Happy New Year again!!  No it's not a time warp, it is the Asian Lunar New Year.  This year on February 16th we celebrate the year of the dog.  People born under this sign are said to be loyal, honest, and trustworthy.  They are good judges of character who are quick to anger and just as quick to forgive.  They make excellent leaders and always put family first.  They are most compatible with people born under the Horse, Tiger, or Rabbit sign. Quick Chinese New Year fact, during the New Year celebration it is tradition to give out red envelopes. Each red envelope is supposed to contain crisp brand new bills only.  It is considered bad luck and poor taste to put old money or coins in the envelope.  It is also bad luck to put in denominations of four(e.g. don't put four dollars in the envelope) and the amount should be a round even number.  Traditionally red envelopes are handed out by the married adults to all of the single children (this includes unmarried adults).  Adults also can give red envelopes to their elders, especially their parents.  If you receive a red envelope always take it with two hands, thank the giver and never open the envelope in front of them.  The red envelope symbolizes wealth, prosperity, and good fortune for the new year.  

Of course, Chinese New Year isn't the only holiday in February.  It is time to celebrate love on Valentine's Day.  So don't forgot to order your roses and chocolates and keep an eye out for our upcoming Valentine's Day promotion.

In honor of the New Year, this month's travel post is about my trip to China.   Specifically my time in the city of Xi'an.  Xi'an is in North Western China and is the Capital of the Shaanxi province.  It was also the seat of power for Emperor Qin the first emperor of China and was the Capital of 13 different Chinese Dynasties.  Of course Xi'an is most famous for Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army but the city itself is a wonderful blend of old and new.  It's modern cosmopolitan city center sits side by side with ancient Chinese landmarks.  You can go rent bikes and ride along the ancient city wall and then pop into Starbucks for a drink after you're done. 

Muslim Street

Muslim Street

But my favorite thing was visiting the Muslim Market at night(Western China has a large Muslim population).  The market is a Chinese street fair, that only comes to life at night.  They close down the street and the vendors and store owners on the street, set up tables and booths all along the street and sell a wide assortment of goods.  What made it so much fun was this isn't something tourist generally visit, so it was an unfiltered look at the people of China and how they live. My wonderful guide Frank took us here after I asked him to take us out at night to shoot some photos.  Thank you to Frank for taking such good care of us, even though he didn't quite understand why the crazy American photographer wanted to take pictures at night.      

I love taking photos at night.  With all the buildings lit up, the mood and vibe of the city just seems more magical to me.  It was no different in Xi'an.  The city is beautiful at night.  Especially the ancient Bell Tower.  I had seen the Bell Tower lit up the night before going to dinner and couldn't wait to go get a photo.  Interesting fact about Xi'an, the traffic in the city center is so bad that they created underground pedestrian tunnels for people to cross the street.  One of these tunnel entrances is across the street from the Bell Tower and around the tunnel entrance is a cutout that leads up to the street and that is where I decided to set up my tripod.   When I shoot at night I like to keep the camera in aperture priority mode at f/16 at ISO 100 and I let the reflective meter in the camera read the light in the scene.  In this case it was a ten second exposure.  Needless to say with such a long exposure a good tripod and a remote shutter release are a must.  I set my white balance to 3200 Kelvin because most cities still use tungsten bulbs at night.  Though this slowly changing and I'm seeing more LED lights in the cities I visit.  One of the neat things with a ten second exposure is all the traffic that was going by left wonderful streaks of light in my shot.  The end result was one of my very photos from the trip.  All in all a very worthwhile evening out.

My second favorite thing I saw in Xi'an was the Terracotta Warriors.  The neat thing about visiting the Terracotta Warrior site is that the Chinese government just built a hanger over the dig site where the statues were found.  There's even a sign showing where the farmer first found the statues.  So when you visit you're at an actual dig site and you see archaeologist working on the site repairing and cataloging their finds.  Each site is called a pit and there are three pits all together and a museum.  This is probably one of China's most famous attractions, not only for tourists but for the locals as well.  So needless to say it was super crowded and we were packed in like sardines. 

Terra-Cotta Warriors Museum Terra-Cotta Warriors Museum

As you can see in the picture, the dig site is pretty big and well lit but flash is not allowed and there were lots of soldiers there to enforce this rule.  So for my photo "Stone Sentry",  I used my trusty 300 f/4 IS lens to shoot close ups of the Terracotta Warriors.  I love this lens, because unlike other long lenses it is very light and easy to hand hold.  In general most f/4 lenses are lighter and easier to hand hold as compared to their heavier f/2.8 brethren.  Being able to hand hold a long lens is very important because a lot of places I go don't allow tripods or there isn't enough time or space to set one up.  I used ISO 3200 and shot at 1/250th of second at f/4.  Now this does break the rule that your shutter speed should equal your focal length for sharp pictures.  But my lens has Image Stabilization built in, so I pushed the envelope and it worked out pretty well. 

Our recipe of the month comes from Ken Hom.  My Grandma loved using recipes from his book, "Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood" and passed this book down to me.  I don't think it is in publication anymore but you may find it online somewhere.  Traditional Pepper Beef is one of our family favorites.  But for reasons unknown to me, Grandma always called this dish Pepper Steak.  Plus she made a few alterations.  One she added tomatoes.  Usually she quartered four tomatoes and added them to dish last mixing them into the sauce.  Then she would lower the flame and let the tomatoes simmer in the sauce for about 15 to 20 minutes.  The end result is amazing stewed tomatoes.  Whether you choose add the tomatoes is up to you.  But I've found even people who don't like tomatoes love to eat them when added to this dish.  Second she used baking powder in the marinade instead of baking soda.  I'm not sure what the difference is but Grandma used baking powder, so I use baking powder.  Third Ken likes his peppers and used three which is overkill(unless you really like peppers), one pepper is just fine.  Lastly is a couple alterations I made.  One the recipe calls for 1 pound of flank steak.  I love meat so I usually double the amount to 2 pounds and then I triple the amount of marinade.  So instead of 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce, I use 6 teaspoons (or 2 tablespoons).  Basically I just multiply everything by three.  Finally, a note for anyone who has never cooked Chinese stir-fry before.  The flame is very high when you cook this way, just two notches or so below its highest setting.  So you will see some smoke coming from the pan when heating the oil and hear very loud sizzling when you throw the food in.  This is normal and should calm down once the food is in the pan or wok.  Also the oil does tend to spit if your not careful.  For example never put garlic from a jar into the hot oil or you will have hot minced garlic flying around you kitchen.  Put the onion first then the garlic second.  But stir-frying food this way is worth it because you don't over cook the meat and combined with marinade your flank steak should be soft and tender.  Finally a thought about the leftovers.  If you happen to have leftovers reheat them in a wok (or a pan will do) and add three tablespoons of Madras Curry Powder (I use the Natco Curry powder from World Market).  Once the sauce is warm serve over spaghetti noodles.  Viola instant second meal.  

Traditional Pepper Beef by Ken Hom

3 Tablespoons Peanut Oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil works as well) for the pan.

MARINADE

1 pound flank steak

2 teaspoons light soy sauce (I use thin soy sauce)

1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cornstarch

VEGETABLES

1 onion sliced

1 pepper

4 tomatoes (optional)

3 cloves garlic minced or crushed (I just use minced from a jar)

SAUCE

1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1/2 cup of chicken stock

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

OTHER

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut steak in half, then cut thin slices, 2 inches wide, cutting against the grain.  Mix the beef with the soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, baking powder, and cornstarch.  Let it sit for 20 minutes.

Next combine the ingredients for the sauce, put the chicken stock, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir well then set aside.

Slice your pepper, onion and if adding quarter your tomatoes.

Heat a wok or deep pan unit it is very hot.  Swirl in the 3 tablespoons of peanut oil(or Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and when it is very hot and smoking, add the beef and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of oil.

Reheat the wok and oil, toss in the garlic and onions, and stir-fry for 3 minutes.  Then toss in the pepper and the sauce and cook over high heat for 2 minutes.  Pour in the oyster sauce and continue to cook for 2 minutes.  Mix well, return the beef to the mixture and continue to cook for another minute.

OPTIONAL

Put in the quartered tomatoes and mix well with the sauce.  Lower the fire to a simmer and cover the wok or pan and let the dish simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring once or twice.

Serve over rice.

Happy New Year!  Here's to a happy, healthy, and joyful 2018! 

Welcome to our new monthly newsletter.  Our hope is to use this newsletter to show you what were are working as well as entertain you with tales of our travel adventures.  As a bonus we intend to add a recipe of the month to each newsletter (Just because we love to cook).  We are also excited about the new items for sale.  In addition to our wall art and home decor available on Fine Art America.  You can now also purchase photo novelty items, like mugs, t-shirts, yoga mats, and so much more.  We also have several digital art projects that we are working on for the upcoming year.  Some of the things we are working on are, digital art showcasing Arizona, Toronto, Iceland, as well as unique composite art.

One of our most recent pieces of digital art is "The Princess".  This photo was taken in the lower Antelope Canyon which is located on the Navajo Reservation near the town of Page Arizona.  The canyon is about a four hour drive from Phoenix and about a two hour drive from the Grand Canyon National Park (I went with Detours tour company out of Phoenix, thank you to my guide Mark).  Westwind will fly you into Page via a charter plane and then take you on a guided tour on the ground.  Antelope Canyon is a narrow slot canyon which you descend down into via metal ladders and steps.  All of the tours of the Canyon are run by Navajo tour companies with local Navajo guides (We used Ken's Tour, thank you to my guide Tim).  Antelope Canyon is one of nature's great wonders, the colors and shapes of the narrow canyon walls are dazzling.  As a photographer, it was really fun to shoot photos in the canyon and also a unique challenge.  The Navajo don't allow the use of flash and tripods are only allowed on special photo tours of the canyon.  The sun light that filters down into the canyon changes around every corner.  For this trip, I was using a Canon 5d MK II with a 27-70 f/2.8 lens.  I used manual mode at ISO 6400 and kept my shutter speed at 1/60th of a second so I could shoot hand held.  I rotated my aperture between f/4.0 and f/11 dependent upon the lighting condition.  The other challenge was capturing the canyon's unique beauty.  Finding the best composition that showed the curves, color, and shadows of the canyon walls was a lot of fun.  My only complaint is I couldn't stay there longer.  It was a great experience, which I recommend to everyone. 

Our January recipe of the month is the Taco Crescent Ring.  This recipe combines two things I love to eat, Pillsbury crescent rolls and tacos.  I've made this twice and both times it was great.  I like to serve mine with salsa and sour cream.  I got this recipe from the Pillsbury website.  https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/taco-crescent-ring/a52fade5-13ce-483a-b1d6-55c22aeb5c5a

Prep
20 MIN
Total
45 MIN
Ingredients
5
Servings
8

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso™ taco seasoning mix
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
Shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced ripe olives, taco sauce or salsa, as desired

Steps 
1
Heat oven to 375°F. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef until no longer pink. Add taco seasoning mix and 1/2 cup water. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes or until slightly thickened. In medium bowl, mix beef mixture and cheese.
2
Unroll both cans of dough; separate into 16 triangles. On ungreased large cookie sheet, arrange triangles in ring so short sides of triangles form a 5-inch circle in center. Dough will overlap. Dough ring should look like the sun.

3
Spoon beef mixture on the half of each triangle closest to center of ring.

4
Bring each dough triangle up over filling, tucking dough under bottom layer of dough to secure it. Repeat around ring until entire filling is enclosed (some filling might show a little).

5
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until dough is golden brown and thoroughly baked. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into serving slices.

It's the trade show season again in the photo industry.  The time of year, when the camera manufactures trot out all of their new toys for us to drool over.  With Photokina over and Photo Plus Expo winding up, it's time to sort through all the new cameras that were released.  

The most interesting thing to me about both of these trade shows is how the cell phone has changed and is currently influencing the photo industry.  The first  cell phone theme that you hear over and over, is the apparent death of  the point and shoot market.   Cell phones, have supposedly made point and shoots obsolete.  Why carry an extra camera when you have a phone, which in a lot of ways is better than a dedicated point and shoot.  But don't tell Sony this.  They just released the excellent new Cybershot RX 100 V.  It has a 20.1 Megapixel 1 inch sensor and an equivalent 24-70 f1.8-2.8 zoom lens.  Plus it shoots 4K video.  This beauty will set you back $1000, so it probably isn't for the casual photographer.  On the cheaper end,  one of the few point and shoots at Photokina the Lumix DMC-LX10 which has a 20 megapixel 1 inch sensor, will "only" cost $699.  Photokina also showcased another response to the cell phone onslaught, with many manufactures looking to the past and hoping nostalgia will convince you to buy their cameras.  Specifically the rebirth of the instant camera. Why instant, you may ask?  The answer is simple, these cameras can do the one thing a cell phone can't do and that is is print your picture.  Polaroid helped start this trend by bringing back the famous SX-70 instant camera and continued the trend at Photokina with the new snap touch, which has a small screen on the back and a 13 megapixal sensor.  Leica got in on the act at Photokina, with the Leica SoFort instant camera that uses Fujifilm Instax mini film.  If you've got a spare $300 it's a pretty cool camera.  Lomography also introduced an instant camera with their Automat film camera.  This uses the same Fujifilm Instax mini film as the Leica but is expected to retail for $149.  Not to be outdone, Fuji who like Polaroid has been leading the instant film charge, introduced a new square version of their Instax film and said new cameras for the square format are coming next year.  The square Instax film is a modern spin on the old Polaroid 600 film.  They also introduced a black and white monochrome option for the Instax mini film.  It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers follow this trend next year.

Another way cellphones are affecting the industry is how DSLRs are being viewed.  It was long assumed that any "serious" photographer would only to choose to use a DSLR.  But that is proving not to be true.  The Chicago Sun Times fired their photographers and handed phones to their reporters.  Apple and ESPN came together to give a reporter the iphone 7 and shoot from a fans point of view at the U.S. Open in Queens.  Those photos were published in the ESPN magazine.  Now as a professional photographer I personally don't ever see the day when I will put down my DSLR in favor of my phone.  But I do recogonize how the cell phone is fundamently changing my industry and pushing it directions we never dreamed about.  

The camera manufacturers response to this at Photokina and Photo Plus seemed to be the more megapixels the better.  Which means expect to see more higher megapixel cameras than every before.  Nothing showed this philosphy more than the star of the Photokina show, the Fujifilm GFX mirrorless medium format camera.  With it's DSLR like body and big 51.4 megapixel sensor it is a very nice camera.  But it also comes with a nice big price tag with the price expected to be between $8000 and $10,000 for the body only. It is squarely aimed at the high end pro or the well heeled enthusiast.  As is Phase One's new IQ1 100 megapixel medium format digital back which retails for $33,000. Both of these cameras will produce amazing pictures which no cell phone can ever hope to match.  

On the more "affordable" side are four very nice cameras.  Canon released two new cameras.  The Canon 5d Mark IV with its 30.4 megapixel full frame sensor which costs $3500 for the body only and the Canon M5 Mirrorless with a 24.2 megapixel APS-C sensor which costs $949 for the body only. Sony also released two new cameras.  The Sony Alpha a99 II with a 42.4 megapixel full frame sensor which costs $3200 for the body only and the Sony Alpha 6500 mirrorless camera with a a 24 megapixel APS-C sensor which costs $1400 for the body only.   

In the micro 4/3 sensor world both panasonic and Olympus showed off some nice new toys.  Olympus showed off their new mirrorless camera the PEN E-PL8 with a 16 megapixel sensor which costs $549 for the body only.  Olympus also teased a new flagship camera.  Panasonic introduced several new Lumix cameras, starting with the high end DMC-G85 mirroless camera with a DSLR type body, it has a 16 megapixel sensor and will cost $897 for the body only. The Lumix DMC-FZ2500/FZ2000 are all in one cameras with a 24-480mm equiv. F2.8-4.5 lens and 20 megapixels it a big camera with a big price of $1199.  I find the micro 4/3 market segment interesting.  They seem to exist in a world inbetween cell phones/point and shoots and DSLRs.   The sensors in these cameras aren't much bigger than a cell phone, so they make their stand on being the low cost alternative to the DSLR.  They are aimed at the people who want better optics then the cell phone but don't want to pay for the size or price of a DSLR.  Olympus in particular has excellent lenses.  But even they are trying to seperate themselves from the cell phone by going big.  Yes 16 megapixels sounds smaller then the 42 megapixels on the Sony a99 II but on a micro 4/3 sensor, 16 megapixels is huge.  As cell phones advance, it will be interesting to see how long the micro 4/3 market will last.  

One name you may have noticed was missing was Nikon.  They timed their new camera releases with the summer Olympics and did not have any new photography cameras at the trade shows.  They did have a presence at the trades with their new action video camera the Keymission which is a Gopro rival and was timed to steal some of the thunder from the Gopro Hero 5 which was also released.  The fact that Nikon decided to focus on video at the photography trade show, is interesting to say the least.  

As you can see a lot of goodies were introduced at the fall trade shows.  In my opinion all of these cameras are very interesting but some are more practical and useful than others.  The medium format megapixel monsters are nice but the cost of the camera, not to mention the cost of storage and computing power puts them in the not practical or useful category for almost everyone.  The retro instant cameras are nice but they seem best suited for those who want to have fun at parties or share photos with friends which makes them impractical for pros but good for casual photographers.  The DSLR and mirrorless cameras that were introduced are the most useful for pros but if you're a causal photographer the DSLR offerings are way more more camera than you need and the mirrorless cameras are little pricey.  You might want to look at the older models, like the Sony Alpha 6300, entry level models, like a Canon Rebel SL1 or look at some of the micro 4/3 offerings.