Archive for September, 2008

Sep

Shootin’ Up Los Angeles III

Filed Under local travel, photography, urban-explorers.com

Not too long ago, I created a photography group called Shootin’ Up Los Angeles (SULA). The idea was to explore different areas of Los Angeles with cameras and a desire to share photography ideas. Anyone with a camera is welcome to join SULA, no matter if they own a top-of-the-line SLR or just a disposable. As the saying goes, It’s not the camera that makes a good shot, it’s the photographer. I find that photographing with other people inspires more creativity and sharing of photographic ideas.

So on Thursday, September 18th, a two friends and I headed to downtown Los Angeles. I was hoping for a larger turn out, but with just three of us, it allowed us to get around much faster than if we had more people. In fact, for SULAII, we had just enough time to explore a few streets in Pasadena and Chinatown. But the amount of terrain covered is not the point of SULA - it’s seeing the world through the perspective of other Angelino photographers, which hopefully leads to creativity and growth.

To see the other photos, check out my SULA flickr group. Here are a few of my photos:

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Sep

Patriotic Photo Theme

Filed Under international travel, local travel, photography

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Sep

First Look: Animal Life by Charlotte Uhlenbroek

Filed Under graphic design, kahunna.net, photography

Did you watch the BBC nature documentary Planet Earth as if it was the newest action thriller? Are you fascinated by most programs on Discovery Channel? Do you read National Geographic Magazine? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then you need to read on.

I was at my local bookstore looking for a book on insect macro photography when I passed behind a man flipping through a book. Sounds like something that happens all the time in a bookstore, right? But this was the first time I passed someone where, in a blink of an eye, I had the desire to immediately purchase the book they were perusing.

I started a conversation with the man who, wouldn’t you know it, has a name. He goes by Thom Bluemel and he’s the brilliant creator of Bird Brains.

The book he was reading is called Animal Life: Secrets of the Animal World Revealed by Dr. Charlotte Uhlenbroek. Unlike other hefty encyclopedic tomes on animals, this one specifically covers animal behavior. But this was not what drew me to the book over a Thom’s shoulder. The 5.8 pound book is sweet, sweet eye-candy. Produced in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History and Doris Kindersley Publishing, every one of its 512 pages is visually stunning - both in design and in photography.

I’ll end my first look with photos I took of the spreads. The book retails for $50, but you should be able to find it for sale at about $35. Either way, it’s worth every penny.