Color in the harbour - San Diego

Color in the harbour - San Diego, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted." -Bill Bryson

Nothing balances out being cooped up in a dark ballroom for 8 hours for 4 straight days furthering your education than getting out and exploring the landscape of a city. I did just that when I was out in San Diego a few month ago on a training seminar and I intend to do the same starting tomorrow. This time, I'll be in Dallas for a long weekend. Not sure what I'll find whilst in pursuit of the image, but I am sure I will find out soon. For now, its off to bed....yikes, alarm in 4 hours!

Tracks in San Diego

Tracks in San Diego, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Wearing headphones is indeed not the most intelligent thing to do while hanging out on the tracks during a time exposure, but it helps make the time go buy. After another day chock full o' education, inspiration, and motivation, I took a couple of hours to wander the city of San Diego to clear the mind and take a break from the ballroom. It was indeed a cool experience to be in the room with like minded investors as well as being a part of the launch of a really awesome application called Freedomsoft. More on that soon!

Cameo on the streets of San Diego

Cameo on the streets of San Diego, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

After what ended up being a 10 hour day packed full of so much information I thought my head was about to explode, it was time to head out....camera and sticks in tow, and clear the mind while searching for the light. As always, I like to set a cinematic mood via the Ipod, and tonight was no different. After packing the memory card shots from several locations, on the way back to the hotel I had this idea in my head of what I thought was gonna be a cool cameo of your truly sneaking into the shot kinda Hitchcock style. Well, this is what I got LOL!

More from the evenings outing in weeks to come :)

A view from the room - San Diego

A view from the room - San Diego, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Upon checkin, the usual question that seems to be the first to be asked is would you prefer a king or 2 double beds? I say screw it, give me a beanbag chair, as long as I can get a cool view. And a cool view I was able to get!

My morning routine this morning had me in a bit of a confused state. While anticipating the excitement for todays session, I actually found myself sitting by the window in a relaxed state during sunrise, attempting to meditate whilst catching a glimpse of the rising San Diego sun painting the morning cityscape, while at the same time......and get this.....stretching, tweeting, checking emails, and chugging down a cup o' joe. Yeah, a little too much to actually focus on the meditation. LOL. Lets see how tomorrow goes!

A walk about the harbor - San Diego

A walk about the harbor - San Diego, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

After a slightly uncomfortable flight across the country sandwiched between 2 overweight passengers, I decided it was time for an attitude adjustment. A late lunch of sushi down by the water, a 90 minute massage at the spa, and a trek about the marina around sunset was indeed just what the doctor ordered!

Old truck in Napa Valley

Well, as I have done all too many times in the past, I am pulling one from the vault. While trekking thru California's wine country in what seemed like an illegal crash course in the region, I happened to find this subject just outside of a cool little winery. Napa is supposed to be enjoyed and sampled like.......well, a fine wine!

This knucklehead crammed thru it like the first time I sampled Venice as a 25 year old. In, out, done. Where's the next train off to?

Stupid, I know...... I gotta learn to slow down! ..... Maybe next trip.

Anyway, as always, when I don't have an image that I captured and worked on for the day, I head for the vault. That illusive file on the MacBook Pro...

Upon returning to the room and putting on the headphones (with Radiohead I might add). I chose this one. I met up with fellow HDR guru, Ben Willmore, this evening. A true artist in his own right. (I link to him on my blog). This one reminded me in a small way, of his style (well, not really the more I look at it!)

It was really cool to meet up with Ben as I have admired his work for quite some time! Thanks for the great conversation and best of luck this week!

A walk along the coast

As is so often the case, the real image that I want to create sits dormant buried in a stack of zeros and ones somewhere on the hard drive. Whether exploring the local world around me or in some exotic local, the process seems to be the same. Seek out, soak in, click and capture, and God willing.....an image will be created someday.

I truly do love to wander...always have. I am sure that the word wanderlust was created by someone who I share this passion with. I can remember my first transatlantic flight like it was yesterday. Upon landing in Gatwick International airport in London, my inquisitive mind wouldn't let my body rest for at least 30 straight hours. Subsequently, each trip after that started the exact way. Hmm, the hundreds of miles I must have logged!

Knowing that, I guess I could have predicted how my travels would take shape as I treked up the coast of California last year. As I wandered up through this beautiful state, It was hard to stop. Clicking like a mad man as I explored, I couldn't wait for the next turn. I could spend a lifetime bringing these images back to life. Hope you like this one as much as I do.

Just over the Fence

Its time to reach into the crock pot of images that have been cooking for a little while. (Mike, what the hell does that mean?).....Not sure really (ooh, ok...) Hey, I'm beat......what do ya want from me.....

Geeez, what was all that about?!?!?!.....

Anyway, workin' on a pretty cool fundraiser for this Friday night. Its a Halloween theme called "Devils Night." We are working some pretty long days this week so we can focus the lights at night. Should be a pretty cool event! Hope to capture a bit and post if possible.

Oh yeah....

This shot was captured as I was treking up the coast of California a month or so ago. As always, I was chasing the light like a madman :)

More on all this later.....

Roadside color

As I was heading north about an hour outside of San Francisco, I had this urge to drive over to the coast and take HWY 1 instead of 101. Well, about 10 hours and a million sharp curves in the road later, I arrived at Eureka, CA. There was an incredible site around every turn. It was so hard to not stop at them all!

Wine Country Collage

As I prepare for my next little trip, I am reminded of the last time I was on the West Coast. When I put this together, I had just done a loop of the Napa/Sonoma wine country in one day. Yes, thats one day! I wonder if I missed a few things?

This next little trip has me driving up the coast from San Francisco, thru Oregon, and into Seattle. From Seattle, I am then heading up to the San Juan Islands for a 4 day DLWS photography workshop. I am currently in the process of packing WAY too much camera gear!

Boat O' Glass

I would really like to post and blog about the day today as alot happened, however, I am way too exhausted. In addition, I wasn't carrying my camera with me either. I did have my Iphone however, and happened to grad a few interesting shots with that. I hope to post and elaborate this week. For now, here is another from the glass exhibit from a few weeks ago.

Arch halls at Castle de Amorosa

I arrived at this winery on a whim. As I was getting to the end on road in Napa, I really wanted to get up high to get some scenics of the region. I took a rather quick left hand turn as a few rows of grapevines caught my eye, drove up the hill, and found this incredible castle. Castle de Amorosa was built not a few years ago with all of the bricks imported from Europe! I'm a little confused about something though. I thought that I would have taken took more images. This place was very "Old World Europe"....a photographic gem. I am sure I must have taken the time to capture it. Oh wait, that's right, I spent most of the time in the cellar.....tasting! There's always next time. :)

And now for something completely different. One would think that the Olympics and the impressive display of physical strength, determination, and focus of these athletes would kind of rub off on me. I mean, the workout room is within a stones throw of where I am sitting right now. Have I been working out? Well....., not so much. By the way, I wonder what Michael Phelps listens to on his Ipod?

More on all of this later....

View from the 16th floor of the Hyatt Regency

When I arrived late at the hotel in San Francisco a few days ago to check in, the hotel was sold out...I mean "pissed off people unable to check into their their rooms and scattered all over the lobby" sold out. I was lucky enough to get a room as I was part of a huge group. There were quite a few people giving me the evil eye when I received my room key!

They were able to upgrade me to the "key required 16th floor" the next day as the only room they had that night was a smoking room. Its kind of awkward when you are on the same floor as the CEO and meeting planners! It was kinda fun dogging the other guys on the crew about it. This is a view I captured earlier in the week. The area off to the right near the water is where the double high freeway was that collapsed during the earthquake a few years ago.

Gonna try to play a quick game of catch up with my daughter tomorrow! I miss her so much!!! I leave on Sunday for another week long event in North Carolina. Then, after that, i am home for a couple of weeks!

By the way, this post on August 1st actually marks 4 straight months of blogging. My first post was on April 1st. Didn't really think I was gonna be persistent with it. Jeeeezzz, what in the world have I babbled on about for 4 months come to think of it! Maybe soon, I will blog about why I enjoy it and what I get out of it. Until then, after a long day of travel, I am kinda beat.

More on all of this later :)

Reeds by Chihuly

The client was nice enough to invite us crew to their event last night. The newly reopened De Young museum was theirs for the night. I was most impressed with the Dale Chihuly exhibit downstairs. He and his team of artists create some of the most incredible glass projects in the world. The mix of glass, color, light, and texture in this exhibit was incredible. It seems weird to take images of another artist work with the full intention of creating my own vision of it, but, here we are. I cranked out a few handheld exposures for this one as the tripod was back hanging out at the hotel.I have seen Dale Chihuly's work several times before, but this installation was phenomenal. The lighting was a major player in this piece especially. I would have loved to have spent a couple hours in here with a tripod and no people!

Here are a few more detail shots. Enjoy!

Golden Gate

The lighting has been a little lame since I have been here so I decided to create my own light. This is a shot from a few days ago when I wasn't chained to the lighting console n the ballroom. The clouds and light on the hill was created with a texture layer or 2. I worked on this image during the general session yesterday. Gotta do something to stay alert (hahaha). The client has invited us to their private event at The de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park this evening. I hope to capture a few images there.

Grape trucking

As I was maneuvering to get this shot I noticed some of the staff walking by out of the corner of my eye. I was without tripod and was laying down in the dry field just outside of another really cool winery trying to steady my camera for 5 quick bracketed exposures. As she was passing by, one of the girls yelled out "Hey, be careful down there....we kinda have a snake problem out here." Yikes! Thats all it took for me to dust off and get back to the tasting!

I am still in San Francisco on a corporate gig at the Hyatt. As the presenter drones on at the podium during rehearsal, all of us tech staff are working with our laptops on other events, photoshopping, skyping, and just about anything other than really paying attention. Hey, it is a rehearsal day! Oops, video que coming up.....hold on...

Ok, I'm back. Its great to be working with this crew again. As always, we are treated to some incredible dinners with Rick. Had an incredible seafood dinner on Monday night. Here's a link to Steve's blog describing last nights Greek dinner.

 http://slarose.blogspot.com/2008/07/oh-what-night.html

I haven't been out shooting since load-in as we have been in the ballroom most the time. Hope to get out sometime this week before I leave. As I type this, the crew is back in Florida prepping for our show in Greensboro, NC next week. Thanks guys! As you know, you are all a very crucial part of that event and I appreciate it.

Hanging out in the wine cellar

After a great tasting at Castle de Amorosa in the Napa Valley a couple of days ago, I was lucky enough to get a few minutes in the cellar. They were well past closing time, but I was able to sweet talk the lady that treated me to a great tasting of their reserves into letting me capture a few images down there. I could have spent an hour there but I was pushing it as it was. Perhaps next time, I'll work on a better focus job. I'll blame it on the wine this time (haha)! Enjoy.

Towering Redwoods in Muir Woods

Although I am not really happy with this image, I decided to post it anyway. Taken at Muir woods outside of San Francisco. Any lighting that happens to reach the forest ground is lucky to get by these amazing and majestic redwoods.

Golden Gate at Night

On the Sausalito side of the Golden Gate Bridge, there is a road that takes you right down to a great place to capture this landmark. I stayed in a hotel called Cavallo Point near there that opened about 2 months ago. The rooms are converted government barracks from clear back to WWII. It was a great location to base myself for trekking around Muir woods, Sausalito, and the wine country. More images to come from my exploration today.