San Francisco, from the eastern span of the Bay Bridge

San Francisco, from the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

I've been trying to record a record for a bout 8 years. My dream is to have my band play on it. It just never seems to work out.

Either someone quits, or someone does not have time to set aside to do the recording, or it just plain does not sound good when we do record.

But this time will be different! We will get it done with the new lineup. Tonight ..... we record!

Lookout

Lookout, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

There is a lot of air out there these days. With 800 small fires in California the air is ... there .... you can see it, feel it, smell it.

I did an outdoor gig yesterday and could feel a little shortness of breath, as if I were singing at altitude.

From the stage #68

From the stage #68, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

The Stanford Tiako Drum Ensemble performed just before us at the faculty club.

Have a seat

Have a seat, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

Grace

Grace, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

My first car was a red and white 1971 VW Van, her name was Grace. It was a wonderful car for a strapping young teenage guitar player. And when times got tough (When my girlfriends parents got tired of me sponging off of them .... like a teenage guitar player archetype does) Grace and I became roommates.

I loved that red and white Van. We did so many things together, drive in movies, trips with the gang to the hills ... trips .... yes ...

I still drive a van ... but it's a "Mini Van", and does not have the grace that Grace had.

KAT!

KAT!, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

Wall of fire

Wall of fire, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

It was soooo hot that day, like standing in a furnace. However, this wall is amazing. I'm thinking it would be great for promo pictures for all of my bands.

In a B&W conversion the texture is wonderful as well.

From the stage #67

From the stage #67, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

From the stage slide show

Taken while playing my monthly steady gig at Apple Jacks in La Honda.

The point is

The point is, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

In the lower right corner.

The way I see it is

The way I see it is, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

Much like the way everyone else sees it.

Because i know this photo has been done before, perhaps this exact one from this exact spot. If not this exact spot then another place with similar shapes and textures.

But I'm glad I took this shot, at this moment in time... because it had to be done, again ... and again .... and again ....

Don Quixotes

Don Quixotes, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

The scene of the crime, a fun place to play.

Chia Homer #2

Chia Homer #2, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

Today is the day that I and my family will go to see yet another house. I'm tired of it! I just want someone to sell me a million dolor home for a quarter million already.

I know I could sell a million records and then get that dream house.....

Jaguar

Jaguar, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

We are looking for a new house. Just got outbid on two offers we had outstanding. And now there is nothing on the market that looks good ....

Oh the humanity!

Gigs this weekend, come on down

Apple Jacks
La Honda
9:00 to 1:00

Come on down.

From the stage #65

From the stage #65, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

From the stage slide show

Taken while playing with Mars Arizona at Don Quixotes in Felton. A very nice place to play.

Got my eye on you

Got my eye on you, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

I had some great gigs this weekend. You should have been there.... :)

Chia homer

Taken with my iPhone, because not all creative photography needs to be done with a DSLR!

Nails and Waxing

Nails and Waxing, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

I left my laptop at work!

I feel naked without my collection of links and Aperture Library. This is odd, I had no idea that I was so tied to that computer... but it governs my entire morning ritual.

It's all I can do to keep from driving 2 hours just to get it.... 2 hours, $25 in gas.... naaaa .... I'll use my desktop.

Jamesons

Jamesons, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

JJ's blues Cafe, and D.S. tending bar.

Shoegazer

Shoegazer, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

Shoegazer Slideshow

#22 in the shoegazer series... or as I think of it, "Foot in a funky place" series.

Adventures in the yard

Adventures in the yard, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

As a dad, the most important thing I do is raise the little one as best I can.

As a photographer, the most important thing I can do is document my efforts.

From the stage #65

From the stage #65, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

From JJ's blues cafe, 6-7-08.

We opened for Chris Cain, wow ... I had never seen him before. The man is good ... better than good.

He really should be playing much larger venues. Like a fine wine, some blues musicians get soooo much better over time. If you get a chance to check him out, do it ... you will not regret it.

From the stage #64

From the stage #64, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

View Slideshow

Yes .... #64

I try and get one photo from the stage at each gig. I'm up to #64.... lots of pics of microphones with bokeh behind because of the lighting.

Now, however, I'm trying to do other things.... get other perspectives.

Might make a POD book out of these one day.

Child like#3

Child like#3, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

Literally painted with blur

Child like#2

Just staying creative ....

SoFoBoMo quick review: Our Robot Overlords Revealed

Link: Our Robot Overlords Revealed, by Matt Alofs

The thing is, these pictures are mundane and ordinary. There is no redeeming quality about them at all ... but then you factor in the name of the project.

Then, all of a sudden, there is life and meaning. It's not 3 air vents, it's a group of sentries standing guard. It's not a vacuum and a garbage can and a box, it's a nuclear family standing in the yard.

This is precisely the thing I love most about photography, and project oriented photography in particular. The context can change the meaning of what you see, sometimes drastically. Sometimes it's the title of the photograph, other times it's just the juxtaposition of several photos. I now see our overlords all over.

This is my favorite (So far) SoFoBoMo book.

Matt: Make a second edition, finish it!

Going down

Down down down down.....

Child like

This is a photograph of my daughters artwork hanging on the fridge, long exposure with camera motion and out of focus.

It is one of the 200 shots I took on sunday, of which none were very successful. The ones that worked were the family snaps. Family snaps are easy to make work, the audience is small and easy to please.

On the other hand, pleasing myself is a far more dificult a task.

I only shot 50 frames yesterday, and skipped the studio altogether. However, in a glass half full view, I shot 50 frames and got some rest.

I listened to the Radiant Vista podcast on "The myth of talent", the basic premise is that there is no such thing as a gifted person, just a person that has put the work in and has the passion and focus to sustain interest in a subject long enough to engage the conscious and sub conscious mind in the act of performing the task.

I agree, more over I can attest to the fact that it is true. I invested many hours of my teen years into playing guitar and now have a connection with it that is quite deep. Now I'm trying to get to a similar connection with photography.

Practice, practice and practice.....

Help! I'm stuck in a rut, and I can't get out!

I know I can get out. It's just that when you are in a rut, it feels like all your creative efforts are for naught.

I know what I need to do, I just need to do it... that is:

Do it....

Yesterday I took 200 photos they may all fall on their face, or there may be 4 or 5 keepers, and perhaps one gem. Or none, we shall see.

Today I resolve to do the same, and hit the recording studio for a few hours of solo recording work.

SoFoBoMo wrapup: Creating the PDF with Aperture

Using Aperture to create my SoFoBoMo PDF was a natural, it's my photo workflow tool of choice. Hidden among it's asset management and photo editing prowess, it also has powerful book layout tool set.

Just as in iPhoto, you can create photo books using Aperture and get print on demand copies with just a few clicks all without ever leaving the application. Just as with many print on demand books you can only order from several pre-determined sizes. The aspect ratio I chose was non standard so I had to dig deeper.

I decided early on that I was not going to print a book, my project would live on screen in PDF form only. None of the books sizes provided by default in Aperture are the aspect ratio of a Apple Cinema display, so I had to make my own book template. Templates can be created in any size with any number of photos on each page.


I created a custom book template with the aspect ratio of my screen. I then created several page layouts, one, two and three up with a mix of portrait and landscape pages. After creating the layout all I needed to do was place the images in the appropriate places.

You can select an asset view in Aperture that will hide images that have been placed in a layout. This asset view came in quite handy for sequencing. I had many shots that were related, that may have been shot on different days. I was able to scan all of the assets in thumbnail view to drag them into the layout in a logical order, all the while winnowing down the visible set of images.

Generating the PDF was as simple, just print to PDF and viola!

The major bump in the road was the text. I just did not take the time to learn text layout and design in Aperture. Instead, I opened the text pages of the book in Illustrator and added the text selections from there.

The last part of the process was compressing the file. I opened the PDF in Acrobat Pro, and saved it out in compressed form.

All tolled, from the start of book layout to finished PDF it took me about 5 hours, split over 2 days. Aperture made PDF creation simple and painless!

Link to the finished book blog posting

The muse is dead

The muse is dead, originally uploaded by dbwalker.

I've been so drained of late. Hardly photographing at all. I had been tripping the shutter about 200 times a day just last month.

Now, I only hit it about 10 times a day... It just seem s like I've stopped seeing.... weird!