Black Clover

I suppose at some point someone, perhaps some thing, won’t let me get away with simple photo slag alone on this site. They’ll demand I refrain from a completely tedious narrative and write again. And that I shave one of these days. To each their own. And for that I am thankful.

This week has taught me something, or in the narrowest of offerings re-exposed something I already knew. I surmise I’m not entirely alone.

My life has been driven by the urge to confront. To confront my fears, to confront stagnation, to confront the unknown, and ultimately to confront myself. It’s driven by the need to meet head on and somehow come to terms with, well, everything. There’s a need to eliminate the precursor of confrontation in my life, that feeling that I should be doing something about a situation but I’m not. I’ve reached the point where I no longer ask why.

In my world confrontation brings with it great rewards but it sure isn’t easy. I fight it every single day. 

Shot at ISO 3200 to blow out the photo with loads of grainy bits. Why? No reason really. Because I can. Because the camera allows for it and I seldom follow rules. Because everything else is too easy. I used my 70-200mm f/4.0 which is easily my least used lens in my stash, quite frankly because I suck with this lens. And by suck I mean I really just suck at coaxing a good shot out of it. I’m revisiting her however, maybe this time around I’ll pay attention and learn something, maybe even coax a shot or two.

The shot is of a double-doored fridge.

Shot with my 35mm at an accidental f/1.4 and ISO 800, this is my sisters cat questioning the use of my new remote. I’ve noticed that the large flat screen in back (off screen) is an excellent source of light and color schemes that can produce some whack shot effects if done right. Not so much in this shot however.

One really doesn’t need to do much in wine country to make shit turn out. This was shot in Walla Walla, Washington during the peak of crush in the a’Maurice Winery vineyard. It’s amazing to me how gracious vineyard management and farmers are with us oenophiles that pack camera equipment around asking marginally stupid questions. I hope I did right by all of them.

This was shot with my 40d and 35mm f/1.4. Untouched in post production. Just like the a’Maurice chardonnay.

There’s really only so much to say about hitting the road. It’s fulfilling, void, new, hard, refreshing, uncertain yet so certain. It leaves marks on your mind, marks on your body, and marks on your heart. The road is my escape.

Shot with with my Rebel Xti and 50mm f/1.4 . For my Walla Walla crush trip I took both of my SLR bodies with differing lens set ups. In post-pro I pulled out the color and bumped up the contrast.

Shot with my 35mm my first day back. I couldn’t wait to see my little girl again, and apparently the feeling was mutual (thankfully). My friends Teri and Bill adopted her from China last year. She is rad. I think I need to get one.

Shot with my Canon 40d and 35mm, this is my poor dead Canon G9. Moments before jumping into a raft to head down a Texas river my g9 died. Some kind of lens error that doesn’t allow the lens to retract back in. Lame.

Canon has admitted this to be a common problem and will soon be replacing it. It might be premature but this is very likely the last point and shoot I will own.

Shot at the Rialto Cafe in Fullerton, CA while having a light breakfast with Ong. Shot at f/1.4 with my 35mm. I’ve been working on blind shooting, that is without actually looking. Line the shot up by hand, fire away and hope. This came out decent. And I used one of my customized user settings which bumps up the sharpness and saturation slightly.

PS - I love fresh fruit..

Shot at Jamba Juice in Fullerton’s westside. Two shots of tasty wheat grass with orange slices. Shot with auto-iso on (sadly) and the 35mm at f/2.0. I’m not really sure what the orange reflection was in shot number two. And if you’ve never had wheat grass I recommend you create the experience.

Shot at Disneyland during the closing fireworks show, in what would eventually turn into a clusterfuck of ISO and shutter speed manipulation. Not sure if this was my best effort but it captures the moment nonetheless.

PS And despite my reservations for the place, I’m slowly but surely gaining some kind of appreciation for the place. What kind, I’m not really sure.