Category: “east bay express”

Grab Bag

Oh man, I’ve been shooting a ton of stuff lately so I’m just gonna get it all out in one post. Here are a bunch of my recent photos from stories about:

This week’s East Bay Express cover story is about gay senior citizens and the unique challenges facing homosexuals in nursing homes. Here is a link to the story. My favorite photo (above) didn’t make it into the final layout.

I’m happy to announce that the editors of the Express recently decided to make me their staff photographer. So if you live in the East Bay, you’ll now be able to see my photos in print every Wednesday. I love doing this kind of editorial photography and look forward to shooting all the feature stories for the Express from now on.

The Insider’s Guide to the Insider’s Guide to the East Bay

I photographed all the stories in this year’s Insider’s Guide to the East Bay. I took pictures at about 20 different places for this issue, and in the end there were way more photos than they actually had room to print, which is a shame because there were some fun ones that didn’t make the cut, like Manifesto Bicycles and Nathan & Company.

All the people in these pictures were awesome to work with, and it was amazing see all the cool things that are going on in the East Bay. I feel so lucky to live in a town with so much going on and with so many great people in it.

I love being able to give some love to my friend’s local businesses like Pretty Penny, Bar 355, and 1234 Go! Records. But I also got to check out some new places that I’d never seen before like:

The Alameda Antique Fair – I had no idea how big this thing was! It’s a little overwhelming. Cool old stuff as far as the eye can see.
The Compound Gallery – More than just a gallery, they have open studios all the time, and some really cool stuff including Art in a Box World Headquarters which looks like something out of Dr. Strange-love.
Golden State Railroad Museum – They’re closed until April to work on the models, but even with all the trains turned off, it was pretty impressive. I definitely plan to go back when they’re actually open.

Here are some of my favorites and some extra shots that didn’t make it into the paper:

: The Sourmash Hug Band performs at Oakland Art Murmer.

: Luke Heimbigner and Lindsay Ryder watch a short film on the Great Wall of Oakland

: Jon Sarriugarte with “The Golden Mean”, an art car he created with his wife Krysten Mate.

: Marissa Dominguez and Andy Wood at the Alameda Antique Faire.

: Elayne Lieberman operates stall Q19 at the Alameda Antiques Faire.

: Elayne Lieberman operates stall Q19 at the Alameda Antiques Faire.

: Steve Steveson, owner of 1234 Go! Records in Oakland.

: Steve Steveson, owner of 1234 Go! Records in Oakland.

: Bryan Westendorf and Griffin at Homesteader in Oakland.

: Bryan Westendorf, Owner of Homesteader in Oakland.

: Ice cream sandwiches at Ici in Oakland.

: Ice cream at Ici in Oakland.

: Co-owner Mattea Soreng at Ici in Oakland.

: Stuffed grape leaves at Holy Land Restaurant in Oakland.

: Mint Lemonade at Holy Land Restaurant in Oakland.

: Miri Levy, owner of Holy Land Restaurant in Oakland.

: Sarah Dunbar St. Mary, Owner of The Pretty Penny in Oakland.

: Sarah Dunbar St. Mary, Owner of The Pretty Penny in Oakland.

: Katy Wafle, Co-owner of Local 123 in Berkeley.

: Althea Wasow reads at Local 123 Cafe in Berkeley.

: Matt Reynoso and Lena Verderano Reynoso, co-owners of The Compound Gallery inside Art in a Box World Headquarters.

: Tallulah Terryll at Compount Gallery.

: Tarik Kazaleh bartends at The Layover in Oakland.

: Young M Tran chops fresh herbs at Gather Restaurant in Berkeley.

: Chef Sean Baker and Line Cook Young M Tran at Gather Restaurant in Berkeley.

: Winter Vegetables at Gather Restaurant in Berkeley.

: Tamearra Dyson, owner of Souley Vegan in Oakland.

: Travis Dutton and Patrick Lynch co-owners of Bar 355 in Oakland.

: Travis Dutton, co-owner of Bar 355 in Oakland.

: Alison Barakat, owner of Bakesale Betty in Oakland.

: Sam Cunning, co-owner of Manifesto Bicycles at Mosswood park in Oakland.

: O Scale Trainmaster Jeff Rowe inside one of the layouts at the Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Point Richmond.

: Bob Brown underneath the tracks at the Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Point Richmond.

: Nathan and Company

: Nathan and Company

: Hanjiro Ambrose makes a drink at Adesso in Oakland.

: A Gran Classico Cooler at Adesso in Oakland.

: Bartender Vianka Duverglas at Disco Volante in Oakland.

: Jenny Lucero Rivera (Yeni) is a dance instructor at Flying Yoga in Oakland.

: Jenny Lucero Rivera (Yeni) is a dance instructor at Flying Yoga in Oakland.

: Valentino at La Torta Loca in Fruitvale.

: Lorenzo Pelayo at El Novillo Taco Truck in Fruitvale.

EBX – Special Issue – Bars, Clubs, and Coffee Houses

I did most of the photography for this week’s East Bay Express special feature on bars, clubs, and coffee houses. It sounded like a fun assignment (and it was) but it turns out taking pictures in bars is really, really tough. Bars are crowded, suuuuuuuper dark, and usually full of people who don’t want their pictures taken. Fortunately, I know a few people who like to have a drink every now and then, and aren’t shy in front of the camera.

I’m so grateful to everyone who went out on the town with me and got photographed, especially Annie (for letting me crash her birthday with my camera) and Isaac and Steph (who super-modeled for the cover photo). Also, big thanks to Travis and Patrick at ThreeFiftyFive and Sasha at Thalassa for letting me blind their customers with strobes and generally disrupt their whole scene.

Kayla Stra for East Bay Express

Back in June I got a call from the East Bay Express to take some pictures for a feature about an Australian jockey named Kayla Stra. The article just ran this week, but at the time she was racing at the Alameda County Fair. I was given the number for some PR person with the company that manages the races there. I called to set up the shoot, we made an appointment for July 2nd, and everything seemed fine.

When I showed up at the paddock with all my photo equipment, I discovered that nobody had bothered to tell Ms. Stra that she had a photo shoot that day. She was (understandably) annoyed, and basically refused to pose for any photos. She said something like, “You can take pictures if you like, but I’m going to ignore you.”

So I did take pictures, and she did ignore me. Which would have been fine except that the editor needed a portrait as well as some racing action shots. I hung around and shot the races. Kayla was in four races that day and she lost every single one, so she was not in a great mood after the last race. But after a lot of pleading and begging, she finally agreed to pose for one photo in the paddock with a horse. She stood there for about 30 seconds (just long enough to get the frame above) before declaring, “We’re done.” and heading for the locker room.

I had been excited about this assignment, I showed up with a ton of lighting equipment and dreams of crafting the most epic sports portrait ever. I ended up doing a totally unplanned, off the cuff portrait using only available light. But I think it works. I suppose it could have been worse, at least I got to leave the fair before the swarm of angry bees attacked.

East Bay Express: A Father’s Quest

I shot another cover story for the this week’s East Bay Express. This one is about as uplifting as the the last story I worked on. The article is well done and makes a strong case for family court reform in general, and specifically that this guy should get full custody of his son.

When I went to take pictures of Arianas and Tyberius, I was struck by how much this guy loves spending time with his kid. It was heartbreaking to see how much they enjoy hanging out together, and then to realize that they’re only together for 48 hours of every week. The rest of the time, he remains in the care of his mother (who has been arrested several times for prostitution) and her gun toting boyfriend.

Best of the East Bay Party 2009

I did some more event photography for the East Bay Express this weekend. This time it was the annual Best of the East Bay Party at the Oakland Museum. The party was crazy – 20,000 attendees, 13 bands on the main stage, live wrestling, food, art, shopping, etc. Here are some of my favorite shots from the party:

Outtakes – "What’s Killing East Bay Soul Food Restaurants?"

I did some editorial photography for this week’s East Bay Express cover story. It’s kind of a depressing story, and it’s difficult to take photographs to illustrate something that isn’t there, like a restaurant that no longer exists, but I did my best with it and I like to think the photos help to tell the story.

Here are some more photos I shot for this story:

Best of the East Bay 2009 – Bands Photoshoot

Last Saturday I did a shoot for the East Bay Express with the bands that will be playing on the main stage at the Best of the East Bay 2009 Party. All 13 bands:

Souls of Mischief
Goapele
Fracas
Superfinos VTO
Mystic Rage
Maldroid
CU Next Weekend
7th Street Band
The Thrill of it All
Dizzy Balloon
The Heavenly States
Swann Danger
Social Unrest

The idea was to do a double-truck layout that would look sort of like one of those Rolling Stone Magazine covers where they take a bunch of separate photos of famous people against a white seamless background and then combine the images in Photoshop so it looks like they’re all part of the same photo, but with the twist that the band members would be all mixed up, so you’ve got hip-hop dudes posing with metal dudes, R&B singers next to punks, etc. It’s a very eclectic lineup, so there are some pretty amazing combinations of people that you wouldn’t expect to see together.

I was a little nervous about this job since there were so many people to shoot and I don’t normally do a lot of composite work, so I wasn’t sure how it was all going to come together. It actually went really smoothly. Once I got everything set up, the shoot was really fun, the bands were a blast to work with, and I’m totally happy with how it all came out. Other than spending a truly ridiculous amount of time working on this project in Photoshop, it could not have gone better.