Wednesday, December 26, 2007

What a difference a day makes.

Ha ha ha! Merry Christmas!

Haven't you heard? The powers that be have now decided that "ho ho ho" is politically incorrect, and would rather we say "ha ha ha" instead. ...And you thought I was strange? In all seriousness, though, I hope you had a swanky holiday.

I returned from my photo trip to Hawaii about a week ago, and upon landing I thought my plane had veered off course and landed in the Northwest Territories. I mean, some snow is one thing, but holy frozen cajones, Batman, are we having a winter this year. It would make a penguin scream!

My body was thoroughly confused. One day, I'm here:

...and the very next day, I'm here:


Yes, I know you're probably thinking I should call the waaaaaambulance. If you've been suffering through this entire winter without a break, you most likely have zero sympathy for me. Well, to that I say ...nothing. I can't really blame you. Ha ha ha! (No, that's just me laughing, not doing a Santa impression.)

And now, to the business at hand: photos! I'm happy to say, the shooting went pretty well. We had a bit more rain than usual, but in the end I definitely got what I feel are some stunners. I'm currently editing them and will post them ASAP -- should be in the next few days. Until then, Aloha and Mahalo!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

If you go to San Francisco...

Well, the photos from my Northern California trip are finally done and in my California Gallery. I must say it is quite an amazing place. Even though I've been to California many times before, I was still astounded by all it has to offer a photographer.

I started in the awesome city by the bay, and it only got better from there. I explored waterfalls, mountains, giant redwood forests, coastal cliffs, lakes, rivers -- you name it, I saw it and photographed it. Overall, I was very happy with the trip and resulting photos.

Not everything went according to plan, however.

For starters, I got a bad cold the day before I left Minneapolis. It was severe enough that if I had I been going by car, I would've postponed the trip. But, I wasn't driving, I was flying. So, there was nothing to do but just grin and bear it. Getting up at the crack of dawn and hiking through wilderness with a backpack of camera gear can be tough. Doing it while sporting a fever and coughing every five seconds is an altogether different challenge. Thank God for willpower and Benadryl!

About five days into the trip, with my cold in full swing, I parked my rental vehicle near some railroad tracks running parallel to a river and proceeded to hike along them. I had been told by a guidebook that at the end of this hike was one of the most spectacular waterfalls in California. But, after awhile I realized that the book must be wrong. It said that the waterfall was only 1.5 miles down the tracks and I had already gone two miles. Then, I read more closely and saw a bit of info I had missed: I was supposed to hike the tracks upstream. And guess which way I had been hiking? Sigh... yep... I was hiking downstream.

I stood there numb for a moment and let it sink in. There I was, with a raging cold and a heavy burden, and I had just gone two miles in the wrong direction. Which, of course, meant that I had to hike those two miles back, and then from there go another mile and a half to the falls. And then another mile and a half back. So, instead of hiking three miles, I, navigational genius, would end up hiking seven. Yay.

I begrudgingly did an about face and began hiking back, when something else happened. A train decided that this would be the perfect time to come rumbling along on the tracks behind me. The tracks I was walking on. The guidebook had warned that the tracks were still in use and to watch out for trains, but I figured they were just being overly cautious. What were the chances that a train would really come along while I was there? Turns out the chances were pretty damn good.

I quickened my pace until I found a spot where I could get off the tracks, and I watched the metal monster chug by me. I really had serious thoughts about jumping it and riding it all the way to the falls. It'd be awesome! I would have an exhilarating ride, and cut four miles off of my hike! Then, I woke up. I'd already made enough blunders for the day. No sense in making a FINAL one. Besides, what would my tens of millions of blog fans do without me?

Tomorrow, I leave for Hawaii. I'll be back in a couple weeks with more photos and tales. Until then, take care.

A sign o' the times.

During my recent trip to Northern California, something terrible happened: an oil tanker hit a bridge in the San Francisco bay and spilled a large amount of oil. This happened the day after I arrived. So, when I went down to Fort Point to shoot some photos of the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge, this is what I saw:

Needless to say, this really pissed me off (and continues to do so). I mean, honestly, how hard is it to drive a boat without hitting something? Apparently, the captain got his license out of a Cheerios box. The authorities are considering bringing criminal charges. Give 'em hell, I say!

Sorry for such a depressing blog entry. It had to be done. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming very soon. I am ALMOST done with all the photos from Northern California, and should have them posted later today.