Category: - LeicaLux

Brown's Owens River Campground...

7/17/2017

What an idyllic place for camping and fishing! I got invited to go RV camping with my friends to this central California location near Mammoth Lakes. The campground is in the middle of a plain that's surrounded by snow-peaked mountains. Being about 7000 feet above sea level, it was hot during the day time as the sun shines directly down, and yet chilly at night. The ever-bending Owens River provided plenty of places for fishes to hide and for the fishermen to cast their lines. There's also an off-road track that we took advantage of. Besides the swarms of mosquitos and blood sucking flies, it was a great weekend.

It was the first time I took my son fishing, so he had a blast. While I don't feel the same attraction for fishing, it was a wonder to see how many kids can concentrate and stay quiet while patiently waiting, whom might be considered over-active or hyper in normal settings. Patience as a virtue is often awarded in fishing, as long as the river is well stocked ;-)

With such an expansive landscape, I saw no desire of switching lenses from the WATE. I heard someone said that landscape photography is basically photographing weather. It felt true here. The land is beautiful all day long, but you really need to wait for the right light and cloud formations to kick it up a notch. Ultimately, I'm just glad to be able to take the camera out again, after being a bit stagnant lately. For the whole set of images, [CLICK HERE].

Nothing to see here, just Tulips in Spring...

6/4/2017

The M9 has some special magic for greens...

Back in Action...

4/21/2017

We had a busted hose in our house a couple of months ago, caused major water damage in the house. That's why I've been missing in action in the photography front. Finally, everything is repaired and life has returned to normal. We took my son and nephews to Universal Studio Hollywood today because their spring break is coming to an end. I didn't take a lot of shots since it was our 4th or 5th time back with our annual pass.

A Portrait Session...

1/22/2017

Jessica needed some photos of herself, so we hanged some sheets for backdrop and setup a single light for a quick portrait session. A bit awkward for both of us... since she's not used to modeling and I'm not used to shooting studio portraits. But we pushed through and came out with some nice shots and a bit more experience for both of us :)

Snowy New Year in Lake Arrowhead...

1/1/2017

For new year's eve, we drove up to Lake Arrowhead and stayed in a cabin. There were rain, there were snow, but luckily we didn't need any tire chains. It's not easy to encounter this type of images in SoCal, so I was entranced by the foggy scenery. Besides my numbing fingers, my only other concern was trying to keep the lens clean and dry. Although the M9 isn't marketed as weather-proof, it performed flawlessly none-the-less.

Lake Arrowhead is only about 3500 feet up, so we had mostly rain; only at night, when it's cold enough, we're able to get snow. We were stucked in the cabin most of the time, but we made the most of the sunshine we were able to get.

For the full set of images, [CLICK HERE]

Malibu Wines...

12/8/2016

For our company holiday party this year, we visited Malibu Wines which also had a safari ride through the SaddleRock Winery. Thousands of acres in the Malibu hills, mixed with animals and grape vines, what a beautiful and scenic setting.

CicLAvia - Heart of LA

10/16/2016

Today is another CicLAvia event, in the heart of LA. The bike routes connected Chinatown, Boyle Heights, and MacArthur Park. We parked our car in Chinatown and rode our way through Downtown LA's financial district to MacArthur Park, and stopped by Little Tokyo for lunch on our way back.

With my minimal setup, just the M9 and 35'Cron, I caught a few keepers along the way. This bike event always gave us a great experience because it allowed us to pass through places that we normally took for granted, showing us beauty that can only be appreciated if you slow down.

The route also past right in front of the Bradbury building, so of course I couldn't resist to go inside and just bask in its beauty for a little bit. I wasn't expecting to take that many pictures so I didn't put in a freshly charged battery and ended up running out of juice around lunch time. I was glad to at least caught this last image, though.

Lunch at Din Tai Fung...

10/9/2016

Went to have lunch with father-in-law today at Din Tai Fung, in the Arcadia Mall. They told us it was going to be 1.5-hour wait... and we saw that a new Uncle Tetsu bakery just opened next door and there was a long line for that too. So why not kill two birds? We waited in line for the cheesecake while waiting for our table for lunch. Here are just some shots while being bored.

Misty in Universal Studio...

9/25/2016

It was a hot day... after a brief debate in the morning, we decided to follow our plan to visit the Universal Studio Hollywood since the kids have been wanting to see the new Harry Potter attractions. It was nice of them to install many misty cooling fans all around the theme park on a hot day like this. It really made it more bearable. When the light hits mist in the afternoon, it also made dramatic images.

Today, I went light... armed with just the 35'Cron and a spare battery. Once I settled in with the 35mm field of view, things got a bit easier and I was able to take some street shots. People paid no attentions to me as I snapped away. To see the full set of images from today, please [CLICK HERE].

Back in the Silver Saddle again...

8/21/2016

We have not been back to the Silver Saddle Ranch since our first visit 2 years ago. This weekend, we decided to visit it again to celebrate a friend's birthday. It felt as if time has stood still in California City. We were hoping to see more development around the ranch, but I guess things progress much slower in the desert.

Lately, I've been doing less photography, and when I shoot, I use mainly just the 50'Lux. For the complete set, you may [CLICK HERE].