birthday

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A little break from cold New York photos to this image of hot New York LOL. The weather in New York is so extreme. This one was taken last year when Andrew and I visited New York in the end of August. That trip was a little different because we stayed for 2 or 3 nights instead of our usual one. We also had Frankie on this trip, but this image was taken at night time and he already had a long day of exploring the city so he just stayed back.

So I captured this right before we were about to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I’m not sure what inspired me to take this image but I just liked the colorful wall in the background and the “no standing sign” leaning over like that. Either way, I thought this would be an appropriate image for today since it’s Andrew’s birthday…. and it’s a picture of him in New York. LOL.

We don’t have any real plans for the day yet. To be honest, I’ve been feeling a little sick since we’ve been back so I’m not sure how much fun I’d be for celebrating. All I know is that we’ll definietly have some cake today. If you know anything about Andrew, it’s the fact that this guy loves his sweets. When we first started dating, I wasn’t much of a dessert person but since we’ve been together, I’ve grown to appreciate sugar. LOL. All kinds of it too. So if we do nothing else, there has to be cake.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 0.8 sec at ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens handheld. I just put my camera on the ground for this long-ish exposure and told Andrew to stand very still.

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Happy  Independence day! Hope you all have a great 4th of July full of fun, family and fireworks 🙂

This image was taken last year before the National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened. It was amazing! My friend, Jim (who I used to intern for at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum) and I were the only ones inside the fence taking pictures. So I’m pretty sure that means we’ll be the only two people EVER with an image like this. With no one in the shot with 4th of July fireworks with the museum and Washington Monument standing side-by-side. Pretty awesome, huh? But I do remember how gloomy and cloudy the day was. The whole day called for rain and we got little pockets here and there. I remember thinking that they may totally call off the fireworks since the clouds were so dark and heavy. Luckily, they went off as planned. But unfortunately again, we weren’t able to see the ones that went really high in the sky. We could only hear them. The clouds were so dark that you couldn’t even see the color in them from the firecrackers. We could only see some of the lower hanging ones. Oh well. I still think this turned out pretty amazingly. But a cool effect that happened from all that rain that I didn’t expect were the reflections in the walkways. I purposely got down lower so I could really highlight the reflectiveness of the ground.

I’ll be out taking fireworks images again this year at the National Mall. I’m really looking forward to it. Its like 20 minutes of pure excitement. So if you need any tips on how to shoot fireworks, check out this video I created 4 years ago. All the rules still apply:

Happy shooting and be safe!

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My baby boy turns 6 today!

I filled out one of those internet quizzes on his behalf so you can get to know him better. I had to modify some of the questions for it to pertain to him but here ya go:

1. Name: Frankenstein WooPan

2. Age: 6

3. Gender: Male

4. Breed: shih tzu /cutesy bear

5. Nicknames: ‘Frankie’, ‘cutes’, or any adjective with a -stein at the end of it. For example, ‘hungrystein’ or ‘tiredstein’

6. Occupation: Photo assistant- In the field, I chew on sticks. In the office, I sleep by the desk.

7. Hobbies: Sleeping, eating, and cuddle times.

8. Personality Quirks: I don’t bark, beg, or jump on furniture. I’m super chill. So chill that sometimes if I’m sleeping, I won’t even greet people when they walk through the front door. Since I don’t bark, I’ll stand right next to you and make these sigh noises like I’m super annoyed that you aren’t playing with me to get your attention.

9. Favorite Toy: Anything that squeaks

10. Biggest Pet Peeve: Leave my ears alone!

 

 

I entered my first photo contest a few nights ago. It’s hosted by Peachpit Publishers with Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs. I first heard about this from Trey’s webinar a few weeks ago and I was really excited to submit my work for the contest. I think its really cool how much HDR is really causing a stir in the photography world & I’m sure Trey has a lot to do with it. Stuck in Customs has always been my go-to-blog when I’m ready to be inspired and I really do feel honored that I could submit to this contest. Here’s my entry. I HDR’d-fied (like my new word?) this panther chameleon reaching for his lunch. Let me know what you all think!

panther chameleon, reptile, lizard, tongue - HDR Chameleons
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