Suicide Bridge

Suicide Bridge, originally uploaded by billaday.

Wayne and I went photo shooting for his birthday. We ended up at Suicide Bridge in Pasadena (right next to the Rose Bowl.) Apparantly, 150 have jumped off this bridge, landing tragically in the Arroyo Seco River. You can find the whole set of photos here.

And this looks killer on black!

Day 89

zeL A

zeL A, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is the side of some building near Little Tokyo. I had to go to the Japanese American Museum for work, so I put extra money in the meter and walked around downtown. Taking good/interesting photos of the sides of buildings is way harder than I thought it would be.

(If the title isn't funny to you, go look at Zel's photos. This shot reminds me of his work.)

Day 88

ceremony

ceremony, originally uploaded by billaday.

After 2 years of construction, our new library media center had its grand opening at my school. This is the ribbon for the official ceremony. It was a dark red, so I used my flash here. I didn't quite imagine this, but I'm really glad with the result. I read somewhere that every one of your photos is better or worse than you intended. I'm glad this ended up better than I thought it would.

Day 87

My tummmy huhts

My tummmy huhts, originally uploaded by billaday.

One of my best memories of being a kid was when I got to eat endless strawberries. My mom laid out a blanket outside (cuz I was sloppy), and I would eat and eat until I could eat no more. For my finale, I would always end (with a 4 year old's lisp, of course) with, "My tummmy huhts," because I would always eat too many.

Day 86

The Burning Bush, except for the burning part

The Burning Bush, except for the burning part, originally uploaded by billaday.

Pruning plants is a strange thing to me, unless you make a topiary giraffe. This just looks strange and artificial to me. Edward Scissorhands is, of course, exempt.

Day 85

unplugged

unplugged, originally uploaded by billaday.

I think that guitar stuff is still pretty cool. After 450ish photo-a-days and 14 years of guitar, though, I am cautious/worried/aware of taking the same photo. So, here's another part of playing guitar--the cable. Plug it in, rock it out.

Day 84

The Primaries

The Primaries, originally uploaded by billaday.

Obama vs. Hillary vs. McCain vs. Nadar... just kidding about the Ralph Nadar part. I think Newsweek should run with this photo on the cover: Red vs. Blue. Just kidding, sort of. Really, it's just a curb that has political undertones. Yeah.

Day 83

Circle of Trust

Circle of Trust, originally uploaded by billaday.

"But the fact is, Greg, with the knowledge you've been given, you are now on the inside of what I like to call... 'the Byrnes family circle of trust.' I keep nothing from you, you keep nothing from me... and round and round we go." -Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), Meet the Parents

Day 82

Long day at the office

Long day at the office, originally uploaded by billaday.

Sure, your life is tough. But so is the life of a western lowland gorilla. And we've all felt what he's feeling right now.

Day 81

Staircase at the Pantages Theater

Staircase at the Pantages Theater, originally uploaded by billaday.

We saw Wicked at the Pantages Theater. It was super cool. Fortunately, we arrived in Hollywood without hitting much traffic (a rare thing), so I took some shots of the Pantages lobby.

Day 80

554

554, originally uploaded by billaday.

First off, this looks nice on black. Second off, I pass this building every day on my way to work. So I finally pulled over this afternoon and took some shots of it. I originally thought it would look great cropped closely with the blue paint across the photo. But it didn't. I like a wider framing, which is strange, cuz that's not what caught my eye. There's no real point here, I'm just reflecting on my original thoughts and what the final shot was.

Day 79

Support

Support, originally uploaded by billaday.

This ceiling was pretty rocking. I noticed it while we were sound checking... right before we were rocking.

Day 78

the perfect laugh

the perfect laugh, originally uploaded by billaday.

One of my favorite parts of Isabelle is her laugh. I'll never capture that emotion on film, but this is close.

Day 77

Curbed

Curbed, originally uploaded by billaday.

The symmetry caught my eye in the parking lot. It's weird, though, cuz the curb and the stamp aren't symmetrical to each other. I think it's interesting. If you look carefully, there's a lot of blues and greens roaming around here.

Day 76

fall short

fall short, originally uploaded by billaday.

One of my Flickr contacts Urlante di una Gioia Assordante takes amazing shots. Most are very high contrast. I was thinking of that style as this shot developed. btw, her screen name translates from Italian into "Yelling of a Deafening Delight" (I think).

Day 75

Island bar code

Island bar code, originally uploaded by billaday.

We hung out at The Wine Crush in Long Beach for Bill's 30th birthday. This is Island White; we saw it on the way to his birthday party. I liked the colors, but found it strange that there was a brightly lit industrial island. It seems like Long Beach is the antithesis of Hawaii. We had an awesome time at the party.

Day 74

Dried and True

Dried and True, originally uploaded by billaday.

I went to a 4 hour long seminar on assessing students tonight (after 9 hours of teaching, btw). The presenter Dr. Albert Jones was amazing. He got me thinking about guitar and photography a lot. There was one thing that resonated strongly with me:

"There is value in the process."

It's not about the final product, or "why", or if it's good, or better. It's about doing it. So, that means that each photo I take for my photo-a-day is no longer about getting better each and every day. My favorite photo I've taken is 10 months old. It's no longer about why I'm taking the picture. I took 300 shots of an intersection in Whittier simply because I like to. People driving by didn't get that. But now I do.

Day 73

gas lamp district, sort of

gas lamp district, sort of, originally uploaded by billaday.

I was waiting for my car to fill up with gasoline while taking this.

Day 72

Taylor

Taylor, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's my acoustic guitar. There's a hole in the side for the electronics, so I opened it up and aimed my speedlight into it. That's why the light is coming from inside (like a jack-o-lantern). It looks cool big.

Day 71

Drywall truck

Drywall truck, originally uploaded by billaday.

This guy bought a bunch of drywall at Home Depot, but put it all on the right side of the truck. Wood (which is way lighter) was on the right. It looked like the truck was gonna tip over.

Day 70

Knotted

Knotted, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like the perspective in this shot. Maybe I'll go back and spend some time with the sharpness/blur and tones later.

Day 69

Th(read)

Th(read), originally uploaded by billaday.

This looks nice big. It's kinda cool. Isabelle was cross stitching, and I was photographing.

Day 68

Free parking

Free parking, originally uploaded by billaday.

There's a rundown used car dealership I pass every day coming home from work. It used to be a fancy place, but it's lame now. This is part of the used car lot, I think. I like how the car tire is up against the cement block parking thing. Maybe the same driver bent the handicapped sign, too.

Day 67

Chores

Chores, originally uploaded by billaday.

The wife had class on Valentine's Day until 9pm. I did laundry:
A) to impress her.
B) because I was bored.
C) to hold my own weight around the house.
D) both A and C

Day 66

Lime

Lime, originally uploaded by billaday.

Maggie suddenly retired after 22 years of teaching, so we had an informal retirement party at Chevy's... $3 appetizers and $3 drinks. Maggie rocks.

Day 65, (Year 2)

Apple TV is my new best friend (except for my wife, of course)

Apple TV is my new best friend (except for my wife, of course), originally uploaded by billaday.

The Apple TV update finally came. I'm a dork, I know, but I'm really excited. So excited, actually, that I took a picture of my television as it was downloading the update. Artistic, no. Passionate, yes. Turns out, the update rocks. You can view slideshows of Flickr contacts full screen on your HDTV. It's super sexy. You can rent HD movies, too, which rocks. I like it a lot. Get one of your own and begin living.

Day 64

Brea Canyon is finally green

Brea Canyon is finally green, originally uploaded by billaday.

Even though it didn't rain much around here, the hills are suddenly (magically?) super green. I won't complain--it's pretty... whenever the smog isn't blocking the hills.

Day 63

Moon(type)light

Moon(type)light, originally uploaded by billaday.

I ate a tasty hamburger at Red Robin--the A1 Peppercorn Burger. This light was directly above my head. Here's a tip: since they give you bottomless fries at Red Robin, ask for them right away. You get more that way. You're welcome.

Day 62

Wine country

Wine country, originally uploaded by billaday.

We went wine tasting at Stuart Cellars Winery. It was good. This is shot from Stuart Cellars, and it's the road to Mount Palomar Winery. I highly recommend the Guinness Stout. (I don't care much about wine.)

Day 61

sky light

sky light, originally uploaded by billaday.

First off, View On Black.

Secondly, I've been wanting to get back to working on minimal shots. It's so easy to take a lame photo and tell yourself it's modern/minimal/art. I was interesting in capturing the different shadow intensities (dark vs. really dark, etc). I hope I did.

Thirdly, since this was on the roof, all the angles were all different; I decided to make the right edge of the window straight, and let the rest of the lines go elsewhere.

Day 60

the pristine, uncrowded 605 freeway

the pristine, uncrowded 605 freeway, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've always enjoyed driving under this underpass on the 605 North, ever since the good ol' drives home from Bolsa Chica State Beach surf trips.

significant Photoshop notes: I created another layer for the graffiti overpass, and changed the layer blend mode to color dodge. That's why the colors up there pop (more than before, at least).

Day 59

Warrenuci

Warrenuci, originally uploaded by billaday.

We had amazing penne with a secret Italian family sauce from the Warrenuci's. My favorite part of the meal was dipping warm, toasted french bread into the thick, rich secret pasta sauce. So tasty.

Day 58(Year 2, don't forget!)

I Voted

I Voted, originally uploaded by billaday.

Today was the primary elections in America. I voted, and they gave me a sticker so that the world would know that I voted. I walked home and hung up my jacket, so nobody actually so that I voted, so the sticker was pointless... until this photo.

I tweaked it in Photoshop a bit. I blurred and vignetted the edges, and desaturated most of the background.

btw, I'm really glad they didn't jump on the Apple bandwagon and change the stickers to iVoted. That would've been lame.

Day 57

The Bee Song (Reflection)

The Bee Song (Reflection), originally uploaded by billaday.

Reflection, by Rising Decline (my old punk band)
Lyrics by Brent Kelley
Dedicated to Brent, and his new EP (available on iTunes (and engineered by me)).

Sitting below, I look to the right.
The bee grows tired, but continues to fight.
Held captive by the glass, in a room against his will.
The struggle goes on.

He longs to understand, to recognize,
To see the world through different eyes.
But try though he may, the freedom that he needs
Is just beyond his reach.

I think that maybe
You'd see me standing there
In a picture drawn to scale.
Unknown, I'm smiling as I fail, I fit in;
Concealing what's inside.

Feeling confused, he's feeling denied
with nothing to show for what he's tried.
With one ounce of strength, he clutches to the glass
and falls to the floor.

And that's where he'll stay,
his wings laying still,
until he awakes and regains his will.
His hopes alive again, he looks up above
And strives towards his goal.

I think that maybe
You'd see me standing there
In a picture drawn to scale.
Unknown, I'm smiling as I fail, I fit in;
Concealing what's inside.


Day 56

Super (veggie) Bowl

Super (veggie) Bowl, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've been playing guitar on Sunday nights for the past 11 years. Robert (our music boss guy) gave us the night off. So this was my first Super Bowl Party as an adult. There was a lot of tasty food to eat. Thanks Vito and Cathy. And thanks New York Giants.

Day 55

Hangin' at the playground

Hangin' at the playground, originally uploaded by billaday.

I was Super Uncle today. My wife is in Portland with her friend Natalie, so I spent today hanging out Natalie's kids and husband. We did a fantastic job--the kids are smarter, and were not injured.

Day 54

avoiding the crowd

avoiding the crowd, originally uploaded by billaday.

My buddy Tyler and I hung out around the Grand Californian Hotel before heading into Disneyland. They have sweet, uncrowded places to hang like this patio/porch/fireplace with killer views. btw, that's California Adventure.

Day 53

Zip it!

Zip it!, originally uploaded by billaday.

It was really cold this morning for me. My car said it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr. Later, it warmed up to 70.

This shot's dedicated to my Uncle Brent and his family. They live in much colder weather in Washington, and they all take super cool photos of super cold stuff.

Day 52

Edge of the world

Edge of the world, originally uploaded by billaday.

Apparently, I was just a few feet away from driving off the edge of the earth. Columbus was right. So watch out the next time you pass through West Covina. I don't think I'll go back now.

Day 51

High key post

High key post, originally uploaded by billaday.

Read the fine print:
WARNING
Maximum penalty for theft or misuse
or postal property $1,000 fine and 3
years of imprisonment.

Yes, we have a law that you can go to jail for 3 years for misusing this. Yeah.

Day 50

A plethora of frogs

A plethora of frogs, originally uploaded by billaday.

On Monday mornings, we pick new jobs in my classroom. While 20 second graders were busy thinking about whether to be door holder or backpack monitor, I noticed four frogs perfectly lined up in my hand. I snapped a super quick shot.

Day 49

Fade in

Fade in, originally uploaded by billaday.

I usually play bass at the 9:30 mass, but I realized at 9:28 that nobody was doing sound. Turns out, Robert (the music boss man) left a message for me letting me know that Anthony was snowboarding in Mammoth and not running sound. My bad.

Now for the great news. I got this cool shot (added some grain), and the mix was pretty good.

Day 48

a wet, rocky median

a wet, rocky median, originally uploaded by billaday.

I snapped this quick shot at a stop light. I like the atmosphere, so I made this the photo-a-day. I finessed this one second exposure in Photoshop, adding selective lighting, sharpening, vignetting, and blurring. It's not perfect, but it has the feel I was going for.

Day 47

X marks the strike

X marks the strike, originally uploaded by billaday.

At The Block in Orange, again with my buddy Brent. I've still never bowled here, but the building just looks so cool at night (and dusk, too).

I spent a while subtly bringing out the column detail above the X, but I think it's took subtle. I guess we'll see. Either way, this is the first photo in a while I've been stoked to edit. When you take one picture every day, inspiration isn't always there. Today it was (in the post processing).

Day 46

Hello TiVo guy

Hello TiVo guy, originally uploaded by billaday.

TiVo is wonderful. Go get one. And don't get some junky-cable-company-wannabe-DVR, you have to get TiVo. It's like saying you have a MacBook when you have an offbrand (dell, Fisher Price) laptop. Don't do it. But do get a TiVo. Now. Go. Oh yeah... I like the depth of field in this shot. Fancy/dorky photographers just write DoF, fyi.

Day 45

Looking through the wine glass

Looking through the wine glass, originally uploaded by billaday.

The upside down reflections in the wine caught my eye. As is often the case with me, I took many shots, and chose the first one.

I'm working through some video tutorials in Photoshop, to try to keep up/improve my Photoshop chops. I picked out the blues and the wine, threw those on separate layers (selective color), then used the channel mixer to convert the photo to black and white. Finally, I added a lens blur mask to (fake) widen the aperture. Yeah.

btw, here's the same kitchen, different glass.

Dedicated to distantblue. He left a comment before I could even add a description, and always has great insight. So check out his stuff.

Day 44

This is my 8 year old bass case

This is my 8 year old bass case, originally uploaded by billaday.

I started putting stickers on this case 8 years ago now. Most are falling off now, but I don't feel punk rock enough to go out, get more stickers, and cover up the case again. At one point, I had played with (or recorded (or been in)) every band on this case.

Day 43

Moonday

Moonday, originally uploaded by billaday.

In America, we named Monday after the moon. We also named this stuff after Monday (please use the accent of Bubba from Forrest Gump):
Black Monday
Blue Monday
Clean Monday
Ash Monday
Cyber Monday
Easter Monday
First Monday
Handsel Monday
Miracle Monday
Plough Monday
Wet Monday
Whit Monday
Big Monday
Weather Market Monday
Monday Club
Monday demonstrations
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Wars
Monday Night Raw

Day 42

tetanus

tetanus, originally uploaded by billaday.

Don't let this lamppost cut you. You could die, or need to get a painful shot. btw, this screw is part of the same post. Maybe I should stop parking under this lamp every Sunday.

Day 41

a plane wall

a plane wall, originally uploaded by billaday.

I didn't mean to trick anybody with the thumbnail. This is painted on the wall, but the propellor is real/3D. This is officially the coolest alley I've found in life (so far). Check out the downtown Monrovia set here.

Day 40