oakland at night

A couple weeks ago, I was out with some friends hoping to test blending/layering multiple exposures for long exposure night photography. We drove up to Tilden Regional Park hoping for a good view at Inspiration Point, but it was cold, windy, and very foggy. Not such good weather for star trails.

We decided to head down to Lake Merritt instead and ended up doing some urban night photography. What a surprise! Some of the images turned out very well.

You can also see Robin's and Jane's photos from the same evening.

I'm off to Seattle for a week; hopefully there will be much time for shooting! It will be our last trip away for the summer (the last trip for quite awhile for me, since I'll be working all the way through August and into September next year).

off to the wilderness

Well, first off, I want to say thank goodness that all the loud bangs I've been hearing these past two days are firecrackers and not gunfire. For a few moments last night, I thought there was a gang war going on a few blocks away. Such is how one thinks when living in Oakland, even if this is usually a pretty safe neighborhood.

We're off to Desolation Wilderness for a week's stay. Thankfully the recent wildfire near South Lake Tahoe missed it, but not by much. We hiked through here on our way around Lake Tahoe in 2005, and it was beautiful, so I'm really glad to be going back and taking it at a slower pace.

While you're waiting for me to come back and update this (well I guess no one's holding their breath), here are a few pictures from my 5 day backpacking trip to Ventana Wilderness by Big Sur.

I hope you're having a good summer!

the lives of others

Just a quick plug for a great movie I saw last week, The Lives of Others (Leben der Anderen, Das). It seems more and more seldom that a high quality movie makes into the mainstream distribution channels, particularly for non-English language films--what a nice surprise. Great directing, acting, cinematography, set design, and an excellent story, it's all there (well, unless you're really into the CGI graphics; there aren't any of those).

Also, if you live in or around Oaktown (a.k.a Oakland) and haven't visited the Parkway Speakeasy Theater yet, find something that's showing you want to see and go there. Who wouldn't want to eat pizza and beer while sitting on a comfy couch at the movie theater? (They also have some very nice sandwiches and wines if you prefer that scene).

It's a "second run" theater, so you won't find the latest and greatest just released movies, but you can't beet the atmosphere, and I always love the chance to support a quirky locally owned and operated business.

Parkway Theaters link (now in El Cerrito too!)

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