Change o’ Pace

Posted by Richard Harrison on 26/04/2013

I ‘follow’ my own blog (someone has to) if for no other reason than to be able to see what others see when it launches to the net. Sort of a quality control procedure I suppose. I rarely find anything wrong although with a little help from my old business associate Andrew in Australia I did learn that I had the settings for photo display set incorrectly and that anytime I posted a pic from my iPhone it was displaying in a very tiny pixel framework. It had nothing to do with the iPhone, which delivers excellent quality with its camera, but with my ignorance. After I got over the mental rant against WordPress and set about to research the issue I was able to make the necessary corrections. Then I had to mentally apologize to WordPress. Strange things rattle ’round inside my head at times – an alternate reality that hopefully will never see the light of day. Perhaps some of you can identify with that. Oh, and thank you Andrew! And just so you know I have been looking into making another trip downunder if I can figure out how to fit a month or so into my budget. Might finally have to get serious about my connection with CouchSurfing and AirBnB.

Something I did notice all too often when I checked my site was the inclusion of an ad at the bottom that WP claimed was necessary to help offset the expense of providing free siting. I did not like it but wasn’t disgruntled enough to fork over the extra dough to make it go away. Then I noticed I was getting all those links you see connected with various places like HuffPost and OutsideMagazine with the come-on titles and scantily clad models. I have nothing against scantily clad models mind you – but just not on my site.

So, I gave in last night and upgraded to the Big Kahuna package, which is why you’ll be receiving this from richardbegone.com instead of from richardbegone.wordpress.com. Hopefully this will not disappoint those of you who might have been dropping in for the prurient trimmings that will no longer be availble. As consolation I will try to occasionally find a model or two of my own whose images can be offered up. Problem with me there is I rarely shoot anything (other than dogs) that either breathes or moves. And dead models are of little interest to anyone outside a mortuary. We’ll see. I’m going on a photo-walk tomorrow in downtown LA; maybe something interesting will pop-up.

This will be my second Google+ Photographers’ ‘walk’. The last was in San Francisco on the 14th April. I don’t think I posted anything from that walk here on the blog other than an iPhone shot of Rodeo Beach on the Marin Headlands and an errant Street Car on Polk.

I’ll make up for that now.

The start of the walk at Marina and Scott about 1400 hours:

The walk leaders, Dave Powell (r) and Chris Cabot: Dave was visiting from Tokyo where he lives and works. Chris works locally for Google.

Some of the folk who joined in for the event:

“Accidental” Models along the way:

The Post-walk Camera Throw at the pizza place:

And last but far from least from my perspective my finally being able to get a couple of decent night shots of the Golden Gate Bridge – to add to the gazillion other shots that have been made but with my prints on the image.

And then it was over:

Ok, not quite. I loved this dog-chases-ball series so I’m tacking it on:

A Valentine’s Day to Remember

Posted by Richard Harrison on 15/02/2013

Blue sky. Sunshine. Comfortably cool temps. A small park in West Hollywood along the edge of what used to be Rt 66. Anne Hathaway: a thirty-something looking not a day over 15. Jane Fonda: a seventy-something looking about Hathaway’s age. Marisa Tomei: looking, well, just like Marisa Tomei. And dozens of women, as well as a few men here and there, decked out in various shades of red and pink engaged in dance routines that would fit well into almost any zumba room. For V-Day? Not exactly.

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This was One Billion Rising, a planned flashmob (oxymoronic?) occurring today worldwide to raise the level of awareness of the violence imposed daily on women and girls and to support a sustained movement to bring it to an end.

I was there because Mitzi and her client and friend, Bonnie, had signed up and had practiced their participation for a week and invited me to come along and bring the camera. I didn’t research the event and honestly wasn’t sure what would happen other than a bunch of women would be carrying signs and dancing in the street. And I suppose if you’re of a certain jadedness that would be one way to look at it.

But these women, young, old and everywhere in between, were on a mission.

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And they loved it.

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And it showed.

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And it was impossible not to get caught up in the energy-charged net of enthusiasm they spread all over their assigned section of Santa Monica Boulevard. And that’s what I tried to capture. I’ll let you be the judge. In addition to the photos included here – my favorites – I’ve posted a few more in this gallery. For those of you who took my card and asked where they would be published – this is the place. Feel free to use the images but also please make sure you attribute them to Richard Harrison (moi).

And!!!!!! Be sure to catch the video produced by Voyage Vixens. There are several on the net but none even comes close to the Vixens’ production quality.

And incidentally, that lead pic was a deliberate tease to get you to click the link and learn about something a little more important than cleavage.

One last note: I’m coming to believe that no event is complete without a dog. Pina De Rosa 2013-02-14 024 feels the same and brought Wellington along to prove it. Put a couple of extra pluses on a day inundated with them. But Wellington came out on top. You can learn all about him here.

Dogs

Posted by Richard Harrison on 03/01/2013

I couldn’t bring YoYo along on this trip and I miss him every day, especially in the mornings: he is great to wake up to. Big smile. Tail wagging. Reminding me that no matter what I have a purpose – and a friend. And that he’s going to have a wonderful day and I’m invited to tag along should tag along.

I checked in on Yo a few days ago. He’s doing great. I doubt he misses me. Dogs are enlightened beings – unlike their humans.

I’m not without a four-legged friend though. I find them everywhere when I’m out shooting. They particularly like beaches and seem to like people with cameras. Sometimes I’m not sure whether I’m looking for them or they’re looking for me.

I ran into this guy roaming round Malibu with his humans. He was much friendlier than they were. Dogs are like that. So are humans.

Duffie The Wonder Dog

Posted by Richard Harrison on 25/12/2012

Duffie The Wonder Dog

I met Duffie – and his human, Jason, at Navy Beach along the south shore of Mono Lake. They had just finished kayaking and were packing up for their trip home to Bend, OR. Duffie brought me this ball – and then dared me to toss it away. I did. It came back, and back and back. Duffie is a great ballplayer.