Jacob

"Jacob's Walking Stick"
Malibu Creek State Park

I can't really tell you why I love this picture so much but that does not change the fact that it is one of my favorite pictures of all time.

Once upon a time...

"Snow..."
Mt. Baldy

I can't tell you how much I love snow and how excited I get at the prospect of it.
I think this year, I am going to wrap my nikon in saran wrap and take it deep into the snow storm, that is if we are fortunate enough to have another one.

Because she is adorable...

"80's Chic for Babies"

This is my Cheer me up picture.

Photo walk: LA #2

Bonsai

Inner City Boundaries

Photo walk: LA - Parallels

Blue

Red

Roll #1: B&W

Lines: Clothing & Power

Pumpkin Patch sans Pumpkins

Koi

Needless to say, I had a blast going through this roll of film.

And really excited to shoot another one.

The combination of having a yellow tinted moldy/cloudy lens plus the fact that they processed the b&w film on paper reserved for color prints had some very interesting consequences.

The most noticeable consequence is the greenish tint that these photos exhibit due to the film/paper discrepancy. In addition, there is a also a haze like filter that really softens up the movement of the fish and the direct sunlight in the pumpkin patch.

So overall, I was very happy with this first batch.

Onto roll #2.

Photographs that take the ground from underneath you...

(Pulitzer Prize Winning Photograph by Kevin Carter)
Within this picture is a story that grips at the very core of you.
I have heard this photograph referred to as "the photo that made the world cry".
I highly recommend reading the time article on Kevin Carter as well because he became a story in his own right after he took this photo.

Initially when I saw it, I just felt a great sense of Despair.
Pain. Anguish. Isolation.
In my head, I heard my conscious say:
Is he alone?
Where is his/her mother? father? brother? sister?
Anyone?
My brain was incapable of processing the sheer amount of tragedy that was being processed.
But I couldn't turn away.
To turn away from the image felt that I would be turning away from the child.
And then I though about the Kevin Carter.
Did you save him/her Kevin?
Did you scare the vulture away?
Did you put him/her in your car and drive him/her to the nearest aid station?

How does someone move on after taking a photograph like that?

The current reality is that Sudan is actively closing down and blocking aid.
I can't even imagine the type of horrors that they are facing now...

But there are other children and people out there that need help and a couple of ways that we can do that is through personal sponsorships and/or micro loans.

I beseech you go to the following websites and to do whatever you can because one child dying of starvation is one child too many.

World Vision
Kiva

My First HDR

Taken on my brother's wedding day
This was my first serious attempt at creating an HDR image.
Here is the original.

A little morning abstract

Blurry Morning
Title: A1
I woke up this morning with a little more eye crumb than usual.
After accidentally rubbing it into my eyes,
I got to enjoy the morning light in somewhat of an opaque haze
and then I saw something interesting so I just quickly snapped a picture of it.
ISO was still very high and automatic focus was off so what I got was very much what I had seen.


California Condor at Montana de Oro
I had snapped this shot a long time ago with a telephoto lens but lost track of it since there are over 600 pictures in my Montana De Oro folder but last night, I came across it while I was experimenting with some HDR photos. I didn't have much luck with my early runs with HDR photography (clouds were moving just a little too quickly that day), I was able to take a little about what I learned about highlights and shadows to brighten this one up a little more.
I especially enjoy how the texture of the wood became more pronounced in this picture as well the the detailed colorings on the condors wings.

Handheld Love

I knew from the moment that I saw it that it was something special.

And when it felt its heft in my hands, I knew that there was no going back.

I am going to have you.

4 hours later, it had been disassembled, cleaned, and finally functioning and I was already working my way through a roll of black and white film.

Instant gratification tries my patience

But for you, I'll wait the hour...

When I wake up every morning...

I am tempted to both read and to leave -

to lose myself in pages of a book or among the potential pages in a forest.

But somehow, the heat always manages to convince me otherwise...

If I was young...

Elephant Gun by Beirut

They have such a great sound.

I think I have discovered the first track for my Autumn playlist.

Bikes

1970 Schwinn Varsity Sport, 1980 Univega Gran Turismo, 2002 GMC

I got my first bike when I was 7.
My dad got it at Kmart and man was that thing a treat.
I remember taking the training wheels off by myself
and waking up the next day to find that my dad had put them back on.
"I don't want you to get hurt"
Come to think of it, I think that was the first time I ever used a tool.
I guess I was fated to become a grease monkey...

I don't know what happened to that bike,
but years passed before I got to ride another bike.
Now I have...5.
Pretty soon, I'm sure they are all going to be either single speed or fixie.
Not too many things in this world I find more beautiful than the simple mechanics and aesthetics of a single speed bike.
That could just be my obsessive affective self speaking.

Music for tonight is Die Bessere Halfte by Herbstrock
(yes, there is definitely a bicycle theme tonight)



Enjoy.

Beirut - Nantes

Great song.

Can you imagine walking down the street and coming across something like this?

Early Morning

Today, I am finally going to start a project that I have had on my to do list for the past year or so and that is to photograph Ontario.

On my list of what I want to photograph is:

1. De Anza Park

2. Landmarks and Restaurants (*yelp)

3. Euclid Ave

Other projects include:

1. Converting another road bike into a fixie or single speed

2. Photographing Julia

There is certainly a palatable excitement in the air

as Summer is ending (has ended) and work will soon commence.

ANR - Acacia Night Riders for the Uninitiated

"Midnight Ride"
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sultana Ave

"Midnight rush"
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sultana Ave overlooking I-10

So I was reading John Irving's "Until I find you" at 12 a.m. when I get a text from Matthew asking me if I was interested in another bike ride.
"Absolutely I am", I replied
And so we left.
I was on my 1970 Schwinn Varsity Sport,
and together we rode North on Sultana Blvd.
The streets were dark, the cars were sparse, and the houses were old but very well maintained.
This is historic Ontario and Pleasantville is how I would describe it.
The manicured lawns, 1980s Buicks that looked like they were just driven off the lot,
American flags hanging off every porch and drive way.
And then we smelled marijuana.

"Life is a Beautiful Struggle"
Friday, September 11, 2009
Home

I've known this guy since we were in Kindergarten.
He was my first friend.
He was my first best friend.
He had the meanest Wolverine drawing from k-6th grade.
It was the kind of Wolverine drawing that we traded our prized chicken patties for.

I just had my camera on my lap and I snapped this picture ranodmly while we were talking about some of our best and worst childhood memories -
Like the time so and so ripped his pants,
or fell off a tree, or set off the fire cracker, etc.
And only when I had uploaded onto my computer later that night,
did I remember what we had talked about and I thought,
"how true how true, it has been a beautiful struggle"

"Three gorge dam...kind of"
‎Wednesday, ‎June ‎03, ‎2009
Big Sur

"Frothy white foam"
‎Wednesday, ‎June ‎03, ‎2009
Big Sur

"For: Carrie"
‎Friday, ‎February ‎20, ‎2009
Mt. Baldy

"Go git it"
Tuesday, September 9, 2009
Sideyard

Cherise and Troy's Wedding