365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/28/2009

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I ended up spending most of this day hanging out with Daye. We grabbed In-N-Out for lunch, randomly ended up seeing the new Terminator movie (for free!), and then went to get his car washed. Which is where we discovered that they now make Pepsi in tallboy cans, like anyone needs more soda. Does the new Pepsi logo remind anyone else of Target's logo?

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/27/2009

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This was the day that I flew up to San Francisco for all of six hours to give a presentation to my old lab. It was also the day that I made a major life decision, and I couldn't be happier about it.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/26/2009

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This was another photo that just begged for some heavy-handed cross-processing. It turned a shot of a pretty uninteresting building into something I don't mind looking at.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/25/2009

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I was trying to test the limits of push-processing a high ISO photo here, and I think I reached it.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/24/2009

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I went a little heavy-handed on the cross-processing with this image. It's a look that really needs the right subject to work.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/23/2009

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Swim Party made the trek up to Merced this day to play a show with the Useless Keys and Rademacher. As crazy as it seemed at the time, it actually ended up being a really fun time and a great show with a super receptive crowd. I somehow managed to only snap a few photos that day - this one's of opening band Useless Keys.

Show Photos: Eulogies @ Casbah, 05/22/2009

Photos: Eulogies @ Casbah

After checking out the Elephant Odyssey exhibit, I headed down to the Casbah to see Eulogies play with Great Northern and the Dears. I only ended up shooting photos of Eulogies, but all three bands were fantastic.

Eulogies opened up with a rousing set of heartfelt songs.

I just loved the projection of old photos onto their bass drum, as well as using a can of Fosters' as a shaker.

Peter also had some great art on his guitar. I think he said a friend of his did it, but I can't remember the name. Bummer.

I wasn't terribly familiar with their material beforehand, but I left the show with both their full-length and an EP that was a CD on one side, and vinyl on the other. Really neat idea, and we got to talking afterwards, and the guys couldn't have been nicer. I can't wait until they come back to San Diego again!

Photos: Elephant Odyssey opening @ San Diego Zoo, 05/22/2009

Photos: Elephant Odyssey opening @ San Diego Zoo

As a member of the press (or as somebody else put it, "representative blogger"), I was invited to attend the VIP opening of the Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo. Of course, I was thrilled to get the invite, and even more thrilled to check out the zoo. I haven't been there since last August when my brother was in town.

Before we even got to the elephants, we ran into a duck and a peacock wandering around the entrance to the zoo.

Then we took the sky tram up to the Elephant Odyssey area.

Before we even got to the elephants, we passed several large animal enclosures, as well as handlers with various birds.

And then we got to the entrance of the Elephant Odyssey area, where there were more handlers with more birds, and some mock tar pits, with a display set up about the mammoth bones that were found in a downtown excavation.

This lady informed us that everything on the table was a replica, "except for the poop," which was real.

The next area included the elephants, and this sloth, who hung out for awhile before disappearing into his tree.

There were more animal handlers, this time with a baby alligator and a turtle.

The new elephant enclosure are nothing short of gorgeous. The elephants have tons of room to roam around, in an area with pools of water and waterfalls to play in. They just looked so happy in their new enclosures.

After a short presentation, we were free to roam further into the area, where we saw some capybaras, llamas, and a tapir...

...and, of course, more elephants.

After that, it was all about the free food, drinks, and cake. In all honesty, we were a little freaked out by these servers that were actually wearing the tables of food, as well as crazy costumes. They were moving in a very animatronic way - jerky movements that made you unsure that it was actually a real person until the makeup. Until they talked to you.

But we hung out for awhile, enjoying the atmosphere and the freebies, until it was time to head to the Casbah for Eulogies.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/22/2009

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Peacock at the San Diego Zoo. I was there for the opening of the new Elephant Odyssey exhibit, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you really should. More photos from that soon.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/21/2009

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Still light fixture obsessed.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/20/2009

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I bought these shoes as a birthday present to myself. Fortunately, they were on sale at DSW.com, so they were a relatively cheap present...

Show Photos: Pilot Speed @ Casbah, 05/19/2009

Photos: Pilot Speed @ Casbah

I went to this show mostly to see Calico Horse open, but it was way too dark for photos of them. The lights went up for Pilot Speed, so I snapped a few. I recall thinking that Republic of Letters would be a good choice as tourmates for them.

I stayed for a few songs of An Horse's set, but I was pretty exhausted so I didn't take any photos. I left before they were done playing, and saw this beauty in the window of the Architectural Salvage store:

DO WANT.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/19/2009

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I've always wanted to use these movable stacks to make a fort.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/18/2009

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Taken near dusk, so I pushed the exposure quite a bit in post-processing - going for that grainy, noisy look.

Show Photos: The Life and Times @ Casbah, 05/17/2009

Photos: The Life and Times @ Casbah

First off, I suck for not taking photos of Hialeah and Modern Rifles this night. I think I was trying to limit my show photos (since I was still going through Coachella photos) and wasn't planning on shooting at all. But when I saw the lights that The Life and Times brought with them, I couldn't resist taking a few shots.

365 Days, 365 Photos: 05/17/2009

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My friend Brian asked me to shoot some professional photos for him, and I was more than happy to oblige. Especially in exchange for lunch and drinks up at Stone Brewery. Mmmm. I love the barter system. More photos here.