Arizona Renaissance Festival 2020

Here are more from the composition project in my last post. These were taken at the Arizona Renaissance Festival 2020, also a couple weeks before the gatherings were all shut down.

Falcon Mirror; This little falcon's wings are mirrored in shape by the bouncy apparatus behind it, and I LOVED that! Plus he's super cute. Wish the guy holding the falcon had been looking my way, but the fact that he doesn't care about me while the bird was looking directly toward me - kind of cool.

Eagle Bounce Ramp; So much chaos! This photo was taken as a wider shot, but I liked the chaos it created to tighten up the subject matter. The eagle's bowed head created a frame for his handler, and on top of that, the kid's legs perfectly poised as though they are running up the eagle's neck.

Frumpy Baubles; I really dig the colors and ordered chaos on this one and all the different textures of the necklaces and corks and incense sticks. This girls' expression was so genuine and focused she may have found it unflattering but she could see I was taking a picture and just went right on about her business with her little crinkled expression and I found it endearing.

Punk Rock Color Shock! Same stand as the last photo, but with two girls from an alien planet (haha). I like the colors of the photo and far off expression of the girl in white, and the unusual 'do of the other one. It's as though the Renaissance period was invaded by an alien race (maybe I've just seen too much Star Trek?).

Fire Eating is a Mistake; What I love about this is actually the out of focus little girl, who was covering her eyes pretty much the WHOLE time the fire eater was up there. When I gave a little cheer, the girl looked back at me with a scowl, as though my encouraging cheer was putting the fire eater in danger, haha.

Phoenix Vegan Festival 2020 at Margaret T. Hance Park

Here are a few of the photos I took when I went to the Phoenix Vegan Festival that took place at Margaret T. Hance Park about a month before all festivals and large gatherings were nixed for the COVID-19 madness. I took a lot of photos while I was there for a "composition" project (basically a set up the shot and wait for something to happen). There were only a few I felt worked well with the assignment, and most of them happened outside of the gates of the festival. Ah well, still good to have a focus and purpose aside from just stuffing my face at the festival, heh heh.

I like the way this is balanced with "PORTRAIT" at the top left, and some super cheesy smiling couple at the bottom right. This was unprompted, taken of people I don't know and didn't ask for their photo - a genuine moment. Also I took a shit load of photos with this "Portrait" sign at the top, but this one was the best.

When I first saw this lady from across the park I thought she was smiling at me. Turns out that was my rose colored glasses - she actually looked quite lonely when I looked at her photos.

This scene caught my attention because of the juxtaposition. The homeless guy who has to sleep outside sitting under the lamppost like it's a tree vs. the lady who took her dog on a walk, sitting under an actual tree. Something felt appealing about it.

Rubber Tramp Rendezvous ParTR 2020

In January 2020 me and the old man went to a knockoff gathering of the Rubber Tramps Rendezvous called ParTR (rather than RTR) to rub elbows and party with some RV dwellers in Quartzsite, AZ. This is an annual gathering each year in Quartzsite when what is normally a very small town on the outskirts of Arizona draws an intense amount of RV/van/bus dwellers from all over the world. I missed it last year, but apparently it was even cooler. I got some great photos and even wound up popping up on a couple of YouTube channels (hula hooping stone sober and then also leading my drunk old man and a couple random strangers through the desert to the karaoke/dance tent). I saved my favorite photo for last on this post. I am really proud of it and it didn't even require a single bit of editing!

The Letter N with Smokestack

I have long gazed at this image during the mornings at work, over two fences and across a field, billowing smoke. This is one that brings me joy to share. One of my favorites of the semester thus far.

Taken near 35th Avenue and Broadway Road on a slightly chilly morning in Phoenix, AZ.

Fuzzy Dream Flower

This little beauty is also in my back yard. I like the hazy dream-like quality it possesses. Would also make a pretty cool background photo for my computer, if I do say so myself. ;)

Taken near 19th Avenue & the Loop 101 in Phoenix, on a fine spring day.

Backyard Brawl

This semester I was coaxed into taking a photography class with a friend who got a new camera and wanted to learn how to use it. This has been great because for the last many years photography has felt like something of a chore as family members strong-arm me into taking photos for all occasions. What I once loved about photography was having the opportunity to show people the world through my eyes with things I loved or found cool or interesting or saw in a way that I wanted to share. Once it became a chore or a job, the passion died and it morphed into a drudgery. I am also lazy so seeking out an activity for the sole purpose of obtaining artistic photographs is not something I would do unprompted. What can I say? I'm not proud of myself for it, but it's part of who I am. Anyway, I'm going to be uploading some photos that I've taken as a result of this class and I'm really pleased to have some things to be proud of again, if only for the remainder of the semester. Here are my two dogs wrestling in my back yard. I LOVE the way their faces are lined up, especially their little mouths! So cute and perfectly framed with one another!

Taken near 19th Avenue & the Loop 101 in Phoenix, AZ on a fine spring day.