Garden Party

My daughter, on the fake grass at her big brother's school after a holiday party.

Foo

Back after a brief break. I was walking in Hollywood one night a week or so ago and was struck by the light here. As much as I love the digital SLR, I really can't abide the flash Nikon built into it. And since I'm no great master of complicated lighting techniques, I've been shooting more and more with the flash turned off. The camera captures a great amount of light, even in circumstances darker than this. That, too, can be a mixed blessing, since it cuts down on motion, but at times allows in more light than I want (examples to follow).

Details

From that same excursion along Sunset with the Mamiya. I think the problem I have with people, at least one ones in photos, is that I can't control them. Some people have a knack for catching a look, a glance, the juxtaposition of bodies at just the right moment. I prefer taking angles and light and thinking about them, either waiting for the light to be right or moving myself to accentuate some aspect of what I see.

Some People Like It

I've always been drawn to details, far more than to people (there's a lot there, but let's just leave it at that). On that excursion along Sunset the day of the half marathon, I came across this empty parking lot. Along the rear was a chain link fence with a handful of guys and their shopping carts, all loaded up with cans and bottles. They were eyeing me, and I figured it had to do with this clean kinda guy and a big camera poking around. I took a couple shots and moved on. When I came back about 15 minutes later, I realized it was a recycling center I'd been staring at, and those guys were there to make some business, probably wondering all along what I was up to.

On the Run

The other Sunday I got up early, hoping to catch a quiet Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake/Echo Park. What I didn't know was that thousands of others were getting up early to run a half marathon along Sunset. Disappointment at not being able travel as I wanted, I soon realized that they'd blocked off all the streets for me. Not ideal, with all those people running through the shots, but then again I didn't have any pesky cars to deal with.

Waiting, Again

Waiting, waiting. Waiting for a friend to arrive for lunch, waiting for the film to come back from processing, remembering that the Treo was sitting in my pocket while I was standing outside Senor Fish on First. Liked the patterns.