Month: September 2007

Sony says that their new book reader thingy is “sexier than a librarian.” There is just no way I’m buying that one. Nice try though Sony. I’m sure the reader’s probably just fine *but* no way is it sexier than a librarian.

So this isn’t an official Podtech Photowalking video shoot or anything, but Jeff Grosse and some of his friends from Sweden are coming into town next weekend and we are going to go do some night shooting. We’ve got a great night of shooting planned.

We are going to start out at Sutro Baths next Saturday night, September 15th, at 6pm. We can shoot the sunset from there and the ruins at the bath. After we are done there we are going to drive over to West Portal and park. The West Portal Muni station is a grand one and you get great views of the subway tunnel there, so we’ll shoot there for a bit and then take the train a few short stops down to the Castro where we will shoot the Castro for the rest of the night.

We can then take the train back to West Portal when we are done shooting the Castro.

I haven’t shot the Castro in a long time so I’m looking forward to that.

Anyways, if you can make it, come on out and shoot with us. It will be a great night. I’ve got an upcoming.org page set up for the shoot here if you want to check in.

The photo above of the Sutro Baths was taken by Matt Roe. To see more great shots of the Sutro Baths, check out the Sutro Baths tag on Zooomr.

Another Palace of Fine Arts shot from Wednesday night’s SF Photo Meetup.

I recently shot the re-opened Solano Drive-In for Diablo Magazine. Solano Drive-In is in Concord and the only drive in with in 100 miles of San Francisco that I’m aware of.

My son Jack and I watched the latest Shrek movie here. It was really great. We had popcorn in the car and it was nice not to worry about him disturbing anyone while we watched the film.

I have such fond memories of drive-ins growing up. When I was really young my parents used to take me to the drive-in in Sunland California. It was torn down to make room for a K-Mart that now sits boarded up and abandoned as Home Depot fights to try and take over the space.

In high school I remember going to the Van Nuys drive-in. I’d never smoked cigarettes before and my friend Joe and I bought a pack of Marlboro reds and smoked 10 or so cigarettes each during the movie after which I promptly puked my guts out.

In college I used to go to the drive-in theater in Goleta. I used to take my college girlfriend and… well, we’ll just leave things there. Fond memories though.

It’s a shame to see so many of the drive-in movie theaters in California shut down over the past 30 years. As the land became more valuable and the megaplex movie theaters moved in they quickly were replaced. But there was something special about the drive-in theater. An experience that was so much more than just watching a film. Swingsets in front. The buzz and excitement as a community of cars would get together. Kids in the back of pickup trucks. The film starting as the sun was going down. Falling asleep after the first feature only to be carried to bed later that night by dad.

I don’t really go to the movie theater much anymore. It’s hard with kids and with so much competition for my entertainment, my movie theater days are less and less. But when Jack and I went to the Solano Drive-in we had a great time. Me and my son watching Shrek.

Here’s an article on the Solano Drive-In’s reopening from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Solano Drive-In is at 1611 Solano Way, Concord. Call (925) 825-1951 or visit www.centurytheaters.com.

To get this shot I climbed up on top of the projection building at the Solano Drive in with a ladder and shot the screen as the movie started.

Had a great time hanging out last night with folks from the SF Photography Meet Up Group. About 40 photographers or so hung out at the Palace of Fine Arts to shoot San Francisco’s most famous dome.

To get this shot I laid flat on my back in the area just beneath the dome. I used my ultra wide angel 14mm lens to shoot up at the center of the dome. I overexposed the shot to get the rich detail of the underside of the dome. I thought it made for an interesting abstraction.

A bunch of Zooomr photographers showed up for the shoot and have some great shots in their streams. Andrew Moore, Matt Roe, Persnicketydame, Jeremy Brooks, Prophead, and Ian Crane were all there. I’m sure there were others and my apologies if I didn’t include you all.