Doggie

Dachshund

I went to a photography workshop today and found it extremely helpful. Because photography is a topic that I am passionate about, I had many questions for the instructor. After all, I did want to make the most of the workshop fee I paid. :)

One of the most amazing things I saw today was how to set a custom white balance when I am shooting indoor scenes. You're supposed to shoot a neutral gray colored card, which will reflect the light source in the room. This can range from incandescent light to fluorescent among others. So depending on the type of light, your camera will balance out the colors it "sees". After setting the white balance to custom, it really improves the images you take in that room because the colors become more vibrant! You can see the difference for yourself below.

Before

After

Setting the white balance is only one aspect of a good picture. The other aspect that's essential is setting the aperture and shutter speed to get the exposure you want.

Also, the instructor taught us how to use five major camera settings:
1. Exposure compensation
2. Flash mode
3. Histograms
4. Metering systems
5. Focus mode

I learned a lot in this workshop and took tons of notes. This has really whet my appetite for additional photography workshops.

Closet space

Closet space

I walked by a Gap store this morning and thought of a blog topic - fashion!
Actually what really inspired me was that I didn't like any of the styles they were presenting on the mannequins. I think the style that's popular now is anything that's a throwback to the 80's.

You see skinny jeans, slouchy tops that fall off the shoulder, long sweaters, flimsy dresses with frills and ruffles and the list goes on and on. I'm not saying that people can't wear that stuff. They do whether I like it or not. ;-) I just wouldn't like it on me.

I like to dress simply, comfortably and casually whenever possible. However, if casual clothing isn't an option, then my clothes should at least have clean lines and structure. No flimsy stuff or ruffles if I can help it!

In the long run, I think my strategy will pay off because if I invest in classic clothing that does not follow the trends, then it will be timeless and I'll always be in style. That's the theory at least. While I definitely don't think I'm a slave to fashion, I am very particular about my clothes because they can be an extension of my personality. My shopping trips are generally very brief because I can go into any given store, get an overview of the clothes that are being sold and I will know whether I am interested in anything.

Some reliable brands that I trust in the States are J. Crew, Banana Republic and Ann Taylor occasionally for business clothes, Land's End, Eddie Bauer and REI for casual wear. Some other miscellaneous stores I may wander into include Express, Zara, or United Colors of Benetton.

One of the hardest things to do in Germany was to shop for clothes because I was not really familiar with the various brands they had over there. In Frankfurt usually just went to Esprit. After I told a colleague of my shopping woes and style preferences, she recommended I check out a brand called Marc o Polo. It has some nice stuff, but it's really expensive.

P.S. - The photo above is of my closet. The only thing that stands out is the red Mandarin collar thing I bargained for in Beijing. Not sure on what occasion I can wear it though. Halloween? Ha ha !

Zigzag

Jagged

I was walking around the office today and saw a pile of Wall Street Journals on a countertop. I used to subscribe before I went to Germany. It was nice to receive a newspaper every morning. It's just not the same reading content on a computer screen.

Also, the WSJ helped me keep up to date on the latest news coming out of the business world. So I'm considering subscribing either to that or to a periodical.

In the zone

Mr. Shoeshiner

Today I experienced this rare and brief moment of being in "the zone," a state of mind in which you're so focused, things are making sense and everything just seems to flow.

The picture today is of a shoeshiner, who works around the corner from my office building. I wonder how much he makes in a day. Did this guy give him a generous tip? Somethings we may never know.

Slanted!

Room with a View

This is the view from the kitchen. You see San Bruno Mountains and the Caltrain tracks in the distance.

Today I had a late lunch, but it was quite tasty. My buddy and I went to Slanted Door at the Ferry Building. For starters we had Vietnamese spring rolls with a peanut dipping sauce. For the main course, she had an order of shaking beef with a side of jasmine rice and I ordered the crispy seafood noodles. The noodles were so crispy that they scratched my mouth as I ate them. For dessert I had a lemon tart. Quite delicious overall. The restaurant has a modern feel to it and a great view of the Bay Bridge, but the food's on the expensive side.

After lunch I could hardly keep my eyes open. Perhaps it was due to the large meal, or perhaps it was the very quiet office environment. It got so bad that I had to get up and walk around. I realize that when I start making spelling errors and nodding my head that it's futile to try to continue working.

Pet peeve

Peeved

Pet peeve - (noun) a frequent subject of complaint*

My biggest pet peeve is when people do not respond to an email, which clearly contains a direct question to the recipient. Yes, I understand that people are preoccupied with other affairs in their lives, but they should have the common courtesy to reply. I do not expect a novel, but a short note stating a clear answer would be nice. There, I got that off my chest!

On a more tranquil note ... today is Memorial Day in the U.S., so offices are closed.


* From Merriam Webster online dictionary

Self reflection

Self-reflection

Are a large amount of toys necessary for kids to be happy?

Kids these days are often surrounded by more toys than they know what to do with. I grew up with only a few select toys. Sometimes on special occasions like my birthday I might have received a stuffed animal or the like. However my sister and I made up for the lack of toys by being creative. We organized sales of our stuff, performances for family, wrote newsletters, recorded stories and made up commercials and wrote and illustrated books. Lack of toys bred creativity IMHO.

As adults I think we then compensate for whatever we missed as we were children. You could say I'm compensating with my photography. My camera's my toy for the moment. :-)

CD that I recommend: U2's "All that You Can't Leave Behind"
As I blog, I'm listening to this CD. I haven't heard it in a long time, but it's definitely an oldie but goodie! The songs have meaning and Bono's voice has character.

Gesundheit!

Cheers

I decided to do a macro today. I really enjoy them because it reveals the latent beauty in small day to day objects. This is a picture of luxuriously unfurled green tea leaves in a white tea cup. The background is an intense red that nicely sets off the white tea cup.

Gesundheit! I found this weird video on Yahoo. Kind of cute.

World Affairs Council

Raconteur

This is a picture of a World Affairs Council event I went to tonight. The event was the author's reading of a couple passages from his book called "The Adventures of Amir Hamza". He translated it from the Urdu original.

It was an interesting event and I met some interesting folks there. There was someone who worked at a travel agency and some guy who did event photography for non-profits for free in order to build a portfolio. That inspired me with new ideas in relation to promoting my own photography.

One funny moment occurred prior to the reading. The party platters, wine and other beverages were placed on the table. One of the guys who worked there was sporting a cloudy mixed drink that looked like some exotic cocktail. Asked what he was drinking, he responded, "It's called Airborne."

[Cue the laughter track]

For the uninitiated, Airborne is a homeopathic tablet that is supposed to protect you from the germs that cause colds.

Inspiration Point

Seats with a View

Today I stayed after work to attend an optional event called "He Said, She Said", a workshop on communicating with the opposite gender. It was an okay event. I wish there had been more interactions and exercises though. It was somewhat passive. We sat there for the most part and listened to a speaker present the topic.

Apparently the brains of men and women are different. Women brains have more "cables" connecting both halves of the brain. Also, I found it interesting that women's brains when they're asleep are supposedly more active than men's brains even when they are engaged.

I don't think I have issues communicating with men. I try to be direct, clear, succinct and explicit with everyone I interact with. However, I do try to adjust my communication style depending on whom I'm dealing with and their specific personality. In my opinion, the personality of my conversation partner plays a more significant role than gender in the communication style I will choose.

Escape

Volare

The Italian prime minister Berlusconi is such a funny character. Not sure if I'd want him to lead my country, but he sure keeps everyone entertained. Read this article here and you'll see why.

When I think that I've covered every inch of the Embarcadero, I discover new little corners that are nice. Today I stumbled upon the boat called "Escape". What if we could just escape from responsibilities and worries of every kind? What a thought! I like the reflections of the water on the boat as well as the angle of the picture.

I realized that tomorrow is a holiday in Germany called Fronleichnam or Corpus Christi because all the Germans on my instant messaging list were inactive. Usually when I start work in the morning, it is late in the afternoon in Germany and I see some old colleagues burning the midnight oil. I had to look up what Fronleichnam meant in English because there are so many religious holidays in Germany in May that I can't keep track of what each one celebrates.

According to Wikipedia, which is omniscient, Corpus Christi celebrates the Eucharist, or body of Christ and the communion thingy. Although I did go to a Catholic middle school, I'm not a baptized Catholic, so I only have a vague idea what specialized Catholic terminology means. At least I'm familiar with most Bible stories if nothing else. It helps when you're looking at European art because every other painting in any given museum has a religious theme to it. I can't count the times that I've seen a picture of a Madonna with Child or a painting of Judith beheading some guy called Holofernes.

Lucky Germans for having so many religious holidays! :-I

Random thought of the day: If I had to see a movie in the theaters, it would be Indiana Jones 4 because I enjoy the archaeology theme and the adventure. What could beat that?

New poll!

Help shape this blog - vote in the new poll.

Inhale and exhale

Old school

This is a picture of Tadich Grill, supposedly San Francisco's oldest restaurant. I've been there once for an end of project dinner. It was okay, although I don't recall what I ordered. What I do remember was the decor. It's full of dark wood and you can sit in booths.

P.S. - I was getting tired of the old Ferry Building pictures myself. ;-)
P.P.S. - You can get an idea of average American business man attire from this picture. American business men like pleated pants that are kind of roomy. European men generally wear flat front pants that are more fitted. I don't really see a difference between European business women and American business women. Their dress is more varied so it's more difficult for me to compare and contrast.

Perfection

Blue skies

I am savoring the natural air conditioning system in San Francisco known as fog. Good riddance to hot weather, I say!

Bay to Breakers

Fan your feathers

Today the Bay to Breakers lurched its way through the city. It's supposed to be a race, but actually it's more like a Halloween party and carnival all mixed into one event. All the exhibitionists (figuratively & literally) were out in full force. You always get the occasional naked person walking around. Mostly people create makeshift floats or wear their wackiest outfit and parade about hoping to get attention. In this town, you have to work pretty hard to get some attention for being weird. ;-)

I'm all for having a bit of fun and wearing costumes now and then, but I think the Bay to Breakers should not allow alcohol in the race. I saw tons of people drinking beer, peeing behind the bushes, throwing cans around and just plain littering. That was just disgusting! I think the Run to the Far Side, another wacky walk that used to take place in the fall was a better alternative. You also had people dressing up, but I think the costumes there were more creative and funny. Unfortunately this race was stopped couple years ago.

I walked a bit next to the Bay to Breakers folks, but after a while the noise, chaos and hordes of partyers just got on my nerves. It was too much of a sensory overload on a Sunday morning when I prefer some peace and quiet.

P.S. - In the picture above you see a traditional Chinese knot ornament that was just hanging around.

Monterey

Monterey

Today I went on a weekend-get-away to Monterey and Carmel. Instead of driving 2.5 hours down there myself, I went with a tour group. It was nice to be able to just sit back and relax because someone else was paying attention to the road. :-) Driving is definitely not one of my favorite pastimes.

Anyhow, the trip down there took around 3 hours because we took the scenic route down south on Highway 1 along the coast of California. Some tourists from Wisconsin were quite impressed with the views of the Pacific and the awesome waves crashing against the rocky shores. When we arrived in Monterey, we were dropped off at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had only 1.5 hours in Monterey to explore, take pictures, buy souvenirs and take a bathroom break. Actually that wasn't enough time especially since I really like to make many photo and bathroom stops! The weather along the coast was really pleasant. The sun was warm, but the breeze from the Pacific created a nice cooling effect. In the picture above you see a building in Monterey's Cannery Row. It's similar in nature to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.

After everyone was herded back onto the tour bus, we made our way along the 17 mile drive, which snaked through private grounds where expensive and exclusive golf greens are located. To play at Pebble Beach for instance, golfers have to pay approximately $400 for a round of golf, assuming the tour guide was telling the truth and I heard correctly. I also photographed the lone Cypress tree that is famous.

The 17 mile drive led us to the quaint little town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. I really wanted to see the old mission in Carmel, but there wasn't enough time to walk there and get back to the bus on time. Carmel is mostly an artist colony with art gallery and little boutiques. I was really positively struck by how clean and peaceful Carmel was. There was no garbage on the streets, no graffiti and no urine smells! The little cottages in Carmel had an English flair to them. It was all quite quaint and pretty.

My theory is that Carmel is really nice and clean because the community is small and everyone knows everyone else, so they feel ownership over their city. No one litters because it would be like littering in their own home. In San Francisco however, everyone and everything is so anonymous. If Joe Schmoe spits on the street or sprays graffiti on a public building, it doesn't matter to him because SF doesn't belong to him. No one knows him in the city. No one will catch him. I wonder what it would be like to live in a small community where your neighbors are helpful and you can walk around without constantly having to look over your shoulder to see if any bad guys or weirdos are lurking in the alleyways.

Easy breezy

Summertime in the City

What I wouldn't give for a cool breeze right now. Supposedly it was cooler today than yesterday when the thermometer reached 97 degrees Fahrenheit, but at 2 PM this afternoon, I couldn't tell the difference. Sweltering temps like these make me shy away from going outside.

This picture above was taken in front of the 101 California building. When the weather's nice, office workers like to sit outside next to the flower pots and enjoy their lunch. Here you see a woman enjoying a book on the sunny side of the steps. I kind of like this picture because of the patterns and then the sudden human figure on the right.

My favorite street in San Francisco just happens to be California street because it leads from the flat lands starting in the Financial District all the way up through Chinatown and then into the heights of Nob Hill. The stretch between Grant Ave and Powell is quite steep, but it's great for toning up those legs if you walk up at a brisk pace!

Walking in my mocassins

Sandals

So it looks like the majority of my readers would prefer to be reborn as a fire hydrant rather than as a public toilet, cockroach or a poisonous mushroom. Very interesting that. It might have seemed like the least of the 4 evils because fire hydrants can help people in need, but you've got to consider that dogs tend to pee against fire hydrants. That can't be very pleasant.

Poisonous mushrooms can be pretty, but they also contain toxins that can kill people. Cockroach was actually the only item on the list that was mobile. I'm surprised more people didn't select that one. Public toilet was a dead giveaway. That was way too easy to avoid. That would be quite a smelly life as a public toilet to say the least.

P.S. I took a picture of my new sandals that arrived today. They will be worn in the 50th state in the union. The sandals are quite comfortable, waterproof and protect your toes while remaining breathable.

Exposed

Americans at Lunch

Whom would you expect to drive a pink pearlescent VW bug? A woman right?
Well, today on the freeway I saw an interesting sight. Instead of a woman driving the pink pearlescent VW bug, it was a large African American man. Very interesting. It goes to show that we should not typecast people.

By the way, if you're wondering what the weather is like here in San Francisco, my answer would be it's way too warm for my taste. I like it when the sun shines and it's a clear day, but there should always be a breeze. Right now it's somewhat stuffy and the air is as stagnant as a cup of unclaimed coffee in sitting around in an office.

One last random thought for the day - I remembered seeing a hilarious Berlitz commercial related to a German guy who couldn't distinguish between the word "sinking" and "thinking." See the commercial for yourself.

Predestination

Psychedelic

I had a "Eureka" moment today and it's represented by the picture above. Okay, so one rainy day, I saw a picture on the San Francisco Chronicle of people holding umbrellas and walking in the Embarcadero. It was a pretty cool picture because as the umbrellas were very colorful against the circular patterned paving that is unique to the Embarcadero. Also, I have seen artists selling pictures of people walking in the Embarcedero with the flooring as a backdrop.

Since I work there, I've always wondered where these guys are taking their photos. Well, today as I was pondering what I should photograph, I wandered into this area. Eureka! I had discovered the secret location of these photographers!!!

I admit that it's not very creative to recreate others work, but I think it's a start. First you try to emulate the photos of those you admire and then you can move onto the next step which is to communicate your own unique vision.

Aside from that little discovery, I stumbled upon this article about birthdays and how they are celebrated in Germany. I agree with the article, which states that Germans do birthdays better than Americans. First of all, instead of being given a cake, the birthday kid is expected to bring in some goodies for the others. I kind of like that tradition. You're basically celebrating your own day and making it nice for others as well.

Ladybug

Marienkaefer

Ladybugs are a symbol of good luck in the German culture. Here's a wooden ladybug I got from Germany a long time ago.

Japanese Tea Garden

Red lacquer

This Sunday morning I went to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco. Admission was $4. Since I wanted to make to most of the entrance fee, I spent around 1.5 hours there and snapped as many photos as possible. One reason I like photography is that it allows me to freeze time for a moment and enjoy it later at my leisure. Usually when I look at my pictures in the comfort of my home, I notice details that I had missed when I was there.

The garden is "klein aber fein" (small, but nice) as the Germans would say. There is a famous bridge that you literally have to climb with your hands and feet because it's shaped like a semi-circle. Also, there are little winding pathways and koi in the pond. The pond is somewhat murky, so you might not notice the few koi swimming around. Photographers love the Garden because it is so picturesque. In addition to the aforementioned structures, you also have red lacquered pavilions, a bronze Buddha statue, a pagoda a tea house and much more.

The Garden was built by Makoto Hagiwara for the International Expo in 1894. The Hagiwara family maintained the Garden until 1942 when they were sent to internment camps during WWII. Today, it has become a magnet for tourists and locals alike who may want to see a bit of Japan close to home.

As I was making my way towards to exit, I couldn't help but head towards the gift shop because of a charming little tinkling sound made by the many wind chimes that were hanging outside. Since it was a windy day, the chimes created an otherworldly and mysterious atmosphere with its delicate tinkling. Apparently according to my mother, Chinese people don't like wind chimes because it reminds them of ghosts. Go figure. Here's a picture of the wind chime clappers fluttering in the wind.

Arrivederci, la lezione italiano!

Festa

Today was the last day of Italian class. Since the class was conversational Italian, the final exam was purely an oral one. The instructor asked each of us questions and we would answer.

Now I know how to introduce myself in Italian, say where I am from and explain what I like to do in my free time. In addition, I had to answer the following questions:

1. What time is it now? What time do you arrive at school? What time do you go to bed usually?
2. Do you like to call people or send emails? Whom do you call or email?
3. Do you relax easily? What do you do to relax? What do you find stressful?
4. How are your classmates? Where are they from? How are they doing right now?

After the exam we had a little party. The food was abbastanza bene, which means pretty good in Italian. There was focaccia, lasagna, drinks, grilled vegetables, crackers and spread, panettone, fresh fruit and nuts, and of course the teacher's famous tiramisu. My personal favorite was the focaccia!

The party was also a good way to finally get to know my fellow classmates better. For example, I found out that someone's companion is a photographer in SF, another person was a drug counselor and someone else was a nurse in WWII. Overall it was a nice finale to the class and we all bid the instructor "Arrivederci" of course. We'll see if I continue with Italian.

Magic

Continuum

On Thursday I took part in a 7 hour meeting to discuss accounting topics. I didn't have to do much talking because my manager took care of that. Nonetheless, it was somewhat tiring to sit through the long meeting because I still had to pay attention, follow along and take notes. I'd really like to improve my technical accounting skills. Most of the managers in my group come from an audit background and a lot of the work we do revolves around debits and credits, so it is a good idea for me to sharpen my skills in this area.

By the way, the picture above is of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Note to my readers

Acting

Dear readers,

Apologies for the lack of a picture and posting yesterday. I blame it on the phone line that went down and down with it went my internet connection unfortunately.
So as a recap of yesterday - I went to a college of business mixer that my alma mater organized last evening. It was at the Americano Restaurant & Bar at Mission & Embarcadero streets. At first it was hard for me to just approach total strangers and start a conversation, but then it became easier after a while. I knew not a soul there. Some others were hugging their old acquaintances, etc. I don't know how they knew people so well at that event. My university was a commuter university, which had the consequence that we usually don't know each other very well. Students go to school on campus and then go home or go to work. There isn't really a cohesive culture of people living in the dorms and bonding, if you know what I mean. That was one thing I kind of missed out on in my college experience - the whole being away from home for the first time thing.

Bottom line - I shook some hands, got some business cards and chatted about what I do. Next time I should have a goal when I go to these events.

Okay, must start working now.
Ciao

P.S. The photo is of my sister who was pretending to be professional that day.

Dripping sandwich

Red means go!

Yuck! Today I saw someone eating a late lunch at her desk. What made it disgusting looking was that it was dripping some substance. Maybe it was melted cheese or something. I don't know, nor do I care to find out.

I'm not a fan of eating at my desk because I'm a firm believer in a change of scenery. It can do wonders even if you are just going to get up and go eat in the kitchen.

Eating at your desk is such an American thing to do I think. Contrast this with how Germans typically eat according to this Spiegel Online article. We are just soooooo busy that we can't take a moment to have lunch away from our desks. I've tried eating at my desk many times, but I didn't find it very helpful because I might get some food on the workpapers or food will drop on the cubicle. It just gets my workspace dirty. Plus, it slows down my work too. I much prefer just taking time out to focus on eating and then afterwards I can refocus on work again. Multitasking is overrated!!

Germania

Vagabond

My German past is haunting me. Okay, okay, it sounds worse than it is.

Problem is that I have to constantly deal with things that haven't completely been resolved in Germany. Things pop up every so often. For example, I've had to talk to Citibank Germany at least a dozen times to ask them to send my Steuerbescheinigung (new word I learned from talking to Citibank. It means tax document showing interest earned) for 2007 to my SF address.

Then my tax preparer surprises me last week with the statement that they can't prepare my German tax return for 2007 for one reason or another. I'm still following up with my HR person in Germany on that one. Then today I receive a bank statement from Citibank showing a negative balance. What do they want from me now?

I will have to clarify these things asap. Problem is that I always have to wake up early to make calls to Germany. They're 9 hours ahead of us here. Only good thing about this hassle is that I get to practice my German on the customer service reps. ;-) Ha ha!

P.S. - Picture today is of my shoulder bag with some patches sewn on.

Twisted

Twisted beauty

In Golden Gate Park today, there numerous multicolored spandexed bodies speeding down JFK Boulevard. I guess it was some sort of race or training for serious rollerbladers because it was an organized event with volunteers and even support from the city authorities. At times it looked like a conga line because they were rollerblading so close to one another.

Aside from that little spectacle, there were also some photographers out and about. You can identify them by their serious gear like camera bags, tripods and huge lenses. I was also outside, but with my Powershot G6. Today I wanted to finally capture images of twisted and tortured tree limbs that have fascinated me for the longest time. It's visually very interesting to me because the limbs are twisted and curl into unbelievable shapes. Makes me wonder why the trees don't just grow straight up like the other trees in the park. Here is a picture of a part of the twisted tree with some flowers to pretty it up. I love how the tiny flowers caress the tree as if in an attempt to comfort it in its tortured pain.

Onto a different topic ... the Olympic torch bearers in various countries. When it came to San Francisco, the torchbearers were selected among the general public. John Q. Public or for my German readers out there Max Mustermann were asked to submit essays on why they should be selected as a torchbearer. Most of the people who were ultimately selected were those who were active in serving their communities. Today I saw some pictures of torchbearers in Hong Kong and most of them were celebrities like Andy Lau & Jackie Chan or very rich people like a casino tycoon with many wives. Isn't this contrast very interesting? It speaks volumes about what is important in each of the cultures.

I left my heart

Hearts about town

Tony Bennett sang "I left my heart in San Francisco". That's why a couple of years ago, the city had a project where people were asked to decorate hearts, which are now spread all over the city. Here's a red one in front of Union Square. I think every city has one of these projects. In Munich there are painted lions, in Berlin painted bears, in New York painted apples, and in some other city painted cows. What I'd like to know is which city pioneered this.

Today in Italian class, we reviewed for our final exam next Saturday. Aside from just having the test, we will have a little party. The Italian instructor will make tiramisu, which I learned literally means "pick me up" in Italian.

Charisma

Dreamscapes

Why are some people so charismatic and others are just mere mortals?

I think people are either born with charisma or not. In my opinion, charismatic people are different from charming people. Charmers seem to have a negative connotation. In other words, they charm you because they want something from you. Of course charismatic people can also abuse their charisma to lead people to their demise. There have been many examples of that - cult leaders for instance.

One of the most charismatic people I've met happened to be one of my employers. He had vision, great business sense and was a smart risk taker. Furthermore, he had a contagious confidence in himself and his team. A pleasant smile and cheerful demeanor did not hurt either. He was a good strategist and cheerleader for the team. I had the impression that he could sell an Eskimo ice or a dumpster manager trash. You get the idea. :-) Another thing that set him apart was that he was a great communicator and motivator. He had a special positive energy about him.

I was proud to be a part of his team because it had the best reputation of being fun, hardworking and yet high performing. I guess some people are just born charismatic. :-) Have you met charismatic characters in your life?

P.S. - Please vote in the poll at the upper right hand corner.
P.P.S. - The photo was taken from the Hills Plaza near the Embarcadero. As you can see it was another gorgeous day in San Francisco.

Gems

Sittin' on the dock of the bay

I have gems of photos to share with you today. The one above just happened as I was crossing the street on my way to a destination. It appears as if the men sitting on the ground are girl gazing, but if you look more closely, you'll notice that their gaze is actually focused on a sight farther in the distance. What I like about the picture is its relative simplicity and the story it tells.

This second photo op also just happened on my way back to the office. Since today is May 1st, there was a demonstration at Justin Herman Plaza against the war in Iraq. Somehow it is supposed to be related to labor unions. Anyhow, this woman was carry a very nice peace sign with flowers on it and many people wanted her picture, so she obliged. Not sure what the pink color stands for though. Women against the war?

I think this daily blog exercise helps me train my "eye". In other words, to become a good photographer I have to learn how to spot things that may make for a good picture. Simplicity is best. One rule I've read of is - KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

Training my eye also means I need to be able to quickly realize what angles work, what shapes are in the picture, and how the whole composition works together. That's a lot to be aware of when scoping out the territory for a picture and sometimes nothing comes up, but in other instances, you just know when a picture works.