38/365 SF Roof Top, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.Image 38/365 Shot from my Sister-in-laws roof top. She recently moved to a new place in San Francisco. She now lives in a snow globe. When sitting on her couch she has a view from Yerba Buena Island to Russian HIll. This view includes the Bay Bridge, Coit Tower, Cathedral at Washington Square and Transamerican building.
37/365 Orpheum Theatre, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Image 37/365
I really think I should have named this where’s Waldo. My wife and her sister went into San Francisco to see the Play Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre. I was there only to meet them for dinner.
I snapped this image as I saw my wife, she is the short blonde that is looking at me.
25/365 Cayenne Chicken, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Image 25/365
Today on this rainy Monday, I made in the Slow Cooker or Crock-Pot a Cayenne Chicken. It’s a take off of Grandmas Chicken and Rice. I could remember what the real recipe was, so I improvised.
It was very tasty…
(4) 1/2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed).
(2) Cans of Cream of Mushroom soup (condensed).
1 cup of brown rice or white rice.
1/2 of medium white onion (sliced).
1/2 of whole red bell pepper.
1 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper. (optional)
2 1/2 cups of water.
Salt
Black Pepper
In a slow cooker or crock-pot layer all the ingredients. Fisrt pour the water in, then the rice.
Next place two pieces of chicken ontop of the rice water mixture.
Next add one can of cream of mushroom soup. Add onion and bell pepper.
Add the last two pieces of chicken, pour the last can of soup and add the cayenne pepper.
With a spoon lightly mix the soup up with the cayenne pepper.
Last turn on the slow cooker to low and let it cook for 6-8 hours. You can cook it on high for 3-4 hours. The slower the chicken cooks the more tender the chicken will be.
To serve:
Remove chicken from the slow cooker. Scoop the rice and place it on a plate. The add some of the onion and red bell pepper on the rice. Place a piece of chicken on top. Scoop some of the soup and pour it on top of it all, Serve warm.
Ringed Nudibranch at the California Academy of Sciences, display tank for California Nudibranchs.
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is offering a special event for photographers. I have been to many aquariums. The more popular the aquarium the busier it is with visitor and guests. Sometime I wished that I had the aquarium to myself so I could film the exhibits without the interference of people walking in front of your lens or bumping you as you hold your camera still for that long exposure shot, because most aquariums don’t allow tripods, because tripods can trip and injure clumsy visitors.
Another plus to a photographers only night, is you can bring flashes, light boxes and any equipment that may require to plug in. Most of this equipment is prohibited at any other time at aquariums.
Sometimes the addition of people in the image make the photo. Here is an example that I took a couple years ago at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The addition of people made the image.
For more information read below or got to Aquarium of the Pacific Events. Continue Reading…
Merry Christmas 2009, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying their day with family and friends.
Magelan and I are enjoying Christmas in San Clemente this year with my Family. As you can tell from the image I took on Christmas Eve the weather is great.
Merry Christmas, and I hope Santa brought everything on your Christmas list.
AKRON Built, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
I took this image the other night right after I called 911. This Fire Truck arrived to investigate a blown transformer that took out the power on the entire city block. It was a good thing I called, soon after the Fire Department arrived the oil that was in the transformer caught fire and flames shot up over five feet at street level.
The transformer is located under the sidewalk about 50 feet from our house. When the transformer blow it made quite a loud noise, like a car slamming itself into a dumpster.
Our power was out from 9:30 PM Monday (coldest night of the year) until 3:00 PM on Tuesday. Our house was an ice box 45ºF inside the house, Brrrrr!
Today is the official start of Fleet Week in San Francisco. Yesterday was media day, and a practice for most of the scheduled demonstrations.
Here is a shot I took yesterday from the Golden Gate Yacht Club. 
This is a movie my wife put together of last years San Francisco Fleet Week 2008. Potos and the movie clips were shot by me, but she put it together for here third grade class.
San Francisco Fleet Week October 2008 from Goldi Loxs on Vimeo.
(VALs) can go a long way. a great video from the BYU shooting team shows some great lighting techniques and VALing with a monoblok Video
If you are fascinated in Astrophotography and how they do it, wired.com has a great article of how Rogelio Bernal Andreo does his Astrophotography. He walks you a quick tutorial of how it’s done and the equipment that he uses to make his fantastic images of the stars. Here is the link to Wired.com article “The Making of a Mind-Blowing Space Photo”.
My attempts have never show the results that Andreo has produced. The closest celestial body to earth is the only thing I can get a good image from in space.
Zack Arias an Atlanta based photographer was in New York City last September. While in NYC he took some time out from his busy shooting schedule and gave himself a little shooting assignment. He decided to take 10 portraits of 10 strangers in 10 hours. He found that most people can be receptive while others are scared of his glass.
Take a look at his work and how he approached his subjects. He includes a video so you can see as he put it “His Dork like approach”. Here is the link to his Blog post: Street Portraits :: NYC 09/2009 :: Video + Stills