Breakfast companions of the day

My breakfast plate about ten seconds after I got up and started to walk away.

We're in the Riviera Maya where the locals call these little guys, "qwate", that's the phonetic spelling. I looked them up and couldn't find anything. They look like a cross between a Raccoon and a Lemur and they're highly skilled at begging.


Guess I'll have to get a bigger plate tomorrow.

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas last month. High up on the cliffs leaning over the bridge which connected the "upper" resort to the "lower" resort down at the beach. Not bad for a guy with vertigo.

I pulled out the old trusty Mamiya 645 for this one and decided on a Phase One P25 back. While I also have the larger, P45+, I thought that  22 megapixels was enough for this.

The first time I worked in Cabo was about 25 years ago and there were about 5 or 6 hotels. A lot has changed since then. According to the local map there are 50 resorts along the shore from Lands End to the airport. That's a lot of beds.

This was the first time I've ever been dinged for having too many cameras and I had to donate $80 to the Mexican government for ]import duties. Not bad, I guess and Customs were polite and apologetic. Everyone's got a job to do, no hard feelings from me.

In between allowing time for security, the flight time and the time difference, I had been travelling for 12 hours by the time I went to get my rental car. A less than speedy hour later I was on my way, in the middle of the night, down the dark highway that snaked through the desert into San Jose. I could hardly keep my eyes open I was so tired and was relieved to see a lighted toll booth ahead to break the monotony.

When I pulled up to the attendant and rolled down the window I could see and smell smoke coming from the rear of the car. "Is your parking break on?" he asked. Oops. Thirty pesos toll and take the first right to Cabo, along the shore road.

Now it was all fast moving traffic as I wizzed by endless franchises and new buildings into Cabo. It was amazing how peppier the car was with the parking break off. [wince]. Once in the old section of town I, of course, took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the cliffs. I was staring at the Pacific and wanted to be on the bay side facing the Sea of Cortez. From my high vantage point I could see where I wanted to go, right by the Navy Docks at the marina. But I was facing the wrong way at a one way street. To hell with it and I took a chance, hoping I wouldn't meet anyone on the narrow road or see the Police. I was already practising my "I'm just a lost tourist, I'm sorry" speech when the road ended and there I was at the marina. I turned right and I was at Lands End, the very bottom of Baja California.

I pulled into the hotel and finding I was the first to arrive I gratefully was ushered to my room quickly and flopped. I woke at 3 a.m., fully dressed, laying in bed with all of the room lights on and my iPhone clutched in my hand.

The balcony doors were wide open and the cool desert breeze was wafting the curtains backwards and forwards. Sunrise was in three hours and I needed to be ready. Ugh!

Getty Images

For all those who think that you can make a living in Stock Photography these days. Read it and weep.



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Sign of the Times

As a frustrated, and currently inactive writer, I often lament the passing of long-form journalism and use it as my excuse for inactivity.

Then, out of the blue, the "Old Grey Lady" publishes an astonishing piece online that not only revives the form, but redefines it for modern times by including video and stills, in addition to brilliant writing. Could this be the future? I sure hope so.

The piece is about an avalanche - I won't say more because you should read and view it for yourself.

http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

I can't say I read this piece because it is more than that, it is to be experienced. Experience it I did and felt my pulse quicken in awe and with glee.

To paraphrase Dirty Harry, " go ahead, make your day."

You're kidding, right?

Today I received a voice mail from a well known supplier of marketing services to the photo industry.

They have a special promotion on right now "and I'd like to tell you about it". I know of this promotion because I have received two emails about it already. Actually, it didn't sound half bad and I was actually contemplating using this service at such an affordable price. Even at full price I was thinking about them because I just hate doing this.

I know, I know, it has to be done because even the best photographer in the world needs to more than just spread the word through their work. Having someone do it for me removes the cringe factor I would feel inside when doing this "necessary" task. It's not that I look down on this activity, but it's just not me.

Hence the notion of someone doing it for me.

Then I received this voice mail. The people who want to undertake my marketing have Courtney the Valley Girl doing their marketing.

Enough said.

Appointment Notice

I'd be remiss if I didn't introduce the newest member of the team. This is Frances, First Assistant extraordinaire.

Frances is adept with many camera systems, lighting techniques and is a Photoshop wiz. Her production capabilities are not short of logistical genius.

Now, if only she could stop yawning and stay awake long enough to make coffee and answer the phone.

Riviera Maya Resort

Back in the saddle again just south of Cancun. After numerous jobs in the desert this year it feels good to be back in such familiar surroundings.

I'm trying out the Cambo Technical camera with a Phase One back for this and after a bit of fiddling I'm getting the hang of it. This was with a Schneider 35 XL lens and it's lovely.Such rich rendering from the Phase back and the Schneider.

The cruise ship passing by on the horizon was just a lucky beak for this shot, taken from the roof of an adjacent building.

The original processing was in Capture One for the heavy lifting and then with adjustments from Lightroom, and then finally in Photoshop. A lot of work, but worth it I think.

The Cambo forces a very different way of working which I found a bit tedious at first, but you get used to the slow and methodical pace after a while.The results are sure worth it.