Leo Carillo State Beach around sunrise, April 2008

We camped this weekend at Leo Carillo State Beach. I woke up early Sunday morning and went down to the beach to catch the sunrise. I was pleased to find the beach completely deserted. Empty. Devoid of humans. The sky was especially nice that day so I ended up with some pleasant shots, though I guess I still prefer deserted alleyways in foreign cities late at night over mountains and beaches and forests and sunsets and sunrises.

Joshua Tree National Park, April 2008

We spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday at Joshua Tree. We have gone soft so didn't camp, rather we spent Saturday night at the Holiday Inn Express in Twentynine Palms and had a decent BBQ dinner at the nearby "Mr. Rib."

My favorite pictures from the weekend are accessible here.

Saturday afternoon we drove into the park and spent the time around sunset in the area near the Jumbo Rocks campground.

We spent Sunday morning walking the Barker Dam loop. We had a bit of adventure when the youngest member of our party wasn't looking where they were going and got a little too close for comfort to a rattlesnake. Fortunately someone else saw the snake when it reared its head and sounded the alarm and we retreated to a safe distance. The snake slithered into a bush and then eventually slithered out. I hung around to take some pictures when it slithered out of the bush, but decided to make my exit when it abruptly changed direction, raised its head and started coming toward me...

Then we went to Hidden Valley and had lunch. Finally we headed out, taking the south entrance to get to the I-10, and stopping at the Cholla Cactus Garden and the Ocotillo Patch.

Seoul, April 2008

I spent a couple of days in Seoul last week. As usual, I had a little extra time to wander around and take pictures. The results are up in galleries under my Korea category:
http://canghuixu.smugmug.com/Korea

I was most pleased with the night pictures from Insadong and Myeongdong. There were lots of street vendors selling intriguing looking snacks from carts and stalls, which always makes for a nice picture. Also lots of narrow alleys and walkways with lots of signage.

And you can view a selection of my own favorites here.

One pleasant surprise during this trip was coming across a shop opened by textile designer Shin Young Mi, selling her silk scarves and ties. I bought one of her ties on a previous trip to Seoul, I think last year or the year before. Some of her work was being sold in a section devoted to contemporary Korean designers in the museum shop in the newly-built national museum. I saw one of her ties and was transfixed. I bought it and have been wearing it to meetings and giving presentations. It is so overwhelming that no one remembers what I say during presentations, after I am finished all they remember is my tie. On this trip, I happened to wander through Ssamziegil and while passing one shop I saw a tie very much like the one I had bought in the national museum. I went in, and it turned out it was Shin Young Mi's shop Artger, where she was selling a variety of her designs. I ended up buying three more ties and a scarf. If you like to wear art, not just hang it on a wall, next time you are in Seoul I recommend you go to Ssamziegil and find Shin Young Mi's Artger!

Another pleasant surprise in Insadong was coming across the Dolsilnai store. Dolsilnai makes 'contemporary' traditional Korean clothing, i.e. contemporary designs inspired by hanbok that you can wear everyday.

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, April 2008

We went up to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve today. The display was one of the best in years, probably because we have had somewhat more rain this year than in some of the past years. Also our timing in terms of our visit may have been better than in past years. There is a narrow window in April when the poppy blooms are at the their most spectacular.

For a change of pace, I brought along the amazing 70-200L f4 IS. This was probably not the best lens for the situation, maybe a wide would have been better for the landscapes, and a macro better for the close-ups, but I wanted to see what I could do. I was pleased with the results. This lens always delivers incredible sharpness and vibrancy, at least in close-up work. I should have brought a lens hood, but hey, what can you say. It was interesting walking around because there were a lot of people on the trail with much better cameras and lenses, I am really curious to see what kind of results they managed.

There is a selection of favorite photos here:
http://canghuixu.smugmug.com/keyword/4669677-favorite

And the gallery itself is here:
http://canghuixu.smugmug.com/gallery/4669677_rCfoH

The map view worked out really nicely, you can see clearly where on the trail each picture was taken:
http://maps.smugmug.com/?feedType=geoAlbum&Data=4669677_rCfoH

This was my favorite shot of the day:

Enjoy!