31 Days ~ 31 Photos

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

2012-01-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

I'm moving...right now. And you can catch up with me in my new location on WordPress. I'll leave this site up if you care to look through any of my archived posts. Looking forward to seeing you on my new location. And in case you missed the hyperlink, check in on the link below. See ya there!

http://ricksforza.wordpress.com

Portrait of...

2011-11-16T07:51:00.001-08:00

While setting up for a portrait session I had my sons sit in to help test lighting. And I was reminded of how to shoot a portrait, not the lighting, not the pose, location or lens selection. But, how important your subject themselves are. Seems like a given, yes? But it's easy to get caught up in the minor details of a shoot.
My youngest was goofing on me a bit and I wanted to him tell to stop. "Hey! I'm shooting here!" Then it struck me that he was just being himself...exactly what we're looking for when we shoot a portrait. Remember to "listen" to your subject and your own instinct and you'll make a worthy likeness of your subject every time.

Nonna e il iPhone

2011-10-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

My paternal grandmother, Yolanda Rose (Helen) Divincenzo Sforza will be 97-years-old tomorrow. I don't think she knows that. I am not even sure she recognizes me anymore. And it feels like a betrayal to say that.

I wanted to shoot photos...I brought my camera...but ended up shooting with my iPhone. I was afraid.

My wife and kids and I visited "Nonna" this past weekend. She was small, frail and quiet...three things I have never associated with this power Italian-American woman born to an immigrant family in a Western Pennsylvania coal mining town. I guess that sounds like the beginning of an obituary...and I suppose it is.

I wanted to shoot photos...I brought my camera...but ended up shooting with my iPhone. I was afraid.

My grandmother's condition has deteriorated quite a bit since the last time I saw her...it was disturbing. Her voice was barely audible and I was certain she didn't have a clue who we were, at least not right away.

I wanted to shoot photos...I brought my camera...but ended up shooting with my iPhone. I was afraid.

I have spent my entire adult life as a photojournalist making difficult photos of emotionally charged scenes. It is not that it did not bother me...it just was not MY family. And I have always sought to bring as much grace and dignity to the photos as possible, because I needed to make the photo. It is my job.

I wanted to shoot photos of my grandmother...to bring dignity and grace to the photos. To bring dignity and grace to her. And for the first time in my life, I was not sure how to do it. I do not think my grandmother would mind, I have been taking pictures of her for 35 years. For now...I hope this does it...I think it does.

Rick: Nonna, è tutto buono? Sì? Fanno voi gradicono le foto?
Nonna: Si si Rick, è buono.

Braggin' Rights

2011-10-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend, starting tomorrow actually, my youngest, Noah, will show his photographic works for the second year in a row during Art for Heaven's Sake.

I am very proud of him. He's managed to develop his own unique photo style. I suppose it doesn't hurt that his Dad is a photographer. But, it's really more about friends of mine like Tony Maher who have mentored him during the last two or three years.

Go get em' Noahy!

Shooting Video

2011-10-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

Noah's 16! from Rick Sforza on Vimeo.

As the industry continues to change...I continue to lag behind. So, I've begun shooting video with the Nikon D5100. Nothing special, no edits, music, titles and or credits. Just plain "gun and run."

Stay with me...have patience...I can do this! I'll just keep telling myself that. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Live to Eat, Eat to Live

2011-09-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin and Pinto Bean Chili

French toast with fresh strawberries and goat cheese scrambled eggs.

One of the things I enjoy about being a photojournalist, is you have to be a photographic "jack of all trades."

You would think the standard fare of the working photojournalist is news and sports. And while these are the assignments most of us enjoy, we're often challenged with a wide range of photographic disciplines.

During my time as a photojournalist I've shot fashion, studio, medical, wildlife/nature and of course food photography. As a photo editor it's important to recognize which particular discipline your photographers are good at. But, I'd like to think that each of us enjoys a challenge with something we're not particular well versed in.

Food happens to be my challenge and each of these shoots presented their own set of obstacles. The chili photo was made in the studio on rather short notice. So, I stayed with the basics. A softbox off to the upper right, black background and another light with a red gel "raked" across the back drop. The advantage here happened to be our "gear locker" in the studio that has accumulated a life time a props. The french toast was shot at the food writer's home. There was very little room to set lights, so I used a single flash on a chord off to the left with a reflect from the lower right. The light at the top of the photo is from a sliding glass patio door.

And the plating? Thank God I've been watching Top Chef.

Budget Meeting? Breaking News? Or Cold Beer?

2011-09-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Trish Calcott, 43, left and Ron Robb, 53, the parents of Joshua Robb, 8, react after receiving word their son had been found Tuesday September 13, 2011. The autistic 8-year-old went missing from the playground of his mountain community school in Twin Peaks Monday September 12, 2011.

Federal agents carry a computer and boxes from the Highland home of Jim Erwin, the former assistant county assessor, after serving a search warrant Thursday September 15, 2011. Search warrants were also served at the homes and offices of other defendants or suspects in a sweeping San Bernardino County corruption scandal.


A San Bernardino police officer jumps from a pursuit suspect's burning car Friday September 16, 2011 after moving the vehicle away from gas pumps. The pursuit, that started in Redlands, ended at a gas station at the corner of University and Hallmark Parkways in San Bernardino.

Just when I start to think I've had all of this business I can stand...I have a day, or in this case, a week like this week.

Not sure how many meetings I missed but when weighed against....hmm, say....shall I go to another meeting or should I grab my gear and hit the street? I think hitting the street wins every time.

Whew here it is 6:00 Friday night and time for a cold one! Maybe I'll ran across news on my way home. Breaking news or a beer? The beer will still be cold!

For the Sake of Art

2011-09-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

I suppose there is nothing special about this photo. But, I like it. I am not even sure why. I spend the better part of my day editing photos....other photographer's photos and I can tell you, and them, all the reasons why I like or do not like a photo.

I shot this photo on assignment last week. I did not submit this as one of my photos for publication. And I think the reason I did not, was I could not figure out exactly why I liked it.

I had a photo instructor tell me once that just because you liked a photo it does not mean that it is good or even appropriate for the assignment or publication you are shooting for. In this case he would have told me if I liked the photo that much, call it art and hang it on my wall.

That was nearly 30 years ago, now I can post it to my blog and call it an object lesson.

I still like it

One Arm Wonders and How I Final Joined the Crew of the Enterprise

2011-09-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

James "Scotty" Doohan, me and DeForest "Bones" Kelley, circa early 1990's.

There's a lot of life lessons to be had, even if they might come from television. I mean...come on...we all learned pretty early on never to wear red when beaming down to an alien planet!

I was flipping channels the other evening and landed on one of the original Star Trek series reruns...okay I purposely tuned in. I've always enjoyed the series. As a kid growing up in the 60's, this show completely captured my imagination. I don't believe the show shaped any decisions I've made in my life but it certainly opened my mind to the seemingly impossible. Sometimes I'd look at the show and some of the highly unbelievable plot lines and I thought...well if grown people can make a show like this...I suppose it's okay for me to engage in some daydreaming myself. It's like I'd been given permission. So I was pleasantly surprised when I opened a box of old photos and found this print. It was like discovering a couple long lost friends.

Periodically through my career I've taken the opportunity to shamelessly engage in one-arm wonders. And I'm blogging about this photo because today, some 20 years later, because dreaming is what led me to become a photographer. Dreaming is what removes barriers and frees the mind to overcome the impossible. It, dreaming, is what has allowed me to be the photographer that I am today.

I know it doesn't sound very logical...so I suppose it's a good thing Leonard Nimoy wasn't in the photo that day.

It All Comes Out in the Wash

2011-09-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

This Lexar 4GB compactflash card survived not one, but two trips through the washing machine.

It has been said that, "It all comes out in the wash." But, in this case...it didn't. After running this card through the wash not once but twice, none of the images on my compact flash card were gone. It's not like it's a big mystery as to what's inside this little piece of plastic. Or, is it? I decided to call Lexar and see if they could de-mystify it for me.

I spoke with "Zach" at Lexar Support explaining how I'd washed my card...twice.
Zach: "You're probably lucky you didn't lose any images or corrupted the card.
Me: "I just read a whole slew of testimonials on Lexar's homepage of people who've swam with their cards, rescued a dog in a river, retrieved their camera from a fire...It's not like there is any moving parts inside the card. Right?"
Zach: "You're correct. It's a solid card, no moving parts. Inside of the card are connections printed on a circuit board and a little tiny memory chip."
Me: "So I could wash the card again?"
Zach: ...long pause
Me: "Hello?"
Zach: "Ah, well...I would say that. The cards were not designed for extreme conditions."
Me:...thinking...so I could wash them on a delicate cycle with my Victoria Secret collection?
Zach: "Hello?"
Me: "Well, exactly HOW could I ruin a card?"
Zach: "We don't recommend that."
Me: "But suppose I did ruin my card? How does that usually happen?"
Zach: "Well...typically...people ruin their cards when they take them out of their camera before the camera has finished writing the image to the card. Or when people pull their card out of a card reader without properly ejecting it."
Me: "So I shouldn't wash my card again?"
Zach: "....is there anything else I can help you with?"

Photo Hat Trick

2011-08-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

Surrounded by their belongings, Anthony Ronzo, 56, comforts his wife Deana Johnson-Ronzo, 42, Wednesday August 24, 2011, after being removed from the home they were living in San Bernardino. The owner of the property claims he had never rented the home to it's current occupants.

Job seekers enter the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 8737 in San Bernadino, Wednesday August 24, 2011. The post was sponsoring a breakfast and job fair for veterans and the community.

Gary Mathews, 40, pauses Thursday August 24, 2011 after looking over his home that was destroyed by a fire that swept through Mathews Ranch in the Devore, Calif., area near Interstate 15.

Fewer photographers. More assignments.

I'd been in a photo slump lately, though that changed recently. Not really due to any initiative on my part.

It's fewer photographers and more assignments.

I can always shoot assignments, but I'd rather stay away from the "good" assignments. Nothing breeds contempt amongst the staff quicker than the photo editor taking "good" assignments. So as it is, I end up shooting a good deal of breaking news because I either have...yes, fewer photographers and more assignments. Or, the staff is just too darn busy or out of position to shoot news. Last week was much the case when I ended up with three front-page photos.

It's always good to get out of the office, even when the temperature is over 100 degrees. Besides, I think I was gaining weight hiding in the office.

A Photo by Any Other Name

2011-07-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Being a full time photo editor, I don't get out much. Though lately, as newspapers continue to reduce their staffing, it seems as though, well, as though I'm getting out of the office again. And it usually comes in the form of a late photo assignment or chasing down a piece of "wild art" to fill a page.

Call it what you like...wild art, standalone, enterprise, or free standing, but most newspaper photographers commonly refer to it wild art. For the "uninitiated," wild art is a "found" photo of a situation, event or moment (not a news photo) driven by it's visual appeal. And most photographers will agree, it's a love-hate relationship.

We hate it because it usually follows into one of the conditions listed below:

The request comes 15 minutes before your shift ends, and the amount of time required to find wild art is exponentially multiplied by how much time you do not have to find a photo.
It's 110 degrees outside, and the only people suffering through the heat wave are photographers looking for people suffering through the heat wave.
It's 0 degrees outside, and the only people suffering through the cold snap are photographers looking for people suffering through the cold snap.
It's pouring rain and the only people in the rain are photographers and old men building arks.
You're two hours into your search, your gas gauge has been on empty for the past 20 minutes and pay day is three days away.
That simple request to "just make a snap of something to fill page 3," has now turned into the lead photo on page 1.

We love it because it usually follows into one of the conditions listed below:

You get to meet really cool people who you never would have met while shooting pet-of-the-week.
You're out of the office when the desk asks if anyone is available to shoot a ground breaking.
You now have time to pick up a birthday present for kid's birthday party being held that evening.
You're out of the office when the desk asks if anyone is available to shoot a ribbon cutting.
That breaking news coming across the police scanner and the amount of time required to get there is exponentially decreased by the amount time it would have taken you to get there from the office.
You're out of the office when the desk asks if anyone is available to shoot pet-of-the-week.

And finally, which I was reminded of today, I'm actually getting paid to shoot photos. It doesn't get much better than that.

A Walk in the Woods, or at least along the Tarn

2011-06-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the title is a shameless rip-off of Bill Byrson's book by the same name. I couldn't help but think of Byrson's whimsical and sometimes painfully honest writings of his trek along the Appalachian Trail as I shot these photos. I spent the weekend in our local mountains, the San Bernardino National Forest, with a group of friends and family. And I have to say here, that as we set out on a hike, I elected to leave my cameras behind. My son, who I like to imagine a budding young photographer, scurried back to camp to grab his cameras. When he returned he was carrying mine. Thank you Son!

I've suggested, sometimes here on this blog, that you should always, always, always carry your camera. As it is, if you leave your gear behind, you'll wish you hadn't. As would have been the case on this day.

Once you become a photographer, professional, semi-professional or hobbyist, you'll spend most of your time looking at the world through a set of imaginary lenses. And then applying that vision to your photography.

So, always, always, always...

Just Shoot the Photo!

2011-06-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Just a little exercise in shooting from home.

I believe we (photographers) get a little self involved as where we shoot photos. In an attempt to challenge myself, yet again, I made these photos in my backyard. None of the photos were shoot further than 50 feet from each other and no more than an hour apart.

For me it's often about shooting with what ever camera you have within your reach. And on this day it was about finding a photo that was right in front of me.

Measuring Rain in Megapixels

2011-05-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

The weather during the past few days have made the world look like a great big softbox. The lighting is subtle and subdued, as if, all the harshness and sharp edges are gone from the world. I've heard it said that "the best camera is the one that's with you." There's even a book by the title from photographer Chase Jarvis.

So it was yesterday that I found myself wandering around in my downtown alley ways with the iPhone sipping a cup of coffee and pretending to fend off the rain...but not really caring and soaking it all in...two megapixels at a time.

"The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great that I thought I was in a dream."
Jack Kerouc

Rollling Thunder

2011-05-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

Signs and flags are always a challenge when shooting. Protesters often relay on signs to help deliver their message. Veterans and patriotic groups nearly always come with the stars and strips. As a photographer you struggle to shoot the event without relaying upon the obvious.

Today I discovered this group of on a freeway overpass. The group, many of them Vietnam veterans, were out showing their support for Rolling Thunder XXIV "Ride for Freedom." Rolling Thunder is a veteran's group that makes an annual motorcycle ride, amongst other things, to Washington D.C. called "Run For The Wall," in the hope to creating support for and support of American prisoners of war, the missing in action, and more recently, helping American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines injured during war. Helping them to heal.

I think it was okay to photograph the flag today.

Rainy Days and...ah...Tuesdays

2011-05-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

It rained today, it is supposed to rain tomorrow, and then again on the weekend.

It is not a deluge, nor a relentlessly onslaught. It is merely a silent steady drizzle. It is the kind of rain that lulls you into a dreamy trance while you stare out of the window. Two worlds, one on each side of a pane of glass frosted with the condensation of your slow steady breath.

My inner photographer calls out. Grab a camera, shoot a photo. My inner romantic calls out. Grab a blanket. Light a fire.

I hope it rains tomorrow.

How Do You Like Them Apples?

2011-05-09T08:42:00.000-07:00

"We can escape the commonplace only by manipulating it, controlling it, thrusting it into our dreams or surrendering it to the free play of our subjectivity"

Raoul Vaneigem, Belgian writer and philosopher

I am on the road of determination, attempting to free myself from the subjectivity of photography.

Me...Rick Sforza

Whether or not someone else values the vision of a photographer's execution of a photograph should really have little or no bearing on that photographer's personal evaluation of the work they have created. Having said that, creating a photo illustration can be maddening! We each view the world through our own unique set of filters applied by our own experiences, surroundings and most certainly nature and nurture. And our common experiences will often dictate whether a given group of people collectively viewing a photograph "get it," like it or appreciate it.

Working for newspapers we often create photo illustration to make a point. I recently created a photo illustration for the cover of our newspaper's special section entitled "Examining California's Crisis in Education." The photo above was not the photo we eventually used. A similar photo from the same shoot was used on an inside section. The message the photo was intended to convey was about the cuts to education. And my responsibility in creating the photo illustration is to make sure that our readers "get it." This is the point where a photographer, me in this case, needs to get over themselves and move on if people do not like the photo or simply do not understand what it is you are attempting to convey.

The lesson here is really about better communication between the photographer and other people in the room who are working on the story. It truly should be a team effort blending everyone's unique set of filters. But ultimately it's the photographer's responsibility to understand the audience he or she is delivering the image to.

In the end, I liked what I created. And if someone else doesn't? Well...it's all subjective.

The End of the World as We Know it

2011-04-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what the big deal was. I mean, I drove, two or three times, past Liberty (actually her name is Donna) waving at passing traffic giving them a warning that this was their last chance to file their taxes. I was racked with indecision regarding the simply act of making the photo.

For the past few years I've been telling myself. "I need to make a photo of these people dressed up like Liberty." And this year I final did it. I've made a couple photos using the Hipstamatic app., but they haven't really struck a cord with me. So, today as I drove past Donna holding her sign. It just struck me, "0 DAYS LEFT." Somehow it seemed more poignant than what the sign actually was referring to. And even more meaningful that I couldn't seem to motivate myself to shoot the photo.

I'm glad I finally stopped to make the photo. I enjoyed talking to Donna. She told me how much she'd enjoyed her job. "They've just been so nice to me. Just so nice!" I asked her if the company she works for had prepared her taxes for her. "I suppose they would've, for free too. But, I didn't really work much last year."

I asked Donna what she was going to do tomorrow. "I guess I need to find another job." Now I know why I didn't want to stop. I hope Donna finds a job, one where they treat her nice.

I Want to Ride my Bicycle

2011-04-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

As an assignment photographer, there is a real joy in covering an event like the Redlands Bicycle Classic...when you are NOT working. Don't get me wrong here. The Classic is a great event and lots of fun to have as an assignment. But, it is even more fun to be free of the deadlines, (which seem to get earlier and earlier) page shapes and sizes, (that never seem to make sense) last minute requests from the sports desk (which get later and later and never seem to make sense) and keeping track of who is who on those bikes blurring by in an explosion of color at 35 - 40 miles an hours. And you never really get a chance to "get your freak on" while shooting. Typically sports wants photos of the cyclist, arms raised in triumph, as he or she crosses the finish line and rarely will run "one of those artsy fartsy" shots. So it was with great joy and photographic relaxation this past weekend (nice deadline eh?) that I attended the Classic for my first time in two or three years just for the sheer joy of making those artsy fartsy photos. And I even drank a beer as I watched the finish of a race...as the rider thrust his arms in the air triumphantly.

A Day in the Canyon

2011-03-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend with a group of family and friends hiking Murray Canyon near Palm Springs. The natural setting, flora and funa of the canyon were breathtaking. And we were able to share it with people we love. Oh yeah, and it was a fabulous photo opportunity too!

Furlough Day Ten...FINI

2011-03-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Ten, FINI:

So, I've been thinking about the whole furlough experience.

For the company, it's just busness, not personal. I get that.

And these past 10 days have served to remind me they're right, it's business. It also reminds me what my father has always said, "At the end of the week...you and the company are even."

It's been a real gift to spend this time with my family.

And at the end of my life, I doubt I'll look back and wish I'd spent more time at the office.

Furlough Day Nine

2011-03-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Nine:

Beginning to lose my grip on reality.

Cooper the Dog and I argue whether to watch SpongeBob or Real House Wives of Orange County, and the merits of dairy cheese versus veggie cheese on our omelet.

Cooper won, he's watching Housewives and finishing the dairy cheese omelet.

Furlough Day Eight

2011-03-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Eight:

Happiest Place on Earth and I still have to be Mr Pink.

Why do I have to be Mr Pink?

Furlough Dog Day Seven

2011-03-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Furlough Dog Day Seven:

Okay, just for the sake of keeping things simple...if dog years to human years is seven to one...then with a weekend at the front, back and middle of my 10 day furlough would total 16 days off work.

Soooo, that's more like...my kind of math!

Furlough Day Six, Part Two

2011-03-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Six, Part Two:

"In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey."

So I have been thinking that furloughs are like a restraining order against your employer. No phone calls, emails, texts and they can't get any closer to you than 500 feet.

Furlough Day Six

2011-03-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Six:

Sometimes it's about staying in bed and drinking coffee until the same time you would have been in that first meeting of the day.

Furlough...The Weekend, Part Two

2011-03-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

Furlough...The Weekend, Part Two:

This is the hardest part of parenting...letting them go. Dom is off to catch his flight back to Humboldt.

Furlough...The Weekend

2011-03-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Furlough...The Weekend:

All three of my babies together. This is really what it's about. I'll never be furloughed from this.

Furlough...The Weekend

2011-03-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Furlough...The Weekend:

I know, furlough the weekend, seems counterintuitive.

But; Waffle sandwiches

A tour of Chapman University

Spending time with great kids and great friends.

Furlough Day Five

2011-03-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Five:

Love this guy, Al Harris at the Redlands Krikorian Theaters. Better than Charlie Sheen any day. Hands down!

Furlough Day Four, Part Two

2011-03-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Four, Part Two:

Exploring the fragmented shadowy world of the dreamer's dreams.

Furlough Day Four

2011-03-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Four:

Called Charlie Sheen to get my kilt returned.

Morning coffee with my best friend...NOT Charlie!

Let Cooper the Dog finish my breakfast.

And most importantly...remembering to look at people, places and things as though it were the very first time I've seen them.

Furlough Day Three

2011-03-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

Furlough Day Three:

A day at The Getty Villa where I...

1.) was convinced Venus winked at me

2.) Theseus was not required to take furlough days

3.) in 2,000 years stuff we take for granted and throw away will end up as priceless art pieces

Furlough Day Two. Part Two

2011-03-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Saved a bee caught between two window panes.

Made lemonade out of lemons.

Spent the evening playing Scrabble with my wife, partner, lover and best friend.

Furlough Day Two

2011-03-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Drove over the "hills and through the woods" to visit my 96-year-old Nona, Yolanda Rose "Helen" DiVincenzo Sforza. Tutte e benne Nona. Tutte e benne. Il Dio benedice!

Furlough Day One, Part Two

2011-03-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

5:03 p.m. ...close enough! An appropriately named Broken Halo IPA and a hand rolled Honduran Nestor.

Furlough Day One

2011-03-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have some catching up to do. My intention was to complete a blog post a day during my furlough from work. I've posted each day on Facebook and will move those posts here.

Since Charlie Sheen wasn't available to party I...

Slept in.

Drank coffee on the patio.

Went for a walk with my friend Barbie.

Stopped and smelled the flowers. And they smelled like freedom!

Sweeping Changes

2011-03-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Orlando Labrada, 4, sits in the doorway of his family's apartment while police and code enforcement officers gather at an adjoining apartment at the Garden Breeze Apartments in San Bernardino during a code enforcement and fire inspection sweep. The Garden Breeze Apartments were the scene a fire last month that destroyed 26 units and displaced 126 residents.

The code enforcement officer asked me, "Have you ever been on one of these sweeps? Do you know what a code enforcement officer does?" After more than 20 years working for newspapers, this "wasn't my first rodeo." I was compelled to give him exactly that response then the little voice in my head told me to shut the hell up and ask the nice officer to tell me what he does.

And so it goes in the manner in which we shoot photos. I figured I had this shoot in the bag. Get a couple photos of cops knocking on doors, maybe a photo of a code enforcement officer squinting at leaky pipes under a sink or the firefighter poking the test switch on a smoke detector. But, then the little voice in my head told me to shut the hell up and step away from it all, open my eyes and learn to "see" again. And I learned...the longer I do this...the less I know.

There's always a photo out there waiting to be made that you haven't shoot before, no matter how many rodeos you've been to.

And Now for Something Completely Different...well sort of.

2011-02-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

The "iconic" Yosemite Valley view photographed from the Tunnel View off of California State Route 41.

A propane truck with chains on it's tires nears Badger Pass on California State Route 41 while traveling over black ice.

Wawona Tunnel just west of the Tunnel View along California State Route 41.

Okay, so this not really "something completely different." But it does following on my post from a few days ago regarding a recent trip to Yosemite National Park.

As a photographer, I was attempting to stay away from the "normal" iconic views of Yosemite. And as part of that self-challenge, in addition to my earlier photos, I captured these images with my iPhone using the Hipstamactic app.

Christchurch New Zealand the Garden City

2011-02-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

A woman walks through Cathedral Square past the Christchurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand's city centre.

Following the devastating 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, Mayor Bob Parker said, "We are not going to walk away from this place."
I was reminded of my trip to New Zealand 10 years ago and the remarkable beauty of the city. Here are a few photos from that trip. I shall always fondly remember my time there and will keep the people of that city in my thoughts and prayers.

A statue of Christ next to the Christchurch Cathedral.

The Chalice Sculpter and the Christchurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand's Cathedral Square.

"Punting on the Avon."

A tram restaurant, a former Melbourne car converted into a 12-table eatery that seats 36.


Christchurch Botanic Gardens as seen through the window of the 1923 Botanic Gardens Cafe.

O Ansel, Ansel! Wherefore Art Thou Ansel?

2011-02-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

Yosemite Valley as seen from the Tunnel View on State Route 41.

Lower Yosemite Falls

Freshly snow-covered tree in Yosemite National Park in Wawona.

The Chilnualna River.

Melting snow falling past the last leaf.

A set of handprints left on a snow-covered boulder in Yosemite National Park.

Light and shadows play on the trunk of a tree in Yosemite National Park.

The Chilnualna River.

Snow-covered boulders in Yosemite National Park.

This past weekend I visited Yosemite National Park with family and friends. And for three days I pointed my camera and wondered what to photograph. The beauty was simply overwhelming at times and part of me hated the 4 gig card loaded in my camera.

The fact that I could turn on the motor drive and blaze away seemed almost, well, photographically sacrilegious. Notwithstanding, I had in fact earlier in the day, made photos with the Hipstamactic application on my iPhone,

I still felt hesitant to actually...push the shutter release...and...make the photo. I was further challenged by the notion that I should not shoot the same photos as every other tourist in Yosemite that day. And even though I did "make a photo" of the iconic view of Yosemite Valley from atop State Route 41, I challenged myself to find a different Yosemite, a Yosemite that was meaningful to me...defined by the experience of sharing it with my friends and family.

App...solution

2011-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

I wish I'd thought of the title. My editor thought it up. When I showed him the photo he said, "I don't get it." And once I explained the story, he gave me the headline.

So again with the photo illustration! It's always good to have an opportunity to stretch your photographic legs. And the idea of shooting a photo illustration about a phone app that gives you the chance to confess your sins was certainly appealing. Check the link here to read the story.

There was minimal photoshop-ing applied. I guess I'm sort of a dinosaur in that respect. We (newspaper photographers) use to shoot a good number of photo illustrations, and when we were doing it, we usually had to accomplish it, all of it, in the studio. The only thing that was photoshop-ed here is the screen on the iPhone.

I'm not sure how well it came off, other than the model portraying the priest got a call from his girlfriend the morning the story published. "Are those your lips in the photo?"

I Witness

2011-01-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

The way we interact, the way we see and view the world has changed...is changing. With each new generation of cell phone, smart phone or tablet. And the dizzying array of photography applications alone can be overwhelming. Professional photographers Damon Winter, David Hume Kennerly, Todd Heisler, Teru Kuwayama, and many others have all stepped into the "new medium" and it's exciting to watch the application (pun intended) play itself out.

The immediacy of "cellphoneography" and it's "publishing" or posting to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc., etc., is only in direct proportion to the users ability to navigate the steps.

When we were shooting film at newspapers, I could look at several rolls of film laying on a light table and at a glance determine who shot what. Every photographer has their own unique style and it shows in their work.

How will our own unique styles emerge as the "medium" improves? How will we witness the change? And more importantly what changes will we witness with our cellphones?

Lensbaby, Gels and Photo Illustrations...Oh My?

2010-12-30T15:04:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days of...well, gone are the days of a lot of things when it comes to newspapers. And photo illustrations happens to be one of them. Whether it's lack of space, time or motivation, we just don't produce that many photo illustrations anymore. So I was really happy to have the opportunity to produce one recently.

Reporter Josh Dulaney was more than kind enough to pose for the photo to help illustrate a story about how a group of computer scientists recently discovered dozens of websites secretly harvesting lists of places their users previously visited online and how that information is being exploited by con artists to target users.

I used a Lensbaby for the photo of Josh with ambient studio light from a softbox and a blue gelled light on the back of his head. For the computer screen, I used a 17-35mm, fired the softbox and lite the background with a red gel. The two images were brought together in Photoshop.

Overcoming the Parallax Error...Sort of.

2010-12-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

I've been having a lot of fun with the Hipstamatic application for my iPhone. While attempting to overcome the parallax error inherent with the application (or simply going with what you get) I couldn't help but think how these photos have represented my life at times. In no particular order mind you.

Even while playing the King of Hearts (or was that the Joker?) life is a bit askew. And I guess I've come to realize that if my life was orderly, peaceful and totally in focus...how boring it would be.

So I'll continue to look at my life with my own personal parallax error, guesstimating what's in the viewfinder, peeking over the top trying to align the view, looking for the best light and always waiting for the decisive moment!

Season of Change

2010-12-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hipstamactic with John S lens and Ina's 1969 film shot with the iPhone

Today is the Winter Solstice, we're as far away from the Sun as we can be. It's the shortest day of the year, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also a time for change as we head to longer, warmer days.

So it's only natural to make a photo (again) in a new way, using what ever means available to me to continue to stretch, to grow and change, breaking free of old, tired and stodgy means of communicating visual.

Happy Solstice!

What's Black and White and Rarely Read?

2010-12-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Like armored sentinels, these news boxes are a painful reminder of the suicidal downward spiral of newspapers. The downsizing vortex within the industry not only cleared the newsroom floor of our most valuable resource...people, but also the very essence of what we do. To tell stories. Real stories about real people and how the world around them affects all of us. It's disheartening to watch a once vibrant and creative bastion of journalism reduced to press release mentality.

We have our moments. We still produce brilliant stories, photos and pages. But somethings missing. Maybe the spirit, the vitality of what we do. We'd like to blame someone or something as we stand in a group huddled together turning in circles, pointing our fingers and looking for a likely culprit. And it comes back to us. We're the ones. No one ever said it'd be easy. It's easy to give up, easy to point fingers. But there are still great stories to be told and great people to tell them. There's still a place that will collect those stories and display them in a great way. We can't be tired, We can't give up.

Just like the story of gun collections when they melt down the offending weapons are produce something meaningful from them. Perhaps we should melt down the news boxes.

After all...it'd be a great story.

Rockin the Hipstamatic

2010-12-11T17:15:00.001-08:00

I love living in Southern California, especially in the Winter. And as a photographer there is nothing better than the light at this time of day and this time of year.
This photo was made on the iPhone using the Hipstamatic app with some very slight modifications in Photoshop Express and posted to the blog via the BlogPress app.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone...Sweet huh?

Say ahhhh? Cheese?

2010-12-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Using Noah as a shameless excuse to blog from my iPhone, this really follows along in the same vain as earlier posts and how to stay connected photographically with whatever photographic medium is at hand.

I suppose one of the most remarkable things I've discovered while shooting with the iPhone is how comfortable people are having their photos taken. It's almost as if they're barely aware of the fact you're taking a photo of them. People have become so desensitized with cell phone cameras that they rarely, if ever object. Nor do they even inquire as to the purpose of the photo. Granted these dental hygienists made the assumption that "Dad" merely wanted a memorable photo of his son being examined during a routine post operative appointment, but one of them even remarked about "Facebooking" the event. I'm quite certain the reaction would have been very different had I walked into the office carrying my "Full Battle Rattle" of photojournalist's gear. This is not a novel idea or approach to reaching our subjects but certainly adds room for more thought and conversation in our growing world of social media.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone...Sweet huh?

Honoring Our Veterans

2010-11-12T15:20:00.000-08:00

Ralph Fuchs, 86, a World War II U.S. Army veteran, enjoys a light moment Thursday November 11, 2010 during a Veteran's Day ceremony at the Villas at San Bernardino, a senior living assisted facility in San Bernardino, California. Fuchs is one of more than a dozen veterans living at the facility.

As I photographed these Veterans the other day, it occurred to me, I realized once again the undeniable bond that Veterans share.

Can any of us look around the office and say you'd lay down your life for your fellow coworkers? Or they, yours.

These people did and should be honored for that. Thank you!

Irene McEllistrim, 86, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, was honored Thursday November 11, 2010 during a Veteran's Day ceremony at the Villas at San Bernardino. McEllistrim was the first female brigadier general in the California Army National Guard.

Scrabble, coffee and the iPhone

2010-10-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the prowess of the mighty two megapixel cell phone camera, it's amazing what a little time, gumption, some minor Photoshop applications, and of course the iPhone camera itself can produce.

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the word in the photo on the left; according to the Urban Dictionary, fingle is the space or void between two fingers.

"The average human being has five fingers and four fingles on each hand."

"I can see two fingles when you flash me the Vulcan hand sign."

Alas, the Scrabble dictionary did not agree.

Rainy Day iPhone

2010-10-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

It took me a long time to get onboard with the whole iPhone thing. I purchase my first iPhone, the 3G, earlier this year and have been happy with it, despite not really ever wanting to give up my "flip phone." There was, after all, that whole Star Trek thing going on. That and making out with green aliens, but that's another story, for another time, for another universe.

Whew...anyway...it's been sort of raining here in Southern California for the last few days. I say sort of because I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and my mother would chase me outside on days like this. Nonetheless, I do find myself intrigued by happy memories of playing in the rain and the sort of freshness the rain seems to bring with it. I took a break earlier today, grab my trusty iPhone and went on a short "photo safari" in the rain. I think the camera holds up remarkable well given what it is...or isn't. I couldn't resist adding this review I read regarding the iPhone 3G camera.

“For a product as on the cutting edge as the iPhone, its built-in camera is an embarrassment. Like the camera on the original iPhone, it’s got a basic two-megapixel resolution, doesn’t zoom, has no flash, doesn’t work well in low light, and doesn’t take videos. With still subjects in well-lit areas it produces nice results. In terms of quality, the consumer point-and-shoot digital camera I bought seven years ago still blows it away, and most of the iPhone’s smart phone competitors offer better cameras as well.” Jason Snell, Macworld.com

Well, all I can say about that is, "Jason! Shut the heck up and buy a camera."

Art for Heaven's Sake

2010-10-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Art, inspires art. Still appreciating the effects of being surrounded by creative people and creative things.

Noah's Big Show and Ross's too.

2010-10-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Noah takes a moment before the show's Friday opening to calm his excitement.

Today we're coming down off the high of a great weekend. We attended, worked and supported a fantastic art show during "Art for Heaven's Sake" at our local church. I always feel artistically recharged and ready to go after these events. More on that later...the real highlight of the show, for us, was our youngest son Noah's first public showing of his photography. Though I might add, we were equally excited that Noah shared a booth with his friend Ross Thrasher, who we'd also describe as another one of our children "from the village."
It was wonderful to watch these two young artist's being supported by a community that thrives on creativity. The youngest artists showing at the show, each of them really held their own in their own mediums. As I walked around looking at all of the art being exhibited, including my son Noah's and Ross', I was reminded by something I heard recently.

"I'm happiest and the most fulfilled in my life when I surround myself by creative people and creative things."

I'm certain Noah and Ross got the vibe. I certainly did!

Ross looks over his work in the opening moments of the show.

If a Tree Falls in the Forest...

2010-09-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise? It seems like a silly question and I'm certain we all have friends, family or coworkers who would be willing to debate what ever answer you have to the question.

So, if a group has a rally supporting the DREAM Act, and the media isn't there to report the story, does the group's story get told? And even more perplexing, if the only people attending the rally, besides the group, is the media, do we report on it and shoot photos? I suppose it could be argued that the group would have rallied even if they had been the only ones in attendance. So, it is really of little consequence then that we report on it.

I suppose then that the tree does make a noise.

FYI, in case you're keeping track of my technological exploits, this photo was made with my much loved and well used Nikon D2Hs. I purposely underexposed the scene yet the highlights are still blown out. And the shadow detail has a little bit of digital noise in it. Properly managed and expose, though challenging, the D2Hs will still produce usable images. For news print anyway.

Above, Below and Around San Diego

2010-09-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

Thought enough time had passed since posting my D70 photos from
San Diego that I could put up a few shot with the D3s. Not much to say other than...what a sweet camera! And the 24-85mm isn't so bad itself. I guess I should start saving some cash.

It's the Card Stupid, or the Camera, or...Maybe it's Me

2010-09-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

I just got 10% smarter than my equipment...marginally smarter. The other day's issue with the card reading full after only a few shots is resolved. I suppose it's not a good thing though. After sharing my misadventure with fellow photographer Al Cuizon, I was theorizing the problem I'd had was the six year old compact flash cards I was using. I told Al each one of the cards only took two to four images, after I'd deleted the images and reformatted the cards. Al told me he'd done the same thing, (reformatting) with the same D70 with a brand new card and now the card no longer works. I put the cards in a D2Hs with the same result. The solution? Throw away the cards, buy new ones and stopping formatting the cards in the D70. It appears there is a "thread" on the internet about this problem and how to reformat the corrupt cards. So here's my solution...throw away the card, buy new ones and stop formatting the cards in the D70.

By the way, today's photo was made with the Epson Perfection 1640SU. And in case you're wondering, the bracelet is called a Survival Bracelet and was made for me by a buddy whose has recently returned from Afghanistan.

Trouble in Paradise

2010-09-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm going to defend myself straight away and claim "operator error." And contradict an earlier posting where I claim to be 10% smarter than the equipment I'm operating. So, here it goes!

I made this photo yesterday on the way out of the office. I always think of photographer Eric Meola's vibrantly red Kodachrome images when I see anything with red in it. I pulled out my trusty and ever present Nikon D70 companion and fired off...two frames. And the display blinked, FUL...FUL...FUL. I had just deleted images off the card and reformatted it, which I've done before, to the very same card. And then right there on the spot, deleted the two images, reformatted and fired off two more frames and got FUL...FUL...FUL. Chimping off the screen on the back of the camera and decidedly happy to have two frames, I went home and drank wine instead of figuring out the problem.

This morning after downloading my two Meola knockoffs I replaced the card in the camera and tried again. One..two..FUL...FUL...FUL. I tried another card and the display told me I had more than 800 frames to go. I need to do a little research and figure out what's happening. I'll get back to you...to be continued.

Nikon D70 Goes to School

2010-09-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend as a photographic editor and mentor with the San Diego Shoot Off 2010. Shootoff Visual Media Workshops provide not-for-profit educational programs for our military and civil service photographers. It is a wonderful opportunity for photographers to learn, share and network.

One of the workshop sponsors, Nikon USA, was there with a "boat load" of photo equipment. Including the newest top of the line professional camera body, the Nikon D3s digital SLR camera. It is an amazing tool in the photographer's arsenal of equipment. All of it was available for workshop students and staff to sign out (and return of course) and use, that's not how the above photos were produced. I did wander around shooting with the D3s and it is a fantastic piece of technology, and if I had my way...of course I'd be shooting with the D3s!

Again, with a nod toward getting back to basics, after the workshop I headed up to Little Italy for a bit to eat. And inspired by a weekend of teaching, learning and sharing, I was making the D70 work for me. Once more, it's what we the photographers do with the tools we have, are given, forced or left to work with. And though even with the latest and greatest equipment available to the workshop's students, it's not really the D3s that the captured some of this weekend's greatest photos, it was that talented and passionate photographer behind the tool.

Narrowing Degrees of Separation

2010-09-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today the body of U.S. Army Sgt. Raymond C. Alcaraz, 20, of Redlands was returned home. He died Tuesday in Logar Province, Afghanistan. He and three other soldiers died of wounds suffered when their vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device.

He was young enough to be one of my children, as a matter of fact, some of my son's friends were Alcaraz's friend. It is the cruelest sort of "degrees of separation," and a stark reminder of how close this war hits home. I would wager that you, each one of you reading this right now, is "six degrees" of separation from someone who has died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

If you know me, if you've read this blog, you know I support our military men and women. But, it's time to bring all of our children home, before the degrees of separation narrow for another Mother and Father, brother and sister, aunt and uncle...

9/11 Remembrance Day

2010-09-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

I took an assignment today at the Public Safety Academy, a charter school that bases their education on the police and fire service. The school sponsored and took part in a 9/11 Remembrance Day Ceremony and as things go it was a fine event. It was surprising to listen to these young people give speeches and what they remembered about 9/11, including one girl who is inspired to become a firefighter following in the footsteps of her uncle who lost his life as a first responder to the Twin Towers in New York.

And that's all I have to say about that.

You and I

2010-09-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

fortune finds us, you and I

each night a promise, sweetly familiar

every day anew, as if never before

yet here we are, til the end of time

fortune finds us, you and I

And Now For Something Total Different!

2010-09-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

My cartoon self, letting my freak flag fly!

I opened an email today to find that my blog had been named one of the top 50 blogs for Photo and Journalism. My first reaction was somewhat suspicious. My blog? My little old blog? Reading the announcement was akin to the emails offering cheap drugs from Canada, or why I need Viagra, or how to grow my...right. Or, how about the email from Zimbabwe presuming me to inherit the long lost treasures of a far flung distance relative?

My first compulsion was to run out "snap a photo" and update the blog. Instead I've decided to celebrate this auspicious, though somewhat still suspect, occasion with "something completely different," "outside the box," or non-photographic? Sitting through the afternoon newspaper meeting planning the next day's paper, I doodled a self-portrait whilst adding the colour later to post on my page. They've even offered me a "stinking badge" to display on my blog, which I have, and suspect by doing so have provided a link to their website, Guide to Online Schools. This folds in well with my new mentor, hero and sensei...William Shatner, aka James T. Kirk. Over the years Shatner has continually reinvented himself and found renewed success. He seemingly never shies away from making fun of himself...and he never takes himself too seriously. So with a nod to Bill Shatner and his self-promoting front man pitch for Priceline...I figured...

"There's only one kind of woman...or man, for that matter. You either believe in yourself or you don't." -- Kirk in 'Mudd's Women'

The 10% Rule

2010-08-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

I wish that I could remember the person who told me "you only have to be 10% smarter than the equipment you're operating," because it follows nicely on my recent post "Back to Basics." I took a photo assignment last week about red light traffic cameras. So, if figured, if a sensor operated camera can do the job...so can I.

More to come.

Back to Basics

2010-08-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

I suppose one disadvantage of my recent Air Force retirement is the lack of access to the latest and best photo equipment. After shooting with the Nikon D3 and D2x, I've been working with "left overs" from the newspaper's "pool" gear, e.g., the stuff no one else wants to shoot with or only uses if their gear breaks.

My recent postings have been shot with a Nikon D70 that now trumps the "well loved" Nikon D2Hs I also carry. The D2Hs has far exceeded it's shutter attenuation and has an imaging sensor that rarely renders accurate scene tone, color and quality. My lens selection consists of an older 17-35mm and a really old 80-200mm that "groans" while focusing. The lenses work best if the camera is in it's manual setting. Now, having said all that, the good news is I'm in a "back to basics" mode. I'm doing all the "technical" thinking myself. Not that I wasn't before, but given the lack of quality of my current gear compared to before, I'm being more mindful of my equipments "limitations." This is a good thing. Because I've discovered that my limitations are less about the equipment and more about the photographer.

After all, cameras and lenses are only a tool. The photographer is the real artist.

He's the Baby, Gotta Love Him!

2010-08-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

I was drawn to this image of Noah. I was struck by the motion blur and softness of the image. He too, will soon move on, out on his own.

A trail leading in to the Redwood forest off of California State Route 254, Avenue of the Giants.

The Redwood forest off of Avenue of the Giants contains trees the are hundreds of years old, including one tree that is more than 950 years old.

Last Saturday we made our way home to Southern California after dropping my son off at Humboldt State University. We made a slight detour off U.S. Route 101 on to Avenue of the Giants. And it was well worth the detour.

The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic roadway that runs through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park and an alternative route that parallels the 101. The 55 mile stretch of road has various turnoffs and wide spots in the road for tourists and sightseers to jump out and snap photos. And we took advantage of the photo opportunity. I particularly enjoyed watching my youngest child romp through the Redwood forest happily discovering his photographic vision in nature.

I've been able to share with and relate to each of my three children in different ways. I never imagined that one of them would be interested in photography. It's been a joy sharing photography with my youngest. And as he scurried about the Redwood path I was reminded of and delighted in a phrase a friend would quote after Noah was born, "He's the baby, gotta love him!" And as he's the last child left at home, I'm finding myself appreciating each moment we spend together. Even finding our way down different paths through the Redwood forest we can still share the common language of photography.

Drop Kickin' Dom or How We Learned to Pay for College

2010-08-23T15:18:00.000-07:00


Heavily bookmarked course catalog. Dom said there were too many cool classes

I shot a photo of Domenick like this when he was just learning to walk and actually thought about this moment was he waded into college life.

I often wonder if it's fair to so publicly expose my family to such a public life as I blog about my life through photos. I suspect they rarely think about it. Photography, my photography, has been such a common part of their lives it rarely seems to register with them when I'm making photos. So, it seemed natural that Domenick's send off to college (Humboldt State University) wouldn't be any acceptation.

When Domenick was accepted to Humboldt it seemed a far distant future. And as the days between his acceptance and his departure shrunk the realization he was really leaving home grew. The 715 miles seems, well, a lot further than 715 miles.

We spent a week with him at Humboldt, moving bags of clothing, odd sized sheets, a bicycle and a variety of last minute trips to hardware stores, Radio Shack and the local grocery. I shot dozens of photos with the iPhone shamelessly posting them to Facebook, again publicly, chronically the journey. But, it finally made sense when my youngest, Noah, helped my Mom set up her own Facebook account. She told my Father, as she made her way past the Mafia Wars, Pokes and gifts of sheep, that "this is the way my grandchildren communicate with each other. And if this is how I can stay involved in their lives...I'm going to learn how to do it!"

I'll miss Domenick's daily "physical" presence in our lives. We can talk on the phone, maybe Skype, though I suspect our communication will be limited, mostly, to short cryptic bursts of texting. And eventually, as he gains college friends around campus they'll start "tagging" photos of him on Facebook whilst living out their lives in a very public way. At least I'll get to see if he needs a haircut!

On Second Thought...

2010-07-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

I never throw an image away...never. But, I have to admit, I used to. When it comes time to clean off those flashcards, I simply download, name it, burn it and store it. And every once in awhile I find an image that I overlooked on the first go around. I was cleaning off a card today and found two such images. It is not that I forgot taking them or even looking at and editing them. I just happened to like another photo better on that particular day. The first image is from the Getty in Los Angeles during mine and Georgia's anniversary "staycation." And the second is my youngest Noah during a recent photo shoot.

Digital has made us lazy in some fashion. I do remember exercising far more care in editing photos. Leaning over the light table, loupe in hand, scouring over the negatives and looking for that one particular image that you knew you had. We tended to shoot and edit more responsibly. I am really trying not to over use the screen on the back of the camera to "chimp" merrily along, you can miss a photo.

Washington D.C.

2010-06-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

I spent today walking the National Mall in Washington D.C. from the Washington Monument to the United States Capitol. It was an amazing day and reminder of America's accessibility to government and our national monuments. And to salute our diverse population, I finished the day with a cool glass of Thai beer.

In The Line of Duty

2010-06-11T18:22:00.001-07:00

"On Friday morning a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer Tom Coleman attempted to pull over a vehicle for a traffic violation. The vehicle sped away. Officer Coleman gave pursuit. He radioed his dispatcher that the fleeing vehicle was reaching speeds up to 100 mph. That was the last anyone heard from Officer Coleman.

Coleman was killed instantly after colliding with a big rig as he passed through an intersection still in pursuit of the escaping vehicle. Four people in the vehicle were captured and taken into custody, unharmed, shortly after Coleman died.

Officer Coleman is survived by a wife and two children."

Staycation

2010-06-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

Green apple martinis and seared Ahi
Botanic gardens and works of art
Thoughtful conversation and profound meditation
After 28 years of marriage
I'd do it all over again and never change one single day
I love our lives

Italian Family Sforza

2010-04-08T17:21:00.001-07:00

I've always wanted to live in a tree house, ever since I was a kid and watched the Swiss Family Robinson at the drive-in theater. It captured my imagination. But the real allure began when I visited the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house at Disneyland. I was annoyed by the crowds of people pushing through the visceral experience. My brother and I, along with a group of neighborhood kids always had some plan in the works to build a tree fort and "live" in it. The tree fort never ended up being more than a few pieces of scrap lumber hastily hammered, tied and wired to a tree in the woods near our neighborhood. A far cry from the wonder of imagination and invention of the Robinson's tree house, and not to mention that the neighborhood woods completely lacked the panache of good old fashioned pirate raid.

I still think about it from time to time. It appeals to me in a carefree sort of way, that lofty humble abode gently swaying in the breeze, creaking like an old sailing ship, resplendent in its weather polished wood and seasoned in golden hues.

With my pirate alarm set, I'll settle in with a good book and a glass of wine.

And, by the way, this photo was shot with the iPhone camera.

Pink Dinosaurs Resist Technology

2010-04-06T18:33:00.001-07:00

Well I've gotten over myself about shooting photos with the iPhone thanks to a little inspiration from my sister, from another mister, Daniella Sforza!

From this point on, every time I resist change...I'm going to think of myself as this little drool covered pink dinosaur abandoned in the oil stained parking lot waiting to be run over by the vehicles its ancestors now fuel.

Game on!

A Shadow of My Former Self...

2010-04-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

A Shadow of My Former Self...or How I Learned to Love iPhone Photography

I purchased my first iPhone about two weeks ago and have eased into using its camera. I was feeling a bit guilty having turned my back on the bag in the corner of my room. The bag weighing in at 30 pounds is crammed with the tools of the trade, e.g., lenses as in more than one, camera bodies as in more than one, flashes, cords, batteries, etc., etc, as in more than...well you get the picture, pun intended.

While I will never give up that full ensemble of equipment, there is something seductive about the simplicity of the iPhone camera. These images were taken with a rather cool application that mimics an old Polaroid. I'm still processing (yes pun intended again) of my changing world. Having been a either a military photographer, photojournalist or photo editor (sometimes all three at the same time) for the past 35 years I try my best not to feel like an endangered species. I try my best to embrace new techniques, tools and technology. I try my best not to be swayed by the hype and hyperbole. I try my best to let my experience sort it all out.

I suppose thinking big picture (couldn't help myself) I'm really talking about the glut of photos on everything, everyone and everywhere. Photos captured on a cell phone camera can be uploaded and transmitted around the world instantaneously. Which photos can we really trust? I keep hearing that newspapers and magazines are dying, hereto photojournalism. Photos taken of a tourist of a news event in the Red Square, intrinsically has no credibility.

As a photojournalist the only tool we have left that has changed...is our credibility. Regardless of how or what we're telling the story with, you can trust it. Trust it, even if it's an iPhone camera with cool application that makes the photo look like a Polaroid.

Prince Domenick

2010-03-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here rules Domenick.
First son of the first son.
Heir apparent to the Sforza Dynasty.
A prince. He shall rule justly.
The debt of the father's sins have been paid.
For he hath bathed in the waters of forgiveness and compassion.
Here rules Domenick.
First son of the first son.
Heir apparent to the Sforza Dynasty.
A prince. He shall rule justly.

For the Love of Cheap Sunglasses

2010-03-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is my youngest Noah. I picked him up from school yesterday and while we sat in the car listening to radio (Everlast's What its Like) he pulled out a pair of oversized shades and bobbed and weaved to the music. Armed with only a cheap cellphone camera, I couldn't resisting taking a shot.

Sometimes it's less about the photo...and more about the moment. Or in the words of Everlast;

Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose

We had a good afternoon.

Found Money

2010-02-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

Ever hear the phrase "found money?" You know the one. It's the $20 bill you find at the bottom of the washing machine, the $5 bill in the parking lot or the $.75 in the vending machine. You immediately realize your score. That immediate wealth. It could mean lunch at your favorite burger joint, a latte at the gourmet coffee shop instead of burnt coffee from the corner gas station. Or even, hey here's a novel thought, save it! Nah, spend it!

Such was the case this morning. Found money. Well, a found photo. After shooting the photo, I spoke with the leader of the group, Marlena Fletcher. That's her in the lead. An actually business, Baby Boot Camp LLC, they're goal is, according to Fletcher. "To get moms healthy while spending time with their babies." And they do this five days a week. Now this is the part where the found money analogy comes to play. Now I'm asking Fletcher different questions:

Normal question - What time do they meet?
Photographer question - Come on photographers...think morning light!
Normal question - Where do they run?
Photographer question - Clean background, front light, side light, back light.

I'm thinking about "saving" the photo. Finding better light, a better background, a better...nah!

I decided to "spend" instead.

Moments Like These

2010-02-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

It is, for moments like this that I became a photographer. Georgia my wife, partner and best friend of 28 years...and I still get those butterflies in the stomach feeling. How do you make that feeling last. You can't. And I suppose you shouldn't...it'd be too much. So we, photographers, look for these kind of moments and do our best to capture them, immortalize them, put them in print or online.

"To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy." Henri Cartier-Bresson

The Arms Have It

2010-02-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

We spent Saturday afternoon in the studio shooting Senior Portraits. We, being my son Domenick, from top to bottom, Jacob Fiske-Phillips, Evan Jones and assisting in the studio, my other son Noah. It was great fun. And while we successfully completed the Senior Portrait shoot, the real fun came afterwards as the boys created their own human collage of arms. With very minimal Photoshop (a hair here, forehead there, sleeve here) the photos were mostly all boy...so to speak.

Caniculares Dies or How to spend a few moments during the Dog Days of Winter?

2010-02-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

According to Brady's Clavis Calendarium, Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies."

I would have thought I had better things to do. We are busy. My days are often filled trudging through emails filled with "courtesy art" and handout photos, calling various stringers to shoot "talking heads" at podiums and assuaging the frustration of staff photographers as to why their sports action ran black and white, at one column, relegated to an inside page.

I miss the heady days of chasing down real news, e.g., things blowing up...on fire...upside down and other general mayhem. I miss the natural double truck layouts devoted to stories about real people. I miss time spent in the darkroom with other photographers discussing the merits and disasters of each others photos.

I would have thought I had better things to do. Not better than putting up a few goods photos, propping up my feet and sipping a hot cup of tea. Comfort "food" during the Dog Days of Sum...er Winter in the Northern Hemisphere or maybe just the opportunity to become languid.

I still miss those heady days!

For the Love of Apollo

2010-02-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

Such beauty that greets this Winter morning
a simple bloom, uncomplicated, yet surprising sophistication
you ask nothing
only the love of Apollo

The Road That Lays Ahead...or is it Roads?

2010-02-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

We, the Fiske-Phillips and Sforzas, spent the past weekend celebrating Jacob's 18th birthday. We left everything behind, well almost everything, and headed out to a cabin in the nearby mountain community of Wrightwood. As I watched our children, the collective children of two families, I realized they had grown and were ready to be out on their own. Ready to choose their own path, thier own road in life.

Sitting there in a cabin, surrounded by the snow and cold, fueled by coffee and introspect...I was evaluating the road we'd taken to get here and wondering about the roads the lay ahead for our children. I couldn't help but think of the Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken. It's exciting to imagine what lays ahead for each of them.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again!

2009-12-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

We've spent the last 20 years, or close to that, (pick up last year's thread) sharing Thanksgiving with Georgia's uncle and his wife (Don and Terry Green) in San Luis Obispo.

I'm not share how it started, and I suppose it doesn't really matter at this point. It has become a great tradition. Our children have grown up with wonderful memories of Thanksgiving. As a matter of fact, it is the only memory of Thanksgiving they have...sharing that week with Don and Terry.

I asked them for some of their favorite memories. Here they are in no particular order, along with photos, in no particular order.

Walking on the beach and playing in the tide pools.

Hanging out and looking out the back windows from Don and Terry's.

Eating.

Visiting Montana De Oro State Park and watching the Monarch butterflies.

Shopping and walking around downtown San Luis Obispo.
Eating.

Thanksgiving dinner.

Playing in and cutting down the reeds.

Walking on the beach.

Visiting the Children's Museum downtown San Luis Obispo.

Riding ATVs.
Oh yeah...and eating!

Thank you Don and Terry for being such a rich part of the tapestry of our lives! See you next year.

Learning How to Be Forever Young

2009-11-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Oops, I forgot all about this posting.

I had the photos loaded and ready to go and then...oh, I suppose I could spin a good yarn, maybe something about being abducted by aliens, my dog (you know my ever (faithful companion Cooper?) ate my computer or I didn't get the memo. But, truth be told, I put the photos up and completely forgot to write the story. So I will do my best to recapture the moment or moments.

The first weekend in November, I spent the weekend with a group of young people from our church, the Redlands United Church of Christ. It was a retreat, of sorts, where in two days we were to recap a year of instruction, learning and sharing about faith, Spirituality, and Christianity. The kids and some of the adults were returning to the same camp (see Forever Young) in the San Bernardino mountains to finish what they had begun.

We confronted a high ropes course, walked and meditated on the path of a labyrinth, laughed and shared. I found it to be one of the most profound experiences of my life. At a certain point, we adults, seem to forget how to listen to the young. This is amazing since we, presumably, were young ourselves. I counted myself among the forgetful. I suppose we could blame a lifetime of filters, walls and barriers contributing to the difficulty of really hearing what the young are saying. And perhaps, remembering my own youth, the young sense this and perceive it simple as too much work to get through our filters, walls and barriers. But the onus is on us, adults, to learn how to listen and speak the same language.

What I heard from our young people amazed me. Their messages brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. These are the people who will inherit tomorrow, who will watch after us and hold us close as we age. They will look to us and say, "I remember when..."

I felt honored to be young again, to challenge the ropes, walk the labyrinth and share their laughter.

I think we, humankind, is going to be okay.

Listen to the young. It will be amazing what you will hear.

The Great Pumpkin

2009-11-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

Following on the string of my last post...this is our favorite time of year.

We spent Saturday hosting a pumpkin carving party with neighbors, friends and family. We served hot apple cider, fresh carrot soup, and beer. Well we had soft drinks too...for the kids.

We put candles in the pumpkins, placed them on the porch and passed candy out to neighborhood children.

All in all it was a great day.

Wandering Our Own Path

2009-10-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

We spent Saturday fawning over pumpkins and corn mazes. As a family, this is one of our favorite times of year. The weather turns cooler. The fires are lighted. And as Halloween approaches, we celebrate a variety of birthdays and anniversaries. But on this Saturday. we combined our ever expanding and widening schedules into one for a family outing.

Mazes date back 4000 years. Throughout antiquity mazes have been discovered in art, homes, pubic buildings and streets. In modern terms we tend to think of mazes as puzzles, but for the ancients mazes were used in ritual and processional ceremonies.

As we wandered through the maze none of wanted to exit the other side. Exiting the maze was not nearly as much fun as continuing on through it. We started out together. Each of us took different paths and at times would bump into each other, laughing as we'd surprise each other coming around a corner. There were one way paths, two paths, exits and paths that led back to paths we'd already crossed. And eventually we exited together.

As our children grow and have their own schedules, and continue down their own paths, it's nice that we can still come together for a seasonal ritual and share time as a family. And for a time...wander through the maze together.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

2009-09-21T14:55:00.001-07:00

Once is a while, we (photojournalists) are asked to or volunteer for, a shoot for a photo illustration. We attempt to illustrate an idea or concept. The idea here was to shoot a photo for a story on the H1N1 or Swine Flu and what schools are doing to plan for the possible outbreak in our public school system.

After a variety of masks, poses and staged looks of terror, we came down to these two photos and eventually went with the top photo. I was going to light it with a softbox from the front and pop a red gel from the back. Though I went for simplicity and used basic window light.

One of the problems with photo illustrations is finding the right model. The default model for most photographers is a reporter or editor sitting around the newsroom who's usually surfing the internet and looking as though they have nothing better to do. Or, hapless family, usually one of our children who have no choice in the matter. In this case it was my son who got orders to, "Put on this mask, stand right here and look scared. And stop fidgeting." He performed admirably and his only request for compensation was a copy of the paper in ran in. Alas, the story run without a photo and thus the illustration ends up as fodder for my blog.

Maybe I should have found a pig to put the mask on.

Fire in the Sky

2009-09-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

A few images of the Pendleton and Oak Glen Fires burning around Yucaipa, California. Fortunately no one has been injured or lost their home.

The Dog Days of Summer

2009-08-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

I visited the local animal shelter for an assignment. Generally I don't consider myself much of an animal lover, though my wife would argue that giving some of the conversations I have with our dog Cooper. Nonetheless I was amazed at the number of pets that are "put down each year".

According to Cornell University, as many as 12 million cats and dogs and other pets are euthanized each year. And not because they're sick or injured. The number one reason is over population and because most Americans either don't care or unaware of the rising population among cats and dogs. The solution is simply, have your pet spayed or neutered.

By law California shelters are required to hold animals for four days before euthanizing them. With little or no space to accommodate their numbers, if no one adopts the dogs and cats, the shelters with little choice other than euthanasia.

The photo of the dog you see above was taken on Thursday August 28th.

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us"
Robert Louis Stevenson

If It Makes You Happy

2009-08-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes having my own blog is a great outlet to "publish" a photo that otherwise would never see the light of day. And in most respects having my own blog doesn't really account for publishing in the greater sense of the word. Nonetheless, I shot this photo last Saturday at my sister-in-law Maggie's birthday/retirement party. And this is her niece Samantha.

Sam was enjoying all of the attention befitting the little princess she is. So, I figured it only fitting she should have her own paparazzi.

I wonder if the paparazzi has a pension program?

A Shave and a Haircut

2009-08-18T16:38:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share this outtake from a series of images shot on assignment last week. The story is about the Stay Gold barbershop in Fontana. The barbers are a group of twenty something, tattooed, pompadoured guys lead by the shop's owner Robert Oliva, pictured here. Oliva's shop, though a place of business looks as though it doubles as a crash pad for the terminally hip testosterone poisoned guy. And I'd sheepishly admit...I felt at home.

The walls are adorned with photos and posters promoting bravado, e.g. a movie still from the Reservoir Dogs and Johnny Cash flipping the bird for the camera. Various "girlie magazines" are strewn about on different flat surfaces with beer coasters used as bookmarks.

For the reasonable sum of $15.00 the well dressed man gets a haircut and trim around the edges, complete with a hot towel and straight razor.

Seeing Oliva spy my Fantastic Sams' coiffure I felt compelled to blurt the shameful truth. "I usually get my haircut at..."

Oliva finished the statement for me. "Supercuts? Fantastic Sams?"

"Yeah." I confessed.

"You know what we call that?" Said Oliva, poking a thumb over toward his fellow barbers. "We don't call it a haircut. We like to say you're a victim."

Oliva mentioned that cuts are by appointment only. I suppose my next haircut could come under the rueful gaze of Johnny Cash flipping the bird. That'd be appropriate...I suppose.

Symmetry Matters...or Not

2009-08-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

I suppose at best I'd consider it a little quirky. I mean, after all, it's not debilitating or anything. Who hasn't at least thought of straightening the picture frame gone askew, the stack of brochures gone all higgeldy piggelty and does the toilet paper roll come over the top or from the bottom? My wife will sometimes point out that I don't really pick up my clutter...I merely arrange it into neatly stacked piles. Stacking my clutter into neatly stacked piles tends to bring order into a chaotic world. I was going for symmetry, "an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance on either side of an axis; such that it reflects beauty or perfection." Okay, so I'm willing to admit...maybe...neat stacks lend themselves to the illusion of order in a sometimes chaotic world.

So what does this have to do with photography? In a word, symmetry. I used to find myself challenged by insuring that objects in the frame of my photograph confined themselves to right angles, e.g. no crooked horizons, no tilted or skewed angles. Look, I shoot photos for a newspaper. A rectangle piece of real estate populated by things with right angles. But at some point I had to stop and ask myself what this really accomplished for me photographically and the people and situations I was attempting to portray. I wasn't really bringing about order by missing opportunities to shoot things that didn't stack neatly into my own quirky little world. I remember a quote from the teen movie "The Breakfast Club" that I've held on it since first hearing it. Stuck in weekend detention Judd Nelson's character John Bender tells the teacher watching over the "detainees" that "Screws fall out all the time...sir...the world is an imperfect place."

Hey, this is the kind of stuff I think of. But, in reality, when it comes right down to it, the most important thing I've learned in taking photos through the years is to shut up and shoot the photo. The world just doesn't fit into neat little stacks. Or maybe I'm just full of crap.

Where do you read your newspaper?

A Dog and His Boy

2009-08-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

It hadn't been a blistering hot day. And it amazes me how accumulated we can become to our weather. Nonetheless, the day cooled off nicely as it passed into night. And if was a brilliant opportunity for a quiet evening on the patio, a glass of wine, iTunes set on the genius button and the companionship and conversation with my close friend Cooper the Dog. We'd decided to scan the heavens for signs of the Perseid meteor shower.

As we looked skyward...well actually it was only I that looked for the traces of light...I reminded Cooper that the showers were not to begin in earnest until today, during the day. But, we thought we'd give a go anyway.

Bored with the wait, I turned on tiny lights to the patio umbrella and squinted my eyes at them, and waited. Nothing. I twirled the umbrella and squinted again. I smiled at the result and uncorked a bottle of red wine. Cooper merely lifted his head and gave the cork a precursory sniff.

"You know Coop," I said scanning the skies. "Have you ever considered if we carry memory of things like the meteor shower in some distance memory? Sort of like, oh I don't know, embedded in our DNA? I mean, after all, what's the big deal? We all flock to remote areas of the countryside escaping the light pollution of our cities and communities to look at streaking lights. Why?"

Cooper lifted his head again and looked at me. "Well Rick it's actually more than streaking lights. What we're seeing is bits of debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle colliding with our atmosphere. The same meteor shower that's been observed for more than 2,000 years."

At that particular moment the iTunes genius selection "Carry on my Wayward Son" punctuated our conversation.

"Really! Really!" I shouted at my furry friend. "I ponder metaphysics and you bring me science. I mean...for God's sake you're a dog! You eat cat poop and drink out of mud puddles. And besides, you got that from the internet. Didn't you?"

"Oh, come on." Cooper shot back. "For Buddha's sake, your choice in wine is pedestrian at best and if you'd throw me a few table scraps I wouldn't have to resort to such desperate measures. Besides, the cat eats far better than I."

"I'm sorry Coop, I was looking for a more meaningful conversation. I mean, when you look at the sky don't you ever see the face of God? Or, at least wish you did?" I pleaded.

"I do not see the face of god." Cooper replied as he licked the wine cork. "But, maybe I look for the face of Sirius, or buddha or perhaps something even more ancient. You want a conversation in metaphysics yet you are still bound by your narrow Judea-Christian convictions. You speak of "older" memories yet you are still unwilling to explore the principals of reality transcending those of the particular known science of the sky upon which you now gaze."

Louis Armstrong is signing "A Kiss to Build a Dream On."

"You looked that up on the internet. Hey Coop?"

"Yes Richard."

"Hand me a piece of cat poop, would ya?"

Damn it Jim! I'm a Photographer not a Priest!

2009-08-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

I mean...what the hell do I know? I have health care and fairly decent coverage. But, what if I didn't? What if through no fault of mine own, I lost my job? Or, more accurately, my wife lost hers? We're covered by her employer. We're all pretty healthy and usually visit the doctor for no more than an annual physical. But...what if? We've struck a passionate nerve among America with the current "debate" regarding health care reform.

Yesterday I shot an assignment for the newspaper where religious leaders from a "faith-based community organizations" gathered to urge lawmakers on health care reform. They called for "health care for all." They said that health care is a "basic right." They want "comprehensive legislation." They brought people with them who told "health care horror stories."

When people get up to speak about health care I have to ask myself. "What's in it for them. What do they stand to lose or gain." And when religious leaders get up to speak about health care, I ask myself the same question. But I also know that these are the people who see the best and worst and generally have only the best intentions for people. They stand to make or lose nothing. Only to see that the suffering they witness end.

So, what the hell do I know? I'm a photographer, not a doctor, insurance company, health care provider, politician or religious leader. But, I know suffering when I see it.

What Would Weston Do?

2009-08-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

I had just settle into a comfortable chair at the doctor's office, picked up a copy of the Automobile Club's Westways Magazine, and was excited to find an article I was actually interested in. Their recent issue was an article on Edward Weston, "Highlights and Halftones. The California of Edward Weston." It reminded me of one of my professors at Syracuse University, where I attended to study photojournalism. As an exercise in photography, he put the names of a well known photographers on slips of paper, put them in a hat and passed the hat around the classroom, with each student drawing a name. But what each of us really wanted was to draw the name of a renowned photojournalist, e.g., Henri Cartier-Bresson, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa or W. Eugene Smith. I drew Edward Weston. I was disappointed. But, not for long. We were required to research, study and present a report on "our photographer." I loved everything I saw about Weston's work...the shapes, forms and textures so richly conveyed in each of his photos. Though like most things in life, or in my life, I don't fully appreciate the lessons I've learned until I've had the opportunity to act them out.

Thus a quote from Westways story:

"He once equated photography with learning to drive a car: At first, every little step must happen consciously, but with practice and increasing familiarity, many details a driver (or photographer) must pay attention to fall to the background. 'The driver ceases to think in terms of brake, clutch, and gear,' he said, just as "[t]he photographer no longer has to ask himself, what lens shall I use? What exposure shall I give? Shall I use a filter? Until a photographer has achieved this disciplined coordination, he cannot have full command of his medium, and his work will be governed to a greater or lesser degree by the accidental.' " Westways

After leaving the doctor's office...and no I didn't steal the magazine...I found a renewed sense of viewing the landscape around me. And on my way home that evening I stopped to photographic the upended roots of an oak tree. I decided to run these photos side-by-side color ,and black and white, as an exercise in photography and enjoying the comparison.

By the way, I received an "A" on my presentation about Edward Weston.

Building a Nation

2009-08-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Have you ever played Jenga Blocks? Players take turns pulling or remove a block from a tower built at the beginning of the game and stack it on top of the tower. The tower becomes increasing taller and more unstable. The game is over when a player knocks the tower over after removing a block or knocks the tower over placing the block on top of the swaying unstable tower.

For the past couple of days, my son Domenick has engaged in a different sort of Jenga. He has been building structures, buildings, and what I think...look like palaces. It's been wonderful to see what he has come up with. He hasn't said it but I think he's building for the sheer beauty of it. He's building for the opportunity to create something, not knock something down. I hope more of tomorrow's leaders think this way.

And by the way, jenga is the imperative form of kujenga, the Swahili verb "to build."

The Starship Sforza

2009-07-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Why do dogs stick their heads out of the car window? I'm pretty sure I've always known but I really liked this answer...

"Nobody really knows," says Dr. James A. Serpell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, "but we could hazard some good guesses. They can get their senses into the smells. And dogs really like speed. They like to feel the wind in their fur, the same reason that dogs enjoy running just for fun. They run because they enjoy the sensation of traveling fast, and I think they get the same kick out of sticking their nose out of the car window, feeling the speed, and watching the landscape rush past."

Shortly after making the photo of Noah launching himself out of the pool I received a call from Georgia that our van had thrown the Serpentine Belt. We knew this could happen because it was diagnosed by our friend Lisa's son, Jeremy. We had plans on getting it fixed. Now we were for all intensive purposes...stuck in Fallon. And to make things even more interesting we needed to replace the crankshaft pulley or harmonic balancer. Harmonic balancer? This sounded familiar to me. Familiar in a Star Trek sort of way, e.g., warp drive, dilithium crystals, and the port necelle. See post 54. On Friday Lisa's husband Theron got under the hood of the van and worked some mechanically magically enabling us to get back on the road and homeward bound Saturday morning. Hence my dog like behavior as we headed out of town, homeward bound. Thanks Theron, you're better than Scotty any day! We spent the rest of the day turning a eight hour 447 mile trip into 16 hours, 620 miles and multiple stops.

We visited our good friend James Ku in Reno who turned us on to a great breakfast at funky little place called the Squeeze In. James and I commiserated over the current state of newspapers, both vowing to survive...in some fashion.

We stopped to dip our toes in Lake Tahoe at Sand Harbor State Park not far from where we were married 27 years ago.

Hunger, gasoline and a driver seat swap found Noah and Domenick goofing on an English Telephone booth in Bishop.

And in the finals hours of the day we were treated to nature's own light show as a passing storm struck lightening on the desert floor off in the distance. For all of you photo geeks...I was pushing the envelope on the Nikon D3. Here's the data: Lightening photo shoot at 1/10 sec, f/2.8, 6400 ISO with a 14mm.

It was one of the best vacations we've ever had. The memories we revisited, the places we revisited and best of all the time we spent with our friends Lisa and Theron.

We're All Wet

2009-07-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today Noah and I visited the City of Fallon Municipal Swimming Pool. It was built in 1940 by the President Roosevelt's Work Projects Administration. Part of the president's New Deal that was designed to help bring the country out of the Great Depression and bring jobs and income to the unemployed. I wonder if any of today's stimulus packages will bear such testament 70 years from now.

The testament today is, this is the same pool I swam in 28 years ago and where Georgia grew up swimming in with her sisters and brother. It was another nice way to introduce our children to the kind of life their mother had growing up and one more place their parents had been during their early courtship, without boring them to death.

Noah and I jump off the diving board, swam, he tried to drown me...more than once...and splash, frolic and have a great time. And by the way, the water was great. I hope the pool is still here in another 70 years and I hope Noah will remember this small moment in time.

Romance vs Reality, Form vs Function

2009-07-14T08:59:00.001-07:00

Fallon, Nevada is the place I met my wife, Georgia. We were both very young, married a year after we met and moved away shortly after that. I believe we, well me anyway, endear ourselves to a time or place based on a romantic notion of what we did or who we met. Point in fact...Fallon. I will always have fond memories of our, mine and Georgia, time in Fallon. Though for different reasons for the both of us, because it is where Georgia grew up.

We would spend hot Summer days swimming in irrigation canals. Yes the same green and murky ditch resplendent with floating agriculturally cast offs pictured here. The romance of it is the fond memory of splashing about on hot dusty days and lazily floating down the canal drinking beer. We watched movies in a turn of the century (the other one...not this one) theater, named after the city, oblivious to the uncomfortable seating, small screen and mono sound. The quaint rusty nature of the Pony Express town was and is more function over form. And the guys who wear cowboy hats because...well...they're cowboys.

Now, 28 years later, Fallon still holds romance and form for it's still a place of magic where a young man found the love of his life.