Filters – Why do we use them?
Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
– Mohandas K. Gandhi
Filter is a must! Some might argue with me that filters diminishes the quality of your photo and I agree to some degree. However, it is only noticeable when you are more than 100% zoomed in! It is not really noticeable unless you are shooting directly at the sun or a light source that is huge enough to create glare. Other than that, you can’t really tell the difference.
I use a UV filter to provide extra protection to the front of my lens (water, dust, scratches, etc). Filters are cheaper to replace than lenses! I’d rather spend $50 on a filter than replace my entire lens for $1,000.
These pictures were taken at Salton Sea using a circular polarizer:
To show and demonstrate different types of filters and how they work, please watch the video provided below:
I hope you learned something.
San Diego County Fair
Some of these shots were taken using a Nikon 12-24 F4 lens with a shutter speed from 1/10th to 4 seconds.
Salton Sea
This place is beautiful weird. You’ll know exactly what I mean when you visit! From Wikipedia: ”
The Salton Sea is a saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault predominantly in California’s Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside Counties in Southern California. Like Death Valley, it is below sea level; currently, its surface is 226 ft (69 m) below sea level. The deepest area of the sea is 5 ft (1.5 m) higher than the lowest point of Death Valley. The sea is fed by the New, Whitewater, and Alamo rivers, as well as agricultural runoff drainage systems and creeks.
The lake covers about 376 sq mi (970 km2), 241,000+/- acres, making it the largest in California. While it varies in dimensions and area with changes in agricultural runoff and rain, it averages 15 mi (24 km) by 35 mi (56 km), with a maximum depth of 52 ft (16 m), giving a total volume of about 7,500,000 acre·ft (9.25 km3), and annual inflows averaging 1,360,000 acre·ft (1.68 km3). The lake’s salinity, about 44 g/L, is greater than the waters of the Pacific Ocean (35 g/L), but less than that of the Great Salt Lake; the concentration is increasing by about 1 percent annually.
Anyway, the sunset here is spectacular! I’ve never seen anything like it before and the sea meets the water and it constantly changes colors from purple to pink to red to blue to orange, you name it! If you’re ever in that area, stop by and you will see what I mean. It’s a photographer’s heaven!
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the largest rotating tramcar in the world. It takes 10 minutes to get to the Mountain Station (8,500+ft elevation) from the Valley Station (2,600+ft elevation). They say on a clear day, you can see the view of the Catalina Island and the light beam of Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas on a clear night. Too bad, the mountain was full of snow and they closed some of the trails. The mountain station offers a spectacular view of the Palm Springs valley. The weather in the mountain is about 30 degrees less than the valley.
If you want to get away and experience something new, head to Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and enjoy a day hike or book a dinner reservation and enjoy the view.
Photography/Photographie/Fotograpia/Fotografía
Finally! I am back! Those of you who followed my other blog (http://jmephotography.blogspot.com), I stopped updating it 7 months ago and 4 months prior to that. But that didn’t mean that I stopped taking pictures. In fact, I now have 14k + actuation on my camera! That’s right, after a year and 1 month of having my camera, I took that many pictures and I’m not even a pro!
Well, after 7 months hiatus, I have started a new website and a new blog. My site remain as JMEphotography; However, that domain name is taken and I didn’t want to purchase a .net domain. So before ending up with this name, I thought about JMEphotos, JMEFotos, JMEPhotographique, etc. But none of them sounded simple yet classy. When I hear the word classy, I think of James Bond and French this, French that! So, I sat down in front of my computer and went to Google translate and typed photography – Italian – Fotograpia, Spanish – Fotografía, Portuguese – Fotograpia, and finally, French – Photographie. I liked it! Headed to 1and1 webhosting and entered, JMEPhotographie.com – It’s available! I immediately registered to secure the name since I was afraid that I would have to pick another name. So now, I am done…. at least with the domain name and the blog.
I will be traveling again in the near future so keep coming back to this site for new photos.
In the meantime, click on the link below to view a slideshow of my favorite pictures. I hope these pictures help inspire you to also take pictures. First things first, do not take pictures when the sun is at it’s highest. Meaning, noon time! The best hours to take photos are during the “golden hours”. The golden hours are 1 hour before and after sunrise and 1 hour before and after sunset. This gives you that nice golden color in your picture. That’s it for now.
Oregon Trip
You take away the mystery, you take away hope.“
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| Oregon Snow Fun |
This is getting pretty long so I’ll have a part 2 of this trip 🙂
See What’s Coming!
I have taken so many pictures and I really need to find time to edit those and share them with you. We also stopped by San Francisco for two nights and I had an opportunity to take pictures of the city and the Bay Bridge.
Here’s a picture of the city at night!
Lake Havasu
We trust consuming manufactured products with unknown ingredients. We trust the consumption of beef when cows have been known to go mad, pork and chicken when facts support influenza.
We trust to live by the letter of the good book (bible) that has all along been written by men of historical failures, swearing that their influences are heavily supported. We trust that a baby’s breath doesn’t stink. We trust our world leaders to not let us down when they’re only human just as we are. We trust in our hopes and doubt our faith.
We trust animals of the wild to be our pet. We trust the boarding of an aircraft to soar the skies or the engine in a car fueled by an explosive product. We trust the air we breath, being polluted daily by factories creating more things for us to trust in. We trust doctors to make the right diagnosis or the surgeon to have a steady hand. We trust medicine. We trust electricity but fear lightening.
Believe in yourself and all your capabilities and abilities. Believe in YOU!”
One thing we tend not to trust in is ourselves. I encourage you to TRUST in YOU. Each of us was born with a gift of trust and trust coming from yourself is a sure guarantee. Believe in you and all your abilities. Trust yourself without thought or doubt, just trust in you.
Las Vegas
It’s been a while since I’ve taken pictures of the hotels in Las Vegas so I decided to bring my camera on my last trip (about 2 weeks ago). I didn’t get to walk around to take pics of all of the hotels so I only have a few from Bellagio, Mandarin Bar (part of the new City Center), Aria, and Paris.
This cocktail drink has 24k gold sprinkled on it:
At Bellagio:
Here’s a link to the album:
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| Las Vegas 2010 |
New York Trip – Part 5 (Last part)
Day 5 – February 28, 2010
– Woke up late!!! We got up around noon and we were supposed to get up around 8am so we can at least visit the Empire State Building.
– We got ready really fast and skipped the Empire State Building and went straight to the Grand Central to meet our friends Cindy and Vince.
– Destination…. Little Italy!
– We got lost and so we walked an extra mile to get to our destination.
– After walking for 30 mins, we finally met with our friends.
– They showed us around Little Italy. I noticed that Italian restaurants have “sales” man standing outside their doors to bring in customers. Some of them are really entertaining.. One of them should seriously consider stand up comedy! I forgot his jokes but he made me laugh….but then again, I’m a happy person and I laugh at everything 🙂
– The time is already 2:00PM and our flight is at 6:15… We really need to rush and find a good place to eat!
– Cindy took her iPhone searched for nearby restaurants and sorted it by ratings! She found a place that’s 2 blocks away from our current location. *Clicked Navigate* iPhone GPS started to direct us to the place…
– Found the place and quickly ordered so we can move on to other places…
– The food was delicious! I ordered some green pasta.. I forgot what they’re called but it was good! umm umm…good..
– After an hour, I suggested that we have some Gelato…. so we had to walk about 4 blocks to go to this really good bakery/ice cream place.
– Ordered our Gelato and started walking towards Lombardi’s pizza.
– DId I mention that the weather that day was cloudy and in the high 20’s? oh and with a little bit of wind, maybe 10mph.
– After walking a couple of blocks, I started getting cold and my hands were starting to get numb. But I did not want to throw away my Gelato!… in short, I finished it but my body started shaking!… “My mind was telling me No….but my body….my body was telling me yes!!!” – I don’t know why I started singing that song in my head.. lol. For those of you that are lost in the sauce like a meatball… that was R Kelly. lol
– We finally got to Lombardi’s and got seated right away…Ordered our pizza and waited…
– after 5 minutes, our orders came but I wasn’t really that excited to eat the pizza since we just ate.. It has only been 30 minutes since our last meal! lol.. but somebody wanted to eat at Lombardi’s *cough*myson*cough*… I can’t mention his name but *cough*myson*cough*. lol.. I’m kidding dude, we all wanted to try it! haha
– After 20 mins, we decided that we needed to get back to our hotel so we can head to the airport.
– We said our goodbyes to our friends.. Cindy and Vince, take you guys for taking your time out of your busy schedules to take us out! We enjoyed your company and we hope to visit you guys soon! I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Almendras brothers for making this trip possible. They arranged everything from booking the plane ticket and hotel reservations to our daily itinerary. Thanks guys!.. *sniff sniff* haha.
– The time is now 5PM and we just got back to the hotel to gather our luggage.
– Got in the cab and asked the driver to take us to airport as quickly as possible.
– Our driver was Haitian and he was very entertaining! He had all kinds of story from when he was single to the time of his marriage. He gave us lessons about women. He basically said that the longer you are married, the less time you spend time talking. haha. He said that women always win the argument! He reminded me of something that Chris Rock had said from one of his shows. – Chris Rock talking about Married life. LMAO. See below
Anyway, LOL.. Let me finish what I was saying…
– Finally got to the airport and checked in…
– Waited for 10 mins and boarded the plane.. Our flight is about 6 hours! sigh….
– 2 hours on the flight, I heard somebody snoring… I looked back and it was Edgar. LMAO… IT WAS FREAKIN’ LOUD!
– Landed in Burbank and went home :(… ahhhh.. what a fun trip!
If you haven’t seen the pics I’ve taken from the trip. Click the albums below:
New York Trip – Part 4
Our trip was nearly ending and we still had so much grounds to cover. We wanted to wake up early but our body did not want to move out of the bed. Andrew even tried to wake us up as he was trying to get our tickets ready for the following day’s trip back to L.A. As I recall, he woke us up around 10am.
Anyway, we planned on going to one of the most depressing site of NY, Ground Zero. The place where 7 world trade centers used to stand. We also planned on going to Brooklyn Bridge since it’s just a few blocks away from Ground Zero.
Day 4 – February 27, 2010
– Woke up around Noon. Even though we had enough sleep, we still felt really tired.
– The snow finally stopped falling but it was still cold outside. I think it was around 30 degrees.
– And to get our day started, we had……………………….not coffee. Instead, we had lunch!
– We decided to go to the Grand Central Terminal dining area as one of our friends had suggested that serve some really good food.
– Edgar and I decided to have Indian food and let me tell you…… the curry was just delicious! The chicken tasted like chicken.. like how it’s supposed to!
– Myson and Andrew had some Cuban sandwiches. They gave up rice for lent. Too bad guys! You had to sit next to us enjoying our curry with rice!
– After eating, on our way back to up to the substation, a man in his 50’s asked us if we were tourist.. Geesh, I don’t know what gave him that idea but I was thinking it was my camera. I was taking pics of every corner of the station. LOL.
– Anyway, he showed us a really cool thing right underneath the station by the dining area on Lexington and 42nd. It’s called the “Whispering Wall”. Basically, he asked me and Myson to stand in opposite corners of the large arched entryway. He told us to face the corner and whisper……..WOW!!!! I heard his voice as if he was right next to me!
– Because we were both excited, we called Andrew and Edgar told them about the cool thing we learned! We all went to our separate corners and started whispering. LMAO. Imagine four grown men standing in 4 corners faced against the wall whispering. Hahaha.
– And off we go to ground zero!
– After a 20 minute ride, we finally arrived at the WTC location. First thing we noticed was the new building! It looks really good.
– After walking down the steps and on the street. We met a very nice gentleman holding books and a tip jar. We originally thought that he was a regular bum but later learned that he was actually one of the survivors.
– After listening to the nice gentleman, we went to ground zero preview site where they have a nice model of what the WTC would look like in the future.
– By this time, we were tired and needed coffee. So, we headed over to Starbucks and learned about the earthquake that hit Chile and the Tsunami that is going to hit Hawaii and other countries near the Pacific.
– We then walked to Brooklyn Bridge to take some pics. We only went to the first arched foundation since they all looked the same anyway. lol
– After about an hour, we decided to head back to our hotel to get some rest since we are going to have a long night.
– After resting for a few hours…. We met up with Amy and Marc to have dinner at a nice hidden Japanese restaurant called “Saka Gura”.
– After dinner, we decided to walk to a bar a few blocks away and had a few drinks. At first I thought I was at the MTV show “Jersey Shore”. People were fist pumping all over the place!.. I gotta say though, the music was good that I started doing it too! I was dressed for it!… Tight shirt that I got from baby gap.. it was size 6-12 months.. lol.. I sporting a spike hair and got a nice tan.. All I needed was to find a dolled up girl to dance with me and it was Jersey Shore dance off!… here’s what I noticed though.. Why is it that men that work out tend to wear the smallest shirts! I saw this guy picking his shirt at baby gap!….. okay I didn’t, but it would have been funny! lol.
– After a night of drinking, we decided to have some pizza at some place a few doors down the bar.
– After dinner, we decided to call it a night and go back to the hotel.
I have one more day to blog, so keep checking back! Goodnight 🙂
Click the album below to view our pics: Part 1 and Part 2
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| New York Trip – Part 1 |
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| New York Trip – Part 2 |
New York Trip – Part 3
So I finally finished editing the pictures from the NY trip. I think I spent about 10 hours editing those pics or maybe less, lol.
Day 3:
– Woke up and it was still snowing.
– Got ready, put plastic bags in our shoes…lol. Ghetto but it works! (We couldn’t find rainboots for men! They all had pattern on them. I was going to get the Zebra patterned boots but the lady wouldn’t sell it to me :(.. haha) – Went to Starbucks to get our daily caffeine fix.
– We started looking for a place to eat nearby our hotel and found a Thai restaurant.
– The food wasn’t that good.. I still liked the Thai restaurants here in LA.
– After eating, we started walking towards 5th Avenue and it is freezing!
– I really got shutter happy this day and took a lot of pics! There was so much stuff to to see!
– Then we got a call from Vince and he invited us over to his place. (He lives with his gf, Cindy… Thank you guys for showing us around town.)
– His place is nice! You can see Central park, Jersey and Time Square from his rooftop.
– Went to Central Park and just walked around to see the beautiful scenery.
– I took a couple of panoramic shots of Central park (I posted them in Part 1)
– After about an hour, our hands were freezing and we needed to go somewhere to keep us warm.
– Cindy and Vince decided to take us to Angelo’s Pizza. The best pizza i’ve ever had!
– We didn’t want to eat a lot since we are also meeting my friend’s cousin for Dinner at 9. We finished eating around 8. lol.
– Walked to Broadway and something.. Close to Radio City.
– After walking for 30 minutes, a plate of food doesn’t sound so bad.
– We met up with Amy, Marc and their beautiful daughter Trinity.
– Went to a Brazilian restaurant and stayed there for about an hour or so, then we decided to have some dessert.
– On our way to the place to get dessert, we walked on Broadway and saw this guy with a bunch of girls taking pictures with him. I didn’t know who he was but for some reason, the little girl in me started screaming and my man body didn’t know how to react but to approach him a take a pic with him!. LOL. I found out later that it was Corbin Bleu, a star from High School Musical. I gave him an excuse that it was for my sister but the truth is…. it was for the little girl in me. LMAO.
– Myson and Andrew got jealous so they both decided to take a pic with him.. I guess everyman has a little girl in them screaming to get out. lol
– Back to my story…. after walking 10 blocks we finally ended up at the place. (it was on 3rd and 36th i think?)
– I got a slice of a very chocolaty chocolate cake! I couldn’t finish it and I was feeling guilty eating it. lol
– By this time, I think it was already 1am so we all decided to call it a night.
– Walked back to our hotel and rested…. ahhh, what a day… ZZZzzzzz….
Check back soon, I have 2 more days to cover.
Click the pic below to go to my Album (NY Trip – Part 2)
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| New York Trip – Part 2 |
New York Trip – Part 2
New York Trip – Part 1
“When you were born, you were crying and everyone else around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you’re smiling and everyone else is crying”
New York trip was definitely a success! We covered so many places in very little time, thanks to NY’s fine subway system. It was an experience for all of us since it was our first time in NY. One thing I noticed is that people don’t follow street signs. Green means walk, yellow means walk faster and red means Run! lol. Oh, and New Yorkers are really friendly!
Day 1:
– Still in Burbank, we arrived at the Burbank airport at 6am. Ate a breakfast burrito and boarded the plane.
– Sat in the back of the plane but couldn’t sleep. We were too excited to fall asleep so we made noises and kept ordering food and beverages. The flight attendant kept asking us if we needed anything else since every time she walks by we ask for something. haha
– Finally arrived at the airport and got a cab to our hotel (Hotel Hemsley NY on 42nd and 3rd). We each had our own bed to be comfortable and we are thankful that we did.
– It was around 30 degrees and a little windy.
– The hotel is newly renovated and the staff were really friendly.
– Walked to Time Square and ate at Brooklyn Diner. That placed sucked! It was expensive too.
– We decided to walk back to our hotel to get some rest so we can hit up a few bars.
– Woke up around 10:30 and got ready. Me and Myson tried to call Andrew but he fell asleep. So we decided to go to a bar nearby.
– Went to a bar called “Flannagans” – not sure if that’s how it’s spelled. We had a good time. Bar tender gave us a shot of Red Label…
– Got hungry and looked for places to eat but everything was closed.
– We ended up at Wendy’s. haha..
– And we saw steam coming out of the man hole. lol.. Things we see in movies! Yey!
Here’s a link to the NY pics. I haven’t uploaded everything as I needed to edit every single one of them. I took about a thousand pics 🙁 So keep checking my blog.
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| New York Trip – Part 1
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Wine Tasting @ Solvang, CA
I figured I’d start with a quote since yesterday was Valentine’s day. 🙂 The last time I went to Solvang was 7 years ago, nothing really changed in that little village except for maybe the ridiculously priced cookies!!! $3 each for a cookie that is a little bit bigger than a fortune cookie!!!
I don’t drink wine but I really enjoyed wine tasting on Saturday. It wasn’t the wine that I really enjoyed, it was the company of friends that I really enjoyed (awwww…). It doesn’t really matter where we go, as long as I am with my friends, I am happy. — I have a toothache now… this is so sweet.. haha..
Sometimes when I’m bored, I send my friends text messages that goes like this:
Me: Knock Knock
Them: Who’s there?
Me: It’s me…your friend, John.. I just wanted to let you know that i’ll always be here for you. LMAO.
Click the link below to view my album
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| Wine Tasting @ Solvang |
The pictures below are the ones that I really like:
Chicago Trip
Since I really don’t have anything to talk about right now. I figured, I’d talk about my trip to Chicago a few months back.
I’ve always been a fan of Michael Jordan so Chicago is one of the cities that I really wanted to visit. Back in September, I finally had a chance to visit this beautiful city and at the same hang out with a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in 15 years.
Chicago is a really nice city with lots of history. The first thing I noticed was that the streets were named after our past Presidents.
Three places I wanted to visit: Willis Tower (Sears Tower), Michael Jordan Statue, and the Millennium Park.
On top the Willis Tower:
United Center:
Millennium Park:
That’s it for now!
To view the rest of my pictures, click here: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=0f578b070d88c7e2&sid=0AaNGLZs3cuGTiQ
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