New Year's Day

power lines, originally uploaded by craftyK.

After a very nice and low-key New Years eve spent at home, Isaac and I decided to go for a hike near the salt flats that we went to when mom and John were visiting. Too bad the trails were closed off because of the holiday. So we drove around a bit, and saw the trails at Ravenswood Trough. As we were approaching the gate to the trail, I saw a "trail closed" sign. :( not to be deterred, and getting antsy at having our original plans dashed, Isaac suggests that we go on the trails anyway. We even saw two people in the distance on the trail., which helped convince me that it wasn't a major crime. As we are getting closer to the sign, I saw a smaller sign behind the first that said "closed for waterfowl hunting season". Ohh. then we noticed the two people on the trail had what appeared to be shotguns. double oh-ohh. (Did I mention the entire area is on/near a waterfowl refuge? WTF?) So we decided the "trail closed" sign got the final say, and took some photos of all the power lines around the area (did I mention that this is supposed to be a wildlife refuge? oh wait, yes I did). Isaac and I got a few nice shots with our Harblei lens, which we will be posting over the next few days on flickr. I LOVE the Harblei lens. Seriously folks, you can't afford NOT to buy this lens! :)
At any rate, we ended up having a nice peaceful new year's day and Isaac made a kick-ass Shrimp Etouffee from scratch (thanks for the recipe Lisa) That was scrumptious. And I peeled the shrimp, so I even get to say i helped. How's that for starting the new year right?

Jess and Leonard's wedding

Jess and Leonard wedding-37, originally uploaded by craftyK.

Back home in Indiana! We just went to Isaac's sister's wedding and it was really nice. They are the most relaxed couple I have ever seen at a wedding- I think I was more stressed picking out an outfit than they were. Now they're in Puerto Rico so Isaac and I have some serious envy seeping in. Not that Indiana's not great...
Bu anyways, it is nice to see all the family this week. Time to eat my fill of vegetarian sides!

Cemeteries and shifting (plus tilt)

Colma Angel2, originally uploaded by craftyK.

Here is an amazing image I was able to capture with my new TS lens in Colma, Ca. I had actually heard of this headstone- the original is in Italy, and it is the most incredible weeping angel. We got lucky; it was at the first cemetery we stopped in. For those of you who don't know, Colma is often referred to as "the city of the dead" because it has more people buried here than living here. It's where most San Franciscans are buried. There are a LOT of graves - we couldn't believe we found this headstone on our first try! Click on the image to go to my flickr account and see another TS shot that I took today.

New lens!

apron shift tilt, originally uploaded by craftyK.

I just got my new Hartblei 65mm shift/tilt lens! I am so excited to use its 4X5 powers on my little SLR. I didn't have the tripod handy (and boy is it hard to use without a tripod) and it's too dark out to use outside, so I'm only posting one image tonight. Since Isaac was still at work, my Nikon carrying neighbor Pierre helped me figure out how to use it. It didn't come with a manual- perhaps it was in Russian and they didn't bother to send it? Anyways, very exciting!

"A Very Gay Christmas"

Or at least that's what the marketers for Bloomingdale's San Francisco office must have been thinking. I can see it now:
"Hey Ed, what should we do for the big holiday opening this year?"
"ummm.. I don't know, what do they like in San Francisco? I'm pretty sure I remember that they like gay. What can we do that's gay? How about models spray painted gold to look like angels?"
"I don't know Ed. That only sounds gay-ish."
"Yeah, but I'm not finished yet. What if those angels were wearing huge gold codpieces? And what if they were gyrating to thumping beats, surrounded by anorexic models?"
Or at least that's how I envision how the conversation went. It was truly amazing, and I deeply regret not having a video camera on hand to capture it. The still shots really don't, err, capture it, if you know what I mean.

Kerry's haircut!!!

Kerry's haircut!!!, originally uploaded by Simian Cephalopod.

Kerry got her hair cut and it's CUTE :D I think it's the best I've ever seen it.

The Hitote Project

Hitote, originally uploaded by Simian Cephalopod.

This is my entry for the Hitote Project. Since one of the key tools in artists creations is their hand, the basic concept is to have artists create an image of how they view their hand... and attempt to capture their personal style in the image. It's hard to explain, I recommend just hopping over to the project site and reading more :)

long exposure waves B/W - Pacifica, Ca

Pacifica, originally uploaded by Simian Cephalopod.

This is another shot from the same location as the previous post, but taken by Isaac on the other side of the pier, and vigorously edited for good measure. The exposure was 10 seconds in full sun at midday.

Kerry thinks the water looks like a frothy latte :)

Memory of Water

Memory of Water, originally uploaded by craftyK.

I thought the image of the rust pouring into the shell was rather beautiful.

long exposure waves- Pacifica, Ca

long exposure waves, originally uploaded by craftyK.

This was from our first day out with our new ND400 filter. it only lets in 1/400 of the light, so we can do long exposures in bright daylight. We have a lot more experimenting to do, but I'm pretty happy with this for a first try. Isaac got some good shots too... now we need to go shoot a river!

Nina pants

Nina, originally uploaded by Simian Cephalopod.

The littlest one of the household is certainly the cutest, fuzziest and most pampered. Isn't she CUUUUUTTTEEEEE!!!!?!?!

surgery complete!

Isaac pre surgery, originally uploaded by craftyK.

Isaac's surgery to remove the 2 plates and 10 screws in his arm went well, and he's healing nicely. Here is a picture I took with my phone (excuse the poor quality) before the surgery. I LOVE that they wrote "yes" on the arm that needed the surgery. Don't want to open up the wrong one!