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