Chinese New Year Parade San Francisco

Last Saturday we went to the city to check out the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade.  Our friend Natalie was in town and we met up with local friends Kristy and Chris.  First stop was the bar that is attached to Lori's Diner on Powell.  It is definitely one of the best kept secrets that we have found so far in the city.  It is located in a very touristy area but has a great beer selection and reasonable prices.  There are always a few different beers on special.  The current special is Ninkasi Total Domination IPA, which is a very good beer if you had not tried it.

After a few drinks we went to check out the parade.  Unfortunately, the crowd expanded immensely while we were at the bar and it was impossible to view the parade from Powell Street.  We fought through the crowds and ended up on Market and Grant.  We were able to see the parade and I was able to at least take a few pictures.  It was cool to check out the parade and I would go again next year.  However, I think it would be much better to get there early enough to get a front row seat close to Union Square Park.  I would also bring a tripod because the low lighting made it very hard to get any decent pictures.  Also, this is another lesson in the importance of bringing the right lens!  The only lens that I brought was a rented Canon 8-15mm f/4 L Fisheye.  It is a great lens, but was not appropriate for shooting the parade in such a low light situation.  Live and learn I suppose.  Next time I would bring a faster lens with a little more distance (I plan on doing a separate post to do a more in-depth review of the Fisheye lens).

After watching the parade for awhile we went to dinner at Little Delhi Indian Restaurant.  It is located just a few blocks from the Powell Street BART Station and is the go to Indian Restaurant of Kristy and Chris.  It is a fairly small and casual place with reasonable prices and really good food!  After dinner we parted ways and took BART back home.

Below is the pictorial evidence of our escapades.  Thank you for taking a look and take care...

Geese in the Graveyard

The givers, the grifters, the grieved, and the great

Green grass grows over their grey laden graves

The garrulous gander is already too late

For the geese in the graveyard have sealed their fate

Abstract...

I recently joined a photography club near where I live.  There are two meetings a month and the main focus is competition.  There are also scheduled field trips and workshops, but I have yet to participate in these.  The competitions are judged by an experienced photographer from another city.  There are several levels and categories that are judged each week, and the winners go on to a regional competition.

I have attended the the first few meetings of this year and so far it has been great.  The judge takes about 30 seconds to give a quick critique of each picture.  This has not only been useful for feedback of my own work, but also a great source of inspiration and knowledge.  Most of the other photographers are older than me and have a great deal of experience.  Some of the work I have seen so far is gallery worthy and it has been both impressive and humbling.

This week the competition categories included Creative.  I found this category especially interesting because it encourages members to see images in a different way and to think in the abstract.  In doing so, I created a few images and an aesthetic that I really like.  The editing is not especially difficult, but did take some time to find the right combinations.  Below is the work that I entered into competition along with other images that I made in the same style.  I made the mirror images a few months ago but they seemed appropriate for this post.

Thank you as always and take care...