Photo-No-Shop 7.0

Real quick, maybe.
Funny how you can shoot just about any type of film, in any type of camera and still most likely be able to develop the negatives. Doesn't matter if your film is old, or your camera for that matter either. But in this wonderful thing called the digital age we must keep updating or buying new programs to be able to keep working.

I recently went to Las Vegas with my wife, and took a digital camera. When I got back to edit I had to use our laptop which only has good old Photoshop 7.0 on it. Well this version, at least mine, doesn't read raw files. So just cause the camera says you have pictures doesn't mean your computer will. Could you imagine if you loaded up a canister to do some devo and it said, "Sorry your film is not compatible with this chemistry." Now that would be really weird...

Digital Grab Bag

I was going through some folders looking for some images when I found a folder that had a real generic name, and each folder inside was labeled with only camera info. So seeing as how I had no idea as to what was inside each folder I thought I'd play a little game with myself and see if I could identify what and when was in these folders by opening just one from each at random. Kind of like Russian Roulette but way more safe. And Clean.

The first one I opened was the blurry picture and immediately I thought, "Ah crap, what the hell is this?" I managed to piece it together when I opened the second one of my wife and I at the gas station. The first one is at the horse show grounds in Laughlin. What or why it was shot, no idea but that's the game. Now the second one is interesting cause I coud tell right away that is was over two years ago because my arms are so damn white. Not a whole lot of good looking tattoos on them like now.

The third one is pretty easy, my dog. Like pics of people's kids I have too many to count of my dogs. Told you I would post some up. That didn't take long.

The last random photo I opened was the one of my brother sitting on the motorcycle. It isn't his, and in fact he was just being my light test dummy. The one I ended up shooting was a throw back to Elvis, but I actually like this one a little better.

Photo Roulette, who knew...

A Tale of Two Cars

Jack - "Can you follow me to drop off my car?"
Me - "Yeah" (Thinking, um really do I want to go to the shop that you have your cars worked on? Are you kidding? Fuck Yeah!)

If Jack and I were in the movie "Cars" this is a pretty close facsimile of what we might look like. Well except we'd both be black, him matte and me glossy. Oh and he'd be a '32 and I'd be a fastback. But like I said, close.

Pond Scum... Well Sort Of

Sometimes it takes a couple weeks of planning and building to create just one photograph. Then when you get down to your studio and set all the lights up, turn on the tunes and pop open a beer you think, "Yeah this is going to be an easy one." Right. I've been working on setting up this diorama for quite some time now. Gathering goodies to help recreate a scene I came across four years ago. So since I spent so much time prepping and gather I thought it would be a fast and easy one. Nope, guess not. After a few hours of burning up in my studio, my 1985 fan just ain't cutting it any longer, I decided to call it quits. As I'm going through my "contact sheet" I'm thinking yup it'll be a re-shoot. Then I see this one frame. And yes that is all you need, one frame. This is exactly what I was thinking when I wanted to make this picture. Funny how when I did I passed right over it. Anyways here is "James and Janice's Backyard Pond, Shelbyville, TN 2006".

We All Live Within a Mile of Home

I shot this back in March as I was waiting to board my plane to fly to Sacramento and visit my brother for St. Patrick's Day. I had never been to my brother's new place. He had recently moved in with his girlfriend and her two kids, yet somehow it felt as if I was going home. It wasn't because I have ever lived in Sac Town, or that I have any plans of moving there either. As I sat there in my airport lounge chair listening to my ipod playlist, Flogging Molly comes on with the the tune of this post's title. This is one of my favorite track by my most favorite band. (Side note, I'm such a FM fan that I have a tattoo for them as well. Perhaps that's a later post. Joe understands that one.) So I'm sitting there waiting for my airborne chariot to take me away from my Cucamonga and my amazing wife, and yet I'm going home? I hear Dave sing as I have many times before, "We all live within a mile of home" and I get it. It was never about where we live. It's about who we are with, and what we do.

I was reminded of this experience and this photo yesterday while I was at the home of my grad school adviser. Of course he is more than just that, he is after all one of those scared into my leg in the form of a tattoo as mentioned in the previous post. After 40 years of teaching, and 25 of those in the same house he is leaving So Cal and heading to the Great North West to enjoy his retirement. Sure it would be easy to be sad and think about how I won't get to hangout with him, listen to the blues, drink Guinness and Jack Daniels and of course squeeze in some art talk. Well, yeah sure I did do all that, but not for long. I came across this photo and realized that I'm not loosing all this, I'm gaining a home where we can still do all this. Just not in the winter. And it's a little more than a mile, but you get the idea.

It doesn't matter if I'm in my garage, cleaning the ranch, drinking on a bar stool at Roxy, freezing in Reno, or even god forbid in Bakersfield, where ever I am it's only within a mile of home...

Slainte

The first post is of course never the first post...

When ever we do something new, or venture into something new, we want our first endeavor to be something really profound. Well we are, as I am, a culmination of all we have done and of what we have been taught, learned or experienced. This is a photograph of a tattoo that pays homage to a few people who have had a great influence on me. It is not my first tattoo, nor am I the first person to be motivated by these individuals. But somehow for this first I thought this image would be fitting. So to all the new firsts to come thanks again to these mentors.