From my upcoming children’s book, “Billy Breaks Both His Legs And Arms.”
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Skate Rats
This was snapped on Folsom near 7th a month or so ago when out shooting with Travis. The guys up above came rolling down the sidewalk at which point Travis started shouting out skate trick commands. Both then repeatedly tried to perform them until they got it right. Was fun hanging with them awhile, and they seemed to enjoy the attention.
Greetings From San Francisco
On behalf of the entire city, I send a hale and hearty greeting to all those gay and lesbian peoples worldwide! And I would like to remind everyone: we are everywhere 
Watch this funny Youtube Clip to see what I mean (safe for work, has sound).
Bipedal Robot
My friend Jonathan printed out this robot. Honestly…almost every single part was printed using a 3 dimensional printer that he built himself. He had been dreaming of building a bipedal robot (chicken legged) for quite a while, and it seems that the parts he needed to create the device didn’t exist in the market place, so he built a 3-d printer from a kit and printed out the pieces he needed. The brain is an Arduino that drive the servos.
BTW, this shot was lit by a small lamp on the right and an overhead lamp on the ceiling. 4 second exposure and temperature correction. Luckily both light sources were the same temp…
Giant Camera Little Phone
Infrared City
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A good friend of mine who works at a mid-peninsula food bank asked if I might have a framed photo I could donate to a fund-raising auction the organization will soon be putting on. I have a lot of photos, but very few that I think would have broad appeal for a local auction. This morning I ended up selecting this one, a photo I snapped in 2003, and will drop it off this afternoon. I like it because the skyline is instantly recognizable, but being captured in infrared, the rendering is different than most similar shots. Also, I like how from this particular viewpoint, the Bay Bridge appears to go deep into San Francisco.
Any guesses as to where this was shot from?
Alpine Lake Dam
I love dams. They’re fun to find and explore. I generally start with a map and look for flat areas of a lake. I get disappointed when I show up and the dam is one of those ugly earth dams, I want big cement! The Alpine Lake Dam up in Marin looks like an Escher painting. I immediately knew I loved it. Sorry if this sounds like a 3rd grade report.
Cruising Along
Taken with an ultrawide rectilinear lens at 8mm, .33 seconds, f/4.5, over the windshield of a convertable. The hard part is keeping the camera from shaking while the car is moving and the wind is buffeting the lens. I’ve tried this many times and found that anything longer than 1 second has a near-zero chance of success.
A Street Portrait?
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Is the photo above a “street portrait?” Nah… Just a street photo snapped on the street. There’s been quite a bit of talk lately on a popular photography forum about the subject and I’ve been weighing in on the discussions. Thought I’d write a bit here on the subject.
For myself and others that engage in street portraiture, an essential element is subject engagement. It’s pretty much a process and extends to portraiture of all types; such as in-studio or on-location settings. Richard Avedon spoke quite a bit about the relationship that develops between photographer/camera and subject that forms during the portrait making process.
With respect to street portraiture, the process, very generally, is about spotting an interesting potential subject, considering different background possibilities, engaging the person in some manner, asking if a portrait can be taken, posing the person (sometimes several times), and finally taking a picture. All the while chatting with the subject. For me, because I’m a snoop and love people, many times the chatting goes deep to learn more about the subject. In any case, it’s a negotiated process with respect and trust flowing both directions during engagement. No engagement, no street portrait. Also, I always try and exchange contact information such as an email or physical address; so I can send a photo to the subject.
While I like the photo above a lot (though the boyfriend didn’t seem pleased at the time) and it was shot from a couple of feet, there was no engagement. Not a street portrait.
As an aside, trying to be true to one of my New Years’ goals stated in a previous post, I’m trying to do more street photography and widening context. And much less street portraiture. Still, it’s hard to resist when a great subject crosses your path. I’ll probably put one up for tomorrow’s photo.
Brotographers
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Last Friday night Travis and I hooked up at an impromptu last minute get-together with eight photographers from the Blow-Up! group. Hit a couple of bars in the Tenderloin and took some snaps. From left to right up above, Travis, John Agoncillo, and José Marco. Everybody had a great time, including myself where I learned how to play the dice game 1-4-24. We need to plan more of these… Also, props to photographer Jason Schlachet for coining the term “brotographer” a few weeks ago!
Thoughts About Shooting Fish
(Taken in an office lobby on Montgomery Street)
So it turns out that shooting fish is a lot harder than it seems. Tank lighting is low, meaning you are forced to use a combination of high ISO and wide apertures. Noise becomes a problem. DoF becomes narrow –wreaking havoc with all attempts to focus on a fish in constant motion. It’s hard to get eyes and snout into the focal plane (a cardinal rule for any sort of portrait). Reflections get in the way. Autofocus is easily confused by dirt, scratches, and bubbles on tank walls. And fish only line up to make a good composition for a fraction of a second… then the moment is gone.
Not to mention that there’s no money to be made in the field of fish portraiture.
This was shot at f/1.4, 1/60th of a second, at ISO 200. I ended up throwing away 60 shots for one reason or another – usually focus and motion blur problems. In hindsight, I should have bumped the ISO up higher in order to get a faster shutter speed.
Shooting The Refinery
Taken in the North Bay, on a hillside overlooking a refinery. 15 seconds at 33mm, followed by 5 seconds slowly zooming in to 120mm.
After the jump, a similar shot, starting at 48mm. Fun stuff. And yes, I’m easily amused.
Golden Gate, Sutro
Taken from atop Mt. Tamalpais around 9 am. I was trying various techniques for masking a blown out sky. I think I used a piece of cardboard here.
