Default

Omega

Yes, it's a picture of a cat. My default when venturing anywhere more interesting for the POTD isn't possible.

I did not go anywhere or do anything of interest today, so instead, I practiced portraiture with my ever-willing and photogenic subject, Omega. The light really captured his brown tones nicely. Most of the time, his dark chestnut brown fur just appears almost black. The lighting is a halogen work light diffused with a hanging white sheet. A wrinkled one, clearly.

Who has time to iron sheets?

I'm still getting used to the D7000, which I've noticed has a slight tendency to sometimes underexpose photos, especially from how they appear on the on-camera LCD, and particularly with indoor lighting. I'm experimenting with some specific features to see how this can be adjusted.

Tomorrow will bring tennis in the evening. Now to finish this epigenetics paper...

Sunset Clapper Hat

Diamond Head Sunset

Here's the quintessential view found in Waikīkī, O‘ahu, of Diamond Head Crater a few minutes after sunset. The air was slightly voggy today contributing to the warm, pastel colors this evening.

Sunset Anne

Here's another capture today I really liked. Anne's blouse complements the sunset colors nicely. She was actually laughing at me as I was leaning way back into the sand to get more of the sky in the shot.

Chasing Sunsets

I wasn't the only one out there capturing the sunset on Duke Kahanamoku Beach. It really was a gorgeous sunset that pictures could not possibly do justice.

We got some coffee after catching the sunset at the beach. Anne is very adept at making origami balloons, which she fashioned out of her receipt this time. I love the way the date is showing on the front.

Bokeh Balloon

Despite O‘ahu's beautiful sunset scenery, my favorite capture of the day is Joe making a creepy face while thanking Anne for the "Danish clapper hat" he received as a Christmas present.

Yes, you read right, a clapper hat.

It has what can only be described as puppet hands attached to the front of a baseball cap with little pull strings to make them "clap" together.

Creepy Face

What interesting lives we lead when a clapper hat is given as a gift.

Beach, Dinner, & Driving Range

Of All Places
Galaxy Note 3 rear camera

Alright, I officially missed my first, and hopefully last day, thanks to a 24-hour bug of some kind. (I still took pictures, but I just didn't post anything.) Part of the purpose of this blog is to not be so hard on myself, so instead of feel bad about it, I will just accept it and move on.

Today was a very fun-packed day. Went to the beach for the first time in I don't know how long and had fun playing with the functions on my new Galaxy Note 3.

The coolest feature by far is the new strangely named "Drama Mode," which is essentially just multiple exposures made easy. On a phone. It's ridiculously fun to play with.

Jump!
Galaxy Note 3 rear camera, Drama Mode

As we were leaving the beach, I spotted this very out of place sunflower just chilling next to an ironwood tree. There are sunflower fields on the North Shore, but to see a sunflower in Waikīkī is just odd.

How Did I Get Here?
Galaxy Note 3 rear camera

After a lovely dinner at Kimukatsu with some awesome friends, we all went to the driving range. It was their respective first and second time having gone to the range, but they both did very well for their first time.

Today also marked the first day I actually performed well with my driver! I was consistently hitting straight drives between 150–200 yards. It was such an amazing feeling, that my practice was finally starting to pay off, that suddenly, something just clicked on and made sense.

Definitely what keeps you coming back for more.

Tomorrow: Sandy's and research meet-up.

Golden Waikīkī

Oh my goodness, a post in the actual date of the photo I've taken! It's amazing! I've done it!

Illusions of Perfection
50mm @ f/16, 1/125, ISO 200, LR5 post.

Here's the Ala Wai Harbor, home of the Waikīkī Yacht Club. Beautiful at first glance, and like most harbors, is certainly quite pretty and serene during sunsets and golden hours like this.

In the bottom right corner, however, notice a construction area. This is quite near the site where a man fell into the water shortly after the infamous sewage spill of 2006. After multiple amputations he unfortunately ended up expiring from septic shock courtesy of multiple flesh-eating bacterias.

Ever since, this spot and directly across the harbor have been kind of "blocked off" by what just looks like makeshift construction areas. They're currently constructing a condominium in the empty lot next to the harbor, and I just wonder what this area will look like once it's completed. The Ala Wai Canal empties directly into the harbor and still remains very contaminated to this day, nearly eight years later.

They keep dumping sewage in the water every now and then as a quick-fix for infrastructure failures, so, you know, it's like a thing here.

It's an unavoidable black spot on the recent history of Honolulu, and on the entire history of the Waikīkī Yacht Club. Yet, no one seems to be interested in actually addressing the problem of the contaminated canal water, despite its continual recreational usage.

Being a resident of Waikīkī, I just wonder if our city and county will ever get it together enough to get the canal cleaned once and for all. Of all the technological feats that have been accomplished in the past few decades, I can't imagine that de-polluting a contaminated canal is high up on the list of difficulty. Complex and requiring intricate logistics, sure. Impossible? Definitely not.

Nothing is ever as perfect as it seems, and the yacht clubs are not always better on the other side. Good to remember.

Great clouds today, though. They poured rain on me the moment I decided to head for the bus in true Hawaiʻi fashion. Love it!

Subjects Gone Wild

I give some major props to macro photographers tonight, man. After several failed attempts to capture a shot of the eyeball belonging to my helpful, cheerful subject (read: obliged, exasperated husband who kept moving), I took a picture of some still objects instead.

The eye's tiny movements make it nearly impossible to shoot an non-blurred picture of it without the combination of a fast shot and enough rather bright lights, the latter of which I don't have. The larger movements made by the person, of course, can be somewhat controlled for, though it seems itchy feelings always become top of mind as soon as one is asked to "be still" or "don't move!"

Leather
50mm @ f/1.8, 1/30, ISO 1000

This Photo of the Day (POTD) ended up being a leather bracelet propped against a phone case. I diffused an incandescent lamp with a white sheet, and had my subject-turned-assistant hold up a gold reflector for some contrast lighting. I am pleased with the color result, and I like the added texture of the phone case.

This really makes me want to get that lanai cleaned up for a studio. Proper lighting... mmm, that will be fun.

Free

Looking
35mm @ f/1.8, 1/500, ISO 400. LR5 Post, desaturation.

I feel I am constantly running one day behind, trying to catch back up. Perhaps if I was not such a "night owl," I would actually post my Photo of the Day on the day it belongs to.

No judgments!

Today was spent in the company of lovely friends, both at home and out on the Makiki Valley Loop Trail(s), where the above picture was captured. I love the light falling through the canopy of the forest in the background, with the last, undamaged bloom fighting for its view.

The evening was spent catching up with an old friend, making roast beef, talking about life, and just enjoying life for what it is.

I may have been having a slight bit too much fun with my photos, though in some respects, that does indicate a successful attempt at enjoying life.

Tomorr—er, later today, I must review and finalize some important school work.

Even over the break, the student's duty never ceases.

After this little bout of schoolwork hanging around, I'll be 100% freed to enjoy the rest of my break without anything hanging over my head, as it were.

That's about as much as one can wish for these days: not have anything hanging over one's head.

Light. Free. 

Happy.

Extension

Two
Nikkor 50mm @ f/2.2, 1/80, ISO 100, 7mm extension tube

Extension tubes. That's a whole different kind of fun.

Getting really close up. Physically.

Clipped a few flowers down on the street near our house to test them out. Got two types of gardenia, and some type of pink flowers (pictured above).

I really like the flowing abstract lines on this shot, like the space between the two flowers is a curved pathway.

Pathway to where?

Got a lot more practicing and experimenting to do with the extension tubes. I was using the 50mm 1.8G, but I'm curious to see how the other lenses work with the tubes. We shall see...

Hit up the driving range this evening for the second time this week! Good fun, though not really a photo op.

Speaking of photo ops, tomorrow I will be hiking around the intertwining trails atop Tantalus, so some forested goodness is sure to come.