Fire in the sky

Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I'm a great admirer of the work of renowned B+W landscape photographer, Ansel Adams. Adams' mastery and understanding of the relationship between light and dark tones has always left me in awe and has always inspired much of my B+W work. Anyway, this shot was taken in Seattle from the top of the Space Needle. On that day, there was an amazing sunset in progress and I was lucky enough to capture this. Obviously, there has been some contrast and brightness adjustment done here (as Adams did-- his was a mastery of the darkroom as much as the framing) but the sky really was mostly like this. I'm quite happy with how this photo turned out. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Retro couple

I was waiting for my ride in Seattle when I saw this couple waiting at the taxi stand, dressed in what looks like 1920s or 1940s style hats. looks kind of sweet and I waited till their position was just right and snapped a few photos. Again, this was originally in colour, but I converted it into black and white in-camera with a virtual red filter. I was standing right behind the couple btw. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Sleeping in Seattle

I've been saving this title for years, I think, waiting for a shot that would fit it! Anyway, unlike the accordion photo, this shot was converted into monochrome in-camera, using the D7000's black and white conversion feature, which is surprisingly powerful -- for example, shooting in RAW, I can not only convert it to monochrome, but simulate a red filter to darken other colours and lighten skin tones in black and white. I actually shot another version of this where the father's face is visible, but I quickly realised it would be better to focus on the kid more, so I quickly zoomed in a little closer and took this one. There are lots of split-second decisions to make when shooting a photo like this -- this photo is not cropped at all, and I had to decide at that moment not to include the father's nose and yet make sure his lips are not cut off. I was standing practically right next to the father and son, btw. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Streetside Accordion

Seattle's Pike Place is a street photographer's dream, I think -- it's got lots of interesting people doing interesting things. This shot was converted to monochrome using Photogene on the iPad, with a slight contrast adjustment and a bit of cropping and sharpening. Amazing what you can do on the iPad these days. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Ecstasy

Regular followers of this photoblog (yes, all 3 of you!) will probably have seen various versions of this shot. I actually like this kind of shot and I try to shoot one in every country I've been to. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Framing with fronds

Sometimes, having some foreground interest helps to frame a shot with a lot of sky. I think this shot works better than just a straight statue-against-the-sky shot. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Streets of San Francisco 2

Again, shot while hanging off the side of the tram, this was taken with the camera at waist level. To get as close to the ground as possible, I didn't put the camera up to my eye (in any case, it was difficult to put it up to my eye since I was hanging on for dear life). Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Streets of San Francisco

Shot while hanging off the side of the tram, this picture was one of the only views of the bay visible between loads of large buildings. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Singing for his supper

Although it was a very cold day at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, this street musician was quite chirpy, and sang a selection of great songs, most notably, a number of hilarious lyrics-adjusted Beatles songs, if you know what I mean. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Bird's eye view

While waiting for the tram at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, I spotted this kid who was perched right up in the nook of a tree like a bird and thought it was quite whimsical. I had a number of shots of this kid, with and without the crowd in the foreground, but I think it somehow works better with the crowd, though some people might disagree. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Going round

After they reach the end of the line, the trams are put on this rotating platform where they are turned around and sent back the other way. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Hanging on

Another view of the trams in San Francisco. Surprisingly for a litigation-happy country, passengers are allowed to actually hang on like this. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Inside the tram

What's a trip to San Francisco without taking the iconic trams? Here's a shot from the inside. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Waterworld!

Yes, during an 8-hour stopover in Los Angeles, I had time to visit Universal Studios, and boy was it a lot of fun -- I didn't have time to see everything but I got to watch the Terminator 2: 3D, Shrek 4D and Backdraft shows as well as the Jurassic Park and the Mummy rides as well as this one, the Waterworld show, which only happens twice a day. As you'll see from the next few photos, this show is one of the most interesting live-action shows I've ever seen. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Waterworld denizen

This guy at the Waterworld show in Universal Studio LA is quite funny -- his job, before the show begins, is to douse the audience with buckets of water. No joke! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Making a turn

You know, I was really sitting pretty far away from the action but thanks to the 18-200mm VR I had, I managed to really fill the frame with all the action. This panned shot is not super-sharp, but it's actually not too bad considering that it's darned far away and the action was so fast. Sometimes, I spend so much time concentrating on the shot I actually don't get to watch the show much! hahaha. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Flying high

This is not a well-framed shot in my book but I just had to post this because it's absolutely the highlight of the Waterworld show in Universal Studios LA. What you're looking at is a full-sized model of a plane that's being LAUNCHED off a ramp and free-flying towards the audience! Amazingly the plane will land in the water just about 15feet short of the audience. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Jumping the gun

Some of the stunts at the Waterworld show in Universal Studios LA are pretty amazing -- just check out the water scooter jump and how it's narrowly missing the stuntman on the right! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6VR

The end of Waterworld

The whole Wateworld show at Universal Studios LA ends with a bang, and lots of pyrotechnics. Just a note here about shooting these kinds of photos -- I know some people believe you can only shoot action by using a super-high burst mode but let me tell you, I've never used the continuous shooting mode on my camera. Instead I rely on being able to anticipate when the "moment" is going to be. Contrary to popular belief, I find this method actually produces more keepers than if I used the 5frames-per-second my camera is capable of. BTW click on the photo to see the larger version to fully appreciate the beauty of the fireworks! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Not Venice

This isn't Venice of course but The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Nikon D200. AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR