Alex

Alex and I had planned to shoot some sunset shots on the beach. As luck would have it, the day was overcast and foggy, with very little visibility. So we decided to do something different...

Dissecting "I Still got the Blues..."

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been taking a few pictures of my acoustic guitar. I decided to get something a bit dramatic, playing with some light and shadows.

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My Yamaha Guitar

Several years ago, I used to play the guitar.  I've sort of given it up since I took up photography.  Didn't make a conscious decision, but rather have just not made the time needed to keep practicing.  Over time, the callused fingers heal, the finger-strength and speed diminish, and after a bit longer, the finger memory goes.  Now you have to actually think about what notes to play next.

Go Packers!!!

The Green Bay Packers are in the Super Bowl.  It has been several years since their last trip, and I am very optimistic for the win.

Phone Bouncer

I call this self-portrait the "phone bouncer".  The idea is that if someone picks up my phone, they have to go through this tough guy to get inside, and they better be on the guest list :-)

Egyptian Tapestry

A simple photograph of a tapestry I got from Egypt last year.

The thing to notice is that the texture is perfectly shown, and you can tell exactly what kind of material it's made out of.

That was my goal - to reproduce it as closely as possible.  The viewer should feel that they are looking at the actual object, or to put it another way... if they see the actual tapestry, they shouldn't be surprised at how it looks and displays.

Continue for the technical details ...

Wise Man Statue

This is a little trinket that I brought from the Serengeti (I never completed the "Places I've seen" series, but beyond Europe was Giza, Egypt and then a safari in Tanzania).

I really like the 3D look of this photograph.

Continue for the technical details ...

Medieval Barbecue

Out shopping, I came across a toy dragon. I thought it looked cool, so it went into the cart. As I continued shopping, I imagined it breathing fire at a small animal - I liked the cow, so got that as well.

As I imagined the final shot, I began building the scene around it - fire, ashes, bricky type building, etc.

Montara State Beach

Last week, I went to Montara State Beach on California Highway 1, north of Half Moon Bay. Didn't have a lot of time, so ended up taking just a couple of photographs... one of the scene and a self-portrait.

I think this one came out pretty nicely.


I then took a self-portrait. You can see the flash in the photo - no time to set up stands, etc. I could have photo-shopped it out, but chose not to spend the time. Kind of gives it a "real" feeling to me.

Photographing Laser Light

My attempt at a technique taught by Dean Collins for photographing beams of light.

Light itself is invisible. Think of your car headlights. You don't see the light coming out of the headlights, but rather the areas where it hits.

To photograph it, you make the light beam visible by making it "hit" something in all the areas you want it to show up in your photograph. Pretty simple concept and pretty simple to do.

Gateway to San Francisco

I had been thinking about going to the Marin Headlands and taking some pics of the Golden Gate Bridge for some time. Saturday evening, Feb. 07, I decided to do it. Left home, thinking that I had plenty of time to get there before sunset.

I've been living in the Bay Area for many years now, but still manage to get surprised by unexpected traffic jams. Stuck on Howard Street, I watched the sunset, and then darkness enveloping the streets. It was dark when I finally got there.

• Shot a few pics of the Golden Gate and then my car
• Lent my tripod to a fellow photographer who was without one
• took a picture of a couple with my camera as their camera couldn't handle fill-flash, and was making the Golden Gate a black blob.

Took the top down on the drive back. Met a friend back in the city, dinner, hot chocolate, and then back home.