bye for now, San Francisco

I am leaving San Francisco for a while today. It is the height of the tourist season. I like to take photos of the tourists.



Lombard Street is, admittedly, pretty, with all the hydrangeas and all. Also this camera I've been shooting with has a way of effecting this sunlight so everything looks so dreamy. I'm not sure what that's all about.

the driver

This handsome man has been squiring me around town all month on the back of his scooter.



That's a lollipop, by the way. And it's his birthday today! Happy Birthday!

alamo square park II

I also like this one. Dogs, trees, midday trekkers: San Francisco.

dolores park I

I really miss Dolores Park. For a couple of years, it was like my backyard. This weekend was a beautiful one for just sitting in the park.

alamo square

I can't really tell you why I like this photo so much.

for some reason

This reminds me of Mary Poppins.

that fierce pup

Pretty in pink in the Tenderloin.

chess, san francisco-style

monday fave

This is my favorite photo from last week, shot on the way down from Nob Hill on Hyde Street.

at the crossroads

I saw this woman trying to cross Sixth Street yesterday and really empathized with her.



Insert appropriate metaphor about dodging disaster, negotiating risk...

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.

touristing

It is tourist season in San Francisco. Sometimes it can be annoying that I cannot get on the cable car to actually get where I need to go, but then again I am in this beautiful city that people like to visit. And once in a while, I see a tourist who is not annoying and I think to myself, I miss being lost like this.

relativity

My typical day the past few weeks involves coffee, lunch, coffee, dinner, and then QT with the love of my life.

The nice thing about being here in the Bay Area is that there are always surprise guests, like my cousin whom I saw a few weeks ago when I passed through DC.

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.

one for the road

Here's a shot from Burgos in Spain, where I got chased away by the bartender seconds after taking this shot of a man on a mission.

monday vertical

I shot some photos at my friend's wedding reception last weekend, and my flash failed at several key moments, like this one.

South American Rainbow Beetles

South America is full of Volkswagen Beetles. I began shooting this series when Suze and I were in Montevideo. This one was shot on the Uruguay coast in Punta del Diablo, close to the Brazilian border. It's so funny to see them all everywhere. You get the feeling like there's this secret army of old-school hippies motoring around.



If you click on the photo, it'll bring you to a collection of the Beetles I've shot, mostly in Uruguay and Peru. If anyone wants to sign me up for an advertising campaign with Volkswagen, holla!

wedding prep

My oldest friend (since we were five years old!) got married over the weekend. This is my favorite photo of the weekend, when her mother was feeding the couple's dog from room service about an hour before the ceremony.

flashbox

I was redoing my website and came across one of my old favorites from the summer, when I shot this amateur boxing match in New York. These were adolescents, and while some of them were quite fearless, I think the huge crowd (a warm evening on Pier 84) made a lot of them nervous. And the horrible bankers there screaming obscenities at the kids fighting probably didn't make it any better. I had some sweet press access--elbows on the ring--and their anxiety was palpable.



This was my first photo assignment for Issue 3 of Norman Einstein's Magazine.

return to the bay

I am back in San Francisco for a couple of weeks. Even though I lived here for so long, each time I return I am amazed by two things: the intensity of the fog, and how cold it is. In August. It is just as cold as Buenos Aires.



Yes, I know my camera's sensor needs to be cleaned.

tektonika

When Suze and I were in Montevideo over Christmas, we met these kids dancing to tektonika music in a plaza in the Ciudád Vieja (Old City). They surrounded us when we approached them and everyone was hollering at once. At first I was a little scared--adolescents scare me--but then they shouted "Welcome!" in unison.



See the complete set here. They taught us some moves and were just generally awesome.

a toast to the roast

The last time I was in the Bay Area, back in November, my friend Suze and I tailgated before a Raiders' game back. Those are some serious fans. Check out more of my photos in Issue 7 of Norman Einstein's Magazine. It was my first time tailgating but probably not the first time I've been drunk by noon.



Raiders fans have kind of a scary reputation, but everyone we met was so friendly and willing to share food and drinks with us. When does football season start again?

escape from illinois

I'm so happy to be out of Illinois for the next few weeks, because I have always found the suburbs very oppressive. As fond as I am of cars, this sort of landscaping is just very uninspiring.

just a reminder

I'm attending the wedding today of my oldest friend.



I took this photo my first full summer in New York, in June 2008.

this dream-like existence

It has been almost three weeks since my random Luna de Miel (honeymoon) in Spain. A lot of it was very surreal, like this drive through the clouds in Navarra.



Today I am reuniting with This Here Man, in another enchanted land...California.

trek back

After leaving Buenos Aires, I returned to the Midwest. One of my favorite things about Chicago is the El, the elevated train.

ice cream men

This is in Pamplona, at the horse fair.

If I ever get to be this old, I definitely hope I'm living in a hot enough place to eat ice cream every day...and I'm going to eat ice cream every day. Oh yes.

ice cream man

This is in Madrid, another one of those moments that I am not sure anyone will think is funny except for me.

more swimmers

Here's another image from Biarritz. What? It's a very picturesque town.

the king of kings

I touted some restaurants for my San Sebastian city guide, and this was my favorite place, Casa Tiburcio. Here's an out-of-focus shot (I blame it on all the steam in the kitchen) of the chef himself, Tiburcio, answering some questions for me about percebes, a shellfish found in only a handful of regions throughout the world.