Change is in the Wind

Well, its been about 4 months since I last posted. There have been lots of changes. After lots of cold calling, and sending out my first promo, I finally landed my first shoot. The gig was to photograph the band, "Mury", four really great guys, from Salt Lake City, Utah, that are having the precious opportunity to try and make it with their music. These are some of the shots. I kind off liked the portraits, but not sure if they really meshed with what the agency wanted.

It was great to have a taste of what it would be like to be a working photographer. However, with a baby and mortage, my wife and I decided to switch roles. I was mostly staying home and looking after our wonderful daughter, Lucy. My wife was rushing home after work so I could try and figure out the photo thing. I also strongly believe babies shouldn't be rushed off to daycare as both parents pursue careers. Now, I'm back in tech., working as a software engineer. But, I'm still thinking about photography, and carrying my camera onto CalTrain everyday. Perhaps, I should photograph commuters. Train stations are interesting places. People arrive, wait, depart, much like we do on this planet. I'm witness to many fleeting moments. I also shot last Sunday. Will post on that, sometime soon.

Baby in the House

Well, since we have a baby, I thought a good idea to capture would be various aspects about a household which has a baby. These could also be good candidates for stock photography. Here's some from an attempt the other day.

my house

We moved into a new home (actually an old eduardian in the Castro district, but
new for us). Initially, when I embarked on trying to make a living as a photographer I thought about doing stock. Then with all the talk of people giving away images on flickr and royalty free stuff all over the place, I held off. Know I'm seeing that the majority of add agencies seem to be using stock, and custom imagery is a rarer and perhaps rarer occurrence. Stock seems like something you probably need to do, unless you are the hottest photographer in town. So, perhaps I will rekindle that aspect of things with some photos of my house.

Jewels

Well, photography has its sleazy elements. I've felt that way the past 3 weeks or
so as I've been trying to make contacts by getting my promo out there. I compiled a list of about 200 agencies in and around the bay area, and spent hours going over their websites to see if they potentially use good photography, and if the type of work they do might fit with what I'd like to do. Then, I started cold calling from my list. When I get unsolicited sales calls on my land line, I just hang up.

Last week I finally, took a break from all that, and shot some jewelry while it was being worn outdoors. Since, the style of the jewelry was somewhat earthy, I thought about unique ways to perhaps shoot it. However, I kept coming back to the work of Marily Minter. The concept of making something almost difficult to look at from something otherwise pretty or beautiful intrigues me. Anyways, here's a shot of one of the pieces shot in somewhat of an ordinary manner. Then, here's a couple where I tried to go for something a little different.

My First Promo

I think one of my biggest problems over the past few months was
not having enough confidence in my portfolio. I was never really
satisfied with it. Well, I have to start getting work, or I'm really
not a working photographer, and we do have bills to pay. So, I
decided to put together a promo.. I wanted it to be unique, perhaps in its construction. That way, perhaps the odds are higher it won't just go in
the circular file. My wife saw this great handmade book made out of
newsprint which a fashion designer put together. Great thing is
newsprint is cheap. I really have to watch my budget. I've already
spent more than I could really afford on business cards and photo assistant post cards. So, I tried a few types of newsprint on both my laser printer, and
our cheapo inkjet. Fortunately, the laser with a rough surface worked.
Now I've been scoring 1500 pages of newsprint which took most of
my week. Hence, NO photoblog entry til today. Need a less labor intensive
idea for the next promo, along with lots of new work.....

Goodwill Toys

Since, we were moving, we made many trips to Goodwill, in fact, far too many trips. One day, we stumbled across these stacks of stuffed toys. My wife said I should take a photo. I wish I had some lights with me to fill the shot in a little bit. Its interesting though. All these toys are waiting for a new child to put a smile on. However, when my wife buys things she tries to be very conscious of the materials used, and whether anything could be toxic or unhealthy. Its a shame that less fortunate babies might have to settle for whatever toy may put a smile on their face. Of course, the most important thing is the love that a parent can give, which is not dictated by the size of a bank account.

Suburbia Again

I find this photo of a neighborhood in Daly City interesting. Somehow, the scene does not seem real to me. The cars have a toy like feel. The homes feel like miniatures. Perhaps its the slightly wide lens. Perhaps its the order and structure implied by the grid of streets and homes, so perfect and neat, at least from this distance and perspective.

Trousers

I remember sitting in a photo class and seeing slides of still life's created by I believe Irving Penn. One was a photo of some cigarette butts, certainly not pretty or beautiful in their own right. But somehow when photographed, in a very simply manner, their shape and form captivated ones attention. I'm certainly no Irving Penn, but I thought I'd share these trousers with you.

Scenic Overlook.......

I never ventured to Coit Tower until sometime this year, over 7 years after living in San Francisco. I kind of loved the scene of all the tourists admiring the view and the parked cars in the lot. It was a nice weekday evening. A great time to go! I also think I'll miss my home darkroom. We moved into a new home, and the wonderful darkroom I had is gone. Some things sold for pennies on the dollar. Some I gave away. Oh well.... This is an image I would have liked to print.

Row Homes

I love the views of the row homes as seen from rt 280 when driving into San Francisco from Daly City. I wish I could just park on the highway. One day I was driving around off of Mission St., exploring, and snapped this one. I hate the color balance. I shoot alot with a Leica M8, and if you might be into cameras, you need to screw on an infared filter or cheap black clothing turns magenta. I think I preferred the overall color balance better without the filter. Anyways, I digress, as this post is about rows of homes in the hills around San Francisco. I'm sure I'll capture more of these.

Dooms day

I find the California coast truly fascinating. I remember riding my motorcycle (when I had one) up route 1 heading to San Francisco, and just past Half Moon Bay, there was simply a wall of fog in the sea. The fog as it rolls in truly creates amazing scenes. I'm also very interested in photographing suburban America, perhaps as I've lived in the city for so long. I was driving around Pacifica one day (a unique coastal town which is also a suburb of San Francisco), and drove up into the hills. I saw this somewhat apocalyptic scene just around dusk.

Whats behind the sticker?

I wasn't quite sure what to think about this sticker. What is the official story? What do the authors believe to be the truth? Airliners surely were hijacked, and crashed into the world trade center and the Pentagon. Guess the sticker works, as it surely makes me wonder whats behind the message.

My lost toy

Saw this on one of my last walks in my old neighborhood. I can
imagine a little boy walking up and missing his little toy train
engine......

The lost lawnmower

Well, saw this mower in the headlands. I love out of place things.

Something a little retro

I shot a few of my friend Kelly, who happens to be my good friend's fiance. I thought it might be nice to try something with a little bit of a retro feel. Kelly really came through by bringing gloves, interesting fake furs, etc... It was all very impromptu, and I was far from prepared when she showed up. I also thought the leaves from the trees outside our window could make an interesting background. I need to do this much much more often. Musicians rehearse/practice daily. As a photographer I feel I shoot seriously far too infrequently. Of course, I snap lots of photos, but I need to try and experiment with ideas much more often. Thank you Kelly, and I hope you don't mind that you are on my blog...

When you gotta go, you gotta go.....

The other day I was picking up new business cards. First time I saw the porta potty going up to the 65th floor.

A lush green meadow

No, this was not 3 hours north of San Francisco heading toward Oregon on a nice spring morning. It was in fact a couple hundred feet above North Beach heading up to Telegraph Hill, right here in San Francisco.

Wild thing

Thats what my wife said I should call this post. Why did I take this photo? Is it interesting? I guess the nice thing about a digital camera is I just take photos of lots of things, perhaps without thinking. On the other hand that seems bad. I rode accros the city today on my bike with a hasselblad in my bag. I didn't take it out, even though several things caught my attention. Anyways, I still like this shot of the ivy or whatever it is. Perhaps I should find a model, and wrap ivy around her. Perhaps that could be an interesting concept. I could call it: "Green is good!", or something like that......

My organic wall

I thought the pattern the trees outside our window were playing on the wall was pretty neat.

Food photos with a still life twist?

Well, I love food, and would love to try and be a food photographer. I like to cook, but not to the extent of being a gourmet who makes exquisite creations. I improvise, and keep it simple. Plus, with photographing food, it seems like its best to do it as its prepared. A proper food photography studio would have a kitchen. With a baby and 800+ sq ft, it really doesn't make sense to bring home lots of my gear plus things to style the dishes. I did do these in my studio. Stale bread certainly didn't need much in terms of preparation.

Tummy

Well, I thought the Vanity Fair cover of I believe it was Britney Spears pregnant sometime in '06 was great. I tried to get my wife to do something similar. But, she refused to get naked in my small studio/office. I felt I needed a shot of her tummy, so I took this.

Safe Surrender...

One of the things I thought I should do to perhaps develop some relationship with add agencies, is to make some ficticious adds. Well, every once in a while you hear the sad news of a baby being abandoned. The idea didn't go over well with my wife, but I thought I'd put our daughter in a box, with a little note. The result would be a public service message for young mothers. In fact, I heard that in LA, there are signs on dumpsters directing people to the fire department. How truly sad.

My photo needs some work, perhaps some more dramatic lighting. Her grand ma was there, but we really didn't have much time as my daughter was getting a little fussy. I need to prepare the shot ahead of time. Perhaps I'll post a newer version soon.

Colleen Quen Couture

I had the pleasure to go to an event put on by Colleen Quen and her husband, Rick (an extremely talented designer), to promote her new collection and his new designs. In fact, my wife wore one of her beautiful dresses at our wedding ceremony. Of course, Stephanie was there working. Her job was to interview Colleen for Stylehive, a really cool social shopping site. The first photo is of one of the pretty models in the fashion show. I thought the slightly out of focus closeup was kind of neat. The last is of the beautiful Colleen, herself. Colleen, when is the men's collection coming out?

In the dessert

A couple images from the desert, near Palm Springs. I guess the area around the Saltan Sea has been photographed extensively. I felt a calm beauty around Palm Springs, yet a strange unsettled feeling. Perhaps its the subtle climate changes from heat, to windy valleys, to cold evenings. I'd like to think of something unique to capture around Palm Springs down to the Saltan Sea other than abandoned buildings and motor vehicles. There were some interesting small towns I drove through. Little squares in the dessert on the lake/sea, with buildings damaged by fire simply left as is, and big signs that say "Eat Here" or something to that effect. I guess an interesting thing would be to understand why people opt to stay there. These documentary ideas always intrigue me, but then I don't pursue them as an uneasiness settles in as I'm afraid to intrude on others. Of course, now that I am a family man, it would be difficult to take off for two months and perhaps live in the dessert. I guess my little photographic struggle continues.

A room, a window...

Just another snapshot of a room I once stayed in. I like the contrast of warm/cool colors.

Grand Central

I was facinated the first time time I walked into Grand Central. I printed some of these in my darkroom. Some seem cool, some I'm not sure. I was kind of nervous taking photos in there as there were national guard troops all over the place. But, I guess since I shoot alot with a Leica, they probably figure I'm a tourist, which I kind of was.

Feet in a stream

I once saw these beautiful photos of tropical ocean water. I was playing around in Downieville, and these are a couple..... Perhaps the foot out of the water kind of works.

Summer's coming.....

I took these snap shots at Downieville this past summer. Not sure what else to say, other than hope my bathing suit still fits.

I hate coupons...

My life is way too complicated already. I bet I could save SO much money if I collected all the coupons, offers, promotions, etc. that I got in the mail. But, I wish they just outlawed coupons, my mailbox would be emptier, and hopefully prices would just be lower all around. In fact, perhaps they should just fire everyone that works for the IRS, or Congress should really get around to simplifying our ridiculous tax system.

I kind of like this photo. Nothing earth shattering, but I guess its worth looking down, up, and as Ansel Adams said, "Sometimes the best photo is right behind you", or something like that.

Traffic

Digital cameras are great for shooting a ton of images of the same scene. I should play around with animating these....... Don't worry, there's many more where these came from.