In search of the seriously beautiful…
I’m a Southern California native, born in San Diego, and I consider Fallbrook, California to be my hometown.
The sky was amazing today! Cirrus clouds from horizon to horizon.
That’s the balcony off my bedroom – and the view from Elder Street.
I could look at these clouds all day. Every way you turned, it was like an abstract painting in the sky. Just beautiful!
The last three images were shot at the gas station as I was filling up my tank – and paying $4.09 a gallon. First time ever I’ve paid over four dollars. Thank heaven for a beautiful sky to distract me…
Every Friday morning, on the corner of Main and Alvarado, in the Village Square, the farmers in town take over! You can get locally grown produce and flowers AND locally grown and packaged products like honey and gourmet kumquat sauces.
In 2005 I shot the Fallbrook Farmers Market for Fallbrook.org, and then on March 21, 2008 I shot it again for Fallbrook Sourcebook. If you want to see my earlier images, go to http://www.fallbrook.org/tourism/farmers-markets.asp
Last month I spent a week shooting all over town – I shot at Palomares House, Dinwiddie Preserve, the Farmer’s Market, Los Jilgueros Preserve, and in all sorts of hidden out of the way places that only long-time Brooktown residents know about. It was great! And now those images are in the 2008 Fallbrook Sourcebook – it’s the only glossy magazine dedicated solely to the Fallbrook/Bonsall area – and it comes out once a year – today!
The cover features six of my images – the only one I didn’t shoot is the food – the rest are my work. I also shot the cover in 2005 – that year it was one image of an artist painting in a garden – so typical Fallbrook stuff!
I also have quite a few images inside the magazine, and now I can blog some of those images. So more tomorrow!
And finally, here’s my ad that appears inside – I’m really happy with the way it turned out!
We’re in the middle of a heat wave – and I love it! It feels like summer… So I went for a walk along Pico Promenade today, and shot all the flowers in bloom along Fallbrook Stream, in Fallbrook California.
This last image may be my favorite of the day – it’s my favorite fence in front of the old Packing Plant – again!
Exactly eleven days after the last post, this is what that same tree looks like. Just amazing. I really do prefer the first image – but I can’t get over the opulence of the second image. Spring is on a rampage!
And catch the orange California Poppies below – our state flower, and one of my all-time favorites!
According to National Geographic, Spring officially arrives on the vernal equinox, which this year occurred today at 1:48 am Eastern time. I am soooo ready for it this year! Longer days, more sunshine, warm soft breezes… It’s my second favorite time of year, right behind summer.
I shot a special project today – I can’t talk about it yet, but soon! The image above may be a little hint…
I’m still working my way through all the images I shot in Chicago – two concerts and one portrait session, and four more mini-portrait sessions – it’s a lot. But yesterday I got a series posted of Bobby Kourelis at Hammerfest. Seeing the images all together in one spot, you really get just how passionately he plays – he’s something else! I also have some engagement shots to post tomorrow that I shot on Monday here in California – beautiful, beautiful couple!
Oh, and I met a photographer in Chicago – totally random – you just never know who you’ll bump into! I checked out his portfolio today and he’s good – his work is really modern and clean. If you need a headshot in Chicago, he’s definitely worth checking out! Hans Rosemond at hansrosemond.com.
Isn’t Spring just the best?
I’ve been shooting the old Fruit Packing Plant in Fallbrook for years – I’ve blogged about it before.
The renovations are almost complete, and I wanted to get a shot of the building at this stage – that was my main goal today. But I also wanted to play with the plastic sheeting, and chain link fence on the west side of the building. The way the sheeting was looped and tucked, and the way it blew and shimmered in the breeze was compelling to me, and I knew I could get some fun images of it.
And my final goal today was to get a shot to submit to a Day in the Life project some friends were putting together – today is Leap Day, so what better day for a bunch of photographers all over the world to all submit one photo, and then create a slide show that takes the viewer all over the world, all on one day, hour by hour, and minute by minute. Fun!
So those are the documentary shots. Now onto the fun stuff!
And finally, this is the shot I submitted to the Day in the Life Project. It’s the lock on the front gate – and I love the way the light hits the fence, and the shadows on the sidewalk. It’s a very simple image – just a picture of a gate – but I love it!
Some beautiful light, a few flowers in my own yard, and instant art!
I’m posting this just because I think it’s fun!
For those who don’t know, the reality show Tori & Dean, Inn Love was shot here in Fallbrook, at Oak Creek Manor Inn, which they renamed Chateau La Rue after her dog – but that was just for the show! Once they stopped filming, it reverted back to Oak Creek Manor.
The ad above appeared in our local newspaper, and it just strikes me as funny that when a monetary value was placed on the job Tori Spelling was doing, it’s only $1100 a month? No wonder she bailed on the project!
So I took a little walk downtown on Main Street today, and did a little documenting…
Diva’s always has the best window displays. Right now they’re featuring dresses made out of tissue paper and these really pretty lamps. It’s very creative – and their windows always are – and they have a lot of windows! My grandparents used to own shoe stores and my Grandma did beautiful displays – it’s definitely an art form.
I love the way the street and the traffic lights are reflected in the window. And you can see through the window, back out to the other side of the street, as well as into the shop. It’s just a really interesting shot with lots of levels.
A view of another window, with yet another lamp and more reflections.
For years Fallbrook didn’t have a place to buy fabric, but it looks like we do again. These bolts of a plastic-y fabric for outdoor use, were sitting outside, and inside there were people happily shopping.
It’s not unusual to see a vintage car like this parked on the street. I think there are more classic cars in the area than anywhere else in California, and the owners like to show them off!
On Main Street some of the buildings are really old, and some are made to look that way, and it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference – which is a good thing.
I love this sign! The Mission Theatre runs a dance school across the street, so their students are often seen darting across. In this case, “Dancer Xing” is accurate.
The Mission Theatre was built in 1948, and the inside still has some great original details. They do mostly children’s theatre now, but in the past they did adult productions, and before that it was all movies.
As I’ve mentioned before, the building my studio is in, Elder House, was a school until only recently – and the traffic signs haven’t been removed yet.
I love to watch leaves fluttering in the breeze. I shot nearly thirty frames of these leaves as they blew wildly, and considered putting together an animation. Maybe…
And of course there are some pretty little plants along Main Street…
These trees are just now blooming – so pretty!
And my favorite shot of the day! Who knew some leaves and stems could be so yummy?