A bird is chirping loudly outside my window at 9:30pm. This is the audio I recorded.

Picture is not related but taken earlier today when I drove back from a work related trip to Anza.

There have been plenty of times where I am driving down a street or freeway and I see something amazing. Rarely do I carry my Canon xsi at my side while in my car, but my phone is always within an arms reach. Now I’m not knocking the Droid’s camera, but the iPhone’s operating system is snappier than Android making it easier to bust out for a quick picture. But this post isn’t about android vs iPhone.

The picture above is the original shot from the phone (the yellow tint is from the windshield). There are three disc shaped clouds (one is behind the palm tree) which, if I remember the cloud lecture from 6th grade science correctly, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned perpendicular to the wind direction. But I’m not a cloud scientist so don’t take my word for it.

Speaking of iPhone’s… my favorite app so far is Instagram. It is sort of like a love child of Flickr and twitter. If you have an iPhone follow me on Instagram. Here’s the filtered shot using the original image (see below).

Ramonjoe.com has recently upgraded its look. Some of the changes are minor (like the home page), but other changes will become more apparent as new posts start to roll in. Some of the older posts are being redone to fit the new look so hang tight if something is working properly. Check out my flickr account for a larger set of all my photographs, www.flickr.com/ramonjoe.

Testing out the wordpress app for the iPhone. I am still trying to get used to typing on the screen. It’s not as bad as I thought, but having a physical keyboard is definitely better.

I hung out with my buddies Wane and Patrick (aka Bubba) this past Monday for Labor Day. After watching a large portion of Time Cop, we drove up to the shop where Wane works so he could work on Bubba’s tattoo. This was the third sitting over an 8 month period. Wane started Bubba’s tattoo in back in early January when Wane still lived in Riverside and Bubba was visiting from Humboldt during Winter Break. The second sitting was a little over 5 months later after Wane and Bubba moved back to the desert. Bringing us back to Monday for the third sitting. While I was present for all three sittings, I only had my camera the last two.

Despite it being Wane’s day off, he also did a hummingbird tattoo for a customer which turned out pretty good. Bubba’s tattoo looks great and will look even better once it is healed. I’ll post up an updated picture once the tattoo heals in a couple of weeks. Check out more of Wane’s tattoos or send him an email if you want to get more information on getting your own tattoo at Wanekan.com.

Two weeks ago I was given a late 20′s/early 30′s Kodak camera. I decided to photograph my other photography/movie cameras using a makeshift backdrop of white printer paper (you can see the seams behind the cameras). I would not call myself a collector of old cameras yet, I just happen to stumble across them and not necessarily seek them out. Take a look at the 4 cameras I currently have in my possession. I will create individual posts on each camera at a later date. You can find more information on the Yashica J Rangefinder in this post. Enjoy.

A little more than a year ago I was able to take some pictures of Wane tattooing Cody. A couple of weeks later Cody ended up tattooing the same image on Wane, but I was unable to photograph the sitting. Luckily, a couple of months ago Wane invited me to check out Cody tattoo his hand. Both Cody and Wane tattoo out of the Coachella Valley. For more pictures and information about Cody’s tattoos click here and to check out Wane’s website (made by me) click here.

Pictures from August 2009 in Maui with a Canon SD630. Check out the videos and slideshow below.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see my cousin’s daughter perform with her ballet class at the Riverside County Fair. After her performance, I photographed my nieces and nephew enjoying the best rides the Date Festival (and Michael Jackson) had to offer. Below is a condensed slide show of my favorite images from that day. For the full set click here and for the 2009 set click here.

Evan is my cousin’s youngest son and he loves monsters. A couple of weeks ago he had a monster themed party with the works: a jumpy house, candy bags, and all the Capri Sun a kid could ever want. After Evan opened his presents, he thanked everyone by treating them to a dance performance. This was a pretty big surprise because Evan is usually pretty shy around a lot people.

Below you will find a picture he drew for me of a monster, the set of pictures I took at his birthday party, and 2 videos of Evan dancing. The first video was made from pictures taken by me. The second video is the actual footage taken by Evan’s aunt during his dance. (pictures and videos best seen using full screen feature)

IMG_2942, originally uploaded by ramonjoe.

Originally a black & white photo. I messed with the contrast and tinted the image a dark blue.

Here are some more pictures from maui…

Seafood is definitely one of my least favorite things to cook. It stinks up the house, can be easily over cooked, and you rarely can get fresh ingredients, unless you live near the ocean. Despite all of these points, I do love eating sea food. Shrimp is one of the easiest types of seafood to prepare. I learned a long time ago that shrimp can be cooked in many different ways.

In my house growing up, however, there were far less ways to cook shrimp. Only three ways to be exact. The reason is my mother’s dislike for seafood. She only eats shrimp if they are fried, so that is one way. The second way is “a la Diabla” which literally translates to “the devil’s way”. The shrimp are sauteed with onions and chipotle sauce. “Mojo al Ajo” is the third shrimp recipe which is prepared in a garlic butter sauce.

The following recipe is my twist on the garlic butter sauce and devil’s shrimp recipes:

What you’ll need:

• About 12-15 Shrimp, cleaned deveined
• 2 tbsp of olive or corn oil
• 2 tsp of lemon juice
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 3 tbsp of cilantro, diced
• 1 tsp of basil, paprika, parsley (dried or fresh),  and dried oregano
• 3-5 chile de arbol (REMOVE STEM, DO NOT BREAK)
• 3 Garlic Cloves, crushed

First heat up a skillet, lightly coat in oil. Once Skillet is hot, place shrimp. Salt and pepper lightly. You want to make sure the shrimp are seared. Add the chile de arbol then remove from heat. Toss the contents of skillet, while adding garlic and half of butter. Place skillet on low heat while slowly stirring in remaining butter, spices, and lemon juice. Taste butter sauce for flavor. Add salt and pepper if needed. Remove from heat once butter sauce is reduced (about one to two minutes).

I decided to plate my shrimp on top of lettuce and tomato pouring the butter sauce like a dressing. You can also add shrimp to white rice making a pretty good rice bowl.

WARNING: Chile de Arbol can be a very spicy chile. The heat comes from the seeds inside. I recommend not breaking the chiles while cooking. Toasting the chiles in the oil will cause them to create a very spicy smoke if left in too long. Try using one or two chiles if you are not sure what I am talking about.