Top Of The World

Emilio

Low Down

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“Perhaps people, and kids especially, are spoiled today, because all the kids today have cars, it seems. When I was young you were lucky to have a bike.” ~ James Cagney

And yes, I know who James Cagney was. “Made it, Ma. Top of the world!”

White Heat was in theaters 34 years before I was born. Cagney died when I was not quite three years old. I want a legacy like that. I don’t care about fame, I just want to be remembered for something long after I’m gone! So please go to Photos By Emilio and remember me. I’m not gone yet. And I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. But just in case….

Capitol Reader

Black And White Photography, Photography
Woman sitting on the edge of the pool, reading, with US Capitol in the background.

Walking by the U.S. Capitol, I spied this woman enjoying the beautiful weather in Washington, DC. Absorbed in her reading, the woman never noticed me while I carefully framed and pressed my shutter. If only all street shots were this easy.

Visit VisualVenturing.com for more of my work.

Typewriter Graveyard

Black And White Photography, Photography

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Typewriter Graveyard – While exploring the California desert near Joshua Tree I stumbled across a Wild West town called Pioneertown. It turns out the town was started as a movie set in the 40’s by Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and others. This group of old typewriters was set up outside as an art exhibit. While Apple designs may look cool and all, the beauty of this old Remington still stands out.

You can see more of my work at http://www.samobiker.com

Heavy Duty

Emilio

HDR

 

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For those of you who hold my wife in high esteem- as I tend to do most days- I must tell you she is, indeed, fallible. She actually had the audacity to question my judgement when I stated I was going out to take photos. “Why not wait awhile? It will be golden hour soon”, she said. I hate when someone echoes my own words back at me. Golden Hour! I taught her that. And now she feels the need to question my judgement, restrict my creativity? I gave her the famous Emilio Pasquale stare that has left people quaking in their boot heels in the past. “Well,” she said, “if you’re not going to listen to me I might as well go along for the ride”. Not only did she not quake, she collared and leashed the neurotic chihuahua we’re dog sitting and brought her along, too! Her name is Beach (not my wife’s. The dog’s.) which I think is chihuahuan for “bitch” and she is. (I hope no children are reading or any one else easily offended by that title.) Every time I got out of the car to take a few shots, the Beach would shake and whine until I returned and would then jump onto my lap and attempt to lick the flesh from my face. At one of my last stops I found this row of “machines”. My wife laughs that I call them machines. But I am the one laughing now for once we got back home and after about a half hour of post processing, she said, “that looks better than I thought it would”. Which, I know, does not mean she thinks it is any good. But that is about the most I will get from her whenever I prove her wrong. So now I feel vindicated. Even though I had to make my own dinner that night.
And clean up after myself.
So please feel free to visit Photos By Emilio where you can read all the nice comments people have written about my wife in the past.

Love in Paris

Black And White Photography, Photography
Bride and groom on Île Saint Louis, Paris, with the River Seine in the background.This photo, in color, was among the first photos I posted to VisualVenturing.com. I thought I would revisit it with my “B&W eyes.”

While approaching the tip of Île Saint Louis in Paris with my husband and daughter, we spied this bride and groom posing for photographs. The wedding dress just took my breath away, and with the backdrop of the Seine, I just had to take a photo.

Now, four years later, I realize this was my first attempt at street photography, before I was even aware there was such a thing. I remember very quickly raising my camera to my eye, snapping the picture, and just as quickly walking away. I thought for certain someone was going to come up behind me and grab my camera out of my hands, yelling at me in French that I had done something illegal. But of course, they were paying no attention to me, only to each other. And though, in my nervous haste, I missed capturing their faces, if I had I to do it all over again, I probably would take the same shot — it really was all about that exquisite dress!

The Tower

Emilio
High Desert State Prison, Indian Springs NV

High Desert State Prison, Indian Springs NV

Contrary to what you might be thinking right now, I am not on the inside looking out! As usual, my wife got into the act by suggesting I take a few shots of the prison off I-95 at Cold Creek Road because “that’s where OJ is!” Anyone outside the United States or younger than myself might have to Google the infamous case to fully understand what she was referring to. I was afraid that any body in the tower might think I was planning someone’s escape as I searched for the best spot from which to capture (capture?) the shot. Still, I ventured out of the car and up against the fence. The place was totally deserted- maybe because the temperature was hovering around 100 degrees even with those glorious clouds present. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late?) I found out when researching ideas for this narrative, that OJ Simpson is not incarcerated here but some 470 miles north at Lovelock Correctional Center in Northern Nevada.

Sweetheart, we are not driving there!

Please visit Photos By Emilio when you get a chance

Guest Post: Wade Hewitt

Black And White Photography, Photography

This is the seventh installment of our Guest Blogger series and I would like to introduce Wade Hewitt. He says he is a newbie to photography but his images do not reflect this. I hope you enjoy his introduction and visit his website.

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Believe it or not we actually do have stars, the kind in the sky not actors, in LA. I wasn’t sure if it was possible, but I was able to capture the Milky Way as a beautiful backdrop for a lifeguard station at the beach in Santa Monica.

My name is Wade but I also go by SamoBiker. As the nickname implies I’m a cyclist from Santa Monica, California. Photography is relatively new to me compared to cycling but it’s starting to get more and more of my time. I really love it when I can combine my two passions.

I gave my wife a camera back in 2010, but I don’t think I let her use it much at all as I caught the photography bug right away. Shortly after that I bought my trusty Fuji X100 and have been trying to discover my style ever since.

While I like shooting many different styles ranging from sports, street and lifestyle, one thing seems to remain constant. That constant is, the love of wide angle black and white images with a photo journalism type feel. I’m not sure how I developed this point of view but I think black and white images tell a cleaner story without the distractions offered by color images. As for the photo journalism feel I like it when an image gives the full picture of a scene with a central element in context with what is going on around it.

You can see my work over at SamoBiker