cenelsonfoto Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I needed to get out a bit tonight, see what I could see, maybe shoot some color reflections in the streets what with all the rain coming in on us. Nothing productive on the street, but did bump into a long-time pal having a beer & watching Arkansas fight it out on the boards with Texas. He offered to buy me a pint of Bellhaven - who am I to turn down a lovely pint of golden goodness? <p /> We chatted about my recent change of residence, relationship crap, parenting issues with my daughter, and small-talk about the game. His girl finally showed up, and conversation switched to his fledgling production company. Might have myself some work on the way shooting set stills, perhaps some camera op. We'll see. <p /> Some shots from tonight. No idea who the cat with the specs is; my pal's wearing the ballcap, further down. Not that it matters. Perfect strangers to you guys. <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/09.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/09.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/09.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/10.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/10.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/10.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/11.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/11.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/11.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/12.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/12.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/12.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/13.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/13.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/13.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/14.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/14.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/14.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/15.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/15.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/15.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/16.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/16.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/16.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/17.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/17.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/17.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/18.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/18.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/18.jpg</a> <p /> <img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/t/19.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <p /> <a href="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_archives/2006/December/122006/19.jpg" target="_blank">http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/film_arch.../122006/19.jpg</a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 What about a little edit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Just a buncha grabs, really, Bruno, but lay into me about them if you like. I'll listen like I always do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Also, I've been dying to get out and shoot since semester ended. I really need to get the hell out of this city for a while, as here I see same faces over and over. I'm hitting a wall, hard, and one that needs to be hit, but bottom line is that of not knowing how to get beyond picture-taker and into that place where my photos begin to speak about me. Maybe I don't have it in me, as has been suggested by others, but I refuse to accept that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 You can make a series about a guy who wants to take street masterpieces but hits an hard wall in a small dusty town (or wherever you are). I've lived this forum in waves, often being too much influenced by the "posting rush" and the style of others, without really thinking too much about what I was doing. My suggestion would be to try some kind of other direction for a while, to find yourself, and then come back to your loved street photography and see how it has changed in the meanwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 I'm not looking to be a street master. I'm still trying to determine what angle I'm meant to pursue. People interest me. I work with a non-profit which gives me access to many with causes, and we have some serious static at the moment over immigrant issues. I would like, I think, to explore that, and have considered spreading my name around to all who are working with same in order to offer my services. I can help their caseworkers document, which in turn gives me contacts for further exploration. I also need to sort some of this out myself, simple footwork. I know this. At face is a simple desire to shoot. At core is something more meaningful that I can't quite define. Apologies for littering the forum with snaps. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I don't think you have to apologize... you got your way then, just follow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 It just reminded me about an episode about 1 year ago. I had a lot of work and was sometimes getting out of office around 9 or 11 in the evening. Fact is that for some reason I had my camera always with me. Not that I was really using it, but it was there and I liked to have it with me, just in case... ...then one day I was tired and while pulling it out of the car it slipped and went on the sidewalk and there was a horrible crack on it. Leaving the camera home when you are not committed to shooting is good for your wallet and your mental health, saving a lots of frustrations in useless shots. Although expensive, I decided to have my F90X repaired... it survived several trips and stories with me and couldn't just dump it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Which brings me to a question I've had - what do you do for a living? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Chose one of the following: <ol> <li> Porn actor <li> Rocket scientist <li> Secret agent <li> Mob boss <li> Electrical engineer <li> Photographer <li> Parasite <li> Lawyer <li> Gambler </ol> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Well, perhaps something for private conversation. I'm only asking as it interests me to know what certain photographers due to make ends meet. Some of my favorite shooters aren't pro-photogs, just folks with day jobs or other full-fledged careers. Knowing what the non-pro shooter does to pay the bills helps, often, in understanding where they're coming from behind the lens. Your photos suggest somebody deeply motivated by social issues... C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I wish I could do more shots inside bars and pubs but I worry about what all the chemicals in cigarette smoke will do to my lens glass and anywhere else in my camera it may sneak into. Ditto for whatever they use at the dance clubs in their fog machines. Too much $$$ to keep having to drop off my gear to be taken apart and cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusty2004 Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Maybe you should have, then you wouldn't be stumbling around so much in mid-life as you claim you are. And maybe if you focus a little harder and decide where you want to go you may actually get somewhere. Yes, I know they are harsh words. I just hate the thought of you stumbling around when you are old. Maybe by then you are rolling around. It would be a good life wasted. I believe you have what it takes, now go for it. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 So Marc, you are more worried about what smoke does to camera lenses (probably nothing) than what smoke does to your lungs? You get the chance to make a Natchwey style photo and just fear that tear gas might dirt your camera and don't care about your eyes? You westerners are strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray . Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Marc, I thought cigarette smoking was banned in bars in California, no? CE, keep shooting. The thing that bothers me most about your photos is seeing young people smoking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
over exposure Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I like a couple of shots from your serie... 'bout what you're writing, I just think you should let it happenn, maybe concentrate on something else, the urge of shooting will come by itself...I always have the camera with me, except very rare situations, but i don't feel the desire to shot if i don't know what.. Oh yes, my camera dropped several times, but i don't care ..it's been wasted since day one when i bought it..have fun... Marc, were you serious about the smoke and cameras issue ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovcom_photo Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Marc, as I'm sure you already know, smoking in Calif bars is now banned. A few times I've seen some people light up but that's very rare. Despite the smoke I'm sure your medium format rig will take it. I miss your pictures...please post some new work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_sullivan Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 "...smoking in Calif bars is now banned..."...and NY and NJ now too...and...yeah, it takes all the atmosphere out of bar shots too. I don't smoke myself, but always did like the shots with smoke in them in bars and clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nels Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks to the smoking ban in California, I have to dry clean my suits less frequently. "Excuse me sir, but where's the nearest smoking zone around here?" asks a weary passenger who just stepped out of LAX after collecting his bags. The guard replies, "Nevada". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Hi guys. Yes there is a smoking ban inside bars and resturants in CA. However, it isn't often enforced. I've been in two bars recently and both were filled with smokers. Bar owners say that they will lose business if they tell people they cannot smoke inside or within a certain distance from the entrance. So unless somebody makes a complaint smoking is allowed at least in some of the smaller neighborhood bars. I'm not going to be this person either btw since even though I don't smoke I'm for less government intrusion into the choices we make. And yes, I am more concerned about my camera then my lungs. A persons lungs will heal up within a couple days of spending an evening breathing in 2nd hand smoke. Even a hard core smoker who quits will one day have their lungs replace the destroyed tissue or so I've read someplace. Unfortunatly my camera will still have to be taken apart and cleaned I suppose. Thanks for the kind words Dan but I'm without a darkroom for the time being (again). My apartment bathroom is just too small even for 8x10 printing which is mostly what I do these days. The rental darkroom I was using is having trouble staying staffed so I was lucky to have a former teacher at a local college let me use their darkroom but school is out for the semester. When it starts up again I'll be able to print but only for a few hours a week. 10 weeks after the peace march and I still have rolls I have to get to for printing. Then I have rolls left over from summer that are developed but I haven't gotten around to printing from so I just keep getting more and more behind. Story of my life lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 22, 2006 Author Share Posted December 22, 2006 I smoke, organic handrolls, and I have a soft spot in my heart for smokey poolhalls and pubs. I agree, those who do not like to smoke should have places where they go to drink and mingle without have their lungs filled with second-hand smoke, but there should also be accomodations for those who enjoy tobacco with their drink. The decision should be a business-matter only - will I open a non-smoking establishment or one which allows smoking? Blanket-policying this sort of thing is not good, I feel. I would never smoke in a restaurant, not even if I could. I don't think I would bother patronizing a restaurant that allowed smoking - doesn't go well with food, and I wouldn't want my kid with me in that environment. But bars? Certainly. One of the sweetest tastes I know is the smokey, whiskeyed kiss of a woman. Not everybody's idea of heaven, sure. My gear? Just tools. I would shoot my camera in a smokey bar as soon as I would covering house-fires, murders, bank robberies in progress, war-zones, etc. I have no need for expensive hyper-teles, etc., and can do all I want with a $40 screwmount lens. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Yeah I know what you mean CE. My first real kiss was with a girl who was a smoker. I remember the uh "flavor" quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray . Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 <i>I'm for less government intrusion into the choices we make.</i><p>Generic blanket statement that lives in the minds of political theorists and radio talk show demagogues, not in the real world. Seems to me that in general the passing of anti-smoking laws are one of the best and most forward looking things government has ever done. I applaud them for protecting the rights of citizens to breathe clean air. Maybe there should be smoking bars and non-smoking bars, but then where do you zone the smoking bars? In an industrial area? People going to bars often hang out in front of the bar and cigarette smoke easily drifts a hundred feet outside. <p> <i>And yes, I am more concerned about my camera then my lungs. A persons lungs will heal up within a couple days of spending an evening breathing in 2nd hand smoke.</i><p>Please tell me you are joking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenelsonfoto Posted December 22, 2006 Author Share Posted December 22, 2006 Ray - don't get cranked in my thread, please. No need for it. Simple fact of the matter is no amount of second-hand smoke from ghouls like myself, standing outside, wafting downwind, is going to equal the amount of poison in the air related purely to combustion engines, industry, etc. Lock us up in smoking bars where we WANT to be and let us choke in peace. Yer gonna die some day. No escaping it. Taking away all the cigarette smoking in the world won't cure lung cancer any more than banning firearms will cure homocide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray . Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 <i>Taking away all the cigarette smoking in the world won't cure lung cancer any more than banning firearms will cure homocide.</i><p>More slogans and one-liners. <p>And I am not "cranked," and this is an open forum, not your private discussion group. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now