Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images

Picture: FAA Saftey Crews working on runway approach lights below a jet airplane landing at LAX, Los Angeles, California

I had mentioned previously regarding my recent Southern California Coast trip, that some of my favorite images taken over the nine days were some of the very last one’s I took. Furthermore, they had nothing to do with my current book project, or what I had traveled that far to photograph. I was lucky to catch this crew at work while enroute back home to the Bay Area.

I’m an armchair pilot. I studied and passed ground school before I had a Drivers License. I never got behind the wheel (called a yoke) except for about five minutes while flying Barbara Rowell’s Cessna T206 to during a flight to Bishop, California. She was trying to deal with one of the most dangerous things a small plane pilot can do; fumble with a map. I suppose I can’t get her in trouble now for admitting that she (a non-instructor) let me control the aircraft.

Picture: Sunset light on coastal cliffs at the Point Vicente Lighthouse, Palos Verdes Peninsula, California

I just finished processing the images from my recent trip down along the Southern California coast. There was a grand total of 445 RAW image files that have been converted into 55MB Master TIFF Files. The majority of these will be moved into the next phase of production as they get ready for distribution to my stock files, agents, and edited for my current book project.

I was recently asked why process all of those images, especially if some of them will be thrown out or marked as ’seconds’. The simple answer for doing all of this extra work upfront is that I’ll have all of my variations ready and done. The longer answer involves my having grown up editing slides on a lightbox. I edit chronologically, so if I shot something once that looked good, and it looked better later, I’d shoot it again. I’ll process all the RAW variations in order, and then later decide which I’ll keep as a main select, a second, or (toss) out. I find that doing a final edit of finished Tiffs is much easier once everything has been cleaned and color corrected. The bulk of my images take less than a couple minutes each to fully process and clean.

As an example, if I have 16 variations of a scenic lighthouse shot, I’ll process 10 RAW files of that particular scene. Then, after comparing the color corrected TIFF’s, I may keep seven as final selects, two ’similars’ may get dfeep-filed, (archived), and one will get marked as an out and deleted.

The other main reason for doing the work upfront; If a call comes in from a client for subject XYZ, I’ll have all my verticals, horizontals, wide angles, telephotos, high horiozon, low horizon, etc. shots ready to go into a lightbox within minutes. Conversely, if I had to go back to my raw archives and look for variations, edit, process, etc., this will take a good chuck of time down the road. And if a short deadline stock request comes in while I’m already neck deep in another project, I might not be able to get the extra work done, and hence, miss a potential sale.

Moral of the story: Hours & Days of work now = only minutes of work later. I choose to take an extra 20-30% time investment upfront, and the end result is a Hard disk folder full of images that looks as good and comprehensive as a good edit of 80 rolls of film nested into a hanging file folder. And on the business side of the equation, being able to respoind to client requests quickly is key, especially if you want to be seen as a professional, and / or have them call you again.

Picture: Homes above the Upper Newport Bay Preserve, Newport Beach, Orange County, California

And speaking of the Southern California mindset; I was tangibly aware of how different people looked at me with my camera. You can tell that their thoughts focused on my being a Paparazzi. People would turn to look at WHO I was shooting, not WHAT I was shooting. I didn’t like the feeling, and could almost taste the disdain in some people’s expressions.

So one day, I’m standing on the side of Back Bay Drive in Newport Beach, getting photos of the Upper Bay for my current book project. Back Bay Drive is a one-way auto route, but is also very popular for bicyclists. While taking photos, a pair of casual cyclists ride by. I can hear one of them say in an accented voice, as if he were visiting from overseas, “Is that one of those Paparazzi?” I feel like I just swallowed a bit of barbed wire or need a shower - or both. After a brief moment, as they’re riding away, I retort loudly, “No, I’m Not! (blank) You & Thank you very much!” I heard them both laughing as they rounded a corner out of view.

However, If I was a Paparazzi, and someone famous did live in one of those houses, I’d be sure to sell the National Enquirer or TMZ photos of the house where the ‘famous’ litterbug lives.

Of all the affluent houses in the area, where NIMBY-ism is likely alive and well, apparently tossing trash off your own backyard cliff into a nature preserve is OK at this household. Funny enough, through Google Maps and Street View, I know exactly where this house, so if I’m ever back in the area, I can leave a nice “Clean up” note on their mailbox.

Picture: “Drill Now” oil banner hanging from front porch of affluent home with a Hummer SUV parked in front, Corona Del Mar, Southern California

On my recent trip to Southern California, I came across this scene while in the Newport Beach / Corona del Mar area. Frankly, sometimes I just don’t get the SOCAL mindset. I really can’t think of anything more to say, other than the photo seems to speak for itself.

According to some, it has the potential to show us the mind of God, or if the fear-mongers are correct, deliver the entire planet to God. The Boston Globe’s photo-blog, The Big Picture, has recently run an awesome collection of images from the Large Hadron Collider. This machine has been built to replicate the earliest conditions in the universe, immediately following the big bang. The goal is to learn more about the very basic structure and nature of the universe, including proving the possible existence of extra dimensions of space. The photos are amazing, but pale in contrast when you consider the scope of technology and science used to build this machine.

A few other recent notable image collections from the Big Picture:
Recent Volcanic Activity
California’s Forest Fires
Views of Jupiter

Picture: Spray from waves crashing on coastal rocks at sunset along the Lost Coast at Shelter Cove, Humboldt County, California

It always feels like a reason to celebrate when I get through processing a bunch of RAW images from a recent trip. Last night, I finished processing the images from my trip to the Northern California Coast, specifically Humboldt & Del Norte Counties. The final total was 657 RAW images were processed, cleaned, sized, and spotted, and are now ready the next phase.

I often get asked how I deal with so many images, and I’ve thought about writing this out in more detail. But for now, when shooting for stock, you do have to play a bit of a numbers game. Compound that with shooting for a book project, and you wind up with lots and lots of photos. However, just because I processed all of these images doesn’t mean that each image will get further down the production path. Some ’similars’ may be marked as seconds, like film, where the files simply live on a hard disk or DVD as a type of back-up file, or kept just in case a future stock request requires a certain slight variation. A few images will get tossed, meaning that after a while of looking at them, I decide they just don’t meet critical muster. So out of those 657 images, I’m willing to guess that somewhere between 400 & 500 images will actually get fitted into submissions for my stock agencies.

Looking back, I think it took close to three weeks to process all those photos. Now it’s on to start processing images from my recent Southern California trip. Hoo-Ya!

PS: You can see more of my older North Coast Photos in my online web gallery

Picture: Some big ugly flaw on my sensor after the camera hits the ground.

So there I am, standing along the bank of the Eel River in Humboldt County. I was close to wrapping up my trip along that section of the coast, and was shooting the Avenue of the Giants. My camera was on the tripod when I went to change lenses. My camera bag was a couple feet away, so I dismounted the lens that was attached to the body, and carried it to my camera bag. As I reached my bag, I heard behind me the sickening sound of a whack-thud. The wind had blown over the tripod and camera body, which had a gapping hole where a lens should have been attached. The Gods had been kind in that the camera fell with the lens mount face up, and the back of my camera taking the full force of the impact with the dirty, dusty, gravel-laiden ground. With my heart wrapped around my feet, and my stomach near my throat, I walked over and looked down at the camera. I could see the mirror appeared half open and could see the sensor behind it. I was sure my trip just ended in that moment.

There was only one thing to do; Test the camera. I put the lens on, turned on the camera, said a prayer, and clicked the shutter. The camera took the picture, but what showed up on my preview LCD panel was the big black disgusting looking flaw that you see above. My camera was toast. I was sure of it. Nonetheless, I took the camera back to my truck, and began to clean the sensor to see just how bad the damage was. What transpired was that after the first cleaning, the big black ugly flaw had gone away, but some spots remained. So I then proceeded to swab the sensor, and eventually everything was cleaned and working normally.

When I uploaded this CF card to my laptop, I realized what this big black flaw had been. While my camera had been laying on the ground, apparently a hatch fly had flown into the camera. So what I first thought was massive damage to my camera just turned out to be some very unplanned, extreme close-up insect photography.

Picture: Evening light over waves and rocks on sand beach at the Historic District of Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach, Orange County coast, California

I just returned from a nine day trip to the Southern California Coast, specifically to areas of San Diego and Orange Counties. This was an unusual trip, in that I returned much more rested than usual. Thanks to a number of mornings of gray clouds known locally as June Gloom, I was able to wake up at 5:15 am, and realize I could go back to sleep for another couple hours.

Oddly enough, my favorite shot(s) from this trip were the last photos I took, and had nothing to do with my current book project. I’ll post those a bit later. But for now, I really liked this evening shot of the coast, where you are able to rent rustic cabins on the ‘original’ OC, an area famous from the 1940’s & 50’s.

You can also see more of my other LA & Orange County coast photos in my online web gallery.

Picture: Mountain bikers on trail through Los Penasquitos Open Space Preserve, San Diego, California

I’ve been enjoying my time in San Diego for a very odd reason. The weather continues to be stuck in an early summer “June Gloom” rut. This means that there is a thick blanket of coastal fog that rolls in and obscures any chance of a nice sunrise. Why do I like that? Well, because it allows me to get some extra sleep every morning. You see, good weather can make for some very exhausting trips. The counter balance to this means that you only get one shot at good light per day. Yesterday, my shot came while taking a late afternoon hike through a seven mile strip of land called the Los Penasquitos Open Space Preserve. It’s a really nice refuge from the crowded hills filled with houses, shopping malls, and office building. Everyone needs a place to escape, and if you’re a local here, this Preserve is the perfect place.

You can see more of my San Diego area photos in my online web gallery.

Isn’t that what you’re tempted to ask when you see someone you think you recognize, but you’re not sure from when or where? “Hey, Don’t I know you from somewhere?” In fact, now that I think about it, that would make a great pick-up line at a bar. (Yes, I have used it at a bar before & yes, it turns out I did know her previously.)

But now, photo-savy people may see a ‘famous’ face strolling the streets of Berkeley & Emeryville. It seems the Everywhere girl is moving to attend school at UC Berkeley. Who is the Everywhere girl you ask?

About her famous photo shoot, she says,

Of course if I had known what a huge deal these photos would become I may have felt different about the amount I was getting paid. It was a stock photo shoot and royalty-free, which I really didn’t understand at the time…

I’ll bet she understands all this stuff pretty well by now.

You can see more of the Everywhere Girl on my Royalty Free Page