San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade 2013 (Part 5)

Every year for Chinese New Year, there is a parade in San Francisco to celebrate it. A lot to see. The parade for 2013 was on 2/23/2013. I attended the parade along with a few other Google+ photographers (we planned it out via a Google+ event). Here, on my blog, I will show you the photos I took of the parade. All of these photos were shot with my new Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Since a lot of people is going to want to see the photos of the parade, I will be posting more photos per part for this chain of blog posts (might take longer to load). This also means I will be taking a short break from my Death Valley National Park posts. I hope you enjoy viewing this chain of posts.

I do have a GPS route file that I can give you if you want it. If you want a copy, just email me via the email I have on my About the Photographer page. I recorded the route using a Canon GE-E2 GPS. I have the route in Canon NMEA, Google Earth KMZ, and GPX formats. There is just a note about the route. It was fairly accurate and all from my trip to the BART station and all the way on BART (for the parts of the trip above ground), but once I got into San Francisco, it started to get inaccurate. In San Francisco, most of the location was with in 300 feet of the actual location but I had 2 photos that were a bit less than 1600 feet off. It did not work so well in a big city, but last time in Shadow Cliff Regional Park in Pleasanton, CA, it was very accurate (with in 5-10 feet).

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best Chinese New Year parade photos, use this link. To view all of my Chinese New Year parade photos for 2013, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 

Today I have the last of the parade photos including some night street photography. Since there was not enough light out, I set up my Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT to add some light into the photos with the exception of the night street photography at the end. Some hot spots may show up in a few photos.

Valley Christian High School. I thought Christians were against dressing slutty... 

Bank of America 

Academy of Art University 

Photography Tip: Above is an example of using a Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT with a different white balance to separate the main subject from the background. Depending on what you are shooting, mix and matching white balances may help spice up your shot and help draw the viewers eyes to the subject!

Macy's 

Harrah's 

Didn't know how strong the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT is until this shot. The people inside the lion were not visible at all until I flashed.  

Firecrackers 

The end of the parade. 

 Night street photography in front of Levi's. If you look closely, you can see "ghosts" from the long exposure and people walking by. 

Night street photography at the intersection of Grand Avenue and O'Farrell Street. If you look closely, you can see a few "ghosts" of people and cars. This is due to the long exposure. 

These are all the photos I took on the day of the event! I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. After this, I will continue with my Death Valley National Park photos. I hope you have enjoyed viewing this chain of blog posts. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 

Wingfield Park - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 9)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see my best sunset and night photos of 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started on today's blog post, I would like to tell you about a great product that I own. Let me ask you first: Do you have a device like the Canon EOS 7D that only takes Compact Flash cards? Hate the big prices on the Compact Flash Cards? What if I tell you that you can use your current SD cards lying around your house in these devices? Well you can with the SD-CF II: SD to CF Type II Adapter. This little adapter will adapt all your SD cards (SDHC and SDXC) into a CF card! Unlike other brands of adapters, I can shoot 1080p video on my camera with no breaks! Other cheaper adapters sometimes don't have the speed to support 1080p video, this adapter is not one of them. If you are tight on your photography budget and have a bunch of SD cards lying around, this adapter is definitely a must have for you!

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) The photos for today are from the night of my 3rd day. That night I decided to do some night long exposures, mainly in Wingfield Park in Downtown Reno of the Truckee River. After thinking about it, I have decided to leave the photos from the 4th day of my trip for next time.

Truckee River facing east. The mountains off in the distance was not visible to the naked eye that night but the camera picked it up in the long exposure. Sure surprised me! 

Now facing towards Harrah's hotel. The direction should be southwest.  

 Another shot facing southwest from a different angle towards Harrah's hotel. 

Now just facing west. The city's lights really cast a great color on the clouds!

Another shot facing east. Again the mountains were only visible to the camera when I exposed for the shot. 

Facing south. 

Facing west. 

Then I did a shot from my hotel room of Downtown Reno. The reflection you see is my camera lens. I turned off all the lights but some reflections still showed up. 

These are all the photos for today and I am done with photos from my 3rd day. Next time I will begin the photos from my 4th and last day of my trip. I hope you have enjoyed these! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Night Photography/Midway in Circus Circus - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 4)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see my best sunset and night photos of 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started today, I would like to tell you about a great product to add to your camera bag. The product I would like to tell you about today is called the Giottos Rocket Air Blaster. This product is pretty much a rubber air blower. You squeeze on the ball and a big puff of air comes out of the tip. I always use this product on my lens before I wipe to get rid of any big  particles that could potentially scratch my lens. It usually does a good job and I don't even need to wipe! This product also lets me dislodge any dust that have gotten onto my sensor without even touching it. This is usually all I need to bring my sensor back to a clean state. Not only is this product great for cameras, I also use it to dust my keyboard and mouse. Another great feature that sets this product apart from other air blowers is that it includes a patented one way valve that prevents you from sucking up and dust that you have just dislodged! Greatest invention ever and I never regretted my purchase because it is so useful. If you don't have one, you should get a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster now! The company makes the product in 3 sizes: Large (Also Available In Red), Medium, and Small. The company also makes a Q-Ball Version that has a flexible tip that can be angled.

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) The photos for today are some of the photos I took on the second day of my trip at night. It includes some night time long exposures, indoor long exposures, and some photos from the performance I saw at Circus Circus. For the performance, the rest of the photos of the performance will come in the next blog post.

 Like I showed you in Part 2, it was snowing in Reno. This view was taken from Harrah's parking lot. If you compare it to the same view in Part 1, I think you'd agree with me that the snow adds a nice "fog" to the whole image bringing out all the lights in the buildings. In fact, I used my Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT to capture a few falling snow flakes. See those dots in the upper right hand corner? Those were snowflakes falling captured with several flashes (Using Multi) of my Speedlite. 

Afterward, I went into the city to take some of the snowy landscape in the city. Very different from the dry landscapes I showed you in Part 1. Great photo ideas here!

 Here is another night long exposure with part of a car captured using my Speedlite. 

Try out a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster today!

It was a bit cold and wet outside for me so I headed back to the hotel. Here is a long exposure I did indoors at Harrah's before the security guard headed my way. LOL Probably was going to tell me not to loiter. Anyways, just got one shot before I went to go drop off some stuff in my room and headed to Circus Circus.  

Midway at Circus Circus! This photo actually turned out great, but I was testing out my camera settings (ISO, Aperture) before the show started.  

 And the show begins!

It was an okay show, but wish there were more performers. 

These are all the photos I have for today. I hope you have enjoyed all of the night long exposures and the photo of the performance at Circus Circus! The rest of the photos I took of the performance will come next time. Thank you for looking! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Galena Creek/Mt. Rose - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 2)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started today, I would like to tell you about a great product to add to your camera bag. The product I would like to tell you about today is called the Giottos Rocket Air Blaster. This product is pretty much a rubber air blower. You squeeze on the ball and a big puff of air comes out of the tip. I always use this product on my lens before I wipe to get rid of any big  particles that could potentially scratch my lens. It usually does a good job and I don't even need to wipe! This product also lets me dislodge any dust that have gotten onto my sensor without even touching it. This is usually all I need to bring my sensor back to a clean state. Not only is this product great for cameras, I also use it to dust my keyboard and mouse. Another great feature that sets this product apart from other air blowers is that it includes a patented one way valve that prevents you from sucking up and dust that you have just dislodged! Greatest invention ever and I never regretted my purchase because it is so useful. If you don't have one, you should get a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster now! The company makes the product in 3 sizes: Large (Also Available In Red), Medium, and Small. The company also makes a Q-Ball Version that has a flexible tip that can be angled.

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) These photos are some of the photos I took on the 2nd day of my trip. Most of them are from Galena Creek Recreation Area, I also have 1 photo of Reno, NV from my hotel room, and 1 photo on the drive up to Mt. Rose. The rest of the Mt. Rose photos will be coming next time.

Here is the view of Reno from my Harrah's hotel room.  

Now I being the photos form Galena Creek Recreation Area! :) 

 So much snow!!!

Try out a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster today!

Someone's snowman.  

Here is a bridge. I'm guessing it is suppose to be over the creek? I didn't see any creek though. No water, nothing.  

 Not sure why there isn't a lot of snow on the trees... I though't if the ground is going to be covered, the trees should be too. Weird. 

I think the area is beautiful with the trees and snow.  

Here is a photo of the visitor center half buried by snow. This is all the photos I took at Galena Creek Recreation Area. Sadly, when I was about to leave, saw this car blocking the only way out... I think the ice somehow froze under his tires when he was out taking photos. He was stuck there for quite a while until someone helped install chains on his tires. HAHA Wasn't too long of a wait, but I did get a bit inpatient. Wanted to head to Mt. Rose to get some snow shots! 

Here is a photo of partially up Mt. Rose. See how fast the snow storm came in? I will have the rest of the photos up next time, but look at the mountain in the distance. That is a snowstorm brewing, not fog. It is funny how I still had some sun to lens flare this photo. LOL The snowstorm isn't that far away... 

This is all the photos I have for today. I hope you have enjoyed them! Next time, I will have photos of me freezing in the snowstorm. XD Not kidding. I forgot to bring enough clothes, but I toughed it out and took some photos to show you guys. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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