Welcome to the Machine

I was able to get out and shoot yesterday. It was cloudy, of course, and a bit drizzly, but not a full blown rain. There was just enough moisture about to make one aware of the need to keep drops from getting on the lens. We were in Seattle's Fremont District, on the prowl for a good burger, and we found it too at Blue Moon Burgers. If you're in the neighborhood and are in need of a burger fix, Blue Moon is definitely worth the stop!

I started my shoot at the Aurora Bridge, which is right there, but because the bridge is up high, I was down low, the drizzle was traveling in the normal up to down direction and I wanted to keep water drops from collecting on my lens, I wasn't having the photographic experience of a lifetime. I got a couple shots worth the effort, but since I expect the bridge to be there for the foreseeable future, I'll go back some other time.

My next stop was Gas Works Park on the north end of Lake Union. I still had to be cognizant of the drizzle, but I had more success there.

Aurora Bridge, Down Low

Gas Works Park: Belt Wheels

Gas Works Park: Plate and Nuts

Gas Works Park: Concrete Ribs

Gas Works Park: Wet Yellow

Gas Works Park: Red Pipe

Gas Works Park: Wet Threads

Rainy days and Sundays...

I have a day job.

I call myself a photographer, and I am, but I have to have the day job to keep food on the table, and such like that. Photography is my passion, but it doesn't pay its way. The day job feeds the body and the photography feeds the soul.

That being the way of it, I spend more time on the day job than I do on the photography, a lot more. So much so that it's been a couple of weeks since I've had the time to go on a shoot, and I had the itch.

Today is Sunday and I'd set aside part of the day just for me and my camera. I was going to scratch that itch by golly, but when I stepped out of my front door I saw that it was raining. Imagine that! Rain! In Seattle of all places!

I grew up here, so I'm used to a bit of rain now and then. Anyone who's spent any time here at all will tell you that if you let a little rain stop you from doing what you want to do you won't get anything done. It wasn't raining that hard anyway, and I figured that by the time I got to where I was going, it might not even be raining there.

So I went.

And I got wet.

Ain't no big deal; I'd been wet before. I did mention that I'm from around here, right?

The thing is, my equipment got wet too. Not a lot, but enough to allow for some moisture to condense inside the lens. I was none too pleased, but I didn't freak out. I removed the lens from the camera body, enclosed it in a small paper bag (lens cap down) and placed it on the highest shelf I could find. I then turned the heat up a bit. In a few hours time the condensation appeared to be gone. I'm going to leave it up there for a couple of days, just to be sure, but I think it's going to be OK.

There's a lesson here; maybe more than one. I'll leave it to you to glean whatever you will from my cautionary tale, but for me, I'm going to do my best to keep my equipment dry.

Henry's Crime

What was Henry's Crime? Robbing a bank in Buffalo, only he didn't really, but he did get sent up for it just the same. So, having done the time, he sets out to then do the crime; yes, the sequence of events is a little back-asswards, but that's what sometimes drives movie plot lines. Or, at least it does in this case.

"Henry's Crime" is a Keanu Reeves vehicle, billed as a "romantic comedy". It's currently in production and due to be released sometime this year.

"Henry's Crime" is a movie; it's a movie that's not even out yet.

This is a photographer's blog.

Why am I even talking about it?

Well, last week I got this e-mail, see, like right out of the blue. It says it's from this production company that's making this movie and the set decorator would like to use some of my photos as set dressing to help turn a South American restaurant into a French Bistro.

My first thought is, "Riiiiiight!" I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night, you know what I mean? So, in the spirit of "due diligence" I do some checking. Come to find out, Keanu Reeves really is making a movie called "Henry's Crime" and they really are interested in my photos.

Bottom line, they want to use 3 of my photos for their movie. I'm not making a ton of money here; I'm not even busting 3 figures; heck, I'm not even busting the half way mark to 3 figures, but hey, it's a little bit of folding money, plus a screen credit, plus some bragging rights, so I figure, "What the heck?"

With any luck my photos will stay off the cutting room floor and make it on screen.

I like happy endings, don't you?