[Download Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134 Launch Poster] (6940 x 5180 pixels, 2.9MB)

Endeavour’s STS-134 launch at Kennedy Space Center was my first space shuttle launch ever, and it was incredible. At T minus 2 minutes, my heart rate became elevated as adrenaline flooded my body. The bright-as-sun burn combined with the thunderous sonic boom (heard multiple times from reflections) was a visceral reminder of how incredible it is that we can shoot people up into space simply because we feel like doing so.

I set up my camera on the causeway and snapped a bunch of images (using a remote, so I could watch the launch using my own eyes). I had so many images of the launch that I put them all together in a poster, which is available to download in high-resolution. Enjoy!

Photos were taken with a Canon 7D, Canon 500mm f/4 L IS, Canon 1.4x teleconverter, Gitzo carbon fiber tripod, and Wimberly head. Exposure was 1/1000 sec at f/11, ISO 320. In the image sequence, the time elapsed between the first image and last is about 15 seconds.

Underwater housings in Indonesia

I’m giving a talk tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 27, 2011) at the Palo Alto Camera Club about underwater photography. I’ll show some of my favorite images and talk about how I captured them. I hope to see you there!

The talk starts at 7:30pm and will be held at the Baylands Nature Center, Palo Alto:
[PACC calendar] [talk location]

The Barber Lounge hosted its 4th anniversary party tonight, an art show opening featuring works by local artists. 9 of my aluminum prints are hanging in the hair-washing nook (that felt strange to type). The prints will be there until July 5, so if you missed the party tonight, you can still walk in and see them when you have time (and, maybe, get a haircut).

Thanks to everyone who was able to come out—it was great to see all of you! (read more »)

I have become dependent on DropBox as my cloud solution for working files (with versioned backups!), and for cloud syncing support in many of the apps I use. I’m also an Eye-Fi user, and really like the idea of having a camera that automatically dumps images into a folder in DropBox. I asked Eye-Fi for this feature, but they told me that it’s up to DropBox to integrate with Eye-Fi—not the other way around.

Eye-Fi did, however, recommend that I give Pixelpipe a try. I successfully configured Pixelpipe so that I could automatically transfer all JPG images on my Eye-Fi card to a folder in DropBox, but I want everything to be transfered, including RAW files and videos.

My current solution is to use Eye-Fi Center on a Mac Mini that is (already) running all the time in a closet at home. That Mac Mini has a temporary DropBox account running on it, and Eye-Fi dumps images into a shared DropBox folder there. Once it arrives on my Mac Mini, DropBox pushes it into the cloud, and images and videos are then accessible on all of my machines and mobile devices.

This method is totally wasteful, but it works! I hope someone comes up with a better solution in the long run.

I’m also looking for an iOS camera replacement that shoots directly to DropBox. At the moment, I use the DropBox app to push individual images, which is inconvenient.

A mother humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) stays close to her young calf to be prepared to help it breathe at the surface. Vava’u, Tonga. 060728_154530_echeng5002

I never processed and shared this set of images because I had so many to go through, at the time. Looking back through my archive is making me realize that I have quite a few interesting images that no one has else has seen…

I have the cover image on this month’s Dive Magazine (March 2011 issue), which features whale sharks, manta rays, tiger sharks, and humpback whales.

The image features a friendly, 13-meter-long whale shark near Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos Islands. We surfaced from a dive to find the gigantic fish rubbing her back against our small dive skiff. She then proceeded to swim directly at the divers in our group—one after another—and even made contact with our dive guide, who was unable to get out of the way quickly enough!

(actual print, with text overlay)

The barber lounge in San Francisco is hosting its 4th Anniversary Spring Art Opening this coming April 2, 2011. Nine of my aluminum underwater prints are on display at Barber Lounge now and will be on display there until July 5.

Please come celebrate with us! Drinks and music will be provided. :) (read more »)

I spent a few hours wandering around in the San Francisco’s Mission District today. The weather was perfect, and the sunlight was clear and warm. I’m not sure if anyone has done exhaustive documentation of the graffiti art in the Mission, but it is beautiful. (read more »)

Every once in awhile, I take a look at my most viewed photos at Flickr. It looks like my shark photos are by far the most interesting images. (read more »)

I got a surprise holiday gift in the mail from Unterwasser Magazine last month — very thoughtful. Thank you!

I’m giving a talk on photography tomorrow, Monday, January 17, 2011 at the monthly Wildlife Photographers of Silicon Valley event. The meeting is at 6:30pm in the back room at Harry’s Hofbrau at 390 Saratoga Ave in San Jose, California, and should run for about an hour.

Lady Gaga at the Polaroid booth at CES

When I walked by the Polaroid booth yesterday, I thought to myself, “Hmm. I should go by their booth to see why they still exist.” Instead, I walked to the Canon booth (next door) and started looking at the prints in one of their displays. About half an hour later, Lady Gaga appeared at the Polaroid booth to unveil a few new products: a portable printer, some sort of camera, and glasses with an embedded camera (the first, they claim, but they were beaten by the Liquid Image Goggles long ago). She took a picture of the audience with her Blackberry, yelled “You’re fucking famous!” and printed the photo out on the portable printer.

Apparently, Lady Gaga is the new Creative Director at Polaroid. I find this to be totally bizarre — and, distracting. I’m not even a fan of her music, but I was so distracted by her presence and the huge crowd around her that I still have no idea what the new Polaroid camera is or does.

Pam and I are in Taiwan for our post-honeymoon wedding banquet. Happy new year, everyone!

The fireworks at Taipei 101 were short, but somewhat spectacular. I imagine that it would have been really impressive from close up, but my mother and I were unwilling to brave the insane crowds and stayed one MRT stop away.

It is still 30 minutes from the new year back in San Francisco. Weather reports claim that it might rain tonight. I hope the fireworks aren’t cancelled! (read more »)

A snow monkey stares over the edge of a hot spring (Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata). Jigokudani Yaen-Koen in Yamanouchi, Japan.

During our honeymoon, Pam and I spent a full day in the snowy mountains near Nagano photographing Japanese macaques. The so-called “snow monkeys” are a troupe of around 160 macaques that soak themselves in an onsen (hot spring) about 40 minutes up a mountain (on foot) from Shibu Onsen, a historic hot spring area in Yamanouchi, Nagano prefecture, Japan.

Although I had seen images of these macaques for years, actually being there to photograph them in person was really special. The macaques I’ve interacted with in other places of the world seem to be focused on getting food (and hats, and sunglasses, etc.) from tourists, but these macaques completely ignored us. Sure, there were one or two aggressive individuals who didn’t like eye contact, but we could literally stand a few inches away from the rest of them without incident.

When we arrived at Shibu Onsen, I was worried because very little snow had fallen. Luckily, snow poured out of the heavens overnight and throughout the entire next day. We awoke to more than 6″ of fresh snow on the ground — perfect, for photography.

I plan on writing a comprehensive guide on photographing snow monkeys soon. Until then, enjoy these photos! (read more »)

Pam, me, and snow monkeys @ Jigokudani Yaen-Koen, Japan

Happy holidays! Pam and I spent 7 hours on Christmas eve in the snow hanging out with Japanese macaques — the so-called “snow monkeys.” It was awesome. Will post photos as soon as can. :)

There will be a full lunar eclipse tonight — a rare occurrence on the winter solstice. I photographed the full lunar eclipse three years ago, which was an interesting photographic exercise because I didn’t have access to a proper tripod that night.

total lunar eclipse on august 28, 2007

I was planning on staying up to photograph tonight’s lunar event, but it appears that San Francisco has other plans for those of us who live here…

Beautiful Dendronephthya soft corals ring a window in a boulder

During the 30-day trip to Indonesia I’m currently writing from, I’ve focused on taking still images and video with my insect eye setup (wide-angle macro) and a 3D underwater housing. I didn’t even bring a traditional wide-angle dome port, which has made it a little frustrating to be diving in some of the healthiest reefs in the world. Luckily, Don Kehoe is here and lent me his wide-angle rig for 3 dives. I went down and banged out some colorful reef images — felt like I was at home again. :)

Riri and me at Misool Eco Resort

It is really rewarding to be accepted by a wild bird, even if the basis of trust is based on food.

A lightning storm under a sky full of stars. Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

The night sky is amazing here in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Aside from the occasional live-aboard dive vessel, the Misool Eco-Resort is the only source of light pollution for miles and miles, and the lights at the resort aren’t bright enough to really cause problems. Point a camera at the sky on any clear night, and you get magic.

A pair of warty frogfish (Antennarius maculatus). The female is heavily laden with eggs.

We saw nearly 20 different frogfish while we were in Ambon, including warty frogfish, painted frogfish, striated frogfish and more. This female warty is full of eggs. You can see the tiny little male sitting on top of her.