At Gazos Creek

Last day of 2008, I drove from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz. I thought I knew all the beaches in between, but I was wrong. There were still new places to explore. The Gazos Creek beach is a lovely surprise.

New Year's Greeting from Miti and Me

How many hoops I have to jump to get Miti to take this funny photo, and she looks like in shock! OK, Miti, don't worry, you will still be the fat cat CEO of our home in 2009, and no new diet plans.

So, Bye, Bye 2008. See you in 2009.

Another Photo from Yesterday

Yesterday's lovely light. About 10 minutes after sunset.

Rock Patterns

Also saw these interesting rock patterns yesterday. Thanked to the recent storm the rocks on the beach were washed clean and showed their interesting patterns. Made me dizzy when I looked at them.

On the Beach Again

It had been almost two months since I did my last outdoor photo. Though I hadn't fully recovered from my cold, I had such a craving for beach and sunlight (as if I would become a vampire if I couldn't get them in time*). I decided to go.

Driving on highway 17, I had a sensation that I was flying. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Wow, I never know catching a cold can make you high. (I didn't even take cold medicine.)

I was a bit worried that it would be too cold on the beach. Turned out it was not that bad. I was like in a trance and didn't really know what I was doing. (Photography is like dancing. If you don't practice it often enough, your body forgets.) Most of the photos I got were bad, but these two showed a glimpse of the lovely light.

*Nowadays being a vampire is actually quite popular.

The Life Before Her Eyes

Soon after the movie "The Life Before Her Eyes" started, we saw two teenage girls, one blonde, one brunette, happily chatting in the school bathroom. Then they heard some strange sound, the sound of gun firing. Soon the door of the bathroom slammed open, they faced the gunman, one of their classmates. "Please don't kill us", the brunette begged. "Who says I am going to kill you both", their classmate grinned. "The question is, which one of you is going to die?"

We heard one gun shot.

In the next scene, we saw the blonde again. It had been 15 years since the tragedy and she had grown up and changed. She seemed to have a perfect life, married to the professor she had a crush on when she was a teenager, had an angel-like daughter, lived in a nice suburban house (with a porch). However, she seemed to be troubled. There was something on her mind. In one scene, her daughter asked her what is conscious and she immediately became disturbed. Why?

What really happened in the bathroom?

To tell you more about the movie will deprive you the experience of seeing it yourself. In the end, when all the puzzles are put together, you would want to start again. Like witnessing a perfect water drop on a leaf. It is short lived and will soon disappear into the atmosphere, but its beauty may haunt you forever.



P.S. Watch It If You Also Like

• American Beauty
• Evan Rachel Wood
• Uma Thurman not in fighting suit
• Reading short stories and don't mind movie being a little bit slow

Christmas

For some reason my Christmas memories in the U.S. can be divided into two categories

• work
• sick

Since I don't have to work now, this Christmas unfortunately falls into the other category. I caught a cold a couple of days ago and was bedridden for a few days (there goes the Christmas shopping). Now my fever and sore throat recede but I am still left with a running nose and a lot of coughing (sorry for the details), so I try to stay home for fear of spreading the germs (there goes the movies). It will probably take me a few more days to recover to my usual self.

My cat, Miti, however, had fully taken advantage of the situation. She kept making noises and begged for food. I was too weak to say no to her so I kept feeding her. Now she looks more like a panda than a cat. I have always wondered how much a cosmetic surgery for cat will cost...

Cat Story

This is a true story my cousin told me today:

A coworker of my cousin had to be on an out-of-town project for a couple of months and asked another coworker to cat sit when she was away. Three weeks later, this coworker entrusted the cat sitting job realized she had totally forgotten the cat. The cat had been left starving for 3 weeks!

She rushed to the coworker's home and found, to her great relief, the kitten (yes, it's a kitten) was still alive. After feeding the cat, she noticed the toy mouse of the kitten scattered on the floor, apparently torn apart by the cat. Feeling kind of guilty, she decided to clean up the mess. Only when she picked up the toy mouse, she realized it was not a toy but a real dead mouse.

P.S. till today the coworker didn't know what had happened to her cat, she thanked the other coworker profusely at her return.

The Dark Force of Photography

Lately my cousin had fell passionately in love with his new camera. Things started like this. A couple weeks ago he went to Bryce Canyon with a friend and witnessed the most breathtaking sunrise he had ever seen. However, he found his small compact digital camera was not able to catch a slice hint of it, so he consulted me. I told him he needed more proper tool for that and suggested two entry-level DSLRs. Little did I know what a dangerous journey my cousin was about to embark on.

My cousin first spent several weeks researching which camera to buy. He read many reviews, surfed various forums, found all the potential issues with each model, and sent me tons of questions. Still he couldn't decide. One night he had gone so weak he almost bought both.

Finally he made his decision and chose the Nikon D90. I thought it would be the end of story. Wrong. Now it's the price war. After ruling out numerous hoax web sites selling cameras in unbelievably cheap prices, he finally bought his cameras from Amazon. Yes, cameras. Well, it turned out after he ordered his first one, Amazon lowered the price even further ($25), so he ordered again but was not able to cancel the first order in time. Fortunately he was able to sell it to a friend and recover his cost, so at least that part had a happy ending.

Then my cousin realized, camera was not the only thing he would need for photography, there were so many things he would potentially need and could still buy. How about them? In an email he wrote me he mentioned shopping camera equipments was like resisting the power of the ring. Calmly, I told him: resist the dark force, Frodo.

Last weekend he finally received his camera. He was in ecstasy. He canceled all his dates so he could devoted the whole weekend to the D90. ("Oh, she's beautiful", my cousin said.) Yesterday he called me at 5:45pm and said he had a few questions about the camera.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work now?" I was surprised getting his phone call so early and a bit worried if his job got impacted by the economic downturn.
"Oh, that, I am newlywed now, I have to be home early to be with my camera."

Sigh, now I can only hope I won't be blamed by my relatives if my cousin doesn't get married any time soon. Who would know D90 could be such a femme fatale!

What a month for movie goers!

Just two weeks ago, I was lamenting what a boring year it was for movie goers. Well, thanks to the Oscar rush, suddenly we are seeing a bunch of exciting new movies appearing this month. Here are a few I found interested. Now that I have a lot of time in hand, I may actually go to all of them.

• Doubt - based on the Pulitzer winning play, adapted and directed by the original author. With Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in lead, who can miss that?
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still - a remake of an old sci-fi, don't expect much, but will be interesting to see the special effect.
• The Reader - based on the popular novel. Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes in lead, adapted by Dave Hare and directed by Stephen Daldry. (Hare and Daldry had worked on "The Hours" before). Will it be as successful as "The English Patient" or "The Hours"?
• Gran Torino - At 78, how could Clint Eastwood still have 2 movies out every year? What's his secret? For those who wonder what happens to Dirty Harry when he grows old, the answer may be here.
  
• Milk - the quality of Gus Van Sant's work is always unpredictable (either very good or very bad), fortunately this one seems to be on the good side. It's also part of the local history.
• The Spirit - Though I am not a comics fan, nor do I agree with the male centric violence aesthetics of Frank Miller, the style is interesting.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - don't like Brad Pitt, but I am a huge fan of Cate Blanchett (since "Paradise Road" and "Oscar and Lucinda"), so will not miss this one (also the director is good).
  
• Slumdog Millionaire - from zombie crowded London to outerspace, now it's the slum of Mumbai, director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Trainspotting) is really the most exciting director in these days. Wonder what he's up to after this one.
  

RED for prime time

One of the most exciting features in latest DSLRs is the capability to record HD video. However, the HD video capability in current DSLR is still primitive. For professionals who wants the full power of HD video, they use RED. RED was introduced in 2005. It used a design similar to DSLR (digital sensor, can use DSLR lenses with adaptor) and provided high quality HD video capability with a low (relative) cost. Since then, it had become a lot of independent filmmakers' best friend.

I just noticed the new Steven Soderbergh movie, "Che", was actually shot in RED. The preview looks pretty impressive (click here to see it). It will be fun to see what the "Scarlet Red" (the next generation of RED, out next year) can do and if we will see more video features on new DSLRs. HD video is just getting more and more interesting.

Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky

If you have seen the TV adaptations of Sarah Waters's "Tipping the Velvet" or "Fingersmith", you have seen Sally Hawkins. In TTV, she is the maid Blake, a minor character who plays a pivotal role in the protagonist's future. In "Fingersmith", she is the narrator Susan Trinder, the illiterate pick-pocket whose own fate will be revealed in the twisted plot. In the behind-the-scene footage of "Fingersmith", Hawkins cheerfully described the scene she was about to play and enthusiastically discussed it with Waters. I was surprised that off stage she could be so relaxed, so exuberant.

Her exuberance must have been noticed by others, for that's a perfect match for the character Poppy in Mike Leigh's new movie "Happy-Go-Lucky" and Hawkins won the best actress in Berlin Film Festival playing this role.

Leigh is a unique British filmmaker. While most of his British colleagues are busy making historical dramas or draw their inspirations from 19 century novels and Shakespeare plays, Leigh rarely makes any historical drama and always writes and directs his films. To say he "wrote" his films would be misleading because he never fully scripted his characters, but asked his actors to improvise the lines. It demanded a lot from the actors, but a good Mike Leigh scene is always edgy and spontaneous.

Unlike most of Leigh's movies, "Happy-Go-Lucky" seems lighthearted and sunny (versus his previous work "Vera Drake"). We still see Leigh's trademark social commentary in it, but this time, he seems to be more optimistic and in better mood. (There is also a flamenco lesson you will never forget.) Who knows? Maybe he got infected by Hawkins's exuberance too!

Annie Leibovitz Promotion Video with Pro8A

A promotion video which shows Annie Leibovitz at work. Notice how many assistants/lighting equipments she has. She also uses a D3 here. I think D3's high ISO capability works well with her hand-holding shooting style.

Interesting Bumper Sticker I Saw Today

The more I see of men,
The more I love my cat.

Meet EVA

This is the "extravehicular activity" (EVA) suit astronauts wear for the "space walk" (also displayed at Tech Museum). I had seen numerous versions of the suit in sci-fi movies, but it was the first time I ever saw a real one.

Leonardo da Vinci at Tech Museum

Thanks to my friend Catherine, I got a discount to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition and visited the Tech Museum today.

This is a replica of the famous Florence Duomo, designed by another Renaissance genius, Filippo Brunelleschi. The dome is double layered so you can climb from the in-between stairs to the top.

The master by himself. Though born in Florence, da Vinci spent a lot of his life in Milan. Unlike his fellow Florentine Dante and Michelangelo, he was buried in France, not Italy, the prodigal son never returned.

Notebooks of da Vinci. To my surprise, those notebooks are all very small: the small one is the size of a pocket Moleskine, the big one is about the size of a 6x9" Moleskine notebook. As you can see, his hand writing was tiny, his drawing had incredible details even in this size. Da Vinci was left handed and over the years he developed a special writing style which made it look like the notebook was up side down. Some said da Vinci was dyslexic, it doesn't look so from his notebooks.

All his life, da Vinci was fascinated by the idea of flying and he spent numerous hours designing a "flying machine" (after dissecting many many birds and comparing human ribs with bird bones). Well, it looks quite like a giant batman suit. No, the lady with a digital camera was not in his original design.

Leonardo da Vinci was a believer of physiognomy and used it a lot in his "last supper". The exhibition also shows the animated movements of the disciples in the fresco based on their postures.

Fascinated by geometric forms, da Vinci drew tons of them in his notebooks. He was also obsessed about the idea of human body as perfect equilibrium of forms. To him, the movement of a perfect body matched the movement of a planet.

Butterflies Arrived

Each fall, millions of Monarch butterflies migrate south from Canada and north U.S.. Most of them stay in Mexico, some stay in California. Year by year, thousands of butterflies come to the same trees and those famous "butterfly trees" can be found in Santa Cruz, Pacific Grove, and Santa Barbara. (The nearest one is in the Natural Bridge State Park in Santa Cruz.)

This morning I read from this month's National Geographic that the Mexican forest where these butterflies stayed the winder was heavily destroyed by logging in the past 4 years. To save it, the UNESCO had made the site a World Heritage this year but we didn't know what impact it had already done. Since my last trip to see the butterflies was ten years ago, I decided it's time to pay a visit again.

I did notice the number of butterflies seemed to be much less than what I saw ten years ago. (Ironically, there seemed to be more people coming to see the butterflies than the butterflies themselves.) Will I still see them ten years later? I don't know.

Note: those butterflies tend to stay high on the tree so make sure you bring a telescope with you.

Miti Enjoys Her "Heater"

Cats love warmth and know where to find it. The old CRT monitors were their favorite. Poor Miti just has to make do with a normal lamp.

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell has done it again!

The day I received "Annie Leibovitz at Work", I also received "Outliers" from Amazon. I browsed through the Leibovitz book quickly and left it on my bookshelf; then I started reading "Outliers" immediately. Why? Because it's the new book by Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell is the author of only 3 books, but his first two books, "The Tipping Point", and "Blink" were international phenomena. (Personally I think "The Tipping Point" is great, but "Blink" just ride on its predecessor's waves.) Not only they sold like a non-fiction "The Da Vinci Code", they were studied by marketing departments and business schools world wide. A new Malcolm Gladwell book is something you pay attention to.

I had almost finished the book (only the last chapter left). How do I rank it with his two other books? I'd say it's much better than "Blink". Though it's not as refreshing as "The Tipping Point", it will be more influential.

OK, no more details of the book. I don't intend to write a book review. This is just a book impression. (Like my roommate TF used to say, you should not read a book review before you read the book.) I only want to focus on my two observations. One, Gladwell's rhetoric style; two, the most important idea in this book to me (p 267), "success is a gift".

1. Gladwell's Rhetoric Style
After the huge success of "The Tipping Point", there are tons of non-fiction books published, following the "Gladwell" formula. That is, they take a hard-to-explain and counter-intuitive fact (but has to be interesting enough), and explain it through statistic, economics, or psychology theory. Well, some of them were interesting and managed to make the best seller list, but most of them were very boring. So when I got Gladwell's new book this time, I started to pay attention to his style. Conclusion? Malcolm Gladwell is a good rhetoric and he knows how to get your attention.

He usually uses the following 2 strategies:

Strategy 1

1. present a fact and a popularly accepted cause that seems to explain it very convincingly, but with a few unexplained details
   
2. tell you he's going to argue that it's not so (by then the suspense is really high)
3. present a very counter-intuitive argument,
   
4. use his argument to re-explain the fact more convincingly, suddenly it makes better sense
5. you feel you are looking at the same thing with different eyes
   

Strategy 2

1. tell you a crisis, or something that seems unbelievable, and tell you it can be solved/explained by what he's going to tell you (How? you are definitely paying attention now)
2. provide his long-shot explanation, then explain step-by-step how the long shot is done

(He used strategy 1 in part I and strategy 2 in part II. Strategy 2 is not always successful. Sometimes the case history is so long you just want to skip it. )

It's something I can definitely learn from.

2. Success is a gift (and you do need a lot of help)

When I reach page 267, I have read through a lot of case histories the author presents and cannot but reflect on my own experience. (Just like the author will do in the next chapter.) I don't think I am successful or even an outlier like those exceptional cases the author presents, but I am not coming this far without any help either. Some are from my parents (for sure), some were from a government which provided easy access to education and very low tuition fees for higher education (sadly, not any more for the later). It is indeed a gift. And if we accept the idea that success is a gift, we also acknowledge the power we have as a society to give. If so, with the power we know we have, what more can we do?

I think if there's only one idea I can take away from this book, it will be this one.

Leibovitz by Herself

Got my "Annie Leibovitz at Work" from Amazon today. I find the book recaps a lot of things in the DVD (the photos selected are almost the same) but in more details (especially the section about equipments, you will also read her own account about the "Queen" episode). For those who like to know the nitty-gritty details of photography, get the book, otherwise, you can pretty much save your time (and money) by watching the DVD.

DVD Watch: Annie Leibovitz - Life Through A Lens

If Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon had a daughter together, it would be Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz's photos combine Avedon's high fashion, yet, like Newton, tend to be provocative and sometimes even controversial. However, you may not agree with what Leibovitz says, but there is no deny that she is a master at her craft.

I missed Leibovitz's big retrospective exhibition in San Francisco early this early. Fortunately, I found there was a documentary (made by her sister Barbara) accompanied the exhibition and the DVD was out lately, so I happily ordered it and started to take down notes like a good student while watching it. Here is for those who are interested in how the master works.

Process and Photo Tips

• blend in with your subjects by spending time (a lot) with them, so much so that they don't even notice you are there any more. It's when you will get the fresh shots.
  
• study the master's work (yes, even Annie Leibovitz needs to do that). Leibovitz studied Barbara Morgan and Richard Avedon before shooting dance portraits of Mikhail Baryshnikov.
• get a mentor, learn how to look at your own photos with critical eyes.
• never be satisfied with a common photo, always strive for a photo which can make a difference
• do tons of research before shooting (not a surprise since most of her works are commercial and her subjects are celebrities), think film production
  
• collaborate with your subjects, listen to them and their ideas. (Before she got the shot of the famous Vanity Fair cover of Demi Moore, Leibovitz had done a few successful ones with Moore half naked, then Moore asked her if she could do a nude, well the rest is history.)
  

Best Comments

• Remember, portraits are moments you pass through each other's lives.
• You have to be able to connect to people to get the shots

What Her Celebrity Subjects Said About Her

• told Arnold Schwarzenegger while shooting in cold weather "the freeze and pain are only temporary but the shot is permanent".
• Hilary Clinton admitted getting nervous before being photographed by "one of the best photographers in the world".
• Patti Smith was surprised at her photo (is that me?) and found herself gradually grew into the person she saw
  

Interesting Observation from the DVD

• hand held almost all her shots, rarely use a tripod
• use mostly natural light with minimized strobe while shooting on location
• shot in cloudy day, the sky seems to be post-processed to give more drama
  
• have a entourage of assistants and is notorious for her hot temper as a boss (hint, you really don't want to be her assistant)
  

Equipments
Leibovitz's equipments will definitely make a lot of us envy. In short, she has all the toys. She use a Leica for personal work, a Mamiya and a Canon for some commercial work, a Leaf or Hasselblad (with those expensive digital backs) for her Vanity Fair commercial shots. Images are transmitted to a Mac through wireless on the camera immediately so she can view them on a 30" screen right after a shot on location. She also carries a small digital compact with her.

Notes from a movie theater

Since the job market now is either dead or in a coma, I decided to take a break and went to see the new James Bond movie (warning, save your money on this one). Before the movie started, I noticed a big movie commercial to promote Christmas shopping. "A bit early, isn't it", I thought. Also, who's going to spend a lot of money on Christmas shopping this year? Why even waste money doing an advertising campaign?

Then I saw this big movie commercial was actually from Walmart.

Oh, well, the economy is apparently so bad that even Walmart becomes the exciting place to do Christmas shopping. It is so bad that even for our nearest and dearest we need to go for the cheap (not Macy's, not Nordstram, honey, I got your gift at Walmart, see how much I saved). OK, maybe I am exaggerating things a bit (since I don't have any family in the States so I don't need to worry about buying Christmas gifts), but if our buying power has diminished so much that Walmart becomes our only choice of shopping, we are really in deep trouble.

I think I can probably forget about job searching this Christmas; maybe it's time to do some shopping at Walmart...

Self Portraits

After my trip to Irvine, I have to admit I start to enjoy shooting portraits. Since it's more hassle to hire a model, I decide to follow Rembrandt's good examples to do some self portraits. It's a bit challenging because I don't have any studio lighting equipments so the shooting has to solely rely on natural light. Fortunately the light from the window is pretty good (soft and even due to the clouded weather). The big mirror in my living room also makes posing easier (though it's still hard to focus). Now the only thing I have to be careful about is to minimize the clutter in my house entering the pictures.

So here is the result. What do you think?

On the Beach

Today we headed toward the beach for the photos of the newlyweds. The weather is nice, the light bright but soft, perfect for outdoor portraits. The newlyweds are in cheerful mood and I have a lot of fun shooting their photos.

Just Married!

Today I am very lucky to attend my friends Yicheng and Sheryl's wedding. These two love birds have known each other since 12 years old (in junior high) and have been together for years. I had heard them talking about getting married for months, but nothing happened. Right when I started to worry if the two were getting cold feet, my invitation came. So I packed my camera equipments and flew to South Cal.

The civil ceremony was held in the Laguna Hills civic center, at 10am. We arrived at 9:30. Like every couple before the wedding, my friends were nervous and worried if things would go wrong. A clerk with black rimmed glasses quietly did the paper work then told us to wait in front of a door. I thought she's going to grab the minister.

To my surprise, she just put on a black robe and instantly transformed herself to a bona fide minister. "You must be kidding", I thought. Well, apparently not. Before I even realized what's happening, she opened the door and we were ushered to a very nicely decorated wedding chapel. Immediately the wedding started.

From now on things were happening really fast. My attention was on the photo shoot, but I could still hear my friends exchanging vows with shaking voices, tears in eyes. No matter how many weddings you attend, they are always moving.

Now I will let the photos do the talking. I hope you share the couple's happiness and don't forget to vote NO on prop 8 if you can.

Must See Places around the Bay Area (according to me)

Yesterday I had a lunch with a friend from out of town. I promised to send her a list of must-see places for her next visit to the Bay Area, so here are my choices for places suitable for a weekend visit.


Going North

1. Muir Wood National Monument - if you don't have time to drive to the Redwood National Park, this nice park will give you a peek at the California giants. 30 minutes north of S.F.

About Town

1. S.F. Academy of Science - This recently renovated nature history museum is more popular than ever. Across street is the De Young Museum so you can visit both places in a day. Parking in the Golden Gate Park is a bit hard in the weekend so be prepared. Note the ticket you purchase for De Young Museum can also be used for the Legion of Honor museum so you can combine 3 stops in a day if you are in a tourist mode.
   
2. San Jose Tech Museum - Usually a minor museum, but they are showing Leonardo Da Vinci now (the only stop in North America) so what are you waiting for?
3. Computer History Museum in Mountain View - This place is probably for geeks only. It's right off the Shoreline exit on Hwy 101 in the old SGI building. (Does anybody still remember that company?) It's also blocks away from Google, so contact your Google friend and get a free lunch there.
   

Going South

1. Monterey Bay Aquarium - This world famous aquarium just gets better. Make sure you check out the Moon Jellyfish tank.
2. 17 Miles Drive and Carmel - For general tourists it's "the" tour. For golf lovers you know what to do in Monterey.
3. Point Lobos State Reserve - The crown jewel of California state parks. (You probably know it already if you are reading this blog.) Not convinced? OK, go check out this photo album (http://jiunjiunma.zenfolio.com/p328065535)

Special Interests

1. Lighthouses on Hwy 1 -Lighthouse fans (like me) can visit the Pigeon Point Lighthouse on Hwy 1 (between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay) and even stay the night in the hostel. There are also the famous Point Bonita (north of SF) lighthouse and a few others along the HWY 1.
   
2. Missions - Feeling missionary? There are a few California missions around the Bay Area all within driving distance, e.g. Misison Carmel, Mission San Juan Bautista.
3. John Steinbeck Center at Salinas - Literature buff may want to pay a visit. You can also visit the old Steinbeck house in town.
   

The Most Dangerous Animal on Earth

What is the most dangerous animal on earth? Not lion, not dinosaur, and certainly not whale. It is human being. In Whalers Cabin, you can see all sorts of weapons used in killing and dissecting whales. You will also hear a recording of whale. It sounds like baby crying.