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East Bali Poverty Project: Field Notes

The February 1963 to January 1964 eruption of Gunung Agung, Indonesia’s largest and most devastating eruption of the twentieth century, was a multi-phase explosive and effusive event that produced both basaltic andesite tephra and andesite lava. A rather unusual eruption sequence with an early lava flow followed by two explosive phases. (Research Gate) Imagine living in a jungle on the slopes of a massive mountain. Your village is composed of several small huts nestled within densely vegetated terrain. Life flows in the tempo of your mountain culture, and is different from that of the people who live far below you,

Production Field Notes: Bali 2016

It has been a little over year since I began using the Samsung NX1 system for the bulk of my imaging projects in motion and in stills. The inexpensive little camera which Samsung has apparently discontinued, resides in triplicate in my camera kit. It continues to surprise me with it’s dynamic range and versatility while here on Bali. It is without a doubt the single most versatile and bullet proof little camera I have used, especially since I collect time lapse sequences in full 27 MP raw file format at up to 3000 frames per day average while shooting on

Of Men and Wisteria

A few of us were to get together at Art maven Joe Cardella’s home this weekend. Many have been through the mill as it were, in recent months, so Joe invited the lot of a group of artists and critical thinkers over for a pleasant Sunday afternoon, under the great awning of Wisteria which are in bloom here right now, in Ventura California. I would be away shooting on location, so scooted by to get a photo of the flowers and dose of time with an inspiring friend. Today started in unique fashion. My friend and former editor Drew Kampion

GMAC

Garrett MacNamara and I have been perpetually bumping into each other for over a decade now. He and I for many years, just seemed to always be in the same place and time to see the ocean and weather coincide to produce some remarkable moments. He surfed. I shot. AFterwards we both laughed. “Wow, you were there”. We finally exchanged phone numbers a few years back. I will not say that having the digits made things any easier to connect, but it sure makes for an extra few moments to share our very unique lives together. I doubt that

Non Artistic Interpretation

It was only a year or two ago, when I realized that I am an “artist”. At a very young age I painted. My Father and Uncle were both painters. So as any child would, I simply took for granted that painting and drawing were normal endeavors. At 12 I had learned Photography and studied Philosophy. It was what was going on around me, and being inquisitive, I learned. So does a bird realize it is a bird? Of course, flying would not be so special to him. But to someone without wings, oh to soar! I had a request

Interpreting

A lot of subjects pass my way. Whether I am examining and experiencing those as a Journalist, Photographer or Film Maker, one of the primary goals is to properly interpret the subject into the context I choose for the final communication of the work. This shoot was at the behest of my friend Peter Ganibi, who took me down to Los Alamitos, a horse track he has become quite familiar with, in his work as a horse trainer over the years. One of the jockeys had died the week prior, and a memorial was slated. Racing is a culture unto

Small Town, Big World

I get a global look at things through my photography business, which has web strands anchored to many countries. I see something first hand, that many do not have the personal luxury of acquiring: a broad economic and cultural perspective. This country is in the single greatest period of change and challenge since the Great Depression. So what to do, as assets dwindle and fiscal potential narrows? For the answer, look to the past. About a year ago, a group of people met in my little town. There were a series of meetings actually. No official city committee was involved.

Song of the Chumash

We just finished the Ventura Artwalk 2010, in my little town. The entire Downtown of Ventura California was turned into a living canvas for forty eight hours. The event was a benchmark of sorts. benchmark |ˈben ch ˌmärk| noun 1 a standard or point of reference against which things may be compared or assessed : [as adj. ] a benchmark case. 2 a surveyor’s mark cut in a wall, pillar, or building and used as a reference point in measuring altitudes. How did this happen? Not overnight. It was the result of seed sowing by a huge number of artists,

Cameraless

I was cameraless this week. It was great. Sort of. Okay, maybe not completely cameraless. I still had four 35mm stills film bodies, three mini DV cameras, and five high speed film motion cameras, all sitting on the shelf, along with the water housings for those. But I loaned my Canon 5DM2 system out and sold my Rebel T1i, in preparation for buying the new RebelT2i. (Wow, that Rebel was so new it had only seen 3000 frames before the new one was released.) Canon (along with Apple) has been blowing my mind the past few years. We spoke, they

Earth Angel

angel |ˈānjəl| noun 1. a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God. “So let the Earth give testimony.” I was raised in Santa Barbara. Most of my earliest and therefore strongest influences, were based on my native Hawaiian Culture’s perception of man’s place in the world, and the catch all of SB culture’s budding eco consciousness, and the science based tenets of our University and College. But one of the most basic of principals, and something upon which my work is founded, came not from my social and cultural mores, it actually was planted

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