About Yao-pi Hsu

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"Most of the time, I have a camera ready," said Yao-pi Hsu, 61. So when she visited her daughter's family on a rainy Seattle day, she was prepared.

Rusty the cat begged to be let inside while Hsu's 11-month-old grandson, Dominick, yearned to play with Rusty. Though Hsu's first inclination was to let Rusty in, she realized the opportunity and snapped four shots first. "It was such a quick moment," she said. "They talked to each other."

Hsu, a bioscience researcher at Stanford who has lived in Santa Clara since 1970, said her passion for photography blossomed eight years ago while visiting China, her native country. She noticed that the Yellow Mountains looked strikingly like a painting and, with no previous photography experience, took a picture that won third place in Palo Alto Weekly's 1997 Photo Contest. Now, Hsu displays her work in galleries, cafes and art shows. Photography, she said, has changed her worldview. "Now I look at things differently. I notice more detail and everything seems more interesting."

--Avital Binshtock