MADNESS

 

HOW TO CATCH A CLOUD

I'm very proud to be involved with this beautiful children's book from the Treehouse Bandits. The message of the story is one I can closely relate with, especially now: Share those things that inspire and move you with the people you love.

And goat clouds!

CITY OF ANGELS

 

Conie overlooking the Los Angeles landscape at the Getty. After looking at Gustav Klimt's 320,120 charcoal sketches, I needed some color in my life.  

PORTO'S

To continue my sister theme. I've been using my $100 nifty-fifty lens because it's too hot to carry around the 18-200mm, which also has the added issue of a lens crawl. I kind of want to upgrade to the 50mm f/1.4, but why spend the money when my plan is to get the MII.

Wow. What a boring post! :)

MEOW

My sister is the cat's pajamas.

THE TRUTH

Chalk Walk 2o12 -- and the theme for the year.

LUCKY

“But it was later now, and I live in a world where the two truths coexist; where both hell and hope lie in the palm of my hand.”

--Alice Sebold, Lucky



These posts have been sporadic, but my mind is more active than ever. I often go from music to movies, from images to words, without being able to coincide all these elements into one. It's time for evolution, and I feel it boiling in my veins, preparing to bubble to the surface as I write this.

Hello

It's a new year, and a lot has happened already that I'm very thankful for. Since this is a photography blog and I haven't had much time to edit images, my poor site has been untouched. But there are many photos to take and many more to post, so stay tuned. :)

99%

Before, After

Edgar: 2 years old + 27 years old

Ever since I found out about Manu Chao, I've been listing to a lot of Seu Jorge, Buena Vista Social Club and old-school Shakira. This statement really has nothing to do with the picture, except that I'm listening to "Tive Razão" right now and that the shoes belong to my favorite Salvadorian.

Happy Fourth!

 

What's the best kind of ship?

A friendship.

(Yes, I actually made him bring a toy ship when he came to visit me. Yes, I know what you're thinking. :D)

Today would have been our four-year anniversary. It's a different kind of celebration now, a happy realization that we're still close and supportive of each other without the toxic dependency. Even with these damn photos, Edgar was ever vigilant, trying to teach me for the 143th time how lighting works and how to balance out shadows. These very important concepts don't seem to stay in my brain for too long. High ISO + a slow shutter speed = temperamental Julie.

These were taken in a very, very dark room with light green walls, a small floor lamp and two 60-watt bulbs in those Home Depot clamp contraptions. See the first picture with the gray walls? Yeah, the room looks nothing like that. =D In the second picture, his side wasn't as lit as my side, which resulted in the green/yellow wall effect. I'm a sucker for gradiance, so hooray to this happy mistake. It still amazes me how pictures taken in the same setting can come out so different-looking.

The originals. Check out those puke green walls. 

P.S. While I was writing this, I found out that Heavy D died today. :( 

Living in a WKW World

Rain always reminds me of my favorite auteur.

Salvation Mountain Continued

  

 

Here are the last batch of desert photos. I left most of them in their natural state. No Photoshop action this time besides upping the contrast and adding some vignette, which I'm using a lot more now.

Besides the yellow "brick" road you could walk up to to get to the top of the mountain, Leonard also constructed an inside portion so you could walk around. He used extra-large tires and clay to form the structure, adding telephone pole "trees" that all made you feel like Alice in Wonderland. While I had a hard time because of the harsh lighting outside, I struggled with the overly yellow look inside; the light was bouncing off of all the yellow paint. I think the fourth picture of Edgar and the one below him of the cat are too warm-toned, but the one he took of me petting the cat came out nicely exposed. Photography can drive me up the walls because of my perfectionist side, but it's also teaching me how to work with what I have. Adaptability is key.

Speaking of adaptability, Abel showed me a neat little tool I could use to view my screen in bright light. One please.

Salvation Mountain

Edgar took this one, yay!

Ever since I saw Aaron Huey's pictures of Salvation Mountain, I knew I had to go see it for myself. In no way am I a religious person, but Leonard Knight's simple message that "God is love" resonated with me. You can talk to me about faith or church or heaven until your face turns blue, but it's always the quiet and the humble that bring me closer to spirituality. Besides, where else can you find a man-made mountain covered in 220,000 gallons of paint? 

I borrowed an ultra-wide lens (the Tokina 11-16mm) from a local photo rental place I've never been to before. I didn't get to use it a lot, though. It was my first wide angle lens, and for whatever reason, I could only use it on manual focus, which became increasingly difficult because of the desert sun blinding me. I was getting really frustrated that the shots weren't coming out well, but then I remembered that photography is just a hobby and that I'm still learning. So I tried to make the best of the experience, especially since I couldn't review my shots. I eventually stopped with the 11-16mm and used my trusty 18-200mm. I also tried a PS vintage action I downloaded from deviantArt a long time ago to edit these photos.

To be continued.

Happy Saturday!

Watching this video made me realize what a happy Saturday it'll be today.

Trinity

Next door, there's an old man who lived to his 90s.
And one day, passed away in his sleep.
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry. I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong.

Trinity passed away in her sleep this morning, about a week after Neo died. I thought of that Ben Folds song when I realized what happened. Just as I mourn for the last of my African dwarf frogs and her short life here in this world, I think about what happened in New York 10 years ago. I can't believe a decade has passed just like that.

The sanctity of life seems so much clearer when you see death.

Yosemite

through the car window

taken by Michael; edited by me

 

taken by Lauren or Steven

I won't go into telling my story again -- trekking up the tallest waterfall in North America while being at my heaviest weight -- but looking at these pictures made me realize how lucky I am. Lucky to have a friend like Lauren. Lucky to be alive and to see places like this. Lucky to meet new people. Lucky to not have my slow ass left behind on top of the mountain. Lucky to have the ability to move around and lose weight or gain weight -- whatever I want.

Working and studying for the GREs have left my photography endeavors to the wayside, but I did go out with Julio the other day to assist with his street photography project. It was inspiring stuff, especially to see his raw pictures without the flash or the reflector or any accessory. Lighting is #1, composition #2. I've had it backwards all this time. If I'm making my subject face direct sunlight and risking major shadows and lighting issues just to get the badass background behind her, I haven't learned my lesson. The end.

Speaking of which, I still can't figure out my "style" for photos, which is why all of my photos are edited differently. It seems like the low-saturation look is popular for most photographers, but I seem to like color/high contrast too much to make that happen.

So It Goes.

Yesterday, Albino Cory Catfish #3 passed away. And like I did at the farm when Annabelle the Goat took her last breath, I stayed with it until it stopped moving. Some people may think it's silly that I shed tears for these pets because they're not "real" animals, like dogs or cats. But to me, it seems cruel to flush your pet down the toilet. So I bury each and every single one and honor it, like I would any life.

What can I say about Cory Catfish #3? We didn't have a name for it because there were six in the bunch, and we couldn't tell which one was which after a while. I think for a minute there, they were named after different characters in "The Office." This might've been Michael or Pam. What I can say is that it was strong as hell, never gave me any trouble and died peacefully as it lived.

Usually, when a fish or frog dies, Edgar has the unfortunate duty of scooping it out of the tank -- or hiding the dead body from me so I won't cry. Since I'm 30 miles from him and our pet cemetery, I thought the best thing was to bury it in my houseplant, Bob, that he got for me years ago. I guess it's appropriate since I found the plant scorched from the sun a few days ago and was worried about it. Now, the fish can give back to the plant, and the plant can continue to heal. And the world keeps spinning, and so it goes. Life has a funny way of working out like that sometimes.

Thank you for a wonderful three years, Albino Cory Catfish #3.

Rule #1

Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies- God damn it, you've got to be kind.

--Kurt Vonnegut

The Crunch

too much too little

too fat
too thin
or nobody.

laughter or
tears

haters
lovers

strangers with faces like
the backs of
thumb tacks

armies running through
streets of blood
waving wine bottles
bayoneting and fucking
virgins.

an old guy in a cheap room
with a photograph of M. Monroe.

there is a loneliness in this world so great
that you can see it in the slow movement of
the hands of a clock

people so tired
mutilated
either by love or no love.

people just are not good to each other
one on one.

the rich are not good to the rich
the poor are not good to the poor.

we are afraid.

our educational system tells us
that we can all be
big-ass winners

it hasn't told us
about the gutters
or the suicides.

or the terror of one person
aching in one place
alone

untouched
unspoken to

watering a plant.

people are not good to each other.
people are not good to each other.
people are not good to each other.

I suppose they never will be.
I don't ask them to be.

but sometimes I think about
it.

the beads will swing
the clouds will cloud
and the killer will behead the child
like taking a bite out of an ice cream cone.

too much
too little

too fat
too thin
or nobody

more haters than lovers.

people are not good to each other.
perhaps if they were
our deaths would not be so sad.

meanwhile I look at young girls
stems
flowers of chance.

there must be a way.

surely there must be a way that we have not yet
thought of.

who put this brain inside of me?

it cries
it demands
it says that there is a chance.

it will not say
"no." 


--Charles Bukowski