Explore: San Jose

I love San Jose. All the things that could be said can be condensed into those three words. The people, the exotic and diverse restaurants (many with free wifi), the art galleries and clubs, the plentiful and cheap parking, the fact that I can hop onto the light rail for less then 5 bucks if I don't feel like driving, etc. I love it. Here are some pictures from a recent photo trip to Downtown, I really tried to push myself on this trip and approach people to ask them if I could take their picture. A lot said no...and that wasn't pleasant, but when someone said yes; I lit up inside. I was surprised and happy and just wanted to take their picture so that they could share in that joy with me!

When doing street photography its really difficult to put yourself out there and approach strangers, but (as with all things) its all a matter of practice. This isn't my last trip to downtown San Jose, by no means. You hear that people of S.J? Ill be back!

p.s And next time I'll have my 18-50mm lens with me! I love my 50-200mm lens, but there are times where I wished for nothing more than to be able to zoom out and really capture everything. 

"Quiet Afternoon"
Walking past the aisles I almost stumbled as my eyes swept past this scene. 

This was begging to be captured.
Martin Luther King Library, San Jose

More as always after the jump...

Kyrgyzstan

Theres some very dramatic stuff going down in Kyrgyzstan. The Boston Globe has some amazing photos on it.

See the rest on their website Here

Animal Farm

Lets play a game; Word Association.

Hot  -  Water

Pickles  -  Yum!

Snow  -  Boarding!

Old Faithful  -  Napa Valley???

"But thats in Yellowstone" you might say with more than a little disdain. Not the case at all my friends, because lucky for us Californians we have our own Old Faithful geyser right here in the heart of wine country. Now why would anyone want to drive for several hours just to see water erupt from the earth every 10 minutes, not to mention pay 10 big ones, you might say. Well the answer is this... There are animals to see and  pet!

"Upside Down Cows" 

There are more great pictures of animals, not to mention the answer to last post's mysterious eye, inside...

Look Out: Colors

When out on photo journeys its easy to be distracted with the hunt for the spectacular and unique. To be caught up in searching for Vision, to find the extraordinary in the commonplace objects of our lives. We search for interesting Shapes and Leading Lines and sometimes something crucial gets overlooked. Sometimes it takes a simple wall by a park's restrooms to show you what a wonderful thing Color can be.

"jump" Picture courtesy of A.Lemos

More pictures and a Bonus sneak peek at the next entry after the jump...

A Day of Failure

Found myself up and about at 6 in the morning on Thursday and decided to take advantage of the situation by taking a picture of the sun rising off the top of the Santana Row parking garage. A great idea I know, if only the sun had co-operated! Instead, thanks to a combination of the direction the sun rose from/The Valencia/The Mountains I didn't see the sun at ALL. Instead, one second it was dark and then -ever so subtly- it was day. Oh well, I'll be back when the circumstance are a bit more favorable. And its not like I let the day just go to waste.

From the top of the Santana Row parking garage, right before sunrise

But wait, there's more after the jump...

Animal Math

Once in a while I draw, this time like most times it was at 3 in the morning with nothing on TV and sleep far beyond my reach.

Notepad + a nice black pen + insomnia = Elephants

W00t

Well, the site is growing. Looks like we've had 6 visitors in the last couple of days, an up from 0. A shame I have no pictures from today to show for it. Today is an off day, a day of relaxation and pool playing. A day to forget 2 hours of hellish, stress filled traffic before a 4 hour drive in a rush to make it home on time. I will have something new and fresh for all 6 of you soon though!

In the mean time, have you ever driven past the windmills generating power on California's sometimes golden sometimes green hills? Ah... BUT have you done it at sunrise, with the sun behind the clouds as round and solid seeming as the moon? If you haven't, this is but an attempt to show how stunning and beautiful it.

Click on the image for a larger version