i'm sorry it's come to this... it makes me cringe to say it...
but, making images...
it's absolutely my favorite thing to do in life

being in north beach - part 2

sorry about the cheesey love songs.
but sometimes that's just the way it has to be.

spring break

spring break officially started today at about 11:11am

i drove straight home from class and took a several-hour-nap

recovery from a few good days in the city

then i awoke and made some iced tea

went out on the town, my town, for once, and took some photos with Kels

watched a handsome boy drink his wine

and that's all

happy spring to you-hooo <3

beet that!

f00d ph0t0 sh00t for studi0 lighting 1o1o1o1o1

i was trying to figure out where I saw something that first triggered ideas about shooting in the mission district... realized it was Dennis Hearne's portfolio hECHO enMEX <><><><><><>

The Mission District - round two

i dig shooting here to the utmost... enjoying sun or rain or fog or whatever the city brings, guessing my exposures, cheap hair cuts, guacamole breaks, watching the cops cruise by on their dirtbikes, sidewalk convos, "yes this old camera still works--really", dodging ice-cream-man push-karts, walking the same blocks a thousand times, graffiti on churches and houses and cars...

you know i love this kinda crap. can't wait to go back over & over again.

p.s. sticking with black & white-heyHEY!

La Mission -- MOVIE!

wwwhhhaaat! i just found out about this :) so excited!!! Meeeeshunnn!
Opens Friday April 16 in SF


LA MISSION: Movie Trailer - Watch more top selected videos about: Movie_Trailers, La_mission, Benjamin_Bratt, Jesse_Borrego, Erika_Alexander, Jeremy_Ray_Valdez, Talisa_Soto_Bratt, Peter_Bratt

mediterranean: instances of blue & yellow

i've been such a whiner lately. especially about school. but the truth is, its not really so bad. even saturday class. campus is deserted. on my walk to class i can sing in the echo-y tunnels. and the building in which our lab is held is friggin rainbow colored with a balcony that manages to capture the brightest of light. pollen flying from the trees, nudey photos and friends. check it out ..

[cellphonevideo][musicbyPostalService]

Envelope Show

every graduating senior class does what they call an Envelope Show. at the beginning of the semester we are handed an envelope ... inside the envelope are objects and directions that former graduates decided to pass on to us for "inspiration" in making a photo. its an exercise in creativity... but mostly it's to teach us how to put on a gallery show. each one of us will be displaying our image at a show which we have organized at Beatnik Studio downtown... opening reception is Friday March 26th at 5pm... would love for you to come :]

the contents in my package were a bottle with a message inside. the message turned out to be directions which read: "put your own message in this bottle and take a picture of it floating down a body of water. remember to tell us what you wrote". so i wrote down some Emmylou lyrics. i put 'em in a bottle. and i found a giant puddle.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How would you feel if the world was falling apart all around you

Pieces of the sky were falling in your neighbord's yard

But not on you

soooo so excited to get out of the classroom and do some shooting in The Mission on Monday.

here's the only digital shot i took last time, the lens on the Yashicamat wouldn't reach far enough.

italy: instances of grey & brown

at school, so many of our conversations are centered around the formal elements and patterns within a body of work. within that, one of the main topics is, of course, color. i'm becoming obsessed with organizing color schemes and so these are just mere exercises to get my fixxx.

italy: instances of green

morning walk in Orvieto

buncha Jack Russels -- friends of Spugna Roberto

everyone inside-- taking their 3 hour mid-day naps so they can strut these streets all night long :D

magic zucchinininini!

just before a giant thunderstorm hit town

grapes..

one of our many vacation mansions in Bolsena ;)

love of my life... chopping wood ;) ;) che sega...

the bridge from Amelia to Narni

the Romanian's bathroom.

P.S. bidet!!!

Franco's backyard out on the countryside

ciaoooo mister!

snow picnic

all week long my destination is west. so when i have a day off, i like to go east.
so i went east. and i got a gourmet pot pie. and i got snow.



[cellphonevideo][musicbyM.Ward]

oscahz

it would've been my pick for best picture too but i'm so so sooo glad Christoph Waltz won for best supporting actor. ahh brilliant! it was my favorite acting performance all year long.

Ma & Pa!

My mom and dad have been working on a new website for their business... it's lookin real nice, so I thought I'd share it!

And if you ever need retail construction estimating... now you know who to call ;)

being in north beach - part 1

"when was it that we first met?"

"when the weather was still good"

replace a broken brown shoe lace ...

we decide Tide for jeans, Downy for the rest.

"you're the only good thing in this city"

"you're the only good thing in this place"...

brothers & rats

cyanotype

from my Atlernative Process class. here is my first round of cyanotype prints.

saturday morning #1 - shot on 4x5 black & white film at the car wash around the corner.

saturday morning #2 - developed film & did contact prints using cyanotype process

saturday morning #3 a.k.a. today- prints are dry! did a quick scan...

ooohhh saturday school. i mean, really, who's idea was that?

ahh well now it's time to get off campus and take back my weekend!

have a good one, xox

critique summary

Brought Mission District - Round One in for class critique on Wednesday. Got some constructive feedback to work with for the next month.

The biggest change I'll make is printing the images myself. The plan was to get them printed at Costco, where I've taken all my projects before and have had good results. However this is the first project I'm printing in black and white.... Costco prints on color paper which gives the prints a weird tint. So, I ordered some Moab sample paper and will start working with the printers in the digital lab at school next week.

I will also be changing the scanner I'm using. Instead of using the Epson 4990 I'll be using the Nikon Super Coolscan 9000. The difference is that the Epson is a flat bad scanner and the Nikon is specifically a film scanner. With the Nikon I should get better focus on the scans and will get rid of strange swirly streaks you might notice on the images. So, I will rescan all of the existing images and continue with the Nikon from here out.

As far as impressions on the images go ... my professor, Doug, noted that the butcher shot was 'a real gem'. And really to my surprise the mechanical horse shot was well received. Overall they agreed that each of the images showed a connection between the photographer and the scene and succeeded in involving the viewer in the situation. We also talked about the gritty tones and how it seems to work well with the subject matter.

They decided that the pigeons and the young boy were not consistent with the body of images. I agree completely. The pigeons was taken at such a different perspective than all of the others. And the image of the young boy feels out of place because of the decreased distance to the subject. It also lacks connection to the environment around it where the other images emphasize the backdrop.

That's it! I'd love any other input. I'll be going strong on improving the body of images for a little while. Next critique is in the beginning of April.

waking up encinitas

early A.M. at Swamis

colors going crazy.. had to de-saturate a little

mmmm

i've had this song in my head all day

inspecting

making sure all's good for the critique tomorrow.

xoxo

The Mission District - round one

all images shot, developed, scanned & printed in 24 hours.

who says shooting digital is mo' faster? ;)

alrighty, so this is attempt #1 of probably many for my senior portfolio project.

not exactly sure what i'm doing really, theme-wise... all i can do is shoot and see what happens.