Ever since I’ve known my wife I wanted to go to a Yankees Game. But we were often busy during the baseball season and neither of us are big ball fans. In fact, this was also my wife’s first Yankee game despite having grown up in NYC and rooted for the Yankees her whole life. So it was to my great dismay that I found out I would never get to see a Yankees game in the original stadium that housed Babe Ruth. However, I finally did make it to a Yankee game after nearly a decade. It was a bit of a taunt to see the old stadium right next to the new one as demolition has not yet taken place.

After our mini-vacation to Naples, we went to Hialeah, Fl for my grandfather’s 70th birthday party.  I wrote in May about wanting to capture photos of my grandfather at his birthday party.  I was definitely able to do that.

We got to the party way before my grandfather (it was a surprise party) so we could help set up.

This is my new favorite photo.  It captures everything I’ve always loved in non-formal portrait photography and everything I’ve aspired to.  The emotions on display, the proper photographic technique, you just feel when you see this photo, especially with Christine’s huge laugh.  It’s also why I love non-formal portrait photography rather than the usual stand there and be photographic with a stupid, fake smile.  I’ve often seen photos that had this same vibe and felt jealous that I couldn’t capture it.  My time just hadn’t yet arrived.

Just four days ago, this photo was my 11th most interesting photo. Now it’s my second most interesting photo! Wow!  I wonder what factors contributed to this?  Surely the fact that it has risen quickly to already have 200+ views?

And now it’s time for the conclusion of my Hawaii travel photo blog. ( Started Here) The first photos are Friday EST, but still Thursday in Hawaii.

That night I was bored so I set up my tripod on my balcony and shot some night scenes.

editor’s note:  I’m writing this blog in real-time on Friday, 10 July, when I got the card from B&H.  The post will appear on a later date

Today I got my Lexar 4GB UDMA 300x CompactFlash Card from B&H.  I don’t yet have a UDMA capable camera, but I decided if I am going to buy memory cards, they should have features that I can take advantage of when I finally upgrade my camera (hopefully in 1-2 years).  This is my first Lexar card; until now I’ve been exclusively in the Sandisk camp.  However, lots of people online love to rave about their Lexar cards and they had a much bigger rebate than Sandisk for similar size and speed.  The first thing I noticed is that Lexar apparently doesn’t use those really annoying plastic pakagign cases that Sandisk tends to.  You know, the ones that you need scissors to open.  However, I also quickly learn that I’m not a huge fan of the case holding the memory card.  While it probably has less of a chance of breaking than the Sandisk cases with their (Sandisk’s) latches, I find it a lot harder to open the Lexar case quickly.  I pop the card into my Rebel XTi (400D).  The camera claims 382 photos.  I was expecting a number slightly closer to 400 since my 2 GB cards get 197, but I guess the “missing GB” problem that plagues hard drives is at work here too.

After Dan joined the Amazon.com affiliate program I wondered if B&H Photo and Video had an affiliate program as well.  After all, I exclusive buy all of my photography equipment from them.  They almost always have the lowest price and their customer service rocks!  Plus, since I live in Maryland, I can choose UPS ground delivery (the cheapest option) and get my items within 3 days!  Beat that Amazon!  So I’ve joined the B&H affiliate program.  You can see the link on the left sidebar (as of my current theme) and I’ll be sprinkling links throughout future photography posts.  I thought the best policy for you, my loyal readers, was to be forthright in mentioning this new partnership.  I promise not to make it annoying.  And, if you’re going to buy something from B&H anyway after reading my review, if you do it through the affiliate link, you can help to support this blog.  Thanks!.

Compared to last time, there are some new entries into the list.

In yesterday’s post I mentioned how I overcame my shyness and it led to a good picture. That doesn’t mean I stopped taking candid photos. I wonder what she thought when she saw the camera pointed her way. Afterwards I shot some photos of the guy with a million balloons who happened to be passing by in the photo above. Did she think I was aiming for him? Because that was my intention - for her to think that. Although, I did want a photo of him too. I ended up taking about four and this was the best one.