CicLAvia is an organization that creates multiple events per year around LA that close off major city street and let everyone ride whatever they want right in the middle of the main road.  It's an awesome feeling and we love taking advantage of it whenever they have it.  As usual, I mounted the lightest lens I own, the 35'Cron, and rode with it the whole day with the camera dangling by my chest.

Haven't been shooting much lately, so I gathered the family and went to visit the recently opened The Broad Museum in downtown LA today.  The admission was free, and all the reservation ran out online, but they had a walk-in line that queued around the block.  We had nothing else to do, so we waited the 1.5 hours to get in.

While we waited, I walked around the perimeter to take some shots of the exterior.  I decided to travel light today, so armed with just the 35'Lux, I did what I could to capture the distinct architecture and did some street work since there were lots of people around.

Once we're in, there were lots of interesting pieces to look at, reminded me very much of LACMA.  Many works of famous modern artists, and I was surprised that I knew many of them.  Although I'm not a fine art major nor have I study it much, I owe it to the various podcasts that I've been listening to recognize many of the artists.

Afterwards, we walked around the area some more and decided to go have dinner in Little Tokyo.  It felt really good to be out and shooting again.  While shooting, I thought about the recently released LCD-less Leica M-D camera.  The removal of the back LCD is somehow very appealing to me, so I tried to avoid using the LCD on my M9, except for adjust ISO, and for my casual photography, I think the M-D will be a great fit.  I'm going to hold off, however, just to see if Leica will announce an update to the M240.  Please [CLICK HERE] to the the full set of images from today.

What do you call when you use two cameras to take pictures of each other?  I'm sorry having a dirty mind, but I couldn't think of a better way to describe it.  I didn't scan it in, but I rather liked the picture the InstantFlex TL70 took of the M9, too.  I was just bored while waiting to take some product shots for Sweet J.A.M.

Sure, autumn has great colors, but I'm getting some nice colors now.  I liked the new spring green mixed with the red maple leaves.  It's a lovely sight just for stepping out to pick up today's mail.

Around the same time last year, we went camping at Gaviota State Beach, near Santa Barbara.  We experienced some terrible winds at night that felt like our tents were going to blow off.  Since the location was right off the beach and had great scenery, we've always loved and scared about going back.  I saw some open spots in the campground again this year for spring break, so I tried to find a good spot with wind breakers and we packed our heavy coats for another trip.

The winds were calmer this time, and since we were well prepared for it, we had blast at night in our tent.  I purchase the Goal Zero solar panel and rechargeable battery so we can watch movies on the laptop while our tent swayed.  Since it was just the three of us this time, I had less chance to wander and take photos, but it was great family bonding time.

I shot with the WATE all weekend, loving that extra wideness.  I wish I brought a tripod to capture some night shots because the stars were beautiful and extra bright at night.  I think with good preparation, I would come back again.  On our way back, we checked out Refugio State Beach and El Capitan State Beach, just to see how they were, since they're only a few miles away.  Our conclusion was: no place is perfect, it's perfect if it's available when you need it :)  For the full set, [CLICK HERE].

This weekend marks the beginning of my son's spring break.  So we went to check out the Natural History Museum (NHM) and California Science Center (CSC) next to USC.  This was our first time visiting the NHM, and it was as expected... a display of old bones :)

We've been to CSC before, but I've never seen space shuttle Endeavour since it moved in there.  What a magnificent display!  Humanity really can accomplish anything, if we put our minds to it.

28'Cron was glued on the M9 the entire day.  I tend to not switch lenses once I get out... maybe half of it is just laziness, but the other half is because I become adapted to the field of view of whatever focal length the lens I have on, and I just feel comfortable staying with it.  To see the full set, [CLICK HERE]

Feels like it's been ages since I've taken the camera out.  Today we strolled through our local farmer's market and I took a few shots of this travelling musician.  I believe he was setting up all the equipment for his one-man band (not counting his dog).  What kind of dedication does it require to maintain this gig, with all the setups, tear-downs, driving around, and often tuning his instruments and craft... just to make a few bucks at this smallish farmer's market?  I think it's more than that... there must be passion.  Then I think of myself and my photography... what a fair weather practitioner I am.

Our friends invited us to join them for a weekend in Palm Spring staying at a Korean-owned hotel in the Desert Springs area.  The hotel offered a large heated pool and many indoor and outdoor jacuzzis.  It was nice to enjoy some water fun in the middle on winter to relax and replenish our souls.

For a change, I brought the 90'MEM with me this time, hoping to capture some close-ups while the kids are playing in the water, but I ended up with some scenery shots instead.  For the full set, [CLICK HERE].

Thanks to El Nino that dumped a bunch of snow in Big Bear the past few weekends, today we took our son to see snow for the first time in his life.  It was also the first time I've shot the M9 in snow.  He had a ton of fun sledding in the snow, and I ended up with a ton of post processing work.  All metering was off while shooting in the snow... the white balance was off most of the time, picking a way too cool temp, and the exposure was mostly 1 stop under (I was shooting in A-mode).

There was no way I could have focused fast enough to catch people coming down the slope, so I cheated by pre-focusing at a spot on the ground about 8 feet from me and just waited for action to come to me.  While I didn't get the right focus in many shots, I still like them because the emotion was there.

Shooting these cute kids is just cheating.  There was no way I could get a bad picture.

If you would like to see the full set, [CLICK HERE]

Finally returned for a week long vacation in Oahu, Hawaii.  This my fifth time there, same island, and I still can't get enough of its beauty.  This time I brought only the 16-18-21 WATE and the 50'Lux, but I mainly shot with 16mm almost 90% of the time.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip:

I had a ton of fun shooting it wide at f/8, almost paid no attention to focus.  For the full set, please check it out [HERE].