Murrugun The Mystic Brings In Spring Busker Festival

        The annual Spring Busker Festival in Seaport Village kicked off yesterday so, after being so impressed with last year’s Buskers After Dark, I went to see what busking looks like during the day; a perfect California day. A busker is a person or group of people that perform on the street, in any way shape or form, for money. A busker is not a vagrant with a sign asking you for free money, a busker is a professional entertainer that makes their living by spontaneously stirring up interest, drawing a crowd and then performing at a level high enough for passersby to feel good about throwing money into the hat and personal enough that full on audience members will hand money to the performers afterwards while expressing what a great show they have. I think it is an amazing thing to be able to do and to me it’s a very simple, ground-level example of how to be an entrepreneur, use your talents, follow your passions and have fun all at the same time. Above is Murrugun the Mystic blowing a giant fireball into the blue San Diego sky.

Stunt Double Circus At Historic Carousel In Seaport Village

        Seaport Village is a prime spot for busking because, as you can see in the photos, the perfect seaside location is complimented by the perfect San Diego weather and the very happy people. Above we see Stunt Double Circus, a mustache wearing group of buskers that catch some serious air. In the background is the Historic Carousel of Seaport Village. For $2 you can ride on an 1895 carousel that has hand carved animals and chariots! Can you believe that San Diego is home to a 116 year old, operating merry go round? By the way, I was unable to find out, beyond a reasonable doubt what the difference between a carousel and a merry go round is which is why I just used them interchangeably. Today is the second day of the Spring Busker Festival so head on down to Seaport Village and check it out.

Least Tern Nesting Area In Coronado

        As you may agree as you scroll through this post, I think it’s one of the more erratic and disorganized collection of photographs I’ve presented. Believe it or not there is a method to this madness and a common trait all the photos in this post share: They were all taken on the same day while riding my bike from Chula Vista to Coronado on Bayshore Bikeway.

Marbled Godwits & Tern

        Since I’m not really a bird person, trying to figure out what species of bird I’m photographing can be quite the challenge at times, even with internet search engines.

White Egret In San Diego Bay

        The white egret you see above was hunting for fish at the extreme southwestern edge of San Diego Bay. As near as I can tell, the fish he likes to eat hang out in the mud at the bottom of the bay. The egrets use their feet to shuffle and shake fish from the mud and gobble them up.

A Wedding About To Begin In Coronado

        The photo above was made just as I departed Bayshore Bikeway, heading to Burger Lounge in Coronado. In a tradition that goes way back, a father walks his daughter down the aisle to get married, two or three years prior to her first divorce.

Little Girl On Silver Strand Beach State Park

        Of course, just because the majority of marriages end in divorce is no reason not to bring a kid into the world. The most in-charge and powerful position most Americans will hold is that of parent. So what if your boss is dumber than you or you didn’t get all the respect you wanted from the person that sold you your cappuccino this morning? As soon as you get home, it’s YOUR house and YOUR rules, which is the mantra of middle class parents. We all know you didn’t go to college, have no savings or retirement plans, are pissed off about not getting that big promotion at work and wish you would have learned to play the guitar because if you had, listening to your kid complain about whatever kids complain about wouldn’t suck like it does. But you didn’t. You’re just getting by & life didn’t turn out the way you want so you have kids & now you can lord over them with impunity, just like the rest of the world is doing to you.

Street Art On The Ground Of Bayshore Bikeway

        For me, the difference between street art and graffiti has everything to do with location and subject matter. Using a spray can to scribble on the side of a building in the dead of night to declare what south of the border, shithole village you’re from or what shithole neighborhood you live in now, is graffiti. Using your imagination to create something unique & original that people will stop to look at, talk about or take photos of is street art, like what you see above.

Yellow Flowers Adorn Bayshore Bikeway

        Right now, San Diego is in the midst of our annual yellow flower invasion. Through most of April, on just about every square inch of non-landscaped earth you will see yellow flowers.

        The photo on the left is a somewhat hidden memorial for a person named, Donnie. This memorial is against the fence that separates South Bay Salt Works from Bayshore Bikeway. It lies just about due south of the salt works, down the north slope of the path. That’s as specific as I’m going to get, that way you’ll have to work for it a little bit if you’d like to see it in person. Above is an old lady that just happened to be cruising past me. So that’s it! This concludes my post of random things I saw while riding my bike through Coronado, Imperial Beach and Chula Vista on Bayshore Bikeway. If you have not yet explored this path, I hope the photos in the post will encourage you to do so. Below is a video that goes along with the photos in this post, as well as some video of birds and the hidden memorial. Cheers!

Double Rainbow Over The Dinosaur Cage Of Coronado

        If you want to see a rainbow, if you want to try to plant yourself somewhere ahead of time because you heard there would be favorable rainbow conditions in a certain given area, make sure your vantage point lies directly between the sun and where you think the rainbow will be. Close your eyes and draw a circle. When you see a rainbow, it lies on a point somewhere along the line of your circle; you are standing in the center, facing the rainbow so the sun will be the point on the circle that lies directly behind you. Open your eyes. Is that too much geometry? If it is, then how about this: After morning showers, rainbows will appear in the west while afternoon showers will have rainbows in the east. If you still don’t get it, then how about this: After it rains, go outside, face away from the sun and you might see a rainbow.

Rainbows Over Coronado As Seen From Imperial Beach

        In the photos you can see my shadow pointing west, directly at the top of the rainbow. Behind me, to the east are Imperial Beach and the rising sun. This layout is always the same so think about that after a rainstorm and you will be able to get some great photos. The only thing that has to happen is for a storm to roll by in the early morning or late afternoon, then dissipate enough for the sun to shine through but not break up enough that there’s not enough water in the atmosphere to refract enough light to form the rainbow. That’s it. If all that happens at a time you have your camera you will be richly rewarded.

Double Rainbow Over Bayshore Bikeway, Imperial Beach & Coronado

        The video below is comprised of stills and video shot with my Nikon D5000 from the north end of 7th Ave. in Imperial Beach, CA. I’m standing near the North end of 7th Ave., while looking at the Dinosaur Cage on Coronado, which sits just south of Silver Strand Beach State Park.

Kitesurfer With Awesome Kiteboard Graphic Catches Some Air

        The winds on Coronado were perfect for kitesurfing at Silver Strand Beach, so I interrupted a leisurely bike ride along Bayshore Bikeway to take some photos. I’ve never tried to kitesurf but I’d like to try.

        These guys were kitesurfing on the southern end of Silver Strand beach, right in front of the southern most lifeguard tower. The weather, wind and waves all seemed to be favorable and it was fun to watch and a pleasant addition to to my bike ride.

A Perfect Coronado Day

Dredging The Southern Edge Of San Diego Bay

        There’s been an odd looking dredging machine out in South Bay Biological Study Area for the last few weeks. An odd looking machine with a weird way of dragging and anchoring itself along the shallow water with four metal stilts. They don’t seem to be removing anything, just dredging and pumping it out through a hose on the back of the vessel.

Checking the Bottom After Dredging

        The workers above were criss-crossing behind the dredging machine in their small boat. The boat seemed to be outfitted with a laptop and some type of sonar.

Mirage Casino Volcano Erupts On The Las Vegas Strip

        During my trip to Las Vegas last week, I had a loose agenda. To attend the Nightclub & Bar Convention with my friends and to take some fresh photos of Las Vegas. I did manage to get some good shots of the people I saw walking along the Las Vegas strip, but what I really wanted was to take some original shots of Las Vegas landmarks that were new and different. This was a challenge because every time I thought I was heading to an area or taking a shot I thought was unique, I inevitably saw other photographers in the area. So, relative to my other Las Vegas posts, this one will have the fewest number of photos because being unique on a strip full of cameras is not as easy at I thought it would be.

Fountains Of Bellagio

        What I really wanted was to create some images that had a timeless quality to them. What I mean by that is I wanted some Las Vegas photos that were recognizable yet unique. I wanted photos that were obviously taken in Las Vegas yet didn’t necessarily scream when they were taken.

Pirate Show At Treasure Island

        What that ultimately came to mean was that after four days and three nights in Las Vegas, I ended up with five photos of the strip that I’d like to show the world. Averaged out, that’s the equivalent of one keeper every 19 hours. And you thought photography was easy didn’t you?

Aria Hotel & Casino

        The shot above is what I would consider to be my most original shot taken while I was in Las Vegas. This is the only photograph I made where I didn’t see any other photographers before, during or after I made it, so for now, I declare this the Mt. Everest of Las Vegas photos.

The Fountains At Caesar’s Palace

        Way before I knew anything about Las Vegas, I knew about the fountains at Caesar’s Palace because of Evel Knievel. He had one Hell of a crash in 1967 when landing after trying to use a motorcycle to jump the fountains in front of Caesar’s Palace. He wanted to do something that had never been seen before, which is what I suppose I was trying to do as well, except I use a camera, not a motorcycle. It’s hard to gauge failure with stuff like this because it is very relative. Evel did jump the fountains but he fucked up the landing so he broke 40 bones and ended up in a coma for a month. Today in 2011, daredevils have gone the way of the Dodo bird, yet photography has flourished. In my head, that makes me the daredevil today and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Heh heh… Good luck!

Traveling Clown Folk On A Footbridge Over The Las Vegas Strip

        Las Vegas can be as much or as little as you want it to be, no matter what you want to do. For me, for this trip it was about catching up with old friends and having some fun with my camera. I didn’t want to take the same old Las Vegas photos that everyone takes, but at the same time, I had no idea what I wanted to photograph instead. I had no idea how I would get shots that were or could be unmistakably Las Vegas yet be different from what has already been done a million times before. The people turned out to be the answer.

In Front Of The Mirage Casino

        I did a lot of shooting from the hip for these photos, which is always fun and a little bit scary because it is so not the way I usually take photos. I’m used to my viewfinder so shooting from the hip is hard for me. I missed a lot, but the Las Vegas strip is a busy place so I ended up with a few that I liked. The moral of the story: Practicing helps out a lot, so don’t get discouraged if you’re not good at it right away. Eric Kim has a great post that explains how to shoot from the hip that is a great read that will help you out a lot.

Jynn Palazzo

        Thanks to random timing and the position of my camera, the woman above will always be known to me as Jynn Palazzo. I wonder what the actual odds are of something like this photograph happening are, where the woman’s name actually turned out to be Jynn Palazzo. I tried search engines but came back with nothing so I don’t think a person by that name exists, but how celestially cool would that be if it worked out? Really cool!

A Chiseled Woman With Caesar’s Statues

        There are so many different people walking up and down Las Vegas Blvd and it can be so crowded that it might seem paralyzing but I promise you this is a place where you can open carry your camera and take all the photos you want.

The Familiar Pose In Front Of A Fountain

        What I like best about shooting from the hip is avoiding situations like what you see above. Looking right into the camera and smiling can be a good photo, I just don’t understand why people try for it so often right off the bat. I like candid and unposed photography much better.

The Deciding Couple

        The sidewalks on the Las Vegas strip always have lots of people on them, so shots like the one above, with a couple that seems to have the place all to themselves is a rare treat. This is in front of The Mirage Casino’s volcano.

Waiting For The Bus & Missed The Spaceship

        The architecture and shape of things along Las Vegas Blvd are like nowhere else. From the photo above we could imagine being in a spaceport and the woman is checking a space schedule for the spaceship looming over her head.

        I don’t know for sure if it was his snake or not but the guy in the photo on the left happened to be walking in front of me so I stuck with him until he eventually set his snake down and just started hanging out, at which point I took his picture. Most people didn’t even notice the snake and the guy didn’t seem to notice any of the people so I’m not sure what his game was.
        The fountain and the woman to the right are in front of The Monte Carlo. The wind was blowing water all over her, so she was turning away from a spray of water when I snapped the pic.

Me, Being Reflected In A Restaurant Window

        I was pleased with the photos I made during my time in Las Vegas. I’m happy to say that my shots didn’t seem like ordinary, cliched postcard shots… They seem to be unique, so I feel good, and that’s what this trip was for in the first place.

Apple On The Strip

        I was happy to be on an internet and computer-free regimen the entire time I was in Las Vegas, but others can’t do without, and the woman above was one of them. Anyway, that’s my take on people of the Las Vegas strip. I hope it helps to inspire you the way Vegas inspired me. I also attended the nightclub and bar convention, so be sure to see my post and photos from that event as well. Cheers!

My Wristband For The Convention

        The people I’ve known the longest go back, way back to the days I lived in Denver, CO. Unfortunately most of us, including me have moved away from Denver, towards warmer parts of the country. It is very rare for all of us to be in the same state, let alone the same room for any length of time but recently it did happen, and with a big helping hand from my friends, I was able to attend this gathering, with my camera.

Laser Displays Make Anyone Look Like A Rock Star

        Anything that can be served in or placed in a bar or nightclub are what this show is about. My Denver friends are all current or former owners & managers in the service industry, so it’s one of those fun business trips fun them, but for me it was a little bit different. I got some great insight into what goes in to making a club or bar successful and just how much thought goes into making sure their customers like what they see and love what they drink while inside.

The Only Way To Know Is To Try

        It doesn’t matter what the bottle or the woman that’s serving them looks like, the only way to know which new alcohols are good and which are shit is to try them one shot or one cocktail at a time for eleven hours, over the course of two days. Welcome to Las Vegas!

        This is better than any gadget or technology show for two reasons: First, it’s in Las Vegas and second, it’s a trade show where as a representative of a company it is your job to sample every type of alcohol in the building. Yep, and the iPad doesn’t even support flash.

This Show Is About Alcohol…

And Having Fun

And Smashing Through Groups Of People

        There is a reason this show is not the drunken frat party you think it must be if it’s a convention center filled with a bunch of professionals right in the middle of sin city: They are professionals so they are not a threat. The people at this show are the people that have to deal with the drunken idiots on a nightly basis, so they know how to act properly when alcohol is involved, even obscene amounts. This is a professional show for businesspeople that know how to get drunk in an exemplary and highly professional manner, not amateur night.
        The next time you are in a bar and you see a group of people that are being a little more obnoxious and loud than you would normally think would be allowed in a place like that yet they get constant, attentive service and never have a break in their good time, then they are a group of pros in the service industry just letting off steam and the staff of the place knows it. They also know the group will regulate their own party just like mafia would, so if anyone actually did start doing something that would legitimately ruin the party a stick would be brought down between that person’s eyes, bringing him or her back into line long before anyone else even saw a problem… Because they are professionals. It was a great experience that had me learning new things, spending quality time with old friends as well as engaging in some old fashioned street photography, which turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the trip. You’ll want to be sure to check out my next two posts which will consist of the people and sights of the Las Vegas strip. Cheers!

That’s Ridiculous!

        There was so much going on at the most recent Technomania Circus show last Saturday night you could say it was absurd… And ridiculous! There was mind reading, children playing with fire, music, juggling and A LOT of laughing. So, enjoy these photos from the evening of Technomania Circus’s Absurd & Ridiculous Show!

        Dr. Techno (above) read the mind of an audience member, Sky Frank twirled fire and Anton juggled bowling pins as part of the pre-show warm up.

        Valerie Power once again entertained us with her singing saw while Paul and Mary Moeller sang and danced a song that I would guess has a title that is something along the lines of, “Poisoning The Pigeons In The Park.” Attending a Technomania Circus show is a rite of passage for live theater goers and it’s right here in San Diego, right next to the 25th & Imperial orange line trolley stop. Don’t be scared to come to a show or to take the trolley and if you drive there is plenty of on street parking.

Blacklight Theater At Technomania Circus

Sky With Fire

        Technomania Circus will be performing a western themed show in two weeks so those of you that would like to go for the first time won’t have long to wait. Until that time, you can wet your appetite by looking at some more photos from many previous shows by looking through my Technomania Circus tagged posts. Cheers Technomaniacs!

Imperial Beach Sunset

        San Diego Bay is a great place to be during golden hour and sunset. The colors and the view just can’t be beat and talk about a made to order photo-op! All the photos for this post were taken at the southern edge of the Bayshore Bikeway in Imperial Beach.

The Long Shadow Goodnight

        For those of you that don’t know, “golden hour” are those final minutes before a sunset or after a sunrise. The sun is very low, right above the horizon so the light from the sun has to travel through many more miles of our polluted atmosphere which helps to give our nearest star’s light a very warm, yellow hue. One of the biggest not-so-secret secrets of landscape photography is to take your shots during golden hour. A word of warning though, golden hour does not actually last for an hour, it only lasts for about ten minutes so you’ll want to plan ahead.

Looking East From Imperial Beach

        Bayshore Bikeway is a very popular bike path with pedestrians and every sort of non-car conveyance. As you can see from this map of San Diego bike paths, including Bayshore Bikeway, it circles most of San Diego Bay, with the circle being completed if you decide to take the ferry between downtown San Diego and Coronado.

San Diego Skyline, Coronado Bridge & A Seagull During Golden Hour

        Those of you that work in a cubicle in an office under fluorescent lights for forty hours a week need to pay attention to these next sentences: Your job is killing you, your boss is dumber & richer than you and your family doesn’t respect you because you are a human parodic example of some one that has given up on their dreams. In short, the world around you knows you are doing something you hate for money, just like a whore. Your family knows you are being paid money to wake up before sunrise and drive through traffic just so your boss and any of his colleagues can fuck you in the ass, balls deep.