Landmarks: Flight 93 Memorial; Union City, CA

This is part of a new series of local parks and landmarks.

There is a Flight 93 Memorial in Union City, CA.  It's kind of in a random spot ... just at an empty lot at the corner by a bike path.  We used to walk by it every day on our walks and we watched it get built.  Each passenger on the plane has a stone on a pathway.  There are three stones at the beginning of the pathway describing the memorial.  At the end of the memorial is a flag that is surrounded by tiles painted by local elementary school students.

http://www.flight93memorialsfb.com/

F & F Engagement Photos

Good friends recently got engaged and allowed me to take their photos.  I was nervous and excited all at the same time.

We went to a park that had some great playground equipment, structures, trees, water feature, and light.

Here are the best photos from the session.

2013 Goals - Street Photography

One of my photography goals for 2013 was to shoot some street photography.  I wanted to start simply by just venturing out to the farmer's market.  It was outside my comfort zone.  VERY far outside.  I have a hard time taking photos of strangers without thinking that they're thinking I'm some sort of creepy weirdo.  I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but I dont' know if I was successful.  I also had Audrey with me, which made it a little trickier since I couldn't just sit and people watch and wait for inspiration to hit me.  But I got a couple decent shots I think.

My goal was to try it.  And I did.  I would love to try again.  One can't get any better if one doesn't go do it.

Here are a couple of my favorites shots from the morning.














The full set can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biochemtine/sets/72157632909624722/with/8526308892/

animated gif

Im' still learning a lot of the things i can do with photoshop.  This was fun.

More Food Photos

So I've not kept up with doing these weekly.  It's been about every other week.  This isn't to say I haven't been taking photos.  I just haven't had the time to really set up a good shot of food and this isn't something I want to take lightly or muddle through.  I want these to be intentional photos, well-composed and with an effort at improving.

I have, however, done some and am behind on posting them.

I had a mini photo shoot with fruit.  And I had fun.  I set up a table top studio on my kitchen table, using floor lamps and a table cloth pinned to my wall for a backdrop.  I played with different light direction, quality, quantity, angles of shot, etc.  And I played with what I was actually shooting.  I had a whole apple, and then a bowl of fruit.  It was interesting how changing the subject matter changed my composition planning.  Same light source, same table, same backdrop, different subject and suddenly I needed different angles.

This was my first time really being intentional with this.  I am satisfied with my results, but I know there is room for improvement.

My husband's birthday was last week.  His favorite dessert is cannoli.  I make a batch every year for his birthday.  It's an involved process, so it's not one that I do often.  Usually just on his birthday.  That's what makes them so special.  I grabbed a few shots of the process, and I was quite pleased with them.

The cannoli dough, rolled and ready to cut out.

Single raw shell, on the roller prior to baking

All fried, stuffed, and garnished.  Ready to eat.  

Fun Fact: In Italian, all words end in a vowel.  a, o, e or i.  If it ends in an A or O, it's singular.  If it ends in an E or an I, it's plural.  Furthermore, each singular vowel has a specific plural vowel.  If the singular verison ends in A, the plural version ends in E.  If the singular ends in O, the plural ends in I.  So cannoli is plural and the singular form of the word is cannolo.  Musicians out there will be interested to note that timpani is also an Italian word and therefore is also plural.  The singular would be timpano.  If you have a set of the drums, it's timpani.  But just one drum is timpano.  Yeah ... it's weird and unnatural.  But if someone asks for cannolis or timpanis, those words don't exist.  

Food Photos

One of my goals this year is to take a photo a week of a food item.  I'm not calling this a Project52 or anything similar.  And now having second thoughts after watching a video podcast thing about not doing these sorts of projects because they just make the photos forced and contrived.  BUT ... I said I wanted to do this, this is an area of photography that I want to improve, and ... well ... I'm not so anal that I'll take a photo just to take a photo.

At any rate .... My first one of the year ... a smoothie.

I heart faces - best face 2012

It didn't take me long to figure out what photo I wanted to submit for this month's challenge on iheartfaces.com.  Best Face 2012.

Mine was a pure accident that came to be when trying to fall in love with my wide angle lens (AKA - my kit lens) a few months back.  The result was an awesome shot of my darling 2 y/o.

I didn't exactly fall in love with my kit lens, but I have a new appreciation for it and use it more now.

To see more best faces 2012 - go check out iheartfaces.com.