The Robert Kochis Trio

The Robert Kochis Trio, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's The Robert Kochis Trio. I'm one of the three, but I was the one taking the pictures, so Junior Barnes filled in so as not to confuse anyone about the number three.

The one in the middle is Junior Barnes--he's moving up through the ranks. Once a bratty son (of Robert), Junior Barnes is now an accomplished drummer, percussionist, and sound engineer (and still obnoxious son). Now we just need to figure out why we call him Junior Barnes. That's not his name.

On the left is the nefarious Mark Gusek. He's a killer drummer. Besides driving The Robert Kochis Trio, he is a freak jazz drummer. Really good. He plays with Julie Day, who is also an amazing jazzer, and The Carnevel Kings.

And last, but least, is Robert Kochis, on stage right. He started the record label New Light Records, and has a Christmas album that's set to come out around Christmas (he's a marketing god). He rocks the microphone, and rocks the suburbs.

And I took the photo. If you look carefully, you can see me in Robert's sunglasses reflection (maybe).

We rock. Hard(ly).

Day 272

risk of inhalation

risk of inhalation, originally uploaded by billaday.

In real life, you use an inhaler twice. In the movies, however, they only use it once. What's that about? Do the characters just need a quick puff of albuterol? Come on. For all you screenwriters out there, make them take two puffs... talk about something scary, take a puff, then say something funny and/or brave.

Day 271

an apple divided

an apple divided, originally uploaded by billaday.

I can't remember the last time I used one of these apple slicers (until today (obviously)). In class, we counted how many seeds were inside the apple core. Then, of course, everyone ate their apple. This is quite different from teaching other grades (non-kindergarten). Good times, good photos.

Day 270

an insect silhouette

an insect silhouette, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've found that my knowledge of creatures equals that of a second grader. (I guess it's good that I've only taught second grade and kinder.) I know that this photo has an insect in it. But that's where my wealth of knowledge ends. It has 3 body parts, six legs, 2 antennae, and is sort of colorful. I would expect the same answer from an 8 year old. My picture is better, though.

Day 269

under a napkin hiding

under a napkin hiding, originally uploaded by billaday.

We played the hiding game that kids love. It goes something like this:

Everet "hides" under a dirty napkin.
I say, "Where did Everet go.....??"
He rips the napkin off his head, and giggles for hours.

And by the way, since when do 2 1/2 year olds actually USE a napkin? I have 30 year old friends who haven't grasped that concept.

fyi, this is a slow sync shot. The flash fires, and the shutter stays open for a while (one second here). It adds motion, and ideally, a sense of excitement.

Day 268

elephant trunk

elephant trunk, originally uploaded by billaday.

Maybe it's that I now teach kindergarten, maybe it's that I'm a dork. Either way, this drain thing looks like an elephant, raising its trunk. Oh yeah, this looks way cool big and on black. I like the DoF.

Day 267

stone stout

stone stout, originally uploaded by billaday.

Stone Brew just released the Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. I liked it.

"...the aroma is dominated by roast malt and cocoa. Upon tasting, the cocoa (we used unsweetened, unprocessed cacao sourced through our friends at Chuao Chocolatier) really comes through with a deep chocolate flavor and a long lasting bitter finish. The roasted grains used add coffee and licorice accents. It is a thick beer, but not sweet, with the addition of oatmeal in the mash providing a rich, silky mouthfeel that adds to the creamy texture.”

Yum.

Day 266

tunnel

tunnel, originally uploaded by billaday.

Drive on through the new tunnel. Just kidding. It's a plastic cup. Sorry. That was a lame joke.

Day 265

happy birthday

happy birthday, originally uploaded by billaday.

Landon turned one. He was having a great time playing with his bottled water (one of his favorites I hear) when he dropped it. This is the face of a boy who did not want his water on the floor.

Day 264

Beam me up

Beam me up, originally uploaded by billaday.

UFOs almost attacked me today. Fortunately, I escaped their beams.

Day 263

three napkins

three napkins, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here are three napkins.

Often, I have an idea of what my photo-a-day will be. On this day, we had plans to see Joshua Radin at the House of Blues. My sister Annie hooked us up with a meet & greet with Josh. Unfortunately, the security guy wouldn't allow my camera inside. Fortunately, I had taken this one photo earlier, or else my photo-a-day project would have disastrously ended. Yay napkins!

Day 262

Airwolf Twilight

Airwolf Twilight, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've taken many helicopter shots, and most all of them are really lame. In real life, helicopters are cool. On film, they aren't as cool. They don't make noise and move around anymore.

This is the first helicopter shot I like. I caught this one just as it ducked behind a nearby tree. There is just enough motion in the blades. Of course, yesterday's photo-a-day is also a silhouette, but you can't win 'em all.

Day 261

escape

escape, originally uploaded by billaday.

No, I'm not in prison. Strangely enough, this is outside of Lakeshore Learning Materials (it's a teacher store). Apparently, they really want to keep people out. If I had a retail store, I would try to get people in.

Day 260

Fender Deville

Fender Deville, originally uploaded by billaday.

I really like my guitar amp. It's the Hot Rod DeVille™ 410. It has four 10-inch speakers, so the tone is nice and punchy.

I used my external flash, the Nikon SB600, resting on the amp aiming at the right of the guitar cable. I like the blurry knobs in the background.

On a side note, and probably boring note, you can see the red tape on the guitar cable. I used to put red tape or red marker on all my guitar stuff. Yeah, definitely boring ending.

Day 259

crash

crash, originally uploaded by billaday.

When you're a good drummer, it's hard to not look cool.

Day 258

gaps

gaps, originally uploaded by billaday.

"I've got an oscillating fan at my house. The fan goes back and forth. It looks like the fan is saying 'No'. So I like to ask it questions that a fan would say no to. Do you keep my hair in place? Do you keep my documents in order? Do you have three settings? Liar!"
-Mitch Hedberg

Day 257

Bill the Great

Bill the Great, originally uploaded by billaday.

I ordered a drink from the Barnes &Noble Café. Since my wife works at B&N, I know most of her colleagues. Shelly took my order and gave me this cup. She obviously knows what's up.

Day 256

Bookworm

Bookworm, originally uploaded by billaday.

We sat down to watch The Departed on blu-ray, a very exciting thing for me. Sure enough, in the middle, the wife picks up a book and starts reading it. I thought it was fairly ridiculous, so I took a picture of it. Ironically, I, too, was not paying attention to the movie at that point.

Day 255

this little piggy...

this little piggy..., originally uploaded by billaday.

Being the cool uncle, I get to take the kids outside without shoes. His mom wasn't so happy about it, but I got this really good shot of Everet hanging out on the chair with a shallow depth of field (so his toes are more prominent (or something)).

Day 254

up town

up town, originally uploaded by billaday.

The beaten path in Pasadena treated me well with this shot. For years, I would only walk down (and photograph) Colorado Blvd. Just one mile in any direction has led to some cool shots.

Day 253

Double T

Double T, originally uploaded by billaday.

We had a bottle of Double T wine from Trifethen Winery tonight, acquired from our trip up the coast. It's a red blend--that means that it tastes good, apparently.

Day 252

a change in the winds

Showerhead, originally uploaded by billaday.

A friend commented a while back about my choice of subject for my photo-a-day project. He always knows when I have something new because I take a picture of it for my photo-a-day. I suppose that's true--I capture change. Change can be something new (like this not-so-brand-new shower head), it can be a change in elevation (a mountain), a change in age (someone's birthday). To me, that's what photography is about. Obvious or otherwise.

Day 251

old found camera

old found camera, originally uploaded by billaday.

I finally retired my old Canon SD800 this summer and picked up the (almost identical, but cleaner) Canon SD870. The screen is bigger, there is no dirt inside the camera, and the body isn't falling apart.

This photo is of neither.

This is actually Isabelle's old camera, the Canon SD1000. She "lost" it, and we bought a new one (SD1100). I dropped a guitar pick into the couch, reached down, and found this camera. It's a recliner couch, so it actually fell to the ground under the recliner part. I never did find that guitar pick...

Day 250

the drive home

the drive home, originally uploaded by billaday.

After six days up the coast, we're back. The 5 is way more desolate, hot, and ugly than Highway One. It was also 7 hours faster. Now, for the recap:

We started our trip on Highway One in Santa Monica and passed through Malibu on our way for a snack in Solvang.

We stayed over in Morro Bay, ate in San Luis Obispo, and went to Hearst Castle.

The drive up the 1 from San Simeon to Monterey was gorgeous.

In Monterey, we visited the the aquarium and relaxed. The view from our hotel room was amazing.

After that, we headed up to Half Moon Bay for the night.

Our last stop was wine tasting in Napa.

If you haven't been there, go now and look at the map of where these shots were taken. It's really cool.

Day 249

the vintner

the vintner, originally uploaded by billaday.

My favorite winery we visited in Napa (by far) was Heitz Winery. They have a really good cab and a killer port. Keep in mind, I'm not a wine guy. But these were really, really good. And they have free tastings. So do yourself a favor, and go find a glass. Oh yeah, this is their logo,etched in wood.

Day 248

barrels

barrels, originally uploaded by billaday.

Our first stop in Napa (after check-in) was Trefethen Vineyards. We got there 10 minutes before wine tasting closed, and got lucky. The lady was really nice and gave us many pours, as they say. We bought the Double T, named after the way the branches look. Anyway, it is really good. After tasting, we walked around. Here's a bunch of wine in barrels.

Day 247

Cannery Row

Cannery Row, originally uploaded by billaday.

This was the view from our hotel room at the Monterey Bay Plaza Hotel. We could hear the waves hitting the wall of our room. It was amazing.

These are the old canneries that have been abandoned. Before traveling here, I read Steinbeck's Cannery Row. I must say, it was a fantastic book, and it made the city of Monterey and Highway One much more fascinating.

Day 246

jelly

jelly, originally uploaded by billaday.

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and saw lots of jellyfish. Turns out, they're hard to photograph: it's dark, they move sorta fast, and they're behind glass (so a flash doesn't work). So after many blurry shots, this is the best one of a single jellyfish. Woo hoo.

Day 245

Highway One

Highway One, originally uploaded by billaday.

The best part about driving along Highway One is the view. I stopped the car several times between San Simeon (Hearst Castle) and Monterey. This leg of the trip was the coolest view we had, and this shot was the coolest shot of the day. It seems a bit cliché, but the lighting was rockin' and the angle was rockin', so here you have it. This photo encompasses what I thought the trip up Highway One was going to be.

Day 244

Let the road trip begin

Let the road trip begin, originally uploaded by billaday.

It's time for vacation. Here's the run-down: we're in Malibu here, on our way up Highway One to San Luis Obispo, Hearst Castle, Monterey, Half Moon Bay, and Napa. I snapped this shot without Isabelle knowing--it appears my paparazzi skills are (sadly) developing.

Day 243

jewelry district

jewelry district, originally uploaded by billaday.

We went into downtown Los Angeles to visit the Jewelry District. Even though I didn't walk around and snap any photos, there were plenty of red lights and traffic. That meant many opportunities to take pictures while I was stuck at intersections. See, there is an upside to traffic.

Day 242

retired train station

retired train station, originally uploaded by billaday.

I found this old building just south of the freeway in Monrovia. It was right next to some old train tracks, so I think it used to be an old train station.

Day 241

she can swim

she can swim, originally uploaded by billaday.

Dude. Geneva is just over one year old, and she can already hold her breath and go underwater. I was shocked! Little kids are supposed to have floaties and kick their feet in the water. I wasn't even sure she'd get her head wet. Sure enough, she loved going underwater. A couple times, she was a little freaked out; I just showed the camera to her, and she was stoked. Dude.

Day 240

channel mixer

channel mixer, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's a Mackie sound board. A mixer, if you will. A channel mixer.

Here's why the title is funny. In Photoshop, I applied two different channel mixers to the photo of channel mixers. You see, in Photoshop, a channel mixer combines different channels (red, green, blue) and you can choose how to combine them.

OK, maybe not funny to all, but if you're a photographer and a sound guy, you should be chuckling to yourself.

Day 239

waterproof case!

waterproof case!, originally uploaded by billaday.

I finally got a waterproof case for my camera: the Canon WP-DC17 Underwater housing. I looked into dSLR housings, but gave up after discovering that they cost $1000. This is roughly 10% of that, so I'm pretty happy. If summer would just keep going, I could keep taking cool pictures underwater. Wednesday should make for some underwater fun...

Day 238

wicker

wicker, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like the weave and the shadows. SImple, yet interesting.

Day 237

city hall by night

city hall by night, originally uploaded by billaday.

I must say, this is one of the coolest places to play a concert at. This is the back side--we played in front for L.A.'s first Relay for Life. Thanks to Wayne for helping me choose today's photo-a-day... I had lots to choose from.

Day 236

climb.

climb., originally uploaded by billaday.

Alas, the final day of my brief San Diego trip. I've had lots of time to myself between visiting friends, and this shot reminds me of those times. I arrived three hours early to my friend's house, and spend most of the time in this building, sorting through my zoo photos. I threw away 400 shots, and am now down to 130. I suppose this would be a good time to talk about the philosophic notions this photo holds (climbing the ladder of _____), but I won't.

Day 235

Handout

Handout, originally uploaded by billaday.

I went to the San Diego Zoo today while waiting to hang out with my friend Ryan. This chimp saw a churro, ran over, and firmly put her hand out.

Day 234

carve

carve, originally uploaded by billaday.

I went in the ocean with Brent and my underwater camera housing. It was a blast... way more fun the surfing (badly). This is Brent's favorite secret spot, south of San Clemente. The cliffs in the background are pretty cool.

Day 233

earthquake damage

earthquake damage, originally uploaded by billaday.

There was a 5.8 earthquake, and I was at home to feel it. Even though I was just 8 miles from the epicenter, it didn't feel too big. Friends in high rise buildings in downtown L.A. and San Diego said it was strong. I was on the phone with a friend, casually walked to the front doorway, and kept chatting. After the quake, I moved my guitars off the shelf, and checked for damage. As you can clearly see, our house was hit hard. One picture frame was slightly off center. Whew.

Day 232

after the jump

after the jump, originally uploaded by billaday.

I got a new underwater camera housing. This is my first test with it in my pool. I like the lighting on this shot; the bubbles are right after I jumped in the water.

Day 231

Lid

Lid, originally uploaded by billaday.

There's always an interesting angle to photograph when it comes to my good ol' Nalgene bottle. With the lid off, there's a nice depth of field.

Day 230

Top Gun is the greatest movie ever made

Top Gun is the greatest movie ever made, originally uploaded by billaday.

If Top Gun is the greatest movie ever, why isn't this photo the greatest photo ever? Or is it? Or isn't it?

Day 229

the moth

the moth, originally uploaded by billaday.

The Moth don't care if The Flame is real,
'Cause Flame and Moth got a sweetheart deal.
And nothing fuels a good flirtation,
Like Need and Anger and Desperation...
No, The Moth don't care if The Flame is real.

Day 228

Computer lab

Computer lab, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's my summer school computer lab. We set up three drops for all the cables. It looked pretty sweet.

Day 227

grassy shadows

grassy shadows, originally uploaded by billaday.

A bit of running around to wear out the little ones before dinner. I like the long shadows in this.

Day 226

old hotel

old hotel, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's the outside of our summer school program. It used to be a hotel, and out program rents it out. I like the repetition.

Day 225

this place is swingin'

this place is swingin', originally uploaded by billaday.

Remember the days when being on a swing was awesome? Remember the days when you could still actually swing? Remember the days when you swung anyway? I do.

Day 224

latched

latched, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is the case I put my guitar accessories in. Extra strings, extra stands, extra sheet music, extra cords, extra wire cutter, extra string winder. It all goes here.

Day 223