110 pt 2

I don't remember where I took these images. I also don't remember when, except for the general time of Summer, 2013. But I really, really like them!

Ok, so I know this last image is of San Francisco. But the other two? Probably Santa Cruz? Maybe? A dream?

The 110 film shines with landscapes and outside images in bright light. I have a few poorly exposed images that I took with a flash that did NOTHING. Also, overcast images did not fair very well, but the darkness and the grain are something I appreciate. Will I use this film again? Probably not. In the end it was too expensive for the outcome, though I did have fun. 

Golden Gate Park pt5

(View pt1, 2, 3, + 4)

Part 5 of this Golden Gate Adventure takes you to the San Francisco Model Yacht Club. Complete with port hole designed windows on the doors. I didn't get to go inside the building unfortunately - it would have been nice to get some close ups of model boats. But, I did get some pictures of club members racing their model yachts.

There is something recreational for everyone in Golden Gate Park. And if model boats, archery, hiking, walking, running, BBQing, horse shoes, botany, tennis, biking etc is not your thing, then please, be distracted by the buffalo that hang out in the park:

Golden Gate Park pt4

My favorite stop on the Golden Gate Park walk was the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club facilities. The club has classes you can sign up to practice casting in small man-made bodies of water (set with grids to help determine how far and how accurate your cast is). They also offer classes to make fly fish hooks, a beautiful work of art mimicking insects. And, Angler's lodge is a log cabin in the park open to the public where you can store your fishing equipment, take a rest, or enjoy framed fly fish hooks. It was a very friendly place to be and watching people practice casting was very enjoyable to me.

View of Angler's lodge


Casting class


Experienced caster practicing in the water

(see pt1, pt2, and pt3)

Golden Gate Park pt3

(view pt1 or pt2)

Moving along West to East in Golden Gate Park, our next stop was the Archery Range. It's on  the Northern side of the Park, and has a wonderful view of both the Park and the City overlapping. That overlap is particularily interesting to me, because sometimes in the middle of the Park it's easy to get a little lost and feel like you're somewhere else than San Francisco.

This last image is actually outside of the Park, and is the location of where the San Francisco Boardwalk once stood in the 40s. Here is what this are used to look like (and I wish it was still around!):

source

Golden Gate Park pt2

Continuing on the tour of Golden Gate Park and heading on over to the West end in the Beach Chalet. The Beach Chalet is also in front of the two windmills. I didn't take a picture of windmills, and I kind of wish I had, but I was just so surprised to find them in the park that I admired rather than photographed. Anyways, back in the Chalet (which is also a brewery and restaurant that I want to eat at) there is a mural:

It's a mural that goes around the entirety of the lobby inside the Chalet, showing scenes of community in San Francisco from the 30s. There are also wonderful stairs with sea creatures carved into the structure and wonderful mosaic patterns below the mural. It's a pretty gorgeous place and these photos don't do it justice. This was commissioned to be public art! I wish there were more things like this EVERYWHERE.

Golden Gate Park pt. 1

I took a ton of pictures in Golden Gate Park a few weeks ago and have been ever so slowly going through and editing them. All the images are for use of a project my friend Devin is working on, similar to the Golden Gateway project (you can see picture from that post here).

It was a challenging photographic experience for me because, like the problems I had before with the Golden Gateway, I don't take a lot of architecture or landscape photos. I also don't have the right kind of lens with my digital SLR to do that kind of work, so often my images of buildings are a little contorted. But I learned a lot and had a great time shooting. One of the more fascinating and not-photography-related things I found out during this project was that there are a ridiculous amount of things to do in Golden Gate Park. Seriously! It is absolutely mind-blowing how much time you can spend there and still not do everything.

One of the most important things a park needs: a restroom!

Not that exciting, but I thought it was pretty funny for the restroom to be sort of hiding in bushes and trees. It's like I'm doing my business in nature!

Have I disappointed you yet? I'm sure the beginning of this post was interesting.

Ok, it's the restroom again. But it's a nice restroom - look at the roof! There are details where there could have been a slab of cement. This bathroom could have been super ugly and not nestled kindly in bushes and trees. I think the most interesting part is that you don't know it's a bathroom from the sidewalk. Also, I did not feel uncomfortable using it - that is a high compliment in the world of women's restrooms.

This is the last time I will ever talk about a restroom so much. Pt 2 will have some interesting kind of socialist murals. Sound good?

The Golden Gateway

I've been photographing architecture and public/private spaces in San Francisco for my good friend Devin. It's been a challenge, often times because the buildings in question aren't very photogenic, but also because I don't photograph a lot of architecture. At some point in the near future, Devin will be writing about these spaces in San Francisco and I will share a link to the article when that happens. For now, I'd just like to give a sneak peak of my favorite Golden Gateway images.

    

What I gathered most from the Golden Gateway is it's lack of friendly and identifying spaces. Hundreds of people live there, yet I saw hardly any people while photographing. The Gateways is also a level up above the street - you can walk blocks and never actually touch the ground. 

It's a little unnerving how removed it is from the City it's self because it makes me feel like I could be anywhere. It's like how when you walk into a Safeway (or other chain supermarket) and you could literally be anywhere in the US because all Safeways are designed to look the same. There is no character of the town or city you may be in. I did not walk into the Golden Gateway and think yes, I am in San Francisco.

Row Boating in Golden Gate Park

I really love Golden Gate Park in San Francisco! I have been to the park many times for shows, like Hardly Strictly Blue Grass, I have been there for picnics, and I have been there for the museums. This day, I went for a picnic and a little row boat adventure. 

 Nick and Eric, row boating and loving it.

 Eric and me. I'm talking during a picture, as per usual. 

 Devin played banjo while we floated around. I kinda felt like I was floating down the Bayou... though I've never actually been there so my idea of the Bayou is basically Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride from Disneyland. That's how my thought process works, apparently. I free-styled lyrics poorly about the row boating adventure while Devin strummed, but I'm hoping that my friend Eric will write a song about it and then I can share it here later. Sound like a good idea Eric?

And a turtle! They were everywhere and not scared of people. FYI turtles are my spirit animal.

I have more things from San Francisco to share later this week, so stay tuned!

San Francisco Roof Top

The neatest place to be after midnight...

Updates

I haven't been writing here much - but I have been taking a huge amount of photos. I'm near the end of many rolls, have started an awesome architecture/San Francisco/urban space project with my good friend Devin, and am working on a couple informative photo projects of my own based on lighting and film formats.

Creative things are happening and I'm excited to share them!

Meanwhile, here is an awesome picture I took of my friend Devin floating in the San Francisco skyline while playing banjo: