Who Yu?

Chase Field panoramic (Diamondbacks vs. Brewers) and photography in stadiums.

Daniel Yu — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:40:11 +0000

Panoramic photo of Chase Field stitch from four photos.

I’ve just attended an Arizona Diamondbacks versus Milwaukee Brewers game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve originally wanted to take my Canon EOS 7D to capture some action shots of the game. After browsing on the D-back’s website about what their cameras regulations were, I decided to only take my Canon Powershot SD750. On the D-backs website it states, “…non-professional still cameras for personal use may be brought into Chase Field…”(http://bit.ly/9S3SKu) Apparently the regulations vary with the different ball teams in the MLB. I would recommend that you check the teams website to find out what they allow, before you bring out your DSLR and have to leave your valuable camera in your car during the game.

With only my point and shoot, I decided to not take action sports shots and play around with panoramic photos. I’ve photographed 4 photos for this single image. I like to rotate my camera to take panos portrait style to capture a greater vertical range. Which I end up cropping parts of it. I usually use Adobe Photoshop CS3 to stitch together my panos. I just happen to have a demo version of Adobe Photoshop CS5 which has an awesome feature called “context sensitive fill”. After stitching together the photos and cropping a portion of the image, I “fill” in some of the missing areas using the “context sensitive fill” and ba-ba-bing, I have my panoramic of Chase Field stitched together from four photos taken by hand holding my point & shoot SD750.

Unfortunately for the D-backs, they lost the game 3 to 17.

Falling Leaves

Daniel Yu — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:02:06 +0000

While traveling around Arizona for work, I had the opportunity to work in the Big Lake Recreation Area located in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in eastern Arizona. I was even more fortunate to be there in October, with the leaves changing colors.

Big Lake Road (Big Lake Recreation Area, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest) with leaves falling from the aspen trees

Nathan Road Lights

Daniel Yu — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:19:21 +0000

Wonderful lights along Nathan Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s changing Cityscape

Daniel Yu — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:43:30 +0000

Hong Kong is constantly growing and changing. A portion of the ocean near the Central District of Hong Kong Island was reclaimed as part of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation. This will be used to construct the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and other transportation needs.

Night skyline

Daniel Yu — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:28:49 +0000

it’s been a while since I’ve posted to this blog. i am going to attempt to post a lot more this year. However, my post will probably be mostly photos with a small amount of text.

This photo is of the Hong Kong skyline at night. The photo was taken from my iPhone and it is actually several photos stitched together with the iPhone app, AutoStitch.

Bogen Imaging’s Capturing the Brilliance of Fall webinar

Daniel Yu — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:58:37 +0000

Webinar has been rescheduled to Monday, October 5, 2009 from 2 PM to 3 PM EST.
Bogen Imaging is offering the webinar, Capturing the Brilliance of Fall on Friday, September 18, 2009 from 2 PM to 3 PM EST. The free webinar has professional photographer Adam Barker as the guest speaker. He will be speaking on how to take photos of the beautiful Fall foliage including composition, exposure, filters and lens selection.

All attendees are eligible to win one of three National Geographic Earth Explorer Large Shoulder Bags. For more information and to register for this free event at Bogen Imaging.

Mt. Tamalpris & California Sunsets

Daniel Yu — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:11:57 +0000

After the morning photography, we headed back to the hotel and download the photos. We had to choose five photos to submit for critiques and one photo to be printed on a Canon imagePROGRAF iPF5100 large format printer. The images that everybody had printed were beautiful. Even though we were all in the same areas, everybody had different photos. As the day progressed, we learned about hyperfocal distance and using reflectors. In the evening we drove out to Mt. Tamalpris and took photos of the area. From our location on Mt. Tamalpris, we could see the marina at Sausalito and the city of San Francisco over the Marin hills. Afterwards we, drove a little further to Bollus Point on Mt. Tamalpris to take sunset photos. After the sun set, we all headed back home to conclude our extremely long day and great workshop.

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Eucalyptus Forest, Marin, California

Daniel Yu — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:44:50 +0000

After shooting photos early morning at Muir Beach, we headed north on Highway 1 and stopped off along the highway to an area with eucalyptus trees growing everywhere. The eucalyptus forest was partially covered by a mysterious and beautiful fog. We got to shoot wonderful and amazing photos around the trees and in the rain.

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Landscape Workshop – Sunrise

Daniel Yu — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:14:08 +0000

I had participated in Canon’s Live Learning Landscape Photography workshop taught by Jennifer Wu. It was a great workshop even though I had to wake up at 3:30AM. We had to meet in Larkspur, California to start at 5:00 AM in the morning. After some introductions and we had a chance to borrow some Canon gear, we left the hotel at 5:30 AM for Muir Beach. We got to shoot photos of the beautiful beach with amazing fog during sunrise. I made the mistake of trying to pack light, as I flew from Tucson, Arizona. I left my tripod behind and only took my monopod. The problem I had was with the early hours and little available light, we needed slower shutter speeds which did not work well with a monopod. A lot of my photos came out soft to blurry from motion. Thus I’ve learn one of my most important lessons in shooting sunrise photography, bring a tripod! I just need a opportunity to return to this beautiful location to try to shoot more photos.

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San Francisco Chinatown Photowalk

Daniel Yu — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:15:07 +0000

I had the opportunity to participate in Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk in the beautiful city of San Francisco. I have wander thru the various streets in San Francisco’s Chinatown numerous times, each time I see something new and interesting. If you are interested in photography, I recommend that you try a photowalk, it’s a fun event and you get to meet some great people. Here are some photos I took from my photowalk.

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San Francisco’s Embarcadero

Daniel Yu — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:56:14 +0000

San Francisco is a photogenic city. This is the first time I really got to spend some time at the Embarcadaro.

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Cookie Factory

Daniel Yu — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:25:02 +0000

Hidden in a little alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown is the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. Located on Ross Alley, this little place has been making fortune cookies since the 1960’s. The ladies pull the cookies off of the hot press and place a fortune in them before they form it on a metal bar. The cookies are then placed on a cooling rack.

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown San Francisco.

Cafe Bogen’s Adventure Sports Photography Webinar

Daniel Yu — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:03:45 +0000

Are you interested in learning how to shoot Adventure photography? Cafe Bogen of Bogen Imaging is hosting an Adventure Sports Photography webinar on Friday, July 17, 2009 from 2 PM to 3 PM EST. The free webinar has professional photographer Michael Clark as the guest speaker. He will be speaking on adventure photography fundamentals, which includes light, autofocus, histograms, and exposure. Michael will also cover artificial lighting, choosing photography equipment & outdoor gear, and how to shoot the different adventure sports, including rock climbing, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking.

All attendees are eligible to win one of three Gitzo Traveler Series 2 Carbon Fiber 6X Monopods. For more information and to register for this free event at Bogen Imaging.

Bogen Imaging’s Budget Safari Webinar

Daniel Yu — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:38:21 +0000

Cafe Bogen of Bogen Imaging is hosting a webinar for Friday, June 19, 2009 from 2 PM to 3 PM EST. The webinar is “A Budget Safari – Wildlife Photography at Your Local Zoo” which covers how to shoot through fences and glass partitions; gear selection; and best times to visit. The webinar is hosted by David Fisher and Julie Larsen Maher, who is a Wildlife Conservation Society Staff Photographer. For more information and to register for this free event at Bogen Imaging.

Fiery Desert Sky

Daniel Yu — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:42:12 +0000

Tucson has some beautiful sunsets. My favorites are when the sky turns into bright fiery red and orange. When we get partially cloudy days, the clouds just intensify the colorful sky.

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Canon Live Learning Workshops

Daniel Yu — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:50:39 +0000

Canon has started a series of educational Live Learning events around the US. The Canon Live Learning is for photographers who are interested or use Canon EOS DSLR products.
The EOS Essential event is a one day mini-conference and a optional hands-on workshop. The mini-conference will cover “Maximizing Your EOS”, “EOS Speedlite System Creativity and Techniques”, “EOS HD Video Basics”, and “Landscape and Nature Photography”. The optional workshop are lead by Canon Explorer of Light photographers and they will cover shooting HD video, Canon Speedlite, and landscape photography. The workshop is limited to 16 people and Canon will have gear available for participants to try out.
Canon also has a EOS Extras weekend instruction event which offers more extensive hand-on training.
There is a charge for all the events.
For more information on Canon Live Learning: http://www.usa.canon.com/canonlivelearning

Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk

Daniel Yu — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:16:22 +0000

On July 18, 2009, Scott Kelby is putting on his second Worldwide Photo Walk. Currently there are 523 photo walks around the world organized for that day. So there should be one near you. A photo walk is a event where photographers get together and walk around a area taking pictures. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to participate, it’s open to anybody from beginners to pros. It’s just a fun event to get out and take some pictures of the area. You get to meet other people, learn from each other and have fun.
I’ve signed up for a event in San Francisco Chinatown. I just so happen to be there for Canon’s Live Learning workshop.
For more information and to sign up, check out http://worldwidephotowalk.com/

My Photography Gear

Daniel Yu — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:24:07 +0000

Here’s a list of the gear and gadgets I use for photography

Canon Digital Rebel XT
Canon Speedlight 430EX
Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens
Canon EW78BII Lens Hood for Canon EF28-135mm Lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/2.5-5.6 lens
SBM Supreme Light Diffuser
B+W 72mm #102 0.6 Neutral Density Filter
Manfrotto tripod
Manfrotto 676B monopod with Manfrotto 234RC Swivel-Tilt head
Ultrapod Digital mini-tripod
Apple MacBook Pro 17″
Adobe Photoshop CS3 (part of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium)
Apple Aperature 2
Apple iPhoto 09 (part of iLife 09 suite)
Kata DR-467 Backpack
LowePro SLR Bag

Seven Falls, Tucson, Arizona

Daniel Yu — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:44:50 +0000

Seven Falls is located in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area which is part of the Coronado National Forest. It’s where water cascades down a steep rocky area comprising of seven seperate falls. There’s usually water around the area from August to May. The hike is around 8.1 miles round trip from the visitors center. I got a chance to hike this with 40 others thru my church, as we took a bunch of chinese students from the University of Arizona.

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Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum

Daniel Yu — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:24:47 +0000

Some say that Tucson is boring and there’s nothing to do here. But I beg to differ. Tucson has some of the most beautiful mountains and deserts in the United States. At least from all the places I’ve visited. The Tucson desert is not just barren sand dunes or open land with a few scraps of trees and other vegetation here and there. But Tucson is located in the Sonoran desert which has vast varieties of animals and vegetation.

US Postal Service - Nature of America Series

Last Friday, I spent my afternoon at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum Here’s a few of my photos from there.

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