Carlsbad Caverns

Earlier this month I spent a week visiting various national parks in New Mexico. Our first major attraction was Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the fifth largest chamber in North America.

Yosemite Falls

The ongoing drought in California means very little snow; in fact, my recent February visit to Yosemite National Park felt a bit like summer time. Although the valley was not covered in snow like I wished it would be, it is still a wonderful park with many great scenery.

Mission Inn

It was a hectic December leading up to Christmas and New Year, a period of time that I could use to relax/rest to close out the eventful year. This Christmas I went to a local favorite -- Mission Inn in Riverside to check out their famous Festival of Lights, which takes place every late November thru early January.

First Concert Shoot

Although my love of photography lies deep in landscape and nature, I couldn't resist the opportunity to shoot at a concert as an audience for the first time.

Rubber Duck

Since the giant rubber duck made its debut in Amsterdam in 2007, it has "traveled" across the globe to Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan.

Wayfarers Chapel Interior

No matter how many times I visit this place, I've always enjoyed shooting the marvelous chapel. Its beauty is always so stunning any time of a sunny day, although it loses quite a bit of charm on a hazy, overcast, or rainy day.

Bear Gulch Cave

Having enjoyed some nice views along the Airline Highway for 90 minutes, we have finally arrived at Pinnacles National Park. It is a huge park with east and west entrances but they are not connected. This park offers many spots for the rock climbing lovers; as for the casual visitors, the Bear Gulch Cave and Balconies Cave are two most popular attractions.

Airline Highway

Driving from San Jose to Los Angeles has always been a boring and tiring task, as Interstate-5 generally offers no views whatsoever. Although Highway 101 resides by the ocean and has some great views, it takes some extra time to complete. This time, however, I have taken a partial new route via the Airline Highway (aka Highway 25) because it leads to the east side of Pinnacles National Park.

Bay Bridge & Treasure Island

Even though I have been to San Francisco many times, I had never visited the Ferry Building until this past weekend. The Ferry Building is a popular indoor marketplace where local vendors operate their businesses -- cheese, coffee, ice-cream, pork, olive oil, and organic food, etc.

Grand Canal Shoppes @ The Venetian

Shooting film in Las Vegas (at night, no less) was no doubt a tall order, but it was a fun experience.

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam, a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River during the Great Depression, sits on the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada. Its generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California, but it is also a major tourist attraction (approximately 30 minutes from Las Vegas).

Cima

A 19-mile drive on Kelso Cima Road took me from Kelso to Cima, alongside the Union Pacific Railroad on the right and fields of joshua trees on the left. Cima is now a ghost town with few habitats and sports a convenient store for its travelers (which seems have closed permanently now).

Kelso Dunes

When I first planned to visit the Mojave National Preserve (in route to Las Vegas), I didn't know what to expect. After all, it was just part of the route which I'd spend no more than 5 hours. Looking at the park map didn't help much neither, as there are only 1-2 must-see spots.

Yucca Brevifolia

Yucca brevifolia, more commonly known as Joshua tree, is native to southwestern North America in the states of California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. They are confined mostly in the Mojave Desert as I have personal seen a forest of them in both Joshua Tree National Park and Cima Dome of Mojave National Preserve.

Point Reyes

My collection of the cancellation stamps continues as I toured San Francisco. After stopping at the visitor center at Muir Woods (been here before but did not get the stamp), I cruised along the Pacific Coast Highway northbound for Point Reyes National Seashore, about an hour from Muir Woods.

Work in Progress

I knew right away that visiting the Grand Central Market and The Grove would present many opportunities for candid photography as well as practising zone focusing. Although acquiring this new skill is a work in progress, it was still fun to be shooting candid photography which I don't actively shoot.

Balboa Park

After some midnight Black Friday shopping in the outlet by the Mexican border, my friend and I had a well-deserved lengthy rest only to wake up to a misty morning. The sun was nowhere to be seen but we must deal with this unpleasant weather.

慰靈塔 (Soul Consoling Tower)

100,000 people, 100,000 stories. Here in Manzanar, those stories were truly some unfortunate ones. When World War II broke out, tens of thousands of Japanese, mostly Japanese-American, were forced to leave their homes and live in Manzanar (in the middle of nowhere).

Sunrise @ Mono Lake

Because I spent the sunrise shooting at the Convict Lake, the same light passed when I arrived at Mono Lake 25 miles later.

Devil's Elbow

After enjoying a well deserved stayover in the Curry Village, I looked around for some morning shots in the Yosemite Valley. Then I discovered the Devil's Elbow. When I got there, a professional photographer (I assume) was conducting a workshop. Although the workshop was fairly fundamental, I saw some very fancy equipment (full frame digital, red/gold ring) were used by the participants. I also joined them along the shoot and got some amazing photos. Here's another shot with a perfect reflection on still water.