I've enable a little plugin from fotomoto that will enable purchase options when you click on an image to view it in the lightbox (enlarged) mode.  There are a lot of options available from little postcards to large canvas or fine art prints.  Of course, I don't plan to get rich from selling my photos, but it may come in handy one day.  Who knows, I might be tempted to buy one myself some day.  There's also an "eCard" option that'll allow you to send an email to someone with the image attached like a greeting card.

The plugin isn't fully compatible with Weebly (where my site is hosted), so I had to tweak the CSS from fotomoto a little bit to make it show better.  Sadly, it also doesn't work with the slideshow widget.  However, for something that's fairly easy and free to implement, I can't really complain... in fact, I like how it's not very intrusive and not make me look like I'm pushing people to buy all

My nephew, Kevin, as you see above, asked me to take a few photos of him and his date, and a bunch of their friends before their homecoming dance.  Of course, I obliged.  Little did he know what kind of pressure it puts on an amateur like me.  I've wrote about getting out of my comfort zone before, but this time, I felt more ready, since I've had another year of shooting under my belt.

We went to a local park around 5:30pm, and I had the 50'Lux mounted the whole time.  The whole day was kind of gray and cloudy, but we did catch the golden hour when sun fell under the clouds.  Boy, what a glorious sunset it was.  I don't think the kids could have asked for a better back drop.  Since I was shooting into the light near the end, the camera was under-exposing quite a bit.  I tested and manually set the shutter speed at 1/250 sec, and had to lower it as it got darker.

I think I realized that to shoot portraits well, you have to be good with people.  I felt as I talked to them more and cracking jokes, I was able to get more relaxed poses and more natural smiles from them.  That's definitely something I'll have to work on.  But for now, it was truly a learning experience and I'm pretty satisfied with the results.  To see the full set, it's [HERE].

Misleading post title... because it look just like how it is in summer, except some people put on a light jacket.  Well, that's life in SoCal for you.  I like the above shot because the reflections give it a painterly feel.  I tried various other angles but the brick red reflection looked the best.

Fashion Island in Newport Beach is a great place to practice some street shooting for me.  The place is full of interesting shops and their windows are always nicely decorated.  Mixed with the upper class of Orange County, there's always some stylish and good looking people.  I saw this sweet looking couple walking towards me with the girl hugging her boyfriend's arm, but I was too chicken to take a shot and shot behind their backs instead... sigh...  Maybe next time, that's what I keep telling myself.

I wonder... how many photographer/enthusiasts end up shooting a lot in their backyards like me.  Sure, it's great to go to exotic locations or wander around busy city street to feel the adrenaline rushing, but sometimes you just want to lay back, enjoy time with the family while snapping some memories.

I still have the 28'Cron mounted with the new hood (from 35'Lux ASPH pre-FLE).  Someone asked me if I'm noticing vignetting around the edges with the new hood... it's really hard to tell, because in my experiences the 28'Cron always had some vignetting when shooting wide-open.  It's one thing that I liked about this lens.  Now, I'm not seeing "extra" vignetting than usual... if that helps.  I suppose I could bring out the tripod and make some test shots, but that means I'd be pretending to be some technical qualified photographer, which I'm not :P  Anyway, I love the feel of the smaller lens and I have not noticed any detrimental effects on the final image.

About a week ago, I saw a deal for 6'x3' custom banner at a mere $19.99.  How could I resist?  Once I made sure that I could upload my own image as the background, I knew exactly what image I wanted.  Well, the banner came today... upon close inspection, the print quality is really horrible, but looking at it from 10 feet away isn't that bad.  It's now hung in the guest room which is slowly turning into my gallery :D

Notice any thing different?  No?  That's because my 28'Cron just got a reasonably sized hood, instead of the monstrous thing that it came with.  I've really enjoyed shooting with the 28'Cron, but the size of its hood have always bothered me.  It makes the lens feels very clunky and fits awkwardly in the bag.  Leica did came out with a rounded and vented hood for it, but it costs somewhere north of $500.  Yeah, you heard me right.

So I've been searching for a reasonable alternative.  I've tried a cheap 46mm screw-on round vented hood, but since I can't put the UV filter on the hood, the hood had to go on the filter, making the lens seemed extra long and not very secure.  Then I read that some people have been using the 12589 hood, formerly came with the 35mm Summilux ASPH pre-FLE, and decided to try it out.

The camera definitely looked better with it on and it locked on to the lens quite securely.  The images above shows the finder blockage and it smaller size.  I took it for a spin in the backyard to make sure it didn't affect the images with extra vignette.  I can't really tell if it's better at blocking stray lights and preventing flare, but so far I think it's a worthy upgrade.

Above, is a shot of my son shooting with the Rolleiflex MiniDigi camera.  He has come to think that it's "his" camera... just as well, I'm glad he's taken an interest into taking pictures.  We just wandered around the Sheraton Hotel while my wife went to the Farmer's market near by.  I'm kind of interested to see what pictures he got :)

Update: well, just finished look through the SD card from the Mini Rollei... shot by my son, except one by me.