The Guns were Huge.

SO had a shoot planned with lisa chiu today. shes a photographer friend of mine that ive always wanted to model for me, so it was cool to finally work together.

we agreed to shoot at the warehouse space i use alot in manassas. its a huge office building with no doors on it so the space is pretty much open to just walk in and shoot. believe me, its a great space.

anyhow, lisa was running a bit late so i got to the building first. i decided to just prepare the shoot and start setting up my lights. while doing so, i notice a police car turning the corner. "oh great, another cop to explain im just taking pictures to..."

but this was a bit different, there were 4 other cars following the police car a van, and two 4 door sedans. they park right behind the warehouse, so before i gather my things to leave, i keep an eye on them to see what exactly was going on.

The cars the followed the cop, were SWAT. FUCKING SWAT. they all got out of their cars with the assault rifles, bulletproof vests, and pulled the masks over their faces.

Needless to say i picked up the pace of breaking my lights down and getting the hell out of there. I'd fold up a tripod and look out the window to see more and more SWAT getting out of the cars. maybe someone had seen my flashes going off from the road and thought the building was being set on fire, and i was the arsonist? (its happened before)

as i proceded to watch them, rather than coming to me to arrest me for whatever reason (tresspassing duh.) instead they turn the corner and raided a nearby house. Drugs? prostitution? im sure it was one or the other or both but it scared the shit outta me.

when lisa showed up, i simply asked if we could shoot in a parking lot. just to keep stress levels at a minimum.

and now, here's Lisa....





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I mean who shoots film anymore?!?

Apparently, I do.



So after asking some questions about why anyone in their right mind would still want to shoot film to my friends in FVR, I decided to give it a go. Overall im pretty happy with how they came out. These shots are more test shots than anything else, but now that I've seen that I can actually pull it off, I might shoot more with film.


Ronald Knowles, 50 year boy scout.


Angela Kleis






then again, I do LOVE my DSLR, but it can be fun to have a mistress.

Just don't tell anyone.....

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bee stings.

why do i do it?




like i said in one of my earlier posts ive begun to find myself more and more through street photography, and it also gives me a chance to share with others how i see the world. there's an honesty to what i do, and its something thats so often overlooked anymore.

the above picture was of a little boy i noticed while shooting a local latino church festival. we were playing "tag" with my camera and him and he kept tryin to dodge me.



music played loudly, people were dancing, food everywhere. i didnt understand a word of what was being said over the P.A's and obviously i hardly fit in, but the people didnt care, or treat me any different. they were happy i was there and i had one of the best times of my life.


i wish i could say the same for her though...



while performing with her other members in her dance company, she jumped and came down on a rolled ankle, i could only assume by her face and the pain she was in that it was broken. even though she was so hurt she tried desperately to finish her dance with the others.

i respected her so much for that.

while walking back to my car through a path in the woods, i was swarmed by bees and got stung a few times, all and all, a great day.

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the flea market

DCist photo of the day october 8th, 2009. http://dcist.com/2009/10/photo_of_the_day_october_8_2009.php


i frequent my local flea market.

alot.

while there, i try to find some strange items, old cameras, and interesting people. One of the more interesting people Ive found there was Stephen Manuel Viiqueria. He made the above "sculpture" (i guess its what you would call it) and is a decoupage artist.



he's done collages for countless people and organizations, and been published in the NY Times, as well as done many galleries.

currently lives in manassas, va after moving from ocean city due to a death in the family and a divorce which left him broke.

he's turned his old fathers house into a gallery now and has visitors come daily to look and purchase his work, while we were chatting we agreed to set up a more formal shoot at his gallery soon.

also, after i took the picture of the above head, he threw it in the trash can and refused to let me take it.

odd.

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where ya headed?

people often ask me how i "select" the people i photograph.

truth is, i never pick them, they pick me. i never go out "hunting" for subjects really, more so i just like to go walk around and listen to peoples stories and interact with them.

take this picture:


nothing to crazy about it, i never caught his name, but he's a simple cab driver in the manassas area, but what you wouldnt know was that in his country he wanted to be a doctor, but due to family hardship his family moved to the states to "have a better life"

as a cab driver....

its odd how things seem to work out isnt it. i asked him if he was happy that he made the move. he told me:

"im not only happy, im proud. i work quite hard. it doesnt matter if im a doctor or just driving a cab, as long as i can provide for my family then im doing the right thing."

the people i photograph always seem to leave me with something that i can make myself a better person with.

he IS proud, and i think this picture shows it.

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hi

Chances are if you know me, I've taken your picture.

My photography career started like most did, pictures of flowers, macro stuff, lining up billiard balls to show DOF etc. I got good at all of that, and wanted more. Flowers are ALWAYS pretty, people are always impressed by macro, and billiard balls, are just billiard balls. I went to a hiphop show in Baltimore, MD and saw Copywrite. While there I took some pictures, and one actually got published.

Maybe I was on to something.

People. I love people. There's something about photographing a person that can be just incredible. Their faces can tell you their whole life story. You get an idea of where they're from, and where they're going.

Anyways I won't bore you all with my ramblings about how I started into this. I'm in it, for life, and I couldn't be happier. And now, a picture:

he wouldn't let me take his picture until I took a picture of the moon....
it was in the middle of the day.

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