365 Photo Project - Day 222

Taken: August 10, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

Late-afternoon August sunset off the porch of my house in Healdsburg. This is one image I didn't edit at all. I imported into Photoshop and played around with it but I kept going back to the original. I know it's far from perfect but I like it. 

365 Photo Project - Day 176

Taken: June 25, 2010, sunset
Location: I-5 South approx. 200 miles North of LA

As I drove down to LA tonight, the moon appeared even before the sun had set and it hung there in the sky, looming large over the straight-as-hell I-5 freeway, a beacon beckoning me home. I stopped about 200 miles north of Los Angeles to capture it over a massive, dust-filled field that stretched out across the horizon like the surface of the moon itself.

I got some nice shots of the moon itself, but it was this image that moved me the most. I love how lonely and vast it seems. I wish the moon in the shot wasn't so over exposed but as usual I'm going with composition over technique. Maybe one day I'll get them both right.

365 Photo Project - Day 174

Taken: June 23, 2010, sunset
Location: Healdsburg, Ca.

Another sunset shot. Forgive me for the sameness. I'll be heading to Los Angeles for a week and I'll have time to sit and write something interesting. I hope.

365 Photo Project - Day 171

Taken: June 20, 2010, sunset
Location: Healdsburg, Ca.

We're having a series of lovely, lovely sunsets. I might have more in the next few days. Sorry for the upload and run but like I said yesterday, I'm trying to get caught up.

365 Photo Project - Day 158

Taken: June 7, 2010, sunset
Location: Healdsburg, Ca.

I played poker last week. It's one of my many vices. I'm not much of gambler -- I've never felt lucky enough for that -- but I do love a good card game. I would say I'm just an average player, kept from getting good by a number of things not the least of which I can't seem to trust that little voice in my head when I play.

That's the same voice that guides me as a writer, the one that I count on in those moments when I'm facing a blank page on some ridiculous deadline. Let me tell you that sometimes that little voice is as amazingly prescient when it comes to poker as it is when I'm writing. Yet, I just can't seem to put any faith in it.

I suppose that might change if I played more but my jones for poker ebbs and flows a lot, mostly ebbs. I'll go months without playing before suddenly deciding it's time to head up to the local casino for an evening of hold 'em. Sometimes I'll end up going two or three times over the next week and then go back to not going for months again.

I like the people watching aspect of the game. When you're sitting around a table for a few hours, it's a great opportunity to observe people. A good player is looking for a way to read his opponent's play but I'm not very good at that. I just like to watch and listen, hear what people say and how they say it. I've played with truck drivers, prison guards, retired actors, fireman, cops, housewives, farmers, businessman, even a professional player or two. All of whom end up in my writing somewhere in the small details.

The worst part about going to my local casino is the casino part. Loud slots machines clanging under a cloud of cigarette smoke, the place filled with mostly poor people spending their last pennies trying to hit a jackpot. They bus them in from all over the Bay Area and the crowds keep on coming, even to a place where the House has all the advantages and then some. And the smoking. Ugh. The Indian Casinos don't have to adhere to federal nonsmoking laws so they get to hire dealers who must stand in the plumes of smoke for hours and hours with apparently no recourse when 0 or 30 years from now, they come down with lung cancer or emphysema or some heart problem from all that second-hand smoke. The poker rooms, ironically, are almost all nonsmoking but not the gaming areas.  There the people watching is different. Like the old guy I saw recently. He was in a wheelchair, attached to breathing apparatus and he had been wheeled up to a slot machine which he was filling with coins, no expression on his face.

I realize this makes me seem hypocritical. Believe me, I'd much rather skip the whole casino experience and play in a dedicated card room. And I know the power of wanting to believe in luck, that the next card or next coin is going to change your life. It's a lure as old as people. Hard to fight it no matter how much the odds are against you.

365 Photo Project - Day 134

Taken: May 14, 2010, sunset

Location: Healdsburg, Ca

Today is my Dad's birthday. He's 84. It's a big number, bigger to him then me I'm sure. He was born on Mother's Day, which makes remembering the day easier.

I've written before about my parents. Amazing, generous, happy, smart as hell and, like their four kids, slightly nutty. I know how lucky I am to have them and I call them almost every day, tell them (almost) everything. Nobody in my family lives and dies the ups and downs of my artist's life then them. I'll love them forever for that.

I wouldn't be doing this project if it wasn't for my Dad. He introduced me to photography. He gave me first camera and let me spend a good portion of my childhood in his darkroom, learning how to develop and print film.

Up until a year ago, my Dad was in remarkably good shape, healthwise. He's one of those people who has always eaten whatever he wanted including enjoying a daily cocktail - he makes a pretty mean martini.

But the last few months have been tough on him. He had a big health scare in the fall and when I visited them in October, I couldn't believe how much weight he'd lost. I remember sitting in my parents' living room when my Dad came in, just up from a nap. He stopped at a side table and I watched him adjust it. He always fiddled with stuff around the house. Nothing couldn't be improved upon or fixed. He was constantly lugging various items, from toasters to picture frames and radios and other gadgets, down to his workshop. And most stuff was better for having made the trip.

I saw this in the moment in the living room that day. In a way it was heartbreaking but it was also reassuring to know he was still my Dad.

I know he's slowing down and I think some days it seems like he'd rather just walk off into the sunset and be done with it. It's hard getting old, he tells me. It's tougher on a man who has lived every minute on his own terms with a clarity i've always envied.

Some days I wonder how well I know him. I was born when he was nearly 40. I never knew him as a young man - back when he had hair and a Sunbeam convertible. Over the last few years we've shared some long phone conversations though -- he'll start talking about the past and tell me things about his life I never knew. Probably I should record these conversations and sure I'll kick myself one day for not doing that. But they're so spontaneous too so maybe it wouldn't be the same. A few years ago, I videotaped him talking for an hour. I have never watched them but I know where they are. Keep thinking I'll put them on a DVD for my nieces and nephew. One of these days.

It will come as no surprise then that my Dad doesn't much care for birthdays anymore. I guess when you get to his age, it's understandable. Doesn't mean I can't make a deal out of it though. So here's to my Dad on his birthday. Happy Birthday, Pop. I love you.

365 Photo Project - Day 41

Taken: February 10, 2010, sunset

Location: I-5 North, near Kamm Avenue

Spent most of the day rolling north up the I-5 toward home. I made good time actually. Traffic was minimal and the trip provided very few surprises. Good to be home with the pugs and the man and in my own bed for the first time in more than two weeks.

I normally dread driving the Grapevine and the Tejon Pass was windy as hell. But the views were spectacular. Big bold sky that seemed to go on forever reaching out to crystal clear mountain peaks in the distance, some of which were snow-topped.

The whole trip was unusually weather-free for this time of year and most important, clear and dry with the occasional heavy cross-winds. There was this one trucker hauling a boat-load of BMWs who couldn't seem to keep his tail steady. He kept passing me when I pulled off for one of my pitstops. Sorta was hoping a 5-series would fall off his truck but alas, last time I saw him he was maintaining a fairly straight line. 

I stopped to take photos along the Grapevine, hoping the dramatic clouds would prove a good backdrop but once again, I was foiled by my mind's eye. It was this shot, taken near sunset about 100 miles south of the 580 West connector that turned out to be my choice for today's photo. 

I took this exit just to see what I could capture in the fading light of a beautiful California day and did some editing and touch-up with Photoshop. Used the trusty K100D again with the 50mm lens.

365 Photo Project - Day 35

Taken: February 4, 2010, 5:30 p.m.
Location: Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

I can't blame you if you're getting tired of my sunset shots but tonight, with a storm heading to Southern California, there was magic in the sky. I shot this on Washington Blvd., from the parking lot of a trendy bar called the the Alibi Room. A smart modern vibe and a kitchen that serves fabulous Kogi BBQ makes it a hip destination for locals from points west and east.  I go for the Kogi myself. If you've ever had Kogi, this doesn't need to be explained. If you haven't, you're missing out on pure porn for your taste buds.

I remember the bar when it used to be called something else and mainly catered to the, um,  professional drinker. One time I ducked inside to get a quarter for the meter. It was 10 a.m. and let's just say I wasn't the only person in there.  Wouldn't have wanted to light a match in that place neither. Used to be lots of bars like it in the neighborhood but nearby Culver City has become the new in spot for L.A. foodiots and it's just a matter of time before the hip quotient spreads west toward the beach.

I'm not knocking it. I mean I've spent some time in some dive bars in my day but those kinds of places lose their luster faster than a good buzz.  Hell it's nice to have a bathroom that's clean enough to actual use.

Shot with my K100D and the 55mm lens. Edited in Photoshop.

365 Photo Project - Day 28

Taken: January 28, 2010, sunset
Location: Bel Air, CA

Today was one of those days that made me regret starting this project. Haven't even been at this a month and already searching hard for images -- like I'm running out of ideas.  This photo was one of several I snapped as the sun was setting outside a small market on Roscomare Drive, one of the canyon connector roads that link the Westside with the Valley.  I didn't like them and continued to take photos -- it's possible I shot everything in my room tonight -- but nothing really grabbed me. I should know better - forcing it never works.  Ah, but when in doubt, turn to ice cream ... or Photoshop. Ha. This moody image  reminds me of an old Western movie -- it's not that far off from the original though I did add a couple of color filters to bring out the hues of the setting sun.

Took this with my K100D, 18mm lens. Edited majorly in Photoshop.

Get Lost 2008, We'll Hardly Miss Ya

In honor of the passing of another year, an epic, crazy, fucked up, gloriously inglorious year, redeemed for this soul by unlikely victories in sports and in life, here's photos of the last sunrise and sunset of 2008.

Both taken at LeVois Vineyards overlooking Dry Creek Valley in Healdsburg, Ca.

Happy New Year everybody. May 2009 seriously and loudly rock. See ya next year!

Sunrise

Sunset: