Skyscraper

Every year, I try to photograph the San Francisco Pride Parade. There's huge, monster turnout, as a happy city turns out for what is effectively an all-day celebration of some of the best things about San Francisco. You get these great characters who are literally on parade, and the result is a wonderful chance to take some pictures.

This shot was driven by two things: Last year, I got this shot of one of those SF cheerleading groups tossing people in the air. I wanted to get more of that action -- I love seeing people take flight! The other is the Airship Ventures zeppelin, which has been everywhere lately. I'd seen it in the sky all morning, and I'd been looking to include it in a composition. This is the result -- tough exposure, but one of my favorite shots from this year.

Colored Folks

This is the other shot I got from last Saturday that really had me looking at colors working together in a scene. That same direct, late afternoon light is at work just like my previous image -- and the angular shadows make this slightly weird image work for me.

An Arm and a Leg

Summer is here in San Francisco, which means a preponderance of largely cloudless days in many of the areas I shoot. One of the fun things about cities is that by afternoon, you get like peaking around buildings but still being very direct, which leads a lot of the colors to really pop.

Color isn't normally my thing, but I've been sitting here with Eggleston on my desk for a few months, so I'm hoping it starts to rub off. ;)

Sit for a Spell

Shot this on Market Street -- liked the lines.

Julie

This is a PSA.

Julie Michelle, the photographer behind "I Live Here: SF", is going through some rough times.

 Here are the relevant details from All City:

There is a fundraiser this Sunday (12/18) at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club to help All City friend and fellow photographer Julie Michelle and her partner Lee.

As some of you know, Lee recently suffered a massive stroke mid-November, leaving a lot of uncertainty in the couple’s lives. As you can imagine, the medical expenses are through the roof, even with insurance. Julie and Lee are currently in the midst of trying to relocate to a new home that will better fit Lee’s needs. 

In addition to trying to run Lee’s companies, Julie is currently staying with friends and working on packing up their life belongings in preparation for the move. Julie has done a lot of great things for the San Francisco photography community and beyond, and chances are that many of you reading this either know Julie personally or are familiar with her work, so I’m hoping some of our local readers are able to attend Sunday’s fundraiser. If you cannot attend, you can still help out here: 

http://julieandlee.chipin.com/julie-and-lee.

Your support is great appreciated! 

San Francisco Motorcycle Club

2194 Folsom Street (at 16th Street)

San Francisco, CA 94110 

3:00-7:00p.m.

If you're not familiar with the "I Live Here" project, Julie started it by posting an invitation on the internet to take portraits of people. She asks people to pick the place in San Francisco that means the most to them, and then will meet them there. Total strangers, sometimes in some totally strange places.

The result has been not only some interesting portraits, but also people doing the same thing in other cities.

Julie needs our help if she wants to continue her project -- if you'd like to chip in, just follow the link above and donate whatever you can.

Signs of the Time

Ran into more protesters walking around SF yesterday.

Folsom Street Follies

Another vignette from the side of Folsom Street.

Attack of the Y Chromosome

Taking a photo of just men at the Folsom Street Fair is an interesting constraint, and I think it yielded some fun results here.

Rapture in Jade

Shot this over at the Gold's Gym area of the Folsom Street Fair, where they had people on pedestals twirling these colorful flags.

Tight

Yesterday was the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, and I was up there about thirty minutes before the fair started.

I believe I've said this before, but it's worth saying again:

By far the most disturbing aspect of this fair is not any of the sexual or generally bdsm-themed activity that goes on. It's that the same vendors who sell garlic fries and grilled corn at the Mountain View Art and Wine festival also show up here, for this event. It makes me wonder: What is the life of one of these vendors like? One day, bourgie art & wine festival. The next, sketchy Central Valley carnival. Then *bam*, naked people are tying each other up in the street and getting whipped, and you're still there, peddling the same old fries. Anyway, just a fun thought -- maybe there's a photo essay in the lives of those folks. ;)

Anyway, back to the FSF. The light was awesome. I stayed for about four hours, and felt bad to leave even then, since the light was still going great.

The subject here is a man doing a demonstration of various types of masochism at once -- being blindfolded, whipped, and then also have more sensitive parts roped up. For my part, the hard part wasn't imagining dealing with the pain -- it was imagining how much time this guy has to spend at the gym. Regardless, he made for a wonderful subject, and the alternate title could almost be, 'Grace Under Pressure'. ;)

The Girl in the Crowd

Some people stand out, even in a crowd.

The Lonely Road

While I was walking around SF on Saturday, I found a road I'd never seen, called "Maiden Lane". I was taken by the fact that it's this little pedestrian only lane in a city that despite all the hype seems to love letting people drive everywhere, and at increasingly odd angles. The light there is particularly interesting this time of year, with the sun flaring around the edge of buildings.

Smoke and Mirrors

I pass this guy on Geary Street all the time. Lots of photos of him, none I was super happy with -- pretty easy to take pictures of a hard bitten guy who loves to smoke. This one though, it seemed to work for me -- nice time of day, nice rim lighting, nice slouch against the wall, nice reflections. * 

Speaking of dozens of photos, this is now my 200th post. I hope if you're reading this you've found an image here that really sings for you -- something that makes you go back and look at it again, or when you see it again months (or years) later, you remember the feeling it gave you the first time you saw it. A good photo is always like taking a trip to this crazy new world -- one you've never seen before, but maybe was already there right in front of you.

So, hopefully there have been an image like that for you here. If not, keep watching -- the photos are likely to continue until they pry the camera from my cold, dead hands.

Dogpatch

Despite the name, not shot in the Dogpatch. ;) The last few weekends I've been up in the city, it's gotten super overcast in the last hour of the day (at least in the Market Street/Union Square area). In that sort of overcast light, if you see something light, it tends to go blinding white in b&w conversions. The result was some contrast and geometry that I liked as this woman's dog parts the crowd before her.

Shades

Ever notice how some couples end up in subtle ways? Photographers do.

Round the Bend

I walked a little closer to the tenderloin this Saturday, and I got a couple of shots there I liked. With the overcast and the stark setting, a black & white conversion suggested itself.

If Looks Could Kill

The last shot I posted was driven by the looks of the people in it, and I think this one is too. There's a range of emotions upon disembarking from Caltrain, most of which are not pleasant. ;) Irritatingly, this is best viewed in a browser other than Chrome, which seems hell-bent on tinting it just a little orange.

Observers

Despite my doom cold, drug my self up to the city yesterday so the weekend wouldn't feel like a total waste. Caught this moment when there was some really good partial directional light working in my favor.

Overshadowed

Shot this on O'Farrell -- was up there last week, and thought I would come back and check out some of the afternoon light there. Lots of building reflections, and just a bit of drama. :)

Fans

Caught this moment on Powell Street yesterday -- had gone up to the city to catch a few hours of afternoon light near Union Square and to wander around some streets I don't normally spend a lot of time on. Powell is an old favorite though, and it didn't disappoint.