Day 425 S.F. Protest picture 16

Nothing special about this picture. I just like the way the sun was reflecting off the drums.

Day 424 S.F. Protest picture 15

Day 423 S.F. Protest picture 14

I love how the pig's head and the man's head peak up over the sign. I don't know who that guy is but he seemed pretty active at quite a few protests.

Day 422 S.F. Protest picture 13

Day 421 S.F. Protest picture 12

Day 420 S.F. Protest picture 11

Day 419 S.F. Protest picture 10

Here's a picture I originally loved. For no other reason than it reminded me of "King Kong".

Day 418 S.F. Protest picture 9

This is another image I didn't care for originally. It's pretty fun going through old images and looking at them again with fresh eyes.

Day 417 S.F. Protest picture 8

This is another picture I over looked the first time around. Now I am enjoying the repetition of the building which seems to go along with the repetition of the people. Plus my favorite pictures of protesters are the pictures where the buildings of San Francisco are prominent. It's such a beautiful city!

Day 416 S.F. Protest picture 7

I photographed protesters for a few years and have about 20 to 30 images that I really love. The previous images are among them. Todays image is not one of those. Those images are scattered about in their prospective negative sleeves, and today was not a day I could spend looking through them. So I picked a picture from the first negative sleeve I pulled out. I can see why I would not have enjoyed it the first time around and probably rightly so, but today I am enjoying the woman under the umbrella.

Day 415 S.F. Protest picture 6

Day 414 S.F. Protest picture 5

One of my favorites

Day 413 S.F. Protest picture 4

Medical students protesting outside Dianne Feinstein's office.

Day 412 S.F. Protest picture 3

Day 411 S.F. Protest picture 2

Day 410 S.F. Protest picture

I haven't been in the mood lately to take pictures. So in lieu of not posting I took a picture of a picture. Always fair and hopefully it will help me get past this creative block. Not to mention I spent four years photographing the anti-war protestors in San Francisco and only a select few people have seen the images. So it will be fun for me to post them as I need.

This is one of my favorites. The car bothered me at first but since have realized it is the car that makes the picture work.

Day 409 Freddy Wayne and Tyler

I wasn't going to post anything today as I shot 7 rolls of 120 black and white film. However, photography is best for catching those sacred family moments. I mean is there any better reason for a camera to have been invented other than to photograph family?

Day 408 Leaf and Lady Bug on Black

I spent the day out back reading a book and knowing I wasn't going anywhere to get a better picture I had my macro lens on my camera ready to go. I had photographed a few things, a wasp among them, when I thought I hadn't photographed anything on black for a long time now.

Day 407 Inside the Drug Shack

As for today the only thing I was interested in photographing was the empty drug shack from yesterday. A small part of me wondered if one of those guys would be inside dead from a drug overdose. The other part knew they had been doing drugs long enough to know what they were doing and that they'd be gone. Which they were. I kicked a small yellow ball around in front of me on my way to the shack and actually like that photo better than what I found inside the shack. Maybe because I've seen so many empty burnt out drug places before.

I wonder why no one just tears that shack down. It's not like no one knows what goes on inside there.

Day 406 Guy on a Bike and a Drug Shack

I was out pretty early looking for pictures and as I was walking across a bridge I noticed plenty of firemen and policemen. After asking around I found out that they thought there was a dead body in the lake. I took several pictures of the raft the divers were in looking for the body. Those pictures are quite beautiful as the lake was a deep color and the raft was bright red. But those are not the kind of pictures I'm looking for now-a-days.

While asking around this guy came riding by on a bike and I thought I recognized him so I went up and snapped pictures. He seemed surprised and said we hadn't met. Anyhow I meandered on my way and photographed another guy holding his longhaired chihuahua. I thought that would be my great picture for the day. But the pictures were out of focus. I think my lens is having a problem, which means I might have to stop the blog and shoot strictly in black and white. Something I'm wanting to do anyway.

Believing I had my picture for the day I walked back to my jeep. I took a short cut by the railroad tracks and took one frame of this old abandoned building. As I walked past I looked back into the darkness and saw a gray haired man looking back at me. I went to the opening and asked for a picture he said can't you see what we are doing? I said no. Then I realized that there were two of them and they were shooting up. I wanted to grab a picture but with my autofocus out of wack I knew to just grab one wouldn't work. Plus it was so dark in there I would have had to adjust my camera and they would have noticed that. I kept asking and the other guy got pretty insistent that I leave. Which I did. Probably not wise to stand and argue to a couple of guys stronger and bigger than I am who being drug addicts could do anything to me.

So I was walking away and as I neared the intersection I noticed a policeman on a motorcycle and thought screw you guys, I flagged him so he could get his good bust for the day, but he only waved back and rode down the other street out of my contact range.

The inside of that tiny building was disgusting. I think I'll go back tomorrow and take a picture of it. So here I am without a good picture for my days efforts. Maybe I should have a little more guts. I should have taken my picture and ran. If I would have had a black and white film camera I bet I could have gotten the picture.

Day 405 Sunset at South Ninth Street

The guy in the top picture got really mad at me for taking his picture. A bit confrontational you could say. He "asked" me if it was a digital camera, I said no.

Day 404 Valerie, an Argument and Richard

I was walking along and Noticed Valerie and her boyfriend. I asked if I could hang out with them for a while as I was trying to get into art school and I was trying to photograph past my comfort zone, which is taking a simple portrait and moving along. She didn't mind and I hung out with them as they set up a garage sale. I snapped the top picture pretty early on and was pretty satisfied that this was a better picture than what I have been getting, but I stayed.

Not to long after that, we noticed some fast movement and some action going on we both ran over and by instinct I snapped a couple of pictures. I could have run over to where the argument was happening and gotten many pictures of the fight but I held back as I was afraid the baby might get hurt. Valerie knew the woman and said something to let them know people were watching which diffused the situation.

Shortly after Richard came by and he was nice enough to let me take a few pictures as well.

Day 403 Bobby G

It was a weird morning. You know the kind where you feel compelled to do something even though it's not in your plans. And for some reason you can't explain you do that something else. That's how I ended up near this old green bar in Modesto. As I began taking pictures of a sign they had in a window Bobby G came over to see if I was going to buy the building. I laughed and said no. I told him I was trying to take one good picture a day and he let me take three.

Day 402 Freddy and Justifiably So

First let me say I did not photograph Freddy as a way to have an easy picture for my blog. I went on a Sunday morning peregrination and shot four rolls of black and white film. I haven't done that in almost a year. Second I had no intentions of photographing Freddy today, I happened to see the sprinkler from the other side and loved the back light. Plus these pictures absolutely could not be reproduced in print as the quality would be to flat. They just wouldn't look right. And... I am trying to expand my field of vision, which I do believe these do. I mean who else would love these pictures besides me?

O.K. In stepping back I see that they are pretty much the same as the last set of Freddy pictures. But I still like them, especially the top one. And it is true these wouldn't be good enough for print and I like that too.

Day 401 Mike and a Stray Dog Called Bubba

I was driving down South NInth Street when I noticed a dog running in the street. I honked my horn so he'd leave the street which he did, then continued on my way. While home I decided to go back out there and see if the dog was a stray. The dog was hanging out in front of the Auto Recyclers shop and Mike who owns the place told me he was indeed a stray who had shown up a few days ago. I took a few pictures to post on craigslist for Mike so hopefully the dogs owner will claim him. Mike said he's calling him Bubba and seemed to really like the dog. Bubba seems sweet and has a loving personality. Mike thinks he may have had an owner who was picked up which left the dog a stray. I hope Bubba becomes Mikes shop dog.

Day 400 Steven Swimming August 2010

I have to say I really feel as if this is the one series I have that is consistently improving. This is a bit more psychedelic than previous images and I absolutely love it.

Day 399 Guy on a Bike

One frame taken while driving. This picture makes me a bit nervous. I'm not sure why. Could be because of the blurriness on the left side and the car shadow on the lower right. There's a lot wrong here, maybe that's causing my uneasiness?

I now know what's causing my uneasiness. It's a terrible picture, a piece of crap.

Day 398 Chloe

I was feeling a bit under the weather today so I thought I'd sit on my front porch and photograph a few people passing by when Chloe came up and wanted to be petted. I've photographed her several times and didn't feel as if I'd get anything worth posting, but as luck would have it, I actually had four pictures I really liked. They were broken down into two groups of two. One set had a rich amber tone to them and is the set I posted. The other set had a bright greenish grey quality to them. A bit lighter in spirit and quite beautiful.

Day 397 Jimmy and Smiley

For the first time in a very long time I went to South Ninth Street for pictures. It was hot and not very many people there but I walked up and down the street. On my way up a man pulled up next to me he said he was looking for a silver cup. It had fallen off of his car and his wife and mother would be mad at him because it was from India. I snuck a picture of him and went on my way. While on the other side of the street he again pulled up next to me asking if I had seen the cup. I informed him no and he asked if I came here often and if so could I tell him if I see it tomorrow.

I was walking back in the direction of my jeep when Jimmy saw my camera and made notice of it. I told him I walk around and take pictures of people, he asked me to take a picture of him. I took three in the shade they didn't look to good so I told him he had to be in the light. He walked over to the corner just as a semi was pulling up and he wanted his picture taken in front of the truck. I really enjoy the side lighting on his face. Much Better. Jimmy and I then had a nice conversion about people and their acceptance of others.

Day 396 Robert

I was headed out to the pool at my sons apartment to hang out and take his swimming pictures for August when Robert told us the pool was closed. He had seen me taking pictures of my son throwing water of a balcony earlier in the year, so he knew I took pictures and asked how they came out. I told him fine and asked him if he'd stand by the stairs so I could get a picture of him. Obviously he didn't mind, we took a lot of him smoking with the smoke all in his face, but I prefer this, the only frame taken while he was being natural.

Day 395 Freddy has the Ball

Almost everyday my neighbors here me shout "Freddy has the ball" as he likes to know he did good when he gets the ball. He is older now and can't run fast enough to compete with Tyler, so I throw the ball close to him where he can get it.

I've been feeling a bit sentimental lately so pictures from my heart of one of my favorite dogs. They broke the mold when they made Freddy. I can't imagine another dogs on earth who loves sprinklers as much as he does.