Alameda Antiques Faire

Lately the hubs and I have been on a yard sale/estate sale/garage sale kick. It's fun searching through people's old "stuff" in search of little gems (he looks for old toys, I'm into art and cameras). I've picked up pretty much my whole antique camera and Brownie camera collection from yard sales.

Anyway, all that background to say that we finally got around to checking out the Alameda Point Antiques Faire. If you like searching for old treasures with lots of character, check it out!

Here's a look at some of the goodies we saw while wandering around. All shots taken with my point and shoot Canon SD800is.

Pic of the Week Goes Caribbean: 05.01.11

As promised, I'm doing a whole Pic of the Week post dedicated solely to the beaches we visited in the Caribbean. There were only four ports on our seven day cruise, but every port involved a beach. :-)

Taken 05.02.11 - Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Shot with Nikkor 18-105mm
This beach had the nicest sand. It was so fine and powdery, it blew over everything without you noticing! It also made exposures pretty difficult.





Taken 05.03.11 - Fantasy Island Beach, Roatan, Honduras
Shot with Canon SD800IS (P&S)
Private beach with very few people, warm, crystal clear waters, awesome service. Perfect for relaxing and unwinding.






Taken 05.04.11 - Playa Mia, Cozumel, Mexico
Shot with Nikkor 18-105mm
Playa Mia actually charges an entrance fee to use their beach and facilities (we came here as part of a separate tour, so we didn't pay that fee; but I think they had packages starting at $19 per person). They have an all-you-can-eat buffet line as well as organized games/activities, so those might be the big pull for this place. I didn't think the beach itself was that special, but apparently others do because it was crowded. We spent at least ten to fifteen minutes hunting down beach chairs to sit on, and we had to pay a fee to use an umbrella. The sand was nice, but the water was cold and definitely not as clear as the previous two beaches.







Taken 05.06.11 - Princess Cays, Bahamas
Shot with Nikkor 18-105mm
As I mentioned before, this was the private island owned by Princess. The weather was nice, and the water was beautiful and clear; but the beach was rocky. Seriously, ouch! We heard from others afterward that the opposite side of the island was less rocky. Oh, well.
PS. I snuck that last one in because it makes me laugh. It'd be such a cute picture if the subjects were all (with the exception of the cutie in Burberry, of course) at least fifteen to twenty years younger.

Note: I didn't notice until I put the different beach shots together, but you can totally tell which pictures were taken with my point and shoot. The P&S shots are super saturated to the point of almost looking fake. I can tell you honestly that the sky in Roatan was blue, but it wasn't that blue. I guess that's why people love Canon P&S cams, right? They make skies look like something out of your fantasies.

See the cruising shots HERE and more Pics of the Week HERE.
We still have food shots to come!

Pic of the Week: 03.06.11

_DSC3118, originally uploaded by oojoyjoy.

Shot of the week for the week of 03.06.11
Taken 03.09.11 using 35mm prime

I ran outside with my camera, excited to take some pictures of cows right before the sun set, and this is the first thing I see.

No trespassing actually occurred in the making of this photograph.

And I did get my cow shots.

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Have a Cow

Across the street from my grandparent's house, there's an old golf course that is now home to a bunch of cows. It's kind of funny when you visit at night because the cows will moo at you in the darkness. I think it's funny anyway.

Ok, so back to my story. One day, A and I went to visit while the sun was still out and the cows were roaming in front of the house (most of the time they're hidden somewhere else in the large plot of land). I took this as my chance to take some pictures of the cows!

As I approached the fence, I noticed one cow standing very close to the border where my cousins were standing (I think they were mocking the cow...just because it sounds like something they'd do). Of course, up went the camera, and I went shooting away. This little cow stared us down for a long time!

Seriously. It was a while. I have several shots of this cow that all look pretty much the same because I was shooting prime and the cow wouldn't move. Not even a turn of the head. It just kept staring us down.

It kept staring us down even as it finally walked away!

See? Still staring.

I'm glad a finally grabbed a couple shots of the cows. They've been there a while, but I never had the chance. I like how this one is all brown and tufty instead of sleek black like the ones in the background.

And I promise I tilted at that angle because of the chain-link fence, and not because I just love to do that. I do love to do that, but this time, it really was the fence.

Also, I keep calling the cow an "it" because I can't tell cow genders. Someone please educate me.

PS. Before I started the cow photo shoot, THIS happened.

Pic of the Week: 02.20.11

Shot of the week for the week of 02.20.11
Taken 02.26.11 using Nikkor 18-105 VR
View of Milpitas from the hills.

This is a little more editing than I normally do to my photos, but I like how this captured the gloomy weather with the clouds and the hazy mountains in the distance.

If that shot is giving you a bit of vertigo, here's a completely horizontal one for you. :-P


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Pic of the Week: 01.16.11

Okay, so really, this happened the previous week, but it got washed this week--so there! :-P

Shot of the week for the week of 01.16.11
Shot with 50mm macro. Notice a trend the last few weeks? It's gonna keep going for a few more weeks...until I reattach my zoom lens. ;-)

So ya...if you haven't seen it yet, this happened. A checks on it every night to make sure it's okay. No joke. :-)

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Showing Off

You know those itty bitty flowers that look kind of like daisies but are really teeny weeny flowered weeds?

I got up close and personal with one of those...with my wonderful new macro lens. :-P

This was so close up to the flower (and therefore, close to the ground) that I couldn't look through the viewfinder. I literally set my focus and held my camera up to the flower hoping it would come out okay. Ahhh, macro...

Siah in a Tree

As I was looking through these images, I kept thinking, "Who is this little boy? Sitting all quietly in a tree, making cute faces, letting a bunch of us take his picture..."


There you go! There's the Siah I know!

<3

Pic of the Week Goes NY: 12.12.10

The NY bonanza continues. Did I mention I love New York? Because I do.

12.12.10

Entrance to Macy's

Rice to Riches

love

12.13.10

MoMA

but you already knew that :-)

12.14.10

Central Park lightly dusted in snow

12.15.10

Heading home over the clouds

Pic of the Week Goes NY: 12.05.10

New York was so awesome, I thought that each day deserved it's own highlight; so instead of just one Shot of the Week, I'll be posting a Shot (or two!) of the Day for each day we were there. :-) Are you ready?

12.06.10

Squirrel at Central Park
The crazy thing--I didn't use my zoom for this. I was actually that close, and he didn't run away.

Apple Store Stairs
I took a shot from this same angle the first time I was here. Second (or third?) time around, I still think it looks cool. :-P

12.07.10

Fried Risotto Balls from Faicco's
Seriously. Fried risotto balls. Try some.
PS. Nice "candid" face, Auntie!

Ornaments in front of Radio City Music Hall
Ambient light only. No flash or tripod. No prime, either.

12.08.10-

The view outside Grandma's 75th birthday party.
Again, no tripod!
Thanks, "little" bro for being my indoor light glare blocker.

12.09.10

White Fender Stratocaster

Rudy's Music in SOHO

Like guitars? Go here. This place is amazing.

PS. Does anyone else think of Wayne's World when they see Stratocasters?

Hot Chocolate

Le Pain Quotidien

You pour the hot, melted chocolate into steamed milk. Yum.

12.10.10

Sign on the door of a 7-11.

Boston

:-P

12.11.10

Shoe shelf in Bodega

Boston

Random bridge somewhere in Boston

That's all for this week, but stay tuned for shots from the week of 12.12.10

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