Searching Chinatown for an Urban Street Scene

Yesterday I headed over to the Chinatown district in Oakland, California. I took my camera along, in the hopes of finding Item #6 for the 2014 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt - an urban street scene. I found myself drawn to shots which included people. I like how the folks above all seem to be marching along.

It's a little hard to see the details in these two unless you click on them and enlarge them. But I really like how they capture so much of what's going on in the city. And I took a couple without people.

I like the juxtaposition of the buildings, cars and umbrellas, as well as the variation in the graffiti and fonts on the signs.

This one's a little clever - it's a mural of an urban street scene. I almost included this mural from yesterday in today's post because it is an interesting urban street scene. 
Finally, I snapped this one on my way into the subway. I love it, but I'm not sure it's a street scene.

All in all, it was a fun day, and I'm so glad I brought my camera along. Just before posting, this article about creating urban landscapes and street images popped up in my feedly reader. It made me rethink my image selection a little bit, but I'm going with these anyway. I'd be interested to hear which of these images is your favorite and why. I'm also going to post two more images tomorrow which are kindof nontraditional takes on the idea of an urban street scene. I hope you come back and check them out. 

ZIZO #31: Chinatown Murals

I have a nice three-part zoom in < zoom out photographic offering this week for Helena's awesome meme. See other people's offerings here. I found this beautiful mural in Oakland's Chinatown district. My son Henry is working there this summer, and I went in to meet him for lunch. I took my camera along with me to capture some items for the 2014 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt (coming this weekend), but I couldn't resist this mural, along with a couple others.

Kim Huong is the name of a local restaurant. I love the juxtaposition of the dragon and butterfly. And that green combination.

The grungy, urban feel of this mural, accented by boxes and fire hydrant really drew me in. For all of these photographs, I invite you to click on them so you can see them larger and in more detail. Come back this weekend to see what I found for the Scavenger Hunt while wandering through Chinatown.

Newborn Photography

Yesterday I posted a photograph I took of my niece's new baby.  Lilly Skye was born prematurely and spent a bit of time in the NICU. Now, two months old, she's doing well and just starting to fit into her newborn clothes. 

During our visit, I grabbed the opportunity to do a brief, informal photo shoot. I grabbed the best light I could find and posed the sleeping tyke the best I could. 

I also took some close-ups of her face, fingers and toes.

I also took a few family shots.

And I played a tiny bit with some black and white processing

On the whole, I was happy with the photographs I took. And my niece was thrilled with them. But, I wish I had done a bit more preparation about what type of shots to take and I wish I had more time to take photographs. I also wish I had my reflectors and tripod. The only other time I've photographed a baby was during this shoot for a class.
So, I'm curious about any advice you have for photographing babies - either for posing or for technique. Thanks!

One Photo and Twenty Words: Lilly Skye!

Took a trip down South to visit family and meet my niece's baby. 
Welcome to the world Lilly Skye!

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Abi, over at Creating Paper Dreams, challenges people to tell a story in one photo and twenty words. You can see more by clicking here.

A Shooting Star Fence (Good Fences Link-Up)

It's been too long since I've linked up with the Run*A*Round Ranch Report's Thursday Good Fences link-up. I couldn't resist capturing these star-studded fences at Universal Studios in Southern California.

They remind me of the Marilyn Monroe quote, "Everyone's a star and deserves the right to twinkle." Here's hoping you've twinkled lately! 
To see more wonderful fences, check out this link.

Two Waterfalls from my Travels

When I first put Item #18 A Waterfall on the list for the 2014 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt, this is what I think I had in mind. . . a natural waterfall. I found this one on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona where my brother and sister work (and where Clara is considering going to school). But, during the hunt I have seen many waterfalls like this one:

It's a man made one that I found while playing tourist near Universal Studios in Hollywood, California. It definitely says "water fall" to me, as well. Although some might call it a water fountain. What do you think a waterfall means? What kind did you capture?

Good Morning Sunrise! Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt #13

I've watched a lot of sunsets in my time. We live on the Coast with a westward facing deck, and my husband has been a sunset aficionado his entire life. But I can't remember ever consciously watching a sunrise before. Our house is not well suited to the endeavor. Besides the lack of a clear view at the East, mornings tend to be foggy and damp. The sun breaks through in the mid-late afternoon. But, Clara and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Southern California to visit relatives, and we started our adventure in the mountains around Idyllwild visiting my sister. I told her I wanted to take a photograph of the sunset, and she told me it would crest the ridge around 6:30 a.m. That seemed very civilized, so this morning I got up to try to capture it. This image is from my iphone, processed in instagram ("rise," of course). I took lots of photographs with my big camera and will post those when I get back home.
In the meantime, I wanted to post this one and to say thank you to everyone who linked up this weekend with the July linky for the 2014 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt. If you haven't yet, it's not too late to do so. Just click here and add a link to a post about one or more of your Hunt finds and do try to visit a few other participants. I'm off to do some catching up myself, and I'll check in when we're back from our trip.