Author Archives: Justin Le

OCF: Off Camera “Flash”

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Happy Belated Halloween!

I’m not sure if you are all big fans of Halloween like I am, but I love it, because it gives me the excuse to be creative and put together a funny costume.  Unfortunately, the photo I took above isn’t of me, but of my cousin, who also decided to join the superhero fun, and dress as… you guessed it, the Flash!  I’m pretty sure he copied my theme, as I dressed as another DC universe superhero, Robin.  (As seen below)

Lemme show you the costume, and I’ll be back in a Flash!

Holy Red Undies, Batman!

So, I definitely got a few cheers and laughs as I hopped from bar to bar looking for my friends.  Nothing like walking the streets of Chicago, in neon green tights!

I even got a few questions like: “Where’s Batman?!” and even one, “Nice costume, Robin Hood!” (Unfortunately, I had to correct him…)

I eventually ran into my other friends, as seen below, and had a great first Halloween in Chicago:

How about you? What did you dress up as Halloween?

I’m always curious about people’s costumes, and like to judge people based on their creativity! 😛  And, I could always use some ideas for next year!

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Old Thirty Bastards… In Vegas

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Vegas, baby, Vegas…

This past weekend, I left the city of Chicago to head to the City of Sin to celebrate the birthdays of some college friends. We crashed in a suite at the Cosmopolitan, which had a wonderful view of the strip as well as the water show at the Bellagio.

This time ’round, with it being such a quick weekend trip, there was no time to head out to Red Rock Canyon, there was only time to party.

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Buried Treasure…

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Yashica Mat-124

Yashica Mat-124 (front). A solid garage sale find.

What’s new?

A lot of new and exciting things have happened since I last blogged.  I know it’s been a while.  But where have I been you ask?  What could have kept me away for so long?

More international travel!

I was able to work it out with my new manager to allow me to take a week off to travel to Italy.  I was going with a group of my friends from college, to celebrate the marriage of my old buddy/college roommate Thien, and his husband, Stephen.  I was honored to be one of his three best men. It was my first time there, and I would love to go back again.  I will likely blog about this in a separate post, just like I will for my trip to Europe last year, or my road trip last year.  I have so many photos to share, it’s pretty ridiculous.  But, my blog isn’t a buffet, it’s like a soup kitchen.  I don’t want my readers to over-stuff themselves on the abundant, but slightly bland heaps of 12 different types of pasta, but to appreciate it when I provide tiny tasty morsels every once in a while.  So, hopefully you haven’t died of starvation, and you’ll be coming back for every tasty bit.

New Digs!

I finally moved into my new apartment, in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.  I’ve been slowly organizing my stuff, and one the things I’ve really enjoying is having my photos printed, cutting some mats, framing them, and hanging them.  I had a few unfortunate mishaps, as I found out the hard way that Command adhesive strips aren’t quite strong enough to support some of my larger frames.

And lastly, but not leastly…

New Knee!

So, this one is a bit of a bummer, but unfortunately for me, I tore my ACL playing soccer, when an opposing play collided with my fully extended (and quite shapely, might I add) leg.  It looks like I will have to have surgery if I ever want to be as active as I want to be, but it’s not urgent, and rehab is typically about a year.  I haven’t scheduled it yet, but I’ll probably wait until the end of the summer to do it, when I have less stuff I want to do.  I can get around just fine for the time being, as long as I’m not trying to run or anything.

New cameras!

In the past month, I’ve been able to buy 4 new cameras.  Well, to be honest, I bought 3 old used cameras, and received 1 new camera that I had bought in March.  The cameras I’m referring to are the Yashica Mat-124, the Kodak Duaflex II, the Voigtlander Vito II, and the Nikon D800. I actually got my D800 a few weeks ago, but haven’t really gotten the chance to use it. And for the other 3, if you’ve been following my instagram, @justinjle, you might have seen them already, and know that I found them at a garage sale in Minneapolis.  I am so stoked about these old cameras though, as I got the 3 for a great deal (I think, anyway).  My friend, Anh-Tram went garage-sale-ing, and came across a box of old cameras, and showed me a pic of them on her iphone. I just had to get down there and check them out for myself, and I ended up walking away with these 3 for $75. I’m not sure the Voigtlander works, and the Kodak is a bit scratched, and pretty dusty, but the Yashica seems to be pretty clean, in great condition, and the light meter seems to be working as well.  In any case, it’s really nice to look at, and feels really solid in the hands.  I ended up buying a roll of 120 film to run through it to see if it works.  In any case, it’s so nice, I thought I’d post a couple photos I took of it with my D800 & a couple of old Nikon manual focus lenses.

The Yashica Mat-124

Yashica Mat-124

Yashica Mat-124 (front). A solid garage sale find.

Yashica Mat-124

The Yashica Mat-124 (top-down view through the waist-level viewfinder). Inside of the viewfinder, is the Kodak Duaflex II.

Pretty cool stuff, right? Also, the detail with that D800 is pretty dang awesome! I’m hoping to be back to blogging in a few weeks, and posting more photos from my other trips, but not this week (I’ll be turning 30, and celebrating it like I was still 29).

But until I get back to blogging, I’d like to hear from you… So here’s my question:

 

What’s the best garage sale treasure you’ve found so far?

I hardly do any garage-sale-ing, and tend to opt for looking occasionally on craigslist, fredmiranda, or the National Camera stores I lived near in the Twin Cities, but with this great score, it makes me want to start going more often. I used to love going as a kid, as that was the only time me and my siblings got new toys, and we loved it.  Much simpler times then.  Anyway, what’s some good stuff you’ve found lately?

Photos from Hard Drive Purgatory: 2011 Roadtrip – Las Vegas & Red Rock Canyon

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Rock Hopping in Red Rock Canyon, August 2011

What happened last night?!

That was the first thought that crossed my mind last Thursday.  After my last blog post, I gave my teeth a bristling rubdown, and I promptly zonked out on my friend’s couch.  During the night, as I was busy sawin’ logs, people were busy readin’  blogs.  I awoke to my regular morning routine (well, as regular of a routine as you can have for only being in existance for about 6 business days at that point), to find that I had 30 unread emails.  Which isn’t necessarily unusual, but these all came from the same source… Some inbox-clogging spammer who goes by the name “WordPress” was probably trying to get me to help out his rich uncle with an unclaimed inheritance… But wait a second.  WordPress?  I rubbed my eyes.  Is this real life?  Well, let me back up a bit…

What’s my “regular morning routine?” (Which, I realize, is redundant to say regular, in regards to a routine.)

Well, the first thing I do when I wake up, is to promptly hit the snooze button on my alarm.  I’m trying to sleep, dang it!  Once I’ve done that a couple times, and I’m ready to wake up, the first thing I do is check email on my phone.  People might think that’s weird that I might be tethered to my phone, or addicted to internet or something.  And while those things may be true, the real reason I do it, is because I find that forcing myself to read something really helps arouse my mental faculties.  Sorry if it weirds you out that I’m talking about arousing myself early in the morning, but am I the only one who does this? (To clarify, I’m talking about checking emails first thing in the morning…)

In any case, it took me a moment to figure out that my blog was busy getting some action last night, and didn’t even think to leave a sock on the doorknob.

Blogs would be terrible roommates, wouldn’t they?

Not only don’t they tell you before hand that they’ll be getting action, they are the kind to brag about it later and let you know every time a sexy blogger is giving them some love.

Anyway, come to find out that I was…

Freshly Pressed

As I’m sure you all know by now.  I mean, that’s how you found my blog, most likely.  Either that, or you are typing in some really specific google searches right now.  Of course, I was as surprised as could be.

How did they find me?

It’s not like I’m going out of my way to not be read, but I don’t really blog too often, and I don’t really promote my blog to people.  But, for some reason, I feel the need to update periodically, as if I only do it out of some strange, innate and primal urge to document something in my life.  And I wouldn’t say I’m that prolific or proficient of a writer.  I usually start off a blog post with an idea of how to start it, and the intent of sharing some photos, but rarely do I ever know where I’m going, and when I’m going to stop.  Usually, I get bored of my own ramblings, and then end up posting photos without ever really fully getting through what I thought I’d say.  But, in any case, thanks for reading my blog anyway!  I appreciate those who read, liked, commented, or followed my blog.  I obviously made some grandiose claims in the last blog post about me posting more frequently or something, but if I were you, I wouldn’t put any money on it.  And, it’s not too soon, is it?  I mean, I know in some cultures, there is typically a 2 day waiting period where you gotta try and play it cool, or you’ll seem really needy.  But with what seems like an audience now, I may feel the need to update more regularly.

But I will add, if I get nervous, and have writer’s block or something, be warned that I’m probably picturing you naked.

Just sayin’… I mean, it works for public speaking, right?  So, it’ll work for some public writing too, right? 😛  It’s just science.

Anyway, as promised in my last blog post, here’s an update with some photos from…

Las Vegas & Red Rock Canyon

These photos were taken in August of 2011, when my brother, Jimmy (the dude in the pictures), and I went on a 6 week roadtrip from Michigan, all the way to Seattle, then down the coast of Cali, through Nevada, Colorado, and then back to Michigan.  Las Vegas was actually the last stop for my brother though, as he was flying out of Vegas to start his new job in Montana, and I would continue on the rest of my roadtrip  solo (although, I met up with a lot of friends in various places on the way back).  In any case, we spent the night wandering the strip, and the day in Red Rock Canyon, hiking around, climbing on, and jumping off of stuff.  It was truly a wonderful time with my brother… And here are the pictures to prove it (all taken with my Nikon d700, in case you’re curious.  🙂

Okay, so that’s it! My next post will probably be sometime between next week, and 6 weeks from now. Just to give a timeframe equivalent to what the cable companies provide. 🙂 Have a good one, everyone! And thanks again for reading, liking, commenting, or following!

An April 2012 Update…

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From the top of Cat in the Hat, in Red Rock Canyon, NV.

Where have I been?

They say, absence makes the heart grow fonder… although, sometimes the authorities may refer to it as “unlawful neglect of a blog”.  So, I apologize if it seems that my blog has been wallowing in it’s own filth, and had to survive only on the little tidbits of updates I provide my flickr feed via instagram (located at the bottom of my blog), but I promise I have excuses a-plenty!

A New Job, a New City

So, if you aren’t a facebook friend, or a personal friend, you may not realize that I just started a new chapter of my life.  (Hopefully, this new chapter will see much more action than my blog does.) Even though I’ve been “Fun-employed” for the past 8 months, and I enjoyed every single moment of it, I had an opportunity come my way that was difficult for me to pass up.  After my trip out to Montana, I had updated my resume, and sent it to a friend who told me of a great opening at her company.  This followed with a couple of phone interviews, which then led to a day of in-person interviews.  Several weeks later, that incubated egg hatched into a job offer.  So, while it may seem that I’ve been neglecting this blog (which I have), It’s really only because I’ve been cheating on it by getting a job.  So, is that a lesser evil?  I don’t know.

So to sum up what I just said, (or TL:DR, in internet speak), I applied for, interviewed for, received, accepted, and began my new job since my last post.  I am now a Project Manager at Schawk (http://www.schawk.com/), and am now sleeping on my friend’s couch in Chicago!  The couch thing is only temporary, until I find my own place, but hopefully the new job thing lasts longer.  I’m excited to return to being a contributing member of society, and also to have a new city to explore!

But, Seriously!  Where else have I been?

Okay, so, I’m not being completely honest.  It’s not like I was locked up in some dungeon, feverishly working on my resume, and practicing my interviewing skills.  I was still out doing this, that and the other, when I watching episodes of Doctor Who on netflix.  So, where was I?

Las Vegas, and Red Rock Canyon

My last big trip was an extended weekend in Las Vegas, and Red Rock Canyon, in Nevada.  I met up with some friends there, with the main goal to do a 5.6/5.7 multi-pitch trad climb called “Cat in the Hat” in Red Rock, but also squeeze in some fun in Vegas.  I’m not a big gambler, but I did end up winning $80 on slots on the first day, and gradually giving back $60 throughout the weekend via video black jack, one quarter’s worth at a time.  But we balanced out the excitement with a Cirque show, (Ka, which was utterly, breath-taking, and edge-of-your-seat exhilarating).

It was a great trip, and although I’ve been to Red Rock Canyon before (I’ll post photos from last August when I was there, in my next post), I’m sure it won’t be my last time.

Anyway, I’ll post some photos now, and shut up. 🙂

Red Rock Canyon & Climbing Cat in the Hat

Whoa, so I spoke too soon.  I’m not shutting up, quite yet.  I just wanted to add that I didn’t take quite as many photos as I would have liked, and since we got a late start to the climb, and with how busy the route was, it seemed we were always in a rush, especially since we had to be out of the park by 7pm, or we would have been fined an additional $100+.  I think next time I come back, I’ll see if I can take some night photos; the hike out via headlamps and moonlight was amazingly beautiful, even if we were trying to race against the clock.  Okay, I digress, here are the photos. 🙂


The whole climb took about 6 hrs, but a lot of it was waiting for others ahead of us to come down, as the belay stations at the top weren’t very big.  I’ll probably update this with more descriptions for photos, but I’m just going to publish now, because I’m going to bed, now that I have a job to go to in the morning! 🙂  Thanks for reading!  More posts soon, I promise!