Wednesday, December 31, 2003 

My Nikon N75 35mm SLR Camera w/ 28-80mm Nikkor f3.3-5.6 G AF lens

I recently purchases a camera, which I have been wishing for a while. I'm trying to expand my hobby/interest as well as improving my photography skills. I've never taken a photography class, but that's no reason why I can't take good pictures.

The following are some of the pictures I have taken so far, and I scanned them. You can notice some dirt on the picture as the scanner glass was dirty. Overall, the camera/lens are good and the pictures are clear. The night time pictures look a bit overexposed. With experience, I'll be able to know which settings to use.

Wrigley Building 1
This picture of Wrigely Building by Chicago River was taken with 4 seconds exposure and a camera-indicated aperature. The yellowish look might be overexposure. But the 4 seconds exposure caused the river to become smooth.

Wrigley Building 2
As a comparison to the above pictures, I used the landscape/nighttime preset on the camera. I believe this is a 1/8 second exposure. You can note the ripples in the river and that the overall building is more white/bright. And yes, the time is about 5:30pm.

Downtown Chicago
I took this picture of downtown Chicago from Shedd Aquarium. I was trying to capture the skyline, but a little too much light got onto the film. I was also trying to get the contrast between red/green on buildings' top, instead of the yellowish color from the street light. I'll probably have to tone down the aperature.

Field Museum
Here, I was standing in front of the Field Museum of Natural History. I wanted to capture the tree lights as well as entrance to the Field Museum/totem pole/marqee. This is using a flash to highlight the subject (me) and also allow the background lights to enter. I used a tripod and the camera self-timer to take this picture.

Field Museum 2
I was suppose to be in the picture in this last exposure of the roll, but the self-timer went off before I could get to the backpack and be in the picture. I was trying to use the red-eye reduction when the flash is activated to brighten the subject.

My Parents
Here is a picture of my parents. I used the auto exposure setting, where the camera automatically sets everything. This is the easiet setting one can use. With the flash, everything looks bright.

Falling Jenga Blocks
While my sister was playing Jenga with my dad, I took a picture using fast motion setting. I focused on the Jenga blocks, hoping that it would fall when the wrong block was removed. I wanted to catch the falling in stop motion. Luckily, I was able to catch my sister's facial expression, which was out of focus because the blocks were the center of focus.

Tuesday, December 30, 2003 

Picture of yours truly.

this is a year ago when I visited the Oregon coast.

Happy New Years everyone.

By the way, there will be new pictures coming up, taken with my new Nikon N75 w/ 28-80 mm Nikkor zoom lens.

Monday, December 29, 2003 

Surf N' Turfin'

The sirloin steak turned out okay, a bit charred... but the meat tasted good. Need to master the grill fire.

The lobster was alright as well.

All that BBQ smoke got me a headache... blah!

Tuesday, December 23, 2003 

A Christmas Dinner

Proposed main dishes for Christmas dinner:

Grilled Lobster tail and grilled New York Strip

Method of preparation by yours truly:

Lobster tail: 5-6 oz tail, split down the shell. Marinaded with melted butter and freshly-squeezed lemon juice. The tail will be lightly sprinkled with paprika, and brushed with lemon butter sauce before cooking on the grill. First place the tail meat side down on the grill for 5-6 minutes, then turn over. Baste the tail with the lemon butter sauce and allow it to cook for an additional 5-6 minutes, until the meat is opaque and firm. Serve immediately.

New York Strip: select 3 week-aged sirloin strip, thick cut, preferrably 16 oz each, with nice marbling and a fat on the edge. Rub some olive oil on the steak and press paprika and pieces of tellicherry peppercorn onto the steak. let it stand in the fridge for overnight. Prepare the marinade as followed: in a bowl, add a teaspoon of Worstershire sauce, a half of cup of light soy sauce, a little bit of wine (such as Merlot), a bit of black vinegar, some sesame oil, and freshly-squeezed lemon juices. Then sprinkle some oregano. Mix well. Place the steak into the marinade and let it soak for overnight. Flip and turn the steak after 5-6 hours to allow even marinade. Fire up the grill until red hot charcoal. place the steak on the grill for 8 minutes for one side. Flip and cook for another 6 minutes for medium, or 8 -10 minutes for medium well. This is based on the thickness of the steak (in this case, about 1 inch thick).

I'll post the result of this recipe after Christmas, when I have tried it out myself.

Thursday, December 18, 2003 

Return of the Jedi King?

Last night I sat through a 200 minute epic ending to LOTR:ROK. Unfortunately, the theater was packed of audience that I had to sit closer to the front, which brought about a minor neck cringe--had to look at to see the whole screen. Definitely not sitting that close in movies anymore. Haven't had that kind of neck soreness since I headbanged during my college years...

LOTR. Didn't quite understand all of the plot, probably should read the book. As for the movie itself, it's a good film. A bit long, which was a little distracting. yet there were a lot of good scenes and sequences that made watching the movie painless (unless you count my neck sores...)

What I couldn't help reminding myself during the film was that it's mostly CGI. Then again, the triology wouldn't be possible without the computer aid.

Thursday, December 11, 2003 

A renewed interest

work in progress:

Stage One --> "Moonlight" Sonata (Beethoven) and Ballade #1 (Chopin)

Stage Two --> "Tempest" Sonata (Beethoven) and Ballade #3 (Chopin)

Stage Three --> Barcarolle (Chopin) and stage one and two

Stage Four --> Attempts at Rach 3

Timeline: +/- 6 months of receiving Ph.D.

The joy of playing and learning new pieces: Priceless.

Everything else can be bought with Discover.

Friday, December 05, 2003 

Recently, I was curious about some of my high school classmates and where they have ended up. I was a bit surprised that a few of them are married now. The actual act of marriage was not the shock, rather, I was puzzled as to why at some an early age? Perhaps everyone has his/her own agenda. I think marriage can be a blessing. But right after college or during college?

I am just ranting.

Thursday, December 04, 2003 

Catching UP...

It's great to catch up good friends once a while, particularly in our busy life. Chatting about the news and reminiscing the olds. There is nothing like eat a wonderful dinner with those buddies... or pummeling and get pummelled by their altered egos in Street Fighters.

How do we capture those indelible moments? Human memory is an intricate fellow. Often eluding you the most important memory and stores those junk. But if you think hard enough, all that you have known is hardwired for life.

Up Up Down Down, Left Right Left Right, B A B A.

triggering Action Potential is powered by Blogspot and Gecko & Fly.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
First Aid and Health Information at Medical Health