From the (non) Bully Pulpit

Decided to bring photo gear along, while camping last weekend, to shoot a portrait of pal Kevin: lover of camels and dirtbike rides in the mud.

an amazing storyteller..

I seem to be, these past few years, shooting lots in the woods. I plan to make a conscious effort to change it up in the near future. Noted here.

 

 

 

pretty woods/ scary trails, to a novice rider (ie me).

Pinecone Baseball

Last weekend we went up for a last day of skiing in Tahoe for the season.. Skied and stopped at this spot to shoot Tony on the drive home.

hero shot

Messed around a bit with some outtakes...

self portrait by Tony

pinecones everywhere

view from rock above

squirrel time

 

Mural Series: Chuck

A Fishmonger in the Tenderloin District, San Francisco

 

A few months ago I set up this guy in the Tenderloin with some fish and a spear. Slow to start this series, I am creating tacky, contrived portraits in front of tacky, contrived murals painted on sides of buildings. Maybe, at long last, two wrongs will make a right?

Anyway, Chuck totally brought it in terms of effort and willingness, so early on a Saturday morning. Thanks a shit-ton/ fish-ton, Chuck!

 

This guy wandered in and kind of made it as well:

 

And, in case you were wondering... the fish stayed nearby, to swelter in the growing temperature of the midday sun:

nothing about photography....

.. but I just joined Pintrest and am wanting to post some ideas for apt decor and art projects,  but they are in photos on my phone, not already online. So I am now officially posting them on the internet!

Coolest thing ever: this house in Pac heights, owned and decorated by the interior designer/ owner, had this art on the wall in one of the boy's bedrooms:

hella awesome..

Second idea, and this I've seen for a few years, every time I go in Sugarlump Cafe I see this wall unit and am getting ever-closer to building one of my own:

 

I have the brackets and standards in brass, need to make shelves. It's to be an entertainment center, with amp, record player, and then two wall-mounted cubes below to hold albums. The brackets were $$, the standards were on a closeout at Center Hardware. The shelves and boxes will be made out of plywood, but a nice birch-veneer, with a walnut stain. It may or may not work out..? Tony's on it. Like he was on this project:

 

The staghorn fern trophy mount, not the whale weathervane. My grandpa Joe Hale made that. Damn cool, both. Animal corner..

Outside Inn

Went to Nevada City yesterday to play a show with my new band Billy Cramer and Share the Land. Tony and I stayed at the Outside Inn, a cool themed-room motel in town.

Thinking we might go skiing from there, I brought lights and camera. The snow fell throughout the night, though, and made it too crappy out to drive further up the mountain. So I staged yet another Tony photo.


Here's a timeline of setting up:

Babes in the Wood: Paloma

Little Paloma in a vintage crib.

big bro Diego helping out

Family portrait gets interesting

Kmart and the cart(s)

Again, to Reno and Sugar Bowl to ski. I brought lights and we explored a closed-down Kmart for a possible shoot setting. 

I liked the weird shopping-cart drama here.. in suburban Reno why do people push shopping carts into a loading dock? Can't be the Oakland can man zombie recyclers..

We had just stopped for gas at a nearby 7-11 and I bought a blue (raspberry?) Slurpee to use as a prop. It was way-weird for 10am, but Tony actually drank it.

here's a list of ingredients, per foodfacts.com:

Corn Syrup High Fructose

Water

Citric Acid

Flavor(s) Natural & Artificial

Quillaia Extract

Yucca Extract

Sodium Benzoate ( To protect taste )

 Blue 1

 Who doesn't need a little Blue 1 in their morning?