Kickstarted
This is a short promo that I put together to post on Kickstarter, the place where I’m seeking crowd-sourced funding to launch the first issue of the magazine “herenow”. Take a look at the project and throw a few dollars into it if it strikes your fancy.
Grasping for the Spark
Posted by GZ in Inspiration, Life, Media, Review on October 1, 2010
I’ve been struggling with inspiration lately (not a new problem), so I’ve taken to looking for new sources to help me see possibilities. I’m on a documentary kick at the moment, filling the Netflix queue and draining it into my head on a regular basis. Three that have kicked me into gear a bit—watch and be inspired:
It Might Get Loud
Davis Guggenheim (2008)
It’s about doing something (in this case, playing guitar) because you can’t imagine doing anything else, dedicating yourself to becoming great because you don’t want to do anything else, and letting your art speak for you because it has become your voice. I have a new level of respect for Jack White for the watching, too.
Objectified
Gary Hustwit (2009)
Bad design is all around us. “Objectified” teaches about the design that goes into the objects we bring into our lives, and shows that consciously good design really can make things better. There’s a lot of bad photography around us. I want to be consciously good.
Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
Eric Bricker (2008)
Of the three, the only one about photography (except it’s not). Julius Shulman became, with no more training that a high school photography class, the preeminent architectural photographer of all time and probably the greatest photographic documentarian Los Angeles has known.
And Sometimes They Work Out
Posted by GZ in Life, Photography, Processing on September 12, 2010
The boy and I had some time to ourselves this afternoon, so we decided to play around a bit with imagery. A locked-off tripod, manual settings, three shirts, sunglasses and a bit of Photoshop layer compositing – this is the oldest trick in the book, but we had fun with it.
I managed to assemble a cardboard pinhole camera (will test after the glue dries) and homemade-dough sausage, olive and mushroom pizza. It was a day for making.
Failed Experiments
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I’ve been a drummer all my life. I can’t say I’m a very good one, but I get by and it offers me something both creatively and physically satisfying. It’s also a great way to blow off steam after a grueling commute.
After years of not playing, I picked things up again shortly before my son was born. Out of consideration for neighbors and family alike, I went with a set of Roland V-Drums (electronics). I’d had a Simmons digital kit – the one with the red hexagonal pads like Phil Collins used to play – back in the 80s, and this new stuff was exponentially more advanced. It sounded mostly real, and felt sort of real to play. Being the gear nerd that I am, I graduated every couple of years to the newer, bigger, more real versions. While each step up got closer to the sound and feel of an acoustic kit, it still wasn’t there.
At this point, it’s not practical to have an acoustic drum set, so I’ve stuck with the Rolands. To fill the acoustic void, and to take me in a new direction, I decided that hand drums were the fix. I wasn’t totally committed, so I combed eBay for the cheapest set of used conga drums in the Los Angeles area. I found some in Long Beach at a price I could handle, bought a cheap instructional video tape, and…
I can’t do it. I just can’t do it. Maybe, if I had some direct, personal instruction, but on my own I can’t do the math. I can’t get the hand placement. I can’t make the patterns. I can hear them in my head, but it doesn’t translate. I drum with my hands all the time, on tables, my steering wheel – it either amuses people or drives them crazy, but I can’t help doing it. This is not the same. And it’s frustrating.
After gathering dust in a corner of my small room for years (with short breaks entertaining visiting children), it’s on to craigslist they go. Some other newbie can put them to good use, and I’ll have a little more space for my newer obsessions. My money used to go to places like Guitar Center and Sam Ash. These days, it’s Freestyle, Samy’s and Calumet.
Photo of the Day
Posted by GZ in Gear, Photographs, Published on September 8, 2010
discoverLosAngeles.com is the Web site of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, on which info about Los Angeles life and tourism is doled out. They’ve developed a relationship with local photographers through Flickr and MeetUp, and often use the work of said photographers in their site and materials.
One of the avenues for photo discovery is dropping a pic into their official Flickr pool. I put the photo of Kermit in last night, and this morning awoke to the news that it had been chosen “Photo of the Day” for September 8, 2010.
(Yes, I’ve gone Holga. More on that later)
Snaps
Posted by GZ in Events, Featured Articles, Life, Photography on August 24, 2010
Went out the other night for a work happy-hour, which we don’t do often enough. Things have been a bit crazy on the job, and we all needed the chance to decompress and have a drink on the company’s dime. We met at the landmark Cat & Fiddle on Sunset. I used to go all of the time when I had friends living near the place, but I hadn’t been in years. They have a great outdoor patio space, and I like the English pub feel. The service is notoriously slow and somewhat aloof, but the food’s decent enough to wait for when you have interesting company.
I decided to shoot a little with the AE-1, and since I knew the light was going to be subdued, I went with the Ilford HP5+ 400 stock. I think I got a good batch of shots overall, and the results were roundly appreciated. I say again and again that I need to shoot more people – I do enjoy it, but my shyness/propriety gets in the way. It’s easier with this bunch. They’re good humans, and it shows.
It’s funny how folks are surprised that this whole “film thing” still works.
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