X-mas in the Park - San Jose - Photoblog

A street in downtown San Jose filled with rides and lights, two dozen mini Christmas trees decorated with everything from lights, ornaments to music CD's, twilight giving bright hues and saturated colors..

Here are a few photographs..

Did get to practice motion blur shots and pulled off one with San and the little one on a swing ride. All the ideas not tried this year or ideas that came to my head only after reviewing the photos at home will be tried at the next opportunity.

When you see a Ferris wheel after dark, one should at least take one shot with long exposure times with a high f number and a curtain flash. Try it.

Here are some HD videos..

If you live in the bay area, X-mas in the park is definitely worth an evenings visit!

Walking around is free. The rides cost you tickets. An arm band for 13 bucks gives a kid unlimited rides. However, the kid has to be at least 42 inches to ride alone. If shorter an adult has to accompany the kid.

That costs you a lot of tickets or a screaming kid... your choice!

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Lessons learned and learning..

The sun was setting and the skies turned red. The green leaves looked greener.. the red ones looked a flaming red and the gold leaves, well they looked amazing!

Took a shot of the 50+ foot Crystal Amber tree in the backyard and was extremely happy with the results.

Then the thought of placing a kid in the foreground and how it would be great entered my head. My ever willing model aka Jr. said she would step out and pose for one photo and one photo only.

We took one photo and she went "Daddy, I cannot see anything anymore!". For a second I got really worried. Luckily, her temporary blindness faded and she is fine and can see everything.

Just out of curiosity, took a shot without Jr. in the frame with the flash. This thing is very very powerful! The apple tree is a good 40 feet away and it got lit up with the flash. Poor Jr. , no wonder she had a temporary blinding effect.

Should have bounced the flash off my back! There is a lot more to learn on what not to do as well as what to do with this new equipment!

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Party time, taking some things for granted

This is our fourth year at the annual IBM Christmas party for Children. Those of you who have been reading this blog long enough know that each year we put a caricature comparison of the kids done by the same Artist year after year..

This year is no exception!

Big Al actually remembered the kids this year! This year they have finally outgrown those same tee's they wore three years in a row. Both of them have mature faces now!

We also did the usual face painting, cookie decorating, getting balloons etc.

For the first time we attended the magic show and it was a ton of fun. Have never seen the kids this animated or happy in public in a long time. At Disney it was awe and wonder struck faces. Here is was pure glee!

Jr. gave me a nice pose. The little one erased part of her X-mas tree and was refusing to pose.. she is turning into a mini me. Cannot stay still in any place for more than a few seconds... she was just whizzing through the whole thing!

They do a really great job of decorating the place each year with a different type of tree (one year is green, one year is white, etc.) and the whole thing is extremely well organized!

We are all aware of the real Santa. Still the allure of sitting on Grandpa Claus and getting a picture is fun! The kids loved it.

If you do look at the youtube video link in this post, have tried to explain the issue on the video in the Youtube description. If you have any pointers towards the real problem or a fix, please let me know...

Another year has almost rolled by and is coming to a close. It has been a tough year that is coming to a close. Counting days at work, at home, over the phone with relatives..

Hope we count down the remaining days without any major issues!

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