On a cold November evening...

Last night I decided to head out around 8:00pm to try and get a decent star trails photo because the moon was almost non-existent. My plan was try to go out to Washoe Lake but as I was on the freeway I decided to stay on I-80 and head west.

I ended up at the Floriston exit a few miles before Truckee. There are these big tunnels you need to go through to make your way up the mountain. So after exploring my options I picked out a spot. I didn't realize how close I was to the train tracks though, so it was a interesting experience having a train sneak up on you in the middle of the woods when it's practically pitch black outside.

But once the train passed by I setup my equipment. The end result consisted of roughly 45 minutes worth of 30 second exposures. The exception to that was this photo I captured of a car driving through the tunnel. I didn't include it in the star trails stacking because it would of thrown off the exposure way too much. But by itself it is an interesting photo.



So excluding the above photo, this is the star trails photo I captured.



Also I decided to turn my photos into a small AVI file which you can view at http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy/3069727703/.

Please let me know what you think. Comments are always appriciated. To see more of my photos please go to my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy/.

Until next time...
Mr. Dizzel

Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos or "Day of the Dead" is a holiday that celebrates friends and family members that have passed away. This is the second year I have attended the San Francisco Dia de los Muertos celebration and this year was no less amazing than the last. This year was the 30th anniversary of the San Francisco celebration so the mayor officially named November 2nd as Dia de los Muertos day in SF which was a cool thing to be apart of.

I started my solo mission to SF on November 1st. It was raining when I left Reno and continued to rain until I showed up at my Aunt's house in Menlo Park. At this point I was crossing my fingers that it wasn't going to rain during the celebration.

As I passed over the Bay Bridge I took this photo.



Once I made it to Menlo Park I was able to spend some time with my Aunt and Uncle which was nice because I don't get to see them as often as I'd like.

The next morning the weather had cleared up and I headed down to Height street to meet up with my good friends Jason and Linda. We ended up just hanging around Height street for a few hours. I picked up a new pair of kicks and we had some pizza from Escape from New York.

Once we were done on Height it was about time to head down to the celebration so we parked at a BART station south of SF and took the BART down to Mission.

The celebration started at the corner of 18th and Bryant street and circles around the block and ends at Garfield Park were all of the community alters are placed.

Right before the celebration started our good friends Tee and Kelly showed up and we all walked to parade together.

Here are some photos from the parade and the alters.













If you would like to see more Dia de los Muertos photos please check them out at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy/sets/72157608634346014/

Candy apples and razor blades

Two of my favorite holidays have recently passed, Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos. My wife Alana and I were married on Halloween and this year marked our 4 year anniversary. This year to celebrate we had a Halloween / Anniversary party which ended up being a very good time. Many of our friends new and old showed up to help us celebrate. I set up a mini studio in the garage to try and capture some "professional" looking Halloween photos. Here are a few that I took.











Thank you to everyone that helped us celebrate four amazing years together!



If you would like to see more of the Halloween photos please go to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy/sets/72157608633183112/

A weekend in Los Angeles

I recently took a trip to Los Angeles to spend the weekend with family. It was a great weekend. I got to see my aunt, uncle and cousins. I went to the USC vs. ASU game which was the first time I have ever been to a football game. And I got to spend a little time exploring Los Angeles.

Los Angeles seems like a pretty cool city from what I got to see. I look forward to going back hopefully in the near furture to see what else it has to offer.

Here are a few photos from the trip.

We stopped in Watsonville on the way down and I did a little night photography. I wanted to try some star trails but the moon was super bright that night.


Here is a photo taken with my iphone at the USC vs. ASU game.



Our hotel had a roof top pool, so from the top of the Checkers Hilton hotel I took this shot.



Stay tuned for photos from my upcoming trip to the Dia De Los Muertos. But until then I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

Weddings and Rock n' Roll

On September 13th a good friend of mine Spencer got married to his wonderful girl Sarah in sweet Irish fashion. There was a bag piper, kilts, and corned beef and cabbage. It was an honor to be apart of their celebration and to be able to capture some of their special day through the lens of my camera. Here are a few of the photos I took at their wedding.





I wish you both all the best.


Now for the Rock n' Roll.

Last Friday (10/3/08) I made my way to the Tonic Lounge with my good friend Mr. Sibley and his lady friend to see one of my favorite Reno bands Coolhands. This was the first time I have seen Coolhands as a 4 piece band. The addition of their fourth member was certainly noticeable. They played very good that night and the crowd responded accordingly. The Reno music scene certainly has it's ups and downs, but of the bands out there Coolhands has a sound and style all their own and should not be missed. Check them out at their myspace page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=108029937

Here are a few photos I took at their show.









After the show I did a little bar hopping with Mr. Sibley, saw some old friends and ending the night eating an Awful Awful at 3:00am. Basically another good night in Reno.

So until next time...
-Mr. Duffy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy/

Street Jam 2008

So after returning from Warped Tour today I decided to head over to industrial sparks off of Greg St. to check out the BMX Street Jam. The Street Jam was put together by some local BMX friends and basically consisted of 3 industrial locations in the Reno/Sparks area.

We showed up at the Jam around 2:30pm or so. There were a bunch of people there which was cool to see. Almost as soon as I started taking photos the cops showed up and everyone took off. This was the one decent photo I took of my friend Greg.



After leaving the first spot and after a quick stop at the Burgess skate park we ended up at the C-Union rail on Terminal Way. Here a few friends were doing work on the rail.






Then my good friend Jason took a nasty spill and I basically called it a day after that.


So until next time...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy

Night Photography at Tahoe

Last night I went up to Lake Tahoe with two friends Justin and Matt to do some night photography. We got up to the lake around 10pm and parked in a parking lot very close to the lake. Once we unloaded our gear we realized that we weren't alone. There was a big raccoon in the garbage dumpster next to where we parked. Justin got a few good shots of our furry friend and we left him alone to keep looking for food.

I set up my camera and tripod with my 10.5mm to try and get a decent star trails shot. The stars we really vibrant last night because the moon was almost non existent. After an hour of continuous 30 second exposures this is what I came up with.



Once the hour was over I wanted to try and get a decent shot of the stars without the trails. I used my 50mm to get this shot.



By now it was almost midnight and we were all pretty tired and cold so we packed up and got ready to head back to Reno. But before we took off we left our friend the raccoon a cupcake near his dumpster just in case there wasn't enough for him to eat last night.

until next time...

-dave

Good times...

Well I figured since I have had this thing since January I should actually post something.

This week I took some photos of my good friend Linda Glines at the Avenue C salon on California Avenue. It was a good time and a good learning experience for me since this was pretty much the first time I have done this type of photography. I have done mostly landscapes and nature photos in the past so this is a nice change of pace and has inspired me to start doing more model / fashion / pin up style photography. Here are a few shots from that shoot.







So that's it for now. Please check out my Flickr account for some more of my photos.

-dave

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidduffy/