Tag Archives: Bob Venezia

…and the Clock Struck KAZAM! #2

by Bob Venezia

Carnival rides light up the Puyallup Fair at night

Carnival rides light up the Puyallup Fair at night

I have my night exposures of carnival rides pretty well set, but this particular ride was running without  the spotlights for most of the duration of the ride. It looked darker than usual, so I bumped the exposure. Taken with twin Hasselblad 500Cs, 50 mm lenses. Exposure could have been 16 seconds at f22.

The top part of the ride is swinging down, and looks to me like the pendulum on a clock. It intersects with Sinbad’s  extended sword in the painted  backdrop. It looks as though he’s hitting the pendulum with a loud KAZAM!

Canyon X Colors #34

by Bob Venezia
Reflected, unfiltered light in Canyon X

Reflected, unfiltered light in Canyon X

Last year I was on a break between contracts, and Mandy saw a window of opportunity to sneak off for a vacation. Picking the southwest US was easy. She had only 2 weeks available, but I was free as a bird, so I offered to drive down to Page Arizona a week early. That gave me a few days to spend with a photo guide, Mandy flew down to meet me, and we took it from there. I’ve seen shots of Antelope Canyon for years, but I had no idea what a tourist trap the place has become. When I went to Antelope, which is a fairly short Canyon, there were 200 other photographers crammed into this tiny space elbow to elbow.
I also went to Canyon X, which only one tour company has the rights to visit, and it was a completely different scene. Unfortunately, most of the day at Canyon X we were getting filtered light, but there were some lucky breaks, like this one. It’s all reflected light bouncing around. There’s no surface in this shot getting direct sunlight. I metered off the highlights.

I think this makes a nice complement to John’s ice cave.

Above Lake Viviane

by Bob Venezia
Golden larch in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington

Golden larch in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington

Mandy and I went on a backpacking trip into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in September 2007. Permit required, hard hiking, heavy pack, uncooperative weather. The whole point for me was photography, and by 3 days in I had taken 1 stereo pair in 35mm. Winds died down some on the 4th day and I went nuts with the picture taking. This area is known for its pristine lakes, granite peaks, and larch turning gold in the fall. It’s a stunningly beautiful place.

This was taken with my Sputnik, tuned up by Don Lopp. Thank you, Don! Please forgive any mounting errors — the focal lengths of the lenses are a little mismatched.

Tornado Bubble #10

by Bob Venezia

Tom Noddy and the Tornado Bubble

Tom Noddy and the Tornado Bubble

In the last loop, I included a shot of my friend Tom Noddy with one of his marvelous bubbles. That was shot with the TL-120 and some bounce flash, but when I tried to figure out the exposure, I made some gross errors. So why did the pictures come out okay? I apparently made a whole bunch more errors in making my settings. Yes, I’m an idiot. But I’m an extremely lucky idiot.

This year I did some test shots before inviting Tom over again. There’s black velvet hung behind, because the DOF is extremely shallow. I think we had sharpness between about 28 and 32 inches. I had several flash units triggered by slaves, mostly bouncing off the ceiling here. (I’ve been reading the strobist blog a lot lately, and trying to learn more about the use of flash.)

To create this, Tom blows a bubble and catches it on the wand. He blows a second bubble below it, filled with smoke, so the smaller smoke bubble is attached and hanging below the clear bubble. Tom sticks a wet straw through the wall of the top bubble and blows gently, so the air is swirling inside. Then he break the membrane between the 2 bubbles, so now the smoke is inside the bubble with the swirling air, and the smoke is still somewhat concentrated. Finally, he opens a  hole in top of the bubble, so the bubble deflates like a balloon, forcing out the swirling smoke. I shot a bunch of these. Every time you shoot one, you watch what it continues to do, and you think, “Dang! It got even better after I fired!”

I like the detail of the swirling smoke, and the saturated colors on the top of the bubble.

Sinbad & Tornado

by Bob Venezia
Sinbad and Tornado

Sinbad & Tornado

Taken last September at the Puyallup (pyoo AL ip) Fair, about 40 minutes south of Seattle. I had avoided the Fair for years, and finally went 2 years ago. Now I can’t get enough of it. Be warned — neither of my spuds has perfectly matched lenses. So any mounting errors are not my fault :^)

Sputnik modified by Don Lopp, f22, 4 seconds, pushed 1 stop, Provia 100F.

Tetrahedron

by Bob Venezia
Tom Noddy and Bubble Tetrahedron

Tom Noddy and Bubble Tetrahedron

One of my best friends is Tom Noddy, aka “the Bubble Guy.” Tom appeared on the Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson was still host, and he travels the world doing his act. I’d always wanted to shoot some of his bubbles, but I had no experience shooting portraits in MF 3d. This is one of the simplest bubbles he makes. He also makes a cube, a dodecahedron, a 6-pointed star, a carousel, etc, etc.

Settings unrecorded. I had help from Don Lopp, who attended the shoot. We draped black velvet behind Tom, had a floor lamp beside him, and I bounced a flash off the ceiling.

EMP Backside #1

by Bob Venezia
Experience Music Project, Seattle Center

Experience Music Project, Seattle Center

The EMP (Experience Music Project) is Seattle’s version of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum, at the Seattle Center. The building is designed by Frank Gehry. I’ve never been inside (it’s kinda pricey – I’d rather have a new camera filter) but the outside has given me a lot of photo ops. Remember waaaaay back in loop 19A, when Dave Casey had a photo of the “sculpture thingie by the EMP?” The shadow of that sculpture thingie can be seen in this shot.

Shot with a TL-120, Provia 100F, 2 minutes.

Spinning Wheel & Needle

by Bob Venezia
spinning_wheel__needle_up-close_4801

Spinning Wheel & Needle

Also taken at the Seattle Center. The Fun Forest is a funky collection of carnival rides below the Space Needle. It’s destined for the scrap heap soon. I wanted to get down there and get some shots before it disappears.

I really enjoy taking shots of carnival rides. There is definitely a lot of patience involved (waiting for the ride to unload, then load, and once the ride finally starts going, trying to discourage folks from walking right in front of your camera) but it’s totally worth it. There are so many great surprises after you get the film back. Most of my night shots of rides are from the Puyallup Fair, a huge Fair that runs about 3 weeks in the fall, and one weekend in April, about 30 miles south of Seattle.