by pargastd6 on May 10, 2012
On Monday I headed down to Monterey to do a food and lifestyle shoot for one of my hotel clients, thinking I could do some additional images to promote my upcoming photography workshop there in October. After checking in to the hotel I headed down the coast to Big Sur and beyond to find that a waterfall I have always seen images before but never quite knew where it was! As many of you probably know the road along the coast is very windy, a feature I absolutely love because it reminds me of the backroads of the Black Forest where I grew up (minus the ocean of course), and with no passengers in the car that could get sick I raced down the coastline s impressed all those tourist where nice enough to let me pass! After some stopping I eventually reached Julia Pfeiffer Burns S.P. with it’s wild and wonderful McWay waterfall that emties out on the beach.
On the way back, and long after the sun went down behind the fog bank, I look a 30s exposure of the coastline with some viaducts, rocks, trailing car lights and was just a bit sad that it was so late that really none of the colors came through but all was kind of this blueish hue (which look link of “cool” too!). Today after getting back I processed these images and was again surprised at what the camera was able to capture and thanks to the Raw file I was able to recover. See for yourself:
by pargastd6 on January 13, 2012
One of the great thing about this crazy, mild, dry winter weather we have been having here in Northern California is that I could do some great evening shots in a t-shirt and be home in time for dinner!
by pargastd6 on December 15, 2011
The Hedge Gallery booth at this years SF20/21 was made of straw bales and steel elements that provided shelves, niches and window openings to display artwork. Th whole booth went up pretty quickly and came down in about 2h. The straw bales went back to the farms where they were put to good use and I for one claimed the steel elements. I am planning on using some as raised garden elements and want to repurpose others into furniture pieces…
by pargastd6 on December 14, 2011
Last week Hedge Gallery reopened in their new space at the corner of Pacific and Montgomery (the old Kartell space). Coinciding with the grand opening was a new installation by italian/japanese glas artist Ritsue Mishima “All That Is Solid”. The new location is very different from the old gallery on Gold Street – very open, flooded with light, airy – if you are in San Francisco it’s worth a visit. Besides the exhibit of glas many other artist and furniture pieces form the collection are on display.
by pargastd6 on October 31, 2011
last weekend was last 2011 wine county adventure workskop – and it was adventurous… whilst working on some roadside attractions the questions about panning came up and i took the opportunity on illustrating the concept on some cars whisking by. everything was all good until the driver in a black bmw with dark tinted window swirled around and confronted us that we were violating his rights to privacy and that his vehicle is private property and and and… after i explained that we were just practicing and conducting a class and that he was not recognizable at all (see below) he wanted to call his lawyer, police or god knows who else. we just continued our class and he eventually gave up and drove off. we could only speculated that this guy was maybe not supposed to be in napa having fun…
by pargastd6 on October 3, 2011
Last month saw the third installment of SF 20/21, a modernism/art show that draws a small but sophisticated following to Fort Mason in mid September . Of course I was delighted to see my image of a chair by Joseph-Andre Motte chosen for the catalogue cover and a besides photographing another great installation by Hedge Gallery I did some photography for The Silver Fund, R20th Century and Battersea/Will Wick.
by pargastd6 on September 8, 2011
Recently I came across some images from a japanese photographer that intrigued me and have been on my mind ever since – warranting in my opinion a blog post. The photographers name is Natsumi Hayashi and her images can be found at http://yowayowacamera.com/. She does self portraits while jumping in the air timing the camera capture precisely to give the appearance of her floating. I love the feel you get from these frozen bodies floating suspended through the scene!
Here is one of my favorites
by pargastd6 on August 15, 2011
I love photography. I love that it allows me to discover and find things. I love that it challenges me to make an image that works. I love the emotions photographs evoke in me. I love the balance of art and science.
This past weekend we spent a few days in the High Sierras near Donner at the Sierra Clubs’ Tappaan Lodge with a large group of families – an anual event, although the first time at this location . It also happend to be the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower and a full moon. Although I did bring my camera I neglected to bring a tripod. So, as I was sitting outside spying for falling stars I found myself fascinated by the moon light clouds passing by. I never experienced the Aurora Borealis but the way these fluorescent clouds glit by reminded me of pictures I saw – of course without the color. I have never attempted to photograph night skys before so I struggled for a while finding the right exposure, focus and field of view by placing the camera on the ground – trial and error if you want. I love that photography teaches you how to work a problem until you solve it, rewarding you not only with the image but also with the sense you accomplished something on your own.
The weekend was great – I made many photographs l liked, we hiked, swam in mountain lakes and streams, walked through an old transcontinental railroad tunnel, had snowball fights, ate ice cream, found some gold flakes in my shoes (still need to confirm)… I love California and I love being a photographer here!
by pargastd6 on July 21, 2011
… is beautiful, simple, elegant, timeless – a classic. The clean lines, high end material and finishes ensure people want to spend time in the kitchens of Arclinea, not only to cook but also to entertain.
by pargastd6 on July 19, 2011
Last month I had the pleasure of spending a couple days at an alloy manufacturing plant on the ohio river. I am dead serious! I think it was always something I wanted to witness – the sheer power and heat of the ovens, the massive infrastructure – it is simply awesome. From a photography standpoint the conditions were somewhat challenging to work with given all the safety restrictions and limited access … this made it at times difficult to get real close to the action. And of course the heat and super fine dust took it’s toll on camera and soul (after two days of shooting I had as much debris on my sensor as on my cloth) – although there was not a huge temperature difference between the funace buidings and the mid ohio valley summer weather!
