Tag Archives: photography

Vasquez Rocks: Day and Night

California, Los Angeles County, Photography,

Last Tuesday Greg was invited to give a talk at the Lancaster Photographic Association; we carpooled up there, and on the way stopped at Vasquez Rocks. This county park houses an unusual formation of rocks, whose main claim to fame seems to be that they’ve been featured in numerous movies and TV shows.

Vasquez Rocks, in Los Angeles County, were featured prominently in the Star Trek episode "Arena". This is the rock formation on the left-hand side of the classic shot of Kirk facing off with the alien Gorn. (Marc C. Perkins)
Vasquez Rocks from the parking lot, which is the same view that is often used in films.

Vasquez Rocks were featured prominently in the Star Trek episode “Arena” 1. The formation seen above is on the left-hand side of the classic shot of Kirk facing off with the alien Gorn; scroll down on this page to see the classic Star Trek shot2.

The rocks are indeed visually interesting, and I wish we’d had more time to explore them.  I got distracted by all the beautiful lichen present (which will the feature of a separate post), and so didn’t even make it halfway around the rock formations before we had to leave.

Many people were having fun climbing the rocks, leading to great opportunities to add some scale to the pictures:

A woman climbs the primary peak of Vasquez Rocks, an unusual formation of rocks in Los Angeles County that's been featured in many films and TV shows (including Star Trek!). (Marc C. Perkins)
A woman climbs the primary peak of Vasquez Rocks.

As we drove home after Greg’s talk we watched a beautiful sunset over I-14, and decided to stop at the park to see what we could find. We got there just as dusk was ending, and the park was sadly closed.  But we set up outside and had fun playing with star photography.

I’ve been drooling over star trails for some time now, and before the trip Greg had been nice enough to send me an excellent star trail tutorial, as well as post an excellent example of the start trail genre to motivate me. Thanks to his help, within a few minutes I’d captured this:

A star trail taken just after dusk from outside the Vasquez Rocks park. I love the yellow-orange misty clouds and rocky silhouette at the bottom. This was my very first star trail; many thanks to Greg (of Alpenglow Images) for helping me capture this! (Marc C. Perkins)
A star trail taken just after dusk from outside the Vasquez Rocks park. Click on the image to view it on a dark background.

Sadly, when I captured the first picture of the night (to test exposure time and composition) and looked at the preview, I thought the lines next to the stars meant that the tripod had vibrated during the shot. Oops. Who knew the stars moved so fast?

Greg then informed me that to freeze the motion of the stars the longest shutter speed you can use is 600 divided by the focal length of the lens. We didn’t know if that was the cropped focal length or the actual focal length of the lens, but I used it as an estimation to get frozen stars:

Taken just after dusk from outside the Vasquez Rocks park proper, this exposure was short enough to freeze the stars' motion. This was my very first starry night shot without star trails; many thanks to Greg (of Alpenglow Images) for helping me capture this! (Marc C. Perkins)
Taken just after dusk from outside the Vasquez Rocks park proper, this exposure was short enough to freeze the stars' motion. Click on the image to view it on a dark background.

Continue reading Vasquez Rocks: Day and Night →

New macro lens!

Pets, Photography, Reviews,

A few days ago our friendly neighborhood UPS driver delivered my new Canon efs 60mm macro lens. Excitement ensued!

My primary lens to date has been a Canon efs 15-85mm. It’s an excellent all-around lens, and it even holds its own as a macro lens. But I’m already in love with the 60mm. It’s a true 1:1 macro lens that’s small and light, meaning I can carry it around easily (335g compared to the 625g Canon 100mm L). One complaint some people have is that the working distance at 1:1 magnification is only a few inches from the front of the lens, but since I do primarily plant and lichen work I don’t mind. The Digital Picture has a good review of the lens here.

Of course I just had to try out the new lens as soon as I got it. Looking around the house for items to photograph revealed one very cute and furry critter sitting next to the window.

Sniff: A closeup of Lucca's cute "old rose" colored nose. (Marc C. Perkins)
Sniff: A closeup of Lucca's cute "old rose" colored nose.

The light was fairly diffuse room lighting, but the lens was capably able to handle it opened up nice and wide.

Yes, closeup pictures of cat eyes are a cliche, but how can I resist taking a piture of Lucca's green eyes with my new macro lens? (Marc C. Perkins)
Yes, closeup pictures of cat eyes are a cliche, but how could I resist taking a picture of Lucca's green eyes with my new macro lens?

And, of course, it was fun to play with selective focus.

I love what happens at f2.8. This picture gives me a feeling of fear: it's like a giant cat is suddenly so close that your eyes haven't had time to focus on the iris yet. (Marc C. Perkins)
I love what happens at f2.8. This picture gives me a feeling of fear: it's like a giant cat is suddenly so close that your eyes haven't had time to focus on the iris yet.

After my fifteen minute, hand-held shoot with only sunny-window-enhanced room lighting, I’m very impressed.  The lens is light, quick to focus, and sharp.  I can’t wait to use it more.

Seabirds Food Truck: An excellent choice for your mobile food needs

California, Food, Orange County, Photography, Reviews,
She's sometimes busy cooking, so ordering isn't always instantaneous, but the bit of a wait is always worth it. (Marc C. Perkins)
Chef Stephanie Morgan of Seabirds takes an order.

Gourmet food trucks are all the rage right now in Southern California. Luckily for me, there’s a gathering of them every Thursday from 11-2pm at the Orange County Fairgrounds, which is just a short walk from my office at OCC. And there are other meetups nearby as well: SoCo Collection has food trucks Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday at lunch and Fridays for dinner.

A colorful menu for colorful food that's differnet from your typical food truck sliders and quesadillas. I got there too late to enjoy their breakfast fare (that whole waking up early thing is hard). (Marc C. Perkins)
A colorful menu for colorful food that's different from your typical food truck sliders and quesadillas. I got there too late to enjoy their breakfast fare (that whole waking up early thing is hard).

Many trucks focus on meat, meat, and more meat, possibly with fries on the side. While this is delicious and all, there’s a decided lack of non-potato vegetables and non-meaty entrees. Don’t get me wrong; Louks has their delicious felafel gyro, Chomp Chomp has a great tofu burger, Flying Pig has their crunchy tofu bun, Crepes Bonaparte has a variety of non-meat fillings, Spud Runners has excellent grilled cheese sandwiches, and Chunk ‘n Chip’s ice cream sandwiches are to die for, but my favorite truck has to be Seabirds.

At Seabirds, their specialty is fresh and flavorful vegan burritos, tacos, burgers, soups and more. But don’t let the vegan designation scare you away: their food is delicious.

You know you want to try some of Seabrids's Jerk Jackfruit Tacos :) (Marc C. Perkins)
You know you want to try some of Seabirds's Jerk Jackfruit Tacos 🙂 They take jackfruit, process it so that it's somewhat meat-like in texture, and then coat it in Jamaican Jerk spices; it's delicious topped with salsa in a fresh corn tortilla.

They do wonderful things with jackfruit; the taco above is probably my favorite menu item. Another fan favorite is their beer-battered avocado tacos:

Continue reading Seabirds Food Truck: An excellent choice for your mobile food needs →

Orange County Fair 2011: Action Shots

California, Orange County, Photography, ,

I’ve already posted about Michelle’s and my entries into the Orange County fair, which I visited about a week and a half ago. But after checking out our entries to see how we did, I had a whole afternoon free to spend at the fair. So, of course, I took pictures.

The ferris wheel was just gorgeous in the late afternoon light:

The Orange County Fairgrounds RCS ferris wheel, seen at the 2011 Orange County Fair. The cars are numbered, and labeled with "La Grande Wheel." (Marc C. Perkins)
The Orange County Fairgrounds RCS ferris wheel, seen at the 2011 Orange County Fair. The cars are numbered, and labeled with "La Grande Wheel."

And an ox with a wooden yoke was being walked around, and didn’t mind a closeup:

A black and white ox at the 2011 Orange County Fair, with a wood yoke to pull a cart. (Marc C. Perkins)
A black and white ox at the 2011 Orange County Fair, with a wood yoke to pull a cart.

And this ride looked terrifying to me, but most of the people on it seemed to be having great fun:

Continue reading Orange County Fair 2011: Action Shots →

My cats eat grass

Pets, Photography, Products, ,

Cats are carnivores: their skull, jaws, and teeth all cry out “I’m a hunter. I eat things like you (but smaller) for breakfast.” Yet cats in both the wild and captivity consume grass voluntarily.

A good friend bought our cats some wheat grass as a welcome-home-from-the-shelter present when we adopted them, and both enjoyed nibbling on it. Unfortunately, though, we recently learned that one of our cats has a wheat allergy, and the vet wasn’t sure if the allergens being tested for were in the grain or the leaves. So, we stopped buying wheat grass for them.

But wheat isn’t the only grass out there. In fact, Wikipedia reports that oats are often called “cat grass”. So, we ordered some tack oats from Johnny’s Selected Seeds and planted it last week. Both Lucca and Kira have been eying it through the window as it grew, and today we brought the pot in for them to eat (it took about a week to go from seed to cat-ready size).

Within a few minutes both kitties were investigating:

Lucca sniffs a pot filled with newly germinated (and nibbled on) oat grass (tack oats; Avena sativa). (Marc C. Perkins)
Lucca sniffs a pot filled with newly germinated (and nibbled on) oat grass (tack oats; Avena sativa).

Continue reading My cats eat grass →

Orange County Fair 2011: A Winner is Me!

California, Photography, ,

I entered a few pictures into the 2011 Orange County Fair’s juried photography competition, and was ecstatic when I heard that two pictures I’d taken of a flowering octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana) had made it through the screening.

Greg, of Alpenglow Images, had alerted me to the presence of the agave on OCC’s campus, and the first picture came from a series I took with him back in March just after sunrise on a rainy morning (my Agave and Aloe Inflorescences gallery). At the time, the agave’s inflorescence was still growing, and the flowers were only buds protected by long spines:

Closeup of flower buds on the Agave vilmoriniana inflorescence. (Marc Perkins)
The Future. Closeup of flower buds on the Agave vilmoriniana inflorescence.

The second picture was taken about a month later (my Flowering Agave gallery), when the inflorescence was fully in bloom:

A flowering Agave on Orange Coast College's campus strives for the attention of pollinators (and photographers). I love the contrast of the yellow flowers on the blue sky. Agave vilmoriniana, octopus agave. (Marc C. Perkins)
A flowering Agave on Orange Coast College's campus strives for the attention of pollinators (and photographers).

I printed the pictures up, delivered them on the appropriate day, and heard nothing. My primary goal for this endeavor had been to just get my pictures through the pre-screening, which I’d heard wasn’t easy1, so my only remaining goal was just to see them hanging on the wall.

I’d been planning to head to the fair Wednesday (for their free admission with donation), but then just before I headed out the door I opened up my e-mail to find an invitation to the OC Fair awards ceremony! It was thus with much excitement and anticipation that I arrived at the photography exhibit, and navigated my way through the many beautiful images2 to the amateur plant category:

Pictures in the amateur color prints of plants cateogry at the 2011 Orange County Fair. There were tons of gorgeous entries. My prize winning picture is in the upper right corner. (Marc C. Perkins)
Approximately a quarter of the pictures in the amateur color prints of plants category at the 2011 Orange County Fair. There were many gorgeous entries.

A quick look near my image resulted in pure happiness:

A picture of me with my winning entry at the 2011 Orange County Fair. The first place blue ribbon is so pretty! My photograph was in the amateur color print of plants category. Many thanks to Nafis, who kindly took this picture of me. (Marc C. Perkins)
Me with my winning entry at the 2011 Orange County Fair. The first place blue ribbon is so pretty! Many thanks to Nafis, who kindly took this picture of me.

I won first place in the amateur plants color category!

It was a great start to the day, which I topped off with a deep fried Snickers, the absolute best way to eat a Snickers ever.

Many thanks to the judges!

Next up: Michelle entered a project into the recycled materials division, and I had an excuse (of the blue ribbon kind!) to take lots of pictures of that as well.

1 And what I heard was accurate: of the 3,774 entries into the amateur photography division this year, only 774 were accepted (a 20.5% acceptance rate).

2 The overall quality of the images this year was amazingly high; I found many of the “amateur” prints to be equal to or better than many pro images I’ve seen. There were hundreds of images on display, and the vast majority of them were absolutely excellent. If you’re looking for a fun way to see a wide diversity of great photography, I highly recommend heading to the OC Fair this year.

More pictures

To see more pictures from the two shoots, head to my Agave and Aloe Inflorescences gallery and my Flowering Agave gallery.

Getting There

Orange County Fair: The Orange County Fair runs from July 15 to August 14 at the county fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA; they conveniently have a directions page here. Since I can just park on OCC’s campus and walk to the fair, I don’t know what the parking situation is like, sorry.

Dragonscale chain mail bracelet finished!

Crafts, Photography, , ,

A friend of ours recently started making chain mail. He’s weaving a shirt out of aluminum rings in a European 6 in 1 pattern. It’s gorgeous stuff:

Looking straight down the sheet of chain mail is just enthralling. I love the lines! This is a European 6-in-1 pattern. (Marc C. Perkins)
Looking straight down a sheet of European 6 in 1 chain mail.

After talking with him, we realized that making maille is not nearly as difficult as it seems like it should be. Pre-cut rings are available online, and the only equipment required is two pairs of pliers. Here’s our friend’s workspace:

Continue reading Dragonscale chain mail bracelet finished! →

Photographing animals at the Newport Beach Animal Shelter

Orange County, Pets, Photography, , , , ,

I’ve started volunteering with the Newport Beach Police Department’s Animal Control Unit to take pictures of their dogs and cats so they can add pictures to their Petfinder website. Last week was my first session with them, and I had a great time photographing about 20 animals in one afternoon.

First up were the dogs. Many of them were super-exited to be let out for a photography session, and thus just a smidgen hyper.  But this white husky was downright calm:

A white female siberian husky (Marc C. Perkins)
A white female siberian husky shakes the hand of an Orange County Humane Society worker.

And lots of the dogs had perfect “adopt me” expressions

A male brown bicolor terrier / American Pit Bull. N053 (Marc C. Perkins)
A male brown bicolor American pit bull terrier.
Beauty, a black female terrier / pit bull. (Marc C. Perkins)
Beauty, a black female pit bull terrier.

There was also a regal chihuahua, and a Pug who was just adorable:

Continue reading Photographing animals at the Newport Beach Animal Shelter →