filmed.
More Photos - <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/misc/lariver2010">LA River 2010</a>
Blog Post - <a href="http://blog.jawsnap.net/2010/09/los-angeles-river-tour/">Los Angeles River Tour</a>
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#626424424_GHsqM">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-8kxWxq4/3/ab173eb7/Ti/2010-08-21%20Geese%20on%20the%20LA%20River-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/20/10_</span> <span id="title">Light and Webs</span>
A light fixture with a lot of cobwebs. Pretty much a desperation shot, didn't do a whole lot today.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#625882902_LcrfC">[last year]</a> <em>now this is a desperation shot...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-MmztHZV/3/83bd8bc6/Ti/2010-08-20%20Light%20and%20Webs-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/19/10_</span> <span id="title">Tile Wall</span>
I like the crazy light scattering from this street lamp. The tile wall is on the outside of the recently reopened Santa Monica Place. It was a fairly mundane mall when it closed down a couple years ago - it's quite fancy now.
Today was not the best day - car trouble, house trouble, neighbor trouble. It was somewhat redeemed by one of my favorite dinners, live music on the pier, and a leisurely walk back home from the ocean.
Also, SmugMug now has Facebook Integration! Cool!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#624919693_SGy5n">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-Jfqxb52/3/40d98745/Ti/2010-08-19%20Tile%20Wall-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/18/10_</span> <span id="title">Red Leaf</span>
A leaf, resting on a cycad plant.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#623929542_a3qFr">[last year]</a> <em>happy 1 year anniversary, condo...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-zHfqL8t/3/8758f966/Ti/2010-08-18%20Red%20Leaf-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/17/10_</span> <span id="title">Bendy Ruler</span>
What was supposed to be a quick desperation shot turned into an all-night project. As I started playing around, I realized that it would be a perfect subject for focus stacking, so that's what I did - this is actually 9 individual shots of varying focus, blended in Photoshop.
Each shot was lit with an off camera flash, and I had to make sure I gave adequate time (~5 seconds) to make sure the flash had fully charged before I took the next shot. The camera was on a tripod and I used a 2 second timer to ensure there was no camera shake. I used the ridges on the lens' focus ring as a guide to consistently modify the focus in between each shot. Manual focus, ISO 100, f/11, off-camera flash at full power. Lots of dust spot clean up in post.
The most time-consuming part was in Photoshop. I had to auto-align before the blend or I got ghosting, and my poor little iMac ran out of memory doing the blend. To fix the dreaded "not enough RAM" message, I had to save the auto-aligned file, close it, open it again and <em>then</em> do the blend. Ugh. Time for a 12-core Mac Pro.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#622896598_Fo2qp">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-2qrtL2h/3/7a3b0fbb/Ti/2010-08-17%20Bendy%20Ruler-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/16/10_</span> <span id="title">Yellow at El Chilito</span>
Austin Trip, Day 4
Today we headed back to LA, but not before meeting some friends for breakfast tacos at El Chilito. Sure, you can get breakfast burritos all sorts of places, but apparently breakfast tacos is an Austin thing. They were quite tasty! I recommend.
Although we had a great time, I sure am glad we're back in SoCal weather. Hopefully we'll make it back to Austin during a less-hot part of the year sometime!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#621901320_esDoQ">[last year]</a> <em>knifed...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-Xg3HHK6/3/7c9e5c2e/Ti/2010-08-16%20Color%20of%20El%20Chilito-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/15/10_</span> <span id="title">Bat Watching</span>
Austin Trip, Day 3
This photo is of the bats emerging from under the Congress Street Bridge. The colony is the largest urban bat population in North America. People line the bridge at dusk to watch, and various river boats hang out and shine bat-friendly red lights up at them so the humans can see.
Apparently tonight was not a good night. On a good night the sky gets black with them. 1.4 million of them!
Other fun Austin things we did today included lunch at the Salt Lick and a movie at an Alamo theater. We've had a great time here, but it will be nice to fly tomorrow. It's a lot cooler in LA :)
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#620997885_aQxRL">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-QNdhrhz/6/f04fc262/Ti/2010-08-15%20Bat%20Watching-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/14/10_</span> <span id="title">Moonlight Tower</span>
Austin Trip, Day 2
Another action-packed day: walking tour of downtown, lunch at Chupacabra Cantina, swimming at Barton Springs (it was 102 today), ice cream at Amy's, shopping at Waterloo and Toy Joy, pizza at Home Slice and cupcakes at Hey, Cupcake!
On the way back, we stopped by this moonlight tower. This is what a plaque says:
<em>Austin's Moonlight Towers
This is one of the 31 original moonlight towers installed in Austin in 1895. Seventeen remain, each tower illuminated a circle of 3000 feet using 6 carbon arc lamps (now sodium vapor). Austin's tower lights are the sole survivors of this once-popular, ingenious lighting system.
1993</em>
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#620000082_aUty2">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-w8Xvmq6/5/23cbebca/Ti/2010-08-14%20Moonlight%20Tower-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/13/10_</span> <span id="title">Texas State Capitol Dome</span>
Austin Trip, Day 1
First day in Austin and man, it is hot and muggy! This morning we took a tour of the Capitol, where I got this shot. For a sense of scale, the star at the top is 8 feet across.
We also went to the LBJ library and town lake. We ended the long, hot, exhausting day by bar hopping on 6th street with cousins from San Antonio who drove up. What a day!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#619314568_UY48P">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-NkGRfrC/5/e8a468e3/Ti/2010-08-13%20Capitol%20Dome-Ti.jpg)
Donna McCommon
on August 20, 2010Great lines and colors.
TinaMarie Gardner
on August 19, 2010terrific color
dakotacowboy
on August 19, 2010nice color contrast