Steve Jobs 1955-2011
Wednesday, 5 Oct 2011 | Apple
I was deeply saddened to hear of Steve Jobs' death today. I will truly miss him. I have to admit I would enjoy his enthusiasm showing off his products at the online keynote addresses. I was actually already sad when I heard he was stepping down as CEO of Apple.
I've had a love affair with Apple products for a long time. My first computer was an Apple IIe with a whopping 128K of RAM. My first Mac was a Macintosh Plus with a 20 MB serial hard drive which was excruciatingly slow by todays's standards, but at the time was like a magic box compared to the single density, one-sided 5.25 inch floppy drives. I had a pair of those hooked up to my IIe.
Over the years I have owned many Macs. I still love Apple computers. I use a Mac Pro now with a 30 inch Cinema Display. I have an iPhone and an iPad. I love them all. They help me to express myself every day.
Thank you, Steve, for touching my life in a very personal way although I never met you in person.
LA County Fair with Aly
Thursday, 22 Sep 2011 | Friends
Yesterday, I had very enjoyable time at the LA County Fair with my friend Judy, her daughter Elaine and her granddaughter Aly. It's always been strange to me they call it the Los Angeles County Fair but it's held in Pomona. I feel like Pomona is more the Inland Empire than Los Angeles, but I guess it's technically in Los Angeles County.
I had never met Elaine or Aly before, so it was a treat. Now I just need to meet Serena and I'll have met all four of Judy's daughters. I rode in the back of the car with five year old Aly. For the first 20 minutes or so, Aly was completely quiet. She didn't utter a peep and just looked at me with her huge eyes and made mouth gestures. But once she was more familiar with me, she opened up just fine. She yelled out when she saw a roller coaster on the way. It was at a miniature golf amusement park beside the freeway.
Aly had a simply marvelous time at the fair. She ate a chocolate ice cream cone, tried shave ice, fed sheep and goats, ran a hay maze, ate popcorn, rode on a kiddie roller coaster, but most importantly, she got to ride a pony! Riding a pony can bring a special joy to a little girl. The kind of joy I wish I could muster at my age. The smile on Aly's face atop the beautiful pony gives me incentive to enjoy each day more fully. With age we gain wisdom, but sometimes children can help us adults put things into perspective. I want to not take things for granted and live in the moment, in the present and not worry what tomorrow holds.
To end our day, we stopped at In-N-Out for dinner. I bought Aly a Neapolitan milkshake, where they put vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavors in one shake. It's very cool because you can taste the individual flavors as you drink. Aly loved it. I told her the changing flavors were magical.
Relaxing Day at Disneyland
Tuesday, 13 Sep 2011 | Disneyland
After photographing a very late wedding at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on Saturday, I met up with my friend Tony at Disneyland on Sunday. It was a fun and relaxing time since Tony and I broke off from his wife and children to explore the parks on our own and take pictures. I showed him the sights and acted as an informal tour guide for the day. I didn't shoot much during the day, but later in the afternoon and evening I did bring out my camera to capture a few images. Tony mentioned fond memories riding the then white rocket ships which used to be located on the platform where the People Movers loaded. So, I said, "Let's go on the Astro Orbitors to relive your childhood." We rode them once before sunset and once again after dark. That's when I got the idea to capture the motion and lights of the ride. I thought my 50mm lens would create too tight of an image to get a good result, but I ended up quite happy with the image. You never know how nicely a photograph will turn out until you give it a try!
Southern California Wedding Photographer : Michael Fletcher Photography
Friday, 2 Sep 2011 | Photography
I use this blog to post personal information which might be interesting to people, but mostly, it serves as an online pictorial journal for me to reminisce about fun things I've done in my life and my interests which inlude Disneyland, travel, food, cooking, family and photography.
If you are newly engaged or plannning a wedding, please visit my wedding photography site. If you like my photographic style, I'd love to meet to discuss your wedding. I simple love capturing the joy of a wedding day!
Disneyland Plaza Inn Fried Chicken
Friday, 2 Sep 2011 | Disneyland
When I'm at Disneyland and I feel like some good old comfort food, I love to get the fried chicken at the Plaza Inn located just off the hub at the end of main street. The fried chicken is surprisingly good for amusement park fare and it's quite filling as well. If you and your spouse are not terribly hungry, you can share this meal. Another perk of eating at the Plaza Inn is you get refills on your soft drinks. That's a great thing on a hot summer day! There's another favorite food item Toni and I love that is located nearby this eatery which I'll blog about on a later post. Bon apetit until then.