Lets talk tennis people. Wimbledon started Monday and Roger Federer is hoping to capture his record-breaking 15th grand slam title. Oh Snap! The kicker, no Rafael Nadal in the draw. He announced early last week he'd be pulling out because of tendonitis in his knees. Will Pete Sampras book his ticket today, I just don't know, but the draw is wide open for Roger.
Who will actually challenge Roger on grass? My guess is nobody, nada, zilch, but, and a big one, both Djokovic and Tsonga are floating on Federer's side of the draw. Most notably though is the gun slinging French Open Runner-Up Robin Soderling, who could face Roger in the fourth round. Murray, Del Potro, and Rodick are all on the other side of the draw, hoping to get a crack at Federer in the finals. I'll tell you one thing, it doesn't look like the finals will be anything as great as last years between Rafa and Rog, maybe the best match in tennis history.
I guess well find out come July 5th. Pete, if I were you, I'd charter that jet today.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
LIFE
If there was one photography magazine that started it all, that was LIFE. It literally changed the way people saw the world in the early 20th Century.
Once a weekly-published magazine up until 1972, LIFE became victim of television and the economics of mass publication. Between 1978 and 2000, the magazine was published only monthly. Its archive languished over the years, but in 2006, some seven million of the images taken for the magazine have been digitized, taking us to the next chapter in LIFE.
In a partnership with Getty Images, LIFE.com launched back on March 31 and its the perfect resource for both historians and photographers. More importantly, the site should serve as an inspiration to the next generation of photographers. Its simple layout is easy to navigate, dividing up its categories into news, celebrity, travel, animals and sports. The amount of images is astounding.
LIFE.com
Once a weekly-published magazine up until 1972, LIFE became victim of television and the economics of mass publication. Between 1978 and 2000, the magazine was published only monthly. Its archive languished over the years, but in 2006, some seven million of the images taken for the magazine have been digitized, taking us to the next chapter in LIFE.
In a partnership with Getty Images, LIFE.com launched back on March 31 and its the perfect resource for both historians and photographers. More importantly, the site should serve as an inspiration to the next generation of photographers. Its simple layout is easy to navigate, dividing up its categories into news, celebrity, travel, animals and sports. The amount of images is astounding.
LIFE.com
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
OHH MR. JULIUS
For those of you who don't know who Julius Shulman is, you need to wake up and look out your window. As my friends have heard me say, I like to call him, "the godfather of architectural photography." His images of California modern architecture defined the 20th Century. One of his most famous photographs is one called Case Study House #22 taken in Los Angeles, 1960. The photograph is breathtaking. Lets just say, if you decided to strike up a conversation about the modern architecture movement and not mention Julius name, well, that would be like talking about Back to the Future and leaving out the time machine part...big mistake.
For the last couple weeks I have literally been counting the days to see Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman, a documentary chronicling the monumental photographers career. The film recently won the audience award for best documentary feature at the 2009 Palm Springs Film Festival. It's absolutely amazing, sweet to the core, and funny in its own right (guess you gotta know Julius!). Dustin Hoffman does a fantastic job narrating the film, with great direction from Eric Bricker. The doc roughly follows chronological form from Shulman's family moving to Southern California in the early 20s, his early commissions with architects Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, a generous section devoted to Pierre Koenig's Case Study House #22, his collaboration with Mexican architect Abraham Zabludovsky, to a wonderfully emotional section documenting the transportation of Julius' massive archive to the Getty Museum, and finally a little commentary from Julius about post modernism that he basically holds in contempt.
The man himself was to make an appearance, but pulled out last minute. No harm though, he was kind enough to leave 30 or so signed copies of his book, Julius Shulman: Modernism Rediscovered at the LACMA bookstore. As soon as the lights went up after the screening, I quickly ran to the store and snagged a copy. It's a beautiful book, representing the spirit of the 50s and 60s architectural design that pays tribute to the lesser-known yet outstanding contributions to the modern movement. A must have for any fan.
Later that night I was struck with some inspiration.
Amanda thought I was a little crazy, but I staged our living and dinning room area, snapped a couple dozen frames with my D200 using an SB-900 as an off camera flash. I wanted to go for a deep depth of field so I set the aperture to f/16 and held the shutter open for around two seconds. All and all the shot turned out pretty well, no Julius yet, but getting there.
For the last couple weeks I have literally been counting the days to see Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman, a documentary chronicling the monumental photographers career. The film recently won the audience award for best documentary feature at the 2009 Palm Springs Film Festival. It's absolutely amazing, sweet to the core, and funny in its own right (guess you gotta know Julius!). Dustin Hoffman does a fantastic job narrating the film, with great direction from Eric Bricker. The doc roughly follows chronological form from Shulman's family moving to Southern California in the early 20s, his early commissions with architects Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, a generous section devoted to Pierre Koenig's Case Study House #22, his collaboration with Mexican architect Abraham Zabludovsky, to a wonderfully emotional section documenting the transportation of Julius' massive archive to the Getty Museum, and finally a little commentary from Julius about post modernism that he basically holds in contempt.
The man himself was to make an appearance, but pulled out last minute. No harm though, he was kind enough to leave 30 or so signed copies of his book, Julius Shulman: Modernism Rediscovered at the LACMA bookstore. As soon as the lights went up after the screening, I quickly ran to the store and snagged a copy. It's a beautiful book, representing the spirit of the 50s and 60s architectural design that pays tribute to the lesser-known yet outstanding contributions to the modern movement. A must have for any fan.
Later that night I was struck with some inspiration.
Amanda thought I was a little crazy, but I staged our living and dinning room area, snapped a couple dozen frames with my D200 using an SB-900 as an off camera flash. I wanted to go for a deep depth of field so I set the aperture to f/16 and held the shutter open for around two seconds. All and all the shot turned out pretty well, no Julius yet, but getting there.
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