I have been using Canon 10D as my primary camera for the past 7 years. It’s like stone age old in digital camera era. Although it is true that an expensive camera body won’t guarantee you better pictures, compared with the newer versions DSLR, two major limitations sometimes do prevent me from doing what I want. The first limitation is 10D, as the very first generation of pro-mateur DSLR, is not full-frame camera. The 24mm lens becomes 35mm automatically, and this is often the crucial range in some landscape shoots. The second limitation is its poor performance with high ISO. The new camera can produce very good smooth photos even at ISO 3200.
As we are planning the trip to Japan, I finally decided to upgrade the camera as well as the primary lens once for all. I will still keep my 10D as backup – in the field, sometimes it’s really cumbersome to switch between normal and telephoto lens. Not far from my home, there is an area that stores a lot of deserted industrial stuff, machines, trucks. It is a good subject and perfect chance to try out the new camera and lens.
The following pictures are taken by iPhone, at Lake Elizabeth, one of the most beautiful scenery in the Bay Area. It was still winter in most of the country, but spring has sprung in California.
HP’s site at Ellis St. in Mountain View is one of the most beautiful office sites in Bay Area, especially in Autumn. Poplar trees along the entire road stand straight up to 50 feet high. In November, they all turn into golden yellow color. The view is picture perfect.
But, just around the corner, where no one cares to notice, some withering leaves against the solid building foundations are also picturesque. In the Autumn, the green leaves start turning into red and eventually falling off the cane. A couple of leaves that are left are among the most saturated color. When the warm afternoon sun light them up, that maybe the last ray of sunshine they will see.
Sarah Chang, although not as well-known as Itzhak Perlman or Yo-Yo Ma, is recognized as one of the most talented and influential performers of the world. She earned her celebrity status in classic music since she was 10. By age 15, she has already collaborated with most major orchestras. Her album that plays Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto recorded with London Symphony Orchestra is one of first several classic music albums I bought and still remains as one of my favorite. I like her romantic interpretation of these master pieces. She played Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Napa Valley Festival del Sole.
The following video was recorded when she was 15, playing the same piece.
After having lunch at Koi Garden last weekend, we went to Mt. Diablo State Park. Mt. Diablo offers open mountain view and many choices of hiking trails. It is perfect for family activities.
At different overlook locations, I took a series of pictures with my PowerShot A590. Came back home, I stitched them together using PTGui. The result looks satisfactory to me. Creating a panorama is pretty easy actually. Just make sure to overlap every successive frame with the previous frame by 20~30% when taking pictures. Then all you need to do is to drop these pictures to PTGui. Software can automatically put them together in the correct order and adjust brightness and contrast for you to make the stitched image looks smooth. Besides the typical image processing functions, PTGui also supports HDR (High Dynamic Range). But, I didn’t take tripod with me so I was not able to take pictures with different exposure settings. I will try next time.
The following is a 360-degree panorama I took at the summit. More pictures can be found in my gallery.
Koi Palace (鲤鱼门) at Daly City has been famous for its Cantonese cuisine. Someone even named it the best Chinese restaurant in Bay Area. It opened an branch restaurant in Dublin, Koi Garden, which is much closer to us. We finally got chance to have a Dim Sum lunch today.
The city of Dublin has a lot of new establishments. The view is open, the street is wide and clean, even the Chinese stores are more trendy than many other places. We waited about 20 mintues to get a table. It’s a little crowd inside. You’ll get food faster to order the Dim Sum instead of waiting for the waiters to bring them to you. We tried a couple of new dishes, besides traditional “凤爪 (chicken feet)” and “排骨 (ribs)”. The Dim Sum are fresh, hot, certainly among the best we have tasted. I am not sure if it is much better than the other new Cantonese restaurant, 顺峰渔港 (Asian Pearl), that we recently checked at Froment; or if it is not as good as the original restaurant. Only the food critics can tell, I guess.
It is fall time now. Squirrels become fat. They are busy with storaging food to prepare for the winter. They are interested in nuts mostly, but occasionally they can find something fancier.
My wife and I go to Farmer’s Market regularly during the weekend. Here are some photos we took in May this year when we went to Farmer’s Market in Mountain View and Santa Cruz. More pictures are posted in my gallery.
As a long time classic music lover, this is my first time to go to a concert. The concert was performed on 7/9 at Flint Center by San Francisco Symphony as part of 2008 “Summer in the City” events. Three programs were played,
Bach: Toccata and Fugue Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
The central piece, also the most popular one, is mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. It is played by Stefan Jackiw. At age 23, Mr. Jackiw is a young and charming presence, and he plays with a smooth yet sensitive style. The violin has the power to penetrate the indifference and cynicalness we put on, and touch the very weakness of our heart. Mr. Jackiw’s play just does that to me.
