Self Assignment: Non-Western in the West

Today I kicked off a self-assignment that I’ve been planning for a while: an ongoing study of what can be considered to be “non-mainstream” religions existing and thriving in the midst of an overwhelmingly Christian American society.

I am not a religious person myself, but I have always been interested in the history of religion and the effects it has had on the human race.

Christianity is shoved down the throats of Americans on a daily basis, whether it be in the pledge that our children recite at school, on the currency we handle, or on any one of hundreds of bumper stickers that feature various combinations of the American Flag and the word “God”.

Yet there are many established “non-western” religions that exist and strive in American society.

Here is part one of who-knows how many parts: Vietnamese Cao Dai services that I photographed this morning in San Antonio. These photos should be viewed full size if you look at them.

BTW, it’s situations like this where rangefinders really come in handy. All photos made with an Epson R-D1 rangefinder and Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5 or 35/1.2 ASPH lenses.

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Prayer ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

Cao Dai Temple ©Darren Abate

AHL Toronto Marlies vs. San Antonio Rampage - Game 4 in the Calder Cup Playoffs Series

SAN ANTONIO — The Toronto Marlies enacted their revenge on the San Antonio Rampage tonight at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, skating away with a 3 - 2 victory to even the round one Calder Cup playoff series at two games each.

It could be said that Toronto did not win this game as much as San Antonio lost it. Toronto’s first goal came when San Antonio player Keith Yandle knocked the puck into his own net after a rebound from Rampage goalie Josh Tordjman slipped out in front of Yandle’s stick, and the puck slipped past the unsuspecting netminder.

Toronto managed to stay one step ahead of the Rampage after the first goal, although San Antonio did their best to close the gap. The Marlies scored an empty-net goal late in the third after San Antonio had pulled netminder Tordjman in an attempt to tie the game. The Rampage were able to score a goal with eight seconds left on the clock, only to lose the game 3 - 2 after they were unable to put the puck past Marlies goalie Scott Clemmensen for what would have been a game-tying goal in the final seconds.

Photos from this game can be viewed and licensed for editorial use at PressPhotoIntl.com.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — Toronto player Bates Battaglia (33) takes a shot on Rampage goalie Josh Tordjman (29) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio’s Chad Kolarik (42) battles Toronto’s Andy Wozniewski (56) in front of Marlies goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio head coach Greg Ireland yells instructions to his players during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio’s Steven Goertzen (12) battles Toronto’s Andy Wozniewski (56) in front of Marlies goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio’s Mike Zigomanis (23) dekes Toronto’s Kris Newbury (11) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

© PressPhoto International

AHL Playoffs - Toronto Marlies vs. San Antonio Rampage - Game 4

SAN ANTONIO — The Toronto Marlies enacted their revenge on the San Antonio Rampage tonight at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, skating away with a 3 - 2 victory to even the round one Calder Cup playoff series at two games each.

It could be said that Toronto did not win this game as much as San Antonio lost it. Toronto’s first goal came when San Antonio player Keith Yandle knocked the puck into his own net after a rebound from Rampage goalie Josh Tordjman slipped out in front of Yandle’s stick, and the puck slipped past the unsuspecting netminder.

Toronto managed to stay one step ahead of the Rampage after the first goal, although San Antonio did their best to close the gap. The Marlies scored an empty-net goal late in the third after San Antonio had pulled netminder Tordjman in an attempt to tie the game. The Rampage were able to score a goal with eight seconds left on the clock, only to lose the game 3 - 2 after they were unable to put the puck past Marlies goalie Scott Clemmensen for what would have been a game-tying goal in the final seconds.

Photos from this game can be viewed and licensed for editorial use at PressPhotoIntl.com.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — Toronto player Bates Battaglia (33) takes a shot on Rampage goalie Josh Tordjman (29) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio’s Chad Kolarik (42) battles Toronto’s Andy Wozniewski (56) in front of Marlies goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio head coach Greg Ireland yells instructions to his players during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio’s Steven Goertzen (12) battles Toronto’s Andy Wozniewski (56) in front of Marlies goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE — San Antonio’s Mike Zigomanis (23) dekes Toronto’s Kris Newbury (11) during game four of the first round Calder Cup playoff series between the Toronto Marlies and the San Antonio Rampage, April 23, 2008, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Toronto won 3 - 2 to even the series at 2 - 2. (Darren Abate/PressPhotoIntl.com)

© PressPhoto International

Vote for Me!

If you have a minute, how about coming along to this link and voting for my entry in the JPG Magazine Split Second contest!

What rocks? The 40D, that’s what.

Firstly, if everyone would do me a favor… I have three photos in the current theme contests at JPG Magazine. If you’d take a minute to go there, register, and vote for my shots, I would greatly appreciate it. But only vote if you truly think they rock.

http://jpgmag.com/people/peakaction/photos

You should just have to click on each one of the photos to vote for it. Let me know if you voted!

I also have a couple things on eBay at the moment. If you’re in the market, check out the links below!

Canon EOS 20D body with Vertical Grip, Two Batteries and Charger

Hasselblad 500C Body with Waistlevel Finder

In other news:

My apprentice, Eva, came over yesterday with her new Canon EOS 40D, and I must say, that little thing kicks ass. I’m used to shooting with a Mark II and I’m pretty sure that the action on the 40D is even faster. It pops off a frame really quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the 40D cranks out more FPS than the Mark II. I’m saying that it reacts and finishes off a frame just as quickly if not more quickly than the Mark II does. I was actually taken aback when I tripped the hair trigger and it popped off two frames before I could even take my finger off the button.

And, it produces a hell of an image too. I only had time to pop out into my front yard with it, but when faced with a difficult metering situation, like a shaded yard against a sunlit street, it did pretty damned well. Example photos are forthcoming.

Mahalo.

I’m Pulling the Plug

Well, it seems that it’s been about a month since my last post here. I wouldn’t have thought that, but indeed it is the case. I blame uber.com, among other things.

The blogging and social network sites are getting out of hand, in my opinion. The ubiquitousness of myspace (I refuse to capitalize it) all but requires that I have a presence there, but I don’t officially count it as a recognized benefit. I have two myspace pages, actually – one for me the photographer and one for me the cinematographer. Of course, I rarely update either of them; they are there only for basic networking with others in my field who only seem to need myspace to do their business. It is their digital toilet tissue.

I have two WordPress blogs – again, one for photo and one for cine – a deviantART page, a FaceBook page, and more recently, an Uber page. I was first turned on to Uber by my friend, LA photographer Chris Weeks, and it seems to be my favorite. It is a place for artists that is fueled by the community spirit that once powered deviantART but it lacks the corporate stench that has permeated dA since Jark was ousted. I think deviantART now exploits artists in a big way. You should read their user agreement sometime.

So anyway, about the serious post title…

I’m pulling the plug on my Downtown studio. I’ve decided that, although I like the space on a whole, the negative aspects of trying to run a photo studio in the midst of an urban crack alley have finally gotten to me, and I can no longer justify spending the extra five or six hundred dollars a month it takes to maintain my lair. So, I’ve decided to move my workstation and photo gear back to my home until a new, more suitable, studio space can be located.

I don’t think Venda is too happy about the idea of the front room being turned back into a studio, instead of the home theater we had planned, but at least she understands… I think. Hey, six hundred bucks is six hundred bucks, you know?!

I started moving crap back home today. In fact, I’m typing this from my coffee table, where my G5 is set up until I can get my huge media desk hauled home tomorrow or Monday. I figure if I take stuff out slowly over the next month, the move won’t be so grueling. I hate moving, and if you’ve ever seen my studio, you know how much crap is in that place.

I’m motivated, though, because I know I don’t have long before V. takes issue with the two widescreen monitors, G5 tower, six hard drives, UPS, and three miles of cable that has suddenly appeared in the den, and dominated half the room.

Mahalo, Venda. Mahalo.

The iPhone Confession

I must confess. I got an iPhone.

I thought I could wait. I thought I could be strong – because I was broke.

But then a client decided to pay me unexpectedly – in cash. *sigh*  I knew what had to be done. I could resist no longer.

So, yes! I admit it! I am an Apple fanboy. I love Apple gadgetry in all forms of its cutting edge trendy design. I own five Macs, dating from the original Macintosh all the way up to my dual G5. Hopefully an eight-core is in my future, but I feel that the next time I will be able to afford a new tower, the next generation will be upon us.

Anyway, the iPhone: Yes. Yes, it is as cool as you think it is, and as gorgeous in both form and function as the ads make it out to be.

It occupies a level of kickassery that was previously known only to the likes of Vegas buffets and Han Solo.

It is so great that, even though the novelty has worn off, I look for excuses to use it simply because it works so well. There are, however, a few things I would change about it.

First of all, it needs more. Just more. For instance, I’ve done everything I need to do tonight, like check my e-mail, check the weather, sent some texts, made some calls (the visual voicemail feature kicks ASS, btw), and checked the performance of a bunch of stocks I don’t own. I was able to do all this with lightning efficiency, and now that I’m done, I feel that there is so much more I could be doing with the device.

This leads to my biggest complaint: Apple shipped the iPhone with an amazingly light load of apps. It can do so much more than what it allows out of the box.

For instance, don’t get your hopes up about the YouTube app. It works great, but what you might not realize is that when you buy your iPhone, you won’t be able to search ALL of the videos on YouTube. You can only view and search the featured and most popular videos, which sucks, in my opinion, because most of that is just mindless time-wasting drivel. For instance, one of the top rated videos was a thirty-second clip of three goofballs dancing to goofy music while holding sparklers, in someone’s yard. That’s it. How the fuck is that the top-rated video on YouTube?!

I want to be able to visit my own YouTube page and show friends and clients the short films that I’ve made, etc. I want to be able to find the videos that matter to me, not the ones that entertain the lowest common denominator.

One would think that wish could be fulfilled by using Safari to visit a regular YouTube page, but as of now, the iPhone’s Safari browser does not support the viewing of Flash videos. I hear that Apple is working on that, though, and a software update will fix the issue.

There also needs to be a standalone Gmail app for the iPhone. This is a must. I don’t want to have to configure a POP3 access plan for Gmail.

Apple must also open up the iPhone to third party developers. The device is capable of so much and the opportunity to design custom apps must be allowed.

The next generation iPhone must have a user-replaceable battery.

I wouldn’t worry about the people screaming about the fact that it uses EDGE instead of 3G. My Blackberry was EDGE, and my Blackjack was 3G, and honestly, I didn’t notice a damned difference – they were both slow.

The in-phone camera is as bare-bones as it gets. You can’t zoom or change photo options, such as exposure mode and compensation, or color/monochrome, etc., at all. Activate the camera, take a photo. That’s all you can do. The quality of the image is pretty good, but it needs more. I’m not too miffed about it though, because we all know I always have a proper camera with my anyway. I don’t need my phone to take photos.
If you hear anyone dissing the iPhone’s adaptive keyboard, slap them. It kicks ass, although I would request the option to turn off the auto-correct feature, which at times is a bit overzealous.

before it’s release, the surface of the iPhone was switched from plastic to optical glass, which has to be best single decision about the iPhone Apple made. It will NOT scratch, and using it as a touch interface is a dream.

Is the iPhone worth the money? I’m going to say yes, because I know (trust) that Apple is going to juice its capabilities and give it more apps in the future.

The bottom line is that I friggin’ love it.

New Uber Page

Just FYI, I have started a new Uber page for showing my fabulous photos to the world. It’s a bit more socially-minded than deviantART, and the corporate stench is much less noticeable.

The URL is:

http://uber.com/darren

Check it out and leave me some comments! And while you’re at it, join up yourself!

Mahalo.

Burnout, baby!

I’ve been thinking about photography a lot lately. Well, by default, I am nearly always thinking about photography anyway, but lately it’s been different.

I’ve been suffering some serious burnout recently. At one point, it got so bad that I didn’t even want to make any photos at all. No, that isn’t entirely accurate. I wanted to make photos, but I wasn’t inspired to do so. The feeling was as if someone stuck me in a featureless, white spheroid room and told me to make the best photo of my life while I was in there.

I haven’t used my rangefinders in at least two weeks. I even moved my Mac from my studio to my house so I wouldn’t be forced to go in and do any photo work. I’ve had a few photo assignments, but not as many as I should have had.

The reason may be that, since hockey season ended, and since the Spurs season is over, all of my fun regular assignments are done until October. Now is the time when I have to fall back on fluff assignments to make a living. Weddings, event coverage, etc. Those are the assignments that can actually make me the most money, but let’s face it, I’m not in photography for the money. No, no. I am a photojournalist. We don’t make much money, by default, but fuck if we aren’t the most passionate about our chosen path. I’ve certainly never met a wedding photographer who is as apt to get in someone’s face in defense of their craft as – well – any of my PJ friends.

Some of us like to start fights about it.

My slump is all linked in to the fact that making a living as a shooter in San Antonio is not like doing it in some place like LA or New York. The work here definitely is seasonal for someone like me – someone who gets bored easily. That’s why I don’t specialize in one thing, like most architectural, commercial, and wedding photographers do. I burn out. I like photojournalism because it’s like a box of chocolates. You know the rest of that sentence.

I think I’m going to switch it up a bit. I’ll try to occupy myself in other ways. Maybe I’ll make that film I’ve been kicking around in my head. Maybe I’ll string some news video. Maybe I’ll pimp.

I think this will end up doing me some good. I’ll get some rejuvenation out of it for sure.

Fantastic Four SUCKS

Save your money. Seriously. Unless you like horrible acting and a plot so shallow and watery it’s only good for farming pond scum and hatching mosquito larvae.

That’s really all I have to say about that piece of shit.