Caw - Burning Man 2016

A shot with fisheye lomography 35mm camera
One of the crows from "Jack Champion's Murder"
Burning Man, 2016

April Huntington Fisheye 2

A few more from Huntington Gardens back in April....

Descanso Mood

Just a quick post from our recent Descanso visit! I love this photo because it captures so much of the feeling which is I love about visiting there! When you wander out of the Rose & Japanese gardens, you can find yourself in a rare place where you can actually get a moment to yourself outside and feel like it's just you and nature in LA.  I feel like some hiking trails are even lacking these kind of moments much of the time.


Click to see a larger version!

Late April Huntington Fisheye

Late last month some coworkers and I made another visit to Huntington Gardens in San Marino. My fellow photobug friend and I hung out in the cactus garden during most of our visit this time, which was pretty easy. Their cactus garden is amazing and filled with so many different cactus/succulents/low water requirement plants that especially in the spring can come with amazing colors. Walking through that garden is so otherworldly when you actually pay attention to the different plants and the different ways they have evolved to deal with lack of water from weird shapes, thick skins, self-grown spine cages contrasted with perfectly smooth skin.

I shot all of these photos with my Lomography Fisheye 2 camera. I got a little *too* close to some of the plants at times, but I still like the results! I like how this camera lets you really see how many layer of plants are in this gardens and how a walk thought this garden is a vacation in itself!

The accordion fold-like ribs on these cactus allow them to expand in size when there's rain so the cactus can suck up and store as much water as possible. Those thorns are protecting a precious water supply.

for plants that have so many adaptations to keep animals away, some cacti certainly spare no resources when it comes to advertising for the reproduction part of it's life.... Bats, bees & birds are big fans of various low-water plants.

such a pretty purple color on a giant pink stem contrasted against the silvery-green of the main plant!! When you're so stabby and dense, you have to shoot out a long beautiful holder for your flowers so others will actually come visit and help you out..

Greater Kudu Fisheyed

Greater Kudu at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in New Braunfels, TX

These guys had such long legs and were at the perfect height to get fed by hand from an SUV like vehicle.... The male approached first and stuck his head into the car as much as possible to get his share of the food. Because of it's horns, he couldn't get in very far, but he still gladly slurped up food from my hands. Once the male had his fill from me, one of the females had her turn. I had wiped off some of the male Kudu slobber and food bits on a tissue and had just dropped it in my lap. The female shoved her head into the car and grabbed the first thing that smelled like food to her... the tissue. This photo was taken as she pulled her head back out and chewed the tissue, seemingly a little confused at the odd texture of the food.

UMLAUF Sculpture Garden - Part 1

UMLAUF Sculpture Garden, Austin, TX

Museum of Natural & Artificial Ephemerata - Fisheyed!

I must admit there's many things I enjoy about Austin,TX including their love for bats and their commitment to embracing the "weird." I was recently in Austin for a very short period of time, so in the one full day I was there, we made the most of it and among many other things, we visited the Museum of Natural & Artifical Ephemerata!! Located in single room in a family home in east Austin, it is one of the last in-home museums in the U.S.! They offer tours most Saturdays and take donations as payment. We were there right after Christmas and on that particular day, it was just our little group of three for an intimate tour of the museum! In a small room, the hosts, Scott & Jen, give a tour of their displays, sharing all sorts of stories about seemingly random or weird pieces, going through a history of collecting both natural and man-made bits and pieces including celebrity trash, fake and real animal bits and souvenirs of all types. When cats are in the mood, they also have a mini cat circus performance! It's a weird, unique  and totally worthwhile experience if you have some time!

Although I shot some photos, don't think you've seen this whole museum by looking at the photos alone, you still have to visit!! The experience is definitely part of the charm and appeal! Rather than going for completeness, these are a few I shot with my Lomography Fisheye camera, which I feel like was rather fitting for the museum!

Scott and Jen Webel, the people behind the Museum of Natural and Artificial Ephemerata

 

although this isn't the best, I like the surreal result of this multiple exposure....

and post #300!!! Whoa!

Thanksgiving 2015

Every year Thanksgiving is a little different and unique in it's own ways. I never really worry about it because I know something will happen... I just don't always know what. Some years I've been with family, another year my sister and I spent all day cooking everything from scratch including cream of mushroom soup and vegan green bean cassorle and passing out by the time other people came over to eat... so many work Thanksgivings and friend Thanksgivings and Thanksgivings with boyfriend's family. My favorites are where I get a chance to cook and share something. This year did not disappoint as we spent the afternoon at a potluck Thanksgiving with a friend and extended peoples.....

Canyon Contemplation

Franklin Canyon, Beverly Hills, CA

Venice CicLAvia, August 8, 2015, fishy

Few more CicLAvia photos, this time from the Culver City to Venice route back in August. I took the Red and Expo Lines out to the Culver City end of the route and met with some friends. I ended up riding with one down the whole way to Venice. It was a wonderfully pleasant ride, relatively stress free with perfect temperatures and an overcast skies (good for comfort, not the best for photos.) Once we arrived in Venice we decided to follow the bike path north/west. While it was somewhat congested next to the CicLAvia route end, parking lot and the Santa Monica Pier, once we got beyond that, the traffic became more sparse and we just kept going for about 6 miles until we hit Pacific Palisades. After locking up our bikes and leaving behind our shoes, we wandered down a relatively empty stretch of the the beach for another 1/2 mile before heading back to meet up with more people and having lunch. It was definitely an awesome, calming day for me filled with fun exploration on a low stress path along the beach, feeling like a perfect version of life in Los Angeles you always see on TV, but rarely actually experience while here.

biking along the beach....

more CicLAvia photos

Burning Man 2015 - Distortion, Towering Art and Blue Skies

Laffing Sal in the maze around the man... it seemed to be triggered to laugh manically either on random or when people got close to it (i.e. when I shot this photo)

Medusa Madness

El Pulpo Mechanico

Seahorse on the front of the El Pulpo Mechanico car (unfortunately this is also where I can see the pattern that I need to point this fisheye lens camera up more. The eyepiece is a separate piece on the top of the camera, not the lens itself, so to get the photo I want, the camera needs more correction than I was providing)

Burning Man 2015 - Distortion 2

the "man"

totem of confessions

 after getting my feet washed with a campmate I ended up here randomly since I was in the neighborhood (4:30ish?)... they served snow cones and gave away clothing and held fashion shows and had a person narrating.. can't remember what was said, but there were some funny moments & funny outfits

Burning Man 2015 Distortion

About a month ago I found a used Lomography Fisheye Camera online & decided to pick it up. Although it was a bit of a risk to take it along to Burning Man considering I had only shot 1 (still undeveloped) roll with it prior to going, I decided to take it along anyway. I suppose this speaks to the number of cameras I had, but I forgot I had it with me until Wednesday! Doh. I'm pretty happy with the results and actually wish I had shot way more photos with it (I also completely forgot that it had a flash built in! So many missed opportunities!) The fisheye works out well at Burning Man as it's already a somewhat surreal and somewhat disorienting place to be at times and the resulting distorted photos are just par for the course. I also find the extra details that are included into the photos helps bring more perspective and understanding to the whole Burning Man atmosphere at times....

I was warned that these babies bite

forget this camp's name, but they had craft hours where you could create mutant flamingos, so I hung out for an hour and made 2 flamingos to add to the pond...

shark art car chasing a bicyclist