April 28, 2012

Along with street shooting I would sometimes go to the shady side of downtown Seattle and stay overnight in a run down motel or hotel and shoot images in the room.  Not the best idea in the world but when you are young you think you have to be in on the edge in order to get good images.  This particular photo was for a class assignment.

April 28, 2012


When shooting street photography there is always a chance that you will be approached by people that don't have your best interest at heart.  When I was doing alot of street shooting I was harassed by a homeless guy that wanted me to take his picture for a buck.  At first I resisted but soon found that the logical thing to do was take his photo and be done with it.  So, I took his photo and paid the fee and moved on.

Another time I was shooting in Santa Barbara of all places and was approached by a gang member who was suspicious of me taking pics on his turf.  The weird thing was that I was along the waterfront by Stearns Wharf on a beautiful sunny evening with tourists walking by and here I was being confronted by a gang banger (Tobias was his name) holding a beer bottle and asking me for ID.  I could have balked but once again my intuition took over and I saw the danger being presented so I took out my business card that was in a plastic sleeve and attached to this card was another plastic sleeve that had a 35mm slide enclosed.  Once Toby (we were fast becoming friends) saw this and was convinced that I wasn't a narc taking photos of him and his buddies, he said to me, "If anyone gives you any trouble tell them Toby said it was all right for you to take photos".

You have to be alert to people and places and not get yourself cornered in an awkward and dangerous situation.

Jumping Jupiter Overwhelmed By Choices

April 8, 2012

We have a Jack Russell or Parson's Terrier and he is highly energetic.  He loves his tennis balls and will pick the most inopportune times to want to play.  For instance at 11:00 o'clock at night right before we are getting ready to go to bed, we will hear the ball drop at the foot of the bed.  This breed of dog is also tenacious and when it gets a whiff of another animal he will track it until he finds it.  Using this instinct I decided to complicate his life by setting up a concept shot.  It was a concept of being overwhelmed by choices and not being able to make up your mind. So I put a large group of tennis balls into a plastic container and put little dog treats under the tennis balls so his nose would pick up the scent and he would start digging.  And sure enough his head was in the plastic bin before I could get the first frame off.  It was a fun shoot and I think Jupiter enjoyed it too for the special treats he had.