Making pictures

Home now. Supposed to be trading beer for a haircut tonight. Last night was Erin and Pinot and all these bands she hasn't heard but I kept playing them for that reason. Then it's Weezer and we both know the lyrics and we're happy.

This morning it was family guy. A vacation from thinking. Sorry I'm gone on vacation guys, don't know when I'm coming back. But then it's work and I'm editing audio and ever more anal and precise about that than my pictures lately.

Tomorrow it's the Replay and I've been asked to photograph my friend's band and I jokingly rub my fingers together insinuating money.

Two nights ago it was Steve McQueen and his Mustang and a stack of dvds by my side. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance sits on the floor next to my bed. I need to pick it up, finish it, but this issue of Quality has gotten us all down lately.

With this picture it was yesterday and we were waiting for a team to show, girls were warming up their game and I wandered around making frames.

Denver in digital

Museum of Natural Science and History.

Chris and I were playing with prisms and a light gun set out on display in the space exhibit. There was also a pair of glasses that produced vision something like this when looking through them. They also had a glass case containing four meteorites. Staring at those rocks, hunks of various metals, thinking about how far they've traveled to get to this place, I was stunned.

The Arcade Fire. Red Rocks.

You climb out the chimney
and meet me in the middle,
the middle of the town.
And since there's no one else around,
we let our hair grow long
and forget all we used to know,
then our skin gets thicker
from living out in the snow.

Rocky Mountain National Park:
Chris photographs a moose and it's baby from her car.

This couple toured the mountains on matching motorcycles. After seeing several cars stopped on the side of the road, they parked their bikes, getting a closer look. They also had matching Cannons.

Driving back to the airport.

Last week

High school band parade. Downtown: Lawrence, Kan.

Last minute feature hunt. Youth baseball practice.
Douglas County Fairgrounds, Lawrence, Kan.

Soldiers' return. Topeka, Kan.

Fun

Today I went to the Taste of Lawrence. Not thinking, I had eaten at Chipotle less than an hour before. Vendors around town set up shop in an open field in town and after patrons paid so much to get in, i assume, they get to eat and drink whatever, and however much, they want.

I screwed up.

But I still had fun. When I first got there I worked the normal shot really hard in some nice light. Got something I liked then pressed further to one-up it. But that wasn't clicking. Had to try a different approach. Then I saw this yellow canopy and got totally side tracked. I still kept my eye out for people eating but I also kept my eye out for people wearing yellow. I ended up shooting some picture of this guy then talking to he and his wife about their businesses.


Then I saw this girl and her yellow shirt. I asked her if I could photograph her while standing in line. Got the go ahead and took a picture. Doh, they're both looking at me. Well I keep shooting and don't get anything I really like. But going back through the edit, this frame, the frame you take a million times at the start of a shoot to get people to stop looking at you, stood out to me. Maybe it would be more interesting without the context...

Two kids playing in the light.

Then I bumped into the guy in the yellow shirt again and walked right up to his group and started photographing. Funny how once people know what you're up to they don't even look at you twice.


I also bumped into my friend Kate serving food for her employer. It was some sort of gooy chocolate in a flaky crust, how could I resist.

And now back in time to Tuesday night, sitting in Whit's backyard, propped back in lawn chairs, talking about what comes next:

Charles Ray, the fella on the left, is somewhat of a painter. I say somewhat because the pieces he creates look very much like a painting, but the process is something entirely different. Charles works with rust.. Some abstract, some very realistic. I won't go into the detail of it, but what he produces is magnificent. He's a member of the fresh produce art collective: http://freshproduceartcollective.com/

the red balloon to do

This night started with a bike ride.

Something I haven't done in forever. Mainly because my bike has been sitting under my porch with two flat tires since I've been here in Lawrence. Some would call it laziness. Hell, I suppose I call it laziness. But nevertheless, I got around to it. The bike is fixed. And I thought Saturday night would be a good night to test it out. Talk about a pair of wings. That was just the rush and freedom I was looking for.

Buzzing by dark trees with lights poking out behind them. Stopping amidst traffic, waiting for the light to turn green so I could peddle around the bend. Kick stand, two sets of brakes, metal pedals, camera hanging around my neck.

The Red Balloon To Do is sort of a social of an art show. Various stores and houses around downtown Lawrence open up for a night, letting people totting red balloons come in and look at art. Art of any kind, it's open to anyone who enters. Which is rad. I volunteered to work part of it, guarding art at one of the houses. Turned out we were a bit overbooked, so I was set free to browse and photograph.

This was at the house.

After party and some of Kate modeling her red dress.

Thursday night:

9:30 Guitar Hero II at the Gas Light
10:30 Snuff Jazz at the Tap Room
12:00 Drakkar Sauna, back at the Gas Light
1:00 More Snuff Jazz at the Tap Room
2:00 It rained. Not the kind of rain you hide from, or want to. You want to stand in it, walk in it. It pours on you. Drips off your nose and hat. The kind of rain the cracked earth soaks up so quick you're soon kicking through puddles going where ever it is you are. The kind you lie on your mattress, stare into the black and study.

If you're ever in Lawrence, or anywhere for that matter, and have the chance to see either Snuff Jazz or Drakkar Sauna, DO IT. Snuff Jazz is probably some of the best jazz this side of the Mississippi. Drakkar Sauna, well I won't do them the injustice of trying to categorizing or explaining their music.

It's best to just listen.

sunday morning

sitting in the front pew, i've got my camera in my hands, taking pictures sparingly. only of the pastor. no one else. i've been invited back to a GLBT church in topeka, last week when i arrived i hadn't met the pastor or anyone in the congregation. they didn't know me, nor i them. but this week was different. everyone knew my name and was greeted with hugs and not one sideways glance.

see i wanted to do this church justice. last week when i attended i was moved. the music, the compassion, emotion and acceptance the congregation emanated put me at ease. even though i wasn't able to make pictures, i sat there content to listen to the piano and contemplate the sermon. but also thinking, wow if i could just photograph these people, the closeness they share with one another while worshiping. taking communion with their partner or friends. so i knew i had to come back.

but it was tricky. a lot of the people who attend aren't out in one way or another, and being photographed for the paper could potentially harm someone. so i came back, and was able to photograph one couple taking communion. this act, communion, was the one thing, other than the music, that really stood out. groups of people walk up and sharing the experience, huddled with the pastor and praying. they seemed so peaceful. at home.

which to me is beautiful. to attend a church with doctrines stating you're to go to hell because of your sexual orientation would be devastating. some people have no other choice, or walk away from their religion entirely because of it. but not here.

too often people get caught up in what's 'right,' what people tell them to believe... distance themselves from what they do not understand. only if people would step back, and really see people for who they are.

...peace