Not Graduations.

I feel like all I've been shooting for the past few weeks is graduation after graduation. I hear the song in my sleep. All the speeches sound the same. You really get stuck in that rut! But I haven't been shooting ONLY grads. Here are a few photos from the not-graduation assignments of the past couple weeks. A benefit concert by Jet Stream at The Canyon Club, for 15-year-old Taylor Messina. The concert, silent auction and raffle raised funds for Messina's treatment for Stage IV Midline Carcinoma.



Some wild art for Moorpark at Underwood farms. Little kids and strawberries. Let the insanity begin.









The One Gathering in Camarillo, 14 local churches came together for Pentecost. It was massive.







And on the other end of the spectrum... the wine and food fest for Casa Pacifica out at CSUCI.


(I love the shot above. I really, really wish it had run. Something different!)







I went out to the Camarillo Pond Rats pond for the very first time in Acorn history (we're fairly new to Camarillo) and shot some photos of the guys racing their RC boats around the pond. Those guys are FAST! The boats were super trick, I ended up with about fifty really nice shots. I normally wouldn't shoot so many, but I was having a good time playing with shooting angles and the water reflections and spray (plus my new lens' servo - first test!). I promised to post more photos here, so in a couple of days when I get all those edited I'll upload some additional photos from this event.










And finally, the Greek festival in Camarillo. The photo that ran was of the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star, who came to sign posters for her new movie "My Life in Ruins." I didn't think it was as interesting as these shots, but you know... celebrities... I guess just don't get that excited about them as most people do!





In other news, I am now on twitter! My twitter name is "snapitsiris"... yes, as in snap like a camera shutter. You can follow me and my daily adventures shooting. I'll add a direct link here to my twitter profile for easy access. And the 70-200 arrived safe and sound just before graduations began. It's a beast, a big lump of metal and glass to lug around, and it's already making me wonder if my chiropractor offers frequent flyer miles. But it shoots like a dream and I'm thrilled to have it. It was so nice for graduations. Next up: the photos from said grads!

Camping Trip!

Back from vacation in the June Lake Loop, bearing good and bad news.
Good news first - we had a great time! I shot some digital, brought along the Mark II for the very first time on family vacation, as well as the Yashica 124. Joe brought the field 4x5 and also his A2E. We shot some of our favorite films, 320 Tri-X in the Yashica, Delta 100 in the 4x5, some very old, color-shifted, semi-exposed Polaroid type 59, and we even shot one roll of Agfa 25. Oh how I miss shooting with Agfa 25. So in short, we enjoyed the trip immensely. I took a few digitals - mostly landscapes. But we did some fishing, some hiking, some fooling around town.

Here are a few shots.


















We stopped at Manzanar on the way home and left a 4x5 polaroid at the obelisk in the cemetary.











The bad news - I came home with a broken Mark II. It has started giving me Error 99 consistently, and it won't clear as normal. So I'm taking it in today and really hoping it will be fixed by the time graduations begin. We'll see.
I'm shooting with the 20D until it's fixed, and the 20D has a broken hot shoe. So I have an old bracket rigged up to hold the strobe out to the side... it's a pretty ghetto setup but it works.

That's all for now. Headed out to an assignment!

Catch-up and a wanted ad.

A bit of business to get out of the way first. I am in the market for a Canon 70-200 lens, either a f4 IS version or a 2.8 non-IS version. Hoping to pay between $750 and $900, hoping to find one that's in good working condition and tack sharp even if it has some normal wear on the outside. Email me if you have one for sale! Thanks!

And now on to the good stuff. I shot some interesting photos week before last that I didn't get in to my last post. Here are my favorites.

These were some swimmers from Calabasas High. Group shots are always hard, and one of the swimmers had a cast on his broken leg so an in-the-pool shot was out of the question. Here, standing them in the shallows and having a fill flash really popped out the portrait.



Here was a K-9 demonstration at the annual police department "luncheon with the chief." Very cool! Seeing the dog take down a "suspect" up close was impressive and made it obvious that having a K-9 unit would be extremely useful for the department.




Coach Gene Ubelhardt, who has taught football at Royal High School for as long as I can remember, is finally retiring. He's a really great guy and I will miss working with him when I shoot the team. This was just a very nice shot at his retirement dinner, where a ceiling bounce worked wonders for the photo.



And finally, a couple from the Pleasant Valley Museum living history day.