I drove to Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland this past weekend, intending to look for street photos there, but when I arrived, I saw there were lots of booths set up around the shore of Lake Merritt. Apparently, every weekend since the pandemic started, this has been taking place: kind of an ad hoc street [...]
I went into Oakland this past Sunday, more to get out of the house than with any specific photo plans. I drove downtown and began walking around the area of Broadway and 14th through 18th. I came across this young man painting a mural, talked to him for couple of minutes, then asked to take [...]
I got many images I liked from this march, mainly because I learned some helpful lessons from shooting previous marches: If you can get in the middle of the march and walk backwards, shooting people's faces, the photos have a lot more impact than ones you get standing on the sidelines. A bigger or brighter [...]
Camera clubs disqualify images that a judge determines to be "photos of someone else's art." But if you put your spin on such subject matter, that's OK. Fortunately, this isn't a camera club competition. Here are two photos of other people's art from the Burning Man exhibit currently at the Oakland Museum. Named "Trocto," [...]
I drove across the Bay Bridge early Sunday morning to catch the 7 a.m. shuttle from Treasure Island to the Yerba Buena Island viewpoint. The shuttle didn't get there till past 7:30, so my plans for catching the earliest light on the bridge went by the wayside, but it was still directional early morning light [...]
On Sunday in the late afternoon, I went into downtown Oakland with no plan to shoot anything specific. As usual, I had my monochrome camera, so I was mainly looking to do street photography—or portraits, if the right opportunity came along. There was a nightclub on Broadway where a few people were gathering outside before [...]
I went into Oakland early last Sunday to beat the heat. My plan was to photograph the skyline from across Lake Merritt. I took some average skyline photos, then drove a short ways to be able to shoot the courthouse from across the lake—like this. The rower helps. Back at my car, I spotted a [...]
On Saturday I went to the Paramount Theatre in Oakland and took the tour, which is offered twice a month on the first and third Saturdays. It costs only $5 and lasts two hours. There were about 10 people in my group. The guides explicitly tell you that you're free to photograph whatever you want. [...]
To practice for my trip to Oaxaca in a week, I went to a Day of the Dead celebration yesterday at the Oakland Museum. Lots of bright sun, which is great for the event, but not for people photography. I managed to either find people in the shade or maneuver them into it, which helped. [...]
I went to Kraken Con yesterday in Oakland. It's the fourth comic book / video game / movie / TV series-related event I've photographed. They've all been a success, mainly because the people wear such great costumes and are more than willing to pose for photos. I've learned that an uncluttered background works best [...]