What Next?

In the past few weeks I have been covering more and more stories about the economy, none of them good, some of them hopeful. But all generally the same, good hard working people who have either lost their jobs or are facing layoffs. Last night I covered a foreclosure seminar, which was a good thing, in a way because it was aimed at helping those who might lose their homes get help and possible keep them. Today I covered custodians at a local school, these people do some of the hardest work with some of the worst hours possible and yet they are all very happy with their jobs. However do to the fact that they are employed by the school district, they like so many others can't be sure how long they'll get to keep those long hard hours.

The newspaper industry, of which I get most of my work from is no better off, last week a local paper laid off a good number of its editorial staff including some friends. Also last week the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stopped printing a paper and moved to a web only edition. And just yesterday the San Diego Union Tribune sold to a private equity firm from L.A. for an unnamed price, no one knows what this will mean for the UT but my thoughts go out to all of those who are on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next.

I can't say exactly what got us into this current finical crisis we find ourselves in. Was it greed? probably! Was it ignorance on the part of "Joe public"? Maybe! Was it a mix of the two? definitely! The bottom line is we are here now and there is no one great answer to fix the problem. I just hope that things start turning around soon before they get any worse.

Why do I hate Car Shows?

Last night and today was spent photographing the Temecula Rod Run, a really great event that is a lot of fun to be at. However this is the 8th time I have shot this event and its getting harder every year to come up with a new way to photograph the same cars and people.

I hate photographing at car shows to begin with do to the fact that they are always held in open areas during the brightest part of the day, with a lot of distracting and hot backgrounds. The cars themselves add a lot of color but often have a lot of chrome and are really reflective so they tend to make unpleasing photos. Also the people are there to look at the cars and really don't seem to care if they walk in front of my lens. I spent around 20 minutes by a car waiting for someone to look in the window of it and every time someone started to, a group of people would walk right in to my frame.

The bottom line is I like car shows they are really fun to attend, I even like the people at car shows they are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. But I really hate photographing at car shows!

Drug House

I have always found the architecture of the old Lake Elsinore Navy academy building really gorgeous. So today when I got an assignment to follow a code enforcement officer while he and a couple police officers did a walk through to try and determine how bad the conditions in the unoccupied property was, I got really excited.

The building was once an Navy academy so it has all kinds of twist, turns, and rooms, and with no power and all the windows boarded up the building was really dark and impossible to see in. Also it has been a beacon for drug addicts and gang members for the past few years. The inside was like a pack of wild animals ransacked it, people have been stealing the wiring from the walls, and just about anything they could pry loose or saw off. The floors were missing section where they had pulled up the boarding to remove the steel pipes from the floor. We even found a soda bottle full of urine that some one had been using as a toilet. It was really an uncomfortable place to be in, you never knew who or what was around the next corner, and all you could do was expect to find a dead body or a strung out junkie waiting to protect his or her home.

Buzz

On Wednesday I got to cover the 32nd annual Riverside County spelling bee, I have covered a lot of bee's in the past few years but never one at this level. I am always amazed at the dedication these kids have, spelling words most of us have never even heard of before.

By the time I got to the bee there were five kids from my area left and after about five rounds they had all missed a word, so I was left waiting to see who the winner would be. After the 15h round all but two were left, and one of them misspelled his word. So it was up to the last contestant to spell her word correctly, and she didn't. So they brought back the other three spellers for another round and yet again they all misspelled their words including the last speller. This continued for two rounds then finally Paul Uzzo an 8th grader at Vista Verde Middle school in Moreno Valley correctly spelled "Metanoia" to win. I was really hoping he would win because he was really expressive, so I knew he would make a really great face when he won, and he did!

Studio Time

Well today I got a break from shooting news and sports to photograph in a studio, I had the privilege of getting to use Butch Owens (a local photographers) home studio. The shoot was with a friend who has never modeled before but she really has the classic pin-up model look. So we decided to try and replicate some of the classic pin-up shots from the past. It was a bit of a challenge to get the shots I wanted do to the fact that she wasn't used to modeling and I am not used to directing, but after a little time we really came away with so good images. Butch also gave me a great help by bringing some old tools to use as props.

(Foot)ball

I just got done shooting the CIF SS division III soccer finals in Downey, and man was it a was great game. the team that won was from Great Oak high, a local high school in my area. The final score was 3-1 and all three of Great Oaks goals were made by one player, Dakota Collins.

It was really nice for me to cover a local team win at that level, over the years I have covered many CIF finals and for the most part the local team never wins. So it was a great change of pace for me to be able to photograph the joy and excitement that winning a title can bring.

The Crossroads

As I was headed home today, I found the skies really amazing and decided to make a photograph. So I took some time and found some cows and made some images but was really unhappy with what I had, they just lacked that "it" quality. So I kept driving and found this memorial on the side of the road just as the sky was unleashing some really amazing clouds. I made a few exposures. I really have no idea who it was for or when it happened but I hope my image is some kind of tribute to who was lost at this site.