Best Samyang / Rokinon 14mm Review With Sample Photo
A review of the original Samyang 14mm f2.8. An old lens that still produces amazing images.
Downtown Los Angeles City View
This is a view of Downtown Los Angeles from the Griffith Observatory. It was one of the rare clear nights—we’ve actually been having a lot of them lately. It’s very…
Grand Canyon – Mather Point
One of the great views of the Grand Canyon, Mather Point. This was the only point I had time to look at last time I was at the Grand Canyon. We got there very late in the day and the sun was only out for about an hour. Luckily for us, this was one of the better views of the Grand Canyon. I've noticed it's kind of hard to get really great photos of the Grand Canyon. The scale is so huge, it just doesn't translate into photography very well.
Griffith Observatory – Los Angeles
The Griffith Observatory is a pretty sweet spot in Los Angeles. It's incredibly crowded and almost impossible to get a photo of without people everywhere. It's incredible I pulled this off. I stayed a little longer after the park ranger told everyone to leave and got about a minute to myself.
1800’s Canadian Barn Exterior
A few weeks ago I posted an image of the interior of a barn. The landscape north of Toronto Canada is spattered with old 150-year-old barns like this. People still buy them, maintain them and use them. This one has an attached garage and a built-in studio for the owner's musical instruments. I wish I had a barn. Unfortunately, something as simple as this would probably cost a million dollars in Los Angeles.
Fixing Color Banding in Photos and Video
One of the things you'll notice if you're a photographer, videographer, or motion graphics designer is color-banding artifacts when converting your work to 8-bit web formats. This happens because each color of an 8-bit image only has a color range of 256 values. So, say you have a sunset that's orange and shifts into purple or black. There might not be a large enough range of colors between those two shades to create a smooth transition between them.
This is why you often don't notice these things in Lightroom, but they appear when you export to JPEG or H264 for the web. There are a few ways to fix this.
Streets of Kyoto Japan
Walking through Kyoto, Japan, is unlike anything else. Everything is so clean and orderly. You wouldn't know it, but it was snowing earlier in the day when I took this photo. I would love to go back to Kyoto and spend more than a day there and take some proper photographs. This photo was actually taken on March 9th, 2011. I left on the 10th to stay with my wife's family just one day before the big earthquake and tsunami. Had I stayed another day like we had initially planned, I would have been stuck there because of the bullet trains being shut down. I guess getting stuck in Kyoto wouldn't be such a bad thing though.
The Haunted Queen Mary
In WWII, the Queen Mary was called the Grey Ghost, not because it was haunted but because of its color and the way it smoothly sailed across the water.
Doesn't it just look haunted? Apparently, some 150 ghosts haunt the Queen Mary, and I've read that up to 49 people have died aboard the ship. Personally, I don't believe in ghosts, but I have experienced a lot of very weird phenomena in my life. Like dishes spontaneously exploding in my house, light bulbs exploding randomly, and speakers talking even when not plugged in, to name a few.
El Matador Beach – Malibu
El Matador Beach is an awesome little spot just above Zuma. I'm guessing it got the name "El Matador" because this rock formation looks like a bull with its head down.
This location is about halfway between Ventura and Santa Monica on the Pacific Coast Highway in California. It's known for its beautiful rock formations. It can also be a little romantic getaway. I only say that because I saw lots of couples cuddling and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears while I was there taking this photo. You don't want to be stuck there during extreme high tides since there is not a lot of beach.
Miyajima Temple Japan
Off the coast of Hiroshima, Miyajima is one of Japan's finest views. Miyajima means Shrine Island, and that's pretty much what this place is. Tame wild deer roam freely, and old Japanese Edo-era architecture is everywhere. It was founded sometime around 806 when a Buddhist monk, Kobo Daishi, established the site. The Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are still well-kept and maintain a close relationship.