Spring 2008

One of the best things about our house is, it has a large yard and many different types of vegetation around. Pines, oaks, weeds, poison oak and many more that I cannot name. Green is happened to be my favorite color and spring is the best time for green. I watch the new growth day by day, enjoy the change in the tones tremendously.

Every camera owner knows that it is very hard to resist photographing pretty stuff, for example flowers. We shove our cameras as close as possible (meaning the closest distance the camera is still able to focus) to the pretty thing and click away. Voila, you have a pretty picture, it is hard to go wrong.

So naturally, every spring, I do my part as a loyal member of photographers circle and photograph a thing or two. Of course I don't settle for a common gerber daisy or a rose or an orchid. Instead, being my creative self, I pick the tiniest weeds or buds. I turn them back and forth, up and down and finally see some (otherwise trivial) tiny prettiness. I suspect my dear engineer friends would find all this effort spent on creating an image with no obvious purpose pointless and strange, but it is alright. It makes me happy after all.

Here is my Spring 2008 Collection!

Canon 5D, Canon 100mm/2.8 macro lens, window light.

Chinese New Year Parade - 2008, San Francisco. - 2 of 2

I am a mother more than anything else. Now that my daughters are both grown into young adults, you would think I am done with all that children stuff, right? No, I am not.

Follow the children around, you'll soon find me there for sure. That's exactly what happened at the Chinese New Year Parade. I just could not take my eyes off of the kids. Kids that are all made up, wet in clear ponchos, excited, laughing, playing, and joking around in spite of the rain.

I have so many of these photographs, I wanted to share at least some of them. I know this is not exactly street photography, I know cute kids are the most common subjects, I know no one cares about random kids' pictures. But I am not no one and I do care. Some warmness fills my heart when I look at them. And hey, these are pretty decent photographs after all.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 L/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/100sec.



























If you want to see more check this link.

Chinese New Year Parade - 2008, San Francisco. - 1 of 2

A colorful, happy, tiring and very, very wet day.


Nothing Chinese in this picture. It is kind of an image the seasoned street photographers would like, so it made the cut here.


A gloomy look on wet faces. My best guess is, they are not happy because the instruments will require a very thorough maintenance after parade.

Impression of the day. Under the awnings were the most popular spots. I ran one to another almost all day.

I am sure their costumes were more attractive than the red ponchos, but their unusual instruments with colorful reflections on them were interesting enough for me.


A juxtaposition of reds and blacks. I wish I could use the opportunity in a more memorable way.

Waiting for the parade arrive. I think we picked the best possible spot for ourselves with such a wonderful background, it was sheer luck.


Some photographers were luckier with dryer spots and less obstructed views. I was bored of waiting for the parade, looking up to find something interesting.


More windows ... I always feel like going into people's houses and share a slice of their lives. Such an exciting experience it would be.


Flags with some mystery messages on them. I wish I knew what they said. Now I wonder how come I couldn't think of asking someone around. Oh, I know, I was too busy with the anticipation of the right moment to capture it. Those are four separate flags as you know :)


Such a serene expression on this pretty lady's face under the gentle, glowing light and in spite of the rain and cold. My wonderful background complements her perfectly.


My most favorite float in the parade. The tentacles moved up and down slowly, giving the most realistic impression of an octopus.


Another view of the tentacles. Did I say how much I liked it? By the way this frame looks wonderful larger, will be printed for sure.

One of the many, many dragon heads. Again, the intricate detail gets lost in the small size image. A larger version can be seen by clicking on the image.


And a very small portion of the longest dragon ever. It is not possible to photograph something in motion and experience it completely. I definitely missed most of this amazing event in the struggle of capturing some worthwhile frames.