secret spot

Ok, well not so secret, but it was found partly by memory, and perhaps a little bit of luck. If you drive up the coast there is a water fall that spills into a small cove. The view is nice.

backlog

Due to my laziness I've accumulated a backlog of photos, so I'll be posting in twos or threes now.

These are from the same trip up the coast.

My favourite kind of trip

20080119_coast_07, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

My girlfriend. My camera. Good times. Can't wait until our next one.

white on green

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Ok so it looks more like puke green, but I think that has something to do with the late afternoon sun that was streaking through the valley at the time. I though it would be a nice break from all the white on blue I've been posting lately. Oddly enough, this was also taken out of a moving car. Maybe I should start a blog just on that.

Tilted

20080218_lakelouise_kicking_164, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Sure it's tilted, off center, blurry. That's what you get when you take a picture out of a rapidly moving car. The sky was so perfect and the trees so generously holding onto their dustings of snow that I had to give it a try.

This was on our way back to Calgary from Kicking Horse.

Kicking Horse

20080217_lakelouise_kicking_081, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I have to say, out of all the different ski resorts I've been to. Kicking Horse in BC has got to have one of the most consistently beautiful views. I had to ski like a little girl for most of the day to avoid landing on my camera gear, but it was worth the captures.

By "little girl" I of course mean, "awesome little girl"

Barely touched

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

You would think that this is an example of a highly retouched photo, but it's not. Not to say I didn't tweak things here and there, but in large the sky really was this crazy beautiful that day. I forgot exactly where, but I remember I was in a valley and the light was gorgeous.

Dutch painting

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I had to pull off on the wrong side of the road for this one to get a better view. I couldn't believe how much the landscape looked like a Dutch painting. The challenging part is getting the lighting timed out perfectly. With all the cloud cover in Ireland, it can go from flat to beautiful in a matter of seconds. I was more unlucky than lucky overall, but this was one of the rare moments where it came together.

Pho-tastic

I bought my aerogarden thinking that it would make the perfect compliment to the occasional meal that required or could be enhanced by fresh herbs. Little did I know that it would grow out of control and necessitate the cooking of meals that use as many herbs as humanly possible. The biggest problem for me was the cilantro and the purple basil that was growing out of control. To remedy this I decided to cook Pho from scratch.

Boil the beef bones


Roast Ginger, Onion and Star Anise




Discard this




Clean the bones off



Scrape off burned bits





Back in the pot they go, along with your meat of choice, fish sauce, sugar and salt.




Simmer on low FOREVER and then add the bag of clovers, star anise, cinnamon and ginger. Notice how clear and clean the broth is here now. MSG free baby!




In the meantime, you can get your prep ready.

Sprouts




MEAT




Blanche the noodles and get everything ready.




Wash the herbs and get some limes cut up




Pour on the boiling stock and enjoy! Notice the mandatory sriracha in the background :)

Get your own flash!!!

20080207_dwa_strobist-6, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Brought the flashes into the office just to fool around. Someday James (pictured) and I are going to have a flash party.

More sheep

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Possibly the best thing about the Giant's Causeway in Ireland isn't the Causeway itself, but rather the hike one can take that takes you around the cliffs overlooking the ocean and eventually on top looking down. If one were to take this and face away from the ocean instead of forward, they'd be greeted by green pastures as far as the eye can see and an abundance of sheep and cloud.

Portrush at night

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Still no notebook, so no new pictures. Just more of Ireland. I took this one after eating an excellent meal at a restaurant on the pier in Portrush. I think I had to use a rock wall as a makeshift tripod.

It's for you

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Despite being in a somewhat alien and remote looking landscape, it's hard to escape people nowadays. I tried to be the first person out on the Giant's Causeway, but sadly somebody beat me to it. He had so much time in fact that he decided to make a phone call.

Portrush Ireland

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

This small town happened to have a little carnival area. Everything was shut down as I was travelling during the off season. Somehow that made me like it more.

The coast

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I still haven't gotten my computer back so here's another from my Ireland trip.

More green

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

It's raining in LA now too.

The life

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I was walking up the grassy hill pictured earlier when I saw these two ladies enjoying the view. Something about the way their hair was blowing and the way they were standing reminded me of an advertisement for something. I could even see it in B+W.

Green

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

For all those that may complain, there are nice things that happen when it rains.

Ireland coast

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Just got back from a trip up the coast. As I drove along the ocean, a lot of the scenery reminded me of what I saw in Ireland. The colours, the smells, the sounds. It's hard to beat ocean air, great company and an open schedule.

Road to nowhere

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

As I started the first leg of my trip in Ireland, after dipping through hills and skirting the coast I came to a curious area where everything flattened out and the sky disappeared. After stopping my car, I looked forward and backwards and the view was identical.

I think this is the one looking back.

Herbs on demand

20080105__DSC0107, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Normally one buys herbs at the supermarket as the meal dictates. If your salmon needs dill, you buy some. Ever since I bought this Aerogarden Pro though, I find myself desperately making foods that specifically require the herbs that are growing too fast. My purple basil and cilantro in particular need to be eaten.

Vietnamese food to the rescue. Pictures to follow.

Nobody home

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Belfast was my first city stop on my short tour of northern Ireland. I'm assuming that Sunday church had something to do with the entire city being a barren wasteland. I found it somewhat comforting as I walked around the city, quite often meeting the same people many times. If you're walking around on a Sunday morning in Belfast, odds are you are a tourist. The people you keep seeing? Also tourists.

The last of them

20080108__DSC0005, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

It's possible to O.D. on sandwiches, no matter how delicious. This was the last one that made it through:

Turkey 2 ways (deli style, oven roasted), pesto, and asiago cheese on sour dough

Sandwich fetish?

20080106__DSC0120, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Perhaps making up for years of ignoring the noble sandwich. Recently I went on a sandwich-spree.

The accomplices:

Turkey arugula brie and cornichons in between two wonderful slices of pugliese. Pomegranate mojito courtesy of the girlfriend in the rear

Sunset Northen Ireland

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

One of the views near the Carrick-a-rede bridge in Northern Ireland. I got there late after a whole day of driving the coast and stopping too often to take pictures. The sun was setting when I left to find a place to stay the night.

Ireland 2007

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I pulled the car off the road to take this one. As cloudy as it gets in Ireland, the sun always finds a way to peek through. I wish I could say the reverse of LA sometimes.

Like now.

Breakfast

20080106__DSC0114, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

My girlfriend got me a panini press for my birthday, so I am feel am obligated honoured to feed her sandwiches.

Eggs, Linguica (portuguese sausage), aged chedder, cremini mushroom, sliced pugliese bread.

Yum.

The new way

20080103__DSC0069, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

50mm@iso100 f7.1 1/200s

Having endured taking a picture the old way I decided to try a better method. Purchased a cheap radio triggered shutter release from ebay (Gadget Infinity)

All in all, they do what they're supposed to do. Unfortunately, though I also own the radio flash triggers and it seems like they don't like to work together. To get this image I had to set the camera on self-timer and wait patiently for 2 seconds before the shutter and flashes would fire. The price you pay for cheapness I suppose. A better system like the Pocket Wizards would cost you $300 instead of $80-90 but would do the job right. I don't plan on taking too many self-portraits so for now I'm happy.

EDIT: They do infact work together. I contacted Gadget Infinity and they instructed me that one needs to press the shutter release very briefly so as to not create any interference with the cactus v2s triggers. This seems to work, although I imagine it will take some practice to become consistent

The old way

20071213_0002, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Before leaving for Christmas, I decided to try to take a photo using my new 285H Vivitar flash. The problems with self portraits is that there's nobody there to take the picture for you. More important than that is of course focus. There are other ways to do this, but I tried the old school measure it and then dial it in method. Took several tries but it worked.

Last snowfall for a long time

20080101__DSC0010, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

50mm@iso320 f4.5 1/125s

Flying back on New Year's day is generally a bad idea. At the very least one is bitter about the end of the holiday season. In most cases, that is compounded perhaps by a hangover or even worse, the sudden realization that one must go into work the next day. Most people might have been pissed then to wake up to a pile of snow on the roads and still more falling. Not me.

I am now officially back in LA