I am a photographer?

A Special Outdoors Town

2011-11-12T22:58:00.000-08:00

Now that I have a new job with Jetson Systems, I ventured this weekend to Crested Butte, Co, as we launched www.elevenexperience.com/. Its about to storm. Its certainly a nice pre-winter experience. I took some pics, for a change.......

They actually ride bikes here year round. Cuisers or old MTBs with studded tires in the winter. They're everywhere. So, cool......

Its summertime

2011-06-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

Get a bathingsuit, any bathingsuit, old or new....

The Executive Portrait

2008-03-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I was asked to shoot some portraits of the executives where I currently work. Somehow, I think this is one of the hardest things to do. Unless it is an environmental portrait, you have a face, background and light to work with. Making a truly special portrait, one which is truly better than the DMV mug, is certainly not easy, at least in my opinion... Here are a couple shots, of Kevin Pomplun, Ceo and Walter Johnson, both of Skygrid.

Pretty Girl

2008-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know.... Not another photo of a pretty girl. Back in the fall, I had the pleasure to photograph a young lady who is trying to build a modeling portfolio. It seemed that we had similar tastes and asthetics. I mentioned that I had a desire to perhaps shoot some images along the lines of some of the work of Kate and Camilla, whose work I really admire. I find an interesting quality to their lighting. At times, the images almost seem surreal. In fact, the models are often not "beautiful" in a traditional sense. We tried to mimic a couple shots they once had on their website... Here they are:

Everyday Photos

2008-01-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

Well, lately when I carry my camera around, I've been trying to use up some
tungsten slide film, which I had cross processed. The first of these is from an overpass overlooking a construction site near my studio. I love the tones. It feels mysterious, a little spooky. I've also been sticking a ND filter along with a soft focus filter on the lens. The next one is from a little excursion near Half Moon bay. Perhaps I should capture suburban homes on my way to work, in a similar fashion.

Change is in the Wind

2007-12-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

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

2007-07-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-16T21:18:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

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.......

2007-06-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-06-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-02T22:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-22T23:31:00.001-07:00

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

Something a little retro

2007-05-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

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.....

2007-05-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

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

Food photos with a still life twist?

2007-04-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-04-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-04-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

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

Grand Central

2007-04-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

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.....

2007-04-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-04-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

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.

This is LA

2007-04-03T17:55:00.001-07:00

One of these is from Pacifica. I think they both have an LA feel.

Bad dog

2007-04-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

There's alot of dogs in our city. I loved this sign. I even wondered whether to take it seriouisly.

Become a Catalog Photographer?

2007-04-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

I hear a lot of the photo work in Frisco (oops, San Francisco, I heard you're not supposed to call it Frisco) is catalog work. I'm really tired of the Gap and Ambercombie stuff. However, I did think the adds on the Muni awnings around town for BeBe were kind of interesting. I was bored in our hotel room, so I decided to try and take a good photo of my wife's bra. Lit by the nightstand lamp. (Yeah, I'm a guy, and I have a pulse, what can I say.)

I live in LA and don't have a car

2007-03-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I was in LA. These were near Hollywood, in really really nice neighborhoods. Guess its tough to get your groceries home if you don't drive. I think I'd rather ride my bike every day, pick up a few things, and shove 'em in my messenger bag. I kind of liked the lonely orange in the cart, though. I think its all Safeway's, KMart's, and Costco's fault. We never had this phenomenon when people went to the neighborhood market. They walked too, which is healthier. Too bad my neighborhood market is so pricy (Goodlife in Potrero Hill, guess I need to be livin' the good life).

My TV

2007-03-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I really love movies. I was quite disappointed when my neighborhood video store closed to become a SPA (whats this neighborhood coming to). I actually used to take quite a few photos of my TV. I could be a war photog, or whatever without putting myself in danger. Perhaps, I should have a show: "My TV". I think its also a good exercise, especially if the cinematographer is great.

Put that phone away

2007-03-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

I took these a long time ago. I love my cell phone, its so convenient. In fact, I got rid of the land line, until my wife thought we should get one for more reliable 911 service. But, I feel our society is getting so much more focused on the individual. Furthermore, I feel people are just so much ruder these days. I bet when my dad was my age, it was expected that a man hold the door open for a lady, and she would graciously thank him. I'm simply saddened by the number of times I've held that door open, and a young lady (um, female, lady not) simply walks past me gabbing on her stupid phone, as if its my obligation to hold that damn door open. Next time I'll just let it slam (I won't but I'll certainly think about who I be gracious to). America, get some manners. Now there's a title for a photo essay.

Gursky and Struth watch out

2007-03-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

This kind of reminds of images from the likes of Andreas Gursky and Thomas Struth. But, of
course, they use big view cameras (I believe), often have big crews, and I guess spent thousands on huge prints. I think I might have to wait til I send Lucy to college. Need to think more simple.

Open house this Sunday

2007-03-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we're selling our house so little Lucille can have her own room. I'm also turning the Open Houses into little art shows, if you will, by hanging up some of my photos and offering them up for sale. So, buy a photo and help us buy Lucille some toys. There are some nice color photos, and black and white ones I printed in my darkroom like the painter in Florence I posted here.

Oh, the open house is 2-4pm, April 1st.

Getting my act together....

2007-03-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

Well, decided to make some post cards for my tourist portrait project. Check 'em out.

Why these people got these crazy outfits on?

2007-03-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well, they went to Burning Man, and just couldn't get enough, so they came back to Dogpatch.

This made me sad

2007-03-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

This building's alive!

2007-03-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

First time I saw a building with weeds growing out of the roof.

View from my roof

2007-03-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I think its more interesting up here when its raining. Guess it would be nicer to have a view of the Meditteranean, guess I'd settle for the Golden Gate. I like my neighborhood, though.

Serbia, Beirut, or San Francisco

2007-03-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Somehow this gloomy image of a building under construction in San Francisco makes me think of what Beirut or a bombed out city in Serbia Herzegovina might look like: dark, gloomy, murky, silent, devoid of life.

Not my car, I hope

2007-03-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Saw this beat up, and stripped car on the street behind my studio. In fact, our neighbors car, which was stolen from our building, was found on the same street. While I was taking these photos, a homeless man came up and asked me if I was investigating. He informed me someone associated with the car had died, I'm not sure if he meant murdered. I'm not sure if he knew what he was talking about, but I simply wanted to keep my distance.

Hey, where these people goin', yet again....

2007-03-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across these while looking at some pretty old scans. I guess I've been obsessed with the "people walking" thing for quite some time. Its interesting, though, how different Boston feels from San Francisco.

Everyone's a philosopher

2007-03-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

We'll if you ever had the urge to go in a cafe or bar in the Mission District of San Francisco, walls like these will surely seem familiar.

Anna Nicole watch out

2007-03-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, its my daughter, again... I think the pose is kinda of funny. I definitely hope she DOES NOT turn out to be anything like Anna Nicole.

The family portrait

2007-03-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I took this portrait for a friend of a friend. I was actually focused on getting some black and white shots which I would hand print in my darkroom. I noticed this digital shot just recently after going through lots of my old stuff. I kind of like the snap shot feel too it, and the little girl I think struck the most incredible pose. I know that at that time I didn't have a decent digital printer. Wish I did.

Where we park

2007-03-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Not much more to say. Parking garages make interesting spaces.

The Corporate Portrait

2007-03-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

I think people generally consider the corporate portrait somewhat boring.... Uninteresting. Well, they are necessary. People what to "get to know" who they will be dealing with. Not only the CEO's of the Oracles and ENRON's need 'em, but especially with the presence of the small business on the web, the little guy needs 'em too. I did these for a small company my wife used to do work for. I thought I had a good concept for the ones of my wife. She worked on various things including trend consulting and design project. Now she works as an editor. All these tasks require being "up" on whats going on in the areas of fashion, design, pop culture, etc.... So, I thought I'd try and photograph here amongst stacks of magazines. It kinda worked.

The other photograph is of her co-worker. That was much harder. I showed up at her house. It was mid day, with raging bright sunlight. Only interesting ideas I could think of were, laptop in one hand, and kiddie toys in the other (she had a really cute little boy). But, they needed something preferably a little quirky and perhaps showed a little personality of the person. I guess I got a "nice" portrait in the backyard. Its OK, I guess.

Kezar

2007-03-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

Well, a nice lady informed me I should take a photo of the stadium. Even though I've lived in San Francisco since the summer of 99, I didn't know the 49'ers used to play here.

Cars, cars, cars

2007-03-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I hate driving in the city, and the bay area has the highest gas prices in the country. Had to go to UCSF for my wife's eye doctor appointment. This is a snapshot. Also, it was actually an interesting building architecturally speaking. The entire perimeter was a waiting area with beautiful views of the city. Guess, it was kind of ironic that this was where people went for vision checkups.

More fake adds....

2007-03-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I shot this one in Nov.. The cool thing is it only cost me about $10 bucks. I went to Clement St., here in San Francisco, and bought a couple fish. Then I went off to Baker beach and found some seaweed. I was all set. Only thing, since meeting my wife, I've gained 20 lbs or so. What a bummer. I wish I had the metabolism of my wife's dad. But, even though I used to ride my bike to work everyday (its only 5 miles), and swim a couple times a week at the Presidio YMCA pool, the mid section got bigger. Anyways, I'm a free model, and here's an add for "Club Fit". Let me advertise your business!

Black and White or Color

2007-03-10T23:28:00.000-08:00

Well, some while ago I shot some photos of this girl, Jacqueline, who was I believe a high school friend of a stylist from LA. He needed some portfolio photos, and I needed a portfolio. I went to a photo festival in Palm Sprints last April, and took a seminar from Frank Ockenfels. Most people had pretty polished commercial portfolios. I didn't. I think Frank stopped on the page that had this photo of Jacqueline. He commented that she had an interesting face. How often is a photo interesting as opposed to the subject being interesting? My wife's hair stylist also commented that of these photos, the black and white one worked better. I'm not sure.

I'm an arteeest

2007-03-09T23:14:00.000-08:00

Well, back in the fall, I submitted some slides to the SFMoma artist's gallery. Back in January, I got a letter, to give them a call, since they liked some of the slides, and wanted to see the actual prints. So, today, Lucille's grandpa, Winston came up to carry Lucille around while I went into the gallery to show my prints. They accepted four of them! Here is one. Its actually part of a series based on the short film, "The Five Obstrocutions", where Lars Von Trier challenges Jorgen Leth to remake his classic short, "The Perfect Human". I am of course the perfect human. You can see the entire series on my site: Just a cog in the machine.

Cows

2007-03-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

Well, Glen Wexler got famous photographing cows. His were super heros. This is a snapshot out in Point Reyes CA. I should go back. So, many things to do.

Why can't we just get along?

2007-03-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

There are lots of memorials in our city, remembering those that have passed.
Usually, they are the victims of a crime, a murder. This was one I shot several months ago, close to my house. I can think of two more near my home. Now that I have a daughter, perhaps its time to move. I feel like collecting photos of many of these, and perhaps creating a peace sign, or heart. Why can't we just get along?

Sunsets

2007-03-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, everybody loves sunsets. The first is out in a little town named 29 Palms, near Palm Springs. I'd actually really like to go back there and photograph the folks that live out there. There's a military base there. Its an interesting place. Lots of small eateries, barber shops, and tattoo parlors. The people seemed really friendly when I was there, yet they are caught up in our nation's turmoil. The other is close to my house, and shot it on the way home from work a few months ago, prior to my quitting my job.

Bikini Girls

2007-03-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Well, over the past few years, I have occasionally scanned craig's list for photo opportunities. I have a feeling that when someone posts there looking for a photographer, they ussually get 10 million responses from every other Joe in the bay area with a DSLR. Once in a while, I guess I'm in there too, unfortunately. Once I responded to a contest of sorts, the "Hawaiian Tropic Shootout". I guess they were looking for the next great swimsuit photographer. Well, I went, and I don't think I really produced the kind of photos they wanted. They certainly weren't FHM covers. This one however I thought was kind of interesting. There were a couple similar ones. They were more like portraits, and not sexy bikini photos. After seeing this photo, I really wondered whether this young lady was happy with what she had gotten herself into. Perhaps, the aspiring model was also rather down on the fact that to work herself into the business she had to be shot by a bunch of guys from a craig's list ad.

Graffiti

2007-03-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Well, scenes like this are pretty common near our house. There's Potrero Hill, a somewhat hip neighborhood. Then a few blocks over its an industrial, urban wasteland. Recently, I heard a story on NPR, I believe entitled, "The Chase". A journalist did a story about those that are pursued, and the pursuers. He traveled to the US/Mexico border where he talked with those gaurding the border, and those making the risky crossing. Then, he talked about a detective unit in NYC which pursues graffiti artists. One story was particularly captivating. It was about one artist who would disguise himself in a subway worker's uniform. He evidently wrote his entire autobiography on the walls of the NYC subway tunnels, a couple hundred pages worth of text I believe. Of course, graffiti is vandalism, but I find much of the type and imagery fascinating. Yet, since I'm a home owner, I also hope our building doesn't get tagged.

Cakes and hostess bars

2007-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Well, my sister in law got us these incredibly ornate cakes (Spring Cakes) while on a trip to England. I figured I should photograph them. I thought I should perhaps find an incredibly cute girl who wears colorful clothing and perhaps lots of colorful makeup to take a photo of the cakes with. Also, since I don't have a big track record of commercial work, I thought I should try and create fake adds using my photos. This photo actually kind of just happened. I was trying to imitate a photo of Lil' Kim by David LaChapelle. I threw in one of the cakes. It reminded me of what I imagined those little hostess bars in Japan might be like: overly tacky, colorful, gaudy. So, my photo became an add for "Club Tweety". I thought perhaps I should rent a karaoke room in Japan Town or somewhere, and get some people together and do a photo series entitled, "Club Tweety". Anyone game?

Vacation and stay at home daddy'ing

2007-03-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we went away for a few days to lounge around the beach in winter. So, it was once again baby photo time. I'm now also a stay at home dad, in addition to being a photographer. I've been a little worried about how being a dad will affect my photography. I once attended a lecture by the photographer, Abelardo Morell. He gave a slide show of his work. It changed drastically while he had a family. Many photos were personal, or simply of things in his home, like books. I hope I still manage to find the time to explore with my camera outside of the confines of my home. One idea I have is to do a series of photos on stay at home dads. So, if you're out there, get in touch with me.

Trash, trash, trash...

2007-03-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

Scenes like the first photo are common in the city, especially on some of the corners near my studio. I took a bunch of the area and crossed processed them. I thought it could be neat to try and take a bunch of trash and make it look like a real wall at say, 7th and Folsom (I used to live near there). I still need to work on it if I want to accomplish that.

Family are subjects...

2007-02-28T22:04:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my father in-law and his brother. I thought it would be good for me to photograph them. I tried to capture the fact that they are brothers. I'm not sure if the "putting their heads close toghether" thing quite worked. I saw a similar image of two twins that worked in a similar manner, but that image was very different. I think I like the other one better. Would be cool if there was a similar one of them as kids. Could make a great diptych.

I'm almost home......

2007-02-27T21:59:00.000-08:00

I used to ride my bike under this bridge, pretty much every day on the way home. I kind of like this solitary light against the twilight of the evening sky.

Happy Together

2007-02-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

I took a bunch of photos of my wife and I at home. I tried to abstract away
our environment a little, but still leave a little there. These were a little
bit of work. I used a big Arri and a couple smaller tungsten lights which were
diffused through a 4x8 ft scrim. I was hoping to perhaps take portraits of friends
like this, but would probably have to leave the 4x8 ft scrim behind and bring a strobe or two.

More on development

2007-02-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

San Francisco reminds me of those arcade games these days, where you pick up candy and small toys with a little crane. These are some more snaps of China Basin. I'm not sure I'm inspired with this phenomena enough to perhaps get out black and white film and do some big prints. Maybe...

Avedon at Stanford

2007-02-24T22:18:00.000-08:00

Well, we went to the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford, and saw the Avedon exhibit of his wonderful portraits of the West. In addition, to the Avedon photos, there was a room devoted to contemporary Bay Area Art. There was a very lifelike statue of a man in the room, in fact so lifelike, I was hesitant to stare, for fear it could actually be a gallery worker. The piece reminded me of Ron Mueck's stuff, which I've only seen on TV and the web. It was strange, on the other end of the room, there was a man sitting in a chair, playing with his digital camera. Perhaps working on a slide show. He was apparantly flipping back and forth between images of the sky. He was real, but he could very well be a work of art. I took a quick photo, which I've attached. It was the only one I took today.

Now, getting back to Avedon. I stopped at the book store on the way out, and started to read a book which documented the process behind Avedon's portraits of the west. It was titled, "Avedon at Work: In the American West". There are few books of this sort, which talk of an artist's process in detail. In fact, the author makes the point, that the camera is not often turned on a photographer while he works. The author also reveals much about Avedon's personality, and how he interacts with potential and actual subjects. Anyways, hopefully it'll help me pursue some of my ideas involving the photography of real people.

No picture today...

2007-02-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

Its funny, when I had a job, wandering around the city without a real purpose, trying to put a rectangle around things was fun. It didn't seem strange. Then, when I was doing it as a photographer, not a part time photographer, I would sometimes feel strange. I felt like I was goofing off, not really working. Furthermore, I often had a hard time finding something interesting to photograph. A good friend of mine, Jason, once said, I shouldn't feel strange when I'm out looking but not taking photos. Both are part of the process, and now my job. So, I guess thats the purpose of this blog entry. No photo. Enjoy.

SF vs LA

2007-02-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

I think these two photos are very representative of what is SF and what is LA, at least to me. One I feel is very dramatic, moody, perhaps contemplative, and of course cloudy/foggy. The other image glows in saturated beautiful color.

Will Work for Options......

2007-02-21T23:17:00.000-08:00

As I might have already mentioned, I once had a career in hi-tech. My parents were hard working Polish immigrants. They worked hard their whole adult life to send me to college, so I could experience a better life via a good career. However, my career never really went the way I would have liked. I felt as though I was always respected, a good engineer. But, it seems I was always in a rut, doing the same old thing. After a while, I pretty much lost interest in computer science, and no longer got excited about going to work. In fact, most of our working population doesn't get excited about running out the door, and heading off to work. They do it to pay the mortgage, make that car payment, send the kids to pre-school, and save a little for retirement. Pretty soon retirement is here, and they're too tired to enjoy it. They were often lured by stock options, bonuses, and rewarded themselves with that new SUV, that big screen TV, etc.. They're sentenced to life of "success". A couple years ago, I took this photo, as my comment on this topic. One mistake I made was I hung it up in my office. Bruce, the CEO of our company, a really nice guy, saw it one day. I brought it home. If you happen to read this, I'm sorry Bruce, I didn't mean any disrespect.

My mug is always available......

2007-02-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

Well, since I used to have a day job, I had little time to take photos except on the
way to work or the way home. At night, well it was dark, and I was home. Last year I got a small studio space, and tried to refine my lighting skills. My own mug was always available. I thought about doing a photo series on Surveillance, and this is a photo from that experiment. I might turn this one into a fake add for a private detective agency or something like that. After all, I don't have any magazine covers or add campaigns yet, so one thing I'd like to do is makeup my own fake ones. Hopefully, some one might look at mine and say, "Hey, we'd like him to shoot our cover.". I made an advertising gallery on my site, with a handful of images to get started: adverti$e, $ell, adverti$e, $ell.... Need to get going on the fake covers idea.

Lamp posts, power lines, and the sky

2007-02-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I like looking at the sky, the clouds, power lines, lamp posts, etc.....
I think my interest in taking photos of whats above me started when I was thumbing through a book by Nobuyoshi Araki, a book of photos of power lines, if I remember correctly. He's a photographer that often leaves me a little uncomfortable, as if I shouldn't really be interested in his images. After all, he's known to be a fetish photographer of sorts, who's documented the underground "sex scene" in Japan, and much more. I once saw an exhibit of his in Tokyo where he portrayed middle aged house wives juxtaposed with images of decaying urban objects such as old pipes. It was powerful, yet uncomfortable to view. In some way, the images seemed cruel to the subjects. Anyways, these are a couple of my photos. I kind of liked the bad scan with scratches and dust so I thought I'd share it. It kind of has a "creepy" twilight zonish feel to it.

Tourist Portraits

2007-02-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

Last April I went to a photo festival in Palm Springs. I took a workshop from Veronique Vial, a well known fashion, celebrity, advertising, etc. photographer. She told us how she started out. She gave herself an assignment. It was to photograph people in their apartments before they were ready to go out, preferably people that were well known. She was lucky enough to get access to some celebrities in the process. The result was a couple books: Men Before 10 and Women Before 10. Since, San Francisco is such a tourist town, I thought it would be a great idea to photograph tourists in their hotel rooms. Veronique's photos were very raw, and shot on black and white film. I was hoping to have mine be more like portraits, perhaps lit, but hopefully capture some of the human elements when people are relaxing after a long day of, well, being tourists. Perhaps, there could be an element of what Martin Parr captured when he photographed the British as they vacationed in Brighton, England. Check out his site: Martin Parr. Anyways, I got my friends to allow me to photograph them when they went on a weekend to wine country. This is the one photo I liked. It was fun. I need to do about 100 more to get a book, which might start getting me noticed, getting people to hire me, and well, maybe get me famous. So, if you are staying in a hotel/motel in Northern CA, email me: marek@marekjulian.com, so I can take your photo (please, please, please)!

Urban Green and Development

2007-02-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months I've photographed alot urban green/parks, and also much of the development going on in San Francisco. Guess these photos show both.....

The Everyday

2007-02-15T22:48:00.000-08:00

Last year I went to Portland Or, or maybe it was two years ago. I rented a bike and rode around the east side. I was amazed at how much I felt I could learn from just photographing the exterior of peoples homes and their yards. A couple weeks ago, I tried to reproduce something similar by riding my bike from downtown San Jose to where my wife's parents live. Basically, I rode down Monterey Expressway (I think thats what its called). This kind of stuff makes me think of William Eggleston's work. His show at SF Moma was amazing. I watched a documentary about him too. It seemed like he often wandered around aimlesly trying to put a rectangle around his surroundings, producing great images in the process. Anyways, here are a couple photos from that bike ride. Hope to do more.

I wish I was 16 years old again.....

2007-02-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

I kind of got a kick out of this. I was riding Cal Train to meet my wife at her parents house in San Jose. I was in the bike car (you can bring your bike on cal train and then be able to easily get to where you really need to go), and noticed this high heel shoe stuck on the window sill. Its nothing special as a photo, but I can just imagine some teenagers sitting around, having some innocent fun. Perhaps they're riding the train with no real purpose. Come to think of it, perhaps I should rethink the last few sentences since I'm now a parent. Anyways, I still got a kick of the shoe on the window sill.

Beach Portraits

2007-02-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago I took a really great class in color photography at SFAI. The teacher was a guy named Tim Sullivan (Tim Sullivan Art). Well, about this time, I rented this movie entitled "Five Obstructions" which is a film about Lars Von Trier challenging Jorgen Leth (a dutch film legend) to remake his classic 12 minute short several times under different constraints. The short was entitled "The Perfect Human". As a result of seeing this film I created some photos which the instructors girlfriend commented had a color palette similar to Reneke Dijstra's (Reneke Dijkstra). You can see these photos on my site here: Just a Cog in tghe Machine). I had to investigate her work. She create these amazing portraits of teenagers on the beach in various parts of the world. Anyways, I loved the low camera angle of her beach portraits and thought I'd emulate her work a little bit. These are some of those photos.

Lets go to the beach

2007-02-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

I love the beach. Its peaceful, the air is clean, you always look better with at least a little bit of a tan, its a great place to ponder, or have a good time. For a period of time last year, I spent alot of time on Ocean Beach and Baker beach just to take photos. Also, drove down to Pacifica and Santa Cruz a few times. Need to do more of that. Here are some of those photos. For some reason I felt a need to really mess with the colors. Originally, they were shot on slide film, where the blues were too blue, and the browns too brown.

Textures

2007-02-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago Stephanie and I went to the Fraenkel Gallery in downtown San Francisco. It happened to be a weekday afternoon, a perfect time to go. You should too. There are plenty of other great galleries in 49 Geary. Anyways, Fraenkel pretty much exclusively exhibits photographic arts. When we were there that day I noticed what appeared to be an amazing painting. A vivid golden experiment in texture. As I approached closer, I was astounded to learn it was indeed a photo, a photo of a motel room wall. It was by Richard Misrach, a well known California photographer. The other really, really memorable pieces by Misrach I also encountered at the Fraenkel. They were these amazing aerial shots of a crowded beach, full of living, vivid color. The other day we were walking in our neighborhood and I took some photos of walls. I kind of like this one. I guess I should take more. Perhaps try lighting some of them. Feels like I'm simply copying, but its a great excuse to take a photo of something mundane on the surface which could turn into a beautiful surprise.

The Art of Walking

2007-02-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well its the oldest form of transportation known to man. 2 or 3 years ago I took a bunch of photographs off people walking set against these blank walls which were the facades to buildings under renovation in downtown San Francisco. Actually, they were primarily against one wall which seemed to be there for ever, and might still be. There's a gallery on my site full of these photos: hey, where these people goin?. I guess I got interested in this silly idea since it was kind of an outdoor natural light studio. I'd pretend I'd be photographing the building, and then lower my camera, and snap, usually without looking through the viewfinder. Most were blank and white. I probably have enough prints for a show. Never, really felt they were worthy of approaching a gallery with. I'd love to hear what you think. Here are a couple color ones. The first I think is kind of humorous, the lost tourists, if you will. The second is recent, and deviates from the earlier ones. I recently found that the buildings around certain intersections, allow what is essentially a spot light on the pedestrians below at certain periods in the afternoon. I was kind of tired of the people walking thing, but perhaps this creates a new spin. Someone once told me, if you have an idea, work on it to the extreme. Guess there might be some truth to that. If I should stop, let me know.

New Friends

2007-02-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

Well, sometimes its hard to find people willing to be photographed, that is, folks with a pulse and all. Luckily, I've found these cute guys. Actually, their Lucy's (my daughter's) friends. I spent a few hours photographing them today. Plan to do a little more tomorrow.

Hello again....

2007-02-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

Well, its more than a month since my last post. Not much of a blog I guess..... Its great being a dad, but feel a little bit of pressure as I'm not quit where I'd like to be as a photographer.... Haven't gotten hired for any really big commercial shoots, but then again, noone knows who the heck I am. I've been pretty much in portfolio building mode ever since quiting my job last July. I really love taking photos of people, and I like real photos of real people. I spent alot of time this past fall hanging out in spots in our city that I thought might make nice settings for a photo. No fancy equipment, just some black and white film. Lots of fun, but in a strange way I felt like I wasn't working. I felt as though I was goofing off. Wandering around, searching for a a photo. This probably wasn't a recipe for making a living as a photographer. I'd love to hear about your journeys as photographers, especially as you were trying to figure it all out......

2006

2006-12-26T16:48:00.000-08:00

Well, this has a big year for me. I quit my lucrative job in hi-tech at a great company (Alexa Internet) to try and be a photographer, and then went and had a wonderful baby. Now, my
mom is sitting in Stephanie's (my wife's) rocker with a blanket over her sleeping. We are a happy family. This is worth 10 billion google stock options, and all the magazine covers in the world, which ever life I end up living in my remaing years on this planet.

Well, here's Lucy. Say hello.......