Miscellaneous•
February 26th, 2008•
After my recent trip to San Francisco, I began looking back through some of the other trips I’ve made throughout the past year and the images I captured while visiting. The first trip that came to mind was one that I took back in the early part of February of last year to Las Vegas. Again, this trip was mainly business with a little free time for myself to check out the sights.
Now, they say that New York is the city that never sleeps … well … I think that title should be given to Sin City. No matter where you were staying or where you wound up for the night, there was always something to do or see. With the incredible amount of shows, clubs and other nightly entertainment … you could avoid sleep for a week and still not see and experience everything that Vegas (and the surrounding area) has to offer.
After getting out of classes early one day, I decided to head out into the beautiful 75 degree weather and take a walk around the strip. Luckily, there was a tram that stopped right at the hotel and would take you from one end of the strip to the other in just a couple minutes. For $5, I hopped on and headed for MGM. When I came out of the MGM hotel, I was greeted with a familiar sight …
Never having visited Vegas before, seeing a hotel that looked like your own home-town city was pretty cool. Every little detail that they could have packed into the design … they did … and it was incredible!
I continued up the strip, past the hotels in progress and the hookers working the streets and finally made it up to the Bellagio where I walked up one of their driveways, turned around and shot Paris in the desert …
As I continued up the strip, I also grabbed a shot of the Mirage volcano that amazed so many at night …
But overall, I have to say that the Venetian is the one hotel that I liked the most. Just walking up to the front entrance was a sight to see. Unfortunately, because I was too busy looking at everything, I didn’t even shoot a picture until I got inside and remembered I had a camera slung around my neck!
As I walked through the main entrance, they had this water fountain that was just screaming to have its picture taken …
As I continued my personal tour through the hotel, I eventually wound up in their rendition of the Grand Canal, complete with Gondolas and singing Gondoliers. As I made my way through the shops, I saw a really cool looking statue with a ton of money laying on the railing in front of it. Again, not having been to Vegas before, I was curious to find out what it was all about.
All I have to say is that this guy was good …
I stood next to him for nearly 5 minutes and not once did he move, sway or make a noise. After I took my shot, I decided to make my own contribution … and when I did, he reached out to shake my hand as a thank you, only to freak out a little girl standing near by who thought he was a statue as well!
Like San Francisco, Vegas was a cool city to check out and is definitely on my list of re-visits. Unlike most tourists to the area, I didnt get a chance to see Red Rock, the Grand Canyon or Hoover Dam … so they are a must for next time!
Now … lets see what else I can dig up …
Miscellaneous•
February 18th, 2008•
Being a photographer and artist, I look to many different areas for inspiration. This morning, my Google Desktop Sidebar RSS Widget popped up with a little note that someone, somewhere in the world had written a blog post related to photography. I clicked the link and it brought me over to a post about Finding Grace (not the TV Show) by David’s Digital ProTalk.
It turns out that Multi-Gazillionaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACS, Lynn Blodgett, has produced one of the best photography books of 2007 (according to PopPhoto.Com). Not of landscapes or children or models – but of homeless people.
Finding Grace – The Face Of America’s Homeless is a book of 140 images of homeless people and families throughout America. In David’s words …
Don’t get the wrong idea here, this isn’t rich man photographs poor people to get famous. Lynn has had a love of phtotgraphy and considers himself an amateur photographer since he was a kid. At a recent workshop in which he participated, he produced some really compelling images according to Andrew Eccles, the course instructor.
Encouraged by this experience, Lynn began his journey. He would get out of his car in areas of towns where homeless people gather for shelter and protection, set up a white seamless background and begin photographing anyone who would stand in front of the camera. The images are a peek into a part of the world most of us would shun and try to ignore. But the result is that Lynn found the humanness in these people and his portraits truly reflect it.
Lynn’s efforts have resulted in the founding of Finding Grace Homeless Initiative which is an emerging coalition of individuals and organizations aiming to increase awareness and raise money for homeless organizations.
After my recent trip to San Francisco and the encounters that I had with the homeless there, I think that the Finding Grace Homeless Initiative is something that everyone should try to take part in – whether you are a gazillionaire or not – as that could be one of us someday, down and out on our luck, looking for someone to provide a helping hand!
To check out some of the pages from the book, be sure to check out the website!
Miscellaneous•
February 14th, 2008•
After an extremely long, fully packed, six and a half hour plane ride across the country, I finally set foot in San Francisco for the first time last week. While it was 8PM Pacific time and you couldn’t see too much of the area, I was still excited to be out there!
The trip was a combination of business and pleasure, which let me see some of the city while learning new things about business. I stayed at the Parc55 Hotel in downtown San Francisco, just inside of the Financial District. At the end of each day, I had some time, before the sun set, to get out and take in some of the sights like a typical tourist. Luckily, there was a cable car turnstyle a half-a-block away from the hotel, which gave me quick access to many of the great spots throughout the city.
I hopped on to one of the San Francisco Cable Cars and headed for Mason Street in Fisherman’s Wharf. Not wanting to miss an opportunity for a great picture, I slid my arm through one of the side bars and hung off the side of the car with my camera bag and one of my feet dangling over the road below. As we crested the top of Mason Street, I snapped this shot of an oncoming cable car with the bay in the background.
I kept taking shots of the oncoming cable car until I was about 2 seconds away from being knocked off as it passed by. Needless to say, not all of those shots came out that great …
After being dropped off in Fisherman’s Wharf, I walked around and grabbed a few more shots of the area before heading out on a Bay Tour that would take me under the Golden Gate Bridge and around the far side of Alcatraz. I wish I could have visited some of the more known spots to take shots of the bridge from … but I still love this one …
Alcatraz island …
And as we finally came around Alcatraz island, Downtown San Francisco …
(For another great shot of this boat, check out our photo of the week)
As the sun set and the upper 60 degree weather faded, I decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I figured I would be daring once again and hung off the side of the cable car for a few more shots. As we climbed up Mason Street, I saw another cable car headed our direction … so I snapped this …
But what makes this photo great is the guy in the white shirt. As you can see, he isn’t looking in the same direction that his cable car is headed. Needless to say, no one in his car decided to tell him about us either. As the two cars approached, I leaned in as far as I could … and then I heard the “thud”. The guy in the white shirt was actually hit by our cable car! He never fell nor did the cable cars stop … but I am sure he was a little sore the next morning!
As I got back to the hotel and opened up the door to my room, I was greeted with one more photo opportunity. The bay fog that covers the Golden Gate almost everyday, started rolling into the city. I waited as long as possible so I could get the right light and the perfect amount of fog!
All in all, the trip was fun (until I got sick for the last few days) and I learned a lot of new things that I get to bring back home with me. I shot a lot of images but only got to see part of the city … so I look forward to returning soon!
As a final thought, there were two things that I really didn’t like about the city. The first was that everything seemed to be overpriced … no matter what is was. The second was the homeless … as they were everywhere and constantly pestering you for food or money. On a few occasions, I even had a couple of them follow me down the street. While I understand that people can be down on their luck, I wish the city would do a more for them to help clean up the streets!
Miscellaneous•
February 10th, 2008•
On a recent trip to San Francisco, I took a boat tour that brought us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz island. During the ride, I snapped shots of surrounding elements like this sail boat with the Bay Bridge as a backdrop.
I had been watching the sail boat for a while as I had snapped enough shots of Alcatraz and was looking for something different. What originally attracted my eye for this shot was not the sail boat or the bridge, but rather the reflection of the boat in the water. I am not exactly sure why that captured my eye, but I loved the way it looked and decided to go for it.
The shot above was taken with the Mark III with a 70-200mm lens at F8 at 1/2000 with the ISO at 320. I was zoomed out to about 105 mm and did slight retouching in Photoshop to help bring out the blueness of the water and sky.
Miscellaneous•
December 31st, 2007•
This morning I woke up to a snow covered landscape with a crystal clear sky and couldn’t resist grabbing the camera for a few shots! I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Hopefully 2008 is a little crazier than 2007 was!
