Fogged-In
This past weekend was the last of our 2009 workshop series for the Aperture Academy. www.apertureacademy.com As is customary for me, I drove down on Friday to get some shooting in pre-workshop. Conditions were looking quite nice as I was sitting in traffic near the Bay Bridge. I hate daylight savings thing…it’s not a nice thing to do to photographers. We miss so many good sunsets sitting in our cars....adding traffic makes the mightmare much worse. I lucked out, nabbed a break in traffic and was off to Pacifica to meet Amber, Little M, Jim Patterson, and Kendra for a shoot somewhere on the beaches in the area.
The real reason we picked that location was that it was close to fish and chips….and we could be eating within in a few moments of finishing our shoot. The bay area makes no sense to me in regards to weather. On the bay bridge 15 minutes drive from where I was going to be shooting, the weather looked very promising. IN Pacifica, the fog had set in to stay. When Jim arrived he said the same thing. The weather was perfect in Santa Cruz. Bizarre. I don’t even look at weather reports for The Bay any more.
We tried without success to photograph a beach near the fish and chips place…and the only thing that happened worth mentioning was little m was struck by a wave…which apparently was not a first for her that day….nor would it be the last.
The beach, sans good sunset, wasn’t offering up much of anything for photographically inspiring….so we packed up, and headed to a pier nearby where the fog would provide a bit more mood. It was at this point I noticed the waves were quite large. Jim got hit by one of the larger waves and had to hold his gear up in the air in order to prevent it from getting too wet. The rest of us stuck to higher ground, in order to prevent being soaked too badly.
The pier (pictured here) was much better for photographing in the fog. People were out on the end of it…and the waves were just slamming into the structure. It looked like it might be fun to be all the way out there watching giant waves….but its not good for photo gear, so I wasn’t going to risk it. Plus it was getting dark, and everyone was ready to eat.
We dined at a little place called ‘Camelot’ I think it was ironic that they named the place after a huge structure like a castle, when in fact, this place was the size of most people’s living room. Really, once our group sat down, the place was crowded to near capacity. There was a group of gentlemen reenacting the singing bar scene from Top Gun sans woman. They were just drunk dudes singing ‘You’ve lost that loving feeling’ to one another over some pints of Guinness and fish planks. It wasn’t pretty. It was, however, quite funny.
The food was great. Even though they didn’t have cocktail sauce…or many lemons….they still made some very good food. Over dinner the conversation turned from photography to a place called ‘Nick’s’ which was apparently near by, and a source of good entertainment. Unfortunately Jim and Kendra had to leave because they had plans early the next day, but the rest of our group was off to ‘Nick’s’ to see what this place was all about. I guess Amber knew already, she’d been there, but M and I had no idea.
Let me just say. Nick’s was awesome. Not awesome good. Just awesome in terms of pure unintentional comedic value. First off, the place was straight out of the 70s…pleather couches and chairs…black painted wood everywhere. The light was dingy, at best. There was a huge bar right in the middle that divided the room, and separated it from what appeared to be 3 or more different sections of the restaurant of the same name. That was bizarre, there were people eating in 4 different areas of the restaurant. The farther into the depths of the building you ventured the older the patrons. The people out behind the restrooms were downright elderly…and may, for all I know, have been eating there for years.
The arrangement and décor of Nick’s was great, but the true magic was going down on stage. The Rolling Stones were in town, and playing at Nick’s!!!
Well, maybe it wasn’t the Rolling Stones exactly….but a group of look-a-likes.
Well, maybe not all of them looked like members of The Stones, Maybe just the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards characters. The drummer more like a reject from The Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Bass player looked like the love child from Adam West and Roy Orbison.
Well, Maybe Keith Richards looked more like a goofy Jerry Seinfeld dressed like Keith Richards…but The Mick Jagger guy looked like Mick Jagger.
Well, maybe he didn’t look so much like Mick Jagger…but he kind of sang like him, and really danced a lot like him…and he dressed sort of like him too!
This band provided me an hour or more of good entertainment. They were stellar. Eventually the place filled…because apparently everyone else was mislead by the way the band looked from the outside through the steamy bar windows….and once inside thought, ‘well maybe they’re not so much Rolling Stones-esque…but they’re certainly better than nothing.’
The crowd there was AWESOME as well. 85% of them looked like they’d walked out of a bar scene from an old episode of Miami Vice. They all looked alike…the only difference was some of the people had moustaches, and some of them were guys. HA! I kid…they all had mullets though…if they had enough hair to grow one. The best part was they all tried dancing….except one gentlemen who looked like he was either in pain…or very confused as to why the Rolling Stones were in Pacifica.
We spent about an hour or so at Nick’s before deciding to head out to the beach nearby and try some long exposure night photography. That was interesting. M got hit by another wave….which was a theme that carried on her entire stay I believe. She wasn’t happy…she’d gone through 17 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of shoes, in two days.
We tried to get a few shots anyway…but it was just too hard to get a good spot…the waves were getting bigger, and it was too difficult to stay in one spot long enough to take a shot when waves sent you running away every 2 minutes or so.
We called it a night. I walked back to my car to get a good night’s sleep. I just stayed in the parking lot by the beach, and the bar. The problem that caused was about 2am when Jagger and the boys finished their last set….all the cars and drunks were milling about the parking lot keeping me awake. AFTER that though….they turned off the lights in the parking lot, and I slept quite well….waking to a nice sunrise which I was able to shoot 10 feet from my car.
Tomorrow at this time I will be in my car on my way to the southwest to shoot with a bunch of people, and see a bunch of things including, Lake Tahoe, Death Valley, Zion, Page, Az…and a few other places. My friend Rob will meet me in Utah, and together with a little help from Mike Jones we’ll tackle the Narrows of the Virgin River this Friday. It should be a good time.
All rights reserved
Uploaded on Nov 9, 2009
61 comments
Mossbrae-Fall
This is Mossbrae Falls in Dunsmuir, California. I shot here a couple weeks ago with my friend Neal. I’ll have you know I did NOT place these leave here. I placed OTHER leaves in OTHER places. Not these. I did not touch these leaves. Nor did Neal.
My oldest son may have placed them here though…but uh…it’s still random.
I’m going to take the rest of the night off after a bout at the dentist, which sucked my very life out from my face. I think the dental assistant tried to suck out my uvula with the thingy. I was like “DANG lady does it need to be that far back in my face!!!”
Actually, I only laughed, because I was high on the gas….and it tickled. Still…I thought she was sucking out my insides with that thing….
I tried to listen to what they were talking about, but every time I turned down my ipod I heard things like
‘it’s not going as well as I’d like…’ or ‘root canal probably in early December’
That just freaked me out, so I inhaled the gas hoping to pass out.
Luckily they weren’t talking about me having a root canal…but I can’t say they weren’t trying to suck out my uvula…
My face hurts now, and so does my tooth. I spent four hours with a numb face…and unable to hold my breath…how horrifying would it be to have tooth work then fall into the ocean. DAMN….you’d drown and hate the dentist even more.
Full workshop this weekend, looking forward to getting out shooting Friday as well, then leaving on Tuesday for the great southwest for 7 days of adventure
All rights reserved
Uploaded on Nov 4, 2009
55 comments
That-El-Cap-Glow
Here’s a shot from our 2nd night in the Yosemite Workshop. By most standards this was a pretty nice sunset…great reflective color, etc….but compared to the night before it wasn’t as nice. Sunsets like that spoil you.
I still like photographing that area, and seeing the great images our class came up with.
To read about the workshop check here.
www.apertureacademy.com/photography-workshop-yosemite-oct...
Information for signing up for a workshop is there as well.
As far as my webpage update goes…its coming. Soon. These things often need a bit of troubleshooting, and testing before going live. I had to go get a seller’s permit yesterday…which, is an interesting process that I can only compare to a visit to the Social Security office in its bizarreness.
I have a permit now…so very soon the world will be seeing the new site.
www.brianruebphotography.com
I’m going to be super busy in the next few weeks. I have a workshop next weekend, followed by a little jaunt to the southwest to do some hiking and shooting for 7-days. I’m looking forward to getting that many awesome nights sleep in the Prius. My back is going to LOVE it.
I also get to have a cavity drilled at the dentist next week….which I am greatly looking forward to.
I’ve written about my love of all things dentistry before…but I can’t stress enough how much it pains me to go there. I opted on this last visit to go sans ‘happy gas.’ I WANTED the gas, but because my insurance won’t just get it for me…I have to shell out $47 for the stuff…and because I’m a cheap fool who sleeps in his vehicle on a regular basis, and skimps on luxuries to go out and shoot…I figured I’d rather eat a few roadside meals in the southwest and just endure the torture of my mouth being attacked by metal hooks.
My dentist has a new device for ‘cleaning’ now. This new hydro device is basically a smaller version of the tool they use to shoot out mountain sides looking for gold and other precious metals. Why this is good for me I do not know. It hurts, and it sounds like a million tiny demons shrieking inside my face. I wouldn’t have been shocked if the hygienist blew one of my molars across the road with that water canon.
It’s so much less fun being aware of what’s going on in your mouth. I like the drug induced bliss much more.
My dentist also has ‘flavors’ for the tooth polish now. I chose Rasberry…but really I could’ve picked any of them….they all taste like horrible version of what I think a foot soaked in vinegar might taste like if it were given the pleasant aroma of a fruit it did not taste like. I had pleasant raspberry aroma and horrible sour tasting teeth. It took all my un-gassed concentration to keep my tongue from accidentally hitting a tooth covered in the paste and giving me the heebie jeebies. MMMMM JUST like a raspberry scented 9-volt battery.
I thought I was going to escape without incident, but at the last second my dentist noticed a miniscule cavity…and he has to fix it. Next week. This time I’m getting the gas.
All rights reserved
Uploaded on Oct 30, 2009
68 comments
Half-Dome-Fully-Aglow
Alright. Here it is. The Best sunset I’ve ever seen in Yosemite.
I’ve seen some doozies, for sure…but this was TRULY amazing to watch. The light really played a game with us all. IT wasn’t ever bad…but it wasn’t like this (I dialed the saturation down too) During one point the light all but faded, and many photographers packed up an LEFT…we waited, because Stephen and I have been duped enough times by our own ideas of when a sunset is ‘done’ that we know to stay put….even if nothing happens at least you’re not half way down the hill when the world explodes with color. That HAS to feel HORRIBLE. I watched 5 photographers leave, and somewhere on that long drive down from Glacier Point they saw this…and I’d like to think they maybe punched themselves in the jewels a few times…because you could shoot there for a year and not see this.
Of course the biggest thrill was that we had our class up there for the workshop. THEY got to shoot this, and we had them there early enough to get front rail seats too.
If you’d like to read more about this amazing workshop go here.
www.apertureacademy.com/photography-workshop-yosemite-oct...
We had a great bunch of students, and oh yeah…we had a killer crock pot meal as well AFTER this sunset….dig that!
You can also check out the complete Aperture Academy site, and see photos of the gallery, and classroom. Plus you can sign up for the next workshops….they’re filling fast!
If you facebook…g’head and saddle up to fanhood.
www.facebook.com/pages/Redding-CA/Brian-Rueb-Photography/...
Everyone who is a fan and asks for a virtual high five gets one.
All rights reserved
Uploaded on Oct 28, 2009
62 comments
Good-Vibrations
Just a Vertical shot from my morning at Mono Lake.
Anyone have any ideas on how well Hyperdrive Colorspace UDMA's work? I'm thinking of getting one for my trip to Iceland...cuz I'm gonna need some backup.
All rights reserved
Uploaded on Oct 28, 2009
59 comments
