Tuesday
Aug182009
around back
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:11AM | in California, Cars, HDR, Whittier 
1939 Chevy at the 2009 Uptown Whittier Car Show
Welcome
to my personal blog. Here I post examples of my photography and writing. I specialize in making unique and highly detailed photographs. Notice I said making and not taking. Yes I take photos but a lot of time and work is involved in pushing and punishing the pixels in my images to achieve the look I like.
Please feel free make comments about any of my words or photos. I enjoy constructive critiques, learning about locations to shoot or photography techniques. Click on the "Share Article" link to share any of my photos via Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Want to use one of my posts in your own blog? No problem, but please make sure it links back to the original post here and do the right thing and give me credit. Don't copy my words, crop the images, remove the watermarks or claim my work as your own. This has happened more times than I can count so I've had to report copyright violations to ISP's and regrettably the violators blog is usually taken down.
Can't we all just get along?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:11AM | in California, Cars, HDR, Whittier Friday
Aug142009
This is my playground
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 7:59AM | in California, Creative, HDR, San Francisco, Travel 
Golden Gate Park's Carousel in San Francisco
Wednesday
Aug122009
Eye to Eye [Explored]
The dirty low down
3 Comments | tagged California, Cars, Creative, Explored, HDR, Whittier | Share Article Permalink Email Article Wednesday
Aug122009
Giants Stadium Panorama
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 12:33PM | in California, Panorama, San Francisco 
"Everybody hold still and smile!"
Monday
Aug102009
Punch me in the grill
Monday, August 10, 2009 at 10:42PM | in California, Cars, HDR, Whittier 
Up-close encounter with classic styling. The uptown Whittier car show is happening this weekend. I'll be there making lots of photographs.
Sunday
Aug092009
A-12 Spyplane Panorama
Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 7:03PM | in Aviation, California, California Science Center, Exposition Park, HDR, Museum 
I couldn't stop taking pictures of this aircraft. I don't know if it's the shape and size that attracts me or if it's because I have read so much about it and appreciate it for the amazing thing that it is.
The prototype first flew in April of 1962 yet it still holds several world records for speed and altitude. Everything about this aircraft was revolutionary. Flying at more than 2,000 mph and at altitudes as high as 90,000 ft, its pilots could see the curvature of the earth and out-run missiles launched at it. It's cameras had incredible resolution.
Built almost entirely of titanium to endure the heat of friction generated at Mach 3+ speeds, parts of the aircrafts skin would reach 1,200 degrees. It's twin engines spat out white-hot 3,400 degree exhaust plumes into the super cold air 17 miles above the earth's surface. This unprecedented propulsive power sped the Blackbird at an unbelievable two-thirds of a mile a second.
This was the first stealthy aircraft ever built. It's radar cross section was 100 times smaller than the US Navy's F-14 Tomcat fighter built a decade later.
1 Comment | tagged Aviation, California, Exposition Park, HDR, Museum | Share Article Permalink Email Article Sunday
Aug092009
Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 7:02PM | in California, Creative, Disney, HDR 
This was a really nice day to be at Disneyland. I love the little pathways around the castle that 95% of visitors seem to not see and walk right by. I was laughing to myself a little because as soon as I setup my tripod and checked for proper color balance, several people who were around, came right over, stood next to me and started taking the same shot I was taking. I guess they thought I knew what I was doing. Fooled by a tripod and expodisc!
Wednesday
Aug052009
The Gothic Study
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 6:56AM | in California, Culture, HDR, Hearst Castle, Travel 
The Gothic Study, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.
W.R. Hearst held private meetings and oversaw the operations of his vast business empire from this room. This photo is somewhat monochromatic. This is due to the low light levels used in the castle to preserve the ancient artwork. Tripods are not allowed in the castle so I had to shoot at ISO 3,200 and only bracket 3 shots. This image required quite a bit of noise reduction and post processing to make it look this good. Those of you with Nikon's D3 or D700 are fortunate to have such low noise cameras. Maybe someday...
Tuesday
Aug042009
Heavens on Fire
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 12:14PM | in California, Disney, HDR, Travel 
Ariel's Grotto, a good place to eat and watch the sun set over Disney California Adventure.
Tuesday
Aug042009
Neptune Pool - Early Morning
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 12:09PM | in California, Culture, HDR, Hearst Castle, Travel 
Hearst Castle's Neptune Pool - WR Hearst had this pool rebuilt 3 times until it matched his vision of what it should be. This makes it the most expensive pool in any private residence in the world. With a 345,000 gallon capacity it is also one of the largest. It features 2 curved collonnades, an ancient roman temple and beautiful mythological figures carved by French sculptor Charles Cassou.