Attention

Attention is a big thing in any humans life, without attention there would not be any variety in humans. The reason there are so many different types of people is because each individual chooses to give their attention to something, someplace, or someone. Attention can be listening and understanding to when someone is speaking or watching one display an action. There is also another way to give your attention. Imagine this: You are walking with a group of people, a green bird flies past you and the group. You turn your head and watch the bird as is flies past you. After the bird has gone, you notice that no one else looked at the green bird. If each of those people were asked if they saw a green bird, some would say, it was seen in a quick glance, others saw it but not long enough to notice it was green and others wouldn't have been aware that there was even a bird in the first place. That is the type attention that I want to focus on.

Why did that bird cause you to turn your head? My non-researched theory is that, our past is what influences what we will give our attention to in the future. Let's say that when you were younger you went to visit your grandma, she was excited to show you her new bird that she bought. When she showed you the green parrot, it pecked at your grandmas finger and flew off into the sky. So years later a green bird flew by. Without thinking about it you look up and follow it. You still go on with your day not giving any thought on why the bird got your attention. This happens numerous times throughout the day, while sitting at your desk, walking to the mailbox. This can and does happen at anytime of the day at any location. As the days go by and you live your life going to school and work. Talking with people and gaining new experiences little and small. Your attention is everywhere!

Subtle moments like that with the green bird shape the way we will be become. The amount of attention we give begins to transform from subtle moments to commitments that can make or break someone. Depending on how much you were worried about your grandmothers green bird flying away may have had a huge impact in your life. You may have gained a bit of interest on why the bird pecked at your grandmothers hand and fled. Then from there on you would begin to occasionally notice behavior of the different types of birds in your neighborhood. It begins to progress, you check out a book about birds at the library. You choose a favorite kind of bird. (All this happening as you are in your late elementary and junior high years) You begin to look up towards the sky and give second glances at moving branches in trees as you walk by a park or sitting in a moving car. Later as you grow, you have this interest in the avian world, but this is still in the subtle side. When asked 'what do you like?' you still have to think about what it is that you like. Birds may be the 3rd or 4th answer you give. But still subconsciously, you give your attention to the flocks of birds you encounter day by day. That day comes where you see the green bird fly by while you walk with your friends. That glance wasn't because you checked out a book at the library or that you know names of at least 5 different species of birds that live in your town. The reason is because you were there to see your grandmas bird fly way, years ago. throughout high school you slowly discover that you like being outdoors, family camping trips are always something to look forward to. When you graduate you begin to look over the class catalog and see there is a bird watching class. You feel that it may be a nice class because you get to be outdoors and also get school credit. Then as you continue your college years birds is something that you now begin to realize is getting you attention. Zoology is now a possibility in your future to one day put food on your table. And that day happens.

If you read all of this thanks, it was just a ramble about nothing.

Money saving tip

I have discovered that bicycles are great! Just like how cars are also great. The only differences between the two is one requires money to run. April this year I decided that all of my in town commuting would be done with the bike. The first bike I had was a good one, it wasn't the best for commuting though. It had big meaty 2.1in thick tires with fairly low gearing. The two disadvantages with that were the tires creating a lot of rolling resistance, which required me to try harder to keep a high pace, then the gearing is mean't more towards climbing. Climbing was not something I did too often. The bike was a 19in Diamondback Response. It was a really nice bike, had the all Shimano components and performance 6in disk brakes. My friend let me barrow this bike for a short while.

Shot at 75mm: ISO320: f/4: 1/60th

While this was the only bike I had to use, I was looking for a road bike to replace the beast of a mountain bike the Diamondback was. Doing research, I learned many things about both mountain bikes and road bikes. To the outside eye, they both seem to get the same job done. Which is true, they each both have their advantages. I'll get to that a bit more at the end. Looking through craigslist I found the perfect frame. It was a Bridgestone 400 frame. The midrange road frame. All I had was the frame, fork and front derailuer. I began to do some research on which parts would fit best on the bike and also fit me. About a month later I came across another Bridgestone at a swap meet. This was a huge bike, HUGE! It was a complete bike, which is why I bought it. The wheels, tires, stem, and handlebars were all in good condition. The crank did not fit, the 400 frame took a different crank arm than the complete Bridgstone had; neither did the saddle. Still needing parts I kept looking through Craigslist for affordable parts that I would be able to use. I found a place called, "The Fresno Bike Kitchen". I found the address and went to the location. I told the guy running the shop what I wanted. I other words I wanted the bike to run. The rear wheel was off true, I needed a seat post, a saddle and crankset. Finally about 2 hours later and $55. The bike was complete. A single speed road bike. No derailuers, no extra cables, and no shifters. Simple is what I wanted and simple is what I had.

Shot at 15mm: ISO100: f/5.6: 1/125th

I still have the bug, since the day I got the bike running, I have came up on 5 other bikes. Half of them run and the other half needing some help.My main focus still being on the road bike, on making it a really light bike and also keeping all of the strength. Having put at least over 1,000 miles on the frame I still get excited before each ride.

After having some behind the bar experience. I learned how the road bike excels in the road, and how the mountain bike excels on the trails. When I rode the MTB, it worked just fine. It took me to work and took me around town, nothing to brag about. On the other hand the bike worked wonders on the trail. The meaty tires gripped the loose dirt and made the bumpy ride tolerable. the riding position was just right to peddle and continue to flow through the bumps and turns as I stood. All of the components held on tight when the ride got rough. The trail is where I can brag about this bike.

The road bike, this bike also gets me to work and around town just great. Almost too great, it's so smooth and quiet. With the simple drivetrain and thin smooth tires. The bike gets me going at a good speed and I don't struggle staying at that speed. The high gear is a bit tough getting going, but right after that I can speed up quite fast. When sitting in the crouched position I can accelerate and keep a high cadence at a high speed with ease. I get to work sooner and don't tire myself as much.

Weekend Update from previous post.

So this past weekend I was supposed to have a really great photographic experience, I was excited by limiting my equipment and limiting myself with the single lens I chose. Prior to leaving on the trip I was told we were going to the beach on the morning on the day of the concert. That added to my excitement since I will have another location to photograph the band members. (Also I would have the chance to use my skimboard again!) We ran a bit late on the departure but we were still doing good on time since we left the day before. 10pm we finally get on the road down the 99 south towards Los Angeles.

The drive begins well, no obvious problems. Everyone is in a good mood, nothing can go wrong. We stop at a gas station about 20 miles north of Bakerfield to get more snack and goods. Here is where I finally got to see what this van looked like.

Old van, but it was still handling this trip like a champ so far. So after 20 minutes we decide to continue driving. We pass Bakersfield and finally get on the I-5. The Grapevine is now approaching. It struggles a bit, spinning the engine a bit high. This is with 7 passenger, weighing about 1,400lbs and a trailer carrying all of the bands equipment. Then the moment we were dreading hit us like a speeding train. The van loses power and it shuts off. AH! None of us could believe what had just happened. Still on the incline near Fort Tejon we pull over. Not knowing what is wrong, the van will not crank over whatsoever. We finally do get it to crank but it does not start. Everyone begins to slowly lose hope. "we're not gonna make it to the show". I have a bit of automotive knowledge and I suspect that we either ran out of fuel, or something in the ignition went out. Stranded on the I-5 isn't helping with the situation, since we have no tools nor extra fuel. After about an hour we finally gather money and find the cheapest tow to the closest gas station. This being at 2am.

We finally cough up $125 to pay for the tow that is less than 10 miles. We put some gas in and are now finally excited to get back on the road once more. Again, nothing. The van does not start, we think that the battery must be dead or too low to start. We ask everyone to see if they could do us the favor to give us a jump so we can charge up the battery a bit. The battery reaches the proper voltage, so says the volt meter in the dash. Still nothing happens. By this time it is already 4:30am and the sun is beginning to light up the sky in the east. We decide to get some rest and try and find some money for a shop to take a look at it later. The morning hours go by and the mechanic shop finally opens. They are very nice and tow us to the shop free of charge. Then about 30 minutes later during there tests, the van decides to start up. They didn't fix anything, it just so happened that the wonderful Dodge Ram Van decided to start. We paid the $85 for the hours labor and got on with the trip. Everyone just got in a good mood, even with having little to no sleep.

After about an hour of driving the van shuts it self off as we are driving. This really made everyone mad. We pull over, wait a bit and then try and start it. The great thing is that is did start, then we continue driving. the van the began to shut off about every 10 minutes. We decided to just give on the trip and go home, the freeway was too dangerous for us to keep pulling over every 10 minutes. After the last roadside stop we continued on the freeway for the closest exit.

We pulled into a Shell Gas station. Here we began to brainstorm on what we were going to do to get home. Here were the main points.
1. We didn't have tools.
2. We were all running low on cash.
3. The van as is would not make it back to the valley.
4. We wanted the easiest way home.

We thought of ditching the van somewhere in a neighborhood and having a friend come down to pick us up and just go home. We then figured that this may come back later to the owner. That idea was scratched out. Then the best idea was brought up. Sell the van! We would get rid of the pain in the ass this van has been and we'll get some cash. The only place that would buy this van is a junkyard. We called all of the nearby yards. We got lucky and found one that was open and only 15 minutes away. They offered $250, that was a bit low and they then agreed to give us $300. That sounded good, so we set off to the yard. On the way to the yard we dropped a friend off at a U-Haul which was also 10 minutes away.

We get to the tow yard, happy and sad about getting rid of the van. We had to wait for about 30 minutes for the U-Haul to get to the yard. The office lady would not hand the check over until we had the trailer off of the van. The time finally came, the van had been emptied and it was ready to continue its life in Sunny Valley's Pick your Part Junkyard. I'll admit, I was a bit sad on leaving this van. It had to happen and it did.

Overall this experience was a first for all of us that were there. It would have been great if we did make it to the show and had a good time at the beach and had some good shots of the band and the good times to show. Though this adventure was also fun in its own way. I don't regret going on the trip and I'm sure neither do the rest of the guys, including the band.

Weekend Skill Build

This weekend I have a semi-shoot at a concert competition. Its gonna be far from home, I have never shot an event like this. I am not very sure on what to expect the shooting conditions to be like. The weather, lighting, shooting area, and freedom. This for sure will be a different experience for me, and I think after shooting I will have gained some skill at this event.

My original plan was to take as much equipment I can take. Now after thinking about it, taking all of these things would be a big risk. I'm not going to be a preferred photographer. That is where the high risk is. Especially being at a venue where there are many many people. So I will only be taking the body the 50mm and my battery charger. I may take my laptop just in case I fill up my memory cards. Since I will be very limited with my equipment I think this will allow me to learn everything about this super fast lens. Hopefully i'll be more comfortable shooting at 1.4. I am a bit excited for this though. I will be seeing some people I haven't seen in a really long time. I do Hope to come back with some really nice shots to show no one that is subscribed, haha. I leave you here with a picture to glance at before you click out.

I shot this without planning, I was on a bike ride on one of the river trails and then I just happen to look at the sky and this is what I see. The actual image off the sensor was quite a bit different. The Sky was very saturated. I had to tone it down quite a bit, and it still is a bit much. I was surprised how sharp this came out, especially since I shot this at f/1.4.

My Cross Country Vacation

I went on a two week vacation two weeks ago. My main goal was to capture images that I would not be able to create near my home town. Since this was going to span over 2,000 miles. I was sure to capture some really good images. I hope. I'm gonna pick the top ten images that I think are worth sharing. All of these images have minor edits, only to correct color and other minor things.

This first image is of the boring desert in Texas, this state is the largest in the union and also the most boring state to drive through. This is actually the coolest view of the western part of Texas are hills like this. Other than that, there is nothing.

About an hour away or so from New Orleans, we drove through hurricane territory. There were all kinds of houses like this all throughout the coast, it was really wierd to see. The shoulder on these roads wasn't big enough to stop on so I just did my best to capture this as we drove by. I asked someone at the Gas station at the nearest town why these house were all built like this, they said that this prevent them from flooding when hurricane season is there. These are really nice houses and cool looking too. I asked myself why would they build house in such a dangerous spot. Know one knows the force mother nature can put out, especially in this specific area. I think land is super cheap here.


Also swamps are huge in the southern part of Louisiana. There is just acres upon acres of swamp everywhere. And has plenty of wildlife to go with it. I was told that there are more alligator in Louisiana than there is in the Everglades of Florida. So I did find an alligator. It was small but very scary looking.

I did it.

I have gone digital, been shooting film for about 4 years, and just last week I made the step-up to digital. I bought a Canon 50d. I know it is about to be replaced, but I think that I will be just fine with this. Plus it's not so much what the body is, its the glass that makes the images. With that in mind, I bought an EF 50mm f/1.4. This lens is something else, the DOF is just amazing! My original plan was to get the cheap 1.8, and after some research the 1.4 is really worth the extra $300 dollars. The focusing on this 1.4 is way better than the 1.8. That in itself it a huge plus. It has been about a week and I haven't actually taken this out for a real shoot, but I do have some shots that I was just messing around with.

This is a rag on the kitchen counter, shot at 1.4. This is how it came off the sensor, no edit at all. I'm not used to shooting with good lenses, especially at under 2.0. I'm really happy with this lens! Though I did have thoughts towards the EF 28mm f/1.8. Since I am using a crop sensor. Either way I'm happy!

I don't regret buying the lens and body. Now that I have a digital as my primary, I now can't be afraid of using good film with my film SLR. Its a win win now. I have a shoot soon, I'll return with an update on that later this week.

14mm

Just about two weeks ago, a buddy let me barrow his fisheye lens. I knew he had this lens for some time, but I never bothered to ask him if I'd be able to take some shots. Until now.

This shot here I took off of the Golden State near Fresno. A friend of mine bought the new 7d, so we were out shooting long exposures. Most well actually all the shot were taken with the 7d. This was the only shot taken with my SLR. This lens is actually really impressive. Its the Canon 14mm EF f/2.8. On the APS-C crop sensor the fisheye-ness isn't too extreme. On my full frame 35mm you can really put this 14mm to use.

This next image was the second picture I shot with this lens, and this is incredibly wide. I read the specs on this and it has a 183 degree view. This can only be seen with a full frame sensor or a 35mm film SLR.
I wish I had a comparison shot of the same scene with the 14mm to show the actual difference between APS-C sensor and the great full frame! I do have this image which was taken with the same lens on the 7d.

Here you see a real conservative fish eye shot. Not as exaggerated as the first two, but still gets real amazing shots. This last image was not processed at all just came straight off of the sensor. This really limits the capability of the lens, makes it seem like it's shot with my 28mm from film SLR. Not saying this lens is crap on these limited cameras, it just needs the 10mm to have the same effect. That also comes with a higher price.

All in all this lens performed much better than I had expected. It has a fast aperture and a decent AF. Soon I will buy this lens, but first there are other goodies I need to get.

Ciao!