Mt. Waterman 8.16.09

We usually don’t repeat trails since there are so many around here, but we love Mt. Waterman. It has the feel of the Sierras on the summit plateau, its a nice and easy 6 miles or so and its not too far from home. The visibility wasn’t what we had hoped and we couldn’t even see the Antelope Valley through the smoke from a wildfire; however, towards the end of the day, we did see all the way to Catalina. We’ve been flaking on our hiking lately so this short day made for a great return to the trail.

Arbor Lofts

Artist lofts in Lancaster? Your stimulus dollars at work. A few weeks ago, my wife Heather went to downtown Lancaster, where once a month they shut down the street and have a small street fair. Heather went to image the fire dancers. They happened to perform right in front of this great building. Curious, she went in for more info. It turns out that this a low-income artist housing project that is part of the federal stimulus package.

After some inquiry, yesterday I went for a walkthrough. It is now my mission to move into this building. Complete with a well put together art gallery on the first floor facing Lancaster Blvd. , this place seems more contemporary than the town it sits in. Balconies, natural light, reasonable rent. I’ve actually never been in such a well designed building in Lancaster. It was inspiring. I should have rubber banded my jaw shut. I only hope my art is good enough to get me in there. Cross your fingers for us.

Rollercon 2009

Roller derby conventions are fun. This is our fourth year and I can tell you for sure that in the oppresive August Nevada Sun, there is fun to be had.I’ve been waiting to post this for a while becasue I was hoping to post a timelpase of the Vegas skyline along with these stills, but due to a new computer migration issue, the timelapse will have to wait.

I don’t know my wife’s  Canon 50D yet, but that didn’t stop her from letting me play with it during the Pin-Up’s set this year. Heather is always hidden behind those cymbals and over the years, I’ve only got one or two great shots of her playing. The odds were stacked against me. If that doesn’t make it challenging enough I was using the 25-135mm lens, which was unfortunate.

The economy hid the event kind of hard this year and the promoters moved the derby matches away from the hotel this year, so it had a different feel from the bands perspective. We didn’t get to see near as many actual matches. The hectic nature of getting a band and their equipment together for a performance out of town is daunting, especially when you’re in Sin City with a bunch of musicians. As we drove into the sunset on the 15, I realized that the only way I would ever capture Vegas correctly in a frame would be to visit the city and only shoot photos. Too many distractions.