DC Sights 7/30/09

We arrived by Amtrak to the Union Station. It is a grand station w/ a magnificent ceiling design.
Sun sets around 8:30pm and I was able to watch it go down before it got too dark to find our way back to the hotel. Planes are landing every couple of minutes and fly really close to DC.
The capitol turns kinda yellow from the sun sets.
At the National Archives, the line (on the left) to see the Declaration was too long so I skipped it and went to see the Constitution. I was worried because the guard said if our flash ever goes off, that'll be the last time we'd take photos for the day..or was it 'any' day?! The ceiling of the rotunda was also magnificent. That seem to be the theme of all the museums..so I was always looking up.
Here's the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda.The King Kamehameha statue was moved to the new Capitol visitor's center right next to the ticket counter.
We also went to Arlington National Cemetary to watch the changing of the guard ceremony.At the Lincoln Memorial, I could see so many low flying planes that land every few minutes
The Vietnam Memorial was very moving..there must've been more than 20 panels taller than me full of the names of soldiers who died in the war.
We managed to find our way to the National Zoo via the Metro and I was able to see the Panda. He/she had been sleeping ealier but finally woke up briefly for me to take a quick shot before he/she walked off. I didn't have my 70-200mm lens so I had to do some cropping..
And I also managed to get a quick shot from the Metro...and it wasn't too scary.

DC panorama 7/27/09

Since I'm able to get my PSE to work, I'm able to take Panoramic shots and do photomerge. Here are two I took, the Capitol..
and The Library of Congress, which is near by.

NYC Continuous shooting test 7/25/09

I found an opportunity to shoot w/ continuous mode. Well, in times like this, it is better to have video instead.

NYC Central Park 7/25/09

Today we started off in NY chinatown (where else?) and had late breakfast.
We had Juk and braised Beef and tripe lo mein... the lo mein is more HK style and not like the local type w/ lots of gravy. It also comes with a bowl of broth.
It was a HOT day in Central park. I took a panoramic of this pond that's all green (it's not my color enhancement). I think it has those same kind algae growth we had in Lake Wilson the whole pond is covered w/ this stuff.
I made my friend look for these sights I've seen on TV/movies...it was like a scavenger hunt and we got lost several times and came upon this pond that had rented boats.
They even had a gondola ride and the guy actually sings. I tried to get 'artistic' taking the shot thru the holes on the walk bridge wall after taking several shots off the bridge.
After an hour or so, we found the Bethesda fountain.
Off to the side there was a performance by these guys named the "Afrobats". They were actually pretty funny and pretty good. I took a whole bunch of shots from the show so here's one of them.
Afterwards, my friend wanted to attend the 5:30pm mass at St. Patrick Cathedral. It's a very beautiful and grand church on 5th Avenue next to many expensive shops.
A must visit for me... the rockafeller plaza. Every year, there is a Christmas tree and an ice rink that I've always wanted to see, but of course, I'm too early to see it.
We went back to Chinatown to have dinner and to pick up the car and Little Italy, which was right next to Chinatown was lit up. Luckily, I didn't shake to get the shot.

NY First Night 7/23/2009

I'm finally here...and online. My friend picked me up from the airport and was hit with a familiar sight...Friday afternoon traffic.
The sun sets after 8:30pm and my friend was adventurous enough to take me down to the NY waterways ferry terminal some 40 mins from her place to take this nightshot of Manhattan after 9pm..It was really hard w/o a tripod, so this is the best one of the bunch.
I finally got a good stable shot by putting my camera on top of her car...but then it got the railings and surroundings.

All Collectors' Show 7/18/09

I want to hit myself for not bringing my camera to the show today!!! They featured these star wars characters who walked around the show and posed for pics all day long. This guy came to the booth and posed for me. I only had my phone so this is the best I could do.
I decide to go around looking for the rest of them and tried to take their pics. The glare from the windows is especially bad. I tried fixing the shots w/ PSE highlights and shadows. I also tried boosting the color saturation.
ARGH! they moved.. or was it me?!!?
This came out more like a surveillance camera shot..
I had more luck w/ stuff that didn't move like this set of old toys in a glass case.
There were these Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty Circus display. According to the antique road show, there was a Circus band set (not displayed here) appraised at $10,000!

Mid Pac Summer Basketball 7/10/09

This is the second summer basketball series game I've been to take photos and it took me two games to get a hang of taking fast basketball action. Since this gym was pretty bright, I was able to keep my ISO at 800 and still maintain 1/500 shutter speed using the 50mm F1.4 lens. This time, I was actually able to get the tip off.
Both teams played really hard and the score was close thru the entire game.
I am most comfortable taking shots near the basket since it was easiest to find the focus. I was actually able to catch some action away from the basket. I need more practice on those types of shots. As soon as the clock showed the final score, it was gone. I took a quick snapshot before it disappeared. This was a cropped shot because I was using the 50mm lens. Mid Pac won the night's game.