Another Day

[1 sec, F8, ISO 200, 105mm; cropped]

Good book for a rainy day.

[1/80 sec F4.5, ISO 400, 105mm; altered temperature & tint]

~*~

Conflicted Mess

Yesterday on his lunch break, Adrian bought me a dress:

[1/160 sec, F3.5, ISO 200, 28mm, with flash]

It's actually one that Alice wore in the movie Twilight (and the movie was pretty terribly made, but I still adore the books, so it rocks by association).
I know it doesn't look like much here, but it's actually really cute once you put it on.
And it fits!
What an amazing gift.

And I feel like a terrible person.
The rain after all the sunny weather is so appropriate.

It's time that I clean up this mess I've made.

~*~

Dayte

It has been gorgeous in LA. I am talking 80-degree+ weather. Clear, too!

Adrian and I went hiking in Griffith Park to take advantage of the unseasonable sun.

[1/160 sec, F16, ISO 400, 28mm]

We settled at a nice peak for a while to gaze and sunbathe. Butterflies danced around us. One of them landed and posed just long enough for me to take a picture.

[1/4000 sec, F4.5, ISO 400, 105mm]

Of course, I took the opportunity to take in our beautiful surroundings.

[1/6000 sec, F4.5, ISO 400, 93mm]

[1/125 sec, F29, ISO 400, 105mm]

[1/125 sec, F13, ISO 400, 43mm]

I should have felt like I was on the top of the world. But we had fought earlier that day before we left, and Adrian was mad.

[1/200 sec, F22, ISO 400, 28mm]

Luckily he (slowly) cheered up. We stopped by Ralph's on the way home, and he bought me groceries. When we got home, we made a delicious dinner. Adrian seared and then broiled steaks (broiling under my/WikiAnswers guidance), and I steamed the beans and boiled and mashed the potatoes.

[1/125 sec, F5, ISO 400, 28mm, with flash]

We watched Bender's Game, the newest Futurama movie, and fell asleep on the couch.

It was a nice day.
Rain is scheduled later this week.

~*~

Mulholland Drive

Today, Justin and I took the scenic route.

There was one popular outlook along Mulholland just above the Hollywood Bowl that had good views of Los Angeles.

[1/500 sec, F9.0, ISO 400, 28mm]

[1/500 sec, F9.0, ISO 400, 90mm]

Downtown Los Angeles & CA-101

[1/400 sec, F13, ISO 400, 83mm]
Downtown Los Angeles & Private Plane

[1/640 sec, F11, ISO 400, 105mm]
The Observatory

[1/125 sec, F14, ISO 400, 105mm]
The Hollywood Sign

On the way back to the car, I was inspired by the local flora:

[1/2000 sec, F4.0, ISO 400, 50mm]

[1/30 sec, F22, ISO 400, 28mm]

The original plan was to then drive to the beach to take pictures at sunset, but we were inspired by a scenic overlook (one of the many which we were frequently cautioned about by periodic road signs almost more common than the "DO NOT SMOKE" signs).

[1/8 sec, F20, ISO 400, 28mm]

Oh what I would give to live in this house...

[1/10 sec, F20, ISO 400, 65mm]

I get far too distracted by silhouette sunset pictures...

[1/160 sec, F16, ISO 400, 50mm]

[1/160 sec, F16, ISO 400, 83mm]

[1/320 sec, F16, ISO 400, 83mm]

[1/125 sec, F22, ISO 400, 43mm]

And I was all too enraptured by the sky...

[1/15 sec, F20, ISO 200, 55mm]

[1/10 sec, F20, ISO 200, 40mm]

[1 sec, F20, ISO 200, 50mm]

But I took far too many pictures, and at some point, it was time to go home...

[1/50 sec, F3.5, ISO 400, 28mm]

~*~

Unseasonable

It was such an unseasonably warm day (mid- to high-80s) for a January day. Supposedly it was cold in LA while I was back home for 1 month for Christmas break, but it was warm when I left and warm when I returned. Skirt weather, if I've ever seen it.

Curse school and work -- how will I ever find the motivation to do well my last semester!
For such a beautiful day, it was a shame I had to spend most of it inside looking out...

[0.8 sec, F22, ISO 400, 48mm]

[1/4 sec, F22, ISO 400, 28mm]

Of course, I let the cats out to enjoy the warm day, and Toby simply could not pass up the opportunity to get stuck on the roof...

[0.3 sec, F22, ISO 400, 48mm]

When I got back to my apartment, the willowy eucalyptus outside had finally goldened as though autumn had finally arrived. Despite the gardeners coming to clean up the leaves yesterday, there remains a sea of yellow...

[1/5 sec, F10, ISO 400, 63mm]

At least I got to enjoy an hour of warmth outside between class and lab =)

~*~

Beginnings & Introductions

For Christmas, my parents got me a Canon Digital Rebel XSi:


And as a motivation to make time to take more pictures (and also because Sarah Michelle urged me to), I decided a photoblog was in order.

Now, I don't know what the typical definition of a photoblog is, but since I tend to be atypical, I'm defining my own terms here. My goal is to post one or more pictures taken on my new camera (yet to be named), and write a blog about it (with the exception of this post). In the future, this will mean a travel blog. For now, it will probably mean whatever I have time for in between school, work, friends, and my last semester of college and (possibly) LA. Hopefully that last one will also serve as a motivation to create blogging material.

All pictures I post will be taken in fully manual mode and unedited unless otherwise noted. I started manual photography on an ancient film SLR -- a Minolta that was once my grandfather's when he was alive -- and so I'm a purist when it comes to digital editing.

On another note, I'm saving up for a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens:

So I guess this means I will have to go with the cheap/free SoCal excursions for a while...

~*~

I forgot to introduce myself:

[01.12.2009 - Los Angeles, CA]
[1/60, F4.0, ISO 800, 53mm, +0.6]

Hi, I'm Sara. I am from San Jose, California, and hope to return to the South Bay after college. At the time of this post, I'm an undergraduate senior studying computer engineering at the University of Southern California in downtown Los Angeles, CA.

I live in a one-bedroom apartment with my 2 cats, Toby and Keiko. I quickly realized after adopting them sophomore year that they will be with me for the next 10-20 years of my life. They are my loyal companions (Toby was my first model and Keiko followed me on my first photo shoots in my parents' backyard as well as the nearby creek), the beginnings of my own atomic family.

Toby aka "Toberman" is a cuddle whore. We call him the fat cat because he used to be very round, but he's lost most of it and now is just a very large cat with a lot of furry excess skin. He has a problem with biting fingers and licking faces. His favorite past time at our current residence is to get stuck on the gazibo outside and cry until I get him down; I wish he were smart enough to either learn how to get himself down (like Keiko), or simply not go up there anymore. He's a cowardly feline who prefers housecat life:

[12.26.2008 - San Jose, CA]

[1/400, F3.5, ISO 400, 28mm]

Keiko aka "Keekerman" is a secret sweetheart. When I have people over, he is shy and slow to warm, but he has a whole secret life of friends once he leaves the house. While more brave, he is the smaller of the two and so Toby is dominant. He loves being outside, even if only stationed on my front porch guarding the house, and he will follow me around outside (which makes him a terrible model most of the time because he will always trot over to me before I'm done composing my original shot -- unless I'm lucky enough to catch him distracted):

[01.072009 - San Jose, CA]

[1/125, F3.5, ISO 200, 28mm]

This is my boyfriend, Adrian:

[12.31.2008 - San Jose, CA]

[1/125, F4.0, ISO 400, 38mm]
(Not the best picture of him, but it's the only one I have on my new camera. I'll post a better one soon!)

He and I have been on-again/off-again for about 4.5 years now. He's my closest thing to family when I'm away from my parents, and I feel lucky that we've managed to stick together despite the crap we've put each other through on our quests to find ourselves.

~*~