i got this shot below. pretty cool huh? we all know jerry ghionis’s famous saxophone player shot. and now that i know how to do this through this airplane model experiment, i can add it to my vocabulary of photographs (shot was done with one flash partially hidden behind the plane, plane was set on a black foam core board to reflect some but not all the light to the underside of wings, i dusted the plane off, set it on its stand, gave the dust a slight blow and fired). probably not as graceful as jerry’s shot but i think it works.

i guess the point of this post is to say to any new person to photography that may be lurking here on my blog, is that i want to encourage you guys n gals to keep experimenting and taking pics of anything and everything in any situation. photography is one of those worlds where you can never learn everything and thats so wonderful! airplanes have nothing to do with people/wedding photography but something like this shot can be applied in an artful way during a wedding perhaps! so go take pics of your orange, your pencil, your stuffed animals in all different situations! that was one shot out of the many, take advantage of digital, keep snapping away! now dont go thinking that i know everything about photography for truly what i know is just like a 1/8 of one grain of sand on the beach. im just saying to keep taking pics and keep experimenting!

(i know my watermarking of images hasn’t been consistent lately…im still trying to figure out the best way to do it, bare with me…seeeee even i am experimenting in different ways)

ok i must get back to editing wedding pics. i was so excited going through the shots yesternite that i went to sleep 2 hours late!! im pretty tired right now!!!

i actually dont like vegas at all and would never take a vacation here if it wasnt for the workshop and wppi. im not a big fan of these fake, tacky sights, and the smoke filled casinos.

some pics of the flight! I didn’t checkin early enough to get my favorite seat but im at least thankful that i got a window seat! more updates as the days come…and if i can find internet in this lousy place.

waiting for my flight in sacramento on board southwest’s N735SA

i dont like sacramento either haha but its nice from the air!

do i need to tell you guys all the reasons why i love flying? =). the skies are gorgeous…that’s a reason

i rode my bike through the rain a couple months ago and ever since, my gears squeaked like mice fighting over cheese. so i took it into the shop to get my gears soaked in solvents and get my bike tuned and cleaned up and that meant it came back to me nice and shinyyyyyy, bling! ive always wanted to take pics of my bike so now was the chance before i dirty it up again.

my bike isnt made totally of carbon fiber, its not the showiest on the road, not the lightest, not the fastest, and definitely not the most expensive (it was actually the cheapest in the store haha) but i love it nevertheless. i think if you paint objects with light (dramatic light) only, it makes the object look like a million bucks when it really only cost about as much as a load of laundry! well at least i think so =).

i must do more of this when i have time so stay tuned! maybe with different objects too.

I love how the light just grabs the edges to define the bike’s form.

sexy curves

out of the world! and to think its just a simple bike!

a view from my flight deck. i think that sliver of light defining the right edge of my right aerobar is so sexy

i’ll admit, for 2 hours i didnt know what i was really doing or trying to achieve but gradually figured out how to place my flash to get the results i secretly wanted but didnt know i wanted. learning like this takes awhile but once you finally get it, its ingrained in your head forever.

the setup was as poor man as you can get really. i used my housemate’s toyota sienna car seat to prop my bike up. used a big foam core board that i use to build my model airports to reflect some extra light onto the bike. then i guess the more expensive stuff is the flash on a stand controlled by a pocketwizard. this all shot in total darkness with a flashlight to help my camera lock focus. try it!

Eva Air (my most favorite airline) recently started service into SFO with their Boeing 777-300ER line of airplanes in the beginning of this summer. This will be replacing their aging Boeing 747-400 Combis (half cargo, half passengers) that fly here. Their 777-300s can also carry more people at 316, versus the 747 Combi at 276. Their 777-300ERs are configured with their latest inflight entertainment system as well as wider and more comfortable seats thus offering a better product.

So what has that got to do with making this post special? Well this time my mom flew in on Eva Air’s flagship aircraft, B-16701, carrying the famed “waves” livery! B-16701 was Eva Air’s very first 777-300ER delivered by Boeing and that registration adorns all their 777-300 models (of which I have hehe).

That green sure lights up the drab SFO skyline! Check it out. It was a so-so day for spotting aircraft. Lots of haze reducing visibility.

I took my dad out this time to check out my favorite spotting location and to see his beloved come home haha. See it in the distance? Turning downwind and lining up for finals down the runway! Almost all arrivals into SFO will take this oval pattern over the Bay. They will go down the East Bay and turn around when they reach San Jose and come back this way as shown in this photo.

I was so excited to finally see B-16701! Ok as well as my mom coming home too.

Let me show you 3 pics to show off B-16701′s beauty!

The 777′s most distinguishing characteristic is its pair of 6 wheeled rear landing gear boogie.

You can see a MD-80 that just took off in the distance!

Almost!

Eva Air pilots sure know how to grease their landings! Perfect touchdown! That green is gorgeous!

On the way home we drove by her too! Looks like she parks where normally the a380 would park! And you know what that means…that means I’ll be back again to spot her and take even better photos. This is a great vantage point. See my a380 post here and my Airliners.net photo of her here? Same parking space! I’ll be back to try to get an even better vantage point this weekend.

Couple weeks ago I went to the airport (will purposely neglect to say which one) to pick up a friend and wanted to get some pics of the landing…too bad 5min before I spotted her jet on its base leg lining up for finals down the runway, security came around and told me to stop. I was in a public place with legal access, in full public view, was honest to the cop and showed him my pictures that weren’t of the buildings, but I guess those things don’t matter. I understand security has their job to do. I don’t want to bash them. That probably won’t stop me from doing it again though.

In this world today, I can’t even take some sentimental images of my friend landing in! Sorry friend! The only pics I wanted, I didn’t get. My friend was flying in on a Continental 737-900 series jet too. I have never seen a -900 series before. It is the longest and largest 737 to date. Yea, a shame I couldn’t capture it.

But I was able to get some Southwest jets basking in some great light though.

I love seeing jets being readied for their next flight. Look at all those service vehicles! If I could be any machine, I would be a small 737-700 with winglets just like this one. This is N738CB, she is 9 years old.

N298WN landed, pulled in and stopped short of the gate. Thanks for stopping to pose for me! She is about half a year old!

Mmmm Southwest colors are great aren’t they?

N298WN again posing for me at the gate. 

N738CB launches away into the sunset. She was built in 1999 and without winglets.

Looks just like my model right? HAHAHAHA! I wonder how long it will take before people say that airplane models are illegal too as they are tools to help terrorist plan. Gosh. I’m just stating the absurdity of this all.

(a stock pic from Gemini Jets, I didn’t have time to take a shot of my own model)