Never Too Early for Awesome Cars.

Man do I miss just doing simple shots of cars! I realized it has been a long time since I last took shots of cars that didn't involve darkness and long set-ups with flashes and multiple exposures, or trying to be all artsy-fartsy and artistic, so it was a joy and such a relief to walk around Cars and Coffee this morning and just point and shoot at cars that piqued my interest. Even though it was 7 in the morning (!), there were tons and tons of people at Cars and Coffee this morning as a beautiful and warm Saturday sky hovered over millions of dollars of exotics. Waiting for people to move out of your shot is always a hassle, but the people at Cars and Coffee are always patient and appreciative of photographers who go shutter-crazy over a car (especially if that car is their own!)

I took 46 pictures in total but here are just a few that I liked a lot. I do wish I could get rid of the people standing around in the shots completely, but that's just impossible in a packed venue like Cars and Coffee. One thing is for certain: it's definitely easier to take shots of cars that are ridiculously clean and look good from every angle!!!


-This was my favorite car at the show today. It was Brit Car theme this week, so a load of Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs, Minis, Aston Martins etc. made their way to the corral. This car really caught my eye though. The Jaguar E-type is always absolute sex but this car, in an extremely clean and glossy black, was just jaw dropping. The curves and the reflections and... oh my. Serious jizz-in-my-pants stuff. In most of these pictures I tried to make the car pop by bringing out the color saturation and vibrance of the car, and lowering both in the surroundings, so the surroundings would be less distracting. This picture has three bright red cars in the background pulling the eye away, so I went pretty nuts with the desaturation brush. I think it worked ok!


-From old Brit to new Brit, the Aston Martin DBS in a very curious, blue/purple/silver pearl color called "Lighting Silver." Again, really wish I could tell people to gtfo of my shots but that's just inappropriate and impossible in these settings. By the way, I'm using my SB-600 flash set to i-TTL on all of these shots, so as to add some fill-light to all the shadows that come with shooting in an outdoors setting (an idea I cribbed from the awesome shots over at the-perfect-exposure.blogspot.com, go check that site out!!!).


-My favorite shot from the morning, love how the red Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano offsets the red curb curving away. I loved the composition of this shot so much I went ahead and photoshopped a few people out from behind the car so it would look better. I actually photoshopped my dad out of the picture (he was standing right around the right headlamp) as well as another dude (standing around the right rear view mirror). Now if I could only get those two blokes on the right out of the picture too...


-A Ferrari 275 GTB. I think this is one of the most beautiful Ferraris of all time. Love the way this car looks roaring down the aisle and splitting the sea of people apart.


-My second favorite shot from the morning by a very close margin, of the Mercedes McLaren SLR 722. If the people weren't in the shot, it would be my favorite by FAR. This car just looks sinister from the front here. Love it.


-I love this shot of a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R. Nice, wide and fat, really love the angle I got of this car, especially since I was chasing behind it with my eye on the viewfinder as it drove away haha

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

A Weekend in San Francisco.

I've always wanted to drive up to San Francisco. To me, it has always seemed like a road-trip route to a potentially large amount of good times and memories. Not to mention the fact that I have very few memories of San Francisco, as I've only been there twice and both for a very short period of time, but those memories are fond and positive. Thus I jumped at the chance to drive a few of my friends and myself up the 5 for our friend Laura Jen's 23rd birthday.

This being a photo blog of sorts, I won't spend too much time on what I did there and more time on a few choice shots I worked on up there. I will say that I had a blast in San Francisco and absolutely love the city. I love that it's urban and packed, but not too packed like New York. Everything is less spread out; you can walk to the market, or to a breakfast diner. Downtown is more.... downtown-y, unlike the slum ghettos of Downtown LA. When you think of "Downtown," SF matches that ideal more than LA does. And everything just seems more quaint. However, I probably can't get over how COLD it is in SF... I miss my SD warm weathers thank you very much! I didn't really get very many shots I liked during my time there; still have lots to learn!


This is probably my favorite shot from the whole weekend, and I took it an hour out of Los Angeles. At the time I thought this shot was boring but some post processing gave this shot some oil-painting-esque quality, and some serious sharpness and detail too.

I spent a lot of the time in San Francisco dodging rain (Friday and Saturday) and driving people around (Sunday and Monday) to really get good shots off but I still had fun. Clubbing at Boss, late night card games, hanging out in some small old town called Daly City, playing with cute dogs, etc. We had an intense pillow fight the first night that involved snakes, shoes and bruises...


We also walked around the city a little, around Union Square, Chinatown, and Pier 39, where we saw some seriously fat seals:

That bird is probably thinking, "What a lazy ass."

I was excited to get to the Golden Gate Bridge to try out some HDR. Unfortunately every HDR shot I tried at the Golden Gate turned out pretty ugly. You can judge for yourself:



I'm not a huge fan of either of these pictures, but I guess it's because neither of them really needed any HDR processing in the first place, maybe some simple dodging and burning. Maybe I will try to post-process these pictures again not using HDR in the future, just to see what the difference is. I really hate that "ghosting" effect that HDR causes around structures, especially in the first picture around the bridge and the cables. Muy ugly.

I did get a chance to use a new camera gadget I recently purchased: the Nikon ML-L3 remote. I was going to use this remote for setting off the camera while holding several off-camera flashes for multiple different exposures, but a prelim trial is quickly showing that overlapping too many exposures causes way too much noise (time to invest in more flashes). The remote IS still good, however, for awesome group jumping shots, which are never in abundance when hanging out with my friends from Taiwan:


Go useful technology!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

The Products of Finals Studying.

1) Cool stands for my laptop that not only give it a slant for easier typing but also and more importantly raise it off the desk so it doesn't get as hot thus doesn't have to turn on its loud, loud fan almost constantly. Made out of the tops of my wasted 30% Prismacolor cool gray marker taped onto a penny so it doesn't tip over as easily.

2) A few pictures from the confines of my room. When studying gets boring, out comes the camera for some seriously random shots of my surroundings. First, a kind-of cool shot using some off-camera flash of my blinds. Was trying to get the shutter to release and the flash to go off at the exact same time. Way harder than it sounds and a very good indicator of how bad studying for going for me at the time:

Second shot is right outside my room. It's a very, very foggy night tonight. Fog always puts me in a good mood because it reminds me of that one time at orchestra retreat in high school when it became so foggy we couldn't see literally a foot in front of us, so we decided to be nerds and make light sabers out of our flashlights. Basically the rest of that weekend was awesome, as all orchestra retreats are.

3) Of course, an inane SURVEY! This one is kind of boring, but I did it anyway. Procrastination ftw.

1. Last alcohol beverage→ Rum and coke
2. Last phone call→ Nancy Han
3. Last text message→ Jessica Dun
4. Last song you listened to→ M. Ward - Jailbird
5. Last time you cried→ I honestly do not remember, which I suppose is a good thing.

HAVE YOU EVER:
6. Dated someone twice → Nope
7. Been cheated on? → Nope
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? → Nope
9. Lost someone special?→ Yes
10. Been depressed?→ Everyone goes through teenage years
11. Been drunk and threw up? → Yup

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
12. Blue
13. Gray
14. Green
15. Purple?

HAVE YOU:
16. Made new friends → A few here and there
17. Fallen out of love → Yes
18. Laughed until you cried → Far too seldomly
19. Met someone who changed you → Yup
20. Found out who your true friends were → I still need to figure out what it means to be a true friend.
21. Found out someone was talking behind your back → No, I guess I am slightly ignorant.
22. Kissed anyone on your friend’s list→ My Facebook friend's list? Yes
23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life → Most of them. I've been trying to weed out the random friendage people lately.
24. How many kids do you want to have→ 2 or 3
25. Do you have any pets → Mini and Didi
26. Do you want to change your name→ Nah my name is ok.
27. What did you do for your last birthday→ Partied under the Taipei 101
28. What time did you wake up today → 10am
29. What were you doing at midnight last night → Definitely studying
30. Name something you CANNOT wait for → TO BE DUNZO WITH COLLEGE
31. Last time you saw your father→ Last weekend when he came down to SD with my stock wheels
32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → I would like to be taller plz
33. What are you listening to right now→ M. Ward - Fisher of Men. Just going through his "Hold Time" CD.
34. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yes there was a Tom in my middle/high school
35. What’s getting on your nerves right now? → That I'm doing this 100 even though I find it completely boring and inane and I should be studying but hey, that's procrastination for you.
36. Most visited webpage → Probably Facebook, sadly. Or Autoblog.
37. What’s your name→ Um Justin Chan
38. Nicknames→ Chan, Jus, Hwa. Random permutations of my name.
39. Relationship Status → Single
40. Zodiac sign → Libra
41. Male or female or transgendered → Male but transgendered according to Annie.
42. Elementary–> Foothill Country Day for 1st and 2nd grade, Chandler for 3-5th.
43. Middle School → Polytechnic
44. High school → Polytechnic
45. Hair color → Really, really, really, really dark brown
46. Long or short - Outgrown short. I need a haircut.
47. Height → A measly 5'8".
48. Do you have a crush on someone? → Not at the moment
49: What do you like about yourself? → My friends.
50. Piercings → No ty.
51. Tattoos → Definitely no ty.
52. Righty or lefty → Righty, like normal people.

FIRSTS :
53. First surgery → Never had surgery.
54. First piercing → Never done that
55. First best friends → Probably Jonathan Peng and Jonathan Ong way back in 1st and 2nd grade lol
56. First sport you joined → Tennis
57. First pet → Um, a goldfish that remained nameless and shortlived
58. First vacation→ I don't remember. Have to flip through some photo albums.
59. First concert -> SHANIA TWAIN BITCHES. Thank you daddy for taking me to that concert so that my answer to this question will always be SHANIA.
60. First crush → This girl in preschool until she fed me mud.

RIGHT NOW:
61. Eating → Nothing
62. Drinking → Nothing
63. I’m about to → Take a shower
64. Listening to → M. Ward - To Go Home. Moved on to his "Post-War" CD.
65. Waiting for → Tomorrow night.

YOUR FUTURE :
66. Want kids? –> Not sure
67. Want to get married? → Yes
68. Careers in mind? → Something medical, or else my parents will kill me.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
69. Lips or eyes → Eyes
70. Hugs or kisses → Hugs
71. Shorter or taller → Shorter than me
72. Older or Younger → Younger
73. Romantic or spontaneous → Spontaneously romantic
74. Nice stomach or nice arms → Stomach
75. Sensitive or loud → Adaptable to moods
76. Hook-up or relationship → Relationships
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER :
78. Kissed a stranger → No
79. Drank hard liquor → Of course
80. Lost glasses/contacts → No but have been close to it
81. Sex on first date → No
82. Broken someone’s heart → Yes
83. Had your own heart broken → Maybe at the time but looking back, no.
85. Been arrested → No
86. Turned someone down → Yes
87. Cried when someone died → No
88. Liked a friend that is a girl? → This question confuses me.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
89. Yourself → Yes
90. Miracles → No
91. Love at first sight → Not anymore
92. Heaven → No
93. Santa Clause → No
95. Kiss on the first date? → If the situation calls
96. Angels → No

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now?→ No, must concentrate on finals
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → No
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? →No

I promise my next entry will be more entertaining.

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

Pothole 1, Justin 0.

Tonight I decided I had studied all day and deserved a little break. So I went to pick up Jessica to get some food. We started roaming because we didn't know where to eat, so I turned onto Nobel thinking we would figure out where to eat there. Then...

THUNK... fizzz... flop flop flop.



I hit the biggest pothole I've ever hit in my life. San Diego roads are NOTORIOUS for sucking so bad... seriously, there are potholes EVERYWHERE. And I've done my best to memorize where all of them are, and dodge as many as possible. But all it takes is one pothole to punch a dent into your wheel.

I could tell Jessica was pretty scared as the lights on my dashboard started flashing at me (yo homie, your TIRE IS FLAT!) and my steering wheel started shaking and pulling very hard to the left. It's like in those movies where you're flying and someone shoots off one of your wings, and you see all these lights light up in front of you while your flying stick starts shaking out of control and your plane starts nosediving. It was kind of like that... even the nose dive! I wasn't thinking very straight so I made several wrong turns and missed others. I called Tayzar to bring me my spare tire. In the end I was about 200 yards from my house when my steering wheel started shaking especially badly, so I pulled over to the side of the road. By the way it's around 8PM and very dark and cold.

I called Tayzar again:
T: Yeah dude Smallville is almost done... 5 minutes
J: I AM STUCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH A FLAT, ARE YOU CRAZY
T: Oh shit I didn't know you were STUCK, ok I'm coming now -___-

Anyway after a long time of trying to fit the donut, realizing it didn't fit, and then trying to fit on my spare stock tires, I was good to go. I only have two rear tires in San Diego, which are larger than the front tires by nearly 40mm widthwise, and 5mm tall-wise. This means that with my rear tire now seeing duty up front, I can only turn my steering wheel 3/4 of a rotation before it starts gnawing off my wheel liner and every bump in the road is accompanied by a SCRUNCH. Fun.



On the plus side, Jessica bought me dinner and got me mildly drunk off sake, which took the edge off the whole situation. Thanks for being a trouper and sticking through the situation, Jessica! And big thanks to Bovey and Tayzar for coming to the rescue with my wheel and a jack!!! I would have been 100% screwed without you guys!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

Succumbing to the Dark Side...

...the side of HDR.

For those that don't know what HDR is, basically it involves taking the same photo at several different exposures. This is useful if the picture you're taking has an area of serious brightness and another area that is a lot darker. Taking exposures that give good contrast values to both the bright portion of the picture (very low exposure) and the dark portion of the picture (very high exposure) allows you to later combine the pictures in post processing for a photo that has fantastic constrast values everywhere.

Now HDR is considered by some photographers to be the coolest digital trick ever, and is considered by other photographers to be ugly, overdone and just plain cheesy. One thing is for certain, though: HDR makes what would be a normal, boring shot look absolutely otherworldly. I have always been a photographer that likes presenting realistic photos, that is, presenting photos that are true to life. Not too much camera manipulation, not too much post production. But I decided to try HDR for the first time in my life and... man is it fun.



These two pictures are taken from the cliffs above La Jolla Shores, showing largely the same view. Usually HDR can come out very cartoony and unrealistic but since I am a big fan of realism, I decided to keep the cartoonyness that comes from HDR to a minimum. There were taken on a very sunny day so a very high exposure was needed for the sea and the cliff while a low exposure needed for the bright clouds in the sky. Each of these photos are a composite of 5 exposures at f/13, ISO 100 with exposures ranging from -4 to +2.


From under the pier. Very dark, shadowed pier under a bright, bright sky made HDR a natural choice here to really get all the gritty details of the pier out. f/16, ISO 100, and I don't really remember the exposure details but I believe I went from -4 all the way to +4 to get every last shadow out of the pier.


This is a "fake" HDR. I only took this shot at one exposure and digitally altered the exposures from -4 to +2, and merged the digitally altered exposures together. This one came out a little more cartoony than I wanted and the placement of the camera is not ideal; truth be told this shot was kind of an afterthought, plus there were runners running towards me so I had to snap it off quick. I'll probably go back and take this photo again.

Coming back from the beach, i realized my camera had picked up a great deal of dust on the sensor. I left my blower back at home which means I'm stuck with a dirty sensor (or very large aperture shots) until I get back to LA. Also, more and more dirt keeps seeping into the view finder, need to find a way to get that stuff out too. Sigh!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

Falling Out of Love With Love.

My disintegration from being a hopeless romantic is almost totally complete. I used to believe in soul mates, that love conquers all, that all you need is love, and the rest of the whole gamut of catchy song titles and cheesy scribblings on anti-war signs. If I've learned anything this quarter, it's that love is not controlled by some external mystical being; that love can not conquer all things like time, distance and space; and that there is much, much more to life than falling in love. Of course, I'm talking about love in the romantic sense, not in the familial or parental sense.

I'm taking a class this quarter called "Psychology of Emotion." The book's chapter on love claims the feelings of attachment, trust and longing that are associated with love to be caused simply by the increase of oxytocin in an organism. They talked about how scientists injected oxytocin into a female mouse and she immediately showed signed of attachment and trust to a random male they dropped into her cage. It slightly bothers me that something so "sacred" as love can be boiled down to a chemical in your body. It seems as though it's a matter of waiting for your body to release oxytocin in the presence of a girl or boy; that's how you fall in love.

The book also talks about three different types of love. Eros love is based on passion and physicalities, ludus love is a type of "game-playing" love, and storge love is based on friendship. I've always considered myself as a storge type of lover but it has come to my attention recently how many friends I have who are girls, and how much emphasis is placed on meeting girls in bars and clubs especially in college. I feel like the more hectic and busy life becomes, the less time you have to foster a storge type of relationship and love, and if you do try to foster that kind of relationship, you either take too long or are subjected to the friends category. It seems like all people have time for nowadays is the eros and ludus type of love, the kind where you meet people at bars and clubs, inherently based on physical appearances and picking-up "strategies."

I'm also taking a class on Animal Behaviors, and the similarities between animal mating behavior and human mating behavior in clubs is pretty hilarious. Animal mating behavior usually invloves attraction through, for example, the fancy feathers of a peacock or impressing other females with looks and plumage. Afterwards it's about showing the female your fitness by doing some sort of call or doing a sort of mating dance (like the stickleback fish). If the female is impressed, she goes with the male. If not, other males are there to try their hand at impressing the female.

Sound familiar? Clubs sometimes remind me of meat markets. Girls are always on the dance floor dancing and having fun, but standing around the dance floor are always guys who seem to be browsing the selection of girls on the floor and planning their method of attack. It's disgusting. They're dressed up in their fanciest clothes to impress the girl, and try their hand at dancing with the girl. If the girl is impressed with the way her newest suitor dances, then he might just get lucky. If not, she pushes him away and likely another suitor will come and show off his skills soon. This is not how I imagined meeting girls would be like for humans, but it seems like the older we get, the less idealistic and more animalistic we become in that sense.

It scares me that I'm starting to understand and be a part of this new-age love. I calm myself by not calling it love at all, but merely keeping one self entertained between the stages of true love.

Anyway, time to go back to studying "Emotion." Damn you class for turning even happiness into a boring set of chemicals and protoypical changes in expression. Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

PS My next post will have pictures, I swear! Maybe.