I love all things photography and a few weeks ago while trolling through the clearance bin at Bel-Air Camera in Westwood I stumbled across a pinhole lens for my Canon cameras for $1.  It is essentially a Canon body cap with a pin sized hole in it, creating a lens similar to a Camera Obscura - it moves a VERY small amount of light through the hole and gives you some semblance of an image.  Now, in no way is this at all comparable to my other lenses that are 1000x the cost, but it definitely makes for a fun way to spend an afternoon.  After a little testing of the f/181 aperture, I realized to use this handheld at all it had to be an amazingly sunny day and I had to shoot at ISO 1600.  Most of these images were created at ISO 1600, f/181, 1/15 sec.

So a few days after buying this new toy we drove up to the Griffith Observatory to show a visiting Singaporean friend the L.A. skyline and the Hollywood sign. It was one of those crisp, clear, blue skied winter days we get in Los Angeles and the perfect chance for me to goof off and create some images for fun.

This little hole has no sharpness, very little contrast (I added a bit to these images), no way to focus, throws flare everywhere,  and the aperture is so small I can’t even really see the image I am creating through the viewfinder.  It was a lot of guess work and out of the 100 or so images I popped off, these are my favorites.

Mr. James Dean (whose bust at Griffith Observatory has always made very little sense to me)

Awesome fun, but I don’t foresee myself using it all that often. Although it may be added to my backpack while traveling just to change things up.

A couple of weeks ago when we were up in Napa to shoot Pete & Cindy’s wedding, we also met up with Danielle, Felicia’s friend from Singapore whom she met during French classes back in 2005 at the Alliance Française in Singapore. Now living in the Bay Area, Danielle is a writer and food photographer, and requested some portraits that she could use when being featured in various publications or for her columns (for example, she writes for Etsy).

The light was beautiful as we shot at a vineyard, so Danielle’s husband M was quickly convinced to jump in with her for a photoshoot. These two have been married four years and haven’t had nice pictures together since their wedding.

Blue Steel, yes.

Can you tell whose pair of shoes cost $350 and whose cost $16.99? Well, neither could I nor M, but M made sure to encourage Danielle to go shopping with Felicia in future.

For the past two months, every Sunday morning our Los Angeles Times has been missing from our doorstep.  The first few weeks I figured it was a new paper-person (paperboy is no longer P.C. is it?), but then every week I would complain and they would re-deliver the paper.  Yesterday morning at 6:30pm I woke up to pee and for some reason the missing paper situation popped into my head.  As soon as I shook it off, I walked to the front window and glanced at the front step, and low-and-behold for the first time in months my paper was sitting there.  For a moment I thought about grabbing it, but instead thought I would leave it and see if it was still there in a few hours, I shuffled off to bed and forgot about it.

A few hours later, I woke up, headed into the kitchen, brewed a cup of coffee and remembered my experiment.  I opened the front door and found a paperless porch…  I instantly felt violated, angry and vengeful. Some SOB has been snagging our paper every Sunday morning the entire summer!  My mind quickly started working on a scheme for next Sunday morning… should I use a bucket of water tied to a rope on the roof over the porch and lay in wait in the bushes, should I go rent a superzoom and capture the whole thing on camera and turn this criminal in, or should I just sit behind my front door peeping out the peephole confront him and/or chase him down?!?!  All these idea streamed though my head but I also know I have a wedding to shoot next Sunday and may not have the chance to catch the thief in the act. More to come on this situation…

The rest of the day I was looking forward to a relaxing Sunday working on some pictures, schemeing about how to handle N.P.T.’s (NewsPaper Thieves) and puttering around the house – but while, reading the (second copy) of the paper, my wife looked up and said “It’s the second Sunday of the month!”.  She didn’t even have to say what that meant, I saw the excitement in her eyes and for almost two years she has been trying to get me to the Rose Bowl Flea Market.  It has some 2500 vendors and sprawls across the parking lot of the Rose Bowl and up until now, we have fortunately always had something to do on the second Sunday of the month. Yet I am unable to say no to this woman, so I just smiled, walked in the other room, and began slathering on the sunblock and rummaging for my hat.

Felicia excitedly bought an old 7-up crate for guess what? Storing newspapers after reading, before recycling.

All in all, it was a much less painful experience then I imagined, and I even managed to enjoy myself a bit – strolling the endless aisle of knick-knacks and old, used junk (or “Treasures” as Felicia is fond of calling them). I might even go so far as saying I had fun, but that was mainly because there was lots of interesting things to photograph (like a grown man holding a 3 foot tall Barbie doll), and I was with my wife whose zeal for rummaging for “Treasures” made the whole thing more enjoyable – but please don’t tell her I used the “fun” word. Otherwise, I have a feeling that I’ll have plans the second Sunday of every month for the rest of my life….

In other news, Felicia and I have been talking about composting for a while now (we already recycle everything we can and figure this is a way to recycle some of our organic waste), and this weekend we finally bit the bullet and bought a bin and set up our compost pile outside in our small garden.  Now I just have to hope the insects don’t start breeding in it, or if they do, that the guy who steals our paper takes the smelly insect breeding bucket as well.

About a year ago, I was sitting around narcissistically Google-ing myself when I came across the first photo above of Robert C. Paetz + Mother,  dated 1923 being sold for $12 by a man named Paul in Northern California.  I quickly did the math and figured it was my 93 year old grandfather and my great-grandmother, Matilda (who eventually lived until 102 when I was 16). Felicia contacted Paul, sent him a check for $12 and inquired where he found the photo.  He told us he found it at Pauline’s Antiques in Alameda, CA while rummaging through photos looking for ones with names on them to sell online to narcissistic self-Google-ing family members. He has never before sold a picture of someone who was still alive, so he was quite excited.

Over the last couple trips north we have tried to make our way to Pauline’s, but they always seemed closed for this or that and it never worked out for us.  This last weekend, on our way to Napa for a wedding, we showed up to the open store at 4pm and immediately hunted down their old photos, only to stare in dismay at what must have been a pile of 20,000 pictures in a giant heap, and the store was closing in 1 hour….

We began rummaging, systematically trying to look at the front and back of every single picture for either someone we recognized or a name written on the back we recognized.  Within 12 minutes and the first 500 pictures, I came across the second picture above of Robert C. Paetz alone – it was taken at the same spot as the first and judging from the nosey neighbor in the 3rd floor window in the background, they were just moments apart.  I love his hair and stunning fashion sense.

Over the next hour we continued searching, and even had Pauline and the staff let us stay after hours for 40 minutes to keep looking but the only other photo of significance we found was what we think is probably Matilda’s sister – my great-grand aunt.  

About 10 minutes before they finally asked us to leave we felt like we had frantically looked at almost all the pictures and were happy to have found one confirmed picture of RCP. However Pauline just had to come over and off handedly inform us that she has “Crates and crates more photographs” deeper in the store. Sigh… now we have to make a return trip to Alameda…

A few other images I came across that I just loved and decided to spend the $0.50 each to buy so I can put them up in our house.   The first is from Passau, Germany  - where I spent a few nights in 2007, and below is an unidentified French town with no date, and the only reason I know it’s France is from the “Dubonnet” advertisement on the side of the building in the foreground.

Robert Carl Paetz Sr. with the first picture we found of him.  He had a stroke a couple years ago and normally has trouble getting his thoughts formed into words, but as soon as we handed him the picture it all came back and he told us where in Chicago it was and how he had just got the bicycle for his 6th birthday.  He came to life, just by holding an old print. Powerful.

It makes me want to go on a printing spree for all my images that never leave my computer and it makes me hope my clients print as much as they possibly can.  It may not seem like much now, but a print becomes a historical record that someone in the future, someone that may not even exist yet, may value immensely. I’m glad my Great-Grandma Matilda had taken the time to label and caption some of these prints.

Seated at my computer late last week around 11:30pm I turned to my wife and said “Done. At least for the next 37 hours.”  (When we have a new wedding to photograph.)

“Does that mean we get to go see Tim Burton?!?!” She excitedly asked (referring to the Tim Burton art exhibit at LACMA). We have wanted to go for a while now, but sometimes I become so consumed in shooting and editing that I keep pushing things back.  The Burton exhibit will only be at LACMA a couple more months, and I don’t know when we will be completely caught up again, so I agreed as she rushed to buy the tickets online.

The next morning, I traded my ratty t-shirt and old board shorts for a pair of jeans and a slightly newer t-shirt and we were off.  We picked up our tickets at will call and crowded in with all the other camera toting Angelenos who had the same idea of how to spend a Friday afternoon.  Right at 2pm they unleashed the hourly mob, who were all instantly disappointed (much like myself), at the “No Photography” signs everywhere and the ultra attentive security personnel.  Alas, blogging about an art exhibit without a single photo of the exhibit is rather boring, but I shall let you enjoy pictures of my kooky wife instead.

The exhibit itself was stunning, watching Burton’s growth as an artist and the early work which showed his style was inspiring.  The crowds much less so. Shoving, elbowing and jostling became the norm and it was all very un-museumesque.  I kind of regret not showing up on a Monday morning right when the museum opened so we might have has a little more peace to look at the work.

After a couple hours in the exhibit we had some time left on the parking meter, so I just strolled around the outdoor areas of the museum with my favorite person, taking turns photographing each other. Afterwards we braved the L.A. traffic and I took Felicia home to cook her a simple dinner, enjoying each others company and the peace of not having my computer staring across the the room judging me with unfinished work.

All in all, a perfect day with the perfect woman – I can’t complain.

Before I met Felicia and she beat me into submission to force an honest man out of me (she tries, but I doubt she’s succeeding…), I was fresh out of college, bartending, and being my raucous, rambunctious self.

During those crazy years, I had a bunch of bar regulars, some of whom followed my blog when I traded in the shakers and martini glasses for some round-the-world traveling – hence the title of this blog: Mom Says I’m Running Away.

Now, fast forward 6 years: I get a call from Pete, and I’m totally shocked that he actually got referred to me by another long-long-ago bar regular who STILL follows my work! I guess my transition from a life of debauchery to one as a married, semi-grown-up (sort of) is still interesting enough to keep people reading?

So anyway. Pete and Cindy are getting married in beautiful Napa Valley next month, and Cindy suggested a shoot in Ojai, which according to my wife, makes her want to do yoga.

Pete and Cindy both work for Porsche, so one of the perks was having access to a bevy of these beautiful vehicles besides their own. For their shoot, Pete brought out a flaming red Porsche 911 Turbo. (By the way, we verified with the professionals that it’s Por-sche, not Porsch, FYI.)

Post-shoot, we had a super fun (and delicious) dinner with Pete and Cindy, and we could’ve hung out all night if not for the waitstaff giving us dirty looks as we were the last people left in the restaurant. Thanks Pete & Cindy for being so awesome and fun. Can’t wait for your wedding weekend!

Friday afternoon I was feeling rather burnt out: we have been shooting and editing non-stop since June when we went to NYC and DC, and just felt like a couple days away from the computer would help me come back refreshed.  It also coincided with the first weekend in a long time that we didn’t have a wedding, a shoot nor a meeting scheduled, so I used my niece Regan’s 7th birthday party as an excuse to shut down the computer and enjoy the finer things in life, like family, friends and a cold beer.

As I said, Regan turned 7 this year.  She’s getting pretty huge and grown up nowadays, but for some reason I always remember her like this, and arguing about why a sunset is actually a rainbow.

These girls are like little fishes that can spend the entire day in the pool, while I just attempted to drink like one. Although after about 4 beers and a pile of cheese from the appetizer buffet my sister had put out, I didn’t have the energy to drink much more and just spent the rest of the day soaking it in.

My nephew, Preston, trying to learn to play ping pong.

The next day Felicia and I headed down to Seal Beach to visit my namesake – the 93 year old RCP-I.  He was as lively as always and did his best to flirt with my wife the entire afternoon and harrass me, RCP-III, about making RCP-IV.

The computer stayed turned off most of the weekend, and a couple of days with the family/friends was just what I needed to recharge before heading into the second half of our busiest season.

It was hot. Really hot. So hot that I at one point during the outdoor afternoon photo shoot I tried to talk to Iris and my mouth produced no sounds, only a comical puff of dust and evaporated spit.  I had to work for a couple minutes just to produce the saliva to tell Mike and Iris where we wanted them. Yet through it all both our bride and groom maintained their composure and pretended it wasn’t 110 degrees out.  In spite of the heat it was an amazing day to get married in Temecula surrounded by greenery and blue skies and through the efficient application of sunscreen I managed to avoid the worst of a 2nd degree sunburn.

Iris was surprised with a brand new pair of matching Ray Bans from Mike while she was getting ready in the morning.

Mike flawlessly executes a double Windsor without even needing to have the tie on him. I expressed my profound admiration for his slick tie-tying moves, to which he coolly replied, “Ah, one of the trappings of corporate America…”

Mike and Iris play in their church worship group together and of course, on their big day, had to rock out to a couple of songs right after she came down the aisle.

I didn’t catch his name, but this guy had stolen a hat from the photo booth and quickly became absolutely awesome in my book.

Iris honored both her Chinese heritage and Mike’s Vietnamese heritage by having two outfit changes at the reception. Felicia was particularly fond of how well Iris carried off the Chinese qi pao (also known as cheongsam).

Kimly, Mike’s sister, showed everyone that despite her petit stature, she sure could muster some propulsion!

Congrats again to you both! Despite the abysmal heat you both made Felicia and I have a wonderful day with you!

P/S: Big shout out to Georlyn and Kimly — it was SO NICE to spend the day with you two! We know you’re out there reading

I find the quickest way to anger your wife is to take a razor sharp object and put it in her carry-on luggage.  This really seems to do the trick, even for the calmest and most forgiving of wives who deal with the foibles of a man on a daily basis, this can set them on edge.

My personal experience with this was just last month when heading to the east coast. We had packed one bag to check and one carry-on, along with our camera gear.  Minutes before we were set to leave the house, I decided the checked bag was a little too heavy so I choose to throw a couple of my pouches full of AA batteries into the carry on – forgetting that my Leatherman was also in one of those said pouches.   We happily headed to the airport, checked our big bag and headed to security which I quickly walked through, only to look back as I was putting on my shoes to find them dragging my wife to one side with our carry-on in tow.

I overheard them saying she had a knife or tool in her bag and I sat there thinking, while she argued that she had packed the bag herself and she didn’t know what they were talking about.  As the search began, I had that OH…SHIT moment, and quickly said something out loud to Felicia and was quickly called over by security to tell them where it’s at.  I pointed to the canvas pouch only to watch her dump 30 rechargeable AA batteries and my $65 Leatherman into a plastic tub.

I instantly cringed and began mourning the loss of one of my most important wedding day tools.  A gift from my mother a number of years back – this little guy has been to 35 countries with me, hundreds of miles of trails and wilderness, and currently holds the championship spot for cutting straps off of brides dresses and labels from grooms shirts, and for all around photography usefulness – and now the TSA was going to throw it in a bin with measly nail clippers and tweezers. It was a fate I would never have wanted for this trusty sidekick.

Of the two TSA agents standing over Felicia’s bag, there was a man saying “Just throw it away and send them to their flight…” but I believe the lady who had my Leatherman in her hand could see my heartbreak, and stood there looking and me, then looking down at the tool, then looking back at me.  Finally she said I still had few minutes before the flight and she could escort me out of security and there was a machine on the other side of the terminal where I could mail it to myself. Salvation.

She walked me out of security and I frantically ran across the airport hunting this machine, at one point asking directions from a cop who pointed further down the hall. When I finally found this mailing machine (which was supposed to have packaging materials and be automated), what I saw brought back the heartache.   The machine was sitting there in disrepair covered in trash and graffiti, it was unplugged and there were no mailing materials to be seen anywhere. Dejectedly I walked back in the direction of the cop who just gave me directions and handed him my leatherman and told him my story, finally saying I would rather he has it, then it goes in the trash.

The officer (whose name I have purposefully omitted), looked at me, looked at the Leatherman, then reached in his pocket and handed me his business card, asking when I would be back in Burbank.  I promptly replied “10 Days!” and he said “I only work at the airport on Wednesday and Thurday, but I will hold it for you for two weeks, just give me a call when you get back.”

I quickly thanked him profusely and run back towards the security checkpoint to find my wife, (who by this point had the chance to stew about me putting a knife in her bag), beeped through security really quick, and told her the story.   She grumbled something that sounded like “…you piece of shit…”, but I am sure I just misheard in my excitement.   Anyways, by this point I figured I had a 50/50 chance of ever seeing it again, so we boarded the plane and spent the next 10 days in D.C. and N.Y.C. – during which time I sent the officer an email to thank him again and let him know I would return.

A couple days after we got back it was Wednesday, so Felicia and I headed to the airport (which is 5 minutes from our place), and I found the friendly officer who readily had my Leatherman in his pocket. I thanked him profusely and was reminded of the good that does exist in the world.

We returned from NYC/D.C. at 2am on Saturday morning to find my sister, brother-in-law and my two nieces sleeping on our small living room floor – not that this was unexpected, just crowded.  Madalyn (my 9 year old niece) had advanced to the National level gymnastics competition and the three day event was taking place at Universal Studios which is about 5 miles from our place.   The next day they were gone early, and somehow Felicia and I had been convinced to watch the girls that evening/overnight  so their parents could party it up in downtown Burbank and crash at the local Marriott – it turns out my brother-in-law feels a little cramped sleeping on our floor. Who can blame him.

Anyhow, now to the pictures at hand – after late night arrival, an exciting slumber party with a 6 and 9 year old followed by meeting their parents for breakfast the next day at Portos -  Felicia and I had a shoot lined up with Erin and Danny.  We squeezed in a Sunday afternoon nap, then headed off to LACMA to meet our newest couple for the first time.   I had spoken to Erin on the phone a few times but we had never met before the shoot (not altogether uncommon).

Erin and Danny are So. Cal. natives who have transplanted to San Francisco and they are planning their Los Angeles wedding via a series of quick weekends here throughout the summer.  I imagine it is quite hectic every time they make it down here, but they never flinched during two hours of being photographed and their easy going love made my job incredibly fun and easy.  I don’t think there was a moment that Erin was not brandishing her infectious smile.

Moments after the evening of perfect modeling, Erin and Danny were off to LAX to catch a flight home and Felicia and I headed off to Thai Town for a relaxing bowl of noodles before finally heading home to finally unpack from 10 days on the road.

Congrats Again Erin + Danny! We can’t wait for your wedding this Fall!

Oh, and in case you are wondering, Madalyn excitedly exclaimed to me “We came in 8th in the ENTIRE country!!!” I proudly congratulated her only later to enquire with my sister as to the number of teams.

There were 8…