yesterday i went on a little polanerd outing with kim and chinako.
our first stop was a cute abandoned cottage in the middle of the nowhere lancaster, california. kim had driven past this place but never had the nerve to explore the interior alone. (i don't blame her).
the cottage was a MESS. there was the usual evidence left behind by one too many drunken minors -- beer cans and bottles, smashed walls, bullet holes and broken tile. (just so you can get an idea of how dirty the place was...) but this house had a terrific blue room and hardwood floors... the perfect backdrop for kim's brilliant idea.
we shot some photos then kim didn't waste any time tossing polaroids around the room, covering the floor with the "bad" shots she no longer wanted. chinako and i couldn't believe what she considered to be her "bad" shots... but apparently kim has very similar perfected versions of the photos she left behind. chinako and i hoarded a few we couldn't bare to leave behind.
we proceeded to shoot hundreds of photos around the house and took turns lying among the polaroids on the floor. although the floor was visibly dirty, it didn't seem so bad.
down the road from the cottage was some sort of compound. all of the buildings appeared to be abandoned but there were cars and dogs and seemingly normal outdoor table with a pitcher of water, iced tea, glasses, binoculars and a pillow. running 1/8 mile along one of the buildings was this creepy fence covered in skeletons of mythical creatures. skulls and bones were wired to the fence to create things like a devil and an angel. near the end of the fence was the "skeleton" of this alien creature
after i showed my boyfriend photos of the skull fence he said, "ohmygod jena, haven't you ever seen the texas chainsaw masacre?!"
we drove further into lancaster county and stopped at a beautiful poppy field. i shot some awesome polaroids of chinako lying on a mexican blanket kim had burried in her trunk.
then we ventured further into the middle of nowhere to the infamous sanctuary adventist church AKA: the kill bill church. when we got there there were three guys taking photos with their camera phone of the church (which is a fully functioning establishment).
all and all, a wonderfully sucessful and fun trip. i shot 420 digital photos and 25 polaroids. of those, a selected set can be viewed here. check them out!! some of the photos taken that day can be purchased in my etsy shop: http://jenaardell.etsy.com/
Showing posts with label photo adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photo adventure. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
til 4 in da mornin'
yesterday was an interesting day...
i went to beverly hills for an interview for a personal assistant job for a website launch this weekend. didn't get the job (or else they would have called me) but all is well because the gig would have required driving and i hate gigs that require me to use my car/my gas. since i was in the area, i decided to visit my friend hal but en route to hal's office, my brain made me go into a thrift store. i wound up buying more ridiculous things i will use for future photo shoots including a vintage polka dotted mossimo canvas dress with side cutouts (it looks like a 1970s go-go clown dress); a pair of hot pink snakeskin (hope it's fake) pumps; and a pair of wooden platform clogs that i now wear around the house.
i tagged some images for hal and edited some photos hal took of me the night i wore a 70s dress and sat on his stove with a large knife. (needless to say, very interesting shots). we stayed in the office until 7:30 in order to avoid the peak traffic hours. hal wound up eating dinner with me and rick (rick cooked!! :) aw) and then hal and i embarked on a late night photo adventure.
we met with his creative genius friend sarah who got in touch with two strangers she found on myspace just an hour prior (a brother and sister) who wanted their photos taken. also involved were four of sarah's friends. we met the strangers at a starbucks and acted like we had a plan for a shoot when in reality we had no idea what we were about to do. everyone was in his/her car following us as we feverishly looked for a potential location to set up a guerilla-style photo shoot. after finding an abandoned building next to alley, we set up and took some photos with sarah's lighting equipment. everyone was really enthusiastic, even the bum who lives in the covered parking lot of the abandoned building. the brother and sister duo were fantastically friendly and fun and everybody quickly became friends.
hal and i scouted out our next location while sarah wrapped up her shoot. after scouring a car was for a working outlet (no luck), we found a construction site with exposed beams of steel or iron, staircases leading to nowhere and lots of equipment (hoses, electric cords, ladders, you name it). in order to get to this location we all had to climb over a chainlink fence and climb down a steep ladder into the foundation of the "building" ... with equipment. it was quite an experience. lots of interesting shots.
after freezing our toes off for who-knows-how-long (and sarah accidentally breaking one of her lights), we finally decided to call it a night and go to a local diner. sitting in the diner, lethargic with red noses and cold toes (and a few of us a little tipsy)... i felt like i was in college again. i didn't get home until 4:30 in the morning. it's comforting to meet people who are dedicated to making art happen and are even more wildly imaginitive than i am because it gives me a reason to do crazy things and makes me feel as though these things aren't that crazy.
photos to come on my flickr.
i went to beverly hills for an interview for a personal assistant job for a website launch this weekend. didn't get the job (or else they would have called me) but all is well because the gig would have required driving and i hate gigs that require me to use my car/my gas. since i was in the area, i decided to visit my friend hal but en route to hal's office, my brain made me go into a thrift store. i wound up buying more ridiculous things i will use for future photo shoots including a vintage polka dotted mossimo canvas dress with side cutouts (it looks like a 1970s go-go clown dress); a pair of hot pink snakeskin (hope it's fake) pumps; and a pair of wooden platform clogs that i now wear around the house.
i tagged some images for hal and edited some photos hal took of me the night i wore a 70s dress and sat on his stove with a large knife. (needless to say, very interesting shots). we stayed in the office until 7:30 in order to avoid the peak traffic hours. hal wound up eating dinner with me and rick (rick cooked!! :) aw) and then hal and i embarked on a late night photo adventure.
we met with his creative genius friend sarah who got in touch with two strangers she found on myspace just an hour prior (a brother and sister) who wanted their photos taken. also involved were four of sarah's friends. we met the strangers at a starbucks and acted like we had a plan for a shoot when in reality we had no idea what we were about to do. everyone was in his/her car following us as we feverishly looked for a potential location to set up a guerilla-style photo shoot. after finding an abandoned building next to alley, we set up and took some photos with sarah's lighting equipment. everyone was really enthusiastic, even the bum who lives in the covered parking lot of the abandoned building. the brother and sister duo were fantastically friendly and fun and everybody quickly became friends.
hal and i scouted out our next location while sarah wrapped up her shoot. after scouring a car was for a working outlet (no luck), we found a construction site with exposed beams of steel or iron, staircases leading to nowhere and lots of equipment (hoses, electric cords, ladders, you name it). in order to get to this location we all had to climb over a chainlink fence and climb down a steep ladder into the foundation of the "building" ... with equipment. it was quite an experience. lots of interesting shots.
after freezing our toes off for who-knows-how-long (and sarah accidentally breaking one of her lights), we finally decided to call it a night and go to a local diner. sitting in the diner, lethargic with red noses and cold toes (and a few of us a little tipsy)... i felt like i was in college again. i didn't get home until 4:30 in the morning. it's comforting to meet people who are dedicated to making art happen and are even more wildly imaginitive than i am because it gives me a reason to do crazy things and makes me feel as though these things aren't that crazy.
photos to come on my flickr.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
THE SALTON SEA
on sunday i went to the Salton Sea with the LA polanerd crew (rebecca, lou, drew, kim and bryan). i've wanted to visit the notoriously salty sea ever since i stumbled upon it during a late-night online tangent. the idea of exploring the surrounding desolate area chock full of abandoned buildings really appealed to me.
the Salton Sea is a result of what humans do best... neglect the environment by using shortcuts and insufficiently funding major projects so we are ill-prepared for environmental challenges. you would think environmental disasters due to poor upkeep, like the levies post-hurricane katrina would not still occur, but unfortunately we never learn. pertaining to the Salton Sea, man's biggest mistake occurred between 1905 - 1907 during which the colorado river flooded into the "Salton Sink," a major salt mining site, for TWO years. the result - the Salton Sea: the largest lake in california. today, the maximum depth of the Salton Sea measures 51 feet!!
once described as an "investor's dream," the Salton Sea was a hot spot for water skiers, fishermen and boaters in the 1920s. now high levels bacteria, pesticide runoff, raw sewage, excessively high salinity and algae blooms make the water inhabitable. (the water is more salty than the ocean!!) thousands of dead talapia, the only fish that survive long enough to die, wash up on the shores. the sea grows larger and larger, an average of 1.36 million acre-feet per year, thanks to agricultural run-off and the nasty, dirty New River.
what's the New River? why, it's the "single most polluted river in America."
"The New River is composed of waste from agricultural and chemical runoff from the farm industry irrigation in the U.S. (18.4%) and Mexico (51.2%), sewage from Mexicali (29%), and manufacturing plants operating in Mexico (1.4%). By the time the New River crosses the U.S./Mexico border near Calexico, California, the channel contains a stew of about 100 contaminants: volatile organic compounds, heavy metals (including selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury), and pesticides (including DDT) and PCBs. The waterway also holds the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, encephalitis, polio, cholera, hepatitis and typhoid; levels for many of these contaminants are in violation of U.S. EPA and Cal/EPA standards by several hundredfold.[2] Fecal coliform bacteria are at levels of 100,000 to 16 million colonies per milliliter at the border checkpoint (possibly more, as this is the measuring capacity threshold), far above the U.S.-Mexico treaty limit of 240 colonies." ~wikipedia
soooo before we embarked on this little road trip, i researched the Salton Sea on wikipedia and flickr. all of the photos i saw were of the infamous abandoned North Shore Motel. i promised myself i wasn't going to over-shoot the motel since so many people have already covered that one spot... but during my Salton Sea adventure, i realized why so many people only have photos of that hotel - it's the first stop. and after stopping there, few want to continue to explore the Salton Sea coastline. to my surprise, there were fewer buildings in the area than i expected. i felt like i was walking around a desolate, post-apocalyptic scene from T.C. Boyle's "After the Plague." judging by the trash and graffiti left behind by past visitors, the majority of intrigued visitors fall into four categories: 1. drunk kids en route to or from coachella. 2. curious photographers (we found empty film boxes and polaroid cartridges). 3. skateboarders. 4. whatever animals eat the plethora of pigeons that roost in the abandoned buildings.
the temperature fluctuated between 95-102 degrees at the peak of the afternoon. that mixed with the smell of thousands of dead fish (and some dead birds too) was not-so-pleasant, but add hundreds of relentless flies and you have borderline-unbearable. it was so filthy that the shoes i wore that day are still being quarantined outside until i disinfect them. this may seem a bit like an overreaction, but after you sink ankle-deep into bacterial-laden barnacles and fish bones that have washed up from a sea of dead fish, you too would not want to track the Salton Sea into your home.
we hung around the motel for a long time, each going our seperate ways to find our shots and then meeting back in a small corner of shade and then going back for more, often using each other as "models." lou is an avid pola-portrait photographer so he was busy trying to get us to crouch down in a nasty corner or stand in a shady blue-tiled shower. my favorite part of the motel and yacht club were the abandoned swimming pools. there's just an unnatural appeal about being able to walk on the floor of an empty swimming pool.
after attempting to de-fly drew's vehicle, we headed to Bombay Beach, an interesting off-beat trailor community located near the "marina" of the Salton Sea. for me, this was the most interesting part of the trip. i loved the idea of this little sustainable community out in the middle of the desert. there was a tiny general store, a liquor store and a small garage of a fire station. i headed toward the homes while everyone else was shooting the marina area and i found some interesting things... including a solitary goat living in (under?) an abandoned-looking trailer with fenced-in yard. i would have loved to explore more, but i felt a bit uneasy walking around by myself. my friend hal has been itching to go to the Salton Sea so if and when he does (hopefully when it's a bit cooler outside), i would glady accompany him just to further explore Bombay Beach. i am really interested in the types of characters who live there and you could imagine my delight when i discovered THIS. a documentary about the people who live in Bombay Beach!!!! check out the trailer. the film is only playing in (small) select theatres on certain days and unfortunately i already missed the LA showings and i was all disappointed because i thought i was going to miss one of the upcoming screenings, but as luck would have it, i won't be missing it after all!! THANKGOODNESS. otherwise, i would have had to wait until its dvd release in late september. woo woo, i smell another polanerd get-together!!!! :D
after Bombay Beach, we kept on truckin until we passed an abandoned warehouse conveniently located on the side of the freeway. after over-exploring the motel/hotel/restaurant buildings on the North Shore, i was more interested in the LARGE hay stacks located OUTSIDE in front of the building, away from any disgusting debris. there were two wrecked cars and an old truck behind the warehouse - one car was severly pinned in a ditch. and of course, there were loads of graffiti and fluffy pink insulation littering the warehouse.
undoubtedly, the Salton Sea is an interesting place and i'm glad i got to experience it with the polacrew, because rick and my mother would have really hated it there (and i wouldn't blame them). after driving past Palm Springs, i am reconsidering my strong desire to visit there. i just really want to see all of the kewl 50s architecture. the large dinosaurs (you pass along the way) were a bit of a disappointment. i imagined them being out in the middle of nowhere, not behind a burger king and a gas station. inside the brontosaurus is a small junk shop (that doesn't believe in evolution). you can go inside the t-rex for $2-3... but we didn't. it would have be kewl... but really maybe not, since there isn't much of a view to look at once you are up there.
overall, it's really disappointing and alarming that man has single-handedly caused the environmental disaster known as the Salton Sea. the aftermath is eye-opening. after walking across dead fish carcasses and seeing a body of water THAT LARGE that is completely useless and contaminated, it really makes you fear how badly mankind is destroying our earth and our water supply. if the earth's water were proportioned down to fit in a gallon jug, the available fresh water would be equal to just over a tablespoon. that's a scary statistic. people need to stop being so apathetic to our WORLD'S environmental problems and realize that mother nature can't always magically repair herself. we need to repair our environment before it's too late and the damage we've done becomes irreversible. we need to demand that congress passes environmental laws that will deal with a situation NOW, not in the year 2010 or 2020. we need to conserve water and natural resources and raise children with that same mentality so that it becomes second nature. (i can go on and on, but i will step off of my soap box for now...)
check my flickr for photos.
facts and figures:
during the 1960s: the Salton Sea becomes increasingly salty.
1992 - 1996: a LARGE number of grebes (150,000) and pelicans (unknown how many) die as a result of the bacteria in the water.
INTERESTING ARTICLES ABOUT THE SALTON SEA:
article 1
article 2
the Salton Sea is a result of what humans do best... neglect the environment by using shortcuts and insufficiently funding major projects so we are ill-prepared for environmental challenges. you would think environmental disasters due to poor upkeep, like the levies post-hurricane katrina would not still occur, but unfortunately we never learn. pertaining to the Salton Sea, man's biggest mistake occurred between 1905 - 1907 during which the colorado river flooded into the "Salton Sink," a major salt mining site, for TWO years. the result - the Salton Sea: the largest lake in california. today, the maximum depth of the Salton Sea measures 51 feet!!
once described as an "investor's dream," the Salton Sea was a hot spot for water skiers, fishermen and boaters in the 1920s. now high levels bacteria, pesticide runoff, raw sewage, excessively high salinity and algae blooms make the water inhabitable. (the water is more salty than the ocean!!) thousands of dead talapia, the only fish that survive long enough to die, wash up on the shores. the sea grows larger and larger, an average of 1.36 million acre-feet per year, thanks to agricultural run-off and the nasty, dirty New River.
what's the New River? why, it's the "single most polluted river in America."
"The New River is composed of waste from agricultural and chemical runoff from the farm industry irrigation in the U.S. (18.4%) and Mexico (51.2%), sewage from Mexicali (29%), and manufacturing plants operating in Mexico (1.4%). By the time the New River crosses the U.S./Mexico border near Calexico, California, the channel contains a stew of about 100 contaminants: volatile organic compounds, heavy metals (including selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury), and pesticides (including DDT) and PCBs. The waterway also holds the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, encephalitis, polio, cholera, hepatitis and typhoid; levels for many of these contaminants are in violation of U.S. EPA and Cal/EPA standards by several hundredfold.[2] Fecal coliform bacteria are at levels of 100,000 to 16 million colonies per milliliter at the border checkpoint (possibly more, as this is the measuring capacity threshold), far above the U.S.-Mexico treaty limit of 240 colonies." ~wikipedia
soooo before we embarked on this little road trip, i researched the Salton Sea on wikipedia and flickr. all of the photos i saw were of the infamous abandoned North Shore Motel. i promised myself i wasn't going to over-shoot the motel since so many people have already covered that one spot... but during my Salton Sea adventure, i realized why so many people only have photos of that hotel - it's the first stop. and after stopping there, few want to continue to explore the Salton Sea coastline. to my surprise, there were fewer buildings in the area than i expected. i felt like i was walking around a desolate, post-apocalyptic scene from T.C. Boyle's "After the Plague." judging by the trash and graffiti left behind by past visitors, the majority of intrigued visitors fall into four categories: 1. drunk kids en route to or from coachella. 2. curious photographers (we found empty film boxes and polaroid cartridges). 3. skateboarders. 4. whatever animals eat the plethora of pigeons that roost in the abandoned buildings.
the temperature fluctuated between 95-102 degrees at the peak of the afternoon. that mixed with the smell of thousands of dead fish (and some dead birds too) was not-so-pleasant, but add hundreds of relentless flies and you have borderline-unbearable. it was so filthy that the shoes i wore that day are still being quarantined outside until i disinfect them. this may seem a bit like an overreaction, but after you sink ankle-deep into bacterial-laden barnacles and fish bones that have washed up from a sea of dead fish, you too would not want to track the Salton Sea into your home.
we hung around the motel for a long time, each going our seperate ways to find our shots and then meeting back in a small corner of shade and then going back for more, often using each other as "models." lou is an avid pola-portrait photographer so he was busy trying to get us to crouch down in a nasty corner or stand in a shady blue-tiled shower. my favorite part of the motel and yacht club were the abandoned swimming pools. there's just an unnatural appeal about being able to walk on the floor of an empty swimming pool.
after attempting to de-fly drew's vehicle, we headed to Bombay Beach, an interesting off-beat trailor community located near the "marina" of the Salton Sea. for me, this was the most interesting part of the trip. i loved the idea of this little sustainable community out in the middle of the desert. there was a tiny general store, a liquor store and a small garage of a fire station. i headed toward the homes while everyone else was shooting the marina area and i found some interesting things... including a solitary goat living in (under?) an abandoned-looking trailer with fenced-in yard. i would have loved to explore more, but i felt a bit uneasy walking around by myself. my friend hal has been itching to go to the Salton Sea so if and when he does (hopefully when it's a bit cooler outside), i would glady accompany him just to further explore Bombay Beach. i am really interested in the types of characters who live there and you could imagine my delight when i discovered THIS. a documentary about the people who live in Bombay Beach!!!! check out the trailer. the film is only playing in (small) select theatres on certain days and unfortunately i already missed the LA showings and i was all disappointed because i thought i was going to miss one of the upcoming screenings, but as luck would have it, i won't be missing it after all!! THANKGOODNESS. otherwise, i would have had to wait until its dvd release in late september. woo woo, i smell another polanerd get-together!!!! :D
after Bombay Beach, we kept on truckin until we passed an abandoned warehouse conveniently located on the side of the freeway. after over-exploring the motel/hotel/restaurant buildings on the North Shore, i was more interested in the LARGE hay stacks located OUTSIDE in front of the building, away from any disgusting debris. there were two wrecked cars and an old truck behind the warehouse - one car was severly pinned in a ditch. and of course, there were loads of graffiti and fluffy pink insulation littering the warehouse.
undoubtedly, the Salton Sea is an interesting place and i'm glad i got to experience it with the polacrew, because rick and my mother would have really hated it there (and i wouldn't blame them). after driving past Palm Springs, i am reconsidering my strong desire to visit there. i just really want to see all of the kewl 50s architecture. the large dinosaurs (you pass along the way) were a bit of a disappointment. i imagined them being out in the middle of nowhere, not behind a burger king and a gas station. inside the brontosaurus is a small junk shop (that doesn't believe in evolution). you can go inside the t-rex for $2-3... but we didn't. it would have be kewl... but really maybe not, since there isn't much of a view to look at once you are up there.
overall, it's really disappointing and alarming that man has single-handedly caused the environmental disaster known as the Salton Sea. the aftermath is eye-opening. after walking across dead fish carcasses and seeing a body of water THAT LARGE that is completely useless and contaminated, it really makes you fear how badly mankind is destroying our earth and our water supply. if the earth's water were proportioned down to fit in a gallon jug, the available fresh water would be equal to just over a tablespoon. that's a scary statistic. people need to stop being so apathetic to our WORLD'S environmental problems and realize that mother nature can't always magically repair herself. we need to repair our environment before it's too late and the damage we've done becomes irreversible. we need to demand that congress passes environmental laws that will deal with a situation NOW, not in the year 2010 or 2020. we need to conserve water and natural resources and raise children with that same mentality so that it becomes second nature. (i can go on and on, but i will step off of my soap box for now...)
check my flickr for photos.
facts and figures:
during the 1960s: the Salton Sea becomes increasingly salty.
1992 - 1996: a LARGE number of grebes (150,000) and pelicans (unknown how many) die as a result of the bacteria in the water.
INTERESTING ARTICLES ABOUT THE SALTON SEA:
article 1
article 2
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
SF POLAROID NERD OUT 2007.
this past weekend was a blast!! rebecca and i attended the san francisco Polaroid Nerd Out (a large gathering of polaroid photographers from flickr). it was my first time ever having been in san francisco. (pretty city, but too cold for me). 41 people from all over California/Oregon/Seattle joined forces at Delores park on Sunday. every one who showed up was extremely nice. a man from the east coast, who couldn't attend the Nerd Out, even made and sent polaroid buttons for all of the attendees.
so picture this: a large gang of prehistoric camera-wielding, creative people scattered about playground equipment, taking photos of each other for at least two or three hours. everybody havd an arsenal of cameras (rebecca and i packed five cameras a piece) and came fully stocked with film. (i believe lou shot NINE packs!!) definitely my kind of afternoon. i compared it to a high school reunion for only the kewl kids. i love the feeling (and comfort) of connecting with a group of strangers over a shared interest. it was like meeting up with a bunch of friends you've always wished you had. the whole experience was very reminiscent of how i felt attending 3-11 day in 2004 and 2006. just a bunch of people who are very different, yet very similar- traveling, meeting and reveling in their favorite hobby. it fills you with a lovely sense of belonging and warmth. here's how it went...
saturday:
drove to SF with rebecca. (loooong car ride... took about 6.5-7 hours). drove over the golden gate bridge. took photos. was in awe of the view of the city from the Headlands. crashed at Rebecca's friend laura's apartment. ate thai food with laura and company. rebecca went on a hot date. i went to bed early (shocking, i know) since i had gotten three hours of sleep the previous night.
sunday:
we got my nerd on at the polaroid nerd out!! as i mentioned, 41 polaroid photographers (98% of them from flickr) met up for two hours of photography fun, swinging, chatting and random shenanigans. rebecca and i befriended an awesome girl named arielle. after hundreds of photos were snapped, the crowd dispersed and rebecca and i left the park with a dozen or so flickrites. we walked a decent distance to catch the bus. lou and tod brilliant shot LOTS of random portraits while we were riding on the bus. everybody grabbed some food or jamba juice, then we all chilled outside the japanese gardens (waiting for more flickrites who chose to drive there). then we went up the observation tower in the bay bridge park. amazing view. we all took plenty of photos. eric (a nice guy who built his own holgaroid with a fisheye lens!!) let me use his fisheye lens on my digital camera to take some hilariously unflattering photos of everyone. (will post them on flickr soon).
after that, rebecca and i literally dragged ourselves back to laura's apartment. at which point we were sunburnt, sweaty, EXHAUSTED and in pain from our shoes. everyone had such a blast at the meet-up that some people had already uploaded photos from the event onto flickr!! rebecca and i ate a lot of pretzels and then went to alamo square with laura to see the painted ladies (aka: the full house houses). we took even more photos and ate at a vegetarian restaurant. the BRISK walks to and from bus stops solidified my decision that san francisco is too cold for me.
later we met back up with the remaining polaroid crew around 9:30 at greg's (polaroid jesus's) awesome warehouse apartment. where we saw greg's awesome bedroom ceiling that he painted, ate pizza, took EVEN MORE photos, experimented with light painting, partied, chatted, gossiped, ate pizza, took EVEN MOOOOORE photos. lou took lots of shots of me and rebecca. and watching drew in action as he light painted this photo was mesmerizing. around 3:30 am, we hitched a ride back to laura's apartment with drew and lou. (unfortunately drew's car had gotten broken into the night before so it was a breezy, music-less driving experience. poor drew).
monday:
six-or-so hour long ride back into LA from SF. few pit stops/photo stops along the way. ate lots of pretzels. stopped at a fruit stand and a cattle feed lot. (very sad!!) took some photos. saw pyramid lake. got back to the apartment around 6:00 pm. watched Valley Girl with rick while eating dinner. (awful movie but a REALLY bitchin soundtrack, fer sure!!)
and there you have it!! plans are already in the works for a Polaroid Nerd Out in NYC this october and the Seattle crew is itching to host a Nerd Out as well. rebecca and i plan on hanging out with the LA crew more often.
my photos from this extravaganza can be seen here.
other nerds' photos can be seen here.
AND THERE ARE WAAAAAY MORE PHOTOS TO COME.
so picture this: a large gang of prehistoric camera-wielding, creative people scattered about playground equipment, taking photos of each other for at least two or three hours. everybody havd an arsenal of cameras (rebecca and i packed five cameras a piece) and came fully stocked with film. (i believe lou shot NINE packs!!) definitely my kind of afternoon. i compared it to a high school reunion for only the kewl kids. i love the feeling (and comfort) of connecting with a group of strangers over a shared interest. it was like meeting up with a bunch of friends you've always wished you had. the whole experience was very reminiscent of how i felt attending 3-11 day in 2004 and 2006. just a bunch of people who are very different, yet very similar- traveling, meeting and reveling in their favorite hobby. it fills you with a lovely sense of belonging and warmth. here's how it went...
saturday:
drove to SF with rebecca. (loooong car ride... took about 6.5-7 hours). drove over the golden gate bridge. took photos. was in awe of the view of the city from the Headlands. crashed at Rebecca's friend laura's apartment. ate thai food with laura and company. rebecca went on a hot date. i went to bed early (shocking, i know) since i had gotten three hours of sleep the previous night.
sunday:
we got my nerd on at the polaroid nerd out!! as i mentioned, 41 polaroid photographers (98% of them from flickr) met up for two hours of photography fun, swinging, chatting and random shenanigans. rebecca and i befriended an awesome girl named arielle. after hundreds of photos were snapped, the crowd dispersed and rebecca and i left the park with a dozen or so flickrites. we walked a decent distance to catch the bus. lou and tod brilliant shot LOTS of random portraits while we were riding on the bus. everybody grabbed some food or jamba juice, then we all chilled outside the japanese gardens (waiting for more flickrites who chose to drive there). then we went up the observation tower in the bay bridge park. amazing view. we all took plenty of photos. eric (a nice guy who built his own holgaroid with a fisheye lens!!) let me use his fisheye lens on my digital camera to take some hilariously unflattering photos of everyone. (will post them on flickr soon).
after that, rebecca and i literally dragged ourselves back to laura's apartment. at which point we were sunburnt, sweaty, EXHAUSTED and in pain from our shoes. everyone had such a blast at the meet-up that some people had already uploaded photos from the event onto flickr!! rebecca and i ate a lot of pretzels and then went to alamo square with laura to see the painted ladies (aka: the full house houses). we took even more photos and ate at a vegetarian restaurant. the BRISK walks to and from bus stops solidified my decision that san francisco is too cold for me.
later we met back up with the remaining polaroid crew around 9:30 at greg's (polaroid jesus's) awesome warehouse apartment. where we saw greg's awesome bedroom ceiling that he painted, ate pizza, took EVEN MORE photos, experimented with light painting, partied, chatted, gossiped, ate pizza, took EVEN MOOOOORE photos. lou took lots of shots of me and rebecca. and watching drew in action as he light painted this photo was mesmerizing. around 3:30 am, we hitched a ride back to laura's apartment with drew and lou. (unfortunately drew's car had gotten broken into the night before so it was a breezy, music-less driving experience. poor drew).
monday:
six-or-so hour long ride back into LA from SF. few pit stops/photo stops along the way. ate lots of pretzels. stopped at a fruit stand and a cattle feed lot. (very sad!!) took some photos. saw pyramid lake. got back to the apartment around 6:00 pm. watched Valley Girl with rick while eating dinner. (awful movie but a REALLY bitchin soundtrack, fer sure!!)
and there you have it!! plans are already in the works for a Polaroid Nerd Out in NYC this october and the Seattle crew is itching to host a Nerd Out as well. rebecca and i plan on hanging out with the LA crew more often.
my photos from this extravaganza can be seen here.
other nerds' photos can be seen here.
AND THERE ARE WAAAAAY MORE PHOTOS TO COME.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
NEW SET ON FLICKR!!!!
Monday, June 25, 2007
boogers, trespassing and a wedding.
thursday: i was sick. :( i worked for Michael (wedding photographer) arranging photos and creating layouts for an album he was working on. i took a roll of toilet paper with me and was quarantined into the main lobby room of the studio. Michael is letting me borrow a jacked-up Canon 20D, just to see if it's working correctly. which it's not. it won't autofocus or play back an image on any other setting except auto. but i did take some kewl photos of miss gray with it. i'll post them on flickr in the weeks to come because i do not want to overload my contacts with cat photos.
friday: met with Jeff to see about that barista job. mostly weekend work, but it's local and it sounds promising. i also took some kewl shots of a "sundog" i saw while i was stuck in traffic in camarillo. posted some new self-portraits on my flickr.
saturday: rick and i bummed around all morning long and totally forgot that the 311 presale for the santa barbara bowl went on sale at 10 am. that sucks. pit tickets were already sold out by the time we called. :( what sucks the most is that i could have bought the tickets last week, but opted not to in order to avoid the extra "convenience" charges tricketmaster is notorious for adding onto your bill. ugh!!!!! i'm never trying to save money again... unless it's over $10-15. so then we went to the mall so rick could find some new sunglasses. (after 10+ years, his favorite pair finally broke). i didn't wind up working with Michael, i worked for him on sunday instead.
sunday: photo play day with rebecca. went inside the Maddy house (an old, abandoned ranch house off of the 101) and explored every room. it was pretty creepy at first. every time the door between the kitchen and the living room would slam shut, we'd get freaked out. and even if we KNEW it was about to slam shut, we'd still get freaked out. the house was built in 1912 and it's really kewl (and dirty). there's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, green carpeting, huge windows, two nice porches and lots of feathers. there were little animal prints all over the kitchen range and bird nests in every lighting fixture. there's also a barn/garage with a workbench. the house is situated on 5.3 acres and was purchased (supposedly for $20 million) so a shopping center could be built there :( just want we need!! i hope the plans fall through. i really want to learn more about the people who lived there.
"According to local legend, Maddy's husband was a retired scientist who had worked at the top secret Area 51 site in Nevada. He died many years ago. Several years later, Maddy reportedly went blind and had to roll out strings between the rooms of the house so she could find her way around."
rebecca and i took tons of photos. (we wound up spending 2 hours there!!) and my shoulders got pretty sunburnt. EXPECT LOTS OF NEW PHOTOS ON FLICKR!!!! :D
sunday night: was 2nd shooter at a wedding in malibu. really interesting wedding. it was jewish man and a chinese woman. the bride had two wardrobe changes. people were hugging the groom goodbye while his best man was giving the toast while the maid of honor was translating what the best man was saying into chinese. (shesh!!) they had a salsa-sounding band whose singer was from Congo. the bride and groom only danced together ONCE and it was choreographed. it was just all really ODD, but we got to eat good wedding food. i had salmon. :) and then michael took me for a ride in his brand new lotus. can't believe how close to ground those cars are!! (six inches!!) highly impractical cars.
movies watched this week: Spanglish (wanted to punch the girl who played adam sandler's daughter in the face), Down With Love (really cute), Saturday Night Fever (always a classic) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (i *heart* william holden).
friday: met with Jeff to see about that barista job. mostly weekend work, but it's local and it sounds promising. i also took some kewl shots of a "sundog" i saw while i was stuck in traffic in camarillo. posted some new self-portraits on my flickr.
saturday: rick and i bummed around all morning long and totally forgot that the 311 presale for the santa barbara bowl went on sale at 10 am. that sucks. pit tickets were already sold out by the time we called. :( what sucks the most is that i could have bought the tickets last week, but opted not to in order to avoid the extra "convenience" charges tricketmaster is notorious for adding onto your bill. ugh!!!!! i'm never trying to save money again... unless it's over $10-15. so then we went to the mall so rick could find some new sunglasses. (after 10+ years, his favorite pair finally broke). i didn't wind up working with Michael, i worked for him on sunday instead.
sunday: photo play day with rebecca. went inside the Maddy house (an old, abandoned ranch house off of the 101) and explored every room. it was pretty creepy at first. every time the door between the kitchen and the living room would slam shut, we'd get freaked out. and even if we KNEW it was about to slam shut, we'd still get freaked out. the house was built in 1912 and it's really kewl (and dirty). there's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, green carpeting, huge windows, two nice porches and lots of feathers. there were little animal prints all over the kitchen range and bird nests in every lighting fixture. there's also a barn/garage with a workbench. the house is situated on 5.3 acres and was purchased (supposedly for $20 million) so a shopping center could be built there :( just want we need!! i hope the plans fall through. i really want to learn more about the people who lived there.
"According to local legend, Maddy's husband was a retired scientist who had worked at the top secret Area 51 site in Nevada. He died many years ago. Several years later, Maddy reportedly went blind and had to roll out strings between the rooms of the house so she could find her way around."
rebecca and i took tons of photos. (we wound up spending 2 hours there!!) and my shoulders got pretty sunburnt. EXPECT LOTS OF NEW PHOTOS ON FLICKR!!!! :D
sunday night: was 2nd shooter at a wedding in malibu. really interesting wedding. it was jewish man and a chinese woman. the bride had two wardrobe changes. people were hugging the groom goodbye while his best man was giving the toast while the maid of honor was translating what the best man was saying into chinese. (shesh!!) they had a salsa-sounding band whose singer was from Congo. the bride and groom only danced together ONCE and it was choreographed. it was just all really ODD, but we got to eat good wedding food. i had salmon. :) and then michael took me for a ride in his brand new lotus. can't believe how close to ground those cars are!! (six inches!!) highly impractical cars.
movies watched this week: Spanglish (wanted to punch the girl who played adam sandler's daughter in the face), Down With Love (really cute), Saturday Night Fever (always a classic) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (i *heart* william holden).
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
reason #7548392 why you shouldn't spit on the sidewalk...
sunday: i went over hal's for a photo play day. there was this cute mural at an elementary school near hal's apartment that i knew would make a lovely polaroid subject but, since it was sunday, the school was closed and the gates were locked. so hal and i had to climb over a chain link fence to get near the mural. (and of course i was wearing flip-flops). there were a lot of kewl things on the lot, including an abandoned building full of computers. so we took our photos and were about to climb back over the fence when this lady and man walked by.
"what are you guys doing?" the lady asked. "isn't school closed?"
"yeah," hal said nonchalantly.
then the lady saw our bags and camera equipment.
"ohhhh, photography," she said, as if that were a justifiable reason to trespass.
so we're on our way to hal's car when... *SPLAT!* water splashes up on my leg.
"ewww, i just got wet!!" i said, assuming my flip flop caught the edge of a puddle. but the water didn't run off, it clung to me like a gel. and to my dismay, there wasn't a puddle in sight... only the damp spot from a big, fat loogie. YEP, there i was with a loooong glob of someone else's spit hanging on the back of my calf. how GROSS is that?!!! luckily i am so addicted to pretzels that i carry them in little plastic baggies. so i used the plastic baggie i had in my purse to pull the saliva/phlegm off of my leg. when we got back to hal's apartment i must have washed my leg and foot at least four times.
after that pleasant experience, hal and i headed to a little greek place called "the hungry pocket" where the only framed thing hanging on the wall was an autographed photo from the cast of Full House, circa 1992. i had the hummus sandwich and hal had some kind of sandwich with gyro meat and falafels. it was pretty good. then we headed to hal's friend jen's art gallery. we positioned some lights for jen who was preparing to shoot a friend's headshots. in the process, we took a bunch of silly photos that i will post on flickr after i get them all from hal.
after jen's model arrived, hal and i left to find some kewl things to photograph outside since the weather was so nice. we picked up hal's girlfriend from work and walked around the venice canals in awe of the cute little houses that line the water. unfortunately hal's battery went dead and it got gray and cloudy outside, so after walking around for a while, we headed back to hal's apartment and started watching The Slums of Beverly Hills.
i hit a bit of traffic on my way home because everyone loves to slow down and gawk at fender benders. you can tell i'm from out of state when i'm driving because I ACTUALLY USE MY BLINKERS WHEN I'M CHANGING LANES!!!! anyway, after i returned home, rick and i watched Thelma & Louise (because neither of us had ever seen that movie in its entirity) and played scrabble. rick won... which is pretty rare. (no offense to rick, hehe. he's getting good!!) lately i've been sucking at scrabble :(
"what are you guys doing?" the lady asked. "isn't school closed?"
"yeah," hal said nonchalantly.
then the lady saw our bags and camera equipment.
"ohhhh, photography," she said, as if that were a justifiable reason to trespass.
so we're on our way to hal's car when... *SPLAT!* water splashes up on my leg.
"ewww, i just got wet!!" i said, assuming my flip flop caught the edge of a puddle. but the water didn't run off, it clung to me like a gel. and to my dismay, there wasn't a puddle in sight... only the damp spot from a big, fat loogie. YEP, there i was with a loooong glob of someone else's spit hanging on the back of my calf. how GROSS is that?!!! luckily i am so addicted to pretzels that i carry them in little plastic baggies. so i used the plastic baggie i had in my purse to pull the saliva/phlegm off of my leg. when we got back to hal's apartment i must have washed my leg and foot at least four times.
after that pleasant experience, hal and i headed to a little greek place called "the hungry pocket" where the only framed thing hanging on the wall was an autographed photo from the cast of Full House, circa 1992. i had the hummus sandwich and hal had some kind of sandwich with gyro meat and falafels. it was pretty good. then we headed to hal's friend jen's art gallery. we positioned some lights for jen who was preparing to shoot a friend's headshots. in the process, we took a bunch of silly photos that i will post on flickr after i get them all from hal.
after jen's model arrived, hal and i left to find some kewl things to photograph outside since the weather was so nice. we picked up hal's girlfriend from work and walked around the venice canals in awe of the cute little houses that line the water. unfortunately hal's battery went dead and it got gray and cloudy outside, so after walking around for a while, we headed back to hal's apartment and started watching The Slums of Beverly Hills.
i hit a bit of traffic on my way home because everyone loves to slow down and gawk at fender benders. you can tell i'm from out of state when i'm driving because I ACTUALLY USE MY BLINKERS WHEN I'M CHANGING LANES!!!! anyway, after i returned home, rick and i watched Thelma & Louise (because neither of us had ever seen that movie in its entirity) and played scrabble. rick won... which is pretty rare. (no offense to rick, hehe. he's getting good!!) lately i've been sucking at scrabble :(
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
monday at venice beach
on monday i drove to culver city (got lost on the way, of course) and met with photographer CJ Burton to find out what i'd be doing for the shoot on tues and wed. the meeting lasted all of 5 min. luckily i brought my polaroid camera to take some photos in venice, otherwise the trip would have been a TOTAL waste of gas. my goal was to find the infamous starry night mural in venice beach.
i stopped in aardvark's (a thrift store) and was highly disappointed... the clothes were more costume-y than wearable. from there, i ventured down to venice beach, which reminded me of the bad sections of the seaside boardwalk (down the jersey shore) circa 1990s but with more bums. and instead of wafts of garbage, there are wafts of urine... so maybe venice isn't like seaside at all. needless to say, i wasn't too impressed but i still wanted to take some photos.
i parked on a little main street and was paranoid about getting ANOTHER parking ticket, so i made it back to my car with PLENTY of time to spare. i called hal to see if he wanted to meet up. he had a meeting with someone but asked if i could kill an hour so i drove around the block a few times and found what i believe is the ONLY FREE parking in the area. i couldn't believe it... free parking in california?!!! that's unheard of.
i walked down the nearest street to get to the ocean walk and took a photo of a cute little mural i found along the way. i walked to the graffiti wall on the beach, wandered around snapping polaroids, and peeked down every side street hoping to find the starry night mural. i found this guy who sits with his dog (who wears sunglasses) that i remember seeing on mike's (wakejunkie) flickr. later i saw a bunch of little asian girls get yelled at by the tattoo parlor guys for getting too close to the dog while the man was sleeping.
i walked pretty far down the ocean walk before turning around and heading back to the street that would eventually lead me to my car and *TAH DAH!!* found the starry night mural. i don't know how i managed to walk right past it, but it was on the first street i walked down to get to ocean walk. in fact, it was DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM the other mural i took a photo of!! haha.
naturally, by this time, there was an BIG, ugly yellow utility truck blocking half of the mural. i, being the sometimes nervey photographer that i am, walked up to the men sitting in the truck and said,
"excuse me, are you guys planning on staying here all day??"
"why do you want to take a picture??" the passenger asked, looking at my cameras.
"yeah."
"well then i guess we can back up, but just for you."
so the guys had to sit there, watching me take my polaroids and then moved back to their spot after i was finished, haha. i was trying to hurry, so the first polaroid i took is more faded because i just held it while i was taking the second photo and i was standing in direct sunlight. :( as i was leaving one of the guys asked if he could take a photo of me and held out his camera phone. i laughed, trying not to drop my camera as i juggled the polaroids, my other camera and my bag.
my plans to meet up with hal had to be postponed (the lady he was supposed to meet up with was late) so i headed back to the apartment.
i stopped in aardvark's (a thrift store) and was highly disappointed... the clothes were more costume-y than wearable. from there, i ventured down to venice beach, which reminded me of the bad sections of the seaside boardwalk (down the jersey shore) circa 1990s but with more bums. and instead of wafts of garbage, there are wafts of urine... so maybe venice isn't like seaside at all. needless to say, i wasn't too impressed but i still wanted to take some photos.
i parked on a little main street and was paranoid about getting ANOTHER parking ticket, so i made it back to my car with PLENTY of time to spare. i called hal to see if he wanted to meet up. he had a meeting with someone but asked if i could kill an hour so i drove around the block a few times and found what i believe is the ONLY FREE parking in the area. i couldn't believe it... free parking in california?!!! that's unheard of.
i walked down the nearest street to get to the ocean walk and took a photo of a cute little mural i found along the way. i walked to the graffiti wall on the beach, wandered around snapping polaroids, and peeked down every side street hoping to find the starry night mural. i found this guy who sits with his dog (who wears sunglasses) that i remember seeing on mike's (wakejunkie) flickr. later i saw a bunch of little asian girls get yelled at by the tattoo parlor guys for getting too close to the dog while the man was sleeping.
i walked pretty far down the ocean walk before turning around and heading back to the street that would eventually lead me to my car and *TAH DAH!!* found the starry night mural. i don't know how i managed to walk right past it, but it was on the first street i walked down to get to ocean walk. in fact, it was DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM the other mural i took a photo of!! haha.
naturally, by this time, there was an BIG, ugly yellow utility truck blocking half of the mural. i, being the sometimes nervey photographer that i am, walked up to the men sitting in the truck and said,
"excuse me, are you guys planning on staying here all day??"
"why do you want to take a picture??" the passenger asked, looking at my cameras.
"yeah."
"well then i guess we can back up, but just for you."
so the guys had to sit there, watching me take my polaroids and then moved back to their spot after i was finished, haha. i was trying to hurry, so the first polaroid i took is more faded because i just held it while i was taking the second photo and i was standing in direct sunlight. :( as i was leaving one of the guys asked if he could take a photo of me and held out his camera phone. i laughed, trying not to drop my camera as i juggled the polaroids, my other camera and my bag.
my plans to meet up with hal had to be postponed (the lady he was supposed to meet up with was late) so i headed back to the apartment.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
photo outing
sneak peek at the new polaroids:
don't forget about the instant gratification tees too!! (please excuse another shameless plug, but i'm just really excited about them).
don't forget about the instant gratification tees too!! (please excuse another shameless plug, but i'm just really excited about them).
Saturday, March 31, 2007
never again.
today i met up with my friend hal to take some photos. we met at a place known as "top of the world" which is basically a road on top of a mountain. the road there wasn't too bad -- very windy and desserted, but nothing treacherous. there were a few "rough road ahead" signs that could be taken with a grain of salt. i took some kewl polaroids that i will post within the next few days. the plan was to hike around for a bit and then go pick up hal's girlfriend from her job interview for the Getty. everything was going good... we trespassed (if you wanna get technical), took some good photos, we could see the smoke from the hollywood hills fire. (my beloved sign was unharmed, thankfully). hal was using his NEW 5D so let me use his Rebel. we saw some AMAZING views and awesome houses. one dark-colored gothic-ish house in particular that my dad would have loved to live in. i pet a white horse and fed it grass and i saw thee largest prickly pear cactuses ever (i hate the word cacti).
there was even this girl who was driving ahead of us, stopping at the same spots we were to admire the view. she drove off then drove back to where we were just to tell us there was a better spot up the road with a nicer view and better parking. i was impressed. that was really thoughtful.
so i made friends with the white horse and then i followed hal down the mountain. (here comes the NEVER AGAIN PART...) the road back down was THEE MOST WINDIEST ROAD I HAVE EVERRR BEEN ON. if you look at the road on google map, you wouldn't believe it. hairpin turns, falling rock, landslide warning signs everywhere, one lane road, alllll downhill. i felt like i was downhill skiing... in a car!! i couldn't tell whether it was my car that smelt like burning or hal's (i think it was hal's) but by the time we finally reached the bottom, my brakes BARELY wanted to stop my car. and i was driving in low gear!! so i freaked out and pulled over to the side of the road and bailed out of the rest of our photo adventure. never again will i let hal take me down a mountain or a "short cut" or both. i felt bad for cutting our adventure short, but after that incident, i didn't want to drive any further away from the apartment.
soooo... next time, i am driving to hal's neck of the woods (read: relatively flat land) and we will embark on another, longer photo adventure. perhaps even rick will want to come along. :)
there was even this girl who was driving ahead of us, stopping at the same spots we were to admire the view. she drove off then drove back to where we were just to tell us there was a better spot up the road with a nicer view and better parking. i was impressed. that was really thoughtful.
so i made friends with the white horse and then i followed hal down the mountain. (here comes the NEVER AGAIN PART...) the road back down was THEE MOST WINDIEST ROAD I HAVE EVERRR BEEN ON. if you look at the road on google map, you wouldn't believe it. hairpin turns, falling rock, landslide warning signs everywhere, one lane road, alllll downhill. i felt like i was downhill skiing... in a car!! i couldn't tell whether it was my car that smelt like burning or hal's (i think it was hal's) but by the time we finally reached the bottom, my brakes BARELY wanted to stop my car. and i was driving in low gear!! so i freaked out and pulled over to the side of the road and bailed out of the rest of our photo adventure. never again will i let hal take me down a mountain or a "short cut" or both. i felt bad for cutting our adventure short, but after that incident, i didn't want to drive any further away from the apartment.
soooo... next time, i am driving to hal's neck of the woods (read: relatively flat land) and we will embark on another, longer photo adventure. perhaps even rick will want to come along. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
