Taking A Class And Watching A Fight

I am always up for learning something new.  I was lucky enough to be able to take a flash class at the Julia Dean Photography School in Venice beach for the day.  Most of my photographs use natural light so I wanted to take a class to use a flash the correct way in certain situations.  It was very informative with both technical learning in the class room and a few assignments in the field.

I love people watching in Venice beach.  We all had a partner and an assignment to go out and practice using a flash for a fill light.  My partner and I walked down the boardwalk and I found a spot where he would be sitting in the shade for practice.  He sat there and I started taking his photograph and playing with my camera settings when this man approached us.  He stood pretty close to me and was obviously out of it.  He couldn't focus on me and he smelled like death.  He tried to tell us how to get the best shot and how to compose it to make it look interesting.  I didn't like how close he was standing next to us.  My partner was nice and said, "oh yes, thank you for that information" while I backed away and waited for him to leave.

He left and we continued our practice taking photos of each other making sure we remembered everything technical we learned in class.  About a minute after meeting our new stranger "smells like death" friend, my partner pointed behind me and said, "hey, isn't that the guy that just came up to us?"

I turned around and sure enough, he was in a fight with a Venice regular, "Mr. Muscle Man."  I don't know if that's his name but I see him each time I am there and he does have muscles and I am pretty sure he's a man so that's what I will call him.  As soon as I saw them fighting, my instincts kicked in.  No, not to break up the fight but to take photographs of the action!  They first wrestled to the ground then popped up with a few punches here and there while a crowd formed.  It got pretty nasty when "death breath" started flicking his blood on "Mr. Muscle Man."  I kept snapping away, forgetting what I was there for.  Shortly into the fight, my partner said, "ummm...ok, well...do you want to practice over here?"  Practice?  What?  Oh yeah, I forgot that I was taking a class and we were on an assignment.  Eventually I had to pull myself away and put my technical brain back on.  I felt like a kid at the park wanting just a few more minutes to play.  I pouted a little inside and broke away from the action.

After our outside assignment was up, everyone gave their CF cards to the assistant to upload on the computer so we could all share what we did on the big screen.  Uh oh, I didn't expect for that.  While everyone followed the assignment correctly and had three pictures on their card, mine was full of the fight that, at the time seemed more interesting.  I tried to hide and not give my CF card to the assistant, but he remembered me and asked for it.  Of course I was first to be critiqued since my name starts with an "A".  Julia flipped through my images trying to find the flash assignment and then said, "what is this?" I had to say, "oh, um...yes I slightly veered off the assignment for a few minutes."  A little embarrassed, she was kind enough to look through them and give me feedback on each one and the class thanked me for capturing the moment.  I felt a bit of relief after that.

I am glad I took the class.  Very informative and Julia is a wonderful instructor.  If you are in Southern California, I would recommend looking into their program if you want to learn something new about photography.

Here's the sequence of the fight until I was pulled away...
My money is on "Mr. Muscle Man" to win.

People Watching In New Orleans

I spent the day walking around the historic downtown area in New Orleans to take photographs of everything I came across.  I could spend hours and days just observing the people of the area and activities going on.  The photographs might tell you a bit about my day.

It's a wonderful place and it's almost like you've stepped back in time or stepped into a movie set.

Either way, it's people watching paradise.

For more photographs of humans in their habitat, visit my photo website at www.AlisonTurnerPhoto.com

On Route 66 "The Mother Road"

Our national landmark highway spreads throughout the country so there is a chance you have been on Route 66 once on your travels.  It's referred as the Mother Road or the National Olds Trail Highway and stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles.

There are several old west stops along this historic highway and on this day, I stopped in Seligman, Arizona.  The small town is famous for its old route 66 relics including shops and landmarks that cover small stretch of highway.  It's a tourist dream.  You can take your picture with "Elvis," drink at an old saloon, buy knick knacks or take a seat to watch the entertainment pass you buy.  That is exactly what the locals did.  A typical Saturday for them includes pulling up a chair, enjoying a cigar and watch the tourists pass by.  I decided to chat with them for a while.  I told them I was from California and they were pleased that I was even speaking to them with everything going on in Arizona at this time.  One gentleman wanted to tell me he met the pope and pulled out his pocket photo album to prove to me that he in fact, met the pope.

As I walked along the town, there were plenty of sights to see.  It was a mini amusement park with tour buses pulling up every twenty minutes or so with herd of people unloading to take pictures and browse shops for things they can't live without.

I enjoyed my time in this town and I look forward to visiting more towns on this stretch of road.  I would recommend getting off of the freeway to see these little towns full of history.  Who knows, you may never get the chance to meet someone who met the pope or admire the carefully placed mannequin art on top of a gift shop.

Long Beach Grand Prix

The biggest event in Long Beach is the annual Long Beach Grand Prix that happens each April on the streets of Long Beach.  I've been in attendance about 5 times and this year it was about capturing what I came across in photographs.  I rode my bike to the entrance and once I stepped foot on the grounds, I knew I was in race car fan fantasy land.

It's a must see if you are a fan of car racing, beer, fair food, loud noises, or people watching.  For me, it was all about the people.  This is an indy car series race, but if you haven't been to a NASCAR race...you should go to one event in your lifetime.  It's a brand marketer's dream.  Car racing is a way of life to many people and it is pretty exciting to watch for the first time.  If that's not for you, I suppose a trip to the movie store is in order.  Rent "Talladega Nights," for your NASCAR education needs.  Ok, race fans...don't get upset with me, but you have to admit that the movie is pretty funny.

I began my tour with the food stands.  I love a nice trailer and if you are into grilling your meat on an open fire, they had some of the best BBQ trailers in town!  I am more of a corn on the cobb type of person, but the food trailers were fantastic.  It was nice day of wandering around and people watching.  One of my favorite things to do.

Humans In Their Habitat

I love people watching.  There are some great places to people watch like the airport, county fair, festivals, cities and most any place where there is a gathering of humans.  As you know, I was in New York City over the weekend and that could be the top place to sit and watch people living their lives.

Of course, I love to snap pictures of all people doing their thing.  Most of the time, I go unnoticed but on occasion, they spot me taking their photograph.  I wonder what they do and what their life is like.  You can sit there and imagine how people live their lives and a lot of the time, you might be right according to the way they dress or carry themselves.

I love it especially when someone is dressed up...different from the crowd.  The fashion trends vary from state to state and when you get to New York, you have everything mixed together.  I picked up a rental sheet from one of the blocks I wandered on and after seeing the housing costs, I wondered how people can even afford to live there.

When I am home, I like to sit in a coffee shop and watch people come and go.  It's what I am doing right now. I wonder what they are working on, what they do, where they live.  It's all so interesting to me.

Perhaps I've had too much coffee writing this post, but when was the last time you took a moment to sit and observe?  It's a great form of entertainment and best of all, it's FREE!  Here are a few pictures I took of people living their life in their own habitat.  I have more from my travels HERE.  Perhaps you are in one of them.

Life In New York City

Yesterday, I spent the day walking around the city.  I've done it a few times before, but yesterday was a different experience.  What I loved to do best was to sit in a park, on a bench, or a stoop somewhere and just watch people and feel the energy all around.  Of course there are tourist spots and places where locals only go and I hope to do a little of both.

The day was spent in the Bryant Park area and Times Square.  I look forward to doing it all over again today.  Here are a few pictures I took as I wandered around.  To see more, please click HERE.