San Francisco Nudes - Blog

Test Video

2012-02-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a quickie video test - just some underwater and volcano footage from my recent vacation. There's no sound - this was originally a family video with lots of kids running around and suitable music (that I don't own the rights to). Which is fine for showing off on the iPad, but not so much for posting to YouTube. Anyway, it's slimmed down to just the basics, but if you want to see a little underwater point and shoot video of fish swimming around, you're in luck...

Yosemite

2012-02-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

I'm back from a couple of days in Yosemite... and there was basically no snow. Luckily I got some nice "winter wonderland" shots in November (you can see some here) because it was just kind of brown and dead looking in the valley. There was a little snow around 6,000 feet and above but I think only because we got a storm about a week before. Still had fun, and I like getting away for a couple of days around my birthday, but not very photogenic. On the plus side it was pretty much perfect hiking if you don't mind it being 40ish - there were very few people and there were a lot more visible animals than you usually get this time of year. We saw a really absurd number of deer, as an example.

Hopefully we'll get some March storms - some years March is very wet and we really need it. We're at something like 40% of normal rainfall for this time of year.

Canon D20

2012-02-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

About time, but Canon updated their underwater camera. I'd considered the D10 for this recent trip but it was pretty dated. See here for details, but basically the upside is that the D20 is a lot more convenient than using an underwater case, but doesn't provide the same level of depth protection. They even make an underwater case for it in case you want to dive. But it would be a lot handier for, say, romping around in shallow water with your toddler than the case - less setup, less bulky, etc. etc. Similarly for rafting or anything else where you don't want some huge case but want some water protection.

Argh

2012-02-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've been sick, but I'm up rolling again. I'm behind in lots of things, but I did post some Hawaii snapshots up over on the Facebook page.

Back in town

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

I just got back from some travel, mostly to the big island of Hawaii. I took lots of underwater pictures and I'll try to get some of those up shortly. I bought a (relatively) high end point and shoot - the Canon S100 - for the occasion and I really, really like it. Shoots in RAW mode, nice small format, image quality's definitely a step up from any point and shoot I've used before although obviously not up to DSLR standards. Expensive for a point and shoot but cheap compared to a DSLR. It's a good compromise if you need to travel light, or just want to always carry a camera with you that has fewer compromises than the one in your cell phone. The Underwater Case works well - this is the third Canon underwater case I've had over the years and the only problem I've ever had was when some bored rich teens stole one of them (sigh).

The video's really nice, too - I'll put together some of the underwater video as well.

So basically the plan is to wrap all that up and then think about doing some outdoor shoots once we get some rain and clear out all this junk in the air. We've been having a mini drought but the rain people say the jet stream mumble mumble blah blah rain next week maybe.

Little notes

2011-12-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

Local art note: the Francesca Woodman exhibit at SFMOMA's worth seeing. It's there for another couple of months and then on to New York. As far as I can tell it covers her entire creative output from sophomore year in college until she killed herself at 22. The first couple of rooms... well, I really think they could have started junior year, you know? There was maybe one shot I liked. But then apparently something clicked and she started producing really good stuff... and just when it's getting exciting the exhibit just ends. Well, crap.

Speaking of art, I'll probably be starting back up again in a month or so. I was intending to do some outdoor work but it's been goofy weather and I haven't run into any compelling models that I haven't already worked with. But we'll see - I have two little ones to take care of, and I'm reminded of what happened to Imogen Cunningham when she had twins. For a couple of years she basically just started shooting things around her for a couple of years - shots of the kids of course, but also the magnolia blossoms in her front yard. And it's some of her best work.

Local food note: Soleil's African Cuisine. They've been at some local Farmer's Markets and their food is wonderful. They just opened a restaurant. I won't have a chance to try it for a while but if you're local and looking for something different give it a shot and let me know what you think. 1544 Webster Street Alameda, CA 94501 510-228-6747 Hours: Wednesday-Sunday from 4pm-9pm

Rachel Coleman, aka "The Signing Time Lady", is going to Ghana again. If you are looking for one last charity at the end of the year that link takes you to some information on the current trip. She went three years ago, which is how I heard of her, and only later discovered Signing Time which has literally been a lifesaver (we diagnosed a potentially fatal disease in my daughter because she was able to communicate a problem when she was pre-verbal. She's had surgery and is fine now.). Anyway, if you go here you can read about the 2008 trip. The short form is that being a deaf kid in much of the world is miserable - they just write the kids off as stupid and unteachable and even just touring around and introducing teachers to Rachel's deaf daughter, Leah, is a real eye opener for them.

Sorry I've been so quiet. I have a few more odds and ends I've been meaning to write about, and I'll see if I can get that done sooner rather than later.

Landscapes

2011-11-29T15:15:00.001-08:00

Yet another quick update - I updated the Landscape shots I have for sale to include the most recent trip to Yosemite.

11x14s on eBay

2011-11-20T13:59:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note - I cleared out a decent amount of my 8x10 supply on eBay so I listed some 11x14s. You can find some of each here.

Quick Reminder

2011-11-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

I have eBay items ending shortly, and I've added some more since the last announcement, so you might want to take a look. Last I checked there was some light bidding but everything's still really cheap since everybody's spread out to different items.

Shots on eBay

2011-11-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly gearing up after my semi-hatus / paternity leave and as part of that I started a few items on eBay at low prices just to get things rolling again. Hopefully you can find them here. I have zero idea how viable eBay is for selling art these days - the last time I tried it, I made some sales but the traffic #s were really low. Traditionally things would pick up around the time change (people spend more time online when they get home and it's dark already) so I'll probably list a smattering of items through the end of the year and then we'll see if it's worthwhile or not.

Ice Cream Sandwich Statue

2011-10-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

Somebody may appreciate this: I was at the Android building at Google today moments after they installed this. They put up a little statue thing for every new operating system they put out, and the current one's named Ice Cream Sandwich. Cute.

New Model: Bixby

2011-08-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

Whew, got these done a day early, even. Here's the set with Bixby. They're at low prices for a couple of days to reward people who check in often (or use the Facebook/Twitter/Feed links in the sidebar). No promises as to the exact time - I'll get to it when I get to it.

That's the last of the cluster of shoots I did before things got crazy - I'm thinking at this point I may wait until the first rain of the year clears out the smog and then do some outdoor work. We'll see.

Outtake

2011-08-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Just an outtake I ran into - I always love it when a model slips in the occasional purposeful goofy expression - sticks their tongue out or whatever. You might need to click on it to really get the full effect.

I'm hoping to have the last of the shoots from before the new baby online in a day or two - to be sure to catch them, you might look at the Facebook or Twitter links in the sidebar. When I'm posting new shots at a slow rate like I am for this year I tend to start them at low prices for a couple of days to reward regulars.

Also note that because I only keep the four latest sets on the new work page, this will push off Katy, leaving behind only any shots I might have put in the "best of" section. And come to think of it, even that is due for a revision - it's a bit bigger than I'd like.

Post Shoot Notes: Bixby

2011-08-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

This shoot was actually months ago - before the baby was born - so it feels really weird to be writing some post shoot notes up since I usually do those right after the shoot.

It's a nice shoot - I'm basically done going through it and I think some of the motion stuff came out especially well. I'll upload it on the 1st, or a little before. As always, there's some links to get you updated in the right hand sidebar.

Little updates

2011-08-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

I actually had a model scheduled for today. I use the past tense because she hit me up for a bunch of money a couple of days ago - and I do mean a bunch - more than I've ever paid a model. Not sure what the deal is with that - is it her usual procedure? Would she ask for even more the day of the shoot? If I said no and she agreed to the old deal would she be bitter and not even show up? Basically there's nothing you can do in that situation except tell her no, and I've removed her from my schedule. Hopefully other photographers aren't putting up with that kind of nonsense either!

I don't have anything else scheduled - I just wanted to get one shoot on the calendar to get a bit back into the groove of things and so the studio doesn't turn into too much of a storage/kids play area.

The good news is that I have one shoot I never edited from before the new baby showed up, so I'll get that edited around the first of the month. I'll most likely stick with the every other month update schedule I've been doing until the end of the year, and then we'll see what makes sense from there.

3TB drives getting cheap

2011-07-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Amazon has Western Digital 3TB drives for $150 now. I remember blogging about 1TB drives breaking the $400 barrier. I have quite a few external drives - I like to scatter backups around different locations including offsite so any costs basically get multiplied by three. They're not as fancy as a RAID system but I think cheap but decent external drives are the best bet to get data offsite in a usable form without spending big bucks.

New Model: Chloe Camilla

2011-07-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

OK, I just finished uploading the pictures of Chloe. I'll keep them at introductory prices for a couple of days to reward people who have been checking in often enough to see these early. I'll probably upload with the regular template on the 5th, exact time at my convenience.

One month!

2011-06-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it's been a month since the birth. No real news - I still have the goal of getting some new shots up July 1st but we'll just have to see how it goes. Baby fussiness usually peaks at about six weeks so it's possible the next couple of weeks will be a little too... interesting... to get much done.

Book

2011-06-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's the exhaustion talking, but this book is hilarious:

Update

2011-05-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well, the little guy's two weeks and a couple of days old. Everything's a moving target the first couple of months so it's hard to really get into a schedule as such, but everything's about as in control as you can expect with a newborn and a two year old. (hint: not very)

The good news is that I made it to SFMOMA before a fantastic Muybridge exhibit ended but after the big summer show (heavy on Matisse and Picasso - the Matisse in particular is stunning.) Woman with a Hat in particular is one of those paintings that look OK on the web... but you see it in person and it's just absolutely stunning. They also have Blue Nude (another one you have to see in person to appreciate) and all kinds of goodies.

As for my next photo update... July 1st? Let's shoot for that. I'm going to upload Chloe Camilla's set next - she's the charming woman up there. In fact, she's so charming that it's going to be a hard set to edit because usually facial expressions are a huge part of the weeding process and hers are always spot-on.

In Other News

2011-05-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

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If you don't see a video, try here. Actually you might want to try that link anyway since the right edge is clipped in this template...

Yosemite note

2011-05-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

With all the rain/snow we've had the falls are already going like crazy. The next month or so is a fantastic time to visit. But two people died Friday alone because they slipped on wet granite (one at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls - you'll see people climbing over rocks to get closer and it's insane, and the other on the mist trail - slipped, hit his head on a rock, went right into the Merced river, and it took the rangers ages to recover the body safely).

Wet granite is really, really slippery, and it can be wet much further than the falls than you might think. It's not even all that visible if it's a thin layer. Be careful, folks, OK?

Big Update

2011-05-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

OK, I can stop being cryptic now. This weekend my wife went into labor and we had a baby boy! Everybody's doing great, and I don't anticipate any delays with print orders, but I'm really not sure when I'll get back into the studio other than the occasional portrait session. As I noted before I have a couple of shoots that just need editing, but blocking out time for an actual shoot just isn't going to happen until we get a routine going.

Devon McClive / Humankind

2011-05-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

You know the band I mentioned the other day? Their CD, Humankind arrived and I'm really enjoying it. You can buy it direct via their website or it's on the usual places including iTunes.

Little Updates

2011-05-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

That's just an old shot I like.

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern, news-wise. I finished a little batch of shoots and I have two really nice ones I haven't shared yet but it'll be a little while before I get the next set edited and online. As always see the right hand sidebar for some options to keep notified - Facebook, Twitter, etc.

In a sense it's good timing. Blogger's been up and down the last couple of days and apparently they've shut down some fairly major blogs - it's not clear if it was on purpose or just their automatic systems are choking on larger sites or what but it's kind of extra annoying for me since they dropped support to use their software to generate the blog pages but host them on your site. That was great - it meant that if Blogger was down it didn't affect me, but they've forced everything in-house. I originally started the blog simply to provide a way to post updates about which shoots were new - if I were starting today I wonder if I'd just have the Facebook page and be done with it, although it is nice on the occasion that I want to write a little article for whatever reason. Point being it's pretty non-critical but I wonder if I should look into switching once I'm done fiddling with the main site (which still badly needs some tweaks).

I'd never use any Google product or service for any mission-critical purpose, by the way - I know too many people who have had their gmail or other account shut down for no obvious reason because some automated system wigged out or because an ex- reported them as spammers or something and it's a total nightmare getting anything restored. Given their business model they have zero respect for individual customers and have basically no customer support as a result. As they say, "It's free but it's not worth anything."

Anyway, hopefully I'll have more to say about more important matters in a week or so.