Browse Author: beakatude

Enough Snow and Lots of Photos

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We went to Mammoth today and it was so nice to be back on the mountain! I was a little worried about the conditions given the dry spell they’ve had these past couple weeks but we were not disappointed. The snow was still soft but fast and the coverage on the main runs was great. We spent most of the day on the snow and at the end of the day, we packed up our gear and took a scenic ride on the Panoramic Gondola up to the top with my camera bag. It was great being able to just stand there and take a bunch of photos. I took the fisheye and Holga with me and had some fun.

Afterwards, we had dinner at Base Camp Cafe, which looked like a hole-in-the-wall restaurant but had some really yummy food at non-Mammoth prices. I enjoyed my first taste of Italian Wedding Soup that’s made with chicken soup, mini meatballs, tiny round pasta, and herbs. Yum.

Back in Bishop, where we’re staying, we visited the Mountain Light Gallery. It features the works of Galen Rowell, a long-time award-winning photographer that has many famous photos published in National Geographic. Many of his photos included a short blurb about how he captured the photo or what he was doing when the photo was taken. He travelled the world and took photos in Antarctica and the Himalayas. However, he also took many photos in places that are so accessible. Some of the photos were captured right here in Bishop! It was simply inspirational.

By the way, the Holiday Inn Express in Bishop totally rocks. It’s cheap, clean, the room entrances are indoors, has modern amenities, has free breakfast in the morning, and is walking distance to restaurants. They even have pillowcases that have “firm” and “soft” embroidered on them so you have a choice of pillow firmness. And of course, it has free WiFi in your room for after-skiing surfing. What more do you need?

Here are photos from the weekend.

It’s fishie out there!!

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My fisheye adaptor arrived today!! I played around with it this afternoon and this is what I got. I still have some reading to do but so far it’s been pretty cool! Basically, it’s a glass lens that attaches to your existing lens to give it a wider angle. The wider your lens, the better the effect. Unfortunately, I’m using a DSLR, which has a crop factor of 1.5 (i.e. 50mm is more like a 75mm on a film camera) so I’m not quite getting a full circle. It also came with an adaptor ring for my Holga, which will allow for the full-circle effect on a 6×6 medium format photo. Let the fishie fun begin!!

Turtle and Dog Conquer Shady

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Over the weekend, I went out for a run and ended up cutting it short because I was feeling lightheaded. I didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to pass out on the corner of Alton and Sand Canyon. I also went to the gym on Monday and had to stop after 20 mins on the treadmill due to the same icky thumpity-thump feeling I had in my chest. I could have sworn I was on the same treadmill last week going 6.7 mph without dying.  What a disappointment. This afternoon, I decided to give it another try. Before I left, I jokingly said to Jes, “OK!  I’m going out to make myself pass out now!  Come looking for me if I don’t return in 45 mins.”

The sun was still up and the weather was warm enough to go out in shorts and a tee. With the doggie by my side, I headed out my usual way but later decided to take a detour towards “Shady”…Shady Canyon, that is. I used to run this trail all the time but for some reason it seemed especially daunting today. But I went and so did the dog.

We started out rather slow and chugged up the hill. It was just as steep as I remembered but felt like it was never going to come to an end. At the top of the hill I felt pretty good so we kept going. We watched the golfers play, admired the way the sun hit the tall grass, stopped for a couple sniffing/peeing breaks for the dog, and ended up going all the way through Shady Canyon to the other entrance. When I glanced at my watch, it said “1.5 mi”. Sweet. So I headed back to complete the 3-mile run. It was great. After two horrible workouts in a row, I felt like my legs and heart were finally back in sync. The dog didn’t look too bad either. He happily trotted beside me the whole time with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.  I let him drink from the doggie drinking fountain on our way home and now he’s down for a long nap. Turtle and Dog conquered Shady today and here is the Garmin data to prove it.

Top 25, Baby!

US News & World Report rated Occupational Therapist as one of the Best 25 Careers of 2007.  Unfortunately, the median salary listed is one of the lowest of the 25 and “Prestige” was given the rating of “C”.  It’s true…so true.  Oh well…I suppose you’ll never hear me complain about not being able to find a job or that I’m being replaced by someone in India.

Farshie’s rockin’ a new crib

It was time to clean out the fish bowl this weekend and Farshie was looking rather sad. I remembered that he’s actually a tropical fish that’s supposed to be living in the warm waters of Southeast Asia and realized that poor Farshie’s been hanging out in a bowl next to the window with no heater. How unfortunate. I am one mean slum-lord.

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To the left is Farshie’s old studio with cramped quarters and no central heating.
He’s down by the rocks hiding somewhere.

So, we drove up to Buena Park to pick up an old 5-gallon tank that has been sitting empty since we moved to our house. Unfortunately, it was given away. You’d think that after our stupid college days of 50 million tanks in one apartment that we’d be able to find something for him. But no…that was not the case this time. We actually had to go to pet store to buy him a new crib. So now Farshie’s stylin’ in an Eclipse 5-gallon corner acrylic tank with a BIO-wheel filter. We also got him a nice heater to bring his water temp up a little bit. We’re hoping it will bring his color back to a sapphire blue and he’ll be swimming around a bit more.

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This is Farshie in his new condo with central heating and extra square inchage.
He’s looking happier already. We might need to get him a couple Cory Roombas in a week or so.

It’s growing on me.

beakatude. Get yours at bighugelabs.com/flickr

Alright, Flickr is starting to grow on me. It definitely won’t replace ofoto for my albums and printing but I’m using it as my photo gallery and a way to share my photos with the rest of the world. DSC_3022.jpgI’ve learned a lot about photography through the comments people make on my photos (good and bad). It definitely takes a thick skin to post your photos into public pools. Some people are brutally honest but most give really good constructive criticism in the form of crop suggestions and how to improve my composition. I’ve also realized that some photos that I think are nice are not necessarily as appreciated by others. I guess it’s all a learning process.

By the way, my new lens is so much fun. It’s great for portraits and indoor photos. It’s also really small and light so it’s been much easier to take the camera around with me. The dog has been very patient with me since it probably seems like that stupid camera is in his eye all the time. I guess the best thing about this lens, for him, is that he isn’t blinded by the flash anymore.