Master of Puppets

This weekend in Mountain View, they held their annual Art & Wine festival. You know the drill: Those places in California where you can buy a toe ring, get a henna tattoo, munch on some kettle corn and/or garlic fries, and generally gawk at humanity as you sip wine you bought by trading in carnival tickets.

I went to the festival just before noon or so with B, and we wandered all the booths. She loved the weather and sipped white wine -- while I bitched & moaned about the bad direct light over sangria, and generally sweltered. Took a few frames, nothing was happening. Lots of people meandering, no action.

Came back closer to the evening, and things had come alive. Wasn't sure if it was because it had cooled off, or because people had had their requisite 3-4 glasses of wine, but stuff was really moving.

Saw this guy in a toy booth, showing off his puppet rig to a kid. Love the crossed motif, and the contrast didn't hurt either.

Caltrain Cowboy

Went a bbq at my friend Julien's in the city today. A bunch of us opted to ride up on Caltrain (they need our support!), and I snapped this shot while my friends and I were roaming up and down the train trying to get a seat.

Looking at the Caltrain group on Flickr, I don't see very many people taking my kind of pictures. Maybe worthwhile to compile all my pictures from, on, or towards Caltrain in a collection some day. Suggested title: "Caltrain Connections"?

Horseplay

I've never been into horse racing (or most gambling), but I am fascinated by the people who show up to follow it -- even if it's just on TV screens and the Big Board.

Thrill Me

Well, Vegas was unexpectedly eventful: food poisoning, anaphylactic shock, a pulled muscle, monster head cold, and forgetting the power supply to my apnea machine -- it's kind of a wonder we made it out of the hotel room at all.

I spent an hour or two on Fremont Street around midnight Sunday, walking around downtown Vegas and taking in the sights. I love that place -- lots of motion, lots of people doing their stuff-white-people-like jamming out to cover bands on the street, and even a wedding or two. This shot is all about the advice to "get closer". Feels like I put myself on the scene and in the middle of the flow, and I'm happy with how it worked out.

The Pickup

Shot this one on my last trip to Vegas. Was leaving a party for my conference, and then noticed this couple over by a very dark bar on the way out. No way I could shoot them directly without being noticed, so I set the ISO to 6400, said a little prayer, and shot this from the hip. Very challenging environment -- one of those times I found myself greedily wishing for a d3s and that extra stop of low light performance.

Apropos of Vegas, I'm headed back there this weekend. Was going to Sonoma, but it turns out that according to Yelp, I could either pay $500/night for a room, or sleep with bedbugs. My girlfriend pointed out that last minute plane tickets to Vegas were cheap, so off we go. Next stop: The Wynn, and smoky casinos full of people who desperately need to be photographed. ;)

Raggedy

This is the same woman from "The Offer". She had so much character, I snapped this as the transaction was going down -- gust of San Francisco wind did the rest.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

This one is from my trip to Austin earlier this summer. Way more processing than is usual for my taste, but somehow the bronze-y/dream-like look sort of worked for me here. Still not sure if I'm satisfied with this crop, but I love the motion.

If it helps to set the stage, I was sobering up at a Starbucks at the time, and shot this through a window. ;)