The Backstreets of Shanghai

Shanghai is a beautiful modern city, but it does have its backstreets behind the glitter.  I was lucky enough to get lost while searching for the YuYuan Tea Garden and came across some interesting characters:

The Tsukiji Fish Market

I love walking around the rustic fish market in Tsukiji in Tokyo.  Only a subway stop away from Higashi-Ginza and you find yourself in a different world and different times.  Sadly enough, the Tsukiji has outgrown its space and is moving to a different location in Toyusu.

New Adventures in Asia!

My camera and I are getting ready for new adventures in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima & Shanghai - stay tuned!

Fall has arrived in Napa!

Divine Dahlias!

Such patient little moths!  Please go enjoy the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco before it is too late!  The Dahlias are stunning!

I know that we should always be using a tri-pod, but that does not work for me when I have my upper body hanging over the fence to reach the flower that I want.  I still wanted a lot of depth of field so the solution here was to bring in the flash!  There was no way of getting the flash off the camera, as I only had two hands and could not expect the moth to spend the afternoon there, so I added a little diffuser dome and used high-speed flash.  I am not even sure that the moth registered it, as it let me take several shots!

#Dahlia #Flower

The University of Berkeley has a new Foreign Exchange Student!

Getting Rid of the Background - Useful Tutorial

I found this quick solution yesterday and hope it can help somebody else!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV38L4c4JKY