Tag: blog

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Shot of the Week: Desert Shenanigans (Jawbone Canyon, USA)

Shot of the Week: Christmas Tree Burn in Jawbone Canyon 2015

Shot of the Week: Christmas Tree Burn in Jawbone Canyon 2015

What do you get when you combine fire, truckloads of Christmas trees, ample libations, a 10-ball roman candle, Santa, a full-size school bus, an acoustic guitar, and a ton of people you know — plus even more you don’t know — summing up to a crowd of (probably) over 100 people? (Did anyone count?)

A recipe for disaster? Maybe. But we survived. And the answer’s not Burning Man, either. But it’s similar… (read on to find out!)

The above photo was taken with the Sony a7s and Sony E 10-18 f/4 OSS.  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Desert Shenanigans (Jawbone Canyon, USA)”

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Pre-Trip Planning for Costa Rica [HELP US PLAN OUR TRIP!]

Costa Rica Pre-Trip Planning on North to South

Costa Rica Pre-Trip Planning on North to South

*Photo: “Costa Rica… No artificial ingredients!” by Arturo Sotillo (license: CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo has been cropped and text added.)

Ian and I will depart for our next big travel destination, Costa Rica, on February 14th (romantic, I know). It’s my first time to Central America, and I’m SO excited to be heading somewhere warm this winter!

The only problem is that we still need to decide what to do while we’re there. I have to admit that when it comes to pre-trip itinerary planning, Ian and I have historically taken a lackadaisical approach. The last time we had a long-term overseas trip approaching, we planned nothing beyond just getting to the place we were staying. Granted, we were CRAZY busy prepping for our transition to travel life, so we kinda had an excuse.

But this time? I want to be more prepared! Read on to see what we’ve planned so far. If you have any suggestions for us, we’d love to hear them! Share them with us while we’re planning our trip these next few weeks.  Continue reading “Pre-Trip Planning for Costa Rica [HELP US PLAN OUR TRIP!]”

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Intro to Hypermiling: How to Save Money & Increase Your Car’s MPG [Budget Travel Secrets]

How to Maximize Your MPG through Hypermiling

How to Maximize Your MPG through Hypermiling

What if you could stretch the gas in your tank an extra 50 miles? Or, even better, 100? This past summer Ian and I did just that by hypermiling our 2008 Yaris across the western U.S. — increasing our gas mileage by up to 25 percent! Want to learn how you can save substantially on gas money and get better mileage than the EPA’s estimate for your car? Well, read on, because that’s what I’m going to share with you here.  Continue reading “Intro to Hypermiling: How to Save Money & Increase Your Car’s MPG [Budget Travel Secrets]”

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Shot of the Week: Hump Day Jump Day (Malibu, USA)

Shot of the Week: Diana jump at Zuma Beach in Malibu, California

Shot of the Week: Diana jump at Zuma Beach in Malibu, California

The two of us have been keeping VERY busy this week prepping for the launch of our new photography website, The Photon Collective. As a result, we’ve visited a variety of landscapes. Lake Tahoe over the weekend, Rocky Peak on Monday… And on Wednesday, it was the beach, in my old college town of Malibu, California.

This week’s photo is a shot of me jumping as the daylight faded away at Zuma Beach. We’d just finished capturing some footage for our website’s video teaser, which we cut together last night! (Keep reading for the video at the bottom of this post.)

The above photo was taken with the Sony a7s and Sony 55mm f/1.8.  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Hump Day Jump Day (Malibu, USA)”

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Shot of the Week: Bonsai Beach Winter Sunset (Lake Tahoe, USA)

Shot of the Week: Bonsai Beach Winter Sunset (Lake Tahoe, USA)

Bonsai Beach Winter Sunset (Lake Tahoe, USA)

We’ve been spending this past week up around Lake Tahoe, and it’s been amazing! Since it hasn’t been brutally cold this trip, we’ve enjoyed the outdoors quite a bit: skiing, flying in a seaplane, taking photos… it’s been super relaxing. (And our little Yaris is doing just fine with no snow or ice on the roads!) When choosing this week’s photo, I wanted to share the chilly, calm feeling of winter in Lake Tahoe, and I think this shot captures it perfectly.

This week’s shot is a photo of me that Ian took this afternoon.  We were out shooting photos near the infamous Bonsai Rock along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe. (Said rock is the large rock on the left side of the photo. It’s hard to see with the lack of light, but there’s a small tree growing out of the top of the rock, giving Bonsai Rock its name.) While Ian took photos, I had a good time rock-hopping like a 5-year-old! And with the low lake level this season, my favorite winter boots kept my feet dry when I landed in the water near the shore.

The above photo was taken with the Sony a7s and Sony E 10-18 f/4 OSS and edited with the Down preset from The Quantum Collection, our free pack of Lightroom presets available beginning February 10, 2015 on our new photo website, The Photon Collective.

Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Bonsai Beach Winter Sunset (Lake Tahoe, USA)”

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Shot of the Week: Love and Traffic in Los Angeles (USA)

Shot of the Week: Love and Traffic in Los Angeles

Shot of the Week: Love and Traffic in Los Angeles

Ian and I have set forth on a new photo challenge for the new year — a 365 project — with the goal of taking one photo each day for a year. And guess what that means for our shot of the week post series… This year it’ll be even better!

Our first choice is actually not one photo, but two. It’s a combination of a long exposure image of the 118 freeway at night in L.A. and a silhouette image of the two of us just before sunset on the Rocky Peak Trail in Simi Valley.

Both photos were taken with the Sony a7s and Sony 55mm f/1.8, and we combined the two using Adobe Photoshop. Want to learn this photo technique? Ian will soon be posting a tutorial on our new creative photography website, The Photon Collective, launching next month! Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Love and Traffic in Los Angeles (USA)”

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Shot of the Week: View from the Top (Sandstone Peak, Santa Monica Mountains, USA)

Shot of the Week: View from the Top (Sandstone Peak, Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu, California, USA)

Shot of the Week: View from the Top (Sandstone Peak, Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu, California, USA)

Determined to get outdoors one final time before the new year, we set out on Sunday for the top of the Santa Monica Mountains: Sandstone Peak. A bit out of shape, there was a little more huffing and puffing involved than what’s typical for us, but we made it! This photo captures our celebration after making it to the top. (That’s me and our friend Maya, and Ian’s behind the camera.)

Note: We’re actually not standing on Sandstone Peak in this photo; we took a detour about 5 minutes to the right and just a touch lower in elevation.  But from this vantage point, we had an arguably better view of the Pacific Ocean, Channel Islands and the setting sun. We hiked over to Sandstone Peak afterward and signed the logbook to make it official.

The above photo was taken with the Sony a7s and Sony E 10-18 f/4 OSS and edited with the Whitefall preset from Film Speck One, our free pack of Lightroom presets on lonelyspeck.com.  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: View from the Top (Sandstone Peak, Santa Monica Mountains, USA)”

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“It started with a date” – The Coffee Shop Conversation that Doomed My Desk Job

"It started with a date" The Coffee Shop Conversation that Doomed My Desk Job

"It started with a date" The Coffee Shop Conversation that Doomed My Desk Job

It was early January 2014. The holiday season was now behind us, and it was back to life as usual. On Monday I’d return to work after 10 consecutive days off. But I didn’t want to go.

The topic had come up several times over the course of the year. Preliminary conversations had begun. Ian had resigned from his steady, full-time job the year before to try his hand at entrepreneurship, and together we dreamed about both of us having that freedom. But it didn’t feel like a real option until that day.  Continue reading ““It started with a date” – The Coffee Shop Conversation that Doomed My Desk Job”

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Shot of the Week: California Winter (Simi Valley, USA)

Shot of the Week: Diana Southern California Winter

A few days ago, Ian and I headed out on a photo excursion in the hills of Simi Valley for some levitation photography. While that didn’t turn out so well this time, Ian grabbed a few extra shots. Here’s an outdoor portrait of me that Ian took just before sunset. This is what winter is like in California, folks!

This photo was taken with the Sony a7s and Sony 55mm f/1.8 lens. Continue reading “Shot of the Week: California Winter (Simi Valley, USA)”