Travel

I am thrilled to have some images of my "Bingo Culture" series featured today on Aline Smithson's website, Lenscratch.   You can view her post, as well as more photographs from my series, HERE. One of the projects that I took on last year on the road was visiting several bingo halls across the states.  Here is my statement about the project: In 2010, I hit the road to photograph America solo; living out of a tent and bringing along my dog for the ride.  I did not have a preconceived agenda, rather, I wanted to discover worlds that were unfamiliar and meet people I would not have otherwise encountered. Each day I would make a decision on what direction I would take.  While traveling in Maine, I discovered a Bingo hall and it provoked a curiosity about a subculture that I was aware of but hadn't given any thought towards.  What I discovered was a community of dedicated players who travel to the same place, set up in the same spot, and bring along the same go...

I awoke last Saturday morning before the sun and headed to the heart of Los Angeles.  The destination was the  Flower Market to do some street photography with a group.  It was not my idea to get up at this hour and head to the city, but I went along with it and it turned out to be an interesting adventure.  I am always up to try new things and this was something new. You can smell the freshly cut flowers for blocks.  All of the smiling faces, beautiful colors and happy people were nice to see but it wasn't really what I wanted to look at. I decided to skip the market of tourists to get lost in the streets of downtown Los Angeles at 6:30 in the morning.  The idea and essence of "street shooting" to some photographers is to take a photograph unnoticed. Yes, I can do that but for the most part, I like to interact with my subjects. Because of where I like to go, most of the time I don't necessarily blend in with the surroundings I choose to place myself in. ...

I ventured downtown to do some street shooting and capture the people involved in Occupy Los Angeles.  The energy was high and everyone I saw was peaceful and friendly to each other.  There were some debates among people with different opinions but that is what I love about this country.  We can have a difference of opinion and share it peacefully.  I wanted to show some photographs of what I observed on Saturday for the people who aren't in the area and want to know what is going on.  You can draw your own conclusions and opinions.  I have more photographs on my facebook fan page.  You can be a fan and see more photographs HERE.

As you might know, I photographed the people and the activities of Alumapalooza in 2010 and in 2011.  This is the event held at the birthplace of Airstream in Jackson Center, Ohio.  In the new redesign of the Airstream.com website, my photographs are displayed in the President's Letter section (the photograph I took of Bob Wheeler was from Alumapalooza 2010), Community Section and the Favorites section.  I am thrilled that my travel website (the one you are on now) is named second in the "People" tab.  I look forward to Alumapalooza 2012!   Here are a few screen shots from the Airstream.com website and after the screen shots, I have attached the video slideshows I put together for each year.  You might guess that I love animals (especially dogs) if you watch the slideshows.

My brother tied the knot the other day in San Diego to his long term girlfriend, Aurora.  It was a small ceremony at the courthouse and a gathering at their home afterwards.  It was quick but sweet.  They had a photographer on hand to take photographs, but I wanted to take a few to remember the way I saw things.   Here are a few from the day. And yes, the bride is wiping off the car they drove to the courthouse.  It's my step father's car (the one with the beard) with the "grumpy old man" personalized license plate.  He will be 90 in a month. We are all a bit slightly skewed from "normal" but that's the way we like it.