Taking A Class And Watching A Fight

I am always up for learning something new.  I was lucky enough to be able to take a flash class at the Julia Dean Photography School in Venice beach for the day.  Most of my photographs use natural light so I wanted to take a class to use a flash the correct way in certain situations.  It was very informative with both technical learning in the class room and a few assignments in the field.

I love people watching in Venice beach.  We all had a partner and an assignment to go out and practice using a flash for a fill light.  My partner and I walked down the boardwalk and I found a spot where he would be sitting in the shade for practice.  He sat there and I started taking his photograph and playing with my camera settings when this man approached us.  He stood pretty close to me and was obviously out of it.  He couldn't focus on me and he smelled like death.  He tried to tell us how to get the best shot and how to compose it to make it look interesting.  I didn't like how close he was standing next to us.  My partner was nice and said, "oh yes, thank you for that information" while I backed away and waited for him to leave.

He left and we continued our practice taking photos of each other making sure we remembered everything technical we learned in class.  About a minute after meeting our new stranger "smells like death" friend, my partner pointed behind me and said, "hey, isn't that the guy that just came up to us?"

I turned around and sure enough, he was in a fight with a Venice regular, "Mr. Muscle Man."  I don't know if that's his name but I see him each time I am there and he does have muscles and I am pretty sure he's a man so that's what I will call him.  As soon as I saw them fighting, my instincts kicked in.  No, not to break up the fight but to take photographs of the action!  They first wrestled to the ground then popped up with a few punches here and there while a crowd formed.  It got pretty nasty when "death breath" started flicking his blood on "Mr. Muscle Man."  I kept snapping away, forgetting what I was there for.  Shortly into the fight, my partner said, "ummm...ok, well...do you want to practice over here?"  Practice?  What?  Oh yeah, I forgot that I was taking a class and we were on an assignment.  Eventually I had to pull myself away and put my technical brain back on.  I felt like a kid at the park wanting just a few more minutes to play.  I pouted a little inside and broke away from the action.

After our outside assignment was up, everyone gave their CF cards to the assistant to upload on the computer so we could all share what we did on the big screen.  Uh oh, I didn't expect for that.  While everyone followed the assignment correctly and had three pictures on their card, mine was full of the fight that, at the time seemed more interesting.  I tried to hide and not give my CF card to the assistant, but he remembered me and asked for it.  Of course I was first to be critiqued since my name starts with an "A".  Julia flipped through my images trying to find the flash assignment and then said, "what is this?" I had to say, "oh, um...yes I slightly veered off the assignment for a few minutes."  A little embarrassed, she was kind enough to look through them and give me feedback on each one and the class thanked me for capturing the moment.  I felt a bit of relief after that.

I am glad I took the class.  Very informative and Julia is a wonderful instructor.  If you are in Southern California, I would recommend looking into their program if you want to learn something new about photography.

Here's the sequence of the fight until I was pulled away...
My money is on "Mr. Muscle Man" to win.

Cat Comes To Town

The past week I've been offline and visiting with my friend Cat from Spokane.  During my travels, I spent quite a bit of time with her in Washington during the summer and last week she came down to Los Angeles for some business and stayed longer to hang out with me.  We toured Venice beach,  saw some movies, had some nice meals and did a photo shoot on the beach.  Since I spend most of my time alone, it was nice to have a house guest for a few days.

The best part about our photo shoot was that she was game to do about anything.  When I was in Cape Cod a few years ago, I took a bunch of timed jumpie pics as the sun was setting.  If you need an activity to look crazy in front of people and laugh at yourself, this is a good one to try.  It is stupid and is great for a good laugh and some fun photographs. Also, Cat is not as fond as birds as I am.  She was even willing to walk around a flock of birds and run towards them to try and get a shot of them surrounding her.  The one where she is standing still is a moment of her thinking, "Really? You want me to do what with the birds?" to the shot where she casually jogged through them, not missing a beat. Some of the best times you can have with a friend is being silly with a camera.

I haven't made the time to take my camera out to take photographs lately so it was a nice change of pace to do that again while we toured around.  Here are some photographs from our time last week.

 

Venice Beach Skate Park

I've visited several skate parks and there is something about them that I love.  If you stop to observe for a while, you'll see the rules of the park.  Usually there aren't posted rules on how to use the park but after watching the skaters, you'll witness the unspoken rules, coordinated chaos, quiet competition, and the common love among the athletes to express themselves.

I think it's great that these kids and adults alike come out to play together.  By the looks of the crowds, there is a common respect and appreciation for the athletes who take a risk to entertain the onlookers.  To the kids out there, it can be practice and fun but when all eyes are on you, it takes a little more to get out to show the skills you have.

When I was a kid, I stood on my brothers skateboard and learned to spin around in place.  I was pretty proud of that event though that is the extent of my skill level.  I was interested in other sports at the time but I think if I were younger today, I would pick up skateboarding.  Yes, I know that adults can do it too but with my limited health insurance, I am not sure I want to risk it.  Instead, I will take pictures of the local pros doing their thing.  These photographs are from my day of watching the skaters at the Venice Beach Skate park.

A Day In Venice Beach

I tend to be the one to avoid crowds most of the time.  I enjoy the peace and quiet of nature and the solitude that comes along with it.  Sometimes, I do enjoy the chaos and energy a big city brings.  Even though Venice is not a big city...spend an hour there walking along the strip on a weekend and you will know what I mean.

What I love about it is that everyone is welcome.  People from all walks of life come to gather.  There are kids living on the street, sharply dressed visitors, street performers, students, infants, grandparents, the affluent beach front home owners, the struggling artists, volunteers, addicts, religious groups, musicians, entrepreneurs, soul searchers, homeless people, athletes, and just about everyone else in between.

I spent the day strolling along and absorbing the energy around me.  I stopped to talk to some artists, visitors and the homeless.  Everyone has a story to tell and this would be the place to listen to them.  As chaotic as I might make it sound, somehow it works.  Everyone does their thing and for the most part, people let others do their thing as well.   I enjoyed talking to these two gentlemen (top left) and having them pose for me.  As usual, I gave them little direction and told them to look at each other.  They did that for about ten seconds, cracked up at each other and said, "that's so gay!"  It turns out that the out take is one of my favorite shots.  It usually works with couples but you never know... it worked for them.  Instead of getting an "adoring" shot, I got a great candid of their personalities shining through.

Venice is not the sanctuary for healthy living, by any means.  There are lost people, people who obviously are in need of help and you will find that others are there offering to do what they can to help.  However, there are stores that will be more than happy to keep you on the path that you choose to take.

What I love about it is that you are free to be yourself.  No matter who you want to be that day, you will be welcome on Venice Beach.  There are a few places in this world that give you the freedom to express yourself and be just who you are.  Thank you, Venice beach.

For more photographs of my day, click HERE.

People Of Venice Beach

Yesterday I took a stroll on the Venice Beach boardwalk with several other people doing the same.  I wanted to take some photographs of the locals in the area and practice approaching strangers with a smile and asking permission to take their photograph as well as having them sign a release to use the photograph.

I find it easy to hide behind the lens and be a watcher of sorts to the surroundings around me.
I find it more interesting to capture people in a relaxed state doing what comes nature to them.  Approaching strangers to pose can be a little daunting.  However, I approach it as challenging and fun.  You never know what will happen when you start a conversation, since the moment might disappear once they are fully aware that I am taking their photograph.  I am really low key in general and I hope that lends to a relaxed model.

I strolled the strip and when I saw someone I thought looked interesting, I approached them and started a conversation.  Some wanted money, some didn't care, I was rejected once and overall it was a great learning experience.  I look forward to doing this more on the road and I have a few personal projects that I look forward to sharing with you.  Here are some of my favorite models of the day living their life and crossing my path in Venice beach.  To see more portraits, click HERE.