The weather here in San Francisco beats China’s hands down. And the air is much cleaner. Which allows me to get shots like this. A long lens, high tide, hot weather, and about an hour to get the goods. I did ok.

After an hour of staring through the eyepiece through a 500mm lens DIRECTLY AT THE SUN, I got a headache. I never said I wasn’t completely stupid. In fact, looking at these pics makes my eye hurt.

Since I enjoy painting people as silhouettes against the setting sun, I am always looking for the people likely to make the most interesting poses. I first gravitate to the couples, figuring I can get at least one kiss or hug or head on shoulder, but these two did exactly this for an hour. BO-RING. I actually yelled “DO SOMETHING” but since I was so far away, I just caused everyone near me to take a few steps back.

My second choice, only because of Megan’s law, is to try to catch kids. Wait, I mean shoot kids. No - capture… dammit. PHOTOGRAPH them. They’re always running around on the beach and I’m always there, like a creepy uncle, saving it for posterior. I mean posterity. Luckily the long lens lets me do this without violating the terms of my parole.

what if the sun was square?

Just tell me when you’ve had enough - I love these.

take that, sun!

Would have been a GREAT picture if he hadn’t been wearing such a godawful shirt.

This pic is much better huge - all sorts of motion going on - in lines, in swirls. But like any good blurred pic, at least one piece has to be in perfect focus. That it’s the tail here is interesting to me.

I actually was humming Luke’s theme from Star Wars, when he rested his arm on his knee and stared at the binary sun. i’m sure I wasn’t the only one - right, guys? guys?

beautiful even with a fully-crusted grill.

they taste like chicken.

my friend Pat in a San Shou tourney this weekend. This is also a good motion pic. He’s absolutely drilling that guy. Note: if your referees are wearing bermuda shorts, they were likely just trained that day. Expect no help from them. None of them was on the same page, and this guy kept looking at the table and asking the timekeeper how many points a takedown was. Not inspiring.

Oe of the fun things about this sport is driving your opponent’s head into the mat. No, really.

yeah, I know it hurts.

Cute here, but coop them up in a car and I dare you not to recreate “Stan” by eminem and drive off a bridge. “My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why…”

106º in San Jose and these crazies stood and fought in a gym all day. It was like being nestled in andre the giant’s armpit. “Anybody want a peanut?”

This Chinese dude blew his nose loudly into a napkin, then tossed it onto the floor, in front of everyone. The bus was, until that moment, spotless. He then ignored me as I took his picture. I felt like screaming, but he would have feigned ignorance. It’s a favorite tactic. The next time a Chinese person uses the “I don’t know English, I’m sorry, I don’t know your rules.” act, do NOT buy into it. They know what they’re doing. And bless them, they usually get away with it.

One of my favorite pastimes is to get on the bus in San Fran’s Chinatown and watch the Muni drivers scream at people not to sneak aboard through the back door. It’s hilarious. They get so mad, and the “feeble” foreigners act as if they don’t understand, but they do. High comedy. One time a driver used a racial slur against the rear-hopping Chinese and I was totally offended. yet just when I think I have become assimilated and accepted, my CPA says to my wife, in front of me, “Your husband is a great person - well, for a white guy.” And he wasn’t joking at all. A testament to my Chinese-ness: i wasn’t even the slightest bit put off.

shooting fireworks with no light to work by, while my daughter weeps into my shoulders, was a hit-and-miss affair. This one is acceptable, the rest were trashed. There were many. What the hell do kids think their first fireworks show is, Armageddon? The Rapture? Gods having a fight? I can only imagine what goes on in a dog’s mind during one: “Damn, that’s a big-ass dog!”

my favorite sunset shot. I’ve been absent a while, but it’s good to be back. I’m trying to get my photo portfolio up, get switched over to movable type, and finally get around to pillaging the Manglish from nearby stores. Also trying to make my clients happy and finish my top secret web game project. Stay tuned on all fronts. thanks for reading!