weekend

Recently I rented a Fuji GFX 50s for one week. During that week, I had scheduled a photoshoot with one model and spent a couple days camping near the Golden Gate Bridge. My goal was to evaluate if the Fuji was a possible replacement for my Canon 5D MK IV. I have heard great things about the Sony Alpha 7 R II but when I used it, I did not like the view finder and the ergonomics. In contrast, Fuji came with a lot of expectations about the natural ergonomics and ease of use. Plus a 50 megapixels camera was very interesting to me.  It is true, I was able to use the Fuji within a couple minutes without even opening the manual. Everything is right where you expect it,  it’s like putting on an old favorite jacket (including finding loose change at the...

This is my second Rennsport and I was very exited to go back this year with a better access. The theme of this reunion was “Legends of Le Mans”. Most Le Mans Porsche winning cars were on display and racing around the track. If you are interested in the racing portion, check out the first part of this blog. In this second part, I will focus on showing you the most incredible cars I have seen and also how close we could get to them. This is a panoramic view of Laguna Seca during Rennsport V. Over 57000 fans came to see 1820 street and race cars. Porsche A.G, the Porsche Museum and private collectors (like Bruce Canepa or Jerry Seinfeld) brought historical cars that are rarely seen all together. Among them was significant cars that have won Le Mans. I...

The Porsche Rennsport Reunion 5th edition (in short Rennsport V) is a gathering of everything that has raced made by Porsche. It includes race cars and drivers, collector vehicles, historic models. This is the 5th edition since 2001 and the second one in Laguna Seca. The title Rennsport was drawn, quite simply, from the German term for “racing.” So the first thing you notice when you arrive at Laguna Seca is noise. There are cars racing! Saturday we watched the Gmund Cup composed of Porsche 550, 550A, RSK, RS60-61 (4&8 cyl.) 2000 GSGT (Dreikantschaber), Abarth Carrera, 356, 904-4cam and Porsche specials The second race was the Eifel Trophy for 911 (911 up to 2.5 liter), 911TR, 911ST, 914, 914/6. It was a wonderful sight to have early 911 racing around...

Angel Island is a California State Park in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. It has incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city of San Francisco and Alcatraz. In a previous post, I made a day trip there but this post is about spending the night on Angel Island. Depending on the season, the last ferry leaves the island between 3:30 and 5:20pm (make sure to check the schedule online) and unless you have your own boat that’s your deadline. But for a few hard core planners, it’s possible to secure a camping spot on Angel Island. In that case you will be sharing the island with at most 40 persons (including the park rangers, the kayak groups, and the large camping group). After the departure of the last ferry (which was 3:30pm in our case), the...

Bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) are remarkable for their great age and their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. In fact, it seems that one secret to their longevity is the harsh environment in which most bristlecone pines grow. We met our friend Daniel and Paule at the Grandview campground in the Inyo National Forest for the 4th of July weekend. This is a very rudimentary campground but it’s really cheap ($5/day) and really close the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Bristlecone pines in the White Mountains grow between 9,800 and 11,000 feet (3000–3400 m) above sea level. Conditions are harsh, with cold temperatures, a short growing season, and high winds. Bristlecone pines in these high-elevation environments grow very slowly, and in some...

Antelope Canyon was on my bucket list for a long time. I first found out about Antelope Canyon when I saw Tuan’s images of it. After some research, I found out that the sunbeams can reach the bottom of the canyon about 3 weeks before the summer solstice and 3 weeks after. We decided that this year was the year we would go. From the Bay Area, there are multiple options to go to Page,AZ but the cheapest we found was to fly to Las Vegas and rent a car and drive to Page. Day 1: Las Vegas to Page, AZ We took a very early flight to Vegas, arriving at 8:30am. At that time, it was already 92F, and it was promising to get hotter. I’m a coffee junkie and I always look for local coffee shops to try. This time I went to  sunrise coffee to get my...