Veronica Weber Photography

Rain

2009-02-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

Originally I wanted to get a nice reflection of people walking by this puddle with their umbrellas. When that didn't work, I just focused on the raindrops. I love how the colors came out.

Stuff from Jan-Feb

2009-02-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

This was for a neighborhood snapshot, and I happened to get a photo of this local preschool group holding hands and looking before crossing the intersection together.

This was from a story about different technologies that are being developed to help the brain in different ways. The wii was included, and I got this fun photo from covering a group of vets trying out the bowling game at the VA.

This set of 3 photos was for a story about pending high speed rail routes that might run through the core of Palo Alto. The bottom two here were taken while riding on the train in Palo Alto to show the proximity of homes to the tracks currently, and how they might have to be demolished completely to make room for extra HSR tracks if the plan is approved. I thought they were kinda cool and abstract, almost makes me want to do a series of photos taken from the train.

By far my favorite photo of the year so far. Believe it or not, the blue ribbon was actually me waving my cell phone on a 3 second long exposure.

Local author

this was for a story about singles in Palo Alto. I like the colors and how it's mostly all dudes in that portion of the bar checking out the scene.

Palo Alto Baylands

A training session showing volunteers the differences in normal tungsten lightbulbs to CFL's.
One of the 3 large oak trees that fell during the last rainstorm. It totally crushed the side of this house, took out power, and smashed the car parked in the driveway. But I really like how the guy from the city cleanup team stood out so much from the green and the grey.

January

2009-01-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

And to continue on from the last post, here's some of my favorites from January so far...EPA peace march

Protest against Israeli attacks in Gaza

Car crash on the 280 -all minor injuries
The girl on the right was the driver and is being comforted by her mom.

Photographer whose work focuses on oak trees in danger of succumbing to sudden oak death

Ice Skating at the Winter Lodge

1st day of new student registration

New mural at Addison Elementary

Stanford students rehearse a dance piece called "Crash"

Rehearsal of Chinese Nutcracker

It's Been Awhile

2009-01-26T17:02:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been awhile since I posted on here. Maybe it's because this column I read back in October on Sports Shooter made me a little discouraged (just look for reason #2) : http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/2082
Or maybe I just got lazy after picking up work full time at the Weekly and didn't feel like posting anything after work or on the weekends. Or maybe I was just being my usual procrastination-prone self and kept putting off posting photos until wait, it's January already? Anyways, here's some of my more favorite photos from Nov-Dec -and I don't care if no one is really interested about my blog, I'm doing it for me!

This is a follow-up to an amazing story that was first published in the Weekly in February 2008. The boy on the left is Shawn, a ten year old who had been waiting over 2 years for a heart transplant and finally received one in July. In December, after a rollercoaster recovery, he was finally able to return home to Alaska. Former Chief Photographer Norbert Von Der Groeben did an amazing photo story and slideshow about Shawn when he was waiting for his heart. You should check out the link here: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=8870#slide_show
this is from a feature about a local bus driver who is a hero and got her children to safety when a drive-by happened while she was driving the kids home.

this photo really reminds me of my middle school, MBI, and how we used to have to run the morning tv program. Zero period sucked.Thanksgiving feature...poor turkey made quite the feast I bet.

At Deer Hollow Farm

Fall features

Banjo from WWI

Detail of a mandolin from a story about the Museum of American Heritage's musical instruments exhibit

Sophie and the Enchanted Toy Chest (or something like that) performed for patients at Stanford Hospital in Dec.

Food Porn

2008-10-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

When I first started interning at the Weekly back in Fall 2006, I received food and drink assignments a few times a month. Back then I really didn't enjoy shooting still life images at all (I was craving moments and spontaneous spot news). I would show up to restaurants not really knowing what the heck I was doing; hoping the chef just made something colorful and well presented that would be easy to photograph- something that would require little creativity on my part. But my how things have changed. The more and more I delve into studying studio lighting and trying to replicate it, the more and more I relish the occasional food photo assignment as an opportunity to explore my photographic identity. It's starting to become a passion for me: the composition, the lighting (now I have 2 light stands, whoo hoo!), the choice to include background details-or not, and the best angles to make food look at its best. It's a nice change from being the recorder of a scene to its creator; a newfound ability to imagine and produce.

High school filmmaker

2008-10-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was assigned to get a portrait of David Harris, a 16-year-old filmmaker who recently just directed a short film which has won all these awards at various youth film festivals. His film is about a kid who works at a funeral home, so I really wanted the portrait to reflect the dark and moody subject matter David took on in his film. When I told him my idea, he supplied all the props. I shot all these images at his school, the location I chose was down a hallway leading to the boy's bathroom. I was really attracted to the window at the end of the hall, and also that there were no lights. Believe it or not, this was taken right after school in the middle of the day. I used two lights most of the time, at the beginning I had them both shining on David from opposite sides (which you can see in the second photo below). Although I loved how his shadow was coming out on both walls and how illuminated he was, the lighting just wasn't as dramatic as I wanted. So in the end, I settled for one light (held up by his dad) with a gobo attached shining from the far right, then I placed the second light behind to add in the hair light and give him that rim light. If I had to do it again, I would have definetely had a third light for fill on the left side, and really bring out those lights and the chair better. Oh well. Anyways, this was a really fun assignment especially since I had the time and patient model to really work with it on. He is a very driven teenager; I am certain he will succeed well with film in the near future.

Not nearly as dramatic, but I wanted to show the school setting too.

Apples to Apples

2008-09-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

I just bought a new toy to play with; my new foldable lightstand with umbrella mount. I think it was my last assignment in which I photographed a 16-year-old filmmaker using 2 lights which had to be held up by boxes and the filmaker's dad that finally pushed me to just go out and get a stand already. I will post the filmmaker photos soon...they turned out really cool I think. So, with my newfound freedom with being to able to shoot with 2 lights, I feel my creativity is just getting started. When I got assigned my latest Food&Drink assignment which was just asking for photos of apples, I thought I'd try out my luck and really take advantage of my flashes. For the shot above, I actually used 3 lights. I cross-lit a row of apples from the sides and used my master flash to fill in the direct highlights. I used CTO gells to give it more of that "autumn" glow. I've also included my set-up shots and technical info in case anyone is interested in how I shot this. Disregard my ghetto studio which is actually a desk in the newsroom that is always overflowing with newspapers and books.

Technical Info:
camera:Canon 20d using lens @20 mm, Iso 100, f5 @1/250.
strobes: Left Canon 550ex, snooted and gelled with full CTO@ 1/64 power
right Canon 430, snooted and gelled with full CTO@1/64 power
Master strobe on camera, Canon 550ex @1/128 power

this one is my favorite, I'm glad I decided to spritz on some water to really give it more texture and eye appeal.

technical info:
camera: lens @35mm zoom, Iso 100, f4 @1/250
strobes: left 550ex snooted and gelled with full CTO @1/64 power
right 430ex snooted and gelled with full CTO @1/64 power

found objects

2008-09-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

soon to be nonexistent

Whoa, it's been forever since I posted on here. I don't really know why it has taken me 5 months to finally post something new. I figure indifference, laziness, and self-doubt are the main reasons to blame. But that's changing. I'm trying to push myself into new directions of photography...getting better moments, becoming more patient with assignments and seeking out better composition, and seeing objects in a different light. So, in between my assignments I've started looking out for interesting lines, shapes and shadows found in stationary objects. This is all personal work I'm just doing for fun and posting on here. I don't know what it is about lines and symmetry but I seem to be gravitating towards it with my lens sometimes.

21 colors of the same shoe

imprints on the pavement

patterns repeated

Robots!

2008-04-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Somedays when I'm working down here I'm reminded that I'm in the smack dab of Silicon Valley, completely surrounded by incredibly smart people. While teaming up with a reporter on his story about local robotic-engineering (ok, so it's probably officially referred to as "artificial intelligence") we got a sneak peak at the robots of the soon-to-be future. This includes the all robotic operating room, which is controlled by a surgeon who could be as far away as space, using voice-recognizable 3-D virtual reality technology that controls the bots. They even thought so far ahead that there are several robots in the operating room who duplicate the tasks of their human counterparts, such as a scrub nurse, and a supply nurse. The all robotic operating room is currently being used for simple surgeries -although you won't be able to sign me up for one anytime soon. Do you think you could picture yourself lying on this gurney? Of course they tell us there will be actual humans to supervise the whole process....lest something terrible happens, like the robots taking control.

The O.R. of the future?

Robotic fingers that can even sew stitches

A week in the life of a small town photojournalist

2008-04-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so really these were not all taken in the same week, more like the last two weeks. But they give you a general idea as to the types of assignments I get every week. Just thought I'd share.

Some kids goofing off in auto shop class

Taking a break for a second while working on a car in auto shop class

At the newly built rehabilitation and physical therapy center for horses, using a water filled treadmill to get a racehorse's legs strengthened after a previous injury.

A portrait of a mortgage broker for the Real Estate section

Sixth graders all dressed in togas during "Greek Fest" day

A fisherman at Half Moon Bay who is now solely relying on catching crabs for income now that all ocean salmon fishing has been cancelled for the whole season.

On the Farm

2008-04-21T16:15:00.001-07:00

Back in late February I was trying to come up with a photo story idea for a two-three page spread I would have in April. I'm not sure how it came about but I suddenly got the inspiration to focus on some of the local farmers here who sell at the Menlo Park Farmer's Market every Sunday. It really was like one of those moments in which a little light bulb inside my head flicked on. (Farms, produce, and sunshine...cool!) I was on a weekend assignment anyway so I decided to check out the market and talk to the vendors, see who was selling what and where they hailed from. Most of these farmers come all the way out here from places like Hollister, Stockton, King City, and Modesto. That's a lot of traveling and labor involved every weekend. I wanted to stay focused to a 40-mile radius from our area, so luckily enough the market manager gave me some names of farmers in the zone. I got in touch with two farms, Happy Quail and Mellow's, who were nice enough to go along with my vision and actually take time to talk to me during their 12-14 hour-long days. By the end of the two weeks I spent on this project, I had developed a new sense of awe and respect for farmers and all the work that they put into their crops. Tony, who runs Mellow's farms, has 40 acres spread out all over the Morgan Hill area. A few days a week, his shift usually starts at around 2am to load all the produce into the truck and haul it up to the city where he unloads it at the Farmer's Market, sells until about 5pm, and usually gets home around 8pm or so. That is a looooooong day. And he works seven days a week! And on the Happy Quail Farm, they are truly making the most of the one acre that they have that is located inside two greenhouses in East Palo Alto of all places. I couldn't believe that they have to plant all those peppers one by one bending their backs....it even made my back hurt just watching them. This story has been one of my favorites by far and made me open my eyes as to the amount of work we take for granted that goes into providing us our food. And I got to see how broccoli grows (how sad is that, that I had no clue before?) Farming must be one of the most labor intensive professions out there...yet the farmers seem to love it. I guess it must be that excitement and pride you get from seeing something start as a tiny little seed grow to six feet tall producing pounds and pounds of tasty food.

Thousands of tomato seedlings being planted

Watering the tomato seedlings

Cauliflower

Backbreaking work planting pepper plants

Pepper plant seedlings waiting to get transplanted

The Menlo Park Farmer's Market

A rainbow of bell peppers

Speeches

2008-03-28T18:12:00.001-07:00

Hmmm...how to make an assignment about a pyschiatrist speaking to local parents go above and beyond the standard talking head photo? Race backstage and get shots of the speaker getting her notes ready of course! I'm trying to really push myself on otherwise boring assignments, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I think it is helping me start to develop my style and become more confident with my work. I thought these turned out okay.

Futbol

2008-03-28T17:56:00.001-07:00

You know, lately I have developed a real love for this job. Every day is something new, a chance to meet new people and hear their stories, a chance to get a peek into some previously unfamiliar territory. On Tuesday, this is how my day went:
Assignment #1 was spent wandering around a native plant garden, feeling the sun warm my face, hearing the bees buzz around me, smelling the wonderful scents of the sage plants. Not the most thrilling of assignments, sure, but not a bad way to spend half an hour in the day.
Assignment #2 was spent photographing an after school soccer club created to provide "at risk" kids with an alternative, all including, less expensive, and definetely less snobby then AYSO, chance to play soccer. Sure I got hit in the head, hard, with the soccer ball. And sure I almost got kicked 10 times and narrowly escaped being pushed down with the camera smashed to my face...but hey, I got to spend an hour and a half, in a park, hanging out with funny kids who say things like...."Oh, he's got skittles (instead of skills)". Pretty cool.

Moodiness

2008-03-17T15:47:00.001-07:00

I was feeling pretty moody last week, so I decided to try shooting some more abstract-y shots. I'm a sucker for dramatic lighting and silouhettes, so whenever I find a situation that gives way to them, I jump on it. Both of these were shot while working on an assignment about the new local theatre troupe. While I was waiting around for rehearsal to begin, I played around and this is was I got. To me, they suggest something sort of sinister and dark. What do you think? -leave me a comment.

Random shots

2008-03-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

This was shot for the new monthly section being featured in our paper concerning stories centered solely on the environment and "being green". This woman (on the left) is completely rebuilding her house with all green features and recycled items. The wood from the old house was salvaged. The windows, cabinets, and bathtub will be reused in the new house. The house was built around existing trees. There will be solar panels. The furnace is 98% efficient. The wood is FSC certified (comes from managed forests, not rainforests) Even the countertops will be made of recycled glass.

This was shot to illustrate a story about "Nature Deficit Disorder" and why some kids of the current generation aren't getting outside in the woods anymore. I shot these kids playing in the creek which runs right behind their home.

Spanish Day. Remember those styrofoam Mission projects you had to do in fourth grade? Well this was that taken one step further. In an effort to get the kids excited about their projects, the local elementary school had them dress up either as Native Americans, Spaniard Settlers/Priests, or "Explorers" and present their projects to fellow students and their parents. I'm still wondering why I saw a bunch of cowboys and pirates though. Maybe they should read up on their history a little more :)

Under The Skin

2008-03-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

This was shot a few weekends ago in Palo Alto but I neglected to post it on here until just now. Sometimes I have those assignments which make me think to myself, "damn, am I lucky or what to be getting paid to do this" -this was one such assignment. A group of local dancers from Stanford were rehearsing for their upcoming modern dance piece entitled "Under The Skin". Mainly it's a piece about women dealing with breast cancer through modern dance. But there's so much to it...the piece integrates the sounds of MRI machines and various hospital sounds, there's dialogue spoken by women who had or have cancer about their feelings, their scars, their fears, and how their lives have changed. The piece integrates older women who are breast cancer survivors. It's one of the most moving pieces of dance I've ever had the fortune to see.

Daffodils

2008-03-07T17:32:00.001-08:00

For a little while I got to get out of the office and just enjoy being outside, taking the time to stop and smell the roses, er daffodils. We needed a spring feature, so it was suggested I go out to Woodside Road where local people have planted 14,000 daffodils. I'm not quite sure if that number is accurate but the flowers were lovely and it was nice to soak up some sun photographing a different subject matter.

Life on the train tracks

2008-03-07T17:10:00.001-08:00

Last week I got to work on a really cool story about the men and women behind the ropes of Caltrain. I have dealt with Caltrain in the past. Usually they have been very uptight and controlling over what photos I can take. This is because they figure photos of train tracks will inspire people to end their lives by throwing themself in front of a train. However, this turn around I was fortunate enough to get paired up with the main foreman, Rob, who gave me more access than I could have dreamed of. I got to see all facets: from the conductors yelling at the slow pokes to make sure the train's schedule stays on time, to the petite engineer sitting in a tiny little room manning this extremely powerful machine, to the guys in the control booth dealing with the days stresses of a freight train derailment and suicide, to the mechanics who wander around the engine and in between the wheels checking for the slightest amount of wear. I got to sit in the locomotive as the train sped by the local towns, I got to see upclose what the inner workings of a train engine looks like (it's so hot in there!) I even got to wander underneath the train and see up close what the underbelly of Caltrain looks like. These are amazing people whose work we often taken for granted or just plain ignore. It's incredible the amount of dedication and pride for the job that they have, all to make our commutes run smooth and keep things safe. They truly are some of the most amazing people I've met while working here. And dad, if you are reading this, this whole assignment I thought of you and wish you could have been up here to experience it all with me. I think because of this I have a new respect and love for your passion of trains.Inside the locomotive as the train was getting placed onto different tracks

Next to the engine, this is the generator

The maintenance yard

On a platform underneath the tracks, inspecting the wheels and brakes

What the engineer sees as the train is moving

Getting ready for the next ride up from San Jose To San Francisco

Feel The Music

2008-02-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

Lately it seems a lot of my assignments have been centered around music and musicians. I get to spend time meeting these musicians, talking to them about their craft and their passion, then I get to be spoiled to a first row front and center seat if you will to their performance. In the past two weeks I've had the fortune to cover an 11-year-old Pianist and Harpsichordist who is set to perform at Carnegie Hall and filmed for PBS, a "jazz" trio performing their amazingly rich and mood provoking sounds inside their tiny tiny little studio inside an old Victorian in San Jose, and a father-son duo from South Africa (who performed for Nelson Mandela) playing uniquely beautiful African drums, xylophones, and other instruments specific to their African roots. Each time I was amazed by these musicians and their talents for producing such vibrant, and very different sounds. There's a reason why I don't listen to the radio much these days...this is sooooo much better!Listening to the classical station is one thing, but being able to hear the harpsichord played in person is something completely different. So tinny and mechanical sounding, hard to believe an 11 year old plays this thing.

The "jazz" trio Panthelion. Jazz is in quotations because their music is not the usual stuff you'd hear on the radio. It's energetic, youthful, moody, booming to the point that it shakes the room and vibrates in your feet, soulful and complex.

This is Baba Shibamba and his son performing on African drums. He also sang a few songs in Zulu, which was totally cool and new- it's nice to be introduced to different music. I'm hoping to follow up with him and get some audio of his recordings, maybe incorporate it into an audio slideshow.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2008-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! Yesterday I photographed the local elementary school's Chinese New Year parade. I covered this event last year and liked it so much I volunteered to do it again. It's just one of those events that always lends itself to colorful fun photos. Little five-year-olds getting shuffled around all dressed up in different colors dressed as dragons and rats. Some of them even got to perform a lion dance and a moon dance.Waiting for the parade to start

Adjusting the costume

The moon dance (performing as different phases of the moon)

the lion dance

Trying to save the river

2008-02-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

Ahhh. It's always nice when single-light portraits workout according to plan. On one of the rare occasions, I actually had a photo assignment right here in SF. This is Peter, he's the head of a local non-profit that is fighting to save further draining of the Tuolomne River up in Yosemite for water usage in the Bay Area and surroundings. Sad to think that this beautiful resource is being used this way, and it's definitely having an affect on the environment. Just look at what's happening to the salmon returns from this season - it's devastating. We need to start changing our habits soon.

The dingy gym

2008-02-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I had the assignment to photograph the gym at the local community center which is constantly booked with basketball games, swimming lessons, and gymnastics classes. The gym is probably going to be torn down soon and good thing, it is seriously in need of renovation- well at least in the gymnastics wing. The lighting in there is basically spotlights reflecting off of a ceiling which closely resembles insulation. The whole place smells like feet and I think a cave would be more inviting. And the artwork decorating the walls may have been cute twenty years ago (grateful dead bears?) but now it just seems laughable. I hope they get a new gym, they deserve it.

Horseman of the year

2008-02-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

I love winter light. The sun is at a perfectly low spot in the sky at all times of the day, and it just saturates everything in beautiful golden light and long dark shadows. Even though I dread going out in the cold and tredging through mud in my cute shoes like I did for this assignment, the quality of natural light always makes it worth it. Here are some photos of Glenn, he won the 2007 Horseman of the Year award from the Mounted Patrol in San Mateo. He definetely had that stoic quietness of an old cowboy who has been around horses for 70+ years.

The zone

2008-02-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

When I'm photographing people and events, I kind of get into this weird photographer zone. When I first arrive, I will walk through an event or a location, trying to scope out the best background, the best light, where the action is happening, good spots for overalls, mediums and close-ups. I'm kind of like the vulture hovering around waiting to jump on the best possibility for a good shot and moment. It's a strange feeling, I'm there right in the middle of the action, surrounded by people and things going on, yet I'm in this zone of observation, not really paying attention to one particular moment but a culmulation of several ones happening at the same time. I don't really let one scene sink into my consciousness because i'm looking to the left, to the right, behind me - all trying to find the best angle that can illustrate the moment clearly, the lens becomes my filter to the action. My eyes see one thing, but my brain is busy concentrating on all these other thoughts - it is an oddly numbing, out-of-body, type of experience.

Recently I photographed some friends reading at The Greenhouse Cafe in West Portal. They're in black and white because those warm glowing halogen lamps created awful color casts when translated to a digital camera.Matt

Britta

Jacob

LJ

Madeleine Albright

2008-01-25T17:52:00.000-08:00

Got to photograph Madeleine Albright yesterday speaking about her book and her thoughts on international diplomacy. She's a pretty cool and funny lady, and said a lot of smart things about the how the U.S. needs to start actually talking to other countries as equals and stop bullying them. So this makes for Secretary of State (former) #2 that I've photographed. My celebrity list is adding up -whoo!

The light in the attic

2008-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday (sorry these posts are out of order, but i'm high on dayquil and cold-eeze so give me some slack) I got the lovely assignment to photograph a furnace. An energy efficient furnace. Oh joy I thought. Everyday is an adventure with this job, tuesday was no different. I got to wriggle up a shaky and not at all steady ladder into this couple's attic where I got to hit my head and earn some bruises from the low ceiling studded with wooden beams, all the meantime getting my cute new black jacket all covered in dusty newspaper insulation. But the light in there was surpisingly gorgeous, and I ended up getting this nice portrait of Bob coming up the ladder into his attic. That's the furnace on the right, I was really disappointed with it though. I was hoping for something ferocious looking with huge flames coming from its copper belly -maybe I'm letting Sweeney Todd affect my imagination there just a tad.

Bye Bye Birdie

2008-01-25T17:20:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday I received the assignment to photograph the new theater complex at the private high school in Woodside. Luckily, the reporter had sensed my recent mounting frustrations with works in progress photos and so arranged a time for me to shoot the new theater when student rehearsals of "bye bye birdie" were going on. Otherwise it would have been a boring uninspired photo of a dark stage, seats, and awful lighting. It's been awhile since i could say I was proud of a photo I took, but damn this is a good photo (at least I think so). I love the lighting that is reflected into the student's faces from their notebooks. I love the sense of being an actor and performing in a theater you get from this perspective. And I love the cute intimate moment between them; for a moment they look like two high school kids in love -even though it's actually just a scene from the musical. But I like to pretend that it's both :)

Kids

2008-01-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah....so I take a lot of kid photos. I'd say 50% of my photo assignments from here revolve around kids. That's because Menlo Park is a pretty kid-friendly town, and there are tons of really good schools around here. I can understand why so many people move here from the city. Let's face it, the city is not a good place to raise children, not if you want them to experience taking the school bus everyday, or running through the woods, or being able to walk home by themself without having to worry about getting runover by Muni or accosted by another crazy on the street (sorry, I'm in a bitter mood today). Anyways, I'll take kid photos anyday. Anytime I get a kid assignment it always puts me in a good mood, even when they cheese it up in front of the camera. These shots were for an upcoming story on the newly rebuilt elementary school in Woodside. This school is friggin' rich. I mean the whole project cost 14 million to complete. 14 million! Too bad some of that doesn't go to help the kids on the other side of the freeway. Here are some scenes of kids playing in the new school:

Sorting through the books in the library.

Kindergartners running and playing during recess (this photo really reminds me of my own childhood when I'd just run around the playground till my feet pulled under me.)

A big damn hole

2008-01-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday I got another dreaded works in progress photo assigned to me. These are usually really boring standard photos of construction going on in the community that the reporters want shown. It's usually just some straight shot of some building getting torn down, or random shots of scaffolding and foundation laying. I pretty much despise these types of assignments because they are a real challenge to get something visually interesting out of and well, they're boring. Plus, as Menlo Park and areas are constantly getting built up every which way, I get these types of assignments once a week. So when my editor told me that someone in the community reported construction going on up in Portola Valley, where there was a "big damn hole" in the middle of the street, I screamed a little bit to myself. But, off I went, because that's what they pay me for. When I pulled up this windy little mountain road there was indeed a big damn hole, 27 feet deep to be exact. I slowly crawled up to the edge (i'm not afraid of heights, just afraid of losing my footing and falling to a disastrously painful death). It was just a cool scene, guys on the edge peering down this shaft in the ground where three others were digging up dirt to install a man hole for the sewer later. They looked like little worker ants down there. In the end I was pretty happy with this shot, showing the feet of the men overlooking the edge, and the guys in the big damn hole in the street below. I still despise works in progress shots though.

A trip to "Fantasy Island"

2008-01-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

Wow. What an unexpectedly cool assignment I had today. This afternoon I was sent to Mountain View to photograph this man, Charles, and his unique garden and home decorations done in a Polynesian inspired theme. I didn't really know what to expect, some fountains, some plants, bamboo, tiki torches, etc. It was for the home and garden section so I thought it would be another boring photo or two of gardens as usual. Turns out Charles' place is unbelievably extraordinary, and I ended up spending 3 hours talking with him and getting the tour around his tiki-Gaudi-esk house and yard. How can I describe this very strange yet very cool experience? Let me explain what entering his place is like.

To start with, there are towers and towers of 80 feet high bamboo shrouding the entire house. It looks as if you are about to enter a jungle from a normal suburban street- and you are. Then you wander into his front yard filled with bamboo seedlings, a rock fountain, and tons and tons of plants. As you pass the alley and enter the backyard and are surrounded in lush green the smell of mold, moss, and dirt fills your nostrils. Then you hear the delicate and soothing sound of trickling water from his 20 or so fountains created from driftwood found at Santa Cruz beaches. (The plants, the smell, and the moisture in the air really reminded me of Hawaii, of course it's January and I was freezing out there.) Then you wander past the walls of bamboo and redwoods, past the two cages with quail, and come across a rock wall and pond compelete with a mosaic of tiles with salmon painted on them. Above you are wooden planks and you hear the shuffling and flapping of the 40 or so wild doves walking along them.
When you enter into the house, into the tiki room, it feels like a dream or something out of a movie. Charles puts on the lights and you start to take everything in. To the left are lamps made of ivory and pink shells. A stuffed puffer fish glows with red light. A taxidermied bobcat rears up and snarls in mid air. Paintings of sunsets and palm trees hang on the dark blue walls which glow from black lights while the ceiling is covered with an old fishing net. A window overlooks an alcove with a rock waterfall, tropical flowers, and plants. Above the window hangs a sign made of driftwood with bright orange lettering which reads "welcome to fantasy island". Around the right side of the room is a green and gold couch, lounging chair covered with a zebra print, and a gemstone-like coffee table covered with taxidermied quails and hawks. In the middle of the room, dozens of hand-carved tiki statues grimace. This is Charles' house.

Ready to Barack n' Roll!!!!

2008-01-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Last nite in an effort to show how local people are getting involved with the different campaigns for February's primary I shot the Obama headquarters in Palo Alto as they were all anxiously awaiting the results from the New Hampshire primary.
Although I didn't used to, I have really started to enjoy election coverage more and more. Maybe it's just because of the excitement and unpredictableness of this year's election. Or maybe I was just in a good mood yesterday. But either way I had a lot of fun shooting the Obama people -frantically calling people, biting their lip as Hillary started to pull ahead, gleeing with joy over being handed Obama bumper stickers. The energy was really great, and best of all they were all so absorbed in their mindings that no one paid any attention to me. There were also a lot of great spots that just lent to cool photos. My only regret? That I'm not following the candidates around myself getting those awesome shots I see in the New York Times everyday -NOW THAT would be great. ah, someday.
And here's one from a Republican results-watching party that I just wanted to throw in too.

Storms and Cows

2008-01-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

I knew today was going to be miserable. I was asleep last nite all snuggled up underneath the covers when I heard the rain and wind suddenley slam against my bedroom window as the storm of the century was just getting started. The wind was so strong it even kept shaking the whole house. So I knew today would be no picnic because my editors had told me that I was getting assigned to storm coverage which meant that I would be stuck in this horrible storm trying best to keep myself and camera dry. So, I bundled up in snowboarding jacket, beanie, scarf, galoshes and umbrella armed for whatever the elements would throw at me. When I got to the office no one really had any specific places they wanted me to cover, so I ventured out on my own looking for cool rain photos. Let me tell you storm coverage is miserable. Looking for good wild art photos is hard enough, now add in howling winds, fierce rain, and extremely dangerous driving conditions and you'll just get a taste of what it's like. Plus all the editors really are looking for are informational photos of flooded areas, so creativity is not so much of an option there. In all I spent about five hours today in the rain, scrambling to get decent photos. Not fun at all but luckily while I was on my way to get another info photo I saw these cute cows grazing by the side of the road. I've never seen cows like this before, they are striped in black and white -like pigs, and have very shaggy hair. I thought cows are usually solid colors or spotted. My coworker calls them oreo cows. Was trudging through the storm for five hours worth it? I'm still deciding.

The Year in Photos Slideshow

2008-01-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!
So I meant to post this awhile back before the end of the year, however I was slammed with last minute assignments and just got caught up in the holidays. However, after much cursing and threatening to throw my laptop from a bridge, I finally figured out how the heck to publish and embed soundslides into a blog. Whoo! Now that I'm an expert with html code maybe I could make a little extra money on the side writing code....ha ha ha. Actually the soundslides online manual pretty much hands everything to you with very little effort. So, here's my slideshow of some of my favorite photos of 2007.

Just scroll down and you'll see it...there's music too!

Mmmmm I'm hungry

2007-12-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Food photography. Not usually my cup of tea. Working at the Palo Alto Weekly I usually have to shoot food shots every once in awhile if the intern isn't around to shoot it. I hardly give the food stuff a second thought, shoot the food on the plate, make it look somewhat appetizing, finito -i'm out of here. Last week I had a food assignment for the new hoite toite Italian place opening up in Menlo Park and I thought I'd start to see how I can play around with the umbrella and strobe instead of window light to show more texture, especially since the shoot got rescheduled to the later evening. I'll be honest, the chef and the owner were just downright rude to me. They kept questioning why I was there, what paper I was with, why I needed photos, and they kept making me wait even when I had told them exactly what I needed hours ago on the phone. A half hour later after standing around just wanting to get back to the office so I could load the photos and leave, the chef finally prepared these dishes for me to photograph. I used the umbrella and really tried to balance in the warm glow from the candles on the table. I'm pretty happy with these two shots, and I'm really glad I decided to shoot the dessert from above to really show the contrast in colors. If I had had another strobe I would have used it on the left side of the plate as well to really wash out the shadows. Using the strobe expanded my choices, and I do have to say that the food shot was a fun one to work on despite the a-hole manager and chef I had to deal with.

Harsh light in a challenging atmosphere

2007-12-28T17:23:00.000-08:00

For this assignment I was covering a program being implemented at one of the high schools trying to get troubled kids interested in different courses other than the required math, science, english, etc. to keep them in school and show them different types of opportunities for college. The program teaches them all about shooting digital video and how to edit it into movies and shorts. I really tried to track these kids down actually shooting a movie, or even working in groups on their movies, problem was they were all finished and having their finals the next day. We needed the photo ASAP and it couldn't wait till they got back from winter break. So, I went to their final, got some photos of the kids doing last minute edits from their computers. It ended up just being shots of people staring into computers. Ugh. So, I pushed myself to think more creatively, and decided to shoot the teacher. I came up with a concept to project one of the kids' completed movies on a screen, have the teacher stand in front and somehow get the overflow of the projection onto one side of his face, and flash the other side of his face with the strobe. It sounded great in theory. And eventually I would have got there. But I had five minutes with the guy in between his classes and the 30 or so kids were all just staying there in that dark room chattering away and kept bugging me with, "why are you taking his photo?" and "who are you?". So, originally I flashed him with direct strobe with a diffuser. I thought the light was too bright and I wanted more ambient from the projection. I kept fiddling around and decided to try the umbrella. The umbrella washed out the whole mood. In the end I just kinda gave up because he had to get back to teaching. But when I got back to my desk, I found this image, and it really grew on me. It was just a test shot, so it explains the harsh light and why he's not looking into the camera. But it ended up showing his character the best, and I kinda like the harshness...though I would have like the projection to shine on his face a little. And I would have picked a different projection to use if I had the time. And I should have moved that awful "congratulations" sign away. Anyways...onwards!

A first start

2007-12-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

After spending hours reading many of the posts on Strobist, I decided to take my new-found courage of using strobes and put it to use. Now, I've done the single light strobe off camera set-up before, but the last time I remember doing it well was when I interned at The Recorder in 2005. Since then my confidence has been lacking. So, after receiving a photo request to cover two local women who have started their own business creating chic reusable shopping bags, I decided to dust off the ol' light stand and umbrella. Lucky for me the ladies were all done up because they had had a TV interview an hour or so before my shoot, and were already giggly and in good spirits. I suggested we get a nice photo in a supermarket, preferably the produce aisle to go with the whole "being green" motif. I ended up having them stand back to back with their bags by the veggies flashed with an umbrella on my right. Hokey looking? Sure. And I could have dialed down the ambient light a little more or adjusted the strobe so it looks more natural and less strobe-y. And what's with the weird color cast in the back? I really need to practice getting better white balance readings or using flash gels to compensate. But definetely a more dramatic step above just having them pose in front of the grocery store with natural sunlight (yawn).

And So It Began...

2007-12-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month I was feeling pretty dismal about my work. I kept getting assignments I felt were a joke and a waste of time. Another head shot - boring. Another photo of kids at the school -been there done that. Another photo of construction- for the love of God stop already! I was losing my focus and was frequently aggravated by the seemingly lame photo requests I kept getting. But then while surfing the net in between assignments one Tuesday I came across one of Jim Merithew's columns on Sportsshooter in which he interviewed photographer Kevin German about how he got out of a slump, and I quote,
"It got so bad, that I finally decided that I had to let it go. And so I did. I forgot about contests. I forgot about pressures. I forgot about other peoples' expectations. I forgot about photography. I focused on my subjects. On the people I was meeting and the cool things I was getting to see and do. I focused on the external and let go of the internal. I started to enjoy myself. And I started to see the world anew."
German's words really sparked inspiration in me, and I suddenely realized, what the heck am I whining about, I have such an opportunity here to play around and define my style. I need to stop my blubbering and start taking good photos I'm proud of again. Then I came across Strobist. The single most influential website for me this year -and that's saying something since I only discovered it a week or so ago. I have such great things to say about it, but namely after finding it, I feel that I've been reborn in a way. So I stopped bitching about the fluffy "Christmas in Menlo Park" photo story I was thrown, and started to seek out some pretty cool Christmas photos. Sorry I'm posting this all AFTER Christmas.

2008 - A new year, a new blog

2007-12-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Greetings! Thanks to all visiting my soon-to-be-awesome new blog. Now some of you may be wondering, ah, Veronica, didn't you have a blog, one in which you posted maybe three entries on? To answer your question, yes indeed I did -the now defunct Photos From The Bay and Beyond. It started out with good intentions but quite frankly, I just got too lazy and too unmotivated to do anything with it. But now after discovering the wonderfully helpful and awe-inspiring Strobist (i'm going to post a link to it somewhere around here) and new-fangled love for experimenting with my photography, I've decided to give the blogging another go. Why the name "Light Lab and other adventures" you ask? I figured this will be the place to post all my successful and horribly embarrassing experiments with my photography and new approach to using strobes - it is a place of experiment and constant adjustment in an attempt to achieve better photos and to push myself to be creative. Plus I thought the name sounded snazzy and I'm relishing the old days when I actually developed photos in an actual lab. Ahh, I can remember the sweet smell of fixer on the fingers....
Though my emphasis here will be to mainly attempt to gain greater knowledge of strobes and interesting lighting effects, I may sporadically post things related to assignments at the paper or my own projects. I defineteley have some cool self projects I want to start working on, the hardest part is willing myself to get off the couch on the weekends to go out and start shooting them. I welcome all feedback, please if something sucks, or just doesn't work, tell me about it. I can only get better as a photographer when people don't hold back and will tell me when a photo blows. thanks for checking in to the Light Lab!