Congrats to Rikki on his 7th place finish in the "On the Beach" challenge. I gotta tell ya, the two of us hit Santa Cruz on a Friday night trying to get some nice sunset shots - we hit traffic and got held up at dinner, so we were scrambling to try and get something. I introduced him to National Bridges State Park Beach and we started taking the long exposure shots. For me, I got home, looked at the pics and said "crap, nothing good". I took basically the same pictures as Rikki and I saw "a rock". He throws a damn yellow filter on the camera and sees a top 10 image!! Kudos my man!!
Here are some of my shots of what will forever be known as "Rikki's Rock". :-) [including my sad attempt to get the same yellow effect, although via PS]
Quick humorous story - we decided to grab some dinner when we first got to Santa Cruz. We were hoping for something a little more upscale than McDonalds. Rikki saw a burger joint that he said he had eaten at before (name escapes me, but is was something like "Saturn"). We get in and of course are talking photography, so we don't notice the crowd around us. After getting seated and ordering a couple Space Cowboys (BBQ burger), the waitress asked if we wanted "fake" beef for "fake" chicken. I'm feeling a little clueless so ask "why is everything 'fake'?" She kindly replies with a smile on her face, oh we are a vegan restaurant. Way to go Rikki! SURE you had a burger here before….you THOUGHT it was a burger! :-) Of course, we immediately start to look around and realize we were the only ones in the restaurant without body piercings, tattoos, or chains hanging from some body orifice. BTW, the food was "ok" (whatever it was we were eating).
Anyway, congrats Rikki on truly having the eye for art, cause I still look at your picture and mine and say "it's a rock". Guess I have been seeing the California coastline too long. :-)
Final moral of the story - I went onto eBay and ordered a few Cokin filters! :-)
I swear I ate a burger there before at the Saturn Cafe. It was quite interesting I might add that we got in and were seated immediately and Mark and i were still conversing about photography. We were looking at the map and trying to plan our night shooting. After a few minutes, Mark had to get up and use the restroom and said, "Just order me the Space Cowboy". I thought, heck that sounds good, "what's in it?" And then Mark replied, it's a bacon burger. Alright. I'll order two then.
While Mark was gone, I started looking around and noticed kids like these
9 out of 10 were pierced. Heck even the waitresses were pierced all over. Tattoos seemed mandatory as well. So goes Mark's side of the story.
As soon as we were done, the minute we walked out the cafe, I turned to Mark and said, "Was it just me or did we stick out like a sore thumb?"
"Uh-huh" was all Mark could muster.
As we were getting in the car, a doped up hippie on a bike decides to test his luck by ramming into an oncoming pick up truck. Let's just say that dying due to tetanus would be a more severe pain than being hit by the truck.
"What happened? We're outta here man!" Mark says as we sped off.
Oh and the rock? Yeah it was just a rock folks. But see, what Mark doesn't realize is that I see in Hypercolor™. Just go buy a pair of these Iridium Gold shades and you're set dude!
A few days later, Mark sees my entry and asks for my score. I told him I had a comfortable 7+
"It's just a rock Rikki"
"I know Mark. It's just a rock. But a golden one at that"
I told him to go get some Cokin filters. And an hour later, he said he did. Woohoo!
As we were getting in the car, a doped up hippie on a bike decides to test his luck by ramming into an oncoming pick up truck. Let's just say that dying due to tetanus would be a more severe pain than being hit by the truck.
Oh, I totally forgot about the biker getting hit! How could I have missed that part!
Originally posted by Rikki:
A few days later, Mark sees my entry and asks for my score. I told him I had a comfortable 7+
"It's just a rock Rikki"
"I know Mark. It's just a rock. But a golden one at that"
I told him to go get some Cokin filters. And an hour later, he said he did. Woohoo!
Oh and how long did we shoot for? We started at 8:30 and were done by 10:30pm. If it weren't for the fog we would have probably been there a bit longer. It was interesting to note that at night, a familiar scent of "weed" seemed to emanate around the beach ;) Then again, we were in Santa Cruz... at the Boardwalk.
Oh and how long did we shoot for? We started at 8:30 and were done by 10:30pm. If it weren't for the fog we would have probably been there a bit longer. It was interesting to note that at night, a familiar scent of "weed" seemed to emanate around the beach ;) Then again, we were in Santa Cruz... at the Boardwalk.
Let's do it again Mark ;)
Ahh brings back fuzzy high school memories. I spent most of high school at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Sometimes went after school hours also.
Oh and how long did we shoot for? We started at 8:30 and were done by 10:30pm. If it weren't for the fog we would have probably been there a bit longer. It was interesting to note that at night, a familiar scent of "weed" seemed to emanate around the beach ;) Then again, we were in Santa Cruz... at the Boardwalk.
i live just behind Saturn Cafe. Best fries in Santa Cruz. But yeah, it is a loud music, mostly vegetarian sort of place.
the bathrooms there? that is the most interesting part...and it is always funny to watch tourists figure out which door to use. Boys and girls in both.
heh. well, of course, people do live sorta around the parking lot there in various cars, vans, trucks and buses...i call them the Neighborhood Watch, but i live in an actual closet...or rather a closet sized apartment with a door and windows and everything.
As Rikki's sister - I HIGHLY suggest that you never EVER trust his culinary skills..EVER! Just like the rock picture that you guys both took (same subject, different visions)...if he tells you it's good food, I'd think otherwise ;).
