Balboa Park - Ceramics and Orchids

Balboa Park is a park with character. Museums, gardens, entertainers, music, arts and crafts -- you name it, something is always going on each day. On one fine "May Gray" day, I specifically went to the Spanish Village in Balboa Park to check out the "Mudfest". At first thought, you are probably thinking, "Oh, people getting dirty, rolling around in mud". Well, not quite. It was an event held where potters, both inexperienced and experienced, could get their hands dirty with clay to create forms and shapes from their imagination. What an incredible idea? What better way to entice people to enjoy the world of ceramics by getting them to play with clay. It was an amazing sight. I spent the first part of the morning, watching various potters throw in the wheel. I even checked out several studios and was awed by the amazing ceramic items. Ideas poured into my mind and I found myself lost in the studio, giving my utmost attention to each ceramic piece. I realized how many creative artists are out there and how far I need to go. If anything, it has given me more motivation.

The last part of the evening was spent taking pictured of orchids in the botanical garden.

Here are some of my favorite pictures. Enjoy!!!

Update:
So I have been looking at these pictures and I am realizing that I am not particularly feeling it anymore. Why? It feels like I have added "make-up" to these pictures. These sets of pictures were the first to go through the Lightroom presets. I had downloaded several and was testing them out. At the time I did it, I felt like they made sense, but now that I look at it more, I feel like these pictures are losing its essence, its simplicity. Something just does not feel right. While the composition is there, I am not too thrilled with the post-processing and the end-result. Call me old fashion, but I like the minimal touching to photos. I like the natural end-result. Maybe I will take this as my challenge to re-do these pictures and see how they show up the second time around - they way I would do it without presets, with no make-up on, the "el-natural" way. What do you think?

First competition

Title: SMILES
Category: Color - Portrait
Information: Children from the floating village of Tonde Sap lake of Cambodia.

Title: CALM
Category: Color - Beachscape
Information: Sunset at Windansea, La Jolla, San Diego.


Title: OAHU, Hawaii
Category: Color - Landscape
Information: Sunset in Oahu, Hawaii


Title: Apsara dancer
Category: Color - Architecture
Information: Apsara dancer from the walls of Angkor Wat ruins in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Title: STAMEN
Category: Color - Macro
Information: Colorful flower at Farmers market.


Title: MULTIPLICITY
Category: Color - Architecture
Information: Sculptures on the ruins/walls of the various Angkor Wat's in Siem Reap, Cambodia.


Title: VIBRANCE
Category: Color - Flora/Fauna
Information: Bleeding hearts flower.

We as artists, we are our own worst critiques. When art is done for pleasure, there is no self imposed pressure and the possibilities are endless. Any piece of work done in the name of fun, looks and feels good. The moment one turns it into a job or even entering competitions, the pressure is on. Suddenly, the same art seem to now look horrid in the artists own eyes. Why is that so? Is it because of the fact the work is now compared/judged against others? But wait, isn't art subjective? Why should we as artists care? Aren't we doing it for our own pleasure and its an added bonus when others enjoy it? But wait, I forgot one minor detail. Reality. Some people are out to make a business/living out of art. That changes something.

I am fortunately to be doing this as my pleasure/fun activity. I often wonder if I ever decide to go this route full time, will I enjoy it the same way? Hard to say. What if I were struggling to pay my bills because my art is not selling. So for now, I will enjoy it for what it is.

After much arm twisting, I put seven of my recent photographs into the Del Mar Fair. The process of getting the pictures printed, matting and mounting them was an interesting learning journey. Finally, all got done before the deadline and now its time to see which one of them (if any) will get selected. What do you guys think? Irrespective of whether my pictures gets selected or not, whether I win or not, I am happy that I finally put my pictures out there for people to judge/view. In my mind, I have already won. How? While dropping my pictures at the fair, the lady who was processing my forms/pictures, stopped a few seconds and stared at couple of my pictures. She looked up to me and said, "Wow". If there is one person I have impacted through my pictures, then my job as a photographer is accomplished. I have spoken without words to the world. Now that is pure bliss in my books!

Enjoy the pictures!

And oh, on a side note, one of my hand-built teapots got accepted into the fair under the 3-D ceramic category. You can view it in my previous blog called "Pottery" or click on this link.

Bucket-handle medial menisectomy

I tore my medial meniscus. MRI showed that there was tear. Arthroscopy surgery confirmed partial medial meniscus tear. The type of tear is called "buckle-handle". Its a longitudinal tear on the medial side of the meniscus where the torn flap now moves like a bucket handle. The torn meniscus was lodged against my intercondylar notch, which was causing my knee some sharp pain, and occasional locking/bucking. The location of the tear was in an area where there was limited blood supply so repairing was not an option. 50% of my medial meniscus was trimmed and the arthroscopy surgery was claimed a success.

Lots of medical terms? Thanks to my anatomy class, I actually know what they are talking about. Medical world is fascinating. The advancements that have been made in the last few decades have been colossal. 15 years ago, a menisectomy meant, split opening the knee with a huge surgical cut that was with you for life. Recovery was 3 months starting with a cast on your knee. Today, its three mere surgical incisions and one can walk out the same day after surgery. Recovery time is 3-6 weeks with vigorous PT. With the advent of the Internet, lots of information is available online, so needless to say, I went searching for information. The link below shows the EXACT surgery I had. Amazing information and incredible video. What can I say, I am constantly in the quest for knowledge.

Right knee arthroscopy with partial medial meniscectomy for bucket-handle meniscus tear.


Who is to say that in another 10 years, we will have technology that will re-generate torn tissues? Imagine using a syringe to inject stem cells into the torn meniscus and weeks later, you have good as new meniscus again? I know the day is not to far. Medical world is a fascinating world and my appreciation for what they do has just grown 10 folds.

The moments

People have high expectations when it comes to wedding photography. Quite understandably so. The moments that occur during those few hours seems so darn precious that you really want the photographer to capture every second of it. Problem is, there are so many moments to capture. Where is the paparazzi when you really need em? .

Here are some non-traditional wedding pictures that I took at my good friends wedding in NY last month. I use the term non-traditional because, all these pictures don't really capture the "traditional" wedding poses. Its the ones that seem to go unnoticed but not quite -- I saw them. So here they are, the "moments" that captured my eyes.

Enjoy!