This past Saturday we celebrated Ricky and Flo’s birthday at April’s house. Loads of good food, good fun, and great company! I’m not exactly keen on all the details, since April mixes a pretty killer drink – but I think I was wearing a monkey mask.

The event was a safari party – I had dropped by walmart for a tank with enough helium to float up to about 30 balloons. We made sure all the balloons were green. With the balloons on the ceiling and the green streamers at every doorway – it came out pretty good!

The only thing we were missing really were the custom animal costumes for the dog and cat.

At any rate, Happy Bday to our pets!

Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

AFB01M700 Tamron SP 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro LD-IF Autofocus Telephoto Lens for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount..

Someone please buy me this from Adorama… haha!

Share on Facebook

I picked up a dozen rozes a few days before, hoping to save a little coin.  I honestly didn’t know how to keep these guys alive – so I did what the grocers do.  Keep them wet and cold.

So I picked out of my cabinets a collectible coke glass, filled it with water, and positioned the roses and cup in such a way that the flowers would remain standing.  I checked on the roses a few times a day just to make certain they didn’t die on me.  So far, so good!

On Valentine’s day, I pulled the cup and roses from the fridge and made a startling discovery.  The cup was positioned towards the cooling vents, and the top inch of water had iced over!

I wish I had the state of mind to take a picture!  Haha!

I have no idea if this hurt the roses or not.  It was a little funny to me I could carry the whole apparatus from just the stem of the roses.  After “thawing” out my flowers I found no trace of damage.  So I packed them up along with my presents and went on my way.

Gifts of the day:

1.  A card that sings “How sweet it is to be loved by you!”.

2. A red bear with horns holding a heart that says “Hot Stuff!”.

So while I waited for her to get ready, I did what I do best.  I run around with my camera and take photos of stuff around the house.  (Included below)

We went to Gyukaku, and we had the Kamehameha dinner for two.  They handed us a complimentary rose on our way in.  Thought I’d like to mention that for anyone thinking about the place next Valentine’s day.

All in all a great evening!

Share on Facebook

The Sony a850

If my photos are looking a little better lately, it is because I have officially made the move towards serious photography.  My early birthday gift to myself is the Sony a850, the worlds first Full Frame digital SLR to be had at less then 2k.

First off, what is the big deal about full frame?  Well, without getting too technical, the large sensor (roughly 2.5 times larger then the aps-c sized sensor found in consumer dslr) captures a wider range of color and detail.

Also, being that the sensor is the same size of 35mm film, I can mount 35mm lenses without having to deal with the 1.5x magnification typical of cropped sensors.  In plain english:  A wide lens remains wide!

Finally, and here is the kicker:  24.6 megapixels.  Holy cow!  While the in body jpeg engine has taken a few hits in terms of noise, capturing in RAW (which is not a picture… but raw sensor data) and allowing my computer to render a jpeg results in low noise high resolution images that gives cameras that cost several thousands of dollars more a run for their money!

An example of a severe crop. Note how much detail is preserved! Click for higher resolution example.

The above is an example of cropping power.  I can crop out a fraction of the image and still pull out images full of details! (Try that with your compact camera!)

So where does my a300 fit in?  Well, it uses an aps-c sized sensor – which is still quite huge when compared against compact cameras.  (Compact camera sensor sizes are in the bottom row.)

Sensor sizes pulled from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SensorSizes.svg

Lenses on my a300 result in 1.5x magnification.  For example, this turns a 50mm lens into a 75mm lens.  As a more extreme example, a 300mm lens would become a 450mm lens.

As a photographer, this means by carrying both bodies (as many do when they’re working) I can keep my wide lens wide on my a850 (with all the power resulting from full frame) and my long lenses even longer on my a300 when I need to get close to the action.  I’m now ready for anything! 

Share on Facebook

Just another random shot

When it comes to electronics and accessories – you can’t beat the virtual marketplace that is Amazon.com.

For example a Sandisk UDMA 60mb/s 16gb compact flash card costs $260 at bestbuy.  I can pick the same item up from 5 different online vendors for $112.

The only thing we need to be careful about here in Hawaii is shipping.  While a card such as this can costs 2.65 to ship from one vendor – it might cost $26.50 for another for the same shipping speed.  All in all – the value cannot be beat!

Share on Facebook

January

No pics – and my brain is fuzzy.  I don’t know nothing!

February

I’ve always drooled over my dad’s Nikon D40X.  It is a wonderful camera – and still is to this day.  I’ve carried his camera from time to time, but always felt a little bothered carrying his around.  After all, we’re talking about an DSLR and some premium glass.  (Dad never really settled for anything less then the best)  So I went out and got my own, but I went with Sony’s a300.  The primary reason why I chose the Sony system over Nikon is the in-body stabilization, known as Vibration Reduction in the Nikon world.  For Nikon cameras, VR is built into the lens – and you pay a premium for that luxury.  Being that it is in-body on my Sony – nearly any lens that fits the mount will benefit from stabilization.  I had a hunch I’d suffer from lens lust… and I was right.

So what did I do with my camera?  Well – I went to Dole Cannery as my first ever photo assignment.

There be pineapples at Dole!

With my dual kit lens and matching bag to carry them, I wandered the park and took pictures of everything I could.  For the most part it was purely recreational for me.  For one, it gave me an excuse to go outside, which is something my poorly tanned body desperately needed!  Haha!  I spent about and hour and a half there – a little longer then I intended… but how could you resist the pineapple treats in the store?  Yum!

On my way out – a family stopped me and asked to have their picture taken.  I was confused at first, but through the conversation I found that they thought I was some kind of wandering street photographer that took pictures and sold them for a living!  I told them I was a tourist, just like them – and we parted ways.  In retrospect, I wish I offered to take their picture and send it to them.  They didn’t have a camera on hand – and I could have given them a moment of time for them to remember always.

This is when I decided to take up and develop my interest in photography.  Not because I was gifted, which I am not – haha – but because I enjoyed it!

April's last day at Grandpa's house

April’s Grandpa retired in February – which meant that he would leave the house he took care of for so many years.  This was a moving moment for April, and she asked me to take a few pictures of her at the location.  It was a beautiful house, and the landscaping obviously benefited from Grandpa’s attention to detail.  We took quite a few shots before leaving that house, and shook hands with the new groundskeeper.  She was close to tears when we got in my car.  After all… she spent much of her younger life terrorizing grandma and grandpa there.

Another month, another grad for HTCC.

February marked the first month I would cover a graduation with my Sony.  It also happened to be the moment that I discovered April makes me look like a much better photographer then I actually am. 

March

Gary Chalifoux - great guy

We lost a great IT Manager @ 15th Services.  Gary moved on to bigger and brighter things.  He was a cheerful leader, and never afraid of pitching his hands in to help out when we all felt a bit overwhelmed.  (Which was quite often actually)

Dining with DRG

For those of you that know me, I’ve never been one to stick in one job for long.  That was until I met these folks.  DRG/Boeing has the greatest team I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with… anywhere!  The Busey family came out on vacation – and we had the opportunity to exchange stories with them over dinner. 

And of course... March 27th was my birthday!

We celebrated my Birthday at Makino Chaya.  An oriental styled buffet with out of this world dinner plates.  (Note that I still love Todai – since they’ve got better desserts!)  Dad was on camera duty for this one – which I am deeply appreciative of because of pics of myself with April in the same frame are quite rare!    I suppose that is the curse of being the dude behind the lens more often then not.

April

April’s birthday!  For the life of me… I can’t find any pictures in my collection! 

She really does enjoy calling me an “old fut” immediately after my birthday.  Since we’re the same age, the only time she can really tease me about being older (by an integer anyway) is that short period between my birthday and hers!  hah!

Also… I think April was when we moved into our newly renovated home.  Hmm… I can’t remember!  Argh!

In the mean time... here is a pic of Lulu knocked the fark out!

May

The first of April's friends gets married!

The first of April’s friends get married at… a fancy hotel near the harbor.  Sorry, can’t remember the name of the place at this moment – but I could drive there again if I had to!    I didn’t get to take many pictures here, but I did manage the one above… from the back of the room… with my big honkin flash. 

Questions came up when April and I would get married, obviously since we’ve been dating for so long.  No worries everyone!  It’ll happen one day.    We’re still trying to get our lives in order first.

Faith and Bubu @ our house

My sister Faith and her dog Bubu stayed at our house.  She has been taking classes on the island, and since David was deployed, she hung out with us in Hawaii.  Bubu here is a handsome dog… and he has BLUE eyes!  (Instead of red eyes that we get when the flash hits them)

Natasha graduates from High School and --- PHOTO BOMB!!!!

April’s cousin Natasha graduated from High School.  Of course what graduation would be complete with a friend making an awkward face to add humor to an otherwise decent shot.    The dude in the pic is Ethan.  He is a giant of a man, made even more so because Natasha is such a short creature.  (Shorter then April even!)  They’ve been seeing each other for a while, and April and I really like the dude.  (Plus, he also shoots with a Sony SLR!  haha!)

Memorial Day

Uncle Dean came over to visit his father’s tomb.  These monuments are a sight to see during Memorial day.  Flags were planted on every grave, and on some grave markers you could find evidence of a loved one paying tribute.  Sometimes a flower was left behind, others had a can of beer.  You would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the sight.

June

June marked the month that I obtained the domain “jurado.name”.    It is always fun passing out my e-mail address, because it isn’t every day you see someone with an e-mail address that spells out exactly like his name!  Unfortunately some websites think it is so odd the servers reject my address as bogus.  Sigh…

April and friends at Caroline's Grad party

April worked to the point of exhaustion on an almost daily basis – so I’m always glad to take her places where she could relax – especially when her childhood friends were involved.

Hickam AFB C-17 Simulation Coin

Our site coin was finalized and damn did it sell fast!  By the way, if you are interested in a coin let me know. 

July

Faith’s birthday was this month… can’t recall if we did anything.  No pics… sigh…

Downtown Honolulu with my first prime lens

Ok… July marked the month when I began suffering from lens lust, which makes the hobby almost expensive to maintain as golf.  This image here is my most popular image taken with this lens with nearly 2,000 unique visitors on flickr alone.  It was taken with a bright 50mm lens, which meant I could use it in low light situations without having to sacrifice image quality by bumping up the sensor sensitivity.  For such a cheap lens (Relatively speaking – $150 is still quite a bit of money) it yielded sharp and colorful photos.  From here on I craved more… so much more that I had to stop buying video games and gadgets.  Which… might have been a good thing.

Mark's house warming party (At least that's how he would want us to remember it!)

Mark opened up his new home to the workplace and the call was heard by the Boeing site manager, instructors, and maintenance crew.  It feels great knowing we have a site that gets along so well!  MxMatt and Lil’John mixed the drinks, and I found out first hand why you shouldn’t mix hard drinks with beer!

Happy Birthday Kiddo!

Faith and David arrive!

Faith and David arrived from the mainland for a quick vacation.  It was great seeing her and David again. 

August

@ the Pali Lookout

@ Zippy's!

@ Pearlridge Center!

The rest of the family arrived shortly after, and for the first time in a while I got to take a tour of Oahu as a tourist!

Mom was putting so well, Dad got her a new putter for her birthday!

Mom’s birthday came around and we did what we always do on birthdays.  We went golfing!  Dad got her a new putter, and to be funny, we wrapped it up “skin tight” and joked that she would never guess what it was!

Ricky's Birthday Party

Ricky also turned a year older, and April did what any responsible “parent” would do to their children… get them blinky shoes!  You know… the kind that flash when they take a step… except that it is twice as funny on a dog.  Twice as many feet!

An unexpected guest turned new member of the family!

So April calls me in a panic in the morning asking if I left a cat in her office.  Uhh… noooooooooo.  Well, turned out someone snuck a kitten in the office and abandoned it.  Our best guess was that she was pushed through the mail slot of one of her students.  However she got there, April and Cionie took to her instantly and while they attempted to find her a new home – they ended up adopting her in the end.  Say hello to Florence everyone.

September

Getting along just fine

Zzzzzzzz

See that pink collar?  After a month of searching they’re buying her accessories.  A clear sign that she isn’t going anywhere.

Andy's Birthday

April’s brother has another birthday party.  Great food, great company – good times!

The Opteka 6.5mm Fisheye Lens

I got my first fisheye lens this month.  I didn’t want to drop a grand on one of these things so I picked up a fully manual one.  From what I could tell – the glass is fantastic!  However, without a chip, the lens is unable to communicate with my camera.  So I have to shoot this thing in manual mode, which meant that it was up to me to determine the shutter speed, sensor sensitivity, and aperture in order to get proper exposure.  I’m glad I purchased it – as it forced me to learn these three key concepts in photography.  Ultimately this fun lens made me a better photographer.

October

Happy Monthly Anniversary!

April and I have an anniversary every month that we like to celebrate.  This month we went to Spaghetti Factory, and being the dork that I am – I brought my honking huge camera with me.  I love how patient April is – she’s always willing to deal with my wonky camera experiments.

Golfing with Uncle from the PI

My uncle came in from the PI for a quick vacation.  We did what our family knows best when it comes to special occasions.  We took him golfing! 

My first Pro lens. The Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens!

My first and only pro lens is a fast Tamron standard zoom.  What makes it a pro lens is the extremely fast auto focus mechanism, and the constant aperture of 2.8.  The result of this lens is the ability to use a much lower iso then normal, which yields the best image quality and colors.  One of my first pictures with this lens was of Chewy – and mom love this pic. 

November

Rep. Berg at Kestler's Showcase

Click here for April’s routine

April’s ballroom instructor holds showcases from time to time and this was the first time I had the chance to bring my photography gear.  Unfortunately my fast lens was geared more for portraits because it didn’t have the reach I needed to get up close.  This resulted in heavy crops – and while the images were properly exposed, you could tell I had to enlarge some of them.  Perhaps a 70-200 2.8 is in order?  At any rate, I invested in a little noise reduction software and the pics came out very nice.    I don’t have any pics of April’s routine since she asked me to record a video.  I’ll post that up as soon as I can get it encoded to a size that’s a little more internet friendly.

Dad's ready to go out for his birthday! And wow! Look at that yard!

Dad’s birthday was in November – and we went to GyoKaku.  Gotta love those Asian buffets. 

GOLF!

And of course… what birthday celebration would be complete without a round of golf?

The 30mm Macro Lens - The actual size of this spider including the legs was the size of a dime.

I got myself a macro lens in November.  Immediately after purchasing it, I wished I had a longer macro.  In order to get an image close to 1:1, I needed to get damn close.  Like… touching my lens close.  Still, it was a light and small lens and I found myself using it when weight was a concern.  On a cropped sensor this 30mm lens turned into a “normal” 50… or at least close to it.  This is significant because at 50mm the camera captures images close to how the human eye sees the world.  So not only could it do macro photography – it made for a great walk-around lens for normal day to day shots!

December

School finished!  Yay!  Sraight A’s!  Yay!

City of lights

April was heading to the Philippines, so we did all we could together.  One of the things we did was go downtown and walk through the decorations!

Stacy at the DRG Christmas Party

The workplace threw a pretty cool Christmas party – April, Natash, and my parents were able to attend.  They got to experience first hand how crazy our crew really is.  [Borat]  It Niiiiice [/Borat]

A gold man panning for dirt

With April gone I was left to watch their house.  Oddly enough I started doing crazy things… like… taking pictures of their figurines!

Happy New Year! The end of 2009!

And then there was the New Years party.  Dad bought us a box of fireworks and we popped all of them.  It was great fun – and a fantastic way to end the year!

And… that wraps up 2009 for me… at least my memories in photos.  My brain is a bit fuzzy so I’m practically relying entirely on my photographs to help me recap – haha!  If I forgot anything huge, lemme know so I can update this page!  Thanks for stopping by and ALOHA!

~ Chris Jurado

Share on Facebook

April is thinking of making this a weekly thing for us.  Next time I’m bringing shorts!

We took some photos, i’ll post them once I get the raws developed.

Share on Facebook

Now I can blog directly from my phone using an actual app that interfaces with my blog.

The initial version was ok… But today an update brought what I felt was absolutely necessary.  Image support!

Definitely worth the dollar I paid for it.  (Or was it two?)  Great job to the app author!

Share on Facebook