We went to camping at Lake Isabella with friends this past Memorial Day weekend.  I can't say that I was wowed by the scenery, but we had a good time.  I'm sharing a bunch of photos from the trip in the gallery [HERE].  Some of them are just plain vacation pictures, and some I would like to think have some artistic values, but either way, I hope it shows that we all had lots of fun.

The lake itself is formed by a dam on the Kern River, located south of Sequoia National Park.  So on the second day, we went on a day trip, travelling north along the Kern River for about 2 hours to the "Trail of a Hundred Giants".  The trail features paved paths that's very easy to walk on, about 1 mile long, that zigzag'd within a grove of giant redwoods.

Originally, I was going to name this blog "LeicaLust", for obvious reasons...  After getting a clearer head, I thought "Lux" is a better word since it means "light", which is very relevant to photography, and it's also the short name for the Summilux line of lenses from Leica.  So, finally, I own the lens that I've named my blog after, how exciting!

This is just a quick unboxing post, as it will probably take me a few months to really acquaint myself with this lens and give a full review.  Some say this is the best 50mm lens ever made (before the recent release of the 50mm Summicron APO)... I certainly hope so!  Here are a few quick snaps:

Often, I've seen people use photoshop to put beautiful borders that frame their photo as if they're being presented in a gallery.  Some of the same people will also offer some EXIF data because they know other photographers are really nosy ;-) like me.  I've always thought that it was a little too much work for me, after post processing, then bring the photos into another program and hand type those information in there.  If only there's some automatic way to do that in Lightroom...  God bless Google, a guy named Tim Armes created a Lightroom export plugin called "LR/Mogrify 2", which can be downloaded for free [HERE].  The free version limits 10 photos per export, which is not a big deal to me, and in this post, I'll share the settings I've used to create the borders you see above.

Today was suppose to be an exciting day because we witnessed an almost complete solar eclipse, but without the proper filters I couldn't take a good photo of it.  The best shot I got was actually captured with the trusty NEX5n camera with f/16, ISO 100, 1/4000 of a second shutter speed, -3 exposure and double polarizing filter to try to make it as dark as possible.  However, I did manage to capture some interesting shadows, reminded me of what someone said about taking pictures at sunsets -- Turn Around!

Earlier in the day, we managed to take ourselves out to visit the Cerritos Sculpture Garden:

Bubble time is kind of a big deal in our house.  My son loves to blow them, and I love to photograph him doing it.  Each session always results in a few good captures, and it's a good practice for me to focus and shoot quickly.  Last time I tried to shoot him at f/1.5 and found the depth of field was too thin that the bubbles were too unfocused in many shots, so today, I tried again at f/2 and got much better results.  Here are a few shots from today, but instead of color, I chose to go with black and white.

This is the second 50mm M-mount lens I've ever owned.  The first dual-range 50mm Summicron does not play well with the M9, so I've sold it to buy this lens.  Now that I'm pondering on a 50mm Summilux ASPH, I figured I better write something to document this lens before I'm forced to sell it.  I know I will miss it, for its small size, light weight, and the most wonderful bokeh.  The lens is not without its faults, which I will cover and share my experiences of how to deal with them.

Today, Leica announced a new M camera that looks and function just like the current M9P model, except this camera is equipped with a black and white only sensor, the "M Monochrom".  If you are interested in seeing what this camera can do, I suggest to first read Jonathan Slack's page [HERE] and then check out his images from this camera [HERE].  By the reactions observed in the various forums, I think a few distinct groups emerged.  There are those who loved the idea and can't wait to buy one because it's what they've wanted for so long.  There are those who thought it was interesting but unsure whether they're ready to give up colors and they're content with doing B/W conversion in the post processing.  And, of course, there are those who hate it, balk at its price, and rather just load some B/W film in their film bodies if they really wanted true black and white.

"Photograph your life -- if you lose it, it's nice to have a copy."  Saw this quote in someone's forum signature today and it gave me a chuckle.  I believe the original quote was: "Xerox your life. It's nice to have a copy when you screw up..."  Either way, I think it's a great match for me and one of my reasons for loving Photography.  Sometimes, it's nice to go visit a place that is so breathtaking that it inspires you to take great photographs.  However, I also think that we shouldn't forget that there are beauty all around us in our daily life, and it takes a true photographer to capture them because he notices them.

With that said... Here are a couple quick snapshots from a stroll in the Bed Bath and Beyond store:

I think the best time to take photos, using available light, is either at dawn or near sunset.  There is something in those golden rays of sunshine that blanket everything in such warm light and beautify the world.  An old Chinese poet once sighed "夕陽無限好, 只是近黃昏."  In a non-literal translation to English, it expresses the regret that such wonderful time as sunset is only faulted by its close proximity to dusk.  Some people reference this precious slice of time as the "Golden Hour".  Today, as I watch my son playing with the sunlight glowing behind him, I grabbed the camera for a few quick snaps:

And you know what... I really like the black and white conversion of these photos as well: