Author Archives: untouchedtcphotos

Planting Sky/Dwarf Lupine Plants in my Backyard

23 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by in Backyard Garden, Sky Dwarf Lupine

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So why is a photographer growing Sky/Dwarf Lupine in the backyard? All of us can wear “multiple hats”. One of my results from a Career evaluation revealed I could be a farmer. Thus it is true I do enjoy growing things.

We have a neighbor with a towering pine tree which has grown up as high as our building – 3 stories. This tree annually will grow onto yard and against our building. Unfortunately, our neighbor is not proactive to trim this tree.

So we hired a gardener to trim the tree. We decided we needed to clean up the weeds etc. in our yard.

Wishing to maintain the weed free garden, my wife suggested we should grow drought resistant plants. Then I started pondering how to create a garden to attract birds and butterflies to photograph.

One side of the yard has good sun and the other side has little sun. With the different areas of varying sun exposure has been a challenge in selecting plants. I feel putting together the different plants is like being an artist creating a painting with different colors and textures.

So I studied and looked for plants to create color and an environment that hopefully I can use to photograph in safety. (In case you do not know, I was mugged at Candlestick Park during the demolition – you can look at the story on this blog).

So one of my choices is this Sky/Dwarf Lupine – which will hopefully grow to be these pretty lavender plants.

Pictures of Sky/Dwarf Lupine

Hope you will follow my progress as I strive to create my own environment for my photography.

Consider how you can add “more hats” to your repertoire of abilities and talents. This is my first attempt to try to landscape a garden.

It is never too late in your life to try on a new hat. It could fit better than you imagine. I am hoping for a good fit as I try to wear a gardener’s hat.

Photos Inspire!

How to Share Good Food!

19 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by in Homemade Pizza, Pizza

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Like most people, I love food. Since we are all staying mostly indoors, why not find ways to enjoy our time together? In our old life, we can be too busy to sit down and eat a meal together. Our family enjoys talking and watching TV as we eat dinner. We discuss the news and what happened during the day. We relax and enjoy each others company around the dinner table.

We can be impulsive about our food. We cook food based on our cravings and what we find in the grocery store. We enjoy looking for bargains in our food shopping. We generally shop at Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Grocery Outlet.

Our bargain of the week was finding the pre-made pizza crust for 99 cents at Grocery Outlet. We cook based on bargains found, cravings, and available food.

My wife is creative in putting together our food. We try to eat healthy, but we want to have fun too. Remaking leftovers is a fun challenge.

Pizza is one of my favorites. This is a garlic brussel sprouts and ham pizza. We did buy the crust, but made our own topping with leftovers. The fresh garlic gave the pizza a great zing in flavor. We did not use any tomato sauce. The flavors of the ingredients came together perfectly, so we did not miss the tomato factor.

Our friends have been texting us more, since we are not seeing each other for a while. After making our pizza, we still wanted to share our tempting pizza with our friends.

My wife tried to take the photo with her Pixel 3 camera. She tried to get up close to take her pizza picture and focused to get  the shot with the blue background. The second picture has a dark shadow due to her positioning in front of the pizza. She was so focused on the pizza, that she forgot she was casting a shadow.

I took the other 2 pictures standing on the left side of the pizza to not cast any shadow on the pizza.

Sometimes we can get so excited about taking a picture, we do not notice we could be disrupting the picture by our positioning.

Just as we need to focus our cameras on the object for our picture, we also should be focused on our position before an object.

We do not want to obstruct the image with our own shadow. This happens when we are focusing downward for our photo.

During our time at home, why not share more pictures of our moments at home? Capture the fun moments at home and share them with your friends.

Try to create new food for your meals. Look online for new cooking inspirations. My wife found there are videos from the Food Network which make it easy to cook something new!  Michael Symon gives great recipes which are practical and fun!

Food Network Kitchen

Improve your photographic skills as you take more pictures to share. Share Your Great Looking Food Photos to inspire your friends to cook too. 

Photos Inspire!

Cool Afternoon before a Night Game at Candlestick Park

04 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, Lost Ballpark, niners, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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I took some pictures down at the Field Level Box seats near Home Plate at batting practice before a night SF Giants game. This was a typical cool evening at “The Stick”. The night games in the summer were a good way to test out your cold winter jackets or parkas.

It is pretty amusing to see Bay Area folks wearing a ski cap and a heavy jacket in the middle of our summer. San Franciscans typically can wear a thick warm jacket all year round.  Candlestick Park was also quite cold being near the water. It was usually foggy and damp during a typical evening game.

I love the San Francisco foggy weather, since I am naturally warm. So I never feel too hot with our natural fog air conditioning.  I mostly wear short sleeves, since I would be too warm with long sleeves.

It is funny when we see tourists visiting expecting the myth of California sunshine. They are dressed in their summer shorts with no jacket and are freezing during their vacation in San Francisco.

A True San Franciscan needs to own a down jacket to survive the fog. In the photograph, you can see how these SF Giants fans are prepared for a cold evening as they watch the baseball game.

A good photograph reminds us about the details of that moment. We remember the good times shared even though we were freezing sitting at Candlestick Park. Oracle Park was built to be warmer to improve the fans’ night time experiences watching the SF Giants. Our love for the SF Giants allowed us to endure the cold of Candlestick Park.

What are we willing to endure for “LOVE”? Enduring the cold damp weather at Candlestick Park, because many of us loved to watch the SF Giants, was a willing sacrifice.

Are you willing to sacrifice time and effort to pursue a dream? Facing a risk and the challenge of working to achieve a goal is scary. It takes dedication to pursue a dream!

Are you willing to sacrifice time and effort to care for a loved one? It’s amazing how some move away from home and neglect the parents they left. It is easy to be caught up in your own life and be oblivious about the condition of an aging parent.

Are you willing to sacrifice time and effort to help someone you do not know? This is something we all are challenged with.

It is easy to sacrifice to do something fun – i.e. attend a SF Giants game in the cold. But it is harder to sacrifice when it involves hard work and lots of time.

Hard Work and Sacrifice results in future blessings. So consider what you should sacrifice for someone else or for a worthy goal.

Photos Teach!

Flood Light Bulbs Made up Candlestick Park Scoreboard

28 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, Lost Ballpark, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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I enjoyed looking at the old scoreboard at Candlestick Park. It is old technology compared to the new fancy scoreboard at Oracle Park today. But the old scoreboard still has a unique look. It is fascinating to look close up and see the individual round floodlights which together project the words and images. The photographs were taken during the SF Giants’ 1988 season.

It is also cool to see the shadow effect in the 3rd photograph of each of the floodlights.

Besides the actual game, the scoreboard is the “centerpiece” of a ballpark. We constantly look at it for scores, stats, commercials, information, and entertainment.

The first photograph of the Scoreboard reminds us of the “ASK THE GIANTS” event. How exciting to be able to “talk directly to your favorite Giants player”.

I wonder how did the Candlestick Park maintenance team replace these floodlights. I assume they would have to test to see if any lights went out before a game to replace any burned out lights. The scoreboard would not look good if any of the light were dark. There could be a “black hole” on the scoreboard.

It was relatively easy to replace a floodlight at Candlestick Park – I would guess.

In real life, it is not as easy to keep our “brain” light bright. I am noticing people I know who in their younger years were quite sharp. Now due to age and changes in lifestyle are unaware and out of touch on some things. These individuals are under retirement age, but are not in their twenties.

It is a challenge to keep physically and mentally alert. It is a good thing for me to learn the new technology for my photography. Learning slowly about blogging has been an interesting journey. Fumbling and being successful with my own home network system has been rewarding.

How can we keep bright?

  • Be Involved in different people’s lives in addition to your own family. Being interested in other people outside of your family teaches other perspectives in life. It will help us to understand other people’s reality. Also it will teach us the world does not revolve around “ME”.
  • Be Challenged to learn new things. Try to improve in a skill you think you are not good at. My wife has been writing blogs. She never thought of herself as a writer, but is surprised she is learning to love it.
  • Do projects to test your creativity. I have a garden project where I hope to create my oasis for shooting pictures. More details to come later.
  • Do not be afraid of failure. Just keep pursuing and learn. It’s like running a race to get to the finish line. If you give up, you will never know the possible outcomes. Believe in the impossible.

My goal is to continue not to dwell on the times I get frustrated with my learning efforts, but to be determined to keep my brain light bright!

Photos Teach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full House at Candlestick Park during SF Giants Game

25 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, Lost Ballpark, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants

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The SF Giants played the NY Mets on this warm sunny day on Saturday, May 14, 1988 at Candlestick Park. It was a popular promotion day, Fuji Photo Day, which allowed fans to go on the field before the game started.

I loved going to the Fuji Photo Days at Candlestick Park. It was one of my favorite promotions, since fans were allowed to walk on the well groomed field before the game began. I love the feeling of walking on the grass. It is a different sensation for me to walk on the baseball field compared to walking on ordinary grass.

This also was a rare day to attend a game with sunshine at the Stick. Normally, it was cold and foggy whenever I attended a SF Giants game. But this day was a warm and bright day.

It is wonderful that the stadium is filled with fans. Seeing a stadium with every seat occupied creates great energy and excitement.

One reason why I enjoyed going to Candlestick Park a couple of hours before a game is to have the freedom to shoot pictures without the huge crowds of people. I do not enjoy crowds. Crowds make me feel uncomfortable. I end up giving the right of way to people who are cutting in front of me as they are walking to their destinations. My wife can easily and quickly weave her way thru a crowd. She will stop to look back to see where I am behind her as I allow others to go in front of me.

Seeing all fans seated and excited about watching the game is the best scenario of a crowd for me. But of course, the time will come when everyone has to get up and go home. That event is what makes me uneasy.

As I reflect about my feelings whenever I am in a crowd, I realize my yielding to people in a crowd is ok as long as I can control my emotions. I do not need to be on any particular time schedule.  I do not have to be ahead of everyone.

Yielding to other people in life is a good thing.

Do I have to be the first in everything? Am I putting unnecessary stress by striving with other people.

Is it really that important for me to have everything my own way?

Burger King had an old commercial with their song “Have It Your Way”. Do you remember this old song? Refresh your memory by clicking on the below link.

Being in a “Full House” teaches us we do not always need to “Have It Our Way” Learn to yield and let others “Have it Their Way”.

Photos Teach!

Burger King – YouTube – Have It Your Way

NLCS SF Giants game at Candlestick Park

20 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, Lost Ballpark, Remembering Candlestick Park, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants

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My baseball roots go back to SF Giants game at Candlestick Park when my Dad used to take me to games as a young child. I remember one of my first memories of Candlestick was when he took me there was in the 1970’s and I remember seeing the upper deck in right field was under construction. They were expanding the overall capacity of the ballpark when the 49ers moved to Candlestick Park from Kezar Stadium.

This photograph was taken during the 1989 NLCS when the Giants played the Cubs. It was a late afternoon game in the Fall and the weather was warm and comfortable with not much wind. The baseball postseason at Candlestick usually guaranteed a full house which was extra exciting. There were not too many sellout games during the baseball season for the Giants.

Looking back at old photographs can remind us of old good times in our lives. Candlestick Park was not the “perfect” looking stadium. I have received comments about my Candlestick Park photographs – saying the Stick looks better in my pictures than what they remembered. Many of us still have fond memories being with friends and family watching either baseball or football.

Candlestick Park is more than an old sports stadium to us. It represents a simpler time where we remember spending quality time together. It was not as stressful going to these games for some reason compared to when I go now to an SF Giants game. Perhaps the personality of today’s crowds are different than in the past.

People comment to me how much they love their memories at the Stick.

If you have a good memory from Candlestick Park, please share it. We would love to hear from you!

Photos help us recall great times!

Old Oracle Park Centerfield Area Before Renovations

17 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by in Baseball, Oracle Park, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants

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I took this picture last year on 5/24/2019 with the original outfield dimensions and with the bullpens on the field. I am looking forward to going out to Oracle park to see the new layout with the bullpens beyond the Center field fence.

The bullpens are now located in the Center field area to be safer. The area is rearranged in the Giants Garden and in the seating area to make room for the bullpens. It is safer for the bullpens not to be so close to the action and to prevent any accidents. It was an error in the design of this ballpark in placing the bullpens on the field.

Designing a space can be fun. Yes mistakes and errors can happen. Most of us deem remodeling a house as a daunting task. Depending on the scope of a job, it can be a nightmare. But creating a space into a place of comfort and pleasure is worth the work.

I had a project to remodel a flat. The kitchen and bathrooms had to be redone. The wood floors were refinished. A new heater was installed. I replaced a few light fixtures. I prefer to be hands-on when it comes to managing and purchasing the different objects for the project. It is essential finding the right contractor for the job. The finished flat was worth the work. I even received a compliment on the job and design from an interior designer.

Most of us do not need to do complete change of our space. But a change for safety as in the old Oracle Park or just a change of scenery is a good thing to help us feel comfortable in our office, bedroom, apartment, or office. Our space should reflect our identity.

So if you are a SF Giants fan like me, how about adding a photograph of the old Oracle Park to your scenery to remember the good times watching baseball?

Photos can change our space!

 

 

Interrogator Droid from Star Wars IV: A New Hope

11 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Interrogator Droid, Star War IV A New Hope, Star Wars, Star Wars A New Hope, Star Wars Episode 4, Star Wars Episode IV, The Tech Museum of Innovation

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This is the menacing Interrogator Droid that was used on Princess Leia by the Galactic Empire on the Death Star. They tried to extract information from her that would uncover where the Rebel Base was located. Princess Leia was strong and was able to resist the droid and did not reveal the Secret Rebel Base location.

It is interesting how this Interrogator Droid could inject drugs to its victim to lesson pain tolerance and block mental resistance. It could also use hallucinogens and truth serums to influence victims. The interrogator Droid could torture by taking advantage of the prisoner’s mental and physical weaknesses with its sonic torture, electroshock device, laser scalpel, power shears, and grasping claw.

How did Princess Leia survive? Only a small minority of individuals with a strong will could resist its torture. Princess Leia was strong-willed, but I assume the power of the Force also helped her to endure this torture and not give into the Interrogator Droid’s torture.

Even though I know this droid is not real, I still find it very intimidating. As I read about the Interrogator Droid’s capabilities, it sounds pretty scary.

Staring at the different torture appenditures makes the Droid seem real.

But in reality, it is just a really cool model with no powers.

How often do we feel intimidated by people, challenges, or objects? It is interesting to question whatever intimidates us is really as bad as we envision.

When I was a young boy, my cousin owned a big fluffy white Samoyed dog. It was a friendly dog who enjoyed jumping on people. That dog intimidated me with his jumping. I was not accustomed to dogs yet. But as I grew older, I learned to love this dog. The dog was not dangerous or a threat to me. The dog was just seeking attention and affection. So ironically, my initial feelings of being intimidated by this dog took a 180 degree turn.

Consider something or someone who intimidates you – is it a genuine concern or can your feelings take a 180 turn?

Can we be like Princess Leia who resisted the intimidation and the power of Interrogator Droid – and resist our personal intimidation problem with God’s Help?

Is your intimidation a reality or only your personal reality?

If we can conquer an intimidation, then we can experience “A New Hope”.

Learn the stories behind the photographs to learn real lessons!

 

Getting Around with Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder from Star Wars

05 Wednesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Landspeeder, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, Star Wars, Star Wars A New Hope, Star Wars Episode 4, Star Wars Episode IV, T-34, The Tech Museum of Innovation, X-34

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Here is the Star Wars A New Hope movie filming model of Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder. The model # is designated, T-34 or X-34 depending on where you do your research. It was incredible to see it up close and see the intricate details of this filming Landspeeder prop. There was a life sized and much smaller scaled model of the landspeeder on display at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose in 2013.

Luke Skywalker loved his Landspeeder. Even though, it was banged up and old, he maintained its performance. Being in the harsh environment of Tatooine, Luke tinkered with this old Landspeeder. This ship floated about a meter above the ground with its powerful repulsorlift engine and trio of air-cooled thrust turbines.

Luke sold his Landspeeder so that he could use the money to help pay Han Solo for passage to Alderaan on the Millennium Falcon. It was a sacrifice for Luke to sell his beloved Landspeeder. He spent a lot of hours maintaining it. So this vehicle had sentimental value. He sold it after the death of his aunt and uncle. Luke was moving on.

We do not have the privilege yet to own a Landspeeder. But many of us can remember our first car. My brother loves his first car. He bought a Volkswagon Scirocco 39 years ago and still kept it. He does not drive around with this old car but occasionally moves it around the block. He leaves the car outside and still admires it.

Luke’s sacrifice teaches us sometimes we need to let go of something we love to move on in life. Luke needed to move on as “The Force” was leading him to eventually be a Jedi. His aunt and uncle were gone. He had a new calling. He needed the money to move on. So he was forced to sell his Landspeeder. He kept it even though it was old and battered. He did not care about getting the newest technology. He was smart to tinker with it to keep it working. Luke was ready to move to his next step in life.

What are we holding on to that we need to let go of? I played a lot of video games when I was single. I bought a Playstation 3 thinking this was a good way to entertain myself and enjoy being single. Well, since I got married, I no longer have time for games. I had to move on to new responsibilities and activities – i.e. learning to blog and taking care of my 99 year old mother-in-law.

I learned I had to move on in my next stage of life and embrace changes.

Tinkering is a good skill to learn. As I have been expanding on how I want to do digital photography and create my network, I’ve been learning how to tinker to make things work. Technology keeps changing. I recently upgraded my system after 10 years. I keep playing around figuring out how I need to hook everything up and how to view my photos. Learning is an ongoing process.

Can we learn to get around without possessions which stop us from moving on?

Reflect —

  • Getting around to the next life stage and lose what you no longer need
  • Dare to tinker

Photos Teach!

 

3 Lessons from the Devastator Imperial Star Destroyer Model from Star Wars

31 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by in Imperial Star Destroyer, Star Destroyer, Star Wars, Star Wars A New Hope, The Tech Museum of Innovation

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I still remember watching Star Wars A New Hope for the first time at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco in 1977. The opening scene was absolutely stunning with the  Devastator Imperial Star Destroyer filling up the entire screen, while it chased the Tantive IV Blockade Runner. It blew me away and introduced me to the Star Wars Franchise in a huge way. This got me hooked instantly to the Star Wars Universe.

It is really interesting that the Tantive IV Blockade Runner model was larger than the Star Destroyer model. The Tie Fighter model also looked gigantic next to the Star Destroyer.

Seeing the actual movie filming model of the Star Destroyer was a Star Wars fan’s dream. The entire Star Wars exhibit at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose in 2013 was the best Sci-Fi exhibit experience for me.

As I review these old pictures, I am amazed at the detail on the Star Destroyer. As indicated in the the signage for Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer, the fine details were magnified by filming closely to the model. Even though the model was small compared to their other single seat supporting fighter models like the Tie Fighter, their technique of slowly filming up close to give the impression of a large Star Destroyer was most impressive.

3 Lessons about Perspective in shooting objects

  • Reflections can give interesting dimensions to pictures as seen in my photos of the models in the clear cases.
  • Size does not matter, but positioning and proximity does matter. i.e. The Star Destroyer looked much larger due to the proximity and speed of filming the ship. Positioning the different models also gave a different impression of their sizes.
  • Accentuate details of an object to create a different impression. Focusing on the details of your photo’s subject is important to capture. Experiment to see how the details can give another unexpectant dimension to your picture.

Study photos to learn how to improve your skills as a photographer!

Photos Teach!