You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.

I had almost forgotten how much I LOVE shooting portraits with a shallow DoF.  I truly do.  Most of today's images were a mistake in every technical photographic sense, but a beautiful, beautiful mistake.

Johnny turned 5 months today and grew a pair of teeth for the occasion.  Take a look:

A Day in the Life of a Shelby Cat

Just a few recent shots of Shelby stalking various creatures, because she's such a vicious hunter:

Photo Journal: Good Bye iPhone 4, Hello iPhone 5!

Or as I like to call him, Appy 5.  

The iPhone 4 served me loyally for almost 2 years, and now it's time to upgrade.  And until I gather some exquisite shots with the new camera, here are the last few I took with the old one - a very fluffy cat, a sunset bokeh, some good wine for John's birthday, my knockoff Chanel bag and a lonely autumn leaf, cloudporn, and a streetlight reflection in a diamond.

 

A little preview:

Very little noise, and awesome colors!

Gosh, I love living in the Silicon Valley.

John is Odd

He turned 33 today.

Happy birthday, Bear!  We LOVE you SO much!

Mommy's Little Photographer

Today Johnny practiced taking photos of me while I was taking photos of him:

A Guide to Looking Ridiculous in Photos

You will need:

• A Mirror
• 1 Baby
• 1 Cat (optional)

While at home in your most baggy pj's and crazy hair, place the baby in your lap, call the cat over, and start shooting with disregard to focus, composition, or even lighting.  Have as much fun as possible and grin as widely as you can.

Note: try to keep the baby from eating the camera.

 

For A Good Cause

Bullfighting is a sadistic spectacle and must be made obsolete.

In 2009, I participated in a PETA anti-bullfighting protest in London, and although I wasn't comfortable with taking my clothes off for the cause, I contributed the best way I could - by being there and taking photos.

It was a great experience, and a rather striking one.  A group of well organized and  solemn young people undressed, covered themselves with faux blood, and silently proceeded to lie down on the pavement at the Spanish Embassy square in the middle of the rushing city, held protesting signs, and chanted "Bulls die bloody death in Pamplona".  Withing mere minutes, photographers and news TV crews mobbed the scene, and passers by slowed down to see what was happening.  It all took about an hour, and then the Police came to scatter the activists.  

More than 3 years later, a moviemaker from England contacted me and asked to use my footage of the protest for a documentary he's putting together.  Needless to say, I am very happy to oblige.

The running of the bulls continues to this very day and such protests can't stop them entirely.  However, they spread awareness, and this is exactly how things change - from within, sparkled by ideologies that makes us better.

The following photos don't pretend for artistic, only for reporting qualities.  Please take a minute to inform yourselves on the topic and do whatever is in your power to stop cruelty towards animals.

C'est la vie

There were many things I didn't like about living in an apartment in Mountain View, but we were lucky to have a wonderful neighborhood and lovely indoors light.  

Californication

There's no love lost between Los Angeles and me, but I suppose that through the viewfinder one can find aesthetic charm in every place.  

Old Hangover Frisco

I wanted to post just a few more collections of archive photos, and I chose to showcase shots from LA, San Francisco, and Mountain View.  There are many other portraits and landscapes I could to share, but I think I want to move on to working on my writing project in the upcoming weeks.

Of course, current Johnny images will often continue to appear here :)

A Blasé Labor Day Weekend, part deux

No matter how many times I visit the mountains where my in-laws live, I can't help but be in awe by the striking beauty of the place.  I admit that I miss some of the modern urban life conveniences during my stay (like a fast Internet connection), but I certainly don't miss the noise and the stress.  It's so quiet there it's deafening, and at night you can see the Milky Way with a naked eye - there's no light pollution or low-flying jet planes.  

My favorite things about Tassajara are, in no particular order:  the sea of clouds view over the ridges during sunset and sunrise, the evening light falling on my mom-in-law's counter top, the morning light in the tree tops, the light, all the time.  

The Moon shot needed quite a bit of post-processing (I took it at around 5 am), but hey, I am getting so good at improvised, hand-held Moon shots.  Also, I love the one of the bird stealing cat food.

 

A Blasé Labor Day Weekend

Celebrating Labor Day by not working is a genius idea.  Here are some snapshots of our Tassajara getaway, more to follow: