swimsuits in the winter

pacific palisades, ca

few things are worse than shooting swimwear in the winter months. even in LA. the only way to get this shot was to shoot at night (or with a little trickery at dusk) we shot this an hour before the sun set. it was pretty cold at the beach, i would say low 50's. and while i wore jeans and a sweater, the model was in a bikini and a thin top. she actually started turning blue during the shoot, which is when we ended it. the shoot lasted 30 minutes max. probably the fastest and most productive shoot i've ever done. we were highly motivated to get it done quick. afterwards we treated ourselves to in-n-out.

you might ask why we shot swimwear in the winter, but since stuff goes to print in the winter to be released in the spring for the summer, you normally have to shoot two seasons ahead, so winter stuff in late summer. models don't seem to mind that as much since they tend to get cold easier than get hot.

iso: 100
aperture: f/9
shutter speed: 1/400
focal length: 48mm
flash: two strobes as noted in image above

never let me down & wordle

lyrics from j ivy from kanye west's never let me down

it was a while ago when i first saw this type of "word collage". i think the first time was actually a video of the monologue from pulp fiction. i found a better example from v for vendetta and embedded the link below.

the one i created above is called word collage, it's been popularized as a visual way of showing the importance and repetition of words in a given text. it's been used in presidential speeches as of late, but can be used for anything. i'm not sure if the site that did it for me, wordle, actually chances the size based on importance. it was would be great if it did.

the lyrics themselves are inspiring in their own right and include them below.

We are all here for a reason on a particular path
You don't need a curriculum to know that you are part of the math
Cats think I'm delirious, but I'm so damn serious
That's why I expose my soul to the globe, the world
I'm trying to make it better for these little boys and girls
I'm not just another individual, my spirit is a part of this
That's why I get spiritual, but I get my hymns from Him
So it's not me, it's He that's lyrical
I'm not a miracle, I'm a heaven-sent instrument
My rhythmatic regimen navigates melodic notes for your soul and your mental
That's why I'm instrumental
Vibrations is what I'm into
Yeah, I need my loot by rent day
But that is not what gives me the heart of Kunte Kinte
I'm trying to give us "us free" like Cinque
I can't stop, that's why I'm hot
Determination, dedication, motivation
I'm talking to you, my many inspirations
When I say I can't, let you or self down
If I were of the highest cliff, on the highest riff
And you slipped off the side and clinched on to your life in my grip
I would never, ever let you down
And when these words are found
Let it been known that God's penmanship has been signed with a language called love
That's why my breath is felt by the deaf
And why my words are heard and confined to the ears of the blind
I, too, dream in color and in rhyme
So I guess I'm one of a kind in a full house
Cuz whenever I open my heart, my soul, or my mouth
A touch of God reigns out

- J. Ivy

[via wordle.net]

44 places to go in 2009

last year M showed me the new york times travel guide for 2008. i've visited ten of the listed 53 places to go. the three big places were tuscany, prague and vietnam. the two that i missed that i should have visited were miami and portugal. but those are on my current list of places to visit.

2008 must have been a good year for NYT's travel section cause the 2009 is upgraded with all sorts of flash goodies and subcategories. although their budget/global economic outlook is down because the list seems to have gone from 53 to 44. although to be fair 53 seems like an incredibly odd number to use (yes, pun definitely intended).

of the 53 places, i've visited seven. most notably vienna and marrakesh.

in any case here is my current short list of places to visit in 2009:

• aegean sea (although i've been to greece)
  
• copenhagen (coolest nordic city - pun still intended)
  
• red sea, eqypt (not sure i'll make it this year)
  
• madagascar (it's bloody far)
  
• india (hopefully someone will get married there this winter and i can visit)

anyone interested in travelling with me?

via NYT, 44 places to go in 2009

take 2: chili

round 2

the first go for the chili went well, but there were things that needed to be improved. the biggest was that chili was too runny. so there was too much liquid, but how do you reduce the liquid without simmering it forever? also the flavors were good, but they weren't amazing.

new/adjusted ingredients:

• white kernel corn with liquid (instead of additional water)
  
• coarse ground beef instead of normal ground beef (better mouth feel)
• jalapenos
  
• green onions
• sour cream

the corn and coarse ground beef improve the mouth feel a great deal. the corn adds another layer of flavor and replacing the water with corn juice is an improvement. jalapenos of course add a little heat.

potential improvements:

• replace some of the tomatoes with tomato paste (still too much liquid to simmer off)
• beef broth instead of tomato liquid
• small pieces of steak for increased mouth feel
• honey to bring out sweetness in vegetables
  

things i really want: netbook edition

the sexy one: hp mininote

so i should really be labelling this post "things i really want, but don't need, but will probably buy anyway because... well... just because ok!" if i count, i think i've purchased and still operate at least four computers. but before you jump to conclusion as start asking yourself why do you need four. i don't use all of them right now. one my sister now uses, another my mom uses and another is an old backup before i got the thinkpad for business school.

the current count is: two laptops and two desktops

but they're not really mine anymore since all but my thinkpad are in LA. but soon i'll need to think about what i'd like to use for my post-bschool life. and i think i've decided.

• i will convert my bschool thinkpad into a home server and leave it in my apartment at all times. it's hooked up to a 24 inch widescreen LCD anyway so why ruin a good thing right?
• i'll have a laptop from work - probably a 12inch x series thinkpad which are small, light and good for consulting work.
  
• but what for personal stuff and on weekends when i want to sit in a cafe for an afternoon? that's where the netbook comes in. the battery lasts for 5 hours a charge with normal use, so no more ac adapter! it only weighs 2.5 lbs and it has a 160 gb harddrive so when i got travelling i can shoot a crazy number of photos without worrying about running out of space! it should play movies and music without too much trouble. the best part is that it costs around $300-400. the cost of a new 32gb itouch.
  

only problem is, i want one now. like yesterday. but the technology is changing super fast and if i act like an adult and wait till right before i start travelling for the summer, then it will have even better specs for better value. so like a little kid waiting in front of the toy store for his new toy to finally come out (there is a great south park episode about this with cartman), i just pace around in my room wait for july to come.

is this a sad sight? oh yes.

the current all around winner: msi wind

happy chinese new year!

$40 paid for a bus down and back to chinatown, dinner and tip. (it didn't include beer, but frankly we were saving space for food, not alcohol!) and when i mean saving space i mean for 19 courses. yes eight-teen..... i actually missed two cause we ate it all even before i could take out my camera!!!! not much to say except 50 kellogg students descending upon a restaurant is a frightening sight to behold. (what's crazy is that after 18 course we went and had boba milk tea!) captions below.

tsing tao beer - the chinese beer


poor fried rice


bok choy and meatballs


noodles and beef i think


some green veg


scallion pancake


dumplings round 2 (missed round 1)


sweet & sour eggplant


roasted duck


egg drop soup


shrimp and snow peas


schezwan beef


duck with vegs


fried dough with condensed milk


whole fish


schezwan chicken with celery?


steamed dumplings (round 3)


sweet carrot and rice cake dessert


our table at 3/4 of the way through dinner

basic studio lighting

photo credits: many thanks to ben, miroo, maria, lauren, esther, twinkle and kanna
for all their work on this project!

last spring, a group of students worked together to shoot kellogg students in another light beyond their roles as students in the classroom. some are parents, dancers and athletes. we captured a number of images and ran them in the school paper. look forward to new images as we've assembled a new group to take photos, the subject matter may open up so we may shoot something else, who knows. i'll report back when we have something to show for ourselves. some basic shooting information is below.

general notes:

• two strobes with a various number of modifiers, including umbrellas, snoots and bouncers
• all shot with manual settings on a nikon d200
• post processing in photoshop

international flavors and cooking mistakes

i wanted to make a bunch of things i hadn't made in a while and figured i'd toss it all into a meal and see how things ended up. the good news is that the food while from many different areas worked out great together. i made critical mistake i normally rarely make.

the menu:

• arugula salad with balsamic vinegar sauteed plums, roasted cashews, ricotta cheese in a lime honey vinaigrette
  
• garlic and olive oil for the chimichurri sauce
  
• argentinean skirt steak & basmati rice with onions and rose hips

the mistake was that i overseasoned. i put too much salt on the steak and the chimichurri sauce. and while they weren't impossible to eat, they were too much for what i would have liked and limited my (and my roommates') enjoyment of the dishes.

arugula salad with balsamic vinegar sauteed plums, roasted cashews,

ricotta cheese in a lime honey vinaigrette

overall the salad was the best dish. the plums were sauteed early with the balsamic while the cashews roasted in a pan on the side. the lime honey dressing could have used a little more honey, it was pretty tart but the sweetness of the plums, the richness of the cheese and the saltiness of the nuts needed some acidity to balance it out. otherwise the salad would feel too heavy.

garlic and olive oil for the chimichurri sauce

i forgot to take a photo of the sauce, but this was the first stage. while i tasted it several times during it's creation, the last stage i put too much salt in without thinking and only then realized after tasting it that it was too salty.

argentinean skirt steak &

basmati rice with onions and rose hips

the steak was cooked medium/medium rare. but i normally salt them and let them sit so the salt can be pulled into the meat through reverse osmosis, but i let them sit too long. i was thinking of a ribeye instead of skirt steak. (since the skirt steak is thinner, it doesn't' need as much time). the rice was fine and had moistness from the onions and a hint of the rose hips.

well if you put it that way...

there's a cool (if you've ever discussed GDP in a normal conversation - so probably not cool to most people) post on comparing the GDP of different states with the GDP of countries. a professor from u of chicago created this visual representation.

• so france = california (i wonder if californians can claim that napa = bordeaux)
• and texas is the canada of the US

it's amazing how much productivity the US generates... and if that's not amazing to you, you're normal and clearly i am not.

via christian broda

Vienna

vienna, the capital of austria, used to be the capital of most of europe under the reign of the hapsburgs, but beyond royalty and country capitals. it's an important place for classical music, opera and art. so when i ran away for thanksgiving, what better place to go. while i went to prague as an add on, i really wanted to experience vienna. the people are relaxed and very easy going, as a podcast put it, "we a country of ex-rulers of the world, we don't worry about taking care of everything, we just want a good espresso and to relax". i thought that was an interesting remark. how much of america's energy is put into taking care of things outside itself? as the only current dominant power, it has a lot of responsibilities (but that's another post for another time).

below are the most memorable images from my four days in vienna.

view on the train from prague to vienna


one of the many christmas markets that pop up all over the city during the holiday season


view from the national museum of one of the main christmas markets and another museum


a random street in the old quarter of vienna


view of the church


the national library at night


hot wine and powdered donuts at the christmas market!


the people's opera house, one of the four operas/ballets i saw in vienna


view of the state government building i think with a giant christmas market in front of it


dozen of glowing heart ornaments they put up in the trees
(they had one of candy canes and one of rocking horses too!)



riding on the tram, one of the few times i was inside the whole time there
(i was freezing most of the time)



man painting a reproduction at the national gallery (i think)


the famous wiener schnitzel, stuffed with ham and cheese
(this one was giant, 3x the size of my hand!!!)



the back of the national library
(long exposure to catch a passing car)


photo of the amazing leopold museum (egon needs a post soon)


braised beef with fried onions and potatoes
(so simple, but so delicious!)

view from the top

on friday i attended a presentation and tour of the new and nearly completely trump tower a 92 story residential high rise in downtown chicago (right on the river in fact!) while it's listed as a 92 story building, it's actually 102 stories with the uses of cleaver labeling of floors as mezzanine, they were able to reduce the number of floors.

view of the jp morgan building (i think)

the bottom half of the building is a hotel and is open and running while the top half which are condos is still under construction. it's amazing that a building can have full construction on the top half while the bottom have functions without even noticing. that's amazing!

view of the lake from 102 floors up!

the view from the top is pretty mindblowing, the top floor penthouse is 10,000 square feet and is on the market for roughly $20mm. that's $2,000 a square foot. i know that sounds crazy, but apparently it's the highest residential unit in north america. so no one else in north america is living higher than you. so if you have the cash... feel free to call up the donald.

view of the tallest building in chicago - the sears tower