Looking For Backgrounds

Robert and I headed to San Francisco over the weekend to look for and shoot backgrounds for a composite project we're working on.  More to come on that, but I'm pretty sure we got some usable stuff.

Due to the amount of photos I take of Robert you might think we're a couple.  We tend to do a lot of projects together, and I'm compelled to shoot the light as it presents itself, which is often in San Francisco it seems.  Plus, the guy wears interesting stuff that works well in an urban environment.   The shot by the car looks like a movie still, it's one of my favorite things I've shot recently.

As you would expect, we saw a variety of interesting things including a homeless guy, a dude on his break, and a dude with his shirt off doing bicycle ballet.  In addition, a crowd of folks were gathered around singing songs in solidarity with the Egyptian Revolution.   That's all I know about that.

I stopped and asked the homeless guy if I could take his shot in exchange for $1.  He agreed, let me take his photo, then immediately asked for another dollar because he had pneumonia and cough syrup is $1.79.    Being the sleuth that I am, I noticed he had a large cup of Starbuck's (full) on his baby stroller  which I know costs about $2.  Priorities, dude.  I told him no and moved on.

The guy taking his break was fairly skeptical of why I wanted to take his shot, exclaiming, "I'm just on my break, man" in such a manner as if he were being harassed by the cops.  Surprisingly he let me go ahead and take it, but not before making sure he understood my intentions for its usage.

Although I didn't take any photos, you know we stopped off at Fiddler's green to end the day.  I've still never had a bad day in San Francisco.

Circus Freaks

He looks dirty, somewhat sleazy, and a bit scary and dangerous.  In short, he looks like a grade A bona-fide Carnie.  However, he's the ringleader of the greatest party I've ever attended.

This is the third party of Robert's we've attended and they have all been great, but this one was over the top in every detail and in every carefully placed Kewpie doll.   This party takes a year's worth of planning, and he started placing the circus tent panels in the house in August.  I had seen the basic structure, but I hadn't seen all the fine details that would make the party a feast for the eyes and leave me amused and amazed at the same time.

 The first thing you see upon arriving at the house is that the entrance is set up like the entrance to a circus tent and there is a handmade sign at the front door announcing that we're at the "Carnivale Abnormale".   When we enter the house I'm looking around the room and I'm sort of shocked and amazed.  I should be taking photos, but my attention is constantly diverted to other incredible details in the room.  There are hand painted signs hanging up there, a gigantic clown mouth over there, and Kewpie dolls everywhere.   The thing that blows my mind is that all the graphics are created by Robert, and everything from the coasters on the table to the hand soap in the bathroom has been customized specifically for the party.   I would be proud of myself had I created just one of these things.

I walk further into the house and there are two cotton candy machines in the living room.  In my mind cotton candy is some sort of magical creation and can't be duplicated at home, it requires tons of room and  highly specialized equipment.   I turn my head to the right and there is a freaking skee ball game and now my head is about to explode.  Suddenly I'm 7 years old again and I want to win stuffed animals and cheap plastic snakes that end up costing $25 dollars at the end of the day.   Each game, from the skee ball to the wheel of fortune, to the fortune teller (made by Robert) requires tickets to play and each give raffle tickets back depending on your score.  At the end of the night, we all entered our raffle tickets and numbers were drawn and prizes given.  It was actually like being at a carnival.  Amazing.

In addition to the carnival games there was carnival food:  Cotton candy, popcorn, corn-dogs, onion rings,  and 20 other battered, deep fried, delicacies, all home-made.  The place even smelled like a carnival.

Because Robert's parties have gained such renown with his friends, the party-goers tend to go all out in their costumes and he now buildst a studio in the garage to take shots of the guests, which makes me euphoric.  Drunk, uninhibited party-goers wearing crazy colors and outlandish costumes against a themedl backdrop is a photographer's dream.   I just show up and say "stand over there" and they begin posing, and when I'm done they don't want me to stop, they want more.    It's a dream job and I volunteer every year now.  I took shots of all the attendees, and while it's impossible to show every one, these are some of my favorites.  All can be seen here .

The crazy psycho clown is amazing by itself because that costume was put together in literally 15 minutes.  Due to a cancellation, Christina got a phone call about an hour before the party and put that together, but that's what she does.  She has more energy than any other person I've ever met.

Note from Nikki, those are not fat rolls, it is the costume!

The task of hosting a more elaborate, creative party for next year is daunting indeed.  I hope Robert hasn't reached his creative zenith with this one, but I do feel sorry for him because expectations will be quite high.  No pressure Robert, we'll be watching, waiting, anticipating.