rainy days

It’s been a wet month:

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2009

I uploaded just over 1,400 photos to flickr this year, nearly doubling my online archive. 2009 might have been a lousy year, but I made some significant strides in my photography. Below are my favorite shots from each month:

January (15 photos)

I took this photo at a Martin Luther King Jr. rally the day before President Obama’s inauguration for the San Mateo Daily Journal. There are all sorts of technical issues with this shot, but the SM Daily Journal ran it on their front page the next day. It’s always cool to see your photos in print.

February (19 photos)

This dog was too photogenic to pass up. Kind of a weak month for me photography-wise.

March (267 photos)

Took this in Clarion Alley as part of a San Francisco street art project. Love the greens.

April (76 photos)


Captured this diptych in downtown Palo Alto.

May (155 photos)

Of all my photos taken around Islais Creek, this tops the list. The original was too flat, so I converted it to monochrome and upped the contrast.

June (106 photos)

Joe Mauer doing what he does best. Twins beat the A’s 10-5.

July (265 photos)

A simple abstract taken in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.

August (66 photos)

A throwaway shot at first glance, I did some heavy processing in photoshop to bring out the contrast.

September (113 photos)

One of the first shots with my new 5D Mark II. 13 seconds at f/9.0 just after sunset near the summit of Windy Hill.

October (136 photos)

The Marin Headlands were overrun by tourists as the sun set, but I managed to work them into the landscape.

November (134 photos)

One of my best from the Drawbridge series.

December (39 photos)

My favorite from a portrait assignment for a local construction management firm.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2010: take more photos of people.

drawbridge, ca

A ghost town in the heart of Silicon Valley? I first read about Drawbridge a couple years ago, but didn’t get a chance to explore it until last weekend. Founded in 1876 on the rail line between Fremont and Alviso, Drawbridge reached its peak during Prohibition. Due to its relative isolation and the fact that nearly every resident was armed, local law enforcement didn’t bother making vice raids. Nearly every resident was armed. Water pumping and nearby salt evaporation ponds caused the land to sink into the bay, and people started to leave. Local newspapers published wild accounts of treasure left behind, bringing hordes of scavengers and vandals. The few remaining residents scared them off with shotguns, but it was a futile effort. Charles Luce, the last man in Drawbridge, left in 1979. In thirty years of abandonment, most of the buildings are in an advanced state of decay and sinking into the marsh. It seemed a good time to check out the ghost town before it disappears completely.

I was up by 5:30am and on the tracks heading north from Alviso an hour later. I had hoped for a beautiful sunrise, but the overcast light made for excellent landscape photography.

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The only sound I heard was the occasional pop of shotguns as game hunters prowled the sloughs for waterfowl.

After a nearly three mile hike along the tracks, I came to the first abandoned structures. Drawbridge is technically closed to outsiders, but there’s nothing to stop people save for a few signs. The tracks are active, but only a couple Amtrak trains rolled through when I was there.

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The land surrounding the tracks is mostly salt marsh crisscrossed with small streams. A few of them are covered by pickleweed and nearly invisible, causing me to stumble and plunge ankle deep in mud. It’s not a particularly safe environment for high-end camera gear.

Surprisingly, the place isn’t as overrun by graffiti as I would’ve expected.

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This place was the best preserved in all of Drawbridge. Pretty sure this used to be the kitchen.

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More abandoned buildings are north along the tracks.

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Some great opportunities for macro decay photography.

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Around this time I noticed that the tide was coming in fast, causing the bay to seep out of the marsh and make further exploration difficult.

The sun came out around noon, and by then Drawbridge was inundated by water.

Rest of the Drawbridge set here.

graffiti battle

Saturday was the 3rd Annual Estria Graffiti Battle over in Oakland, and I had the chance to get some good shots of the action.

24 artists from around the country gathered at DeFremery Park to showcase their skills. The theme of the day was “grow,” with each artist free to interpret this theme through their piece.

Tenfold, from SF.

Let your mind grow…

Piece by Doves, winner of the Harlem graffiti battle.

Hawaiian artist Prime works on his canvas.

Unknown artist writing in his notebook.

Nice burner from Refa.

Muet.

The winning piece from Oakland’s own Vogue. More shots from the battle here.

minneapolis

After putting it off for far too long, I finally decided to upgrade my camera gear and purchased a Canon 5D Mark II. The Pentax gave me four-plus years of solid dependability, but I was starting to feel hampered by its limitations. In addition to the 5D Mark II, I also picked up 16-35mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. The slower Pentax lenses drove me crazy in low light situations, so it’s nice to have something that can handle even the most difficult lighting. The price was painfully steep, but the quality is unparalleled and I don’t anticipate upgrading for a long time.

Despite having gone to college in the Twin Cities and living there from 2006-2008, I’d never done a thorough photowalk of Minneapolis. Most of my photography was limited to peripheral industrial areas, abandoned buildings and other weird, seldom-photographed parts of the Cities. When I was back there last week for a wedding and found myself with lots of time to kill, I decided to give the new camera a test drive in downtown Minnapolis.

First stop was Riverside Plaza (aka Little Somalia), a low-income housing complex and a great example of architectural brutalism. I didn’t linger as some residents were giving me the stink eye. The 70-200mm isn’t exactly subtle.

Next up was Nicollet Island and the Hennepin Avenue Bridge

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Detail of the Guthrie Theater

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Giant portrait of Tennessee Williams on the outside of the theater.

Wandering down 2nd Street towards downtown.

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After about four miles of wandering, I headed back to the Stone Arch Bridge and waited for the sun to set. Just as the sun started sinking and the sky turned pink, about six photographers showed up, including a wedding photographer with her clients. It’s a cliche shot, but it’s the best angle of the Minneapolis skyline.

On my way home I stopped at the 24th Street pedestrian overpass for a different approach to the Minneapolis nightscape.

refinery

hunters point naval shipyard

Finally found a good time to slip inside the abandoned naval base at Hunters Point, and it was worth the wait. Some shots from the photo excursion:

Approaching building 600, a former barracks at the southeast tip of Hunters Point. The shipyard is the most toxic place in San Francisco, so I didn’t want to spend much time in this cesium-polluted wasteland. It took some serious problem solving to get inside this building, but it was worth it.

The building itself is a gutted shell filled with broken glass, empty lockers and ratty old mattresses.

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10 floors of photogenic emptiness.

Living well. I didn’t come across much quality graffiti.

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Whole set here.

street philosophy

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As seen in Clarion Alley.

dogpatch

Along with the area around Islais Creek Channel, Dogpatch is one of my favorite spots for abandoned industrial photography. The buildings are mostly inaccessible, but the exterior architecture is beautiful and easy to shoot without access. Some shots from a recent excursion:

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Full sets here and here.

peppers

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