Pomona Sunrise

Arriving at the Pomona auto swap meet before dawn has its benefits. We drove over to the Pomona fairgrounds along very empty freeways and arrived just after 5:00 am. As we got closer, we began seeing lots of classic cars making their way to the entry gates. After paying for parking, we found a place to park not far from the entry gate and got our camera bags and tripods out of the car. It was bracingly cold outside and quite a bit colder than at home. Having attended this swap meet in the winter previously, we were well prepared and brought our scotty vest jackets to keep warm. For those who are unaware, the Pomona Auto Swap meet is a very large event that has been held for the past 47 years in Pomona California. It typically is held 7 times a year from 5:00am to 2:00PM on selected Sundays. I’ve heard you can find nearly any type of part for any type of car there. After having walked up and down a few of the aisles, I believe it. It is also a place for people to show off their cars. Sections for doing so are provided as well as places to display a car you wish to sell.

We like arriving early so we beat the crowds and are always there before sunrise in case it turns out to be a spectacular one like it was on this January morning. Even before the sun began peeking over the horizon, the sky to the east started glowing a yellow orange color which was promising and there were some clouds for the orange light to illuminate. The western sky was still deep in the blue hour when the sun rose above the horizon and the most beautiful orange colored sky quite suddenly lit up. Kathy and I returned to the cars we liked most that morning and began shooting some images. I really liked this 1940’s Fleetline panel delivery vehicle. I shot this from several viewpoints and was generally pleased with the results.

Hotel Window View of Downtown San Diego

Josh, Alexandra and I spent the weekend in San Diego. This was the view out the hotel room window. Sorry about the reflections on the glass. Not much I could do about them. I didn't have my polarizing filter with me.

Embarcadero Sunset

Kathy and I were walking around in San Francisco last March and wandered down the length of the Embarcadero. This was taken right by the Bay Bridge which had some interesting lights on it. The sunset was pretty. We both had our tripods. This was taken with my Lensbaby. I really miss San Francisco. I want to go back soon.

When Night has Fallen

When Night has Fallen, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Recently I drove home from work in steadily falling rain. It hadn't rained in Southern California for quite a while so that was a nice change. I found myself thinking about how amazing the neon lights of Cars Land would look when reflected on the wet pavement of the streets there. I stopped at home just long enough to grab my camera, tripod and umbrella and headed for the Disneyland Resort. It wasn't really crowded and I had fun.

Will you call my name?

Will you call my name?, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

This is Boston again. I was told this is the largest Apple store in the U.S. I guess Apple has found it neccessary to post a night guard because the store was already closed. I wonder if he stands out there all night?

A couple of funny things happened while I was trying to make this image. First, the girl you see standing with the night guard kept asking him "Why don't you ever call me?" and he kept saying "I've been pretty busy." Then she said "Let me give you my phone number again, we should go out and do something, give me a call." He took her number and said in a very non-committal manner that he would try. For any women who read this, here's some advice. If a man doesn't call you after you've given him your number several times and made it clear you're interested, he's never going to call. Furthermore, you probably don't want this guy in your life. Move on to someone else.

Second funny thing: I was about half way through a 30 second exposure when this strange guy walks up to my camera which was mounted on my tripod, and put his head directly in front of the lens, looked into it from about 6" away and asked "Whatcha doin', taking pictures?"

Shit...

Don't you forget about me

Don't you forget about me, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I had spotted this cool old fire house from the windows of the Hynes Convention Center during my first day in Boston. Later that evening my work colleague Mike and I walked over so I could make a few HDR sequences of it. It turned out we were just in time for the end of the blue hour. Fifteen minutes later I was taking photographs of the Apple Store down the street and all color had left the sky. The firehouse was massive and once housed a police station. It was opened on February 20, 1888. If this had been built in Los Angeles, the city council would have long since declared it an eye sore, had it torn down and replaced with a parking lot.

Think of the tender things that we were working on

Think of the tender things that we were working on, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I was in Boston last week for the HOW Design conference. The weather was often humid, stormy and rainy. In other words perfect for HDR photography. Boston is in no way lacking in wonderful architecture, so when I could, I tried to make some images. This is the first church of Christ - Scientist which was built in 1894 and expanded in 1906. I really loved this huge reflecting pond located in the Plaza. I wish it had been more glassy but the wind was blowing and rain was intermittently falling. The clouds were very dramatic and in fact not long after taking this sequence it rained really hard. The church asks that photographs taken from the plaza (as this image was) not be sold or used commercially. So no sales of this image. Sorry.

Swell Chevelle

Swell Chevelle, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I think this is a Chevelle but I'm not sure what year. Kathy and I went to the Broiler on Wednesday and I met several members of the Sultan's Car Club from Long Beach. This was one of the Sultan's cars. This was a tough shot because people kept walking through my long exposures. I had to wave several people away but not everyone heeded my wishes.

Port of San Francisco

Port of San Francisco, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I'll be the first to admit this isn't my best work but I loved the view. The problem was that the wind was blowing so hard off the bay it was literally shaking my tripod even though I had hung my backpack from the center column to weigh it down. Chicago the windy city? Try San Francisco!

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Manny and I were on the National Mall in Washington D.C. near the U.S. Capital Building when we realized that the sunset that evening was going to be absolutely stunning. We started walking as fast as we could (pulling our rolling camera backpacks behind us), towards the Washington Monument. I spotted a cab driving down the National Mall and flagged him. He drove us over to the grassy knoll just across the street from the Monument. I paid the driver and he helped us get our bags out of the taxi's trunk. We scrambled up the hill, setup our tripods and started shooting before this spectacular sunset had vanished. You will never realize how quickly the sun sets unless you take the time to watch one.