Thursday, April 30, 2015

Cara Cara Navel

100 Days of Macro - Day 78

One thing I definitely wanted to do during our road trip was stop at a local produce shop. On the way to Sequoia National Park, we stumbled upon a shop called Sequoia Produce and picked up a bag of Cara Cara oranges among other things. Yeah you can buy them at Costco, but there's something about purchasing from a true farmers market.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Santa Barbara

100 Days of Macro - Day 77

Not sure what time we'll be home tonight, so I figured I'd get today's post out of the way now. I spotted these succulents while walking Bawoo outside our hotel in Santa Barbara. Not a flower, but admittedly flower-like.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Pismo Beach

100 Days of Macro - Day 76

Yes, another flower shot. Granted, this one was at Pismo Beach. But still yet another flower shot. So the challenge is finding a different and abstract way to photograph it. I'm enjoying the results of the last couple of days.

Monday, April 27, 2015

White Space

100 Days of Macro - Day 75

I spent the last day of my 36th lap around the sun in my favorite national park, otherwise known as Yosemite. With so much majesty to shoot around me, this macro shot was a bit of an afterthought. I like how the flower is only half there, making it look like a cross section. I also like all of the empty white space.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Tree Moss

100 Days of Macro - Day 74

Jieun had never been to Sequoia before, so I took her to see the General Sherman tree. There we were among the largest trees in the world. And yet, I had to find something miniscule to photograph. I'm not complaining. It was a great day.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Birth Anniversary Road Trip

100 Days of Macro - Day 73

Commence Birth Anniversary Road Trip. Or BART if you will. It's been a while since I've named a road trip. I didn't get much chance to shoot today, so I dipped into my list of last minute items. Right before the sun set, I took the next exit and shot the Bagua bell hanging from my rear-view mirror. If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's more car bell.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Arbor Day

100 Days of Macro - Day 72

There's a day for everything. Today happens to be Arbor Day—celebrated on the last Friday in April. "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree." Honestly, I only know that line from Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" because of Superman II.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Different Perspective

100 Days of Macro - Day 71

It's still surprising to discover how things look when you photograph them up close. This neighbor's plant is fairly uninteresting and almost ugly with its strange flowers. Up close is a different story.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Paved Weeds

100 Days of Macro - Day 70

Happy Earth Day! I do my part by allowing and embracing these weeds that are growing between the brick pavers in my driveway. No matter the conditions, life finds a way!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Incense Smoke

100 Days of Macro - Day 69

And now for something completely different. I decided to play with the Nag Champa again. I suppose this might have been more apt yesterday for 4/20. Of course, I would have used a green flash gel instead of this purple. It was much more challenging to get the smoke in focus this close up, but I feel like I got a decent shot.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Blue Palo Verde

100 Days of Macro - Day 68

I've always liked the Blue Palo Verde—awesome desert tree with its characteristic green trunk and branches. The yellow flowers up close aren't all that interesting though. Luckily, I happened upon another ladybug, shot a few rapid frames, and managed to grab an image with pretty good focus.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Boulder Basin

100 Days of Macro - Day 67

I got up early this morning and did a photo hike meetup at Lake Mead. The initial area didn't work out, so we ended up at the old Lake Mead Marina (now just a boat launch spot). We were just wandering and decided to climb the stairs to the top of the driveway to what I now know is "Pyramid Island" (obviously not an island).

Long story short, I'm not all that satisfied with the shots I got, but the one below was probably the most interesting. In person, this tiny furry green plant looked like a caterpillar. And to be honest, I never even noticed that insect on there.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Wasp Hive

100 Days of Macro - Day 66

I found this wasp hive just outside my front door earlier this week. I saved it for a lazy photo day such as today. (I should really take more advantage of weekend days though).

Friday, April 17, 2015

Bottlebrush Filaments

100 Days of Macro - Day 65

As I was waiting to meet someone to pick up my order of raw local honey, I saw these bottlebrush trees ripe for macro. I never knew that the "bristles" start up as balled up pods that eventually spread and straighten.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

SpaceWolf Limited

100 Days of Macro - Day 64

Winter has arrived! Or more accurately, this awesome laser engraved wooden poster from SpaceWolf Limited arrived today. It's a map of Westeros and the Free Cities. Now to mount it somewhere somehow.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Uncle Sam

100 Days of Macro - Day 63

For those who owe money on tax day, congratulations. Better to keep your money as long as possible than let Uncle Sam have it interest free. That's my philosophy anyway.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Backyard Jungle

100 Days of Macro - Day 62

After years of neglecting my yard, I finally paid to have someone clean it up. It went from being a tiny jungle to a decent garden again. I managed to grab this shot before the dust bowl reached Mountain's Edge.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Lago by Chef Julian Serrano

100 Days of Macro - Day 61

We just got back from a phenomenal Yelp event at Chef Julian Serrano's new joint. I don't go to many events these days, so it's always nice when I can pick my spots and hit a home run. Receive a home run?

The food was superb. The service was excellent. The patio overlooking the Bellagio fountains was beautiful. Chef Julian Serrano was gracious in welcoming us. But this is about macro. And when someone pointed out that the orange peels in our Rye Manhattans were branded with the restaurant name, I knew I had my shot.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Flowering Hedgehog

100 Days of Macro - Day 60

Pine Creek Canyon is one of the first areas I hiked back when I was just getting into the activity. It was nice to revisit the trail and capture a few macros. This photo has the lens peering deeply into the flower of a hedgehog. Evidently, its genus name (Echinocereus) comes from Ancient Greek meaning hedgehog.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Furious 7 GT-R

100 Days of Macro - Day 59

About to ship these die cast Furious 7 model cars off to my inaanak. But first, I figured I'd take a quick shot of Paul Walker's GT-R.

Friday, April 10, 2015

National Sibling Day

100 Days of Macro - Day 58

Happy National Sibling Day! I might be doing this wrong.

Disclaimer: I have no supporting evidence that the ikura in this pyramid are actually related.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Bird of Paradise

100 Days of Macro - Day 57

It's amazing that I'm able to identify these plants given my nonexistent botanic knowledge. Thanks to the webernets, I now know that these are Caesalpinia Gilliesii, the long red things are filaments, and the tips are called anthers.

I first noticed these flowers along the middle of Summerlin Parkway. No way I'm going to try and photograph those. Luckily, I found one at Exploration Peak Park.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Fountain Grass

100 Days of Macro - Day 56

During my original daily project, I shot this ornamental bunch grass and misidentified it as Bottlebrush Squirreltail. I'm now convinced it's actually Fountain Grass. Who knows. I'm just making this up as I go along.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

National Beer Day

100 Days of Macro - Day 55

In honor of National Beer Day, I decided it was time to pop open this funky "provisional saison aged in pinot casks with Brettanomyces." I purchased the bottle at Deschutes during our Portlandia trip last August.

I also experimented with some flash gels I just received. (Yes, I've gone this long without ever using a flash gel). I shot the background with a chocolate-colored gel.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Banana Leaves

100 Days of Macro - Day 54

I visited the Ethel M cactus garden during lunch today. I know these aren't banana leaves. They're not even leaves. But they positively look like tiny bananas!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Handmade Pottery

100 Days of Macro - Day 53

I came across these handcrafted plates and spoons Jieun got from Korea and immediately deemed them macro-worthy. They remind me of a tea place we visited next to a temple in Gimpo.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Thorny Balls

100 Days of Macro - Day 52

I've actually shot this type of tree before (Vachellia Farnesiana) with my ghetto reverse lens macro setup. But they're blooming like crazy right now, so I thought it was worth revisiting. The thing is, the photos are less interesting when the frame is filled with yellow balls. Instead, I tried to find branches with more leaves. Also, I never realized this tree is so thorny.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Photo Yoga

100 Days of Macro - Day 51

I literally bent over backwards trying to find an interesting angle on this light fixture. It doesn't always work out and you just end up with a sore back.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Slippery When Wet

100 Days of Macro - Day 50

Woah! We're halfway there!
Woah! Livin' on a prayer!

That last line pertains to whether or not I'll be able to do another 50. I suppose it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We'll give it a shot!

This post is inspired by the first vinyl album I ever owned.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

April Foolish

100 Days of Macro - Day 49

It's that time of year when tech companies make us groan with their April Fools' "jokes." At least this Pac-Man game on Google Maps is functional and fun once. Photography-wise, it's interesting how the thin plane of focus shows up very clearly in the image—a side effect of the display technology.