Colby / Glendale Fire Panorama

I arrive at work before daybreak each morning so I usually make a point of checking to see if the sunrise is going to be a pretty one. On this day as I approached a window near my office, I could see a red glow coloring all of the cubicles that are adjacent to it so I expected something spectacular. This is what I saw. The Colby fire as it is being called is still burning as I write this. It has caused a lot of damage and it was apparently set by 3 idiots. The smoke was so bad on Friday that I had to leave Pasadena and work from home. I'm hoping the air quality will be better tomorrow.

Big Woody

Big Woody, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

In September of 2011, my co-worker Michelle told me there was going to be a car show in South Pasadena. Kathy and I drove over and found it was a really big car show. I made a lot of images that day but this is the first one I have processed. I was taken with this 1939 Ford Deluxe Woody as soon as I saw it. It had killer wood work, completely restored. All that was missing was a surfboard sticking out the back.

It's another Pasadena sunrise

It's another Pasadena sunrise, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I had just left home and was driving to work. It was still dark but I could see a reddish glow on the eastern horizon so I decided to return home to get my camera and tripod. There had been a few spectacular sunrises earlier in the month and I was hoping to capture one. When I arrived at work the entire sky was ablaze with color. I had decided I would try to make an image of the Pasadena skyline from the 10th floor of the building I work in. This is one of the photos I made. The domed building is Pasadena's City Hall. I wish I had offset it a bit to take advantage of the rule of thirds but like they say, rules are meant to be broken.

You will never fade for me

You will never fade for me, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Pasadena's City Hall is a beautiful place and I am lucky enough to be able to visit once in a while. If I see that the sunset is particularly pretty, I often walk over and make a few images.

Aspiring Chefs

Aspiring Chefs, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I had been working really late night after night and found myself once again sitting in front of my computer at work, feeling really sleepy. I thought that maybe a walk around old town Pasadena might wake me up so I headed out camera in hand. I decided to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and upon walking out, I saw four students from the Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts College walking side-by-side. I couldn't resist taking this shot. I walked back to work in the fading light.

A Game of Cat and Mouse

A Game of Cat and Mouse, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Friends and co-workers Tom and Geri (not to be confused with the cat and mouse characters that inspired the ultra-violent Itchy and Scratchy cartoons) and I decided to bring our cameras and tripods to work and walk over to Pasadena's California Mediterranean style City Hall during our lunch hour. As planned we took a few HDR sequences. The weather was partly sunny with a strong overcast building as the lunch hour progressed. By the time we were walking back to work we could feel rain drops beginning to fall. I never mind cloud cover when I shoot HDR images. Clouds act as a big soft box and look very interesting in tone mapped images. The building was completed in 1927 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Keep-on-a-rockin' me baby

Keep-on-a-rockin' me baby, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Seeburg Wall-O-Matic counter mounted jukebox looking pretty gritty.

Seebring Wall-O-Matic

Seebring Wall-O-Matic, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Lunch at Johnny Rockets in Pasadena. I always like to take HDR's of reflective objects. I did kind of freak out the counter staff. They didn't know what to make of my big camera and gorilla pod.

After the storm

After the storm, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

South Delacy street reflects on the passing storm

Her

Her, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Everything I see, whatever I do, wherever I go