happy holidays

25-second exposure under a bright moon on the Pacific.

twas the night before...

Hope your holidays aren't spent stuck in traffic. Or, if you're stuck in traffic, I hope your holidays are full of good music.

campground host

I love this photo because it looks like Juan is doing some Christmas trick-or-treating in an RV park.

my other limo

Muni at night.

the go team

The trip to Yosemite was brought to you by this man and this electric pony:

working weekends

Rose's in Wicker Park, Chicago.

sunday props

I just want to say that shooting football is incredibly difficult. I only managed to shoot three photos all night of someone carrying the ball, and this was one of them. I think of all those photos in the sports section of the Chicago Tribune...and my hat goes off to them. My proverbial hat.

rah rah rah

I shot a high school football game last Friday in Wheaton, Illinois. It was a pretty big game--the reigning state champions (Wheaton Warrenville South) v. their rivals (Wheaton Warrenville North). It was only the second football I've ever been to. I found the cheerleaders sort of fascinating.

vertical el

An El station at night. I love the El. It reminds me of the NYC subway...in Queens.

a little geekout

I went to see my friend's hardcore band play Tuesday night, and tested a new (well, new to me) camera that can shoot at 3200 ISO. This number refers to film sensitivity, meaning that it can make images in very low light. And that's important because I shoot a lot in bad light and don't like using a flash.

Let's geek out for a second. Here's a photo I shot Tuesday night in Chicago. I have clearer ones, but I like this the best. Not sure what produced that green flare spot.



So, that one above was shot with the Canon Mark III. Compare that with this shot of Sugar & Gold I took in New York last year with the Mark II.



See how much grainier the second one is? It was also shot at 3200 ISO, f 4.0, with a focal length of 24mm. This first shot was exposed a touch longer (1/15 as opposed to 1/25 of a second, but I never said this was a scientific comparison. The lighting conditions were also different--probably equally crappy, but different.)

In any case, I approve. I would have loved this sort of low-light resolution during the blackouts in Buenos Aires.

love in the barn

A year ago, my dear friends Sue and Chris got married at the Queens County Farm Museum.



Happy Anniversary, I love you guys.

birthday banquet

Sunday was Juan's birthday, and I made us a picnic to take along in his camper van as we watched the sun set over the Bay. This is a dulce de leche cheesecake. I was so concerned with trying to take a proper photo that I forgot to tell him to make a wish.



I did sing, though.

the real mccoy

I shot this lovely photo for editorial use on a two-page spread in a magazine, and the place totally butchered it.

I just want to show it here in its original glory.

fire it up

The night before my friend's wedding, we did a bonfire on the beach in Carmel. I got one made-up word for you: S'MORES.

madrid

After my friend left, I went on to Madrid for two nights. It was so hot that it was hard to leave the house before 8 p.m.

San Fermin

I was really happy to be out of Pamplona. We were here for the Festival of San Fermin, and you know what, I am just not into big, drunken, festivities like I once was. We stayed outside the city (thank goodness) and drove in for the Encierros (running of the bulls) in the mornings. The city smelled like shit, the ground was alternately slick and sticky with beer and urine, and even at seven in the morning, drunken boys were constantly yelling at me, surrounding me, or trying to kiss me.



There was a time in my life when I probably would have enjoyed spending a drunken week in wine-stained garments, sleeping in parks in the daytime and getting trashed in the night...but that time, it appears, has passed.

meat market II

A butcher stand inside the San Telmo Market.

Happy Birthday America!

Somehow I am spending my Fourth of July in Washington, DC. Well, Dulles to be exact. I am on an 11-hour layover from Argentina to Spain--no fireworks for me tonight.

I spent last Independence Day at my friend Shannon's summer home in New Jersey--simultaneously celebrating her birthday. The neighbors all gathered at the lake and shot fireworks from the raft. It was so cozy and spectacular.

stop

This is my roommate Hansel. She hates having her photo taken and usually doesn't stand still so most of my photos of her are usually blurry in low light. I think she stood still for this one because she was obeying the stop sign.



In this home-away, she is like my mom and sister and best friend rolled into one. And I have the most exciting news! I think I am going to spend a few months living with two of her brothers in Mexico City. How cool is that?

leggy