Like reading a bicycle
The last time I took out my camera was at the end of the summer, and now I have taken a bunch from all the spring art openings this month. It was been so long that my camera went back to its original settings. I almost forgot how to take photos and began to fiddle around with the setting for a couple of days before I got it right.
At the same time, I also shoot video and post it on Vimeo. It’s of the balloon girl on the left. What I found funny about her was her insistence for audience participation. Unfortunately, I didn’t have $2 on me at the time to have her make me a balloon animal or flower, but I’m always broke.
Anyway, I have to get into the swing of things because it’s close to market days, and I have to capture every local farmers market again this summer.
permalink | Comment | photography | 04/30/2007
Kick
Yesterday was a rough photography day. I grabbed my trusty Sony and my beloved Nikon and headed to the Farmers Market in the early morning. It was the first time that I had ventured to my local market in two months. There were so many beautiful eggplant and peppers at several stands. The brightest were called firecracker peppers; they were in rich purples, oranges and red. These are the kinds I’m afraid to even touch.
So, after an hour at the market and breakfast break, I trekked to shoot store windows. Since I have been in my present location for three years, I haven’t had a problem with store owners; just passersby like to make fools out of themselves and walk straight into my photo. I walked by a wig shop and started taking photos. A cashier at the shop got mad and started yelling at me. The last time I consulted my law guidebook, I could take photos outside of a business on a public sidewalk. Nevertheless, the lady ruined my day. It wasn’t like I was going to steal her ugly $9.99 wigs out of the display window. I did explain my purpose to her, that I was an artist and have shot windows for five years. In fact, her shop is two doors down from where I had my solo show in February.
As I have done before, I will comply a list of unfriendly store that should be avoided. Add Wong’s Wig Shop as one of them.
permalink | Comment [1] | photography | 09/11/2005
New
I’m starting a new photo project called “What We Eat.” It will be a series of photos dealing with the steps of getting food from the farmers to the plate or the people who make the food to those who eat it. I have made a springboard for the project with all of the Farmers’ Market and restaurant shots I have taken lately, but it was my morning visit to the local eateries that has been in business for 50 years that really did it for me. I loved how people of all walks in life knew each other from what they ordered on the menu or the conversations shared at the luncheon counter. I have about 12 photos already selected so far, and I know of other places that I would definitely want to shot. One that comes to mind is a Christian-based soul food restaurant that is owned by a local church. I also have another market to visit soon, and I have a trip to D.C. to take in August that will be a sure bet of sources. The photo from Sunday’s entry will be a part of the series as well.
permalink | Comment | photography | 06/07/2005
Fixation
The latest subject of my photographic eye has been food. Judging from my obesity, it’s not the only part of me that is obsessed with it. This week, I trekked downtown and took photos of the coffeehouse. What I hate most about this place is that they never get the flavored drinks right. For example, you’d expect that when you get a 12-oz. iced Karamella, you would have the following ingredients: coffee, caramel, half and half, whipped cream and a little bit of ice. This is what I got: whipped cream, ice. I think there was some coffee, but my ice cubes never melted. There was a drab of caramel, but that was hidden underneath the cubes, too. That happened Sunday.
Yesterday was time to pick up my mom’s Mother’s Day present, a large pizza from our favorite pizza shop (that’s all that she wanted). It’s only my third time there, and I have been dying to photograph its collection of tomato sauce cans. It’s funny that there are all these cans of California tomato sauce. My mother swears that the pizza here tastes like New York style pizza from when she was a teenager. I would hate to break the bad news for her.
permalink | Comment | photography | 05/07/2005
Frostbite
As many of my Northeastern relatives and friends would say, it’s bloody freezing out there. I tried taking photos with my classic Polaroid camera Friday, but A) I forgot to load the batteries and B) I loaded the film wrong. I might take some either today or tomorrow with the Nikon. I work nights this week, so that shouldn’t be a problem. I got about 0.5 inches of ice yesterday. Expect me to fall on my butt a few times.
permalink | Comment | photography | 01/23/2005