First Try of Lee Big Stopper

Things look tranquil when time slows down 1000 times.

A quite foggy afternoon. This is without the Big Stopper, or the warm colors will be gone.

Not a good day for photography but I was determined to try the Big Stopper anyway so I headed to the coast. The filter was much easier to use than my B/W screw-on stopper, but it caused such a terrible color shift. Even after I set the white balance to "shadow", all the warm colors were gone and the photos all had a blue cast (in black and white it looked ok). I also noticed some serious "ghost" effect (probably because I was not use the Lee holder so the filter was not properly sealed in the holder). Looks like I will need some fine tuning with the filter for a while.

One Hour Late for Photo

I totally forgot now the sun sets 2 minute earlier every day and thought the sunset time was 8pm. Needless to say, I was 1 hour late. It was too late to try my new 10f stop ND filter. Only got time to snap a few shots. It was a warm day and the afterglow was beautiful. On my way back I noticed the moon was in orange and looked just like a pumpkin!

Contour Mouse

I noticed this interesting mouse when visiting Chinchih yesterday (she had back problem so she couldn't use the normal mouse):

http://ergo.contourdesign.com/products/product-detail.aspx?id=2

Flood!!!

The new typhoon brought a lot of rains to Taiwan and my home town was in one of the most flooded areas. This place showed in the video is quite close to where we lived. My parents moved to a new apartment building two years ago so they were not affected this time. Otherwise, I would probably see our home in the news too.

Visited Chinchih's New Home

My friend Chinchih moved to Redwood City recently and today I was invited to visit her new home. (No photos since they hadn't finished unpacking.) To someone who's afraid of height like me, the house looks a bit scary since it's on the hill. The land is large and there's a creek going through it (I was not able to access it due to poison oaks on the ground). I can imagine it will be very nice to build a trail around it and have BBQ there. I will post more photos when the owners finished repacking and landscaping the backyard.

Waiting for Superman

An important film for any parents in the U.S.

Pollock in Bird Drop

Spotted this in the parking lot. Wow, those birds apparently know modern arts.

Playing with Kindle 3

I bought a Kindle 3 as a birthday gift for my best friend. After some waiting (it was out of stock for a while), today it finally arrived. I already had a Kindle DX and didn't expect much for Kindle 3. To my surprise, I found it quite an improvement. The display was way better (more contrast and detail), page turning really fast, and download was much faster. You can also change the fonts of a book (only a few selections now). I had to say I almost felt tempted to order one for myself. Hmmm, maybe it's time to sell my Kindle DX... 

Salt Pond

[通天神探狄仁傑]第一支預告(高畫質HD版)10月8日上映

Hark Tsui's Judge Dee has more resemblance to Sherlock Holmes than the real Dee in history. (He probably got his inspiration from Robert van Gulik's "Judge Dee" series*.) Never mind the historical details, you know it will be entertaining. (Look at those costumes!) My only complaint is, how come Empress Wu looks like Lao-lao in "A Chinese Ghost Story"?

* My favorite van Gulik is the "Nail Murder", followed by the "Bell Murder".

Fleeting Moments: The Most Expensive Point Lobos Photos I Ever Took

I finally received the letter from the Monterey court. The fine is $265. I don't think I can afford to visit Point Lobos for a while.

Fleeting Moments: The Most Expensive Point Lobos Photos I Ever Took: "I got a ticket for 'staying out of trail and stepping on plants' for these photos. Don't know how much fine I will have to pay. I wonder if..."

Black Swan

The movie actually reminded me the interesting backstage tour at Covent Garden (my friend Chinchih is a ballad aficionado and insisted we took it during our London trip). We actually saw a beautiful dancer wearing a black swan dress doing some photo shoot, but, alas, nothing as sensational as the movie.

A Stroll Around the Bay