I think I’ve taken that first seagull photo before. Nothing much here but a few pretty shots I took on a sunset stroll a couple weeks back.
Dec 192009
Dec 132009
Mustang Sally on the Santa Monica Pier from David Zentz on Vimeo.
A few weeks ago I borrowed my friend Matt’s 5D Mark II to try out its video capabilities. I hadn’t shot video using a DSLR, so I thought we’d go out to the Santa Monica Pier to give it a try. Of course it turned out to be cloudy, but there was enough going on that I could test it out at least. Fortunately we found this kid dancing around to a rendition of Mustang Sally, which is both entertaining and gave me some natural sound to cut the video to. Enjoy.
Rachel Uchitel arrives at LAX with Gloria Allread
You may recognize this image. I got a call from the AP bright and early in the morning last week to rush to the airport for the arrival of Tiger Woods’ alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel, who was coming to L.A. to have a visit with her new lawyer, Gloria Allred. Not thrilled to be taking part in paparazzi-like behavior, but not one to turn down work, I rushed over and hung out by the Virgin America baggage claim with a group of actual paparazzi and one CBS cameraman for her eventual arrival. I won’t comment regarding my opinions about Uchitel and Tiger, but this was one of my first times, other than at a red-carpet event, shooting alongside the likes of TMZ. The guys who showed up for this are an interesting crew of mostly young 20-something guys with a range of cameras, from palmcorders to D700s and Mark II’s. As the group of us stood there waiting, the person asked us who we were waiting for. I told one lady, an employee of the airport, that we were waiting for Tiger’s girlfriend. “You mean his wife, right?” “No, his girlfriend,” I assured her. “Ooooooh!,” she exclaimed, her eyes widening.”You men are soo bad!” As Uchitel exited from a long hallway that deposits all arrivals in the baggage claim area, the group swarmed in and were immediately upon her. At first I was slow on the uptake, and fell in behind the group as they met her only ten feet from the door. Somehow she was surprised to see us, despite having been photographed on her way to the JFK airport earlier in the morning. The group, with me hanging a few feet back, got right in front of her and stopped, forcing her to zig and zag as she tried to get around them. They eventually started backing up, and seeing a hole she drove forward toward the carousels. Somewhere in between she was met by an older man and a young boy of 12 or so, who appeared to be his grandson. The pair had arrived a few minutes before she did and upon seeing us and all the gear, the boy stopped in his tracks and blurted out “Whoa!” At the time, I didn’t realize they were involved and was surprised later that the man had brought the kid along for this. As the three progressed toward the carousel, photographers swarming around them, Uchitel could be heard asking that we please leave her alone, which of course, was a request not honored. I was focusing on getting a shot of the swarm around her as well as getting close-ups of her face from a slight distance. I thought the paparazzi was as much a part of the story as her arrival and thought it would be silly to shoot it as if she was the only one there. There was one guy who was literally getting his camera within inches of her face as she turned left and right to avoid him. I can’t imagine that he could have even gotten anything in focus from there and thought that maybe his tactic was to piss her off enough to incite an angry reaction, giving everyone else an opportunity to get a shot of it. Taking one for the team, maybe? Who knows? Others were calling out to her like you see if you’ve ever watched TMZ. Nothing too crazy though. “How’s Tiger?” and something about the weather in California are the only things I recall. I don’t believe she answered. At the carousel the man that greeted her instructed her to wait there with him until their ride arrived. So for the next ten minutes we all just kind of stood there, the three of them awkwardly trapped between a wall of photographers and another of glass. After a while she stopped trying to fight it and even laughed a few times. Good times. Then Gloria Allred made a grand entrance. She stopped for a moment to say that there was nothing to say and then ushered the group out to a black Towncar with a license plate that read Aloha07 that had just pulled up. On the way out the door I suddenly found myself right in front of Allred and Uchitel and was backing into a pillar when I took this shot. The group, Allred, Uchitel, the man and the boy, who I’m guessing were Allred’s husband and grandson. And like that it was over. After they got in the car a middle-aged man in a canvas safari hat who was taking pictures next to me with a somewhat professional-looking camera turned to me and asked “Who was that?” “You’re not working?” I asked. Turned out he was just a tourist and was taking pictures of the whole scene. I explained who it was and an expression of clarity came over his face. “Welcome to L.A.,” was all I could think to say. He cracked up and I turned to walk back to my car.
Dec 092009
Last night we returned from a rainy Florida vacation served sunny-side up. Although we may have been hoping for sunshine and 75 degrees, much of the week turned out to be cool and wet. But, since neither of us have experienced but one or two rainfalls in the past year of Southern California living, we didn’t let it get us down and were actually happy to be reminded of just how nice a little variety can be. On the first night we enjoyed the rain s0 much we slept with the bedroom window open in order to better hear the rhythmic pounding of a midnight storm as we drifted off to sleep after a 12-hour day of coast-to-coast travel. It was really very peaceful, although it did lead the next morning to a hostile encounter with a Palmetto Bug – a Floridian euphemism for a cockroach – who seized the opportunity of the open window to come in from said rainstorm and dry off atop our bedspread. A fun reminder of some of the other variety that Florida has to offer in terms of wildlife. The next night the window stayed closed. After the rain subsided later in the week we decided to visit nature instead of inviting it in and took a couple trips to the great outdoors. And of course I took my camera! The first night out was a visit to Myakka River Park at sunset, where we encountered alligators, wild pigs and a young doe standing quietly in the woods. It was surprisingly brave, allowing me to get within 30 feet or so to make an image. Later, at sunset, we walked out on the birdwalk, a long pier extending over a marsh along the edge of the Upper Myakka Lake. There you can see numerous birds such as ibises, eagles, herons and sandhill cranes, which I got an image of as a pair came in from the distance to join a group of others who had gathered in the water at dusk.
Two days later a break in the weather allowed us to go out on kayaks in Sarasota Bay off Siesta Key. Again we were hoping for the sun to break through, but it turned out to be better that it stayed behind the clouds. It was both the perfect temperature and the even light was great for taking pictures of the wildlife that I wouldn’t normally be able to take in the middle of the day. Out among the mangroves we came across scores of egrets, tri-colored herons, ibises and cormorants feeding on shrimp, bait fish and eel. The highlight though was when a trio of cormorants decided to hang out and play. For a good half hour the birds followed us around, swimming back and forth beneath our boats. We weren’t sure what their interest was, but we’re guessing it had something to do with our oars stirring up food from the shallow waters. It was a really unusual and exciting experience.
Of course we did more than watch nature on our trip – mostly eating actually – but since the photos here pertain only to that I’ll end here for now.
I’ve never sat at such a quiet dinner table.
This year we had as good a Thanksgiving as one could have not being with immediate family. We spent the day at the house of the chef of the amazing Fraiche restaurant in Culver City with a group of about a dozen friends who were also unable to get home for the holiday. The chef, Roy, is South African and this was his first time cooking a bird, but he did a bang-up job!
To make up for the missed holiday we’re heading out first thing in the morning for a week in Sarasota with my folks. We decided to split the holidays in the middle, which unfortunately means neither of us will actually be home for the holidays. But it’s still something and we saved a ton on the flight by going in early December! And it will be nice to get some relief from this dreadful winter weather we’re having. Ha.
