We’re back in the Bay Area! Rae and I had quite the saga getting back to home. It started with an early rise at 6:00 am to get to CDG Airport three to four hours ahead of the flight so we could deal with all of the inevitable and interminable security checks. None of the ticketing counters were open at Gare de Lyon, and we didn’t have any change to buy the RER tickets from the machines. As a result, I had to go from retail shop to retail shop asking for change, which they all obviously had none. So, I ended up buying several little items, mints here, pain au chocolat there, etc. until we had the requisite amount of coins for the RER ticket.

CDG had several layers of security checks, including two bag checks and a full pat-down right in front of the gate. Due to the increased security, our flight was delayed leaving France by one hour. The next ten hours were very difficult, as there was a God-awful annoying, screaming kid sitting in the aisle next to us! The sad thing was that her parents didn’t seem too eager to shut her up throughout the flight.

Although the plane arrived on time, we weren’t able to get off the plane, retrieve our check-in, and get through customs in time for our scheduled flight. Instead, we were moved to the next flight an hour later. Three and a half hours later, we were back in our Santa Clara house. It’s good to be back!

Look for updates with photos from our trip in the coming days! Time to make up for lost sleep now!

After several days in Lyon, the French Gastronomy Capital, we are back in Paris for the conclusion of our trip. After Barcelona, Rae and I did a day trip to Carcassone, a fortress town from Roman and medieval times.

The next few days will be taken up with shopping and meeting up with friends; hope everyone has been having fun while we’ve been gone!

Not much time to write, but a quick shout out to everyone. Rae and I are in Barcelona at the moment, enjoying the warm temperatures and the great architecture and museums. Jean-Philippe and Anna´s wedding was great! We´ll have plenty of photos and text in the coming week!

30 minutes away from leaving Santa Clara for the airport. Our backpacks are packed into a duffel bag, which we’ll be checking into SFO. That should solve the problem of the backpack straps getting caught by the airport conveyor belts or devious individuals. Once we arrive, the choice will be either ditch the duffel bag, store it somewhere (CDG doesn’t have luggage containers anymore due to security reasons), or take it with us on the trip. I’d rather choose option 2 if at all possible. Option 3 is the heaviest choice and option 1 is obviously the wasteful choice. These decisions feel like the ones you have to make in a game like Ultima, Wasteland, KOTR, or the upcoming Mass Effect from Bioware. Now that looks like a fantastic game!

When we arrive in France, we’ll be meeting up with Agnes, a friend I met while studying in Paris nearly 10 years ago! The next day, we’ll be headed for Fontainebleau to attend Jean-Philippe and Anna’s wedding. Can’t wait!

For our trip to Europe, Rae and I are packing ultra-light. For me, this means my high-performance yet bulky SLR will be staying at home. I’ll be taking instead a Canon PowerShot A610. The past few days, I have really noticed how heavy the 1D-series cameras are even with “light” lenses like the 24/1.4 and the 85/1.8. My shoulders are going to thank me! Sure, I’ll miss the features and functionality of my SLR, but I justify the decision by saying I’m on holidays, not on the clock!

The new airport restrictions also mean we’ll be checking in most of our luggage. I don’t want any hassles with TSA, so I’ll leave all the electronics in the checked-in bags. Guess the 15-hour flight will be dominated by sleep, watching the in-flight movies, and reading travel books!

With each trip I’ve taken, I’ve gotten better at reducing the amount of stuff that I take. This time, I’m trying to fit everything in an REI Flash UL Pack. Rae is taking along an REI Traverse pack. At 1,050 cu. in., I’m going to have to get creative with the amount of clothes that I’ll be stuffing into the Flash!

Rae and I are off to Europe for the next couple of weeks, starting this Wednesday. Our first stop will be just outside of Paris, where we’ll be attending the wedding of Jean-Philippe and Anna. I’ve known Jean-Philippe since we were both in an exchange program with each other’s schools. It’ll be great to see him joining the matrimonial club this coming weekend with his family!

From that point on, our schedule is wide open. We’re planning to go with the clothes on our backs and very limited baggage. For those of you who know me, the big surprise is no hulking SLR to take with me on the trip. Yes, I’ll be using a small digital camera (likely a PowerShot of some sort) on the trip!

We’re looking at buying a Eurail pass for unlimited travel in the two weeks we’ll be in Europe. Anyone have any suggestions on where to go? A number of people at work recommended Barcelona. Any others?

The topic for yesterday night’s COBA meeting was lighting. We had the usual discussions and debates on the merits of portable flashes versus studio strobes. Brian demoed a host of cool accessories that he uses, from Magic Arms to PocketWizards to his homemade sync cables.

Alvin and I demoed a host of diffusers, including the Stofen Omnibounce, Lumiquest Midi Bouncer, and the Gary Fong LightSphere. I shot Andy and JooHee’s wedding using the LightSphere, and I’m sold on its superiority over the Midi Bouncer and the OmniBounce. I’m going to have to purchase one of those in the near future.

The highlight of the meeting was setting up, troubleshooting, and photographing COBA members outside of Cordura Hall. I shot portraits of the last two years of Digital Vision Fellows here at Cordura Hall, but never at night. Setting up the flashes was an interesting experience, and thanks to the COBA members in attendance, we came up with a great lighting arrangement!

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The August 2006 meeting of the Camera Owners of the Bay Area (COBA) user group will be held this Wednesday, August 9, 2006 in Cordura Hall 100 at Stanford University from 7:30-10:00 pm.

NOTE: Sorry for the extreme tardiness in the meeting announcement. Originally, we were scheduled to cover aerial photography. Due to scheduling conflicts, that presentation will held next month on September 13.

Portable and Studio Lighting

Had it already been a year since our last lighting presentation? We’ll have a variety of lighting rigs set up to compare and contrast, from AlienBees studio lights to a bevy of Speedlites. Topics that will be discussed include:

• Portable vs. Studio Lighting
• Value of Diffusers (Softboxes, LightSphere, OmniBounce)
• Remote Controls
• Lighting Techniques
• Pricing

We’re also looking for help from COBA members to provide the following at the meeting:

• Backdrop
• Gels and Gel Attachment for AlienBees lights
• Extra Softbox for AlienBees lights
• Wireless Remote Controls

Printing Test Photos

There will be a sample scene that COBA members can photograph to be printed on their printers of choice for the September meeting. The goal of the printing test is to provide a baseline and controlled environment with which to test. If you are interested in participating, please bring your camera with you to the meeting.

7:30 am in the morning, and I’m getting ready to shoot Andy and JooHee’s wedding in Belmont and Palo Alto.

Yesterday, I attended WordCamp, the inaugural WordPress conference in San Francisco. WordPress has definitely grown up from its humble beginnings as a branch of the b2 blogging software. There was an eclectic mix of WordPress.com users, geeks, developers, and influential bloggers at the conference. When we were creating the Sharpcast corporate website, I made the decision to use WordPress as the back-end CMS. Using WP in such a manner has some caveats, but it’s still much faster than using another CMS or rolling your own custom website.

I’m looking forward to some of the features in the upcoming WordPress 2.1, including Draft and Private Pages. Yeah!

At the conference, I ran into an old friend from Xanadu at Stanford. Jeremy Kassis is running the still-under-wraps Web 2.0 application. When it’s available to the public, I’ll post a review!

The news is out this morning that Floyd Landis’ B sample has confirmed the adverse reaction of the A sample from his Stage 17 victory in the Tour de France. Landis maintains his innocence:

I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone. I was the strongest man in the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion,’ said Landis. ‘I will fight these charges with the same determination and intensity that I bring to my training and racing. It is now my goal to clear my name and restore what I worked so hard to achieve.

We want to believe that our heroes are telling the truth. It maintains our belief system in the world. Hearing events such as these shatters our mental model of the world, making us doubt future achievements in the sporting world. I still maintain that something is fishy in this case, and I will continue to let Landis prove that he was the rightful winner of the 2006 Tour de France. Next up in this case is arbitration to the high court of sports, the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Tyler Hamilton tried to get his doping case thrown out and failed. Will Landis succeed any better?

It’s just an unfortunate situation for all parties. Even if Landis proves that he did nothing wrong, his reputation and credibility are shot. The Tour suffers because it’s the first time in the 103-year history of the race that the winner has been thrown out for doping. No one seems to win, not even Oscar Pereiro, the runner-up in this year’s Tour and former teammate of Landis who would be declared the victor if Landis loses his case:

I have too much respect for Landis to do otherwise… In any case, I have a bittersweet feeling because it is bad news for cycling, and I would prefer to remain second and that they don’t confirm the positive.