The Seattle Vase

30 December 2012:

The vase was made in Seattle and given to Lily at Christmas by her daughters. Lily made this arrangement in it today. Nice, eh?

Canon 5D

Watching the Hobbit

In 3D no less.

iPhone

Christmas Lunch with Ray

25 December 2012:

Lunch at Pacific Inn, by Lisa. Cool, eh?

iPhone, panorama mode

Chard stuffed with Risotto and Mozarella

24 December 2012:
A very vegetarian Christmas Eve we had. Here is the chef.

Canon 5D

Evening Ride

23 December 2013:
With all the comings and goings today, I did not get out for a bike ride until late afternoon. My reward was an evening sky with gathering clouds. Photo was taken on the climb up Via Coronel, west side of Palos Verdes.

iPhone

Jesse Installed

22 December 2012:

Rika got a good start on decorating the tree tonight (we are a little slow). Jesse and his girlfriend have again made an appearance.

Canon 5D, 'normal' lens

Canon 5D, Lensbaby composer

Christmas Lights

17 December 2012:
Put the zone plate on the Canon 5D and experimented on an evening walk. This is a composite of two images. I like it.

Canon 5D, Lensbaby zone plate

Getty Clouds

14 December 2012:

We took Hengky and Ida to the Getty Center today. Clouds were building ahead of a rain storm that wandered ashore later in the day. I caught these clouds hovering over Santa Monica as seen from a parapet at the Getty. That is the sun just appearing at the top of the image.

Canon 5D

Futebol Jerseys

13 December 2012:

When Lisa went to Ecuador a few years back she bought me an Ecuadorian Football Federation soccer jersey. I like it. 

When I went to Brazil this month, I bought a Sao Paolo Futebol Clube (SPFC) jersey as a souvenir. In the days following the purchase, I wore it while jogging in Mogi, and I wore it on two bike rides with one of Lily's cousins. I got quite a few people cheering as I went by - apparently this is a popular club. SPFC finished 4th out of 20 teams in the Brasileiro league in 2012, and I think they just won the South American club tournament today, but it was apparently an ugly affair.

Thanks for the jersey idea, Lisa!

iPhone

Point Vicente

12 December 2012:
We flew through the night to Atlanta, had a rather bad transfer experience, and then flew to LA, arriving in Hermosa by late afternoon. After a good lunch, we drove Hengky and Ida out to get all of us some fresh air in Palos Verdes.

iPhone

Orchid Farm

11 December 2012:

The family of the girlfriend of the son on Lily's cousin raises orchids on a farm outside of Mogi. We took a mid-day tour of the farm. The orchids were gorgeous, and it was nice to be out in the countryside. (For Rika, Lisa and Reini: this is the farm of Eliane's family, Charlie's girlfriend).

Canon 5D

The 'Mansion'

10 December 2012:

Playing with the iPhone panorama mode again on a relatively quiet day. Things are winding down, and we head back tomorrow. This is where we have been staying in Mogi das Cruces.

iPhone

Running Buddy

9 December 2012:
Andrea is the wife of Lily's cousin Leo, and she runs from time-to-time. We ran once on the beach in Rio, and again went out for a short run this morning in Mogi. Note my new jersey. This is from a popular soccer team in Sao Paolo.

iPhone

The Wedding Party

8 December 2012:

Here are two images from the wedding. It was held at a golf resort in a very large reception area. There were about 400 people in attendance. The band was big, and when they were playing conversation was not possible. But it was fun!

Canon 5D

The Glass Factory

7 December 2012:
We had a tour of the family's glass factory today. They buy glass sheets in bulk from various places, and then cut, polish, bevel, temper or laminate them as needed to meet the customer's needs. The engineering side was quite interesting to me. (iPhone)

Color

6 December 2012:
When Lisa went to Colombia, she noted the colorful buildings. I am seeing a similar think here in Brazil, so today's theme is color. Here are two examples, one an Orthodontist's office in downtown Mogi, the second is an image of two storefronts in Mogi.

Rio Day 3

5 December 2012:
The morning event was a 2-hour boat ride on Baia de Guanabara. We had a lot of sun, a breeze came up during the second half, and we had one sea-sickness casualty. Here is Lily taking pictures at the rail. (iPhone)

We had lunch in the urban neighborhood behind Copacabana Beach, and did some shopping. I experimented with the bleached-photo look in this shot of a busy Rio intersection. I like the guy in the red-stripped shirt smoking a cigarette - A classic look. (iPhone)

Rio Day 2

4 December 2012:
We went on a guided tour of Rio, and the two main stops on the tour were the statue of Christ the Redeemer on one peak early in the day, and the top of Sugarloaf in late afternoon. This was panorama day, and I started experimenting with the new panorama mode on the iPhone.

At the base of the statue of Christ the Redeemer I followed our guide's hint and photographed the reflection of the statue in Hengky's glasses. You can also see me holding the iPhone.

The cable car ride to the top of Sugarloaf comes in two stages. At the mid-way point there is a very good view of Baia de Guanabara (Guanabara Bay) and central Rio. This panorama might be too small to appreciate on the blog, but here it is, crooked horizon and all. I like the thunderheads building in the distance, and the couple off to the right. Sugarloaf is above the couple, and downtown Rio is off in the middle left. (iPhone)

Rio Day 1

3 December 2012:

First day in Rio. Yellow is a predominant color here, and I liked this little house wedged in between some much taller structures in the Rio neighborhood behind Copacabana Beach. Caught this lady walking in front, added some grunge, and there you have it. (iPhone)

Two photos from today. The second one was taken from our hotel window looking down on Copacabana Beach at night. Lily says we had a million-dollar view, and she was right. (iPhone)

Beach Visit

2 December 2012:
The Atlantic is about a 50 minute drive east from Mogi das Cruzes, the outlying city of Sao Paolo where we are staying. The family has a very nice apartment in a complex at the beach. I went for a run on hard, flat sand at the beach, and then attempted some body surfing. The water felt great. I could easily go back.

Photo by Hengky, using his iPad!

Lunch Trio

1 December 2012

Lunch on Saturday was at a restaurant owned by Charlie, in Sao Paulo.  Charlie is one of the family. Left to right: Myrian, the bride-to-be, Henky, Lily's brother from Bali, and Ida, Hengky's wife.

iPhone

On Travel

30 November: Lily, waiting for the flight down to Sao Paolo, in Atlanta.

iPhone

Making Granola

Ida and Lily

iPhone

Christmas Lights, South Torrance

27 November 2013:

This evening we packed Hengky, Ida, Lily and myself into the Mini and drove down to South Torrance to get an early view of the Christmas lights. There were no crowds down there this early in the season. We found the small Ferris wheel.

Canon 5D

Anniversary

26 November 2013

iPhone

Pinkie's

25 November 2012:

On Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa.

iPhone

Coastal Fog

24 November 2012

This was taken on the morning ride up into Palos Verdes. We had some serious fog this morning down low over the ocean, and hot dry weather up on top of the peninsula.

Note the strong purple flare around the sun. This is happening on iPhone 5's when there is a strong light source just inside or outside the field of view. I don't know if it is a coating issue with the lens or a design problem. I also see that someone has designed a case with a miniature lens hood that fits over the lens itself to reduce the haze. I might check that out.

iPhone

Fooling around

23 November 2012

Just playing around with the iPhone camera tonight.

Yellow Umbrella

My late afternoon run was in a nice light rain.

iPhone

Ocean Diner

11 November 2012:

Seen on our walk today in a very strong late afternoon sun.

Canon 5D

Mt. Baldy turn-around point

10 November 2012:
Taken on the Tour de Foothills 100km ride, above Upland, California. Rode with Kevin Northcraft and two of his children. Cool weather, but sunny. You might be able to see Mt Baldy in the distance with its first coating of snow for the winter.

iPhone

Lily Voted.

6 November 2012

iPhone

Luncheon Concert

4 November 2012:

By Kevin Post, in Solvang, after the traditional ride on Santa Rosa Road.

Top of Foxen Canyon

3 November 2012:
Rode the Solvang Prelude (100+ km) today in great weather. This shot was taken at the rest stop at the top of Foxen Canyon Road. Lily was out shopping at the time!

Door

2 Nov 2012:

Experimenting with Snapseed.

iPhone

A new batch of jam

28 October 2012:
Lily made a new batch of jam today. She must have been in the kitchen from 11:00 am to at least 8 pm.

iPhone, and learning snapseed

Hot Chocolate

27 October 2012: Lily found this chocolate bar at Whole Foods today. Wow. On a spice index scale of 1 to 10 it is easily a 7 or 8. It is made in Rika's neighborhood.

iPhone

Hermosa LIfeguard Station

21 October 2012
It has been too long without taking some pictures. So we walked down to the pier this afternoon for a walk and some photography. I put the pinhole lens on the digital SLR. Here is one of the images.

Canon 5D, Lensbaby pinhole

Kelp

30 September 2012:
While taking this image yesterday of a small part of a bed of kelp that had washed up on Torrance beach, I got whacked from behind by more kelp that was being pushed in by the surf. Still nursing a strained lower leg today.

Canon 5D

Turkey Flower Arrangement

29 September 2012:
Lily working on a flower arrangement of a turkey!

Canon 5D

Even more kids-at-the-beach

23 September 2012:

Rika and I went for a late afternoon walk down to the pier so that she could enjoy a bit more Southern California sunshine before heading home. I put the lensbaby on, and this little guy in his red shirt caught my eye.

Canon 5D, Lensbaby composer