A Moon Shot on a Very Cloudy Night

Canon 7D, Raw, 300mm, f/11, 1/125, ISO 200

Got a little break in the clouds late last night.  You can see some cloud shadows in this photograph. I took two dozen photos and this one shows the face of the moon and some clouds. I did some sharpening and noise reduction in camera raw. Also some exposure adjustment so the moon would show up clearer.  A  levels adjustment in Photoshop and I was done. Maybe I should have increased the ISO and some of the clouds around the moon would have shown up. Compare this to another full moon photo I took almost two years ago.

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Los Angeles City Hall

Willie and I were in downtown LA recently to take some photographs at night. We took some photos around the Disney Hall and then I liked the way City Hall looked. Using my tripod and telephoto lens, I took some photos of the City Hall Building. It used to be the tallest building and a landmark in downtown Los Angeles. It is still a landmark but it is dwarfed by all the other newer buildings around. I am sure all of you have seen it – if not in person then in a plethora of movies and TV shows.

Los Angeles City Hall…

I just found out we do not have class tonight. I know the instructor’s wife is having a baby due next week, so maybe it is a little early.  I will find out next week. I do not like it when a class is cancelled. I feel I am being cheated! Larry and Shelley are back from Mammoth. I will check the website to see if they put some new photos on their site. I took my client his soy candle photos yesterday. I told him I would put a link up when he gets his website going. I like the way this photograph looks in black and white. I am very happy with it! Thank you for stopping by and  taking a look at my photos!

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Look at What the Light is Doing!

I love to photograph light in different situations. Two of my favorites are shadows and reflections. Well, this photo was taken in bright sunlight on a white board, shooting the reflection of a round piece of orange crystal “candy.” I guess it could be interpreted as many other things if you didn’t know! I thought it was interesting, though rather uneventful or spectacular. I guess one of these days I need to decide what I want to photograph. I am all over the board!

What is this strange formation…?

Anyway, it is a rather odd photograph. Maybe I should have chosen something else! Once I get this far I don’t make any changes – I am committed. I believe there have been a few times I should not have been so committed! It is an absolutely gorgeous day today. I hope the rest of the week is just as nice. But now I see there may be rain on Tuesday! Where does this come from? My spring break is over and it is back to school this week. Did I accomplish much? I don’t think so. Have a good week.

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Another Part of Bella Terra

After class last night Willie and I went over to Bella Terra. I wanted to take some night photographs of a very pretty fountain that is in front. There are a lot of lights in it and reflecting in the water from the store fronts around the fountain. I like night photography and I would like to find some interesting and fun neon signs to photograph. There are none at Bella Terra. I think I need to find out who designed this fountain – I will do that.

I think of mushrooms when I see this fountain…

My friend Carol invited us to a President’s Day party on Sunday afternoon. If we don’t go up to the mountains we should be able to go. Class was good tonight – my advanced web design class. We are beginning with learning about CSS (cascading style sheets). I did good tonight and was able to follow along and do the work in class. I am still having a lot of stomach trouble. I guess I keep hoping it will go away on its own. I won’t have another class until next Tuesday. I sure hope the instructor shows up!

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One Last Look at Las Vegas

I took this photo in downtown Las Vegas.  It is a fun place to be! It is called The Fremont Street Experience – a very popular place to be on any night. I really like seeing the older casinos there, especially the Golden Nugget. If you have never been to Las Vegas, it is quite an experience. You do not have to gamble or go to see shows to have a good time. There is so much to do!

The lady of Glitter Gulch…

Sunday was my birthday and it was a nice day. Very warm here in Huntington Beach. I just relaxed and didn’t do much. Larry came by in the morning. We finally got to see the photos from Scotland. They were very good and oh so beautiful. What a great trip they had! Willie fixed us dinner last night – it was delicious. We had steak, baked potato, sauteed mushrooms and an ice cream sandwich for dessert. What more could I have asked for?

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Welcome to Las Vegas!

What a night we had! I took this photo through the window in  the hotel room at the Tropicana Hotel. You can see the front tower of the Tropicana, New York New York Hotel and its roller coaster, part of the Monte Carlo and the MGM Grand Hotel. Isn’t the sky beautiful? There is also an airplane in the sky. It is all so colorful! Barry Manilow was absolutely fabulous! It was such a great show and Larry really enjoyed it too. The rest of the evening was great. We did a lot of talking, bonding and some drinking!

Fabulous Las Vegas…!

Sorry my post is late.  It is now Saturday evening and I was unable to use my computer on the trip to post this photo. The weather was very nice. Last week-end the mountains, this week-end the desert, now the beach! What kind of life is this? If you are at all a Barry Manilow fan and have a chance to see him in person, go for it! You will not be disappointed! I was dancing, jumping and waving my glow stick!

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A Sunset Unlike Any Other

This sunset photo was taken way back behind our cabin far into the National Forest. It was beautiful in red, yellow and blue. Have I done a black and white sunset before? I did one once up in Santa Barbara. It is on my website and also very beautiful. I played around with this one and liked what I was seeing. I have always been a fan of black and white photography. The dogs went walking with us and really enjoyed their adventure through the forest and into the night.

Winter sunset at Green Valley Lake…

The dogs are so filthy! It will be a big job getting them clean and mat free when we get home. It is still a little windy up here. I was looking at the HB Web Cam earlier today and it looked very nice and clear. I could easily see Catalina in the distance and a lot of people on the pier. We are going to go take some more photos today and probably leave this evening to avoid traffic. I never did get my full moon photos!  I think the sunset shot makes up for it!

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Famous Camp Snoopy

Well we finally made it to Knott’s Berry Farm yesterday afternoon. We got there about 4:00 P.M. There were not a lot of people around.  I could not resist taking this photo of Snoopy with the moon in the background. He looked so cute up there calling everyone to Camp Snoopy! I took other photos but I only show you one per day. Willie took some pictures also using our  Canon SD800, a great little camera (Shelley still has his Rebel from their trip). I really like the fact that it takes great videos. Maybe I will use it this week-end up at the cabin.

Snoopy is a favorite of just about everyone…

We will be leaving soon for the mountains. It is about a 2 hour drive. We usually stop once to let the dogs stretch (and us too). It is an easy drive. Carol and Bill will be up early Saturday morning. They will bring Catey and Ali (30/365) and I am really hoping Donnan will behave himself. I kind of neglected the  socializing with other dogs at a young age.  I will keep him on a leash for a while until they all get used to each other. He will be the only boy with three girls so he should be pretty happy! I will let you know what happens! There is WiFi in the little village of Green Valley Lake so I hope I will be able to post tomorrow and Sunday. I will take my laptop with me. If it doesn’t work out, I will catch up!

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Los Angeles International Airport at Night

We went to pick up Larry and Shelley at the airport and of course I took my camera with me. Their plane came in at 9:30 P.M. and traffic was not bad at all. It took us about 35 minutes to get there. They had been up for 24 hours and they were exhausted. They had already gone through customs in Phoenix, so it was smooth sailing. I hope you like my photograph.

Busy LAX at night…

Larry gave me a very nice present. It is a wool scarf with the Burns Clan plaid from Scotland. My mother’s maiden name was Burns and that is where the paternal side of the family was from. It is very beautiful. The maternal side is all Irish and that was what my mother focused on! Their trip was great and I am anxious to hear more about it and to see all of their pictures. We didn’t push for info because they were both very tired. Have a great Sunday!

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The Start of a New Year

Well, this is something I have not done before on this weblog, but I am going to share a photo again but with a difference. Ever since I did the photo of the curves on the mid-century lamp, I wondered what it would look like in black and white. I worked on it some this morning and this is what I came up with.  The original photo is four days ago, number 117/365. I don’t know if I have a preference. I like them both for different reasons. Which do you like best?

Is the black and white or color more attractive…?

I chose to do this today because I figured no one would be looking at my blog anyway! But if you are, let me know what you think. Willie is showing me disappointment at what I am doing  for today. Tomorrow will be better, I promise! We had an uneventful evening. We watched a couple of movies – The Duchess (rather sad) and Wall-E (how could children follow this story?). Beautiful weather in Pasadena, but very cold and foggy here. My Google widget shows rain on Saturday. Please check out my December 2008 Photo Gallery page. Until tomorrow – Happy New Year!

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Surf City Sunset

Isn’t this a gorgeous sunset at the Huntington Beach Pier? There were a few die-hards on the pier and there are always some brave surfers on this cold winter evening. The sun is just peeking through the pier pylons, setting over the beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula. Willie and I went down to the pier with the dogs. You can’t go on the pier with dogs so we stayed on the sand. Boy that sand gets cold!

A gorgeous winter sunset…

It was a beautiful sunset last night – just a few wisps of clouds in the sky. Luckily I had my telephoto lens with me! That is pretty much all we did for Willie’s birthday. He chose what we did and this is what he wanted to do. We never did make it out to dinner! We watched the Dark Knight. I thought it was good – Willie was not too impressed. There are only a few days left in 2008. It has been a very eventful year for the Casas family and friends. 2009 is going to be great!

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Christmas Lights

I have been wanting to get a photo of Christmas lights for the past two nights. It has just not worked out!  We went to dinner last night with Larry and Shelley, and I was able to take this photo on the way home. We went by the house two nights ago, but there were too many cars parked out in front hiding everything. Either many people live there or they like to have company! Last night it was all visible and I am happy with the result.

A beautifully lit house…

It seems there are not as many people who were willing to decorate their houses like this one. This is the  most well done house in the neighborhood. They left nothing uncovered! Isn’t it pretty? We had a nice dinner with Shelley and Larry at a nice Italian restaurant. The stuffed shells were great!  We will not see them again until they get back from their trip. Another beautiful day yesterday. I decided I am not quite ready to start making tamales again. I will see how I feel later today or tomorrow.

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The Rising of the Phoenix

This is a photograph I took of the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, CA. We have seen a lot of great shows and performers there over the years. Doesn’t it look like the Phoenix Rising? I think that that is a perfect interpretation. I took this late in the evening as people were inside enjoying a show. I wanted to try to get a shot without any, or at least not very many, people. It worked out perfectly. That was a better way to spend my evening than going to school (my instructor said I did not have to go).

The beautiful Phoenix Rising…

I posted my Flash project (Frank Monise Motors) on my web site. There is a link at the bottom of my What’s New page.  I can’t post it here because WordPress does not support Flash.  Willie and I are going to go over to South Coast Plaza  later today to do some shopping and look at all the sights. We haven’t been over there in a while so it will be fun to walk around and maybe have a nice lunch with my wonderful husband – the love of my life and my very best friend. Now I start the second 100 of my photos – that is quite an accomplishment!

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What a Great Looking Couple

These people are part of my extended family. We finally got together last night and took photos of them with their two children. They want to use one on their Christmas cards for this year. I especially liked this one of the two of them. They are such nice people. Dave and my son Larry went to school together. We have known them for a long time and I have taken Christmas photos for them before when their daughter was a baby. Now they have a little boy too. We took the photos in front of that beautiful tree at Bella Terra Mall.

A very nice Christmas photo…

Well I got Willie’s cold – I knew it was coming last night. At least we should be all well by Christmas. I am hoping to be able to do a little shopping by the end of the week.  I received my calendars today from Shutterfly but I am not happy with them. They over saturated the colors, especially the reds. I was going to give one to Dave and Christina but I was too unhappy with them. They have done them for about 4 years. I emailed their customer service and as yet I have not heard back. Wish me luck!

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Golden West College at Night

The night before last there was a soccer game going on at GWC and I didn’t have my camera. So of course, I brought my camera last night and there was nothing going on. I took this photo by setting my camera on a wooden post and kind of hoping something would come out. I used a large aperture to let as much light in as possible. I took it at the outdoor amphitheatre. It looks rather abstract and I like the colors and of course the shadows.

The amphitheatre at night with no one around…

There was a little light shining from the racquetball courts, but that was all. I took this at about 9:00 P.M.  If you stare at it a while you will be able to make it out. I was at my Flash class last night. Next week is the last week. I should have my project up on my website after class is finished. The next semester starts the end of January so I have some time off from school. I have a lot to do around the house to keep me busy! What do you think of this new interface we have to work with?

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Gorgeous Sunset in Corona

I took this photo on Thanksgiving in the backyard of my brother’s house in Corona.  They have a very large lot and hills behind them. The sunset was beautiful that evening and I am really glad I was able to capture it on “film.”  The colors are very real. It is not that often I get to take a photo like this without a lot of ambient light shining and interfering.

Have you ever seen a more gorgeous blue…?

For the past six years or so I have done a calendar at Christmas (I think I have already mentioned this) – anyway, I ordered my calendars yesterday from Shutterfly and I will have them in a little over a week. I think the 2009 version came out well. Many of the photos I have posted on this site, but not all of them. If you are interested in seeing it, let me know, and I will send you a link. Have a good Thursday!

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