colorful chinatown clothing…
Chinatown Laundry!!! So, if you go slightly off the main drag in Chinatown, you come upon the buildings that people live in…and a you get a much better feel of the essence of Chinatown. I loved all of the colorful laundry that was hanging out to dry. And so many of the pieces were very ethnic! It may be odd…I’ve taken lots of “laundry out to dry” photos in my travels…but I feel like these photos tend to capture a culture in some of the best ways. They show everyday life. Regardless of how different people and cultures may seem to be, we are all so similar at a fundamental level. We all do laundry. We all laugh when we’re happy. We all smile. We all fall in love. We all feel an astounding array of emotions and incorporate our experiences into our very being.
Alright. Enough of the waxing philosophical. I found the most amazing little restaurant in Chinatown. Hole in the wall kind of place, really, but with the best food ever. It was down a side street. I’m now convinced that the further you go away from the “touristy” places and the worse the restaurant looks from the outside, the better the food is. I had the beef with scallions and eggs. Oh. My. God. The beef was pan-fried most of the way and then coated in the egg and all tossed into a pan so that the beef was coated in egg and there were also delicious bits of scrambled egg. All of this was mixed with very fresh scallions that were just waved over the heat and piled on top of delicious brown rice. I’ve tried to replicate it and am slowly getting closer, but I just can’t wait for the day that I can return to San Francisco and eat to my heart’s content. Mmmmm. By the way, the key to well-seasoned, crispy beef is a bit of soy sauce and coat the beef in a corn starch slurry before pan-frying. Mmmmmm.
Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12. Contrast fixed a smidge in Photoshop CS5 because that alley had some seriously funky light going on.s
bye bye bridge…
As the sun set on our last day in San Francisco, I snapped a last shot of the Golden Gate Bridge with the Marin Headlands in the backdrop and a wave heading for the Presidio in the foreground. Oh, how I didn’t want to leave San Francisco!!! Such an amazing city with so much more to explore! I truly cannot wait to return!
Although, as we left the Presidio and the bridge behind, we returned to In-n-Out for a delicious wharf-side burger dinner! Yes, in a city with myriad dining possibilities, we had both of our dinners at In-N-Out. It was just so good!!!! Its all about the “hidden menu”. That’s where “animal style” lives. And, all that walking and hill-climbing definitely cancels out a double animal-style burger with a side of animal-style fries and a large lemonade, right? Right?!?!? :-) Oh well. Happy tummy, happy girl.
Top two San Francisco foods: In-N-Out burgers/fries and the delicious beef/scallion/egg dish from Chinatown! OMG…that was sooooo good. I keep trying to find a replica here at home, but so far have been unsuccessful :-( But, my attempt at making was probably the closest to the original that I’ve yet encountered! Huzzah!
Alright. Enough the food talk. Its making me hungry. I’m on my Trauma Surgery rotation right now so food is a precious commodity. I covered 90 patients last night. That leaves no time for grub. But it was fun!
That said, postings might be few and far between for the month of August. I have 14 hour days and average 1 day off for every 7. But, I promise to post when I get a chance!!!
One final note: GO TEAM USA!!!!!!!!!!!! OLYMPICS 2012! I think it is amazing that even with the amount of international turmoil these days, the entire world can come together and play nicely for 2 weeks. And it is an honor to watch it and the level of sportsmanship displayed every day. I love the Olympics and everything they respresent. USA! USA! USA!!
((Yes, it was taken with the G12. And yes, I promised that a previous post contained the last Golden Gate Bridge shot. I lied. Sorry. But this is the last! I think! ))
scenic san francisco…
So, here we have a shot of the building-clad hills of San Francisco with a tiny glimpse of the Bay Bridge in the background! This photo was taken from a street that Lombard Street intersects with. Those are some seriously exact directions, eh? And, have I mentioned that it was an absolute hoot to drive down the curvy portion of Lombard Street??? So much fun!!!! What’s not so fun: attempting to ascend Lombard Street in a Prius. When a street is so steep that steps need to be cut into the sidewalk, it should serve as a warning sign that someone driving a Prius may not wish to attempt the hill. Ah, yes, many fun adventures that truly tested the limits of our little red Prius were had on this California trip. And you know its always good when a bus coming at your stop-sign-intersection that technically has the right-of-way waves you frantically to just go through the stop sign without stopping. Kinda sad, really, that it looked like the little automobile was having such obvious difficulties. Note to anyone attempting a big hill in a Prius: TAKE IT OUT OF ECO MODE…PUT IT INTO POWER MODE. You don’t have a prayer if you’re still driving in the hybrid mode!!!!! Good times.
So, anyhoo, Lombard Street was great fun. And exploring it led us to some great vantage points of the city. Sadly, upon returning to our little red Prius after taking this photo, we found that someone had stolen our GPS (which we needed for our drive down the coast!) in the whole 8-minute span that we were away from the car. Oh well. S**t happens. Turns out we didn’t need the GPS and got many great photos down the coast to prove it! So, thief, if you are reading this post: you may have taken our GPS, but you didn’t steal our fun!! :)
Of course, this shot was taken with the Canon Powershot G12. Stay tuned for more California photos and eventually shots of the scenic Virgin Islands!!!!!!!!!
Adios, y’all. I’m getting back to my lovely day off from the ER! :)
wonderful windows of alamo square…
Aaaaand….I’m back! I’m going to apologize now for the delays that may happen between posts in the future. I have officially started my emergency medicine residency now and free time (to be used for things other than sleeping and eating) will be a bit more difficult to come by. :-)
So, today we have another photo taken from Alamo Square in San Francisco! 42 windows in all, categorized into three distinct groupings. I thought the black and white tones brought out the visual interest in the photo waaaaaay better than in color (which was basically gray). I hope you think so too!
Of course, taken with the Canon Powershot G12.
Stay tuned for yet more California photos…and soon some photos from the US Virgin Islands!
the wonderful women of alamo square…
I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!! :-) Hello again, world! Now that I’m back, I can tell everyone where I was: PARADISE!, also known as St. John, USVI. Didn’t exactly want to previously announce to world that I was leaving on vacation, but I’m happy to say I’m back with a camera full of photos! But, everyone will have to wait for those since we’ve still got a lot of California to see! Oh, maybe I’ll throw everyone a bone and stick one St. John photo in at some point, but I promise Paradise Pics will my next series.
Now, on to this photo! Its the lovely Painted Ladies of San Francisco. Alamo Square is surrounded by lots of beautifully painted Victorian houses, but this stretch is obviously the most famous. Alamo Square is also a wonderful little park set up on a hill to relax in for a spell and provides a great view of the houses of San Fran and the city buildings below.
Taken with the Canon G12. And, I have to admit, a teeny bit of Photoshop CS5 happened here. Some dude was seriously sleeping in the grass between me and my subject and despite my best efforts at waiting for him to wake up and move his tushie, he never did wake up (hopefully he woke up at some point!). Thus, I removed him from my photo. That’ll show him what happens when you get in the way of my photography…I erase you! Mwahahahahaha! :-)
On another note, I’d like to announce that after 6 years, Jay is no longer my boyfriend…HE’S MY FIANCE NOW!!! WOOHOO! Now we’re gonna be super-nerd MARRIED couple. :-) The proposal took place on top of the Castle on St. John at sunset with the Virgin Islands in the background! :-)
And, now for the artsy-fartsy ring photo, complete with shallow depth-of-field:
Yippee! Love you Jay! Now you’re stuck with the Shutterbug FOREVER! :-)
It’s a blob, it’s a lump…IT’S A SEA LION!!!!
Tons of them!!! Pier 39 near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco is home to a very happy clan of sea lions that get to while their days away in the California sun (and fog). Apparently, the sea lions had left for several years but recently returned and re-took over the pier. Welcome home, pinniped fishermen, welcome home.
Of course, this photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G12. Stay tuned for more! Fair warning: I’m super busy right now enjoying post-graduation life, so it will probably be a couple of weeks until my next post.
That said, I would like to officially introduce you to “Elizabeth Iannone, M.D.”!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Graduated medical school on May 11th! Finally, after only 22 years of school (hehe). Watch out world, because here comes Dr. Shutterbug.
If you’re going to San Francisco…
Well, world…I finally did it! I crossed the USA to the other coast!!! Think of it as East meets West…coast, that is. My friend from med school was getting married in Santa Rosa (shout-out to the happy couple!), so Jay and I figured, heck, if we’re going that far away, we might as well make a vacation out of it!!! Thus ensued a week of fun in the sun!
Our amazing itinerary was as follows:
Land in San Francisco (got to see the Rockies & Yosemite from the plane!)–> eat lunch in Sausalito–> drive up the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) to Santa Rosa–> Wedding!–>Trek to Sonoma Lake in Napa Valley plus some wine tasting in the Napa Valley 
–>Drive to San Francisco–> Sight-see!!! Take Photos!!! Quality BF-GF time!!!–> Drive to Pillar Point Beach to collect sea glass–> Drive south on Hwy 1 to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur (stay tuned for the amazing views from here)–> Continue on Hwy 1 until encounter massive landslide–> take 4 hour detour through a military base at the top of a mountain range (via a one lane road clinging to the edge of the mountain…without a guardrail)–> finally arrive in Long Beach, CA and stay on the Queen Mary for the night (!)–>Ferry to Avalon, Catalina Island!!–> ZIPLINE 500 feet above ground between mountain summits (!)–> beach–> LAX–> Home (got to see the Grand Canyon from the plane!)
Soooooo much fun!! I’ll try to post photos in the approximate order that I took them so I can slowly tell the story of my travels This one is out of order, though, as I will be posting a photo of the Rockies (so excited to finally see real “rocky” mountains, not the worn (but pretty) tree-covered mountains of the East).
Can’t wait to share my trip and photos with you! I truly believe it is impossible to take a bad photo in California!
Quick story behind this photo: En route to Sausalito, I realized that we were driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. After many squeals of excitement that may have left Jay partially deaf in the right ear, I started snapping photos like a mad woman. Luckily I got a nice skyline shot. The Bay Bridge is at the left-most edge of the photo. Naturally, there was a ton of fog in the Bay, so I adjusted the contrast in Photoshop CS5 to sharpen up the photo. Taken with the Canon Powershot G12!
ENJOY AND STAY TUNED!!!!
manhattan from the brooklyn…
Manhattan. Such a small little island. So many big buildings! This is one of the views of Manhattan from the approximate middle of the Brooklyn Bridge that I snapped during the much-longer-than-I-expected-a-bridge-could-ever-possibly-be walk. I went with the black and white version of this shot because it just seemed so much more…New York City. I’m also totally excited that you can see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building all in one shot! Whoopee!
I took this shot last summer during my trip to NYC with the boyfriend, the future Dr. Heather, and her future hubby (congrats, guys!). Lets play guess the camera! Yup! Canon Powershot G7! Stay tuned for more posts!
P.S. Sorry for the few and far between postings lately…rotations have just been eating up my time. And my precious free time is usually not spent on the computer posting pics (sadly, most of it is spent studying, eating, or sleeping). Ah, the life of a med student. Essentially paying to work everyday with borrowed money. Gotta love it.
city of bridges…
“Pennsylvania’s Watersheds and You”
Check it out!! I was contacted a while ago by a Pittsburgh engineering firm–they wanted to use my photography on a conservation poster that they were creating! Well, just click on the photo above (or the link underneath it) and have a look! I’m so excited that my photograph is on a real publication that will be hanging in real places!
The photo is of the Pittsburgh skyline in May, as seen from the banks of the Allegheny River (directly across from Point State Park). It was a river-fest with free kayaking…hence all of the little banana-like things in the picture. And yes, I did kayak. And yes, it was great fun.
The image was taken with the (now stolen) Olympus Stylus 820. Post-processed in Photoshop CS3 for contrast.
DON’T POLLUTE YOUR WATER SUPPLIES!!! Keep them fresh and safe for yourself and generations to come.
contemplative in kensington…
Hello, world! It has been so long since I last posted an installment in my “People” series! A little thing called exams decided to crop up in med school…and then I was outta Philly so fast for break! Hence, no pics. Oh well. I enjoyed all of the sleeping and holiday eating.
So, this photo was taken at the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, which I attended with the wonderful Dr. Heather. This guy was just leaning against an abandoned building for quite a while, looking rather deep in his thoughts. He was quite fascinating to photograph, as I could only imagine what inner workings were keeping him so occupied for so long.
As usual, taken with the amazing Canon Powershot G7. Contrast and hues were adjusted using Adobe Photoshop CS3. Also, the ugly garbage can was cropped off.
On another note, the photoblog has passed the 50,000 hits mark!! Yay!
On yet another note, HAPPY 2010, PEOPLE!!! Let’s make this year the best yet!!!
strolling down the street…
The next installment in my series on people! I visited the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia this past spring and was taken for quite a wild ride! The sculptures were absolutely crazy and the whole derby had a cool bohemian vibe to it. Luckily, I brought my camera! Granted, I brought it so that I could better show my mom exactly what this “thing” was, but I got some cool shots as well. As the crowd was beginning to line up at the finish line, I noticed this little curly-haired girl enjoying a solitary stroll down the street with her balloon and little stuffed puppy. Fortunately, she wasn’t walking down the lane for too long, as that was the exact street that served as the final leg of the derby.
Of course, this photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G7! I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to remove the company logo that was splashed across the balloon (it was so distracting!). I also enhanced the contrast and lighting in the photo for a slightly more dramatic “solitary” feel. Enjoy! Stay tuned for more in my “People Series”!
the wild side of central park…
Interspecies sunbathing? YES!! This lovely heron seemed to know that it was posing for the camera as it gracefully posed to fully show off its figure. And the turtles? Well, I’m loving the little guy in the middle who seems to be trying to replicate the heron’s moves, complete with outstretched neck and head. He’s (she?) just trying so hard. I think he achieved the overall effect, albeit by replacing a bit of the grace with comedy. The other turtle, well, I just don’t think he got the memo about the sunbathing photo-op. That, or he’s just not quite as proficient as his cronies at “finding the light”. Or perhaps he feels his backside is his best angle…
Taken, of course, with the Canon Powershot G7. The location: Central Park, NYC. The post processing: a quick crop and contrast fix.
Enjoy. I found few more photos from my NYC trip that I forgot to add into the NYC series. They’ll slowly make their appearances!
new york city, we have lift-off…
Okay, okay. I know I promised photos of Mexico soon, but I realized that I haven’t finished my New York City series yet. That and the fact that I just started my second year of med school last week and holy cow! Second year is crazy already! Thus, not much time for uploading and perfecting my week-long photoshoot down the Mayan Riviera coast.
So, here we have a heron in Central Park taking off for what I can only imagine is a giant birdfeeder in the sky. The funny thing about this heron was that as soon as he made his entrance in the pond, people with cameras flocked out of places that I didn’t know existed to snap pictures of him (her?). Everyone was acting as if they had never seen a bird before, let alone a heron. This seriously must now be the best-documented heron in history. Yes, I was one of those shutterbugs, but at least I had already been taking pictures of the adorable bridge and the pond…and the 3 cute turtles on a rock. Then the bird arrived, and I merely shifted my attention to it. I didn’t run to it.
Then again, why am I poking fun at all the people who kept snapping bird pictures? I may not have many bird pictures, but I have about 35 of turtles. Hmm. I’ve never seen turtles before. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Taken, of course, with the fabulous G7. And at this time I am proud to announce that I have converted my sister and she just purchased a…G7 after months of ogling mine!!!
New York City: Part 3
Third in the series! Now our little travel troupe had made it over to Brooklyn…and was enjoying some much-needed ice cream. Of course, there was a post-ice cream photo op. So, here we have it. The pylon of the Brooklyn Bridge that is actually in…well, Brooklyn!
Taken with the Canon G7, naturally. Contrast fixed in Photoshop, image transformed into HDR.
a stroll down a sunny street…
This photo was taken on that wonderfully sunny day when the amazing future Dr. Heather gave me a tour of South Philly and the Italian Market. There was just something about that sleepy, sunny street with the bicycles leaning against the stoops that was screaming, “Take a picture of me!!!” So, here we have it. Taken with the amazing G7 and softened to create the pretty glow and muted colors in Photoshop. Enjoy!
Pittsburgh!!
This is a cityscape shot of downtown Pittsburgh. It was taken from one of the overlooks on the famous Mt. Washington. Indeed, the view of the city from Mt. Washington (particularly at the Duquesne Incline) has been rated one of the top ten views in the country! The image was taken on a beautiful summer night with an Olympus D595Z digital camera.
