Catch A Falling Star and Put it in Your Pocket

Lately, my bones have been aching for adventure. Maybe it's because I'm stuck at work indoors most of the week. Earlier this week I looked up the weather for Friday night and was excited to see clear skies in the forecast. So after I got off work Friday night around 10pm, I drove up to Malibu's El Matador State Beach just to star gaze and catch a glimpse of the milky way.

Of course I had to take photos of some star trails! This was only about 30 minutes of trails because the tide starting getting too high for us to stay. Funny how much my definition of a fun Friday night has changed since college.

Seattle Love

One morning, a few weeks ago, my sister and I were feeling down about recent events in our lives. My sister started talking about taking a trip, and I remembered seeing an email from Alaska Airlines for a 24 hour airline sale that morning...and before you know it we booked our tickets for a weekend trip to Seattle. Later that night I told my brother, and he joined too - sibling trip to Seattle! I was in Portland, Oregon a few months ago in May and I loved it, so I was ecstatic to have the chance to visit the Pacific Northwest again. 

Our first day was spent doing typical tourist things. We took a ferry to Bainbridge Island to grab a late brunch. We took a walk around the famous Pike Place Market, visited the Central Library, and went to the top of the Space Needle to see the sunset. While waiting for our time to get up to the Space Needle we stumbled upon a free concert (with free snacks!). Not bad, Seattle.

Feeling Tiny

The other night I decided to drive up to the Angeles National Forest with my best friend (and his dog) to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. We tried to watch it a few years ago, but it was cloudy. This night was perfect. I am so intrigued by astrophotography, so I decided to try my hand at it - especially since I had enough time to prepare.

I failed at photographing any meteors, but I did see a good amount in the sky. Fun fact, that streak in my photo is a satellite. 

Behind the mountains is the lovely, bright city of Los Angeles.

I also decided it was the perfect time to try out photographing star trails! I set up my camera and let it take multiple long exposures over a span of 1.5 hours. I wish I had been a little more patient and had taken more photos. But it's not too bad for my first attempt, I definitely want to try taking more. 

Laying down (on a very uncomfortable log) and staring at the stars felt surreal. I love places that make me feel tiny. They remind me how small my problems are. Life hasn't been easy for me lately. I'm in my twenties and I'm confused.

Staring up at the sky that night and staring at the vast amount of stars with my best friend - I couldn't help but feel so incredibly lucky for the life I have and for the people in it. The universe is so vast -- my little piece of the world is so small. My "problems" felt so tiny in comparison. I'm surrounded by love from my amazing friends and family, who have helped keep me grounded through everything going on in my life. I hate that I haven't been able to completely let go of my feelings of hurt and inadequacy, but that's why I'm writing this down. This is my catharsis. All I can do is keep growing and learning from these experiences, because "someday all this mess will make me laugh."

San Diego Daytrip

It's been a bit slow on this blog, but that's because I started a few weeks ago at my new job! And the few days off I have are spent out and about, since I'm stuck in doors for hours. But I finally decided to have a day to myself, which means going through some developed film! A few days ago Vanessa and I decided to take a day trip to San Diego to visit Kat and Missy! Took the opportunity to shoot some Medium Format and 35mm film.

We started the day with brunch at Snooze! Our waiter gave us a free sinful pancake, maybe cause Kat was in crutches? Haha, who knows. Brunch was delicious. Kat then took us to a beach in Del Mar, and took us on a tour of "ranch wives". San Diego is such a diverse place. After our visit with Kat, we headed more south to visit Missy.

Missy took us to North Park, a little hipster neighborhood for some ice cream. It's hard to tell from the photo, but we ordered a flight of ice cream! This changes everything.

We then got lost trying to go to Balboa Park. Most of the exhibits were closed, since it was a Monday, but it was nice to stroll around. The park reminded me a lot of the parks in Spain, especially in Barcelona with all the old architecture and buildings.

We ended the day with dinner at Seaport Village, and a very quick stroll (because it was cold and we didn't have proper jackets).

Mamiya 645 1000s in Santa Monica

I got my hands on a Mamiya 645 1000s to try out medium format film. The camera is a bit cumbersome, but I'm sure with more use I'll become more used to all the functions. It was also my first time using 120 film, which resulted in a slight light leak in the first photo because I didn't know how to seal the film after taking it out of the camera properly...oops! 

It was a beautiful day in Santa Monica. It rained the day before, which meant the usually smoggy LA air was clearer than usual and the sun decided to come out and play.

I loved how this woman was basking in the sun, but I tried to keep my distance to not be rude or creepy.

If you've ever driven down PCH by Santa Monica you've probably noticed that pink and purple house. I love how the "Barbie" colored house right next to the all black house, it's an interesting juxtaposition.

All photos taken with Kodak Ektar 100 120 film.

A Day at LACMA

On President's day weekend I decided to have a solo museum day. It was a free museum day at LACMA because of the holiday, so it was the perfect opportunity. I loved visiting museums on my own when I was in France and Spain, so I decided why not go to museums on my own back home? I also wanted to take out my old Canon AE-1 becaue I enjoy shooting film, plus I wanted to try out the ol' sunny 16 rule, to help develop my understanding of exposure. Also, if some of the shots look washed out...it's because I'm terrible at winding film and accidentally opened the film back before finishing winding the film, at least the photos aren't completely ruined!

Ah yes, the famous Urban Lights -- loved by locals and tourists alike. I was being a creep and people watching from afar haha. The second photo was taken moments before the couple kissed.

I took a few moments between exhibits to admire the architecture of the Museum. The last time I visited LACMA was 4 years ago to see the Tim Burton exhibit! I recognized a few exhibits, but I discovered a new exhibit that I fell in love with -- Larry Sultan's photography exhibit. I could've spent hours on the floor admiring his amazing photos he took of his parents and his Los Angeles. I want to get my hands on his "Here is Home" book.

If you're interested in more classical art, the Hammer Building contains a large collection. It reminded me a scaled down version of the Prado museum in Madrid, but I did get a little lost walking around.

I spent the rest of my visit walking around the grounds and searching for the infamous Levitating Mass ~exciting. 

All photos shot on Ilford Delta 100 35mm film.

Blooming Tea

I love a good cup of tea in the morning. There's something calming about the "ritual" of making tea--waiting for the water to come to a boil, the smell of tea leaves, watching the tea steep. I recently decided to buy some blooming tea from Teavana (Peach Momotaro Blooming Tea to be exact). Watching the flower bloom isn't very exciting, but it's so lovely when it's open.

I tried playing with off-camera flash. Artificial light is so difficult, but it's all a learning process. Photographing glass is also difficult without a polarizing filter because of all the reflections. I tried to remove some glare...just don't look too closely :p