36th Annual Monterey Historic Races...

Being at the 36th Annual Monterey Historic Races was a blast, undoubtedly a car nut's heaven. Especially if you are into the vintage stuff. I was there helping Jesse Alexander set up his photo display and when I had time, I'd run out into the paddock/pit area to shoot what was happening.

Shooting the cars racing wasn't very accessible for me, but being in the paddock was were I wanted to be anyhow. I love the human interaction with the cars. Below are some of the pictures I took. (I'll be posting more later) Be sure to click the link above to see Jesse's site and you'll find that I am a mere impostor!...

The Boss

Monterey or Bust...

Tomorrow I'm heading on over to Laguna Seca Raceway and help my good friend/client/photographer, Jesse Alexander, at the races. I'm hoping to cut out early so as to take my time getting there and turn it into a little road trip.

Every year he sets up a tent on the inside of the track to sell his phenomenal racing images that he's made over the past 50 years. I'll be more of a laborer/gopher on this trip, but it will be well worth it to see him truly in his element.

This will be Jesse's last year at the event and he will be honored by Mercedes during a special dinner celebration at Pebble Beach. I'm hoping that once all of my grunt work is done, I'll be have time to wander the pits with a couple of film cameras. Jesse tells me that there's a good chance I will even have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the great, Sir Stirling Moss, whom he's been friends with for many years.

I'll post a full report when I return...

THRICE opening at AFS...

Last nights opening for THRICE at Art From Scrap went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, J.Shea wasn't able to make it to the event but... Tanner and I were on hand to represent and we ALL sold some work. The turnout was great and we are lucky to always draw such cool people to our shows.

Thanks to Nathan at Santa Barbara Art Blog for all of his promotion before the show and Matt at Art Resources for his expertise and assistance on building the wooden boxes I mounted my photos to.

Big Thanks to Holly, AFS, Ian Smith, Chris & Kenny at the Presidio Motel/Agave Inn and last but not least... Jeff and Jason from Face the Music who kept the good tunes spinning all night. Here's some snap shots from the show...

Tanner and one of his latest works...

Face the Music... or else!

Shooting and walking...

Took another one of my walks to burn of excess energy and... well... I could use the exercise too, getting a little lazy these days. Walking seems to be the only way I'm getting it right now. Once again, I took my camera bag along and this time it was the Mamiya 645M loaded with some Ilford XP2 that produced the shots I liked most. I used this film knowing full well that, since it is a C41 process B/W, I would be able to use the "Dust and Scratches" filter when scanning it. Like I said, "lazy." It is beautiful film though...If I'm not mistaken... this is an old Kaiser, but not sure which model?

Trying to get the juices flowing...

Cabin fever was taking over today. Too many hours in front of the computer, most of which was mindless meandering. I needed to get out, burn off excess energy and feed the urge to create. It's so hard to shoot in Santa Barbara, It's too damn pretty here. But I grabbed my bag anyway, the one that is loaded with my Mamiya 645M, Holga and Polaroid camera, and took a walk to see what new photo magazines were on the stand.

The outcome? One iced coffee, the new issues of PDN and COLOR magazines and...This scene in the park beckoned the Polaroid camera. Not my greatest masterpiece but it felt good to pull the trigger.

Ralph...

My good friend, fellow artist, collector of my photography, and all around good guy, Ralph Corners, rolled into Art Resources on his new Ducati recently. I happened to be there, armed with my Mamiya 645M...Be sure to click on Ralph's name above to see his outstanding artwork and new website, which was built with love by his wife, Hylla.

"THRICE"

It's like a family reunion without having to kiss my Aunt with the mustache!...

The core members of the Haley Collective... J.Shea9, Racecar13 and myself are showing together again. Breaking it down to the bare bones, just like the first show of the "Works in Progress" series, we will be exhibiting work as a threesome only. It's all going down at Art From Scrap, which is located in the same neighborhood where the collective joined forces for the first time.

See below for all of the details...

A stab at creativity...

During my recent visit to Portland I stayed armed with my camera most of the time. Between visiting with friends, hanging my art show, walking to dinner and so on... I stopped here and there to grab a few fun shots... This last one is my homage to Eggleston...

New pics of the Agave Inn...

A while back I posted a blog about the renovations my friends Chris and Kenny (from the Presidio Motel) were doing to the old Traveler's Motel on upper State Street here in Santa Barbara. Well, after some more renovations and a new street sign, they had me back for more shooting. It has become the Agave Inn and now that the rest of the pictures have been taken, a new website will follow soon.

This time a model was thrown into the mix to liven things up...

(Click image to make 'em big)If you've got family coming to town... you know where to send them.

Portland treated me right...

My recent two man show with J.Shea9 at IGLOO gallery in Portland was a success. According the the folks who run the gallery, it was the highest attended show they've ever had. I sold four of my pieces which didn't hurt either.

Now I am gearing up for my next show which is less than a month away. It is titled "Thrice" and will, again, be with J.Shea and our other fellow Haley Collective member, Racecar13. It's going down at AFS gallery here in SB and the opening in August 8th.

I'll post more info. and the show invite soon, but for now, here are some pics from Portland...Me and my brother standing next to the "Purple People Eater" and having way too much fun. I'm happy to say, that piece found a new home in Portland.