Wednesday
Feb252009

I Need a Beer


That was my IM status yesterday. Few minutes later, a co-worker who had a sympathetic concern for my misery shows up giving me a chilled bottle of beer. Why was I miserable? That is not important any more. I have my beer now and can look at it every day and smile. It goes well with all the other googley trinkets (or as I say "trinklets") on my desk.

Tuesday
Feb242009

So Much Color!!!

A succulent from our patio, and a photo of a front cover of Dwell Magazine (the best design magazine out there). Love the blueberries.

Tuesday
Feb242009

Life Is So Perishable

Today was an interesting day. I got a call around 8pm from a friend who was freaking out. He just chatted with a girl over IM, and she IMed him that she does not feel well, and is considering calling an ambulance. Few minutes later, she is leaving the chat, and giving my friend a phone number where he can reach her at. So he called. Someone else picked up and told my friend that the owner of the cell phone is laying on an operating table, cut open, having her uterus removed. She was recovering from a miscarriage for three days before this happened. I do not know if she is still allive. I get home and my Bradfordik tells me his grandma just died. We lit a candle and looked at it.

An Update: The girl died. She was 26.

Sunday
Feb222009

Eames Chair Extravaganza

My chairs formed a rock band (with the yellow chair as a lead singer, and therefore in the forefront). The picture with white backdrop is called "Chairs on a chair", since I took it on my white lacquered scoop chair from Chiasso. When I was buying it, I had no idea it would double-serve as a studio. This time, I used a correct white balance (for incandescent light). I have no idea what "incandescent" means, but the icon next to it looks like a regular light bulb, and it did work as expected, so I am sticking with "incandescent" when shooting at my desk. :) Two of these were taken on the top of my green west elm desk under the light of the IKEA desk lamp. I used a set aperture F5.6 (the widest my lens allows), and left the rest except for the focus on the auto. I think this should be the last chair photoshoot, since these little chairs got more than 15 minutes of fame already.
I toured my home today and found a number of colorful surfaces that will make a great backdrop. I am especially excited about my deep orange lacquered coffee tables.

Friday
Feb202009

The Day After -- First Signs of Lens Envy

I am getting comfortable with the new Nikon, and attended our weekly Photo Friday -- this time as a photographer. It was getting dark, and six of us went wandering around Googleplex looking for things to shoot. I realized what it means to have a great lens, since I was not able to take the same kind of photos as people with F1.2 aperture. The ability to take an amazing detail with a shallow depth of field is something I really want now => and here starts the expensive hobby. Time to start learning about photography. A good start can be a new blog Dustin just started.

The first picture shows Roo Roo, our two-color eyed office dog (who is mostly still and therefore easy to shoot), the second one shows Dave, the third one is a top of a hydrant, followed by a blooming tree. The fifth one is a nightlamp at the Googleplex, and finally my lunch at a company cafeteria (truffle oil mac-n-cheese, dried fruit wild rice, brussels sprouts with mushrooms, and grilled zuchinni.... yum yum). One of the main reason I got this camera was to shoot food. I have some poor attempts here, but with the new camera, the future is hopeful and bright. The first food picture taken by my SLR is way better than any of the food pictures I ever took. Bon Apetit Magazine, beware!