Archive for Photography

Spring in Portland, Oregon

March 28, 2012 Blog, Photography No comments

Using the “360 Panorama” app, this picture of Cherry Blossoms on the downtown waterfront is perhaps the best picture I’ve ever taken with my iPhone 4. Photos taken with camera phones tend to have blown-out skies, but the overcast produced nice shades of gray under the clouds.

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For just $.99, the “360 Panorama” app for iPhone is a steal and should be part of everyone’s apps library. I believe they have a version for Android too. More information here.

UPDATE: I just uploaded this picture to Occipital’s “Immersive Viewer” to see what the experience was like. The picture quality isn’t as good on a desktop, but if look at this with your phone, you’ll be blown away. Here it is, check it out!

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Apps Review: Five Guys and Big Lens

October 27, 2011 Blog, Photography, Technology No comments

There seems to be a zillion smartphone apps out there now, and the numbers are growing exponentially. From the zillions available, I have a few favorite apps that I use on a daily basis, and I just installed a couple more. While these aren’t apps I’d use everyday, they are worth talking about; Five Guys and Big Lens.

Let’s talk about the first one I mentioned, Five Guys. One word: brilliant! They had an Android version out before they came out with one for the iPhone so I had to use a computer or Safari on my iPhone to make my orders for pick up. Not anymore! The Five Guys app is now available for the 2 most popular smartphone platforms. If you love Five Guys Burgers and Fries as much as I do, and you have a smartphone, this app is definitely for you. Ordering with the free Five Guys app couldn’t be any simpler. And picking up your order when the line is trailing out the entrance is priceless! No more waiting! Get more information and download the Five Guys app here.

The second app I’d like to talk about is Big Lens. Photography is a hobby of mine and, even if it’s just my phone’s camera, I ALWAYS have a camera with me. I’d love to have my DSLR with me at all times, but often times, they’re just too inconveniently big. Wouldn’t it be great to take pictures with the “look” of a DSLR without carrying a huge camera? Well, here’s where Big Lens comes in. This app enables the “photographer” to take pictures and apply blurs around the subject to get that shallow depth-of-field look. Sort of. This app tries its best and has some pretty neat features such as custom aperture settings and blur shapes like stars and hearts, but obviously it will never replace an actual DSLR, nor was it intended to. For just $.99 however, this app will definitely make your amateur pictures a little more interesting. Here’s an example of a picture I took; before and after applying the Big Lens effect. Here’s more information on Big Lens.

Do you have some apps you’d recommend getting or not getting? Let me know in the comments below.

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CHAOTIME PHOTOBOOTH

October 5, 2009 Blog, Photography No comments

CHAOTIME PHOTOBOOTH Here it is! We have officially launched the latest extension of our services, the CHAOTIME PHOTOBOOTH! Over the weekend, we kicked off our new branch of services by attending the “Dance Into Autumn” party in Seattle, Washington and the guests loved it! See the pictures here.

Whether it’s a wedding reception, birthday party, reunion, corporate event, fundraiser, or any other occasion, a photo booth is perfect for entertaining your guests! Our photo booths and prints are highly customizable and our prices are unbeatable! Visit the CHAOTIME PHOTOBOOTH website for details and reservation information.

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John & Helen’s Wedding

April 3, 2009 Blog, Photography No comments

The Legin restaurant off of Division and 82nd in SE Portland was packed last Saturday, March 28th. with guests who helped celebrate the union of John and Helen. Mien weddings have evolved and come a long way in terms of ceremonial practices. Where traditional Mien weddings used to be a 3 to 4 day event (including preparations), a half day of festivities with a mix of abbreviated traditional customs and some adopted western culture is enough to complete a Mien wedding nowadays.

It was a pretty busy day for me but I still had fun seeing everyone enjoy themselves, especially the bride and groom. Congratulations to John & Helen!

Here are some pictures that I took at the wedding.

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California State Fair Excitement

August 18, 2008 Blog, Photography No comments

What was supposed to be just a peaceful weekend getaway, turned out to be a little more exciting than my wife and I expected. On our first day in Sacramento, we decided to attend the California State Fair, held at the Cal Expo Center. The day was hot so we waited for the temperature to cool a little before heading out around 6PM. When we got there, everything seemed alright; lots of rides, lots of games, good food and good fun. At a glance, this was your typical state fair, albeit bigger than my native Oregon’s. And even though we weren’t winning anything, we were still having a good time playing games and taking fun pictures. What more could you ask for, right? Well, more fun was just around the corner. Literally!

As our day at the fair was winding down, we headed toward the entrance/exit to call it a day when all of a sudden, a mass of about 500-600 people started running our way! Like a strong river current, we had no other choice but to just go with it. We didn’t even know why we were running but our first instinct was to not get run over and trampled. As we were running, we heard a mix of yelling and screaming… something about a shooting!

“Duck!”
“Get out the way!”
“Get outa my way!”

We were frantic, and my wife more so than I! I have never been around a shooting before and had no sort of “run for your life” kind of instinct so my wife took me by my arm and led me over an embankment and down a short, grassy hill to safety. Amidst the mad dash for our lives, I heard a “whup whup whup” so I looked up into the sky and saw a helicopter circling the area with its spotlight aimed towards the fair grounds, most likely searching for those involved.

When things calmed, I asked a couple girls standing next to us about what just happened and, sure enough, “it was a shooting!” Wow! What a rush! We escaped with our lives and thankfully, no one else was injured or killed that night but it was definitely an experience to remember.

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