3, 34, 70

This weekend we got together with the relatives up at Tassajara to celebrate three birthdays and the general awesomeness of our family.  I rented a wide angle, large aperture lens (the monster 24mm, f/1.4 by Nikon) and I took pictures of the event, which consisted of kids, babies, ducks, dogs, and more kids running around like crazy and having a jolly good time.  We had cake, we drank wine, we talked a bit, and we watched the kids being kids to the delight of my father-in-law John.  He's turning 70 this summer, and for awhile now I had this idea to get all of his grandchildren in one room for him.  It turned out great, and I am not even going to complain about the long drive there and back, and the fact that Johnny was sick most of the way.  It was worth it, and I am glad.  Family is important.

A couple of notes: There are 5 candles on the cake instead of 3 because this is how Johnny wanted it, and you don't argue with threenager logic.  Also, the photos of my pretty kitty Shelby were test shots and obviously don't belong in the series, but I included them anyway since she's so very cute.

I hope you guys had a great weekend too!  

P.S. Oh, and one more thing - I will be migrating my photo blog to a new domain soon, along with a new design and content.  Stay tuned for updates.

Pacific Grove on iPhone 6

Yesterday was hot, and I have a sunburned back to prove it.  We drove down to the Monterey Bay and spent the morning and the early afternoon on the beach of Pacific Grove's Lover's Point Park.  Save two dead sea lions rotting in the sand and seagulls stealing whole bags of Cheetos, it was an amazing Saturday.  The ocean was calm and clear, the sky was a deep warm blue, and the light was brilliant, promising the arrival of summer soon.  The kids slept through the entire ride there, and only whined a little bit on the way back, nothing a song or two couldn't take care of.  Also, Grandpa John stopped by and hung out with us, making the family fun complete.

I didn't bring my camera as I already had a ton of stuff to carry (traveling with kids is like a perpetual move across the country, even if it's just a day trip), but I had my phone charged and my eyes peeled for the good sights.  I am very happy with the snapshots I took home - my new year's resolution was to return to shooting for my own pleasure, and it's definitely working out great.

I hope you are having a spectacular weekend, too!

Under the Sea

This weekend we traveled to one of my most favorite places on Earth - the Monterey Bay, and we finally visited the Aquarium.  You might wonder why are there almost no images of my kids, husband, Mom or father-in-law, even though they all came in tow.   Well, it's quite simple really.  The baby stayed outside with my mom and John Sr. and they walked down on Cannery Row to the Fishermen's Wharf, and once inside, I practically lost sight of Johnny and John not 15 minutes in.  It was crowded, noisy, hot, and dark in the Aquarium, and if it wasn't for Johnny's flashing shoes, John would have lost track of him too...  Besides, there are way too many photo of my children in this blog already :)

At any rate, we had fun.  The turtles, sharks, octopus, and the rest of the sea-life were amazing!  I quite enjoyed the jellyfish and the schools of silver fish swimming in circles in the elaborate Aquarium tunnel tanks.  

Photography-wise, this was one of the most challenging environments to shoot in.  Not that I was really set up for achieving some sort of award-winning perfection, but I wanted to do justice to the lovely ocean occupants.  For the most part the exhibit rooms were too dim to focus properly, and the fish were moving too fast to use slower shooting speed.  Flash was not allowed - and was useless anyways because it would have thrown terrible reflections off the tank walls, but there was no room for a tripod either, as it was a tourist-packed Saturday morning.  And cranking the ISO helped some, at the cost of way too much noise... 

Considering that all of these are hand-held and that I used my kit lens, however, I should say I did pretty darn well.  Enjoy!

P.S.  You gotta love the new statue at the city wharf with Steinbeck perched on top!

Freefalling

Freelensing + Fall = some serious visual excitement!  

Freelensing is the method of detaching the lens from the camera body and shooting by using your feet as a vario, and tilting the lens to find a focus point.  It's really fun, and I want to give all the credit to my fellow photographer Alex for inspiring me to try it out!  The shallow depth of field is insane, and the overall effect is almost like a tilt-shift.  I present you my first experiments with this technique, and boy, do I love the bokeh and the flares in these!  

Taken in my back yard this morning, just before the weather turned overcast.

Summertime Sadness

I miss my home country...

The nostalgia is strongest in the Summer, which I always associate with a vacation in Lovech, Bulgaria, where I feel most free and like myself.

Here are a few images from the archives, including an outtake from a portrait shoot with my sister. Taken with a Sigma macro lens that produces the most amazing flares!

Youth is a perpetual intoxication; it is a fever of the mind.

~François de La Rochefoucauld

This is most probably our last photo session before the baby comes in a few days.  I wanted to capture the three of us the way we are now - absolutely unaware of what life will be as four.  We are happy to find out, though.  It will be tough in the beginning, but it will also be so much fun.  I am sure of it.

My Dad too joined us this weekend, and I am quite fond of how his portraits turned out.  The light was amazing that morning - going on noon - and it kept changing in the most interesting ways as we moved through the park.  I like how the trees filtered it, and even the part-shade, part-sun headshots turned out fine.  The bokeh is almost painfully good here, and if I wasn't as partial I would have found it distracting.