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America’s Cup in San Francisco?

Feb 212010

Sailing in the Bay

The BMW Oracle Racing Team, with their revolutionary wing sail powered trimaran, has won the 33rd America’s Cup off Valencia Spain by beating out the Swiss defending team, Alinghi. The Swiss team, who first won the cup in New Zealand in 2000 and then successfully defended it against Emirates Team New Zealand in 2007, was beaten in race 2 by a margin of 5 minutes and 26 seconds. This is the first time in 15 years that the trophy has been in the US and will make the Golden Gate Yacht Club the 28th american defender of the cup. The sponsoring club, the Golden Gate Yacht Club, traditionally would host the trophy and next race. However, with the local politics and logistics, the race could end up in San Diego or even Rhode Island.

Logistically, the question would be where could a sailing village be setup for competitors to stage their racing operations. This village would also have to be somewhere that competiting teams could get to despite the traffic in the bay. The event could bring in a lot of revenue for the city of San Francisco. Discussions between Ellison and Mayor Newsom have begun. Now the policitcs and special intrests will all come to the table should they decide to draw up initial plans and do a feasibility study.

As one who has sailed on the bay, I think this would be an excellent location to hold such a race…lets just hope that the various interests and politics don’t get in th way.

Yosemite Horsetail Falls

Photography 14 Responses »

Feb 192010

For a few days each year, usually in February when the conditions all align, one can witness one of nature’s magical shows, that of “fire water” coming off of Yosemite’s Horsetail Falls. This year, I had a chance to finally witness (and photograph) this amazing phenomenom.

The phenomenom of water coming off of Horsetails Falls looking like fire is a result of several conditions all aligning so nature can put on a show. The primary requirements are:

Sunshine
Sufficient water flow resulting from melting snow or rain
Alignment of Sun and Earth
Being at the right viewpoint at the right time of day

To estimate the timing of this event, which usually occurs for a few days during late winter/early spring, one can use a landscape photographer’s Adobe Air application , The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) by Stephen Trainor. This wonderful application overlays the solar/lunar paths on top of Google Maps satellite images to help one estimate when the sun/moon will rise/set over any given location. This year, a photographer named Michael Frye, estimated this would occur on February 18th, hence the timing of the trip to capture this event.

This phenomenom was orginally photographed by Ansel Adams in black and white, then in color by Galen Rowell. It was Galen Rowell’s photograph that made this a popular photo op to capture. This is evidenced by the numerous tripods at both of the popular spots in Yosemite to photograph this event. You can find these and other images of Yosemite at cchinstudios.zenfolio.com/yosemite.

Videoblogging

Web Design 5 Responses »

Feb 162010

In today’s “New Media” world, it seems people love streaming video and the like. We’ve all heard that a successful website, or one that draws a lot of attention, is one that has video content. Last night, I went to see a presentation by The Bui Brothers who advocated this, after all, its how they make their living(videos that is).

With the proliferation of free video hosting, such as YouTube, everyone is becoming a filmmaker. After all, its a quick, direct way to communicate or to get a message across. Most people who are part of the “New Media” age have at least one device that can take a video; an iPhone, a point and shoot camera, a DLSR, a video camcorder, a netbook, a notebook, a PC with a videocam, etc…

In terms of video editing, there’s lots of low cost or free programs. For example, if you have a Mac, it comes with iMovie and Garage Band. The combination of these two programs allows you to make some decent edits and compose a custom music score to go with your video. For something a little more robust, there’s Final Cut Pro on the Apple. In the PC world, the’s Premiere Elements, Premiere, Sony Vegas and a host of other programs for video editing and sound editing.

So what’s the bottom line? If you have video on your website, it’ll likely help attract the traffic you want to your website. For those of you who don’t like writing, what better way is there to get content for your website? Look out or my first video blog entry coming soon.

MacWorld 2010 – Day at the Expo

Technology Comments Off

Feb 132010

MacWorld 2010 sign

Recession? Despite Apple, Adobe and other vendors not being present and having only about half of the vendors (230 instead of 430)of the previous year, Macworld this year was fairly crowded (est attendance 26,000). Held in the North Hall of Moscone, the expo took noticably less display space. Marquee speakers included Guy Kawasaki, Leo Laporte and David Pogue (whose Missing Manual series I recommend).

MacWorld 2010 Main Stage

So what was hot this year? Surprisingly, not much. In one word, accessories, seemed to be the predominant focus. With the hype of the soon to be released iPad, though there were none on display anywhere, there were lines of accessories available already. For other Apple products, protective skins, touch gloves, speakers, cases and external batteries seemed like they were everywhere. The expo, without the buzz of the Apple presence, seemed to be missing its soul. Let’s see how this expo survives in the coming years.

Here’s a few walk-by shots taken with a point and shoot…

Skimble Girls

Clixtr Girl

MS's Steve Job's Look

Maverick’s Surfing Competition

Photography 3 Responses »

Feb 112010

The wait is over. This afternoon, the organizers of the Maverick’s Surf Competition announced that they’ll be holding the competition this Saturday, February 13th. Last year, mother nature provided a no show, but this year, its looking very promising. Waves on the western shores have been pretty large with all of the storm actuivity that we’ve recently been having. For those of us who have been waiting for a chance to photograph this event, Saturday is one of the worst possible days in terms of crowds. So what is Mavericks and whats the big deal?

Maverick’s is a big wave surf competition held at Mavericks located about one-half mile from the shore of Pilar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-By-The-Sea. Waves originate from the Gulf of Alaska and crest from 25 feet to over 50+ feet due to winter storms. The break is caused by an underwater rock formation located off the coast. The first big wave competition held at Mavericks was in 1999 when Darryl Virostko(“Flea”) won first place. Earlier in th 90s, a film entitled Waves of Adventure in the Red Triangle wa sproduced by filmmaker Gary Mederios.

Mavericks today is a by invitation only competition in which 24 of the worlds best big wave surfers are invited. The 24 invitees decided collectively on whether or not to call the competition once an appropriate swell is on the horizon. The waiting period, or period of time during which it is determined that the competition can be held, was extended this year to start earlier since in 2009, no contest was held. This years waiting period started on November 1, 2009 and was scheduled to end March 31, 2010.

This year, the organizers of the committee have provided four venues from which to view the competition.

Live Webcast
Flo TV
AT&T Park
Chartered boat tour

Of course, for those of you who are local, you can try to get to Pillar Point to view the contest from shore (bring binoculars or a long zoom lense). Unfortunately, this year, I will not be able to attend the competition…

Welcome

Uncategorized Comments Off

Feb 112010

Welcome to my personal photography website. On this site, I plan to share my photography and thoughts on the nexus on photography, technology, travel and food. My professional site, C Chin Studios can be found at www.cchinstudios.com.

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