ShutterBlog: 2006

Shot outside a 7-Eleven store in Santa Clara (N Winchester and Newhall st.)

I have seen some funky names of energy drinks out there, but COME ON! I am not so sure about the message here. To me, a 'caffeine charged' monkey running around howlin' in a 'monkey suit' might be something I'd laugh at but certainly not something I'd want to drink

What I find interesting is the 'Multi-Vitamin' claim, because from what I read here the caffeine and sugar in these drinks make you pee away calcium, magnesium and zinc from your body.

Learning to CUSS

One of the things that really annoy me in my line of work is reading technical specification documents, real thick ones at that too and what's worse is that some of them are out of date but none of the technical support/sales staff would tell you that until you it out on your own.

My current ordeal is to go through a 300 page technical specification document (plus certification document) for a type of computer Kiosk used at the airports.

At least the abbreviation they used makes me giggle every time :)

Maserati love

Someone in the adjacent office space drives a Maserati and parks it outside in the common parking lot. I am so fascinated by that emblem on the car's grill that I sneaked a photo :)

The technique is simple, use a slow shutter speed and manually zoom a little while taking the shot.

Business portrait: Saeed Kazmi

Click here for the complete photo
This was the first time I shot a business portrait, and I realize some of the mistakes I made in this photo. Like the shadow on the shirt collar should have been balanced out with a reflector and the shadow is a bit too dark (the ideal ratio is 1:2 stops)

Nevertheless, I got to shoot a photo again after such a long time that I am just happy to be shooting again :)

Click here for bigger version

Dry leaf

Dry leaf,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

A dry leaf photographed against a table lamp.

To me, it kind of looks like the roots of a plant

Bigger version

Happy Pirate

Happy Pirate,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Only 46 days to go for the International Talk like a Pirate day.

Don't forget to watch the videos:
- Five A's of Pirate lingo
- The Pirate song

(McDonald's Happy Meal Pirate sitting on an empty visiting card holder)

Downtown reflections

Downtown reflections (color),
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Financial district, downtown San Francisco.

Bigger version: Downtown reflections (color)

Downtown reflections,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Bigger version: 'Downtown reflections (black & white)

A(skewed) view

Askew(ed) view,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

These are the Hyatt Regency guest room balconies overlooking the Bay and Piers.
I took this shot outside 4 Embarcadero center (right next to Hyatt).

Check out the Bigger version here (on Black)

The Modern Pyramid

The TransAmerica Pyramid,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline.
Check out the Bigger version here (On Black)

Took this photo around 6:30 pm on California Street infront of the US Bank building

All you need is love

All you need is Love,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Two words explain it all: Newly weds :)

(I also saw "I love my wife" written in bright red chalk on the rear cabin window of a Ford truck about a month ago but didn't have a camera handy at that time.)

Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of United States and a resident of Buffalo, Newyork. Buffalo has the unique honor of being home to two presidentst of United States.

Millard Fillmore was also the first chancellor of the University of Buffalo, now known as SUNY University at Buffalo.

This statue is placed outside the Buffalo City Hall.

New resources

Michael F. Cohen has a very interesting set of slides online on:

- Capturing the Moment in photography.
- Visualization of Everyday things
- Research paper Photographing Long Scenes with Multi-Viewpoint Panoramas (Aseem Agarwala, Maneesh Agrawala, Michael Cohen, David Salesin, Rick Szeliski, ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2006), July 2006)

There is also an interesting new software from Microsoft Research called Group Shot

Buffalo downtown

Buffalo downtown,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

The sky finally cleared towards the evening after the thunderstorm in the afternoon.

This was the view from my room's window on the 14th floor of Hyatt Regency Buffalo (notice that there is not a single vehicle on the street)

A "hmmm..." moment

A "hmmm..." moment,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Buffalo city hall is HUGE! and is covered with stone carved figures.

The man-made airconditioner seemed pretty interesting in this mythical Gods 'lost in thought' composition :)

Welcome to Buffalo

Welcome to Buffalo,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

I stopped by Buffalo, New york for a day. The downtown area wass pretty deserted for a Sunday and there were really old (supposedly abandoned) building structures everywhere.

This building is converted into a parking lot (atleast thats what the sign said) and the board in the window caught my eye. The location is at the intersection of W Huron & Delaware Ave. in Downtown Buffalo, NY

I couldn't spend time exploring the city that much so only have a few photographs that I'll post here.

BlogWord of the week: Together

BlogWord3: Together,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

This is an old photograph (Dec 18th, 2004) but that's all I could come up with right now :)

For BlogWord of the week related posts, also check out:
- Zaheer Alam Kidvai
- Omer Alvie

Strings concert in Oakland

Strings concert in Oakland,
originally uploaded by imfaraz.

Strings played at the Scottish Rite center in Oakland last night.

Thanks to Farhan, I got a chance to sit square in the middle of the first row (best seats I have ever had at any concert). I'll upload a couple more photographs later.

I have uploaded a small video clip of the concert to YouTube.com

(Dedication: To the starting alphabet of my life)

Farhan Shahid Khan

Farhan and I went out last night, when we returned late at night I asked Farhan if he doesnt mind helping me test the light setup and he was generous enough to even smile in the second shot :)

Bridal dresses

The door to a bridal shop at night in downtown Los Gatos, California.

Lunch with Gohar

I learnt that people are more conscious of you taking their photos in public if you have a big camera in your hands. Nothing beats a pocket camera that you can sneak in.

Sharing a meal with someone is considered very respectful in some cultures. Friends move to different cities, countries at times and go through different physical changes. I thought it would be really interesting to keep track of those changes. I am trying to take photos of my friends in similar settings (for now, sitting across the table from me in a resturant - waiting for food to arrive -). I have made a photo-set at Flickr for this which I will keep updating, its called Meals with friends

There was a big glass window on the right side which provided excellent lighting, and the orange color on the walls made the face stand out.

By the way, the lomo effect (color saturation, over exposed look) is intentional. I think the photo looks better this way :)

Imperfect world

I like the old man who sets tables at a resturant I go to, he is very good at his job. Notice how aligned even the salt & pepper shakers are at the edge of the table.

Someone tripped and knocked the alignment of the first table out. May be perfection is overrated for an imperfect world.