Handheld, 1/500 sec at f/8 on ISO 2000, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens

The sign in front of this stairway in New York's Grand Central Terminal reads: SITTING ON STAIRWAYS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

Handheld supported on a handrail, 1 sec at f/2.8 on ISO 100, Lumix DMC-LX2

Yesterday, Tina and I went to the Yahoo! Holiday Party at the San Mateo Convention Center. Like previous years, the Party took place in two of the convention center halls. This year the second hall had different food from the main hall which included sausages and mini-burgers. I made myself a little burger with a beef patty and shiitake mushroom. I took a couple bites, savoring the flavor of the mushroom with the light char of the beef - the surprisingly soft and tender beef. I took another bite and thought that the burger tasted really good but the texture was off - I like flesh that's soft, but it should also be firm and provide some resistance when chewed. This hamburger was just soft. I looked down and all I saw was a dim red burger in my hand.

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Another reason why I don't like eating in the dark

Last week, I took this picture of a woman sitting peacefully as waves crashed in around her at Muir Beach. I wasn't paying attention to my settings and took the shot with the aperture too small resulting in an effective sensor sensitivity of ISO 1250. I used a long lens, but the depth that the photo covers relative to me was such that I probably could have gotten away with a setting of f/5.6, so my sensitivity could have been ISO 320 or even ISO 200 leaving me with a less noisy image. At web resolutions, this isn't a problem, but I like my photos as high quality as possible…

Handheld, 1/500 sec at f/16 on ISO 1250, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens

This photo does a better job capturing the scale of some of the waves crashing in on her location, but she's harder to see without the white of the splash providing contrast.

Handheld, 1/500 sec at f/16 on ISO 2200, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens

I think I've mentioned it in a previous post, but I have a large number of flower photographs. I've been using this photo as my desktop background (on my main workstation) for the last year.

Handheld, 1/180 sec at f/5.6 on ISO 100, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens

Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World has two main exhibits - the Antarctic Encounter which involves a tram ride through penguin habitats and a moving walkway under a gigantic aquarium featuring a variety of sea life. Here's a large ray passing overhead in the tube.

Handheld, 1/45 sec at f/2.8 on ISO 800, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens

Several months back, I made a batch of guacamole based on directions I received from Burr, one of the readers of and occasional contributors to Cooking For Engineers. I photographed each of the ingredients and steps… which reminds me, I need to find out if I can publish the recipe. Here's the final shot from that set.

Tripod, 1/60 sec at f/8.0 on ISO 100, 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, SB-28DX Speedlight

I took this picture at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer's Market. I think alfalfa is most often used as cattle feed, but I really like it in salad and sandwiches. I guess it comes from growing up and living in California - in a lot of sandwich shops, California-style means with alfalfa and Ranch dressing. A lot of people feel that salad is a tasteless health food and a lot of people that eat salad think that alfalfa is the tasteless health food of salads. I like the texture and the flavor, so I'll keep eating alfalfa.

Handheld, 1/500 sec at f/2.8 on ISO 100, 85mm f/1.8 lens

Here's another photo of the Texas State Capitol - this time showing the atrium. Three floors adorned with paintings of the governors or Texas hang on the walls of this impressive room. I was a bit annoyed by the picture since I wasn't standing exactly in line with the entrance/exits (you can see the lights don't line up vertical). If I was going to be a little off, I should have planned to be a little farther out of alignment. Here the angle is small enough that it irks me and yet not far enough askew to feel like it was on purpose.

Handheld, 1/50 sec at f/4.0 on ISO 800, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens

A few years ago, I went to an "appetizer party" at a friend's house. Here's an appetizer that she prepared that was simple and flavorful. Strawberries and sliced nectarines with a layer of mascarpone cheese topped water crackers.

Handheld, 1/160 sec at f/2.8 on ISO 800, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens