http://monkeyblood.tumblr.com/

When listening to “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode, my brother would wait for the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:08:33 -0500

When listening to “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode, my brother would wait for the very end of the song to shout “SHUUUUUT UUUUUP!” from the other room.

Just being a total #Boss today, y’know? #space echo #drum...

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:37:25 -0500

Just being a total #Boss today, y’know? #space echo #drum machine #analog

Heavy, cumbersome medium format camera on tripod for road trip:...

Sat, 04 May 2013 15:25:39 -0500

Heavy, cumbersome medium format camera on tripod for road trip: why not? #Pentax67 #film #blackandwhite

Can't Do This To Brown People

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:00:00 -0500

Putting my car in “park” in the garage at work, I fumbled around to gather some loose items in the passenger seat to bring in to my desk. While doing so I uncovered a couple small packs of replacement bulbs for tail-lights, blinkers, and even the daylight running lights.

*****

A couple days earlier I drove past a police SUV that was standing in the median of one of the major boulevards of my township. I had seen him there just a few minutes before as I turned into the parking lot of the dry cleaners, went in, handed them my musty unmentionables from my weekend’s Vegas trip; got back in my car and headed to work.

Never a good feeling is looking in your rear-view mirror and see a police vehicle start up from a complete standstill and race within inches of your back bumper. I made it about half a mile, even changing lanes twice to make certain whether he was following me or not. But this guy was a champion NASCAR drafter if not just waiting for the perfect time to light me up. He chose to do so just as morning rush hour had cars clogging the roadway arteries and intersections I needed to pass to get to the highway.

In the left turn lane, with my blinker on, me looking both ways as an unprotected green light signaled my permission to advance, the flashing lights on this hazy and dim early morning lit the inside of my car like a cheap carnival ride. My choices were to pull over either amongst the commuters waiting in line to pump gas on one corner; alongside the ridiculous Starbucks drive thru line that always partially blocks one lane; or a bit further down for that corner in a usually empty area of a parking lot where a small crowd of fitness boot-campers were jumping, dropping, squatting, all while craning their necks as the police lights caught their periphery. There was no hiding. I chose the gas station.

I only sat for a second. The officer got out of his vehicle faster than usual. My experience was that it seemed the cops sat at their computer to look up your plates, check for warrants, pull your recent credit history, and relay their latest farming adventures via social media before marching forth with their ticket books in hand. Caught me off guard, so I quickly turned off my engine “all the way” and placed my hands on the top of my steering wheel before he could place his hand on the butt of his gun.

The sun was out enough to where he didn’t need a flashlight. He stood about two feet away from the driver’s window with his hands on his hips, peering as best he could into the front seats, craning his neck with a “oh no you didn’t” swerve as if he was trying his best to not have to bend at the waist to get a better look inside. It was an awkward few seconds until he got down to “the reason I pulled you over” bizness.

Officer: Morning. I’m Officer ******.

Me: Good morning. (then another awkward pause)

Officer: The reason I pulled you over is… is because… (more neck swerve)

Me: Was I speeding? (Stupid, stupid! But I was just wondering what was going on at this point.)

Officer: No. I noticed you had a tail-light out. In the back. It’s on the driver’s side. I mean the left… or, the passenger side. Can I get you to show me your license and insurance, please. (This wasn’t a question, he reached out really fast with his right hand as if he was throwing a Chinese star at me.)

He went to his police SUV and sat for short while, probably saw that my credit score was at least B+, and came back, this time with his ticket book and leaning closer to my window. “I’ve gone ahead and written you up for the broken tail-light but just as a reminder to get it taken care of. It’s not a ticket, but just a reminder to get it taken care of.”

I signed and drove away thinking it was a valid reason; but kinda weird.

*****

I did not want the hassle of getting stopped again. So, a couple days later I finally had a chance to hit the auto parts store for a new bulb to replace the illegal tail-light. I left my car running, stepped out and walked around to the back of my car to make certain I purchased the correct light. Everything was on. I went back to the driver’s seat and switched my lights to every setting possible so I could see where it failed. It never did. All my lights are working. I ran through it again. Then again. One of the guys from the store who came out to smoke saw my back and forth and came over. “What’s the problem?” I explained to him what the officer pulled me over for. The guy asked me to move my lights switch through the settings again while he watched. He didn’t notice a difference either. He said that maybe the officer meant the front lights. He proceeded to walk to the front of the car, so I indulged him in running through the lights again. I had told him I’d been written a ticket for the rear light being out. He asked to see it and I showed him where the officer scribbled “R/Psgr light out.” Not satisfied, he asked that I watch as he flipped the switch. Still no.

I ended up going inside the store and getting some packs of paired up bulbs for various lights in and around my car in case one does end up going out sometime.

Now, I’m not making any accusations here, but this was the weirdest racial profiling incident I’ve experienced. Other times have been offensive: I was pulled over with my younger brother and a couple of his friends in the early morning and asked over again where we were going, where were we coming from, and so forth. Or the time the officers asked my Caucasian female friend in the passenger seat if she was with me on her own volition. And other times they’ve been scary: Usually a gun drawn. Another time I was ordered to walk backward and lie face-down before a semicircle of aimed shotguns from behind cruisers’ doors. They patted me down and offered a quick explanation of “you looked like a Mexican we’d seen.”

Glad I could help officers.

You can’t do this to brown people!

My uncle Manuel (second from right in group photo) was laid to...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:16:01 -0500

My uncle Manuel (second from right in group photo) was laid to rest today at DFW National Cemetery.

A veteran of the army, he drove a tank in Vietnam before acquiring his drivers’ license back home in the States. Wounded in action during the conflict, he spent several months recovering and later awarded the Purple Heart medal for his valiant service.

He was remembered today as a kind and gentle man; and as a role model to other his nine brothers and sisters.

He is loved, and will be missed dearly.

Manuel Martinez, Jr. 1945-2013.

Light test. Too hot; too dark.

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:16:23 -0500

Light test. Too hot; too dark.

Girl with Chick, Petting Zoo at a School Carnival, near Atlanta,...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:01:01 -0500

Girl with Chick, Petting Zoo at a School Carnival, near Atlanta, GA. April, 2013.

If I wanted to show-off to the younger dj’s back in the day, I’d...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:28:00 -0500

If I wanted to show-off to the younger dj’s back in the day, I’d bust out with all the white labels I had in the crate. #drumandbass

Went to Atlanta this weekend for my niece’s First...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:04:22 -0500

Went to Atlanta this weekend for my niece’s First Communion.

Look familiar? http://monkeyblood.tumblr.com/post/46933904675...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:44:07 -0500

Look familiar? http://monkeyblood.tumblr.com/post/46933904675 #wataugafest

Turned this photo black and white and it gave it a sci-fi feel.

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:43:17 -0500

Turned this photo black and white and it gave it a sci-fi feel.

Just messin’ around with Final Cut Pro and its video filters.

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:15:34 -0500

Just messin’ around with Final Cut Pro and its video filters.

Ethan is really into science experiments right now. He came in...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:32:07 -0500

Ethan is really into science experiments right now. He came in town with the promise that my wife had a good one waiting for him in the backyard. I think his enthusiastic hops around the yard and slapping his other auntie in the eye proves he was satisfied with the results.

El centro arriba de los árboles japonés.

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:45:15 -0500

El centro arriba de los árboles japonés.

The skies outside this morning reminded me of these shots I got...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:20:07 -0500

The skies outside this morning reminded me of these shots I got back in 2008 of one of those nomadic carnivals setting up in my hometown. It was actually a cloudy-bright day, and I happened to have one of my Pentax 6x7’s loaded with either Ilford HP5 or Kodak Tmax400. My usual m.o. back then was to rate either of those emulsions at ISO 100 or 50 and process them in a double bath developer in Microdol-X, then a balanced alkali (Kodalk) solution. This always resulted in a low contrast, yet super fine-grained negative that could print very large with a full tonal range.

So, the scene at this carnival under the cloudy conditions wasn’t ideal for this type of shooting. But, since I had already a few exposed frames on the film from the day before, I went ahead and gave it a try to not waste any frames on the roll. I wasn’t sure how these shots would turn out after the double-bath treatment.

Talk about loooooooow contrast! It was perplexing looking at the negatives because I’ve underexposed film before where after processing there was but a faint impression of whatever was my subject was recorded onto the film. These negatives were similar, but I could recognize detail. Detail like when shooting a regular contrast scene, but again, nothing but a middle tone grey throughout.

I decided to scan the negatives. This was only about the second time to try this. The scans were super low contrast as well. Once I opened them in Photoshop though, applying the minimal amount of curves to beef up the contrast resulted in a noisy, yet not too computery, almost high-speed film grain look to them.

I just went with it. The digital files ended up being huge in MB terms. There were many layers because I isolated various areas to locally control brightness, contrast, etc. to get the tones I wanted, corner-to-corner of each composition.

In conclusion: low contrast+low contrast=blah. Blah+happy scanner accident=okay, okay, I’m digging it.

So go shoot some film, cuz you never know what’ll turn out. I mean, if you’re good you’ll know. Just go shoot some film, ok?

Carnival.

Under the hood of my Roland Juno-106.

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:55:00 -0500

Under the hood of my Roland Juno-106.

Olde pic of @sasscat79. But it’s new to you!

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:45:39 -0500

Olde pic of @sasscat79. But it’s new to you!

Laughing along w/@chuchu626. Happy baek-il Baby Eden! (at Sura...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:06:46 -0500

Laughing along w/@chuchu626. Happy baek-il Baby Eden! (at Sura Korean Bistro)

Cleaning out the garage today, I found this. I know my wife is...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 15:58:08 -0500

Cleaning out the garage today, I found this. I know my wife is just as excited as I am about this. #analog #Rheem #bass #synth

New tile.

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:59:00 -0600

New tile.