Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Frank Against the World

Frank Against the World

Another shot from Frank Chu's 50th birthday celebration. I really like how this has a sort of retro '60s feel to it.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Blossom Anime

Blossom Anime

Just fooling around with a shot that was accidentally overexposed.

Sunrise Cityscape

Presidio & Geary Sunrise 02
From Presidio & Geary Sunday morning.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Box Office Martini

Box Office Cocktail

Martini Monday tickets on sale now!

Cathedral

Cathedral

In loving memory of Mary Ursula Yankalunas, my mother-in-law, who passed away yesterday.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Frost & Sunlight

Frost Plant
From a cold morning up in El Dorado County.

Friday, March 26, 2010

In My Neighborhood: More Abandoned Furniture

Seating Side by Side

Looks like they're having a dialogue as they watch the passing parade. Any thoughts on what they might be saying to each other are welcome in comments.

Woodland Star

Woodland Star 02 BW
Lithophragma affine along the Matt Davis Trail on Mt. Tamalpais.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

3D Sign

Hot Clam Chowder
If you wear the special glasses, it leaps right out at you. Pier 23, San Francisco.

Travel Thursday: 12 Galaxies

Frank & High Society

Thanks to a notice on SFist from fellow photographer Troy Holden, I was able to attend the 50th birthday celebration of San Francisco's own Frank Chu last night at the Palace Hotel. Frank is a legend in his own time, a modern-day Emperor Norton of a sort. About 25 people showed up to help him celebrate. He drank Budweiser on the rocks, ate a hamburger, and had a small cheesecake with a candle in it delivered to him by the wait staff. We all sang Happy Birthday to him and wished him well in his galactic travels.

Mallards

Mallards

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Legs on Line

Legs on Line

I'm trying to shoot film again -- it's a bit difficult to get back into that mindset, as I've been spoiled by the convenience and immediacy of digital -- and this is one of my recent attempts. Shot outside Ike's Place on 16th and Sanchez, where you can get some of the best sandwiches in the city.

Sinuous

Sinuous
Ridgecrest Blvd. on Mount Tamalpais.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

In Tom's Neighborhood: Sutro Mist

Sutro Mist

Last Sunday I went to Golden Gate Park to watch a couple of old-time base ball teams dressed in 1880s-era uniforms play a game using 1880s-era rules (seven balls for a walk, fouls are not counted as strikes, a hit batsman does not get a base, etc.). It was a blast... and while I was there, I got this shot of Sutro Tower being gently enveloped in some of the famous high-flying San Francisco fog.

Freeform

Freeform

Monday, March 22, 2010

Broken Stag

Broken Stag 01
(With an improvised fix.) Statue at Sutro Heights Park.

(I suspect he's hiding from this woman.)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Shadow Shot Sunday

Cell Phone Guy Shadow
Some guy talking on his cell phone on the level above me, Embarcadero Two.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Everybody's doing it!

A Shadow Shot of...

Rye

A local drinking establishment's moment in the sun. Must be another Shadow Shot Sunday. I'll bet these folks will raise a glass to that.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Clouds Above Polk Street

Clouds Above Polk Street

It appears that the rain has gone for the time being, but for a few weeks there, it was storming up a storm here in SF. This is just a little reminder of how nice the skies were for a while...

Rust Belt

Rust Belt
Balboa & 40th-ish. Another pic from the salt fog zone.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Travel Thursday: Melson's Corner

El Dorado 03
Last weekend I visited my son up in rural El Dorado County. Couple more pics below the fold...
More...
Telephone Line 05

El Dorado 04

Frost Meadow

El Dorado 01

Brides of March

Michele Michele #3

Michele Michele, founder of the Brides of March

One of the many, many reasons I love living in San Francisco is the plethora of thinkers outside the box, the eccentrics, weirdos, crazies and non-conformists who make up so much of the social fabric of this city. The SF Mime Troupe, Laughing Squid, the Cacophony Society, the Burning Man artists... all of these and more make this place a wild, wondrous, creative and imaginative place to live.

For instance, events like the one that took place last Saturday -- it's called the Brides of March, and it's somewhat similar to the ridiculous (and ridiculously fun) Santarchy/Santacon, in that it consists mainly of people dressing up, gathering together, drinking copious amounts of alcohol and roaming through the city spreading good cheer and confusion. Now in its 12th year, the Brides of March took place last weekend, with a few hundred participants in wedding dresses of all description meeting at the Tunnel Top bar in the early afternoon and proceeding from there to destinations such as Neiman-Marcus, Tiffany's, Union Square, the Gold Dust Lounge and Lefty O'Doul's. It's even spread out to other cities around the country, but it definitely originated here. I had heard about it in years past, and Mrs. Generik, working as she does very near Union Square, had observed some of the bridal marches before, but this was my first time seeing it first hand and being able to document a bit of the hilarity that inevitably ensued.

I think next year I might just join the fun as a participant, rather than just an observer. Because, as Susan Sarandon said in Bull Durham, "We all deserve to wear white, honey."

More shots below the fold. To see the entire set I posted (warning: there are quite a few pictures!) go here. For the official Flickr site, with contributions from photographers all over, go here.

More...

Flask #1

Wedding Smirk

Trousseau Trouble

Just Married

Red Gloves #1

Shotgun Wedding #2

Bridal Toast

Bride Making the News

Creepy Pair #3

Someday Your Groom Will Come

Perspective

30th & Fulton
30th & Fulton.

Hooded Mergansers on the Wing

Hooded Mergansers on the Wing
Adult male and female. They left town about a week ago, just before the ice melted. Large version here.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

Drinking to Death

Drink to Death

Went out last Friday night with the Flickr group Friday Night Drinking & Shooting Club, and we, as you may have already guessed, did a lot of drinking and shooting. Here's a shot of the bar at Doc's Clock.

Forum Romanum

Forum Romanum

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Shadow Shot Sunday: Primary Colors

Market Selected Meats

Shadows on neon... hey, what's today? I'll bet all these people know.

Shadow Shot Sunday (In My Neighborhood)

Portico
This is a house on 15th Ave near Geary (for those of you who know the city) that I've passed and been tempted to shoot scores of times, and never did...but the fading sunlight and tree shadows finally tipped the scales.

Portico 02
This young woman saw me shooting, and came out to pose for a picture.

Here are Shadow Shot Sunday rules, and some results. Try it yourself!

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Golden Hour

The Golden Hour

Kind of like an E-6 painting, except perhaps not as realistic. This light lasted for about 20 minutes the other evening, and it was awesome.

Rust Belt

Stained Wall
House on 48th Avenue, out where the salt fog turns everything to rust.