We were strolling around Fashion Island, the outdoor mall, the other day and I was taking some shots near the nice koi pond they had there.  As I walk around the perimeter looking for shots, I noticed the contrasty reflections the building was casting in the water and how the colors were somewhat complimentary.  So I brought the camera up, framed it, and waited for a koi swim right into the middle of the transition.  Voila!  I like how it turned out.

A few shots from my nephew's football game from last week.  I think it was the first time I've gone to a high school football game.  I brought the 90'MEM but didn't use it because I figured that f/4 wasn't enough light.  So I shot it all with the 50'Lux.  I wasn't really trying to cover the game or anything... it was just something to do to pass the time since Cerritos High School was getting killed... the final score was something like 56 to 7 :-(

Truth be told... if these were shot on the M9, I would have probably processed them as color.  However, I'm not unhappy with what I see from the B&W film at all.  On our trip to the Silver Saddle Ranch, I wanted to test out my Light Meter glassware, so I brought the Rolleiflex SL66 and used my Google Glass solely for exposure evaluation.  I think they came out rather well.  I brought the 50mm f/4 Distagon and I'm amazed by the sharpness and details in some of the shots.  Here are a few more:

We spent the weekend in Silver Saddle Ranch, in California City, which is about 2.5 hours drive away from Los Angeles.  It's a man-made oasis in the middle of the desert, lots of good'ol outdoor fun.  We get to spend the weekend there for free, in exchange for listening to an hour long investment opportunity pitch.  Even though the place is probably 30 years old, it's still kept in pretty good shape, and very friendly staffs.

I brought only the 35'Lux with me because I actually wanted to shoot more film.  Since my light meter glassware was just recently approved for Google Glass, I was itching to apply it to some real film shooting to see how it'll work.  I will have to post the results in another post, since the film just got sent out to be developed today.

To see the full set, please click [HERE].

Leica M9 was announced on September 9, 2009... 5 years ago.  It's considered a couple of lifetimes in the digital world.  Just to give you an idea, it's the same year iPhone 3GS was announced, and we just heard about the iPhone 6.  The M9 was the first ever full-frame digital rangefinder, and they've got it right the first time.  It still makes beautiful images today.  I've been tempted by the newer models that have been released over the years, but the images I take calms me down.  Let's hope it'll keep going for many 5 more years!

We went to visit a few interesting places in and around Palos Verdes (PV).  First, we saw the Wayfarer Chapel, which is a small chapel made of glass panels.  We couldn't get inside because there was a wedding ceremony going on, of which they are very popular, as you can imagine.  It was quite hot today, nearly 87 degree by the coast.  I couldn't help but imagine it must have felt like a hellish green house in the chapel.

Speaking of hell... we then drove down and visiting a place called the "Sunken City", which was a part of a residential area that were lost to landslide many years ago.  Slabs of concrete and asphalt are now covered with graffiti.  The whole area was fenced off, but it didn't stop us and quite of few others from exploring the place.

You can see the full set of photos [HERE].

It's been a while since we've been out, and my camera has been quite lonely.  The kids' schools will start next week, so this is the last weekend for their summer vacation.  So, today we went to the Getty's Museum.  Besides the art pieces displayed there, I was awed by the modern architecture.  Beautiful white walls, large glass windows, and stairs...

You can see the full set of images [HERE].

Alice invited us to a party at her house in Rancho Cucamonga... It's always fun to see friends whom you have not meet for a while.  It was a day of fun in the pool for the kids, and free flowing alcohol for the adults :D

We went to the Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival with a lot of expectation, perhaps too much.  We wanted to see a lively show with people cheering and lots of good food.  However, it turned out not too so much of a spectator sport.  There's no announcers so we had no idea who was racing and whether or not it's an important race, no score board, so we had no idea what we're watching, except we see people sometimes race, sometimes not.  Don't even get me started on the food.  Let's just say we spent about 40 minutes there, had some grubs, and everyone wanted to go home.  I've got some shots to share, nonetheless.