Something Sinister

I spent the better part of yesterday following a strange sort of "delicious but hidden bakery/cafe/restaurant" map through San Francisco, splitting meals with friends so we could try as many things as possible. We went to Humphry Slocombe Ice Creamery where they had some of the strangest ice cream flavors ever. There was a "Jesus Juice" flavor that actually tasted like red wine and coke, a "salt and pepper" flavor that wasn't so great (it tasted like salt and pepper), and several other more tasty ones. We tried out Sol Food where they had a great assortment of vegan friendly entrees as well as a tasty Arnold Palmer tea & lemonade. There was a place called Cowgirl Creamery's Artisan Cheese that smelled really scary because they had so many extremely smelly cheeses, but the samples turned out to be very unique and fantastic! We visited a honey shop called "Bee Kind" where I got to try out honey from all over the world! It was very surprising how many different textures, colors, thicknesses, and flavors of honey there were. We got a bunch of donuts from Dynamo Donuts. Among those were Apricot Cardamom, Candied Orange Blossom, Bacon Maple Apple, Strawberry Earl Grey, Ginger Orange, and Open Hand Peanut Buddy. We visited a burrito place that I can't remember the name on, but it was on Mission St. and it was really good! We went to Far West Fungi where they sold every type of mushroom and truffle you could imagine. There was Boccalone Salumeria too, though I didn't try that place.

We were in the SF Ferry Building near pier 1 close to sunset and they locked us inside of the building and warned us that a large group of BART protesters were angry and outside of the building. So basically people inside were saying they wanted to get out and the protesters outside were shouting they wanted to get in. After that point in the eveining, there were numerous times I walked past groups of 30ish protesters being followed by twice as many cops.. and all the subway stations were closed.


Geoff with his wooden hand


Jo in front of a mural on Mission St.


BART protesters along Market St.

Can't teach an old bird new tricks

I was thinking about getting in touch with my friend who is working at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, which is near East Bay in the SF Bay area. We met at Moorpark college at the campus zoo where she was training a Bobcat, a Sheep, and a really cool Amazonian Parrot! They can be as intelligent as a 3 year old child.. which is pretty incredible.

Long story short, I haven't posted any zoo pictures from any of the two weeks of zoo shoots. So here are a couple pictures of my friend Jacqueline!





And here's a salty little quote to go along with dolphin training and following your dreams

"Who is staring at the sea is already sailing a little."
Paul Carvel

New York, France, and Six Toed Kittens

Going to Europe was an interesting experience. It really didn't feel that different from some other places I've been aside from the language barrier and not being able to use my cell phone. I got to do a lot of touristy things such as seeing museums, landmarks, and eating a lot. The most fun I had came from the simpler things though, like talking to people on the subways and wandering a french mall with my friend Devon. Did you know they sell leather converse in France?

The rainy weather forecast for the entire upcoming week prevented me from continuing on to the United Kingdom, so I bought a ticket back to California with a layover in New Jersey. Upon landing in Jersey, I asked my friend Lauren if she wanted to hang out for a few days and she said yes! So I ditched the Jersey airport while they were boarding my flight and took a train over to Manhattan. I ended up spending a week and a half in Lauren's loft in Brooklyn and meeting a whole bunch of incredible, friendly artists and going on lots of adventures. Some of these included perusing vintage book stores, seeing movies, going to a few museums, and going to the beach! On the second to last day, Lo and I were walking to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and adopted a homeless kitten with six toes. Lauren named her Lucky because she was lucky to be adopted and she is lucky to be able to make kitty fists with her extra toes. We proceeded to buy her all the kitty necessities such as litter, food, and toys. After some shopping, we continued on our journey to the museum for an awesome time.


Pictured above: Lucky the Six Toed Kitten

Hannah Banana

My friend Hannah and I were messing with her studio lights. This is overexposed, but I still like it for some reason.

Fresca

My friend Garrett has been traveling around the United States over the past two weeks and I will be meeting up with him next week on Tuesday the 6th if things work out correctly. We'll be meeting in Minneapolis, MN then driving west for an hour to Darwin, MN where the Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota is located. Then we'll head to Montana to meet up with my amazing friend, Erika, and do some fun hiking and camping in Glacier. We'll probably be there for a week then we'll drive over to Seattle, WA.

I got to do some headshots with the lovely and talented Shashona Brooks a few days ago. She's an actress who moved here from the bay area in NorCal and just recently starred in a short film that was put together by the amazing team at Finite-Films.

(pictured: Shashona Brooks at IMDb)

Play Nice

I don't think photography will ever be more than a hobby for me. I might even take a break from it; way too exhausting. The more you shoot, the more people come asking you to shoot.

The Medusa

I had the amazing opportunity this evening of shooting pictures of the Medusa, a fire-spewing muscle car that was used in the movie Bellflower. I also got to meet the writer/director/lead actor, Evan Glodell, who built tons of cool gadgets and camera lenses that were used in the movie.

Check out Bellflower on IMDb.

Sideways Ladder

I drove to Denver with my brother. Then to Nebraska. Then I flew to New Jersey. Then back home.

ISO-50

This photo series makes me smile. The photographer (Irina Werning) recreated old photographs several years later using the same people and locations.


Pictured is Nick McCallum.

Aussie

I've been taking a much needed break from everything, and today was the first break from that break since late January. I think it went well; the girl (Cathy) I did pictures with was really nice and super pretty, plus she had a super neat Australian accent. It was the positive sort of experience I needed to become motivated again :)

Pictured is Catherine Velarde.

Prendre une Bouchée

"Every new beginning comes from another beginning's end.."

Some very big things have happened in the past week, and it's so hard to open up and say what those things are. None of these things would be considered "Good" in anyone's book, but in a way they feel wonderful. Almost as if my life has been pushed into motion because of them. Really hard! I can relate so well to this picture right now, which is fitting because it was taken in the midst of all that's been going on.

All Aboard

Garrett's and my birthday party last night was a lot of fun. We hung out in Garrett's pad out in Silverlake and played some games, ate some meatballs, played some guitar, accordian, and apples-to-apples box (drum). And had a very fun headshot session with !Evan Jennings! this morning. I'm crossing my fingers for her to get cast in a McDonalds commercial so she can hook me up with some chiggin nuggets.

There are a lot of exciting things happening in the near future! I'm going to be starting my Music Appreciation class with a teacher that my friend's brother claims is the best teacher ever. I'll also be applying for an independent study photography class with John Grey, which would give me a lot of freedom to do my own projects. I don't have to work this coming Monday, I've got a photo-job meeting Thursday night, an Adam and Eve themed photoshoot Saturday, and a fun night of board games on Sunday. Fun engagement photoshoot next weekend for my longest-time friend, Danica and her fiancee Ian! And behind all of this, my younger brother is adding me to his flight plan thingy so I'll be able to travel all over the world.

Pictured is Evan Jennings.

Unfamiliar Ground

First day of class for the semester!

Cow Pies

Getting this shot was fun, and I got to hear Ryan's crazy talented music skills.



Check out Ryan's EP here!

San Francisco - Take 2

I did my first shoot with a stranger from a far off city last week on Thursday. She had BLUE hair! The weather forecast said it would be overcast all day, so I thought it would be fine if we planned to shoot around noon. It turned out to be a very cloudless, sunny day however. The original spots we had planned to shoot were terrible because of the sun's location and the direction we -had- to face for the locations to be worthwhile. Since those didn't work out, we went to an abandoned greenhouse and shot some nice pictures.


We had very limited time to shoot there. Two days later, I went back with my friend Jordan. She had PURPLE hair! We added a bit more of a theme to the pictures, but took forever getting ready and driving out there, so we ran out of light much too soon.


Now I have a cold, and have almost no desire to edit any of the photos :( I somehow managed to do 3 yesterday before going to bed at 7pm.