Photo of the Week (Ending 03/30/07)

Though my photo of the week picks tend to have people in them, particularly in motion, this week's photo has not one human and very little movement.

While on campus to photograph the marketing buildings, I was walking around and noticed these bright purple flowers "trembling" with the wind going by. At first they were so out of place with their enviornment that I just watched them, but soon decided to preserve the moment in a photo.

These week's photo selection is "A Shock of Purple":

First SF Daily Cover Photo

When I went to the office of the San Francisco Daily I was looking forward to shooting again soon for a daily newspaper. I had no idea they would be sending me out so quickly on my first assignment - literally before they interviewed me (though they had seen my portfolio and work on this blog).

The Daily is a community paper that especially covers things happening near their office, so when the editor realized the work would be completed demolishing a building two blocks from the office that day (Wednesday), he had me run out and take some shots.

Here is my first cover with the paper, a shot of Jose Sanchez running an excavator across the demolished KFC/Taco Bell hybrid building, you can see the KFC sign of the old building in the distance, as well as a large building that might provide the first new customers of the new structure going up in about four months (another bigger and better KFC/Taco Bell hybrid).


A closeup of my shot.



I knew it was going to be black and white when I shot it (as the daily is a non-color publication), but I still like color a lot for this subject, so here it is in color:



I look forward to featuring some more of the photojournalism and advertising work I will be doing for the paper in future entries.

National Smoke and Mirrors Day Today

Apparently every day has one or more (United States) National __________ Days associated with it. Today is National Smoke and Mirrors Day, and while I debated putting up a photo of a magician or two, I decide to put up two shots one for each part.

First Keith Barefoot of Noctural Sunshine playing with fire and smoke at a Santa Cruz party.



Then for mirrors, Jason Ricci playing at JJ's Blues. It was during his long first set that I first conceived of shooting him (and subsequent musicians) such that both the lighting and a mirror image was in the shot. Cooincidentally a patch on his left side says "Fire Starter" so he could represent both images.

My Day with CALSTAR

When the Gilroy crew of the California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) reports to work, they never know what their day will be like. Thus began a story I wrote in which I spent the day with the crew.

It was a Friday and though we only went on one call, and ended up being cancelled en route, I learned a lot about the crew and what it's like to be waiting for the phone to ring with a call they only learn the details about after they agree to take it. Though rare a call could be refused, such as if a crew member was injured, or due to poor weather conditions, etc.

The crew is made up of two flight nurses, who are both RN's,and a pilot. Here is flight nurse Jaime Hill checking out the gear.




Another shot of Jamie (who kept on his sunglasses almost all day) in a closeup of him and the gear.




When I saw the aircraft controls I was mesmerized by the sheer volume of all of them. As I have friends in the SJSU aviation program I've been up in a Piper and a Cesna, and I didn't recognize hardly anything. However, this is a helicopter, unlike the two aircraft I mentioned which are planes. Only the pilot is given instructions on how to fly it, and luckily even if one engine broke the second could be used to land. Also, the pilot sits on the right, which I found interesting.





Here is flight nurse David Wiebe preparing the radio for our flight.




I had David take some "prove I was there" shots. In this one, he caught me mid blink, but it's the only one I have with the land in the background showing we are truly airborne.





Luckily, in this other one, my eyes were wide open.




One final shot taken while we were still airborne, and before we were told to head back to base.

Marketing Dept. Brochures for SJSU

How do you take photos for brochures of a busy campus (San Jose State University) without people in them? Go on spring break, of course.

The Marketing Dept. will be coming out with all new brochures, so they wanted me to photograph the campus just focussing on the buildings, so was there yesterday when it was both light out and quiet.

The sky was dark and dramatic for the shots of the Business Tower.




This horizontal really shows off the dramatic sky that Rachel, who contacted me for the project really liked as "different" from most marketing brochures. This shot gives her lots of room to include text such as "Change your environment, enroll in SJSU's Marketing Dept.", a slogan I came up with for them.




Don't let this next shot fool, you, yes we had clear blue skies for a short time.





However, soon after I finished the building shots and got into my car it started raining. It was a total downpour. I'm glad and lucky I finished when I did.

Surprise 110 Birthday Party

Can you keep a secret?

I've heard it said that once a secret was known by two people it is no longer a secret. This aside on Saturday I photographed an event that had been kept secret from two people for over two months, even though the party guest list was over 38 people.




The party was a 110 birthday party. While no one at the party was even over 90 the two guests of honor, Chauntel's mom and dad, now have a combined age of 110. The party featured M and M's in their favorite colors that said "Happy Birthday" and "110".



Chauntel had me take pictures of everyone to put with cards they would write for the birthday guests. When photographing them I learned that Penny's favorite pic of two of her children was of them looking out at Disneyland, one in which you could only see their backs. So I recreated the moment, even taking into account the height difference that had existed before.



Tom and Penny thought they were just going out to a nice dinner with a few family members at Dominics in South San Francisco. Dinner turned into a real family affair when a screen was drawn showing everyone who had come out to help them celebrate their birthdays. It was obvious that no one had let the cat out of the bag.




After a great meal, a chocolate cake (made by all the kids of the family was brought to them).



One of their presents even involved me, the family portrait I had taken of their family in March.


As the evening came to a close there was time to get one last informal portrait of Ian, who upside down, didn't run from the camera.

An Engagement with Steven Frischling Part Two

In between shooting Steven Frischling, the photographer who will be shooting Mai and Mark next month, and who invited me to shoot along with him on their engagement session, I got some touching and fun moments of the couple. They were so relaxed that even with two photographers photographing them, they easily got into a zone where they forgot we were there.

The bride's beautiful smile came out every time she looked at her fiance.


Neither of us had asked them to kiss once, they just did it spontaneously all day starting with this one.


One thing I noticed about them was how physically interconnected they were. I like this one because they are just so literally wrapped up in each other.


As Steven is a Red Sox fan, he joked Mark and Mai's request to go into The Dugout which featured Giant's merchandise would be hard for them, but we got some cool shots. (By the way I'm a Yankees fan and went to a bunch of their games growing up.)

Another kiss for Mai, this time on top of her head.


At one point Mai was looking at her engagement ring and decided that Mark needed one as well, so she made him one, out of grass so the would both look engaged.



I had a lot of fun with these two, and also with Steven. I'm glad I was able to go out and meet him in San Francisco.

An Engagement with Steven Frischling Part One

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet Steven Frischling, a wedding photographer who has worked for several newspapers and magazines. He started photographing news when he was 11 on his bike, and has photographed at the Olympics, major political candidates, etc. I had a great time shooting with him and fun shooting him shooting his couple, Mai and Mark. We met them at the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

It's amazing how while he is getting into and maintaining (what at least appear to be) uncomfortable positions, Mai and Mark forget he is there and get wrapped up in each other.




Steven's fearlessness as a former journalist (and EMT) come out here as he takes this shot in the middle of parked traffic, I wish I knew what this cabbie was thinking, but his facial expression really conveys a lot.



I know what the security guard at the mall was thinking, she came over to us and told us no shooting without a permit. When she first told us there was to be no commercial shooting, quick thinking Steven even asked the couple if they were planning on selling their wedding photos. It was too funny, but we all kept a straight face. Still, we left there quickly.




A little water and hiking doesn't scare Steven, who was wearing boots and cargo pants. You can see him here crouching down on wet pavement to get his shot.



After an intense hour of finding new places and angles, it was time to show the couple his work.



To see some of his favorite shots, visit his blog entry on the couple. Tomorrow I will post some of my favorite shots of Mai and Mark.

Photos of the Week (Ending 03/23/07)

The photos I chose this week are of life up close. First Valerie Nicolaysen in the 100 meter individual medeley (which she swam all butterfly).


Next, I photographed and wrote a story on spring. As part of it I visited Filice Farms which recently obtained bees. So with a long lens and lots of courage, I went to the bees' boxes and waited and took several shots. I didn't even get stung. This is my favorite.

My Photojournalism Portfolio

Author James McNay Brumfield ropes a steer as he rode his mule on his Watsonville ranch.


Keith Barefoot of Nocturnal Sunshine performs as a fire dancer at a private party in Santa Cruz.


Dorothy Oster, 83, hangs from a diving board at UC Santa Cruz.



Hollister Engineer John Parinello, left, and Capt. Tim Schneider direct water towards a fire on Hill Street.

Former Biologist Tom Fields stocks the racks of the newsstand he bought to work closer to home and spend more time with his family.



Students at R. O. Hardin Elementary School practice their yoga at Parents' Back to School Night.


Hollister's David Smith completes his final lap of the 200-yard freestyle event match up against Gilroy High in which he took first place.



Karla Ramirez leaves her own bike behind and rides an adult bike with the help of her dad, Jose Ramirez, at Tony Aguirre Memorial Park.



Employees of Milgard Windows help prepare food bags at Community Pantry.


Robert "The Ghost" Guererro, right, pummels Sandro Marcos in the corner to end the fight by technical knock out at the HP Pavilion.



San Jose State University guard Brittany Imaku, center, leaps into the air to avoid losing the ball to Louisiana Tech forward Ty Moore during the second half at the Event Center.



Tom Pack, assistant manager of Beat the Bookstore, left, is placed in a squad car by Cpl. Victor Quintero, right, after being arrested by Officer Frits van der Hoek, center, in front of the Spartan Bookstore.



Protestors carrying flags demonstrate outside San Jose City Hall to show opposition to proposed new immigration laws.



San Jose State University students show up an hour early to wait in line outside the Student Union to attend the career fair sponsored by the Justice Department.