Quik pro, day 1

Posted on September 4, 2011March 28, 2021 by Jake

I almost didn’t even go out to the comp today, since it was so overcast when I finished my run in the morning. The sun came out soon afterwards, and I got an email from one of my photog friends who said that the conditions were ok. By the time that I arrived in LB, the weather was great, but it was almost high tide, and the waves were kind of crap. I hung out in the press pavilion the whole time and almost didn’t bother getting the camera out. But then I decided that I should probably get a couple of atmosphere shots, at least.

I’m headed out there early tomorrow, hopefully the conditions will be a bit better, since low tide is at like 8 AM or something. I have had worse Labor Day weekends. At least I was able to work on my tan a little bit. Part of me secretly wishes that I could just skip out on fashion week altogether and just shoot surfing all week.

i want this– Stussy Cruiser

Posted on September 1, 2011September 1, 2011 by Jake

I want this Stussy Livin’ cruiser deck. I love the shape. It has lines that are reminiscent of boards that I skated in junior high. Not to mention it is made by a brand that was hot in the same era. I like long boards to have some versatility, like the kick nose + tail on this thing. It’s something that you can bomb hills with, as well as throw the occasional shuvit.

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Hola, September

Posted on September 1, 2011August 31, 2011 by Jake

I sort of can’t believe that September is here. I’m so glad that Sept. 11 falls on a weekend this year. Because historically, getting to work on that day has been a joke. I suppose that it wouldn’t matter much this year anyway, since it is smack in the middle of fashion week. I’m getting pretty stoked about FW. My calendar is getting more and more packed by the day. During ’11 spring FW I turned over the 7D’s clicker. In those few days I snapped close to 4000 images, and loved every second of it. The in between shows is what stresses me out.

Anyway, the screen shot above is of part of my August image folder. Yes… I’m a windows nerd. I also still rock a blackberry. Now that Steve Jobs has stepped down, I may venture over to the Mac (dark) side. Only if Mac decides to open up their gigantic tight fist a bit, when it comes to creating/servicing your own builds and custom software/apps. Otherwise, I will most likely continue to be a stick in the microsoft mud.

Back to the matter at hand. Did anyone else* who reads this stuff (besides Bob, Zach and Tammy) shoot anything cool in August? Hit me with links please!

*I’m sure that I left some ppl out. Please forgive.

Get ready for aperture basics, as a part of the photog series, on Monday (probably).

Central Park Monster?

Posted on August 31, 2011August 31, 2011 by Jake

In 2008, there was the Montauk Monster. Then there was the other Montauk Monster in 2009. Earlier this week there was the Longbeach Monster. Above, I present the most recent chapter of the saga: the Central Park Monster. I’m pretty sure that the little monster was flooded out of his sewery home onto the sidewalk over the weekend. It could also be (as experts have suggested) that the monster is just taking a nap.

New Shepard Fairey video.

Posted on August 29, 2011August 29, 2011 by Jake

Check out this recently released vid featuring Shepard Fairey talking about how Obey came about. According to the video, Fairey derived some of his early inspiration from the NYC bred skate company Shut. As it so happens, I spent an afternoon back in June hanging out with Rodney and Eli (the founders of Shut) and shot the the stills (above) for an article that was to be included in the latest HS print mag. Anyway, I thought that this video was pretty cool. It even includes some old footage of Shepard himself doing it up on a mini ramp. Check it–

We might be swimming home

Posted on August 26, 2011August 26, 2011 by Jake

Mother nature is messing with us. I’m sorry to be writing about hurricane stuff, because that is all anyone is talking about today. But, it is looking like this storm is going to seriously affect our weekend plans. It makes me crazy when everything that we had planned out, is suddenly up in the air like this. Happy Friday?

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playing with lasers, hanging out with scientists

Posted on August 24, 2011February 6, 2022 by Jake

Despite what this may look like, no, I was not hanging out on the set of some forthcoming Daft Punk video. I spent the day Tuesday hanging out with a bunch of scientists. I was basically the only person in the room without a PhD. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit intimidating. But, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to kick it with my good friend Tadd (on the left in the above photo), while he was in town for the day. Throw in some time playing with high speed cameras and lasers? I was basically in nerd heaven. I heard the word “laser” more times in a non-joking context yesterday than I had probably heard before that, my entire life.

I thought I was the only one who drew nerdy diagrams in my notes. Apparently Tadd also does. I had to get a shot of his notebook above.

Here are a couple more looks at the lab.

I’m pretty sure that I chose the wrong profession.

Hello weekend

Posted on August 19, 2011August 19, 2011 by Jake

[photo: subway workers spreading the love during rush hour– getting everyone high on paint fumes]

Well, tomorrow is the last day of Summer Streets for 2011. We haven’t been able to participate yet this summer. So, I’m thinking that I better get on it, this weekend. I have a 10 mile run scheduled for tomorrow, then a 20 miles for Sunday. So my idea is to switch them, and do the 20 miles tomorrow down a car-less Park Ave and back (as long as it doesn’t rain).

Besides the planned runs, I think that I’m going to try to just pack is some mellow family time. Especially since the next several weeks/weekends are going to be bananas. We are in DC next weekend, then Palm Springs the following. When we return, it will already be fashion week. Deep breath.

Have a great weekend!

Introducing Jake’s Mag Surplus Store

Posted on August 11, 2011August 11, 2011 by Jake

As mentioned previously, I’m trying to simplify my life at the moment. So over the past few days I have been making a list of items that I need to part with. Last night I photographed them and put them all into a little online store. Here is the link. I’m going to advertise all of this stuff on CL, as well. But I probably won’t have time to create the listings for a few days. If you see something you want in the store, hit me up. Pricing is flexible. It is more just about getting rid of stuff. Happy Thursday.

One WTC as of yesterday.

Posted on August 9, 2011August 9, 2011 by Jake

Every once in a while I feel the need to write about the World Trade Center construction progress. Here is my 2008 rant about calling it ground zero (which people still do, btw). Here is a shot of One World Trade Center last November. And the shot above is one that I snapped yesterday from ground level. It’s pretty crazy that next month will mark 10 years since the attacks. That means that next August I will have been in NY for 10 years. My, how time flies.

BYU ranks No. 6 on GQ’s list of top 10 d@#chiest colleges

Posted on July 21, 2011July 21, 2011 by Jake

According to one of the stupidest lists I have seen in a long time, GQ ranked BYU the 6th “douchiest” college in America, in its August ’11 issue. I’m not going to lie, I don’t have a lot of nice feelings or nice things to say about BYU. In fact, I don’t like the school– at all. I grew up being a fan (and later earned an undergraduate degree from) their most bitter rival. So, normally upon reading such a blurb in a magazine that I have traditionally enjoyed as one of my favorites, I would smile and snicker to myself in agreement.

Unfortunately these types of satirical/critical remarks lose a bit of credence/humor coming from a magazine that is apparently trying to bolster it’s own ranking in the douchiest magazine polls. August was one of the worst issues I have read in a long time. I’m not sure if it is just because I started reading it on the same train ride that I finished reading the latest Wired, or if it would have seemed just as bad had I chosen to read GQ before Wired. Either way, it was piss poor. Is Jim Nelson on vacation right now, or what? The overall article quality was crap, and in an apparent attempt to compensate, the magazine was riddled with incomprehensible pervy/porny infographics. Dude, if I wanted to read FHM, I would subscribe to FHM. Stop hiring Terry Richardson to shoot your covers (ok, maybe don’t go that far), and tone down the fratboy pervitude.

Given the massive level of disappointment that I felt towards the latest issue of GQ, I couldn’t even enjoy the dig at BYU. In fact, BYU– you and all of the rest of the schools who made the “douchiest,” you all get a pass. Someone who can’t come up with a better word than “douchiest” in a national publication to describe the schools that they are taking a piss at, is really not in a position to be talking down on anyone.

Step it up, GQ.

One of those things I read and hope is true

Posted on July 20, 2011July 20, 2011 by Jake

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David DiSalvo wrote an interesting piece in the Forbes blogs this week about a study of the link between men’s wellbeing and their appreciation of art. The title of the article is “Study: Men Who Dig Art and Culture are Happier, Healthier and Calmer.” Sounds intriguing, right? You can check out the abstract of the actual study, over here. But the gist of the data, according to DiSalvo is that,

Overall, both men and women who participated in cultural activities—including playing an instrument, painting, going to the theater and visiting museums—had lower levels of anxiety and depression, reported more life satisfaction, and generally “felt better” than those not participating in cultural activities.

But the biggest beneficiaries were men. And here’s the strange part: men more interested in watching and looking at culture—in museums and art galleries, for example – enjoyed the greatest benefits of all; even more than men actively participating in cultural and creative activities.

So apparently, a guy doesn’t even have to be an actively creative person to reap the mental/health benefits of appreciating those who are creative. I feel like I’m wound a bit more tightly than I would like to be, a lot of the time. Apparently, I need to spend some more time in the galleries.