Erinn and I took a nice little trip up the coast to San Francisco over the weekend before heading over to Modesto to pick up her sister, Heidi, and brother-in-law to be Seth, who were there attending a wedding. On the way up we had the time to take the Pacific Coast Highway, a road everyone should take the time to drive on at least once in their lifetime. I hadn’t taken it since a 2001 road trip I took with my college roommate and had forgotten how stunning it is. Along the way we camped overnight at a state park called Montana de Oro. We had intended to camp in Big Sur, but we got a late start Thursday afternoon and couldn’t get there before dark. That’s okay though. Where we stayed was pretty enough and we really just needed a place to crash before continuing on the next day. Big Sur seems like it merits a couple day visit, which we’ll hopefully fit in sometime soon. The most beautiful part of the drive occurred the next day. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of great photos from the drive as we were in a hurry to get to our destination, but we did take the time to stop and check out some sunning sea lions at least. We spent Saturday playing tourist with Erinn’s friend Miranda serving as our host and guide. She actually lives east of the city in Stockton, but is close enough that we were able to crash at her place and still spend a full day in the city Saturday. I had only been to SF once before, I believe, and it was Erinn’s first time, so we made sure to hit the major sites and walk the well known neighborhoods of Haight-Ashbury and the Castro. We also walked the Golden Gate Bridge, and checked out the Sutro Bath ruins on the west coast of the peninsula. Toward the end of the day we also went to the top of Twin Peaks, where we found some break dancers from a group called Above as One, taking turns doing moves on a wall overlooking the city as their friends took pictures. We finished the night at a great little Mediterranean restaurant and then called it a night.
Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
Montana De Oro
Thought I’d post a couple from a recent party we went to that had me reliving two non-overlapping eras of my life, college and the ’80s. College because we got to play beer pong, and the ’80s because the party was themed after the movie “Wet Hot American Summer.” Hence the cut off jean shorts. Good times.
In other news, I was recently interviewed by the L.A. Times! Not for anything relevant to my career unfortunately, but because I sent them a note wondering if anyone else was having issues getting DTV reception over the airwaves. Sunday I tried to turn on the NBA Finals to see the hometown Lakers finish the job against the Magic and found nothing but a blank screen where ABC used to be. Same went for CBS and FOX. Turns out there’s a national problem with these networks, who after the official switch to digital moved their signals over from UHF to VHF, which apparently kicks out a weaker signal that isn’t getting to much of the viewership. They’re apparently trying to fix the problem by getting the FCC to allow them to use a stronger signal, but so far no dice. I rescanned the channels as requested and can now get CBS, but ABC is still too weak and FOX is a no show. Our solution for the game was to head to the neighborhood bar, but the amount of money we ended up spending there could justify getting cable. Hopefully this will be remedied soon. I can live without TV, but the general population should still have access to the basic networks. Here’s a link to the article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dtv17-2009jun17,0,3973337.story
I had a fun time checking out the U.S. Sumo National Championships at Venice Beach yesterday. The competition was held on the basketball courts near Muscle Beach and drew a decent crowd. There were competitors from all weight classes, with the largest wrestler, Kelly Gneiting, top photo on the right, weighing it at about 440 lbs., if I recall correctly. The current champion, Dan Kalbfleisch, is pictured top center and above dropping Gneiting to the mat. He keeps a blog about sumo called Sumo Dan, if you’re interested in learning more. More photos after the jump!
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Venice Graffiti Wall
Here’s another from the hood. Trying to work up the nerve to flip off of it, Curt “CP” Parks runs along the Venice Graffiti Wall in Venice Beach, Calif., while shooting some photos with other members of his hip-hop group, RME. Also known as the Venice Public Art Walls, they are managed by Venice art group In Creative Unity and individuals are allowed to paint on them on weekends after applying for a permit.
I thought I’d post another shot from one of the weddings I recently photographed. Two brothers who’d been having fun horsing around all evening finally started to lose steam towards the end of the night. This was from the Eckardt wedding in Villa Park, just outside Los Angeles. Not a particularly “wedding”-type moment, which is why I hadn’t posted it before. But it’s a moment I liked, so I thought I’d put it up.
Last week I shot for the AP a vigil in Santa Monica for imprisoned U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on what was to be the eve of their trial in North Korea. The two reporters for Current TV were arrested on March 17 by the North Korean military while shooting video for a story about the trafficking of women along the border of China. In attendance were former View co-host Lisa Ling, sister of Laura, Euna Lee’s husband, friends, family and a number of local celebs. The trial was apparently delayed, but news came two days ago that the two were found guilty of “hostile acts” and entering the country illegally and have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor in a gulag-style prison camp. The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, but officials as high up as Hillary Clinton have called for their release. There is also an online petition and a Facebook group dedicated to the cause. I tracked these images the next day and saw that they ran in a number of papers around the country including the Washington Post, LA Times and USA Today. It was nice to be part of a story that has such a wide impact. Hopefully this will all be resolved soon! A few more images after the jump.
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Villa Park wedding
Laguna Beach outdoor wedding
Here are some images I like from some recent weddings that I photographed. The first was a small, but beautiful, poolside wedding for Chris and Shino Eckardt held in Villa Park, east of Los Angeles. The second was even smaller, with just 5 attendees including the bride and groom, Jim Schuessler and Kathi Cray, two of their friends from San Diego and a minister. But what they lacked in size they made up for in setting by choosing a gorgeous location on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach and holding it at sunset. And fortunately for all of us, June Gloom decided to take a break that evening and let the sun shine through. I have also included these and others in an updated slideshow on my wedding photography site http://www.davidzentz.com/weddings.
More images after the jump.
Wedding dress detail - Villa Park wedding
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Venice Beach held its 7th annual Carnevale! festival all day yesterday. It was right in my backyard so I couldn’t help but check it out. Dubbed “The Costumed Celebration by the Sea,” the event featured performances by lots of area bands, including Sugarbitch and The Bonedaddys, a costume contest and a fire-fueled grand finale by Mutaytor, a performance group of 30 drummers, fire-spinnners and dancers. Lots more photos after the jump!
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