Surfing

17 Jun 2013•Devyn, Places, Travel

Devyn getting some instruction on how to stand up on the surf board.

Which way to the beach?

Even before we moved to the Santa Barbara area, we had talked about taking a surfing lesson. Now that we have a few months under our belt, we thought it would be a good idea to get at least one try in before the kids and Chris head back to Portland for a summer break.

After asking a few friends, we ended up at the A-Frame Surf Shop in Carpinteria, CA. Both friends had been there before and highly recommended them.

Our instructor Rob was great. He gave us some great instructions on the beach and walked us through the process of going from being prone on your stomach to standing up on the board. After about 20 minutes, we were ready to hit the water.

Up on the first try

This is more of a testament to Rob’s teaching skill and his approach than to my surfing prowess. But, after paddling out maybe 20 yards (we were still in waist-deep water), Rob spotted a nice easy wave, guided me into it and then told me when to start the process of standing up. All the while, he was keeping the board steady from behind. Eventually, he let go, but not before he made it seem really easy.

Me getting up on the board on my first try – all credit goes to Rob, our instructor!

So you can see Rob in the water behind me in the photo above. I think I’m about 30 feet away from the shore when Chris took this picture. Later in the lesson, we went out a bit farther and I was able to ride a wave in all on my own and it was a blast. Granted, I wiped out plenty of times because I forgot the stand up sequence and pulled my hands up too soon before I had my balance. Or I had my front foot to one side of the board instead of in the middle. All things that I’m hoping I’ll learn in good time.

Devyn had no fear and did a great job on her first surfing outing!

Surfer Girl

Devyn was a natural in the water. She absolutely loved it and had a great time. So much, that she asked if she could get a wet suit and surf board for Christmas!

Another great ride by Devyn!

Midway Mania Family Champ

16 Jun 2013•Places, Travel

Chris claimed the high score for the family in our most recent trip to California Adventure.

Chris now holds the title of “Current Family Champ – Midway Mania”. I’m looking to reclaim the title in the Fall when we return to Disneyland.

San Francisco

30 May 2013•Devyn, Nathan, Places, Travel

Chris and Melanie at the Marin Headlands.

Getting out of Dodge

For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to get out of Santa Barbara for a few days. So we packed up the kids and the car and drove 5 hours north to San Francisco! We were fortunate enough to be able to visit with our very good friend Melanie, who was gracious enough to let us stay with her family for a couple of nights and to serve as tour guide!

Marin Headlands

I just sold my 4 year old Canon 5D Mk II camera and picked up a new Canon 6D so I was really looking forward to getting some shots of the Golden Gate Bridge. I really wanted to shoot it from Kirby Cove. But was too much of a hike for the kids we had in tow.

Instead, we were able to find a parking spot up at the top of the Marin Headlands (Hawk Hill?) and that is where I took the photo above of Chris and Melanie. I have a couple of other photos, but I’m not entirely excited about them. Maybe I’ll post those later. We did walk through one of the tunnels on the hill though and we were treated to this beautiful view. I’m sure this road has been in a zillion car commercials.

View from the backside of the Marin Headlands.

Dinner with Friends

After hitting the Golden Gate bridge and driving down Lombard Street, we headed back out towards the suburbs and went to Walnut Grove for dinner. Here are some pictures from dinner.

Devyn and Macy.

Eli.

Macy.

Day 2

On our second day, we spent the early afternoon on Alcatraz Island where the kids had a lot of fun exploring. Actually, we all had a really good time! I’d highly recommend going and doing the guided audio tour. It’s included in the price of admission and it was very informative. After Alcatraz, we were able to meet up with Chris’ step-sister Inger and her mom Signa and Inger’s two kids. After hitting Ben & Jerry’s for some ice cream, we went up to Coit Tower and then out to dinner.

Quick note if you go up to the top of Coit Tower, it’s a long line and crowded elevator ride to get to the top. Once there, it can be tricky getting a photo because they have very reflective plexiglass installed for safety. I like this picture of the tower at night and from the ground.

Coit Tower at night.

Here’s a family shot taken around 9pm. I used a trick I learned from Joe McNally to light this. Rather than pointing the flash at everybody directly, I crouched down in front of a white garage door, turned the flash so it pointed at the door and then took the picture. The light reflects off of the garage and provides a much nicer source of light for the group photo. Try it sometime!

On a side note, this photo was taken after an utterly amazing and fantastic dinner at Original U.S. Restaurant. I had no idea how good or bad it would be going in. It was packed with customers which is always a good sign, but the food was beyond what I had expected. Get the Ravioli with Bolognese sauce. You won’t be disappointed.

The whole gang!

Day 3

For our last day in San Francisco, we wanted to take the kids on the Cable Cars. We tried to outsmart everybody by catching the trolly up a few stops from the start of the line, but we went too far and each car was too full. So we went back down to the beginning of the line and the line there was 45 minutes. So…we walked up 2 blocks and got on the next car no problem!

Devyn sees the next Cable Car coming!

Nathan waiting patiently for the next Cable Car.

Kids on the Cable Car!

Wrapping Up

We wrapped up the day down at the end of the Cable Car line in Fisherman’s Wharf and swung by Ghirardelli Square. Honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed with Ghiradelli Square. I can say I’ve been there, but I can say that I won’t be rushing to go back. Maybe if we were going to hit the Maritime Museum, but otherwise, I don’t think so.

All and all, it was a great trip. Great seeing family and friends!

Santa Barbara Mission + Beach

6 Mar 2013•Places, Travel

On Sunday of this weekend, we decided to check out the famous Santa Barbara Mission. It’s pretty easy to find. Off the 101, just take the Mission Street exit and turn towards the mountains. Follow Mission all the way up and you’ll see it on the left. Can’t miss it.

The kids at the Santa Barbara Mission. © Mike Wong

There’s a lot of history behind this Mission. I won’t go into it here because, well, this isn’t a blog about the Mission. You can read about it here. All I can really say about it is that I think it’s worth checking out. Especially if you’re not from the area or if you’re just passing through. It’ll set you back $5 per adult to the non-guided tour. Throw in another $3 if you want a docent to give you some insider information.

Cemetery at the Old Mission of Santa Barbara. © Mike Wong

4,000 people buried here? Where?

While on the self-guided tour, we walked through the cemetery where there is an incredibly large fig tree. Near the fig tree, there was a sign saying there were 4,000 people buried in this cemetery. I can’t even imagine where they buried them all. Regardless, I thought I tried to take an HDR photo handheld. I haven’t really tried to do much of this type of photography either handheld or with a tripod. If I’m objective about it, the above photo really isn’t all that great. I’ll file it under “you’ve got to start somewhere”, but I processed it with Nik Software’s HDR efex Pro 2 and while this isn’t a software review, it’s one of the more intuitive HDR applications I’ve tried–and I’ve tried them all.

Super Rica Taqueria

After the Old Mission, we hit La Super Rica Tacqueria on Milpas Street. Great food, but I prefer Los Agaves just down the street. While we were waiting, I grabbed a couple of pictures of Nathan and Devyn. I’ve been shooting primarily with my 50mm lens to push myself to get more creative in how I frame pictures without the ease of just turning the zoom ring. Shooting with just a prime has been a lot of fun and something I used to think wouldn’t be of interest to me, but now that the kids really aren’t playing a lot of sports, a zoom may not be in my future.

Which way to the beach?

After lunch, it was time to hit the beach. We drove down to the harbor, got lucky with some parking near a bunch of wine tasting shops (note to self: find a baby sitter!) and then walked along the beach for a while and let the kids play.

Soakin’ up the sun. © Mike Wong

Beautiful day in sunny Santa Barbara. © Mike Wong

Seal Sanctuary in Carpinteria

5 Mar 2013•Places, Travel

Adult and baby seals basking in the sun. © Mike Wong

We decided to be tourists this weekend and head down to Carpinteria to see the Carpinteria Seal Rookery. If you decide to go there yourself, here’s how you get there. Take the Bailard Avenue exit and turn towards the ocean. You’ll run into a small parking lot so just park there and then start along the trail heading north. You’ll walk the length of the trail until it appears to end at which point, you’ll turn towards the ocean.

Look both ways

As turn towards the ocean and cross the railroad tracks, be sure to look both ways to avoid the Amtrak Surfliner. It’s a great way to ruin your day so absolutely look before you leap. After you cross the tracks, continue North along the path. You’ll run into the lookout point if you do this. Can’t miss it. We went on a weekend and there was a docent there who was very friendly and happy to give out some information on the seals. They also had some binoculars on hand to loan out so if you forget yours, you’ll be set. You’ll need the binoculars too because you cannot get anywhere near the seals from this lookout point. The photo above was taken with a 200mm zoom lens and even then, you can’t see too much without cropping into the photo.

If you’ve got kids, it’s a fun little trip. I can’t imagine staying there much longer than the 15 minutes we did though. On the walk back to the railroad tracks, you’ll see a path that leads down to a beach (where presumably, there are no seals). I think the next time I go here, I’ll cruise down the path and check out the beach.

From the bluff though, you get a beautiful view of the Carpinteria coast line.

Carpinteria Coast © Mike Wong

Of course, I have to post a couple of pictures of the kids.

Nathan checking out the seals. © Mike Wong

Disneyland in February

25 Feb 2013•Devyn, Nathan, People, Places, Travel

Radiator Springs ride in the new Cars Land. © Mike Wong

As I mentioned in my last post, it was time for us to get out of Dodge and have some fun. So off to Disneyland! One of the things we wanted to see was the new Cars Land attraction and we were not disappointed. The kids absolutely loved the Radiator Springs ride and they said it was their favorite ride at either California Adventure or Disneyland!

The kids on the Tow Mater ride. © Mike Wong

The Tow Mater ride looked harmless, but it was actually a bit rough. The cart that you ride in the back whips you around pretty hard. Chris and I were smashing into each other the entire time while we laughed and then tried to catch our breath. I was holding my new GoPro HD Hero 3 camera filming the event and just as I turned it off, we got whipped around and the camera flew from my hands. Luckily though, the case was on it and it came out unharmed.

Details

Like everything at Disneyland, it’s amazing at the level of detail that the artists at Disney put into every aspect of the park. Here are some of the details that I really enjoyed while waiting for the Tow Mater ride.

Amazing detail in this license plate that I bet most people never notice. © Mike Wong

Another license plate. Love the detail. © Mike Wong

Portraits of the kids

In between all of the running around, I was able to grab a couple of nice portraits of the kids.

Twilight at California Adventure

We walked back and forth between California Adventure and Disneyland about 5 times. According to my Nike+ Fuel Band, we walked over 20,000 steps. I don’t know exactly how many because somewhere just past 20,000, the battery died! But needless to say, we were exhausted. On our last trip back over to California Adventure for dinner and a ride on the big ferris wheel, we stopped at the Grizzly River Run to take a look at one of our favorite rides that was under renovation. Nathan loved seeing the infrastructure of the ride as the water was drained. The light was beautiful as the sun went down and I grabbed this shot of one of the main buildings that make up the Grizzly River Run.

Golden hour hits the Grizzly River Run ride. © Mike Wong

You press this button to take the picture

After I took this, I had Chris and the kids get lined up for a quick family photo (minus me of course) when a nice passerby offered to take our picture. I said “sure, that would be great!” As I handed her the camera, I showed her that if she pressed halfway on the shutter release it would focus and then after the beep, to press the button. I had already dialed in the shutter and aperture settings manually. All she had to do was prefocus and then shoot. I almost didn’t tell her because you never know how much experience someone has shooting, but I did.

Even though I gave her that info and she said “okay”, she still didn’t do it. And because it was getting dark and my screen is only so big, I couldn’t really tell that she did not in fact follow the simple instructions and she just pressed the shutter release without any focusing at all. I suppose I could partially, or fully, blame my camera which is going on 6 years old now and it’s ancient auto-focus system, but I’m going to put some of the responsibility on the unnamed photographer. 🙂

So we have another nice family portrait that is out of focus. Oh well. A quick run through Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and we turn that out-of-focus color image into a lovely black and white image.

The Wong family. Friendly photographer unknown. Edits by Mike Wong

Do you see what I see?

I thought this was funny.

Reminds me of the Ted and Fred Road Trip book by Dr. Seuss. © Mike Wong

Last photo of the night

Finally as the night was winding down, Nathan stopped to grab a photo of the signature ferris wheel at California Adventure. I love getting candid photos of the kids when they’re not looking. This will go down as one of my favorites.