This is such an amazing infographic that details the evolution of Superman’s shield through the past 75 years. In as much as I am a big fan of Superman, I didn’t realize (or rather paid attention) that the very first depiction of his shield resembled a police badge. I just love seeing the evolution of an icon. I have to admit that the latest version of his shield is the best one of all!

In the news today, a rare comic book of the very first issue of Superman sold for $175,000!  There are only around 100 known copies of Action Comics No. 1, which was published in 1938. And where did they find this jewel… n the attic between the ceiling insulation!

Our little Isabel just graduated from Middle School and in a few months, she’ll be in High School. How time flies! I knew even back in 2010 that she’ll be the world’s greatest! Oh the places you’ll go Bellie!

Feel free to leave a message for Bel in the comment section! I’m sure she’ll love hearing from you.

Taken in 2010 at Grandma’s Retirement Party

Photo courtesy of Papa

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

]]> http://www.photosbyrikki.com/oh-the-places-youll-go/feed/ 14 http://www.photosbyrikki.com/my-brothers-and-i/ http://www.photosbyrikki.com/my-brothers-and-i/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 03:35:59 +0000 Rikki D. Dy-Liacco http://www.photosbyrikki.com/?p=8593 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

You might have seen one of my other posts similar to this called Multiplicity. The idea here is the same except the execution was slightly different.

The trick here is to keep the camera settings the same throughout the entire shot. So setting the camera to Manual (M) then adjusting the Aperture to f8 and ISO 200. I shoot in RAW so I can always “adjust” if required. So I basically set the tripod in place once I had the camera settings dialed in. Prior to taking the shot with a remote shutter release, I would compose the entire image in my head then proceed and start taking the shots. With a bit of masking and layering in Photoshop, I ended up with this image.

Fun! Would you give it a shot?

Every once in a while, I like to link articles that might not necessarily be photographically related. On second thought, I can think of many ways to tie this particular post to photography.

I grew up with Superman. TV. Comics. Movies. You name it. So you can just imagine how excited I am to finally see this new version of my childhood comic book hero. It is a reboot of the franchise. Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder are restarting the franchise, with this movie having no close ties with earlier depictions of the Superman character. Bring on Henry Cavill. I love the idea! This would be in the same veins of how Nolan reinvented the Batman franchise. I love it!

Let’s just say that I’m just really pumped for this movie to come out! Who else is with me?

And of course, we all knew that it wouldn’t be long before someone comes up with the costumes like this one.

All images’ rights belong to their respective owners.

“When the object that is produced, the photographic image, has the ability to make tears come to your eyes; to inspire you to the point where you have to catch your breath, then nothing else matters” (John Sexton)

Sometimes when I look for inspiration or maybe what to photograph, I often neglect the things that are just around me. Take this simple composition for instance. A daisy from the local farmer’s market makes for a great subject specially in black and white. For the background, I simply used one of the walnut wood samples we have in our architectural library and took the photo beside a large window. Taking photos of the daisy intact made it too “static” so I decide to pull one of its petals off and place it on the side. The resulting image in my opinion creates a much more dynamic composition while still maintaining the simplicity and purity of the subject.

See this at 500px

As with all fairy tales, we begin our post with: “A long time ago, in land far, far away, there lived a little Princess named Sofia”. One day, she journeyed far from home to  a magical place called Disneyland. And in this wintry wonderland, she met other princesses, took a quick tour around the world, saw toy soldiers and gingerbread men dance, and even visited a palace Under the Sea.

At the end of her visit, Sofia was very tired. She lay down to sleep in her magic carriage, dreaming of future visits to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Goodnight sweet Princess Sofia!

Image courtesy of DisneyTouristBlog.com

What an incredible year 2012 turned out to be! We started the year with Miss M’s maternity session. Soon after, our Christmas came early with the birth of our daughter in April. Now, eight months later, I still can’t believe how time flew so fast! The past year was filled with numerous challenges and incredible experiences and we look forward to what 2013 brings.

Here’s wishing you all the best of the coming year, filled with warmth and blessed by peace. Happy Holidays to all of our family, friends and clients!

Three years ago, Melissa and I started a tradition on Christmas Day. The Annual Gingerbread Man Challenge. This year, we decided to throw in a twist to the designs. We drew the theme from a hat. This year, all the participants wrote down the theme on which they wanted to create their masterpieces and we had our parents draw the lucky theme from a hat. This year’s theme is: The Nightmare Before Christmas.

As with last year’s challenge, the winner of this year’s will get to take home the coveted Gingerbread Trophy! But before we could crown the winner, we need your help. Click on your favorites. Tell your friends.

Which one best represents the theme of the challenge? Cast your favorite now by clicking on one or all of the images if you wish!

Voting ends on December 31 at 11:59PM

The winning entry was created and designed by Josephine Dy-Liacco! CONGRATULATIONS!

1. Josephine – 27 votes

2. Sophia and Nelson- 22 Votes

4. Candy – 15 Votes

5. Jacob – 14 Votes

6. Gerard, Melissa, and Scott- 12 Votes

9. Eva – 9 Votes

10. Maita – 8 Votes

Here are the entries with their respective designers:

Created by Scott Hiller

Created by Jacob Estupin

Created by Eva Barbara

Created by Candy Dy-Liacco

Created by Maita Alcantara

Created by Nelson Estupin

Created by Melissa Dy-Liacco

Created by Sophia Tolibas

Created by Gerard Alcantara

Calling all pixies and pirates! Come fly away with us to Neverland! All you need is a little trust and a tiny sprinkle of pixie dust! And, remember, think of happy things, it’s just the same as having wings! Look for the second star on the right, then straight on to adventure and delight!

The Children’s Christmas parties at Gensler are probably one of the most anticipated events of the year. The talented folks across several offices never fail to impress. This year, the theme was Peter Pan and Neverland. All were encouraged to come in costume or pajamas. With Captain Hook running away from Tick Tock to the Lost Boys pulling their mischievous tricks, the party was impressive as always!

Wanna see more of Captain Hook and the Lost Boys? Follow this link here.

Here are some images from the photobooth and more photos can be found here.

How to order:

• Individual photos and packages are available for purchase from within the proof gallery
• Please fill out this form and email them back to me at  info@photosbyrikki.com
• New for 2012  *You can now purchase and download the original high resolution file*

“So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!” (Peter Pan)

The Gensler Children’s Holiday Party is an annual tradition at Gensler and an event designed to bring out the child in all of us. Never smile at a crocodile, especially the ticking ones.

Halloween is always a special day at our office. Everyone almost always participates in the festivities and the costumes have been amazing throughout the years with most of them being DYI projects! This year was no different. From John’s Batman costume (home made except for the mask) to Fernando’s Barricade Decepticon Transformer, the hand made costumes were amazing!

Halloween at our office is ALWAYS a blast and we hope the tradition continues!

Until next year!

Make sure you check out the making of the Green Army Men.

(photos courtesy of Mickey Mazerac)

If there’s one thing our office takes very seriously, it’s Halloween. Who would forget the Lego Minifigs from last year?

So for this year, I asked a few of my friends if they would be interested in joining me being the Green Army Men as I thought one army guy would look lost but a bunch would look awesome. As soon as we had enough “men”, the planning commenced. We bought paint, helmets, boots, and used army fatigues to stay consistent. Initially, we weren’t planning of spending too much on the costumes but the more we got into it, the more excited we became and we had to do better.

My material list:

• 6 cans of spray paint – Rust-oleum Meadow Green Gloss - ($19.97)
• Leftover Behr Semi-Gloss Latex Paint (FREE)
• Miscellaneous PVC piping for the flame thrower – ($10)
• Army Helmet – Adult Size - ($8.97)
• Surplus Army boots – ($25)
• Surplus Army belt via eBay – ($7 shipped)
• Army Jacket  via eBay – ($12 shipped)
• Cargo pants from Goodwill – ($6.50)
• Dishwashing Gloves – ($2.99) *make sure to buy rubber and not latex
• Carpet tiles (FREE)
• Green stockings/tights – ($3.99)
• Machine screws

So with most of my materials acquired for a little less than $100, I started the process. My apologies as these “process” photos were all taken with my iPhone.

I initially tried using spray paint primer but soon realized that the paint simply gets soaked through the fabric. I also wanted to make sure that the clothes had the appearance of being “plastic”. The solution? Using a paint brush, I painted the clothes with semi-gloss latex. It basically sealed the fabric making it easier to spray paint later. The only downside to this method is that the costume gets pretty warm but it looks great! The best part? It’s completely waterproof!

It took two coats of paint to cover both the pants and jacket. The key to the sheen and look of the jacket and pants is the base layer of latex paint. Without it, the colors will look dull and won’t have the appearance of being plastic. Once they were dry, they were so stiff that it was hard to actually wear them. I had to break them in quite a bit by folding them many times over to get the “crunchiness” out. LOL!

Since the boots had parts of which were nylon, I decided to paint them as well. It turned out I didn’t have to because the pants covered them pretty well.

Here are the boots on our “stand” which was cut out from carpet tiles we got from work.

The boots were attached to the carpet tiles with 1/4″ machine screws. I used four (4) screws per boot. Walking wasn’t really an issue. I think the biggest hurdle I had to overcome (several times) is people stepping on my “pad” and pulling the screws out of the soles of the boots. The secret to walking comfortably is the way the boot is positioned on the “pad’. You’ll notice that the boot is parallel to the edge of the cut in the “pad”. It’s a little thing that most people don’t realize because they see the full effect of the costume.

When it came time to strike a pose, I simply put the two edges together and held still.

Here’s the finished product – our platoon as photographed yesterday.

And finally, here’s a shot of our office from yesterday. When I mentioned we really take Halloween seriously, I really meant it!

It took a couple of weekends and a few nights before Halloween to finish but it turned out awesome in the end. We were stopped a few times when we were walking back to the office from a Starbucks run. Everyone wanted to have their photo taken with the Green Army Men. How awesome was that? What was your costume? Anything fun?

Check out the rest of the Halloween fun at our office.

(photos courtesy of Mickey Mazerac)

I captured this image from a trip I made to Peru. This young boy was playing in the streets of Pisac when I happened to walk by. He was quite intrigued by my camera and my backpack that he came over to me and started chatting it up. I really liked the look in his face – his wind chapped cheeks and the slight dust and dirt from playing on the unpaved streets. Knowing a little Spanish, I asked him if it would be okay if I took his photo. In return, I would give him a KitKat bar. He agreed. I took two frames. The first one was slightly blurry but to my delight, the second frame came out sharp and crisp. I dream of the day when I can travel back to the land of the Incas.

Last Sunday’s Annular Eclipse was definitely a “not to be missed” event. After the Super Moon just a few weeks back, this was definitely something that I had been planning on photographing. The problem, however, was making sure that I didn’t damage my eyes when looking through the eye piece of the camera. Seeing solar filters are quite expensive, I decided to create my own DYI solar filter.

I started with a piece of glass that I took from a photo frame I had lying around the house and a candle. Placing the glass an inch or so above the candle created black soot that covered the surface of the glass.

The view from above after a few minutes of placing the glass over an open flame

Hold the glass just above the candle as it burns. Be careful as it gets hot!

Test shot with the "sooted" surface away from me. One side of the glass needs to be kept clean so you can "mount" it on your lens.

You'll notice a red coloration of the sun. It's due to the soot that covers the surface of the glass.

The glass mounted on the camera lens via gaffer tape. Notice that the "clean" side is facing the lens. Be careful in handling the DYI filter. The soot scratches very easily which could ruin your shot.

A close-up view of the DYI installation using gaffer tape (never leave home without it).

Here is a composite of the eclipse after I set my intervalometer to take shots every 15 minutes from 17:24 PST to 18:34 PST. These are not post processed at all so it’s pretty much straight out of the camera except for the compositing.

ISO100, 1/8000 sec at f7.1. The focal length was 200mm with the 70-200 f2,8L but due to the 7D’s crop factor (1.6x) and the Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter, I ended up with a focal range of roughly 450mm. If you’re ever curious about exposures when photographing an eclipse, check out this cool little chart. I ended up straying a little bit from this chart as this was the best combination I liked of all the ones I tested.

The next cool event is the Transit of Venus which happens on June 5th. See transit times here.

I came home on Friday to find this beauty, a custom EXO Vault iPhone case, waiting for me from my friends at BO.LT. I had to control myself from using it right away as I wanted to take some quick product shots. This is an absolute sexy case.

Thank you guys! What an awesome gift! Keep Boltin’ on!

The EXO Vault was lit with a Canon 580 EXII flash triggered by Pocket Wizard Plus IIs, Canon 7D with a 24-70 f2.8L. Product was shot inside a soft box with a backpainted glass base to create the reflections.

The Super Moon as seen from Fremont, CA as it rises jest behind Mission Peak.

Sofia is a week old today and it’s time to celebrate! She looks so adorable and peaceful in these photos. She has been an incredible blessing to us. The minute I saw her, I fell in love all over again. What a cutie pie!

This past Saturday, my sisters and sister-in-law hosted a Little Lamb baby shower for M and me. When asked what the theme of our nursery was, M immediately answered: “No pink. Just sheep.” It was great to see everyone indulge her and pull together a very sophisticated, not-too-sweet-or-girly shower. Taupes, greens and soft pinks ruled the day, and the centerpiece—a three-layered diaper cake that my cousin created—kind of reminded me of our own simple wedding cake. My sister even made little lamb cupcakes made with marshmallows!

There was a lot of raucous laughter from the ladies present as they played several games, but the highlight of any shower is, of course, opening the presents. Oohs, aahs, and awwws were all you could hear as our Little One received one amazing present after another.

In the end it was the warmth and love we felt, made obvious by the notes written on the Wishing Tree. Our little Sofia will definitely know how anticipated she was right from the start.

It’s been a while since my last design for ProPhotoBlogs. If my memory serves me right, the last time I designed a template was back in August of 2011 called Chase. There have been a lot of things that has happened since then – our trip to Spain and the news that we are expecting our first child. Needless to say, we’ve been quite busy preparing for the coming of our little one. From the nursery to the maternity sessions, it’s been a fun time for both Miss M and myself.

One night while “talking” to our little one, I had a spark of inspiration that allowed me to focus all of my efforts to designing a new template. What sparked the inspiration? A little “kick” from the little one… almost as if she was saying “c’mon Dad… just hunker down and start designing”! It was such an amazing experience. So here’s to you Sofia (yes that is her name)…

Say hello to Sofia — our latest design. As with most of our designs, we’re offering yet another minimalistic approach to the ProPhoto package. Clean and simple. Minimalist. Sofia comes with a sidebar for her most optimal look. All of Sofia’s menu buttons and ribbons are all custom and can be changed to match the color of your brand. The simplest of designs tend to offer the best of user experiences. The design uses custom fonts to enhance the look and feel of the layout. 3-layered PSD mastheads, widget flags, backgrounds, and even a custom grid fallback image are included in the package. A full and comprehensive instruction PDF is included in your package.

You can purchase and try it out here. This design is compatible with ProPhoto 4.

Say hello to Madison — our latest ProPhotoBlog design. Madison is a minimalist design with a touch of flair and sophistication. Madison comes with a fixed sidebar. All of Madison’s menu buttons and flags are all custom and can be changed to match the color of your brand. The simplest and cleanest of designs tend to offer the best of user experiences. The design uses custom fonts to enhance the look and feel of the layout. 3-layered PSD mastheads, customizable call to action icons, customizable menu icons, and even a custom grid fallback image are included in the package. A full and comprehensive instruction PDF is included in your package.

You can purchase and try it out here. This design is compatible with ProPhoto 4.

If someone told you that your mind can process a negative image, what would you say? That they’re crazy? If you think so, then check this out.

Stare at the three dots on the girl’s nose for about a minute. Try not to look away or else it’ll spoil the trick. After staring for about a minute, stare at a blank white wall and blink your eyes rapidly. What do you see?

via Rob Sheridan

This year marked the first time I’ve ever attended CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. CES is a major technology related show held every January that showcases the latest and greatest technology and gadgetry devices coming to the market. While not open to the general public, I was able to attend as an industry affiliate.

CES Fun Facts:

1. The International CES is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow.
2. A person walking the carpeted aisles of the CES show floor would walk almost 15 miles – and burn up to1,500 calories!
3. Exhibit space at CES covers 1.861 million net square feet of space – equivalent to more than 35 football fields.
4. 153,000 attendees, including 34,000 international
5. 3,100 exhibitors across 1.861 million square feet
6. More than 20,000 new products introduced

The following images were taken with a combination of my Canon 7D, Canon S95, and iPhone 4s. Credit has been given to the respective sites where some of the images were linked from.

The show was simply awesome! CES is a sensory overload experience specially at the big electronic booths like Panasonic and Samsung. I also visited the Nikon and Canon booths. unfortunately, there were far more people at the Canon area which prevented me from testing out their new camera, the 1Dx. I did get my hands on Nikon’s new camera, the D4, and it was quite impressive I might say.

Panasonic’s video wall display was one of the more memorable displays at the show. The smaller displays measure 50″ diagonally while the rest measure 100″ and 153″ respectively. It was truly stunning!

Image courtesy of ePhotozine

Canon’s newest point and shoot camera (if you can even call it that) was stunning!  The 14-megapixel PowerShot G1 X, $800, comes with a 4x zoom, top sensitivity setting of ISO 12800, HDR setting, high-speed burst mode (without minimizing full resolution), RAW capability, 3-inch swiveling display and a hot shoe, for attaching an external flash.

My friend asked me why would I think of buying this type of camera if I could easily spend the money on a lens for my dSLR. My answer? It’s all about portability knowing the camera I have in my bag is comparable to my dSLR.

I “WANT” this as part of my gear. Okay… maybe just a couple of these beauties then :)

This “perch’ was quite fun. Canon displayed their notable lenses for all to try. These guys were testing out the range as Kellie Pickler  performed at the Sony booth just across the hall.

Image courtesy of ePhotozine

My friend and I found this rather interesting. Most of the camera companies provided “models” that did nothing but walk around on stage, posing, smiling, as if wanting the general public to take photos of them. I did.

This was an impressive 3D wall display from LG.

Steve is rolling in his grave. I actually walked through the Microsoft exhibit. Kidding aside, Microsoft has some promising products coming out – Windows 8 for one. From the product demo they did on stage, it seems like it’ll be a lot better than Windows 7.

This was Kodak’s last hurrah. If you haven’t heard, they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today (January 19th).

I couldn’t resist but try this Sigma lens out. At $32,000, this 200-500mm f2,8 lens was one of the show stoppers!

Audi’s “Urban” concept car at the showroom drew lots of attention. How could it not? Look at this little guy? It reminds me of a roadster on steroids.

While the latest Audi concept car, dubbed the Urban Concept, won’t be barreling down the Autobahn at breakneck speeds, the tiny two-seat car made of carbon fiber and featuring an exposed suspension certainly looks the part.

And finally, Ford unveils one of its concept cars – the Ford EVOS.

Seamless connectivity between the vehicle and the driver’s “personal cloud‟ of information, from home to office to car.That information includes the driver’s work schedule, local traffic or weather conditions and other pertinent information to a trip. The car can therefore detect and “know” the driver and automatically adapt handling, steering, suspension and powertrain systems to the person’s habits or to the immediate road ahead.It can monitor the physical state and workload of the driver and adjust the driving experience accordingly.

If you’ve never been to CES, I highly suggest attending if you could find someone who could take you as your “guest”. It’s a blast!

Thank you Las Vegas! Thank you very much!

A few weeks ago, the industry just made a move in the right direction –  no Photoshop in ANY cosmetic advertising. The reason for the ban results from a Cover Girl ad that “photoshopped”a model’s eyelashes to enhance the effect of mascara. Of course, the fine print in the ad did say that the ad was manipulated, but the National Advertising Division (NAD) is saying that is not enough.

This commercial isn’t real and so are industry standards. (Jesse Rosten)

Strolling along the back alleys of Barcelona, I stumbled upon this scene of an elderly man stopping for a minute to catch his breath on this warm, late summer day. I knew I had to capture it right away. There’s a sense of serenity and peacefulness in this image amidst the construction happening beyond. It’s not that often that one stumbles upon a chance like this. I love the colors against the darkening alley. It helps frame the composition perfectly. When a scene speaks to you, capture it, freeze time, and share the emotions with the world.

I truly believe that sometimes, we’re only given mere seconds to capture a shot that resonates the passion we all enjoy.

“The best Christmas gift of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another”. (Unknown)

Christmas comes to Gensler once again and it was enjoyed by more than 190+ kids and their parents. As with most Children’s Parties thrown by the creative staff at Gensler, this year’s edition proved to be as memorable as the previous parties. With the Lion, the Wicked Witch, and Dorothy, the place was decorated in a Wizard of Oz theme complete with yellow brick road. The Children’s Parties at Gensler are a definite “Not to Be Missed” event. One word describes the event: stunning!

Here are some images from the photobooth and more photos can be found here.

How to order:

• Individual photos and packages are available for purchase from within the proof gallery
• Please fill out this form and email them back to me

Oh what a fun session today with Melissa! We drove to Sunol, a nearby scenic location, to capture some images for one of a few maternity sessions we had planned. At 25 weeks, she’s glowing as ever. I love the blue dress she wore this afternoon matched with her rain boots. At one point, I couldn’t help but ask her to show off her boots so I could capture a few frames. Her expression in those few frames were priceless. We are definitely loving this new experience we both share as we eagerly anticipate our little one’s arrival in April.

I remember one of Melissa’s friends saying “Make sure you choose the right photographer for the job. It makes a big difference! You’ll cherish the photos for a long time.”

I hope she chose the right one :)

More of the images here.

Stay tuned for the rest of the series.

Happy Holidays to all of our friends!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an article, mainly due to the fact that we’ve been quite busy with our home remodel (and we’re not done yet) in anticipation of our little Sofia’s April arrival. We’ve had the entire place touched up including painting the living area and master bedroom, adding some new lights and (finally) getting rid of that hideous popcorn ceiling. It’s been a long process, but so gratifying in the end.

Now, after all the gifts have been opened, the kids’ laughter subsided, and hugs and warm wishes exchanged with friends and family, I can’t help but reflect on the year that just passed. Despite the trials and hiccups, it’s been a wonderful year us, filled with unexpected blessings and joy. I can only hope that we will be equally as blessed in 2012, if not more.

So, here are photos of our lovely tree that I captured tonight.

From our family to yours, we wish you a bountiful year ahead in 2012.

On our anniversary, Miss M. posted this on her Facebook page.

“Two years ago today you made me luckiest girl by becoming my husband. Last year, you gave me the gift of keeping your promise to my Dad that he would get to walk me down the aisle. This year, you’ve given me something even more wonderful.

Happy 2-year anniversary!”

I’ve captured many images in my time but I think this is the best photograph I’ve ever done (to date). It’ll only be a few more months before our lives will change forever! We’re both excited at what the future promises.

I’ve always wanted to create abstract images like these photos. These images were captured on a train ride from Sevilla to Ronda and Cordoba. I got the idea during our bus ride from Montserrat to Barcelona and since I knew we would be taking the train, I was better prepared in taking the images. Using a slow shutter speed like 1/10 allowed me to capture simple colors and shapes of the Spanish countryside.

The image below was the very first slow shutter speed image I shot during this trip. We were riding a bus and since the bus would somewhat bounce from time to time, the image is more abstract than the ones compared to the train-taken shots.

These next few images were all taken on the train, notice a similarity in the patterns of shapes and lines.

If you would like to see the larger, unretouched images, please head on to the galleries that can be found here.

If you’re a photographer or just getting into it, these are just a light-hearted way of poking fun at all of us. Feel free to pass it on to your friends and add yours in the comments below. Let’s see what we can come up with.

1. You own more lenses than pairs of shoes…
2. You feel sorry for people who lug around a fancy dSLR and see them shoot in full “auto mode”…
3. Your idea of planning for a vacation revolves around what lenses to bring…
4. There’s never just one perfect camera bag…
5. 50,000 photos of friends and family. Zero of you!
6. You check out other photographers’ lenses…
7. You chimp and I don’t mean of the “ape” kind…
8. People own a tripod. You own tripods.
9. When traveling, people approach you and ask you to take their photos…
10. People think your BlackRapid double strap is some weird kinky sex object…
11. You smile when you see a “No Flash” sign because you never use an on-board flash…
12. “1/500, 2.8 with a +1/3 clicks in Av” doesn’t sound gibberish at all…
13. You smile at the thought of using a Pocket Wizard…
14. You’re either black or white…
15. You’ve experimented with a rear curtain sync…
16. You can’t wait to try your beauty dish…
17. The saying “size always matters” really means something
18. You walk around your neighborhood always on the lookout for that “secret spot”
19. You can pack your clothes for a vacation in 1 hour. Packing your gear on the other hand takes days…
20. During sessions, you always see your images “after post production”
21. The phrase “shoot wide open” isn’t really a bad thing to say to women.
22. You have a light meter app on your smart phone.
23. You know contre jour is awesome and sounds sexy too!
24. You take 1000 shots but only 100 are “perfect”!
25. You like it RAW!

©www.buzzbinmagazine.com

Melissa and I traveled to Los Angeles this past weekend to be with Ethan and his family as he turned a year old this past week. While he was slightly under the weather, he still had a few brief moments where he was still able to give me great looks. This photograph in particular is one of them. I remember when I was still a baby and my Dad captured a similar shot but instead of yogurt, it was melted chocolates. Oh what fun it is to be a kid!

Meet Aubrey.

Whimsical and colorful, Aubrey is our latest blog design. You can choose between the three included background options and you change the feel of the design. The warm palette combination gives it that young, hip look. Included in the package are the layered PSD masthead, image and call to action links, and the different color backgrounds. The design is being issued as a limited edition. There will only be 10 of these editions available – ever, 5 will be sold here at The Shoppe and the other 5 will be sold at the ProPhoto Design Store (SOLD OUT).

You can purchase and try it out here. This design is compatible with ProPhoto 4.

1/10 copies left!

(release date: 08/19/11)

It’s always fun creating composites such as these. While it might look rather tricky and hard, it’s actually quite simple. And best of all, it’s fun for everyone.

So how did I do it? What were the camera settings? Did I have a tripod? Photoshop? Yes to all of the above except the part about the tripod. The trick here is to keep the camera settings the same throughout the entire shot. So setting the camera to Manual (M) then adjusting the Aperture to f8 and ISO 200. I first bracketed the shot to see the light levels and decided to up the exposure value by +2/3 stops. This allowed me to bring out the darker areas of the scene and thus equalizing the light throughout.

With a little coaching prior to the actual shot, I told my nieces to do random poses as if they were conversing with themselves. It so happens that there were 5 chairs at the time so it made it a lot simpler for them. I didn’t have a tripod that day so I simply braced myself to keep the camera in the same plane for all 5 frames. When I got home, I simply clipped and pasted each frame together and achieved this FUN image of the girls. You should try it out someday.

Ciao!

On a recent visit to Moss Landing for the annual Antique Fair, my family and I went down to a local restaurant to grab some lunch. On our way way, my niece decided she was going to have some fun with her sister’s scarf by wrapping it around her head like a turban.Seeing the opportunity for a quick shot, I asked her to look up at me and just give me her biggest smile. Here’s the result. This was taken with my most versatile portrait lens – the Canon 50mm f1.4 ( I can’t leave home without it).

I’ve always been a fan of the greatest bike race in the world. The Tour de France is the queen of all grand tours. It’s an amazing feat and testament to human determination. It wasn’t oo long ago that we saw Lance Armstrong won 7 Tours de France in a row – a record that may never be broken. This years’ edition proved to be a spectacle that kept everyone in suspense until the second to the last day of the three week bike race.

With a lead of 57 seconds over second place Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck seemed to be the improbably Tour winner for 2011. However, Andy’s weakness was the time trial. in the end, he conceded more than 2:30 minutes to eventual winner Cadel Evans.

With Cadel’s win, his first, it marks Australia’s first Tour de France champion. Will Andy get stronger and win next year’s Tour? Only 11 more months before the 2012 edition of the Tour is upon us. So sit back and enjoy these images from The Big Picture. Be sure to check out the link for more images from the Tour.

Check out the rest of the Boston.com’s “The Big Picture” photos here:

Part 1

Part 2

©2011 The Big Picture

A wise man once told me before, “capture a beautiful photograph and you capture the essence of their souls”. These are long overdue images from my trip to Cambodia. I always make it a point to capture the faces of the people I meet and this trip to this country was no exception. With the aid of our guide Theoun, I was able to convince them to have me take their portraits. It was a stunning experience for me and one that I will cherish for a long, long time.

The arrival of the Shanghai Tower model at Gensler’s San Jose Office was a much anticipated event. The Shanghai Tower is a supertall skyscraper designed by Gensler and is currently under construction in the Pudong District of Shanghai, China. It will be the tallest of the group of three supertall buildings in Pudong, the other two being the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Upon its completion in 2014, the building will rise approximately 632 metres (2,073 ft) and have 128 stories, with a total floor area of 380,000 m² (4,090,000 sq ft). It will be the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world, surpassed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The model in itself is incredibly amazing. Measuring a little over 8 feet tall, this model had travelled to multiple offices and locations within the last three years. The model is internally illuminated to showcase the delicate glass exterior skin and is set with the other prominent buildings in the area.

From an article courtesy of Gensler On Cities:

Over the last three years some people have referred to the building as the “Dragon” building, claiming the design is a reflection of a dragon emerging from the ground. Although that is a very strong symbol in Chinese culture, it was not an aspect of the original design concept. The conceptual shape of the building is derived from three basic ideas: the relationship of the building to its location and context in the city, the relationship with the other two buildings, and the importance of the building as a symbol for the reemergence of Shanghai and China as a major economic and cultural influence on the rest of the world.

Probably the most significant idea was to concpetually capture the idea of a dynamic, emerging, and powerful city and financial center. Our design team, led by Jun Xia, came up with the idea of the building twisting and tapering from its base. This gave the building its upward movement and reinforced the idea of emerging from the ground as it rose to the sky.

During the design review process, a few individuals referred to the design as a reflecting dragon, and no doubt, this was how the building got the label.

The model will be on display at the San Jose office for the next three months.