Rushing to Stand Still

Mocca Mocca

2011-01-24T12:23:00.001-08:00

Mocca Mocca, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Taken on Maiden Lane in Union Square. Post Processing done in Lightroom.

2011 Calendars Completed!

2010-11-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

The Maltphoto.com 2011 Wall calendars have been designed and are being printed as you read this! I had a tough time deciding on which photos to include this year as there were lots of great moments to choose from. Below is a sample of the images included in this year's calendar. The calendars are 8.5 x 11, and 17x11 when opened and hanging. If you're interested in purchasing one, the price is $15, and they should be ready to ship by early December. Please drop me a line at andre at andremaltaisphotography.com or maltphotography at gmail.com, if you are interested in purchasing one.

The Wescott Top Pro Tour - San Francisco

2010-10-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Taken with a Canon 40D and a 70-200mm f2.8 IS II at 200mm, 2.8, and 1/250 Sec ISO 320

On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend the FJ Westcott Top Pro Tour in South San Francisco, California. What attracted me to this seminar was the opportunity to photograph different lighting setups with models. Wescott had a done something similar on a much larger scale at Photoshop World in Las Vegas, but I was unable to attend. Now, you might ask, how does one set up a lighting demonstration and allow everyone to photograph at the same time? Wouldn't it be difficult to set up the strobes and everything? Well, that was my first thought, at least.

The solution is simple and extremely elegant. Westcott makes a continuous lighting source called a Spiderlite TD5. It's sort of a "What You See Is What You Get" approach. Since the subject is constantly lit, it allows multiple photographers to take photos using the lighting setup. I've seen these used before, but only in online videos and talked about in some books. Actually seeing them in action definitely pushed me over the edge, and they are now at the top of my list as my next equipment purchase. Now, clearly you can't really use these to shoot at f/16 for fashion-type photography, but for those who do family, baby, and senior portraits, they can be quite useful. The nice thing about these lights are that they can accept both fluorescent daylight balanced full spectrum bulbs and tungsten bulbs.

Rod Evans photographing our model, Chelsea with the TD5 Spiderlites

The evening was divided into two parts, a basic overview of lighting techniques (short, broad, rembrandt, butterfly, etc) and a demonstration by pro Rod Evans of how he uses the lights. The first part was given and demonstrated by John Williams, the Westcott Technical Rep, who allowed us to photograph the beautiful Chelsea with the various lighting setups. For me, this demonstration and the opportunity to photograph the different lighting setups was a terrific use of time. I also got to break in my new 70-200mm f2.8 IS II lens, which performed beautifully.

After a short break, Rod Evans then took center stage and proceeded to demonstrate how he uses the TD-5's. Despite his equipment not arriving, Rod made the best of a bad situation and watching him improvise with the equipment that was available was quite impressive. He walked us through his basic lighting set-up and philosophy. Then proceeded to demonstrate a high-fashion type shoot using the TD-5's. Normally, this type of shoot would be done with strobes, but since the TD-5's were all that were available, he demonstrated as best he could the different setups, posing techniques and interactions that make him a "Top Pro". He ended with a quick overview of how to make money using social networking (mainly facebook) and different tools that he uses to streamline his studio business.

Overall, I'd recommend this seminar for those looking to gain some knowledge of lighting or looking for some new ways to improve their use of lighting in their work. For me, this was a very timely seminar as I work through launching my new website and focus on lifesyle photography. There were a few things that I wish were done better, though. First, there were no materials to take home, other than the Westcott catalogs. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the Kelby Training Seminars, but it would have been nice to have some of the set-ups diagrammed for future use. My memory isn't what it used to be. The trade show portion was also a little on the smaller side (granted there were only maybe 50 participants as opposed to the 300+ that Kelby accommodates), and only Westcott was represented there. It would have been nice to have reps from some of the other sponsors there as well. The nice thing is that all 26 cities are being video taped and attendees will have access to all 26 seminar videos once the tour ends in mid-November. The door prizes at the end were also very nice, including a 16GB Lexar card, a year membership at NAPP, a 5 in 1 reflector kit, and a complete OnOne Plug-in Suite (which I already have and love) among other items.

If your interested in attending and want to save $20 on the registration fee (as I did), you can go here, to follow the link to get that savings.

Paris Icons at the Mumm Napa Gallery

2010-09-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Paris Icons at Mumm Napa, by Andre Maltais

On Monday, Labor Day, we took a drive up north to Napa Valley. I've always found that Mondays of a long weekend are the best for visting and wine tasting. While we are driving north and stopping at vineyards at a leisurely pace, everyone else is heading out of the valley and back home. At our first stop, Consentino Winery, we picked up a bottle of one of my favorite wines, CigarZin and a copy of Wine Country This Week, looking for tasting coupons and other goings on. I was pleasantly surprised to find this article on a photography exhibit going on at Mumm Napa.

What I love about Mumm is the Ansel Adams prints they usually have displayed in the Gallery. As a gallery they usually have wonderful photography on display and until recently hosted the Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Finish, where I first got my taste of having my photography on gallery walls. Not to mention that there's no admission fee for viewing the gallery. While the Ansel Adams photos were not on display, the Paris Icons Photography Exhibit was an excellent substitute.

Obligatory flickr link

Paris Icons, by James Scholz is on exhibit until September 26th. Given the sheer number of times I have been up to Napa since March, I'm surprised I hadn't been aware of this exhibit. Scholz's photography of Paris is amazing. The prints are beautiful and the composition and his unique take on Paris is excellent. I highly recommend stopping by the exhibit before September 26th, as it is well worth seeing. My only disappointment was that there weren't more images. After wandering through the gallery of about 50 photographs, I was left wanting to see more.

Scholz does has a book available at IconImages, but it's a tad out of my price range for the moment. The prints are all on sale and I must say, very reasonably priced. I was very tempted to purchase more than a few of them! Mumm Napa is on the Silverado Trail, just north of Mile Marker 12.

The Clay

2010-08-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

The Clay, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Fillmore and Clay

Camera: Canon 40D
Aperture: f/4
Focal length: 60mm
Lens: Canon 24-105mm L f/4
ISO: 1000
Shutter Speed: 1/30

Processed with Lightroom 3 and converted to b&w with Silver Efex Pro

Banksy?

2010-06-23T09:54:00.001-07:00

Banksy?, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

A recent article in the Berkeley Daily Planet on Sunday by Gar Smith brought this graffiti to my attention. According to the article, it appeared in early June, around the same time Banksy's film "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is playing in Berkeley at the Shattuck Cinema. I'm not sure it's a Banksy work, and I don't know how to decide if it is.

Fortunately, I pass by this parking lot every day on the way to work. I never noticed it before, because it's really set back from the street. I stopped the other day to get a shot, just in case it was done by Banksy. In the meantime, I guess I'll periodically check his website to see if this piece makes an appearance.

Let me know if you think this is his work, or an imposters. I have my own thoughts, but would love to hear others.

Nicolas Alain

2010-05-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, I was fortunate to be able to get back east and visit my nephew for the first time. He's almost 6 months old in these photos. I took the opportunity to rent a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO HSM
lens from Lensrentals.com. I normally use Borrowlenses.com because of the ability to pick up the lens at a local photography store. Lensrentals.com was a very seamless transaction. They provide a return label, so you just keep the box and packing material that the lens comes in, slap the return label on the box and ship it back at the end of your rental period. I'd definitely use them again.

The Sigma is very similar to the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, but at about 2/3 of the price. I've been a fan of Sigma lenses since I first bought my Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM. I've been very impressed with the sharpness and quality of the lens, and was hoping to see similar results from the 70-200. Sigma is coming out with an Optical Stabilized (OS) version of this lens soon, which may persuade me to go with the Sigma version over the Canon for my low light needs. As you can see from the photos below, I was very pleased with the results of the Sigma. The second photo was taken with my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS
. which is a great lens as well, and is on my camera 80-85% of the time.

Crocker Galleria

2010-05-19T11:03:00.001-07:00

Crocker Galleria, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Location: Downtown San Francisco
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm
Focal Length: 10mm
Aperture: f/14
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/25 Second
Black & White conversion using Nik's Silver Efex Pro in

Kiehl's

2010-05-05T11:39:00.001-07:00

Kiehl's, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

You can see my whole Neon set here. I used Nik Silver Efex Pro for the black and white conversion., Then used OnOne's Photoframe 4.5 for the frame/film styling.

when we were young

2010-04-27T12:14:00.001-07:00

when we were young, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Found this while walking the dog yesterday. There was a date scratched into the concrete as well. Just thought this was so cute.

after hours

2010-03-09T12:55:00.001-08:00

after hours, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Seen on Shattuck in Berkeley around 9pm.

quiet through tunnel

2010-03-03T13:57:00.001-08:00

quiet through tunnel, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

As seen on Stockton Street at Sutter yesterday morning.

at the corner of vine and mustard

2010-02-19T13:23:00.001-08:00

at the corner of vine and mustard, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Spent last weekend scouting locations for the Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest. Unfortunately, the entry limit has been reduced to 1 per category (traditional/innovative) due to wall space restrictions. I like this one, but not enough to go with it as my entry this year. It is HDR, so I could enter it into the innovative category, but I have another idea to try first.

124 Photographers Show Their Best from 2009

2010-01-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier, Jim Goldstein's 3rd annual reader list of the Best Photos of 2009 was published on his blog yesterday. There were a total of 124 entries, which I plan on visiting each and every one of them. It may take some time, but I'm really interested in seeing what other people have done this past year. It's also a nice opportunity to visit the sites of other JMG Gallery Blog readers and find more people to learn from.

Some people simply did a top 5 or a top 10, others chose to break it down by month, or include more than 10 photos. My set on flickr contains 30 photos, which is just a small portion of my overall work in 2009. My previous blog entry shows what I consider my top 5, though I'd love to hear from any of you you think other photos from the set should be in the top 5. I found that this year, my top 5 photos tend to have more to do with what I was able to do as a photographer than as technically "perfect" shots.

So, sit back, click away and be amazed (as I have been) by what some people are doing with a camera these days.

Listing of the Best of 2009 Photos:

Best Photos of 2009 – Jim M. Goldstein | JMG-Galleries
Best of 2009 Photo Set – Heikki Salmi
Top 10 2009 – Chris Moore | Exploring Light Photography
Best of 2009 – Wat Chedi Luang | FocusPocus
Best of 2009 – Dave Wilson | News and Views
Five For Friday – Favorites of 2009 - Craig Ferguson Images | Cultural Photography
Best Photos of 2009 – David Cleland | Flixelpix
Best Photos 2009 – Chuq Von Rospach | chuqui 3.0
2009 Favorites – G Dan Mitchell | G Dan Mitchell Photography
Best of 2009 – Roberta Murray | Uncommon Depth
My Year in Pictures – Jon McCormack Photography
Top 10 Photos of 2009 – Steven Bourelle | SierraVisions
2009: Year in Review – Stephen Zacharias
2009 – A Photographic Year in Review – David Taylor | Sixtyone North
Best Photos of 2009 – Tony Rath Photography
Top 10 of 2009 – Steve Cole Photography Blog
my top ten shots of 2009 – Tom Varden
Best of 2009 – Mario Batalla
My Top 10 Photos from 2009 – Justin Korn [dot] com
Best of 2009 – Inge Fernau | Magical Glow Photography
My Favorite Photos From 2009 – Brian Auer | Epic Edits
Best Photos From 2009 – Janis Janums Photography
Best of 2009 – Tim Parkin | Still Developing
2009 Retrospective – Jan Klier | AllKlier Photography
Best of 2009 – Jenni Brehm | Changing Perspectives
2009 in Pictures – Hitesh Sawlani | A Visual Treat
Year 2009 in pictures – Minna Kinnunen | The Quiet Picture
2009 in front of my Lens – Marcin Retecki Photography
Best of 2009 – Peter Carr | Vanilla Days
Best of 2009 – Dave Reichert
My top favourites from 2009 – Ricky Law
Best of 2009 – Joshua Beckman |PhotoVandal
2009 Top Ten – Jessica Sweeney | Quotidian Photography
My favourite shots in 2009 – Catalin Marin | Momentary Awe
Best Photos of 2009 – Suzy Walker | Reef Beasties
My Best of 2009! – Michelle Johnson | My Two Seasons
The Best of 2009 – Photographic Phantasy: Photography by Samantha Genier
Best of Photos Part I-IV - Chuck Goolsbee
Statue of Liberty 2009 – Scott Dunn
My Favorite Photos of 2009 – Ed Rosack | Central Florida Photo Ops
Best Photos from 2009 – Jim Wheeler
Year in Review 2009 – Laurie Ballesteros | Photine
Favorites of the Year – Ken Trout | Lunch is Optional
Year 2009 in Korwel photography – Iza Korwel | Korwel Photography
Best of 2009 – Uschi Gerschner Photography
Top Five Images from 2009 and Keeping It New – Mike Cavaroc
Wrapping up 2009 – Ivan Makarov Photography
Favourite Nine from 2009 – Todd Metcalfe | Daily Grind Photography
Favorite Images of 2009! – Allison Pluda | Seneca Creek Photography
Best photos of 2009: Non Portrait Pictures – Julie Provost | Julie Loves Photography
2009 in 12 beelden – Jeroen Mentens | FaunaFlora.org
Reflections on images of 2009 – Mark Graf | Graf Nature & Wildlife Photography
An End of Year Retrospective for 2009 – Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston | Journey of Light Photography
Top Ten Photos Of 2009 – Jed Link | Mr. & Mrs. Link
YEAR IN REVIEW – TOP 5′S OF 2009 – Matt Graham
Ten Best for 2009 – Dan Baumbach
Top 10 Photographs For 2009 - Seung Kye Lee – fine art landscape photography
My 10 Favorite photos of 2009 – Alex Budak | Unpopped Collar
Best Photos of 2009 – Dave Hammaker Photography
My Best Photos of 2009 – D. Travis North | Shutter Photo
Favourite Pictures of 2009 – Janne Moren | Janne in Osaka
My Best Photos of 2009 – Michael Spivak | Developing The Fixer
2009 Favourite – Marc Hodges | sevennine
NZ Opera: Macbeth behind the scenes – Alexia Sinclair
The Best of ‘09 – Porter Watkins
Respect - Paul (Slimeface) Tarin
Best Images for 2009 – Giovanni Russello | GRGalleries
Happy 2010 / Best of 2009 – William Neill Photography
Top 10 Photos of 2009 – Digital Kloc Photography
Best Photos of 2009 – Dave Schumaker
Best of 2009 – G. Kaltenbrun | gZphotoGraphs
Favourite landscape photographs from 2009 – Jonathan Martin-DeMoor | Silvicola borealis Images
Top 5 of 2009 - Jim Maher | Jim Maher Photoworks
Favourites 2009 – Chris Gin
Best Photographs of 2009: Globetrotting – Justin Shifrin | J. Stuart Studios
Best 10 of 2009 – Duffy Knox | The View Through My Glass
Best of 2009 – Rian Castillo | Digitized Chaos
Best of 2009 – Rick Goldwasser
Best of 2009 – Jeremy Brooks
My best from 2009 – Massimo Belloni
Favorites of 2009 – Pat Ulrich Photography
Best Photos of 2009 – Nick Fuller | JadeGreenImage
Best of 2009 – Stig Nygaard | Rockland
My Fave 5 from 2009 – Greg Russell Russell
Best Images of 2009 – Peter Cox Photography
My Favourite Photos of 2009 – Daniel Loshak
Favorite photo – Lacey Smith | Lace’s Photography
2009 Year in Pictures - Lane Hartwell | The Post and Review
Ten More from 2009 - Ann Torrence
Best of 2009 – Ken Snyder
Best of 2009 – Simon Ponder | Simon Says
TOP Photos of 2009 - Gary Crabbe | Enlightened Images
2009 Top 10 – Steven Scherbinski | Randomness
Looking back, looking forward - Kevin Ebi | Living Wilderness Nature Photography
Best of 2009 – Todd Heckert | Great Lakes Exposure
MY BEST PHOTOS of 2009 – Sean Willis Photography
Best Photos of 2009 – Andre Maltais | Maltphoto
Top 9 of 2009! – Jenna Stirling
2009 in review, the photo version - Sam Bloomberg-Rissman Photography
Favorite Photos from 2009 – Ron Niebrugge | Niebrugge Images
Niner for Zero Niner before Zero Niner of Zero Ten - Jay Goodrich Photography
Best of 2009 – Prajit Ravindran
Photos of 2009 + Flickr Set- Carl Donohue | Skolai Images
Top 12, 2009 – John Fujimagari
Top 10 Photos of 2009 – Mike Criss
2009 IN REVIEW – Kriz Cpec | kRiZ cPEc Photo Blog
My Favorite Photos of 2009 – Greg Lato | latoga photography
Best of 2009 – Andree Oulmann | On Linden Way
10 Favorite Pictures of 2009 – Chris Williams | Hidden Light Photography
Your Best Photos From 2009 – Gurbir Singh Brar | Fotovala
Landscape Photography My Best of 2009 – Steve Sieren
Best of 2009 – Torsten Curdt
Best of 2009 – Stefan Neuweger | addicted2pixels
Image Picks from 2009 – Neil Corman Photography
Jahresrückblick (fotografisch) – Steffen Goethling | Lens-Flare.de
Best Photos of 2009 – Mike Reys |pl?dys
My Best Photos from 2009 – Terri Jacobson | Greyhound Gardens
My best photos of 2009 – Bryan Villarin | All Narfed Up
Best of 2009 – Heidi Donat
Best of 2009 – Pedja Pavlicic
Best of 2009 – Matthew Sallee | IAmMatt
Best of 2009 - Go2Grl
10 Top Photos of 2009 – Gavriel Jecan Photography
My Top 10 Photos for 2009 – Neil Creek Photography

Best Photos of 2009

2010-01-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

First off, a great big thank you to Jim Goldstein for this great blog project, now in it's 3rd year. Sometimes you can't always see the forest for the trees, and taking some time to reflect on year's worth of work can be extremely rewarding. He will be posting links for everyone participating in this project on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, and I will be posting to that entry, both here and on Facebook and Twitter.

While 2009 was, in all rights, a very tough year for some people, it was a very successful one for me in terms of photography. When I reviewed what I had done in 2009, I was personally very satisfied with the results. One of my 2009 photography goals was to shoot more often and more of what inspired me. To help get me started on this particular goal, I started participating in an annual photochallenge shooting one photo a day with a different theme for each day. I was able to get some spectacular photos through the process. Unfortunately, the rigors of daily life took over, I fell behind and never managed to get through May or even get back on the wagon. You can see the beginnings of this challenge here.

In March, I entered three photos into the Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest. I participate in this contest every year, as mustard season is my favorite time of year to visit wine country. This year, my second participating in this event, one of my photos was awarded an honorable mention. I hope to build off of that success in the coming year.

July brought about Scott Kelby's 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk, with one of 5 walks in San Francisco led by none other than Jim Goldstein. So I jumped at the chance and was rewarded with several photos that are all worthy of being in the top 10.

Trips to Seattle, New York City, Boston and Orange County rounded out the year and provided wonderful photo opportunities for me.

I've created a set of my top photos over on Flickr. They say every picture is worth a thousand words, and many of these photos have a back story that has a personal connection with me. Conveying that personal connection in a photo without a description is, to me, the hardest part of photography. To show emotions or a feeling in a photo takes more than just clicking the shutter and it is an area I hope to focus on more in 2010.

So here are my personal top 5 from 2009. There are currently 30 photos in the set, so please take a look through them and let me know what you think.

#5

From a 10th Wedding Anniversary celebration for which I was hired.

#4

Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan.

#3

This one I'm particular proud of, because I was able to incorporate all the information I learned from Joe McNally's location lighting seminar despite the fact that I didn't have any other flash than the pop-up flash on my 40D.

#2

What had once been my white whale is now an event that I'm photographing more and more of. After this shot, the park rangers starting escorting everyone down from Hawk Hill.

#1

I'm still not convinced that this is my "best" image from the previous year, but it is the one of which I'm most proud. Honorable Mention at the 2009 Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest.

Atlas in the City

2009-12-14T17:06:00.001-08:00

Atlas in the City, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Simply Love

2009-08-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Bay Bridge

2009-07-08T11:56:00.001-07:00

Untitled, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

It's been a while since I've actually posted. I took this shot after the July 3rd Fireworks at the ballpark. You can see them in this fireworks set on flickr. I like this shot for the low clouds and the bright ball of light that is AT&T Park.

Napa Valley Mustard Festival 2009

2009-03-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

I spent much of last week working on my photos for the Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest. It seems like no matter how much planning I do, I'm still doing a lot of it last minute. I spent Friday night mounting the photos that I had printed and picked up on Wednesday. I use a local shop called Sarber's to print my photos. They do a wonderful job, and typically I can pick up the prints the next day. Every single print was perfect this year.

Saturday morning was spent putting the frames and mats together, and filling out the paperwork. (Yet one more thing I could have done beforehand). Kelley and I drove up to Mumm around noon to drop off the photos and the paperwork and purchase our tickets for the Photo Finish the next Saturday. Then we headed back down the Silverado Trail for The Taste of Yountville.

I never really expect for anything to come of my entries. Winning something would be nice, but really, I think it's pretty cool that my photos get to hang on the walls of the Mumm gallery for a month afterward. I was thrilled then to receive the following email on Wednesday:

From: Amber McCann-Howlett

To: maltphoto@sbcglobal.net

Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 2:51:11 PM

Subject: Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photography Contest

Congratulations Andre!

One of your photographs has been recognized by the judges! This means either first, second, third, honorable mention, or sub-category - we can't tell you which!

We will have a ticket to the Photo Finish for you at the door. The event begins at 7 pm, Saturday, March 28. We hope to see you there!

If you have already purchased a ticket - bring a friend!

If you need additional tickets, you can call 707-938-1133 or go online at mustardfestival.org and purchase them at $95 each. Tickets will be $125 at the door.

Congratulations again!

Best regards,

Amber McCann-Howlett
Summers-McCann, Inc. Public Relations

I had three entries, but I'm not sure which one was recognized. I'm hoping it's "Mile Marker 12", since it's my favorite, but I'll be happy no matter which one it is. Below are my three entries to the 2009 Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest. If you're going to the Photo Finish, please stop me and say hello! All of the contest photos will be on display and for sale at Mumm Napa Valley until May 1st. I highly recommend you stop by to view them, it's quite a site to see a gallery full of beautiful images of Napa in bloom!

2009 Challenge: 61/365 - Joy

2009-03-04T09:23:00.001-08:00

2009 Challenge: 61/365 - Joy, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

2009 PhotoChallenge - The First Month (or so)

2009-02-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

I decided to participate in the 2009 Photochallenge , albeit a bit late. I tried to catch up, but I still haven't hit several of the first days. This years challenge is a bit different than Trevor and Jeremy have done in the past, requiring that one shoots everyday. Every day is a different theme, and we've already done some interesting stuff only a month into the project. Everything from Entropy (which was a challenge theme last year) to water, to texture. We've had weekly themes, including black and white, beverages, and colors. Not only is it rewarding to challenge yourself to come up with something new and innovative, but it's amazing to see everyone else's take on the same subject.

I decided to participate after reviewing my photography goals for this year. One of them was to shoot more, and this project has definitely got me shooting more. I've been shooting almost everyday, though recently I missed a couple days. Even though I've shot every day, I haven't necessarily posted every day, so I think I need to do a better job with that as the year goes on. The most interesting part of this project is the limited time frame in which to get your shot. I've tried very hard to shoot the day's theme on that day and it's certainly stretched the limits at times. Some of the topics are harder than others for me, and I'm sure each challenge is different for each person based on thier strengths and weaknesses as a photographer.

As an example, one of the toughest shoots for me was day 18 - Clouds. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to do this. I thought about cotton balls, and other items that I could put together to represent clouds. Then I remembered a local store painted with a cloud pattern and the old car that sat outside. I never would have taken this photo had it not been for the challenge, and yet I think its one of my better ones.

So what has this challenge done for me? Simply: A Lot. It has me thinking out of the box most of the time. To me, if the challenge is something as mundane as, say "Flag". Why should I go out and take a picture of a flag on a flagpole? There's plenty of flags around where I work (Civic Center Plaza in SF), so that's a gimme. It's incredibly rewarding to come up with something different. In the case of flag, I decided to do some selective coloring, to do something different with the shot.

What's interesting is that about a month later, the challenge was "selective coloring". So now I had to find a different shot for the same process I had done earlier. I ended up with the following:

I've found that I'm leveraging things I've learned from previous challenges in the current ones. One of the earlier challenges was "Low Point of View". I've used that theme in a few of my shots for the challenge and more so for shots I'm not shooting for the challenge. I'm trying new things with the location and angle of the camera to make a shot more unique. I'm noticing things everyday and making a mental note of challenges they may be useful for in the future. I'm using my right brain a lot more on a daily basis, which is good since my profession requires 95% usage of the left brain. Overall, I've been trying my best to get my shots on time and posted. I've been using flash and impromptu studio setups for some shots. All of which is stuff I never would do, if I weren't shooting for the challenge. I'm eager to see how this translates over the course of 3 months, 6 months and a full year into my regular shooting.

I've got a set of all my Photochallenge images over on flickr, so please stop by to check them out. There's also the group photostream, which I linked to earlier to see everyone's submissions for the challenge.

Tender is the Night

2009-01-31T11:59:00.001-08:00

Tender is the Night, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

2009 Challenge: 27/365 - Texture

2009-01-27T22:15:00.001-08:00

2009 Challenge: 27/365 - Texture, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Part of the 2009 Photochallenge. Today's theme was texture. This was much easier than I expected. Once you start looking for texture, you find it everyone. The trick was to get a fairly unique shot. This is one of the walls at the Montgomery Street BART Station. The light is from a stopped train, and you can see the reflection of the yellow safety strip and the trackway in the semicircles. I'll be posting more from today, but for now, this is my official entry for Day 27.

I can feel it in my bones

2009-01-24T15:52:00.001-08:00

I can feel it in my bones, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

2009 Challenge: 20/365 - Flag

2009-01-21T09:12:00.001-08:00

2009 Challenge: 20/365 - Flag, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Part of the 2009 Photochallenge. Today's theme was flag. I had wanted to do something really creative for today's challenge. Unfortunately, despite the myriad of flags at the civic center, I had a photoblock and couldn't come up with anything terrifically inspired. So I did the next best thing. I used Lightroom to take a decent shot and make it a little different. I think this stands out much more than the original photo.

The process I used is documented here, courtesy of Kelley Ann Martin. In a nutshell I did this using the adjustment brush to desaturate the image, then erased the portion of the mask where I wanted the color to show. I finished this off in Photoshop Elements, using Noise Ninja to clean up the image a little and apply some final sharpening.

2009 Challenge: 18/365 - Clouds

2009-01-18T17:41:00.001-08:00

2009 Challenge: 18/365 - Clouds, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

There's not a cloud in the sky. Not even a wisp of one, so I spent most of the day thinking in the back of my mind how to do clouds without any clouds. I was thinking about how I could use cotton balls, but couldn't really come up with anything ingenious. Then I remembered the building and the car with the cloud pattern painted on them and voila! I wanted the car and the building in the same shot, but it was parked further away today, so that shot was not to be. I took a bunch of both, but think this one is the best. Some angles it's hard to tell that it's a cloud pattern, or it's hard to tell it's a car. I think this shot accomplishes both.

Friday Photo Links

2009-01-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late to the game of this, as Jim published this list on Tuesday. But, he had outstanding participation and I'm still working my way through this list. So, without further ado, below are the links for the participants in Jim Goldsteins blog project of the best shots of 2008. There's some absolutely amazing photography to be found in these links, so I highly recommend checking these out.

"My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2008" - Jim M. Goldstein

My Favorite Shots of the Year - View from the Little Red Tent by Edie Howe

2008 Favorites - Photine by Laurie Ballesteros

My Nephew - Amit Goyal
My nephew woke me up in the morning and was in a very chirpy mode when this was clicked

Another world (+Vorher/Nachher) - Visuelle Gedanken by Martin Wolf

Boy, Hanoi - The Sun Shines & The Igloo Melts by Jon Gresham

Best Photos from 2008 - Abraham Neben

Apocalyptic Capitalism - Sultana Sandwich by James Hill

Top 10 Photos of 2008, My first year in Wisconsin - Sierra Visions by Steven Bourelle

My Best Photos: 2008 - Shutter Photo by D Travis North
This past year was a huge growth year for my digital photography skills which I feel is exhibited quite nicely in my photo favorites of 2008.

Best Photos From 2008 - G Dan Mitchell Photography

Protesting Prop 8 - Quan Photography by John Quan

Bir y?l böyle geçti... - Caglar.ca by Caglar Tukel
Most of Photos taken during our traveling around Turkey and hiking around our hometown, Izmir.

My best shots of 2008 - Jonesblog by Bryan WIlliam Jones

Flamingo and Desert Landscape - pl?dys's photoblog by Mike Reys
Both pictures are from one of the most beautiful places on earth: Chile's Atacama desert. The salt lakes there provide for some stunning colours and beautiful wildlife.

Suspended - Mark Groves Photography

My Favorite 10 Images from 2008 - IM Digital by Ivan Makarov

My Best Photo of 2008 - Matt Ward Photography
This photo was taken in Oct at 7am after a cold night in Atlanta, GA.

Highlights of 2008 - Lori Jackson Photography
In 2008, I picked up my camera again after a year long hiatus following pregnancy and my son's birth.

Favorites from 2008 - Adventures Through The Lens by Rebecca Jackrel

Top Ten Photos of 2008 - Chris Moore Photography

My Photo Record - Kriz Cpec Photo Blog

Best of 2008 - Catavino by Ryan Opaz

Looking Forward and Back - Graf Nature Photography by Mark Graf

Lloyd's Favorites of 2008 - L.D. Cross

My Favorite Photos from 2008 - Epic Edits by Brian Auer
A selection of my favorite photos from 2008, broken down by each month and supplemented with a few thoughts.

Derryclare Lough - Focus Pocus by Albert MacSweeny
My best photo of the year was when I was lucky enough to get a still lake in the usually turbulent west of Ireland

Best of 2008 - News and Views by Dave Wilson

Needle - Andel's Photoblog by Andel Früh
This photo has been shot with the kit lens (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6) in retro position (front lens to the camera)

Year in Pictures - Marcin Retecki

2008 Top Ten - Lois Elling

My Best Photos of 2008 - Out of My Mind by Steven L. Mullen
These are travel and nature shots taken in Michigan, China, and locally.

One from 2008 - Hockley Photography by Aaron Hockley
It's a photo taken at night, looking across a bridge towards another photographer also taking a picture of the same ferris wheel as I was.

2008 in Pictures - Sawlani Photography by Hitesh Sawlani

My Top 10 Photos for 2008 - by Neil Creek Photography

Best of 2008 - The Quiet Picture by Minna Kinnunen
My 10 favourites from 2008, everything from flower closeups to landscapes and starry nights!

Best of 2008 - by Stig Nygaard
Just a quick little mixed selection of what I consider my best photos from 2008

My Top Ten Photos from 2008 - Korn on the Blog by Justin Korn
Of the 1,800+ images I uploaded to Flickr this year, these are what I thought were my top 10.

Blog Project: "your Best Photos from 2008" - Jim's Photography by Jim Wheeler

My Best Photos from 2008 - TrevorCarpenter.com by Trevor Carpenter

Best Photos of 2008 - by Dave Reichert

2008 Favorites - by Beth Madison

01/01/2009 Best of 2008 - Brad Barton Photography

2008: My Favorite Photos - My Digital Life by Jeremy Brooks

2008: The year in photographs - Katie the Scrapbook Lady by Katie

Gotham. Or maybe London - SFT Photography by Steve Thomas
I love the dark and moody feel, combined with the futuristic look of the building. I really enjoyed shooting it!

My Best Photos of 2008 - Malphoto.com by Andre Maltais
I'm particularly proud of these submissions this year, as it seems I've made some great strides in my photography from the beginning of the year.

Best of 2008 Project - Photos From The Top Floor by Carsten Fischer

La Arcada seating on a rare rainy October morning - gZphotoGraph

Jaguar - by Jarrod Erbe Photography
This jaguar image was taken at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The background was generated using a combination of Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and DFT Light.

Best of 2008? - Suzy Walker, Underwater Photoblog
My top ten fav travel, underwater and macro photos taken in 2008

My best shots of 2008 - TemujinPhoto Blog by João Almeida

Best of 2008 - by Rick Goldwasser

My Top 10 Images of 2008 - The Jim Stamates Collection by Jim Stamates

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 - Mannedspace: Photographs by MT Fanders

Best 10 of 2008 - by Duffy Knox

Future Christmas Card - by Massimo Belloni

Best Photos of 2008 - MIZSPONTANEITY: A Girl With A Camera by Elaine
I got a Nikon D40X for Christmas 2007, and although some of these photos were with my trusty Sony W70 point-and-shoot, these are my favorite 10 results of my first year with a digital SLR.

Best of 2008 - Changing Perspectives by Jenni Brehm

My Best of 2008 - by Eliya Selhub
In 2008, I have found myself increasingly drawn to animals as subjects, and a slight cartoonish absurdity always appeals to me.

My Best Photos From 2008 - Lilahpops - Plunging into Photography by Anthea Brown
Looking back over my photos for the past year shows my increasing interest in post-processing experimentation alongside my favourite macro format.

My top 10 favorite photos of 2008 - The Taeleman's Blog by Kris Taeleman

My Favorite Photos of 2008 - Coulter Photos by Scott Coulter

Favorites of 2008 - XGray Vision by Stephen Gray

My Top 10 Favorite Images of 2008 - Cornforth Images by Jon Cornforth
Spectacular nature and wildlife photography, photos, and pictures by award winning professional photographer Jon Cornforth.

Sitting Backwards on My Horse - latoga photography By Greg Lato

Top ten images of 2008 - Enlightened Images by Gary Crabbe
These are some of the image I took in 2008, and which rose toward the top of the - I Like - pile.

Best 10 photos of 2008 - Have Camera Will Travel by Paul Dymond
Images from professional Australian travel photographer Paul Dymond which ironically were all taken pretty close to home.

Best of 2008 - Heidi Donat

Best Photos of 2008 - by Luca Filigheddu Photography

Favourites of 2008 - by Chris Brown

Best of 2008 - by William Kahn

Pics of the pops 2008 - fotoVoyager by William Fawcett

My Top 10 Photos of 2008 - Always Breaking by Gary Hegenbart

Best of 2008 - by Trevin Chow
This is a set of my best photos that I took during 2008 which is a combination of Flickr's "interestingness" meter and my own selection.

Best of 2008 - Hotel Yankee Foxtrot by Alex McGeagh
A collection of the better images captured in a progressive and productive year for me.

Top 10 Photos of 2008 - Digital Kloc Photography Blog by Brian Kloc

Burrard-Lucas Top Ten Photographs of 2008 - Burrard-Lucas Photography by William Burrard-Lucas
We are brothers from the UK with a shared passion for wildlife photography – in 2008 we followed Meerkats in the Kalahari, stalked Jaguars in the wetlands of Brazil and waded through swamps at night to photograph Caimans...

My best 10+3 pictures of 2008 - All Day I Dream About Photography by Antoine Khater

Best of 2008 on Highway 89 - Ann Torrence Photography
Transecting the west from Mexico to Canada on US89.

Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance - by Dave Fitch
A railway bridge in Leith [Edinburgh] that was restored and then left to rot. It's not perfectly symmetrical, but then neither is the bridge

My Top 10 Photographys of 2008 - Nuwomb Bits by Scott Webb

Best of 2008 - Matt Sallee Photography

My 10 best photos of 2008 - Stephen Trainor Photography
Mostly landscapes, mostly of the Southwest, but with a hint of other anglophone countries.

10 in 2008 - k|d loftis photography
My favorite images from 2008 which include weddings, maternity and newborns, families and babies and a few personal images from the year.

My 10 Favorite Images of 2008 - Della Huff Photography
My ten favorites from 2008 include California landscapes and cityscapes, with a couple of extra goodies thrown in for fun!

Best Photos of 2008 - by Dave Schumaker

Best of 2008 - by Jay Goodrich Photography

My best photos from 2008 - All Narfed Up by Bryan Villarin
Choosing my best photos from 2008 was really hard to narrow down, especially since it was my first year with a SLR camera.

Mein Flickr Photostream 2008 - Best of - by Stefan Neuweger

My Best Photos from 2008 - Why Yet Another Photo Place by Rafa

Best Photos from 2008 - by Daria Sukhanovska
Only until i created this set of 13 photos, i realized how much progress i have done this year: I have traveled a lot, got one photo printed in the magazine and had my first own personal exhibition in the university library and simply had fun with my photos

My Best of 2008 - by Phil Price Photography

[tags]Best of 2008, Photography, Blog Project, Photographers[/tags]

Wingsuit Base Jumping

2009-01-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

I learned about this clip from a Lance Armstrong twitter. These guys are pretty crazy, and pretty amazing at the same time! You can watch a larger version here.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

'One Track Mind' Trailer

2009-01-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

I love surfing. Having grown up outside of Boston, I'm not really sure how this came to be. The funnier thing is, despite all my trips to Hawaii, I have no clue how to surf. Never been on a board in my life. I've tried my hand at surfing photography a couple times, but it's much easier in the water, I think, than from the shore. At least with my crappy telephoto lens anyways.

Stumbled across this trailer on the Patagonia Blog. I love it, of course, and thought I'd share it with all of you. Enjoy!

My Best Photos of 2008

2009-01-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything, largely due to the holidays, and the fact that I just didn't shoot as much in December as I would have liked. I do have a bunch of photos from Boston that need processing, but in the meantime, I'd thought I'd post a few of my best shots from 2008. Thanks to Jim Goldstein for this great blog project. Justin Korn has posted his top shots and Brian Auer has taken a month by month approach which is very interesting, and I'd like to do for 2009, material permitting.

I've created a set of my top photos over on Flickr. This has coincidentally tuerned out to be 20 photos, but I suspect I'll add a shot or two from my recent visit to Boston. There's several more photos that I'm very proud of, but they're not published on Flickr and they never will be. You can see a smattering of some of those in my portfolio set on my website in the Portfolio section. Almost all of those were taken this year and I'm hoping to take more in 2009, especially now that I've upgraded to the Canon 40D.

So here are a few photo's from the flickr set. Enjoy and I hope to have even more for my a look back at 2009!

Flickr MeMe

2008-12-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Vertical Horizon, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

“It works like this: if you use Flickr, go to the sixth page of your photostream and pick the sixth picture there, then post it to your blog.”

Oakland Through a BART Train

2008-10-22T16:25:00.001-07:00

Oakland Through a BART Train, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

In a Row

2008-10-12T12:39:00.001-07:00

In a Row, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

San Francisco Fleet Week 2008 - Blue Angels

Italian Sangiovese

2008-10-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Nice short video on Sangiovese. One of my favorite varietals. I have to admit, though, while I know my California wines very well, I really don't know my Italian wines as well as I should. In fact, I'm often lost when it comes to Italian wines on a wine list, with the exception of Barolos.

Above the Clouds

2008-09-30T09:35:00.001-07:00

Above the Clouds, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

One more from the other morning.

SF Golden Sunrise

2008-09-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

SF Golden Sunrise, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

For the last couple years, I've been trying to get some photos of the Golden Gate Bridge sticking out of the fog. It seemed that everytime I was actually able to get there, that the conditions were not ideal. Either there wasn't any fog, or the whole bridge was fogged in. With a little urging from K. early Saturday morning, I dragged my butt out of bed at 6am to try and get to the bridge by sunrise. I didn't get there before sunrise like I wanted, but just shortly after, and the light was almost perfect. The morning was beautiful and the fog was ideal. By the time most of the tourist started arriving, I was leaving, and so was the fog. I'd finally was able to take the photos I was hoping for and experienced a magical morning looking out over the bay.

Chihuly Flowers

2008-09-12T11:56:00.001-07:00

Chihuly Flowers, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Chihuly at the De Young

2008-09-04T10:47:00.001-07:00

Chihuly bowl, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Finally got to the De Young Museum this past weekend and more specifically, the Chihuly exhibit. Definitely worth the price of adminission, and it was a photographers playground as well. I shot well over 200 photos in that exhibit alone, and may go back to take some more. I'll be posting them over the next month on Flickr, Zooomr and this blog.

Moo-Moo Chanel

2008-08-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

Maui Chanel, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Just got my new Stobist kit, so I was messing around testing it out to make sure it worked. No idea what I was doing, but a few of these turned out ok. I don't like the large shadow covering her collar, but overall was pretty pleased with the results. I'm looking forward to going through the lighting 101 and the on assignment tutorials and learning how to get the most of my off-camera lighting!

The truth is out there

2008-08-07T16:00:00.001-07:00

The truth is out there, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

This was taken last October when the Blue Angels were in town. Didn't get many great shot of the Blue Angels, but managed to get this one from the top floor of our office building. Recently went back and decided to do a conversion to black and white and was pretty pleased with the results. I think this one definitely makes it into next years calendar!

imagine

2008-07-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

imagine, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

corkage

2008-05-09T11:41:00.001-07:00

corkage, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

I saw a photo like this in the background of a movie I was watching. I no longer remember which movie it was, but I like the concept very much. I'm also distracted when a movie has some really good bokeh. So much so, I sometimes have to back up a scene because I missed the dialog or action.

Anyways, I used a couple of corks from some of my favorite wines. The Jax label I discovered on a private wine tasting with some of our friends from the Junior League. It's a small boutique winery in Napa Valley and have a great wine maker in Kirk Venge. The Jax Cabernet is a phenomenal wine, and has made appearances on a few TV shows including Entourage on HBO.

The FogDog Pinot Noir is from the sister winery in Sonoma of Joseph Phelps. My wife and I love this wine so much, we often stop by the Winery just to pick up a bottle or two! It's a relatively new wine, the first vintage being the 2004. Currently, I believe you can only taste this wine at Phelps in Napa, but I think they're close to finishing up the tasting room for the winery in Sonoma. I highly recommend checking out both wineries. Phelps already has a stellar reputation, and is renowned for it's Insignia which is a cab blend, and well worth every penny (It retails for around $200), but I've found that every wine at Phelps has been of great quality and that's the main reason I'm a wine club member, because everything I get from them is stellar.

The Dark Knight

2008-05-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

I have high hopes for this movie. If the trailer is any idicator, this will be my must see movie of the summer. I loved Batman Begins, and this looks like it just continues that greatness. I hardly ever see movies in the theater, but this might even be worth seeing on IMax at the Metreon!

Morning Fog

2008-03-01T15:21:00.001-08:00

Morning Fog, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Spent Friday morning roaming around the Napa Valley. I was hoping for a nice sunrise, but it was extremely foggy so I ended up with a bunch of photos like this one.

The OC

2008-01-16T11:38:00.001-08:00

20071224_OC_1, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Pictures from Christmas Eve down in SoCal. A little weird to be seeing people surfing and swimming at Christmas, but I could definitely get used to it.

Love, Love, Love ... It's All You Need

2008-01-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Untraceable

2008-01-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

I'm a huge Diane Lane fan. Huge! I've been watching her movies since I was 10 and saw her in A Little Romance on HBO (I was only 6 when it orginally came out). I think I've seen almost every one of her movies at least once. Yes, I even suffered through "Under the Tuscan Sun". The one thing that remains though, is that many of her movies remain toward the top of my favorite films. ok, not "Tuscan Sun", but you get the drift. I'll be looking forward to this one, though.

LA and Vegas Photos

2008-01-03T11:22:00.001-08:00

Never Stop Falling in Love, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

I'm in the process of working of some shots from the OC and from Vegas. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to shoot much in the LA area, so I'll have to do a better job next time. I'm hoping to finish processing my photos tonight, so in the meantime, enjoy this shot I took at the fountains in front of the Bellagio.

Homage to Thomas Hawk

2007-12-13T15:33:00.000-08:00

This photo was inspired by one of my favorite photos by Thomas Hawk. You can see it here.

Holiday Lights

2007-12-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

The Embarcadero Center is only lit up during the holidays. Frankly, I wish they'd just leave them on year-round because they really add to the skyline. I went out to Treasure Island last weekend to take a few of these shots. This one turned out the best.

SF International Auto Show

2007-12-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

Dawning of a New Day

2007-11-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

Downtown

2007-10-10T16:22:00.001-07:00

Downtown, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

The view from the 28th Floor of the AAA building in the Civic Center area of San Francisco

iPhone Bill as big as a phone book

2007-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

There's a seperate clip where she actually mentions that the total bill is $274, including activation charges, taxes, etc. What created this huge bill is all the detail for the text messages she sent, which she says she averages about 35 thousand, THOUSAND, text messages a month. WTF??? At what point do you decide to never call anyone and just text them a conversation? That's an absurd amount of texting, I'm sorry. She's a blogger, and she doesn't use the internet? I just don't understand how that even happens. That's an average of over 1,000 text messages a day. how does she have time to do anything else?

The video is actually pretty good, and makes a decent point to switch to an ebill. I personally try and ebill as many bills as I can, and even with Sprint, I have them ebill me the summarized, not the detailed bill. For me, the more I can pay online the better off I am. I use a service called Checkfree that manages about a third of my bills. I wish it could handle more, but it requires the vendor to sign up with them, and not all companies have (PG&E being the one I'd like to add the most). I haven't written an actual check in a really long time, because even if I need to send a check, I go to my online banking and have them issue the check. It's been so long, that the last time I tried to write a check, I grab checks from a closed account. Doh!!

Someone to Watch Over Me

2007-08-03T23:06:00.001-07:00

Someone to Watch Over Me, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Kelley and I were rewarded with this spectacular view on an early morning hike of Diamond Head in Oahu. Luckily we were still on California time, so getting up at 6am was no big deal for us. The hike looked more intimidating than it really was, and we made in to the top in about 25 minutes. The hike itself was very interesting with great views of the crater, the lighthouse, and some interesting stairways and tunnels. I highly recommend going early in the morning though. By the time we got back to the car a little after 8am, it was already in the mid-80s and climbing, not to mention the tourbuses starting dumping lots of people off at the trailhead. It's also a hike I'd probably do again when we go back, though there's also the Makapuu lighthouse hike I'd like to get to, which we cancelled after a long day of driving the North Shore and snorkeling at Sharks Cove.

Fireworks Flower

2007-07-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Fireworks Flower, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

The wife and I went to Treasure Island to watch the fireworks last night. Big Mistake. Far too many people, and far too windy. You think I would have learned from the KFOG show that the wind pretty much screws you no matter what you do. This shot was nearly perfect. A little better framing, and no squiggles would have been great. But seeing as the front page of the Chronicle today had a shot that was a squiggly too, I guess I didn't do that bad. The biggest regret I had last night was not making sure the car was filled up with gas as we sat in traffic for nearly ninety minutes (yes 9-0) trying to get off the island. We ended up going into the city to get gas, then headed back to Berkeley. All told it took us about 2 hours to get home which is about 10 miles away. I will never, ever again go to TI to shoot the fireworks ever again. I'll stick to the Berkeley Marina, especially since I couldn't get a nice background like I could at KFOG.

Ocean's 13

2007-07-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

As George Clooney has said, this is definitely the one they should have made last time. Still not nearly as good as the original. Decent action and some memorable lines. The best line is when is Matt Damon refers to Ellen Barkin as a "cougar" then says "what? I read about it in Maxim magazine." Hilarious. What I like about the Oceans movies is that they don't try to pretend to be anything they're not. It's a caper movie, pure and simple. There's always a twist at the end, but it's not a real shocker, and most people probably can figure it out. It's a fun movie, some laughs, a little action, and thoroughly enjoyable. If you're looking for a good summer movie, I'd recommend this one.

Cramer on Conan

2007-06-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Cramer is seriously demented, and Conan plays it perfectly.

Hockey Monkey

2007-06-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Kelley and I really liked this new show on Fox called "The Loop". We thought it was cancelled, but low and behold, two new episodes showed up on our TiVo this past week. WooHoo!! The show's pretty funny, and the cast is great. It's moved up the board to keep company with the likes of Entourage and How I Met Your Mother.

Anyways, the theme song is this great little ditty by a band called the Zambonis. Have a listen and add "The Loop" to your TiVo season pass!

The iPhone

2007-06-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Apparently NBC has realized their programming sucks, so they've started publishing NBC clips on Youtube instead of asking them to be taken down. This one seems appropriate given the hype of the shortly to be released iPhone. I haven't found SNL to be particlarly funny in years, but lately I've found they'll have one or two sketches a week that are pretty funny.

#747

2007-06-12T06:19:00.001-07:00

#747, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Barry hits number 747 while I'm hanging out at Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. Some Giants fan I am! AT&T Park is the blown out light mass to the left of the bridge. I also have this one in a vertical orientaion, which I think I like a little better. It will eventually be up on maltphoto.com

Black and White

2007-06-06T07:40:00.001-07:00

Untitled, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Took this on a weekend trip to Point Reyes. I like it in Black and White, but I'm struggling for a title. Any suggestions?

KFOG KaBoom

2007-05-15T13:01:00.001-07:00

KFOG KaBoom, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Kelley and I went over to Treasure Island on Saturday to watch the fireworks. We stopped at Trader Vics along the way for dinner and drinks then headed out a little more than an hour before the show to scope out good viewing locations. We found one up at the top of Yerba Beuna Island with a great view of the Bay Bridge. We decided against it, though as you can see from Canbalci's shot here, it was still a great spot to view the fireworks. We may go there next year.

So instead, we headed back down to Treasure Island and set up near the pier that juts into the water. The wind made it pretty cold, but we both brought hats, so it wasn't that bad. The fireworks were spectacular, as well as the soundtrack, but my photos were only so so. This one came out the best, as most of them had squiggles resulting from camera shake as the wind blew.

I learned a few lessons about photography this weekend, most notably, that once you take the memory card out to download your shots, make sure you put one back in. We went for a hike on Sunday morning, but my memory card was in the card reader, not in the camera. I also learned to double check my ISO settings. I was handholding some shots and upped the ISO to 800, but forgot to set it back down to 100, so I think some shots could have been salvaged, but instead they were blown out. All in all, a decent photo weekend. I converted this shot to black and white and have an 8x10 coming so I can frame it.

The Ex

2007-05-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Here's the trailer to Zach Braff's latest movie. I wasn't a big fan of The Last Kiss, as I think seeing the original ruined it a little for me. This looks pretty funny, so I'm excited to see it.

Pier 28

2007-05-10T11:56:00.001-07:00

Pier 28, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Taken on our walk from Market Street to AT&T Park on the 6th. Beautiful blue sky, thought the contrast was nice. Used a circular polarizer to get the really deep blue.

HIMYM - Barney & Marshall sing "Confrontation"

2007-05-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Never thought Les Mis was particularly funny, but this is just hilarious ...

Vegas, Baby!!

2007-04-24T12:44:00.001-07:00

Blue Swirl, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

KM and I took a passed due trip out to Sin City with a couple friends this past weekend. It was the first time we had been out there together in 5 years, despite each of us having been many times without the other. We had a great trip, managed to leave with my wallet a little heavier than when we arrived, and had some great food.

We flew in Friday morning, checked into the hotel and spent the afternoon wandering around Mandalay Bay and wandered over to the MGM after lunch. Friday night was a fabulous dinner at Aquaknox at the Venetian. Everything was delicious, from the Oysters and steamed clams down to the John Dory and the "Smore's" dessert. We later headed back to the hotel, met up with CJ and CW, then headed down to the craps tables. 2 hours and $300 more, and we called it a night around 4am.

Worst Opening Pitch Ever

2007-04-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jeff Erickson of rotowire for pointing this out. The look on Eric Davis' face is priceless.

My Latest Baseball Draft

2007-03-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Overview: It's a 12 team, 5x5 hosted on Sportsline, I had the 11th pick (WHIP It Good). I've never drafted with these guys before, but everyone is a member at the same website, so I knew most everyone's plan before going in. Draft for scarcity (ie Middle infielders) and counting stats, and worry about pitching in the later rounds.

My own Critique: I screwed the pooch, I think, by taking Carpenter and Oswalt in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Its something I usually don't do, but given my choices at Short, and knowing I'd be able to get Barfield for my 2B, I gambled that Bill Hall might make it back to me in the 5th. I was dead wrong and scrapped all my plans at that point. I have some serious issues at 1st and in the OF, but otherwise I feel pretty good about how I picked through the scraps.

I think I ended up with a pretty decent team, but take a look and let me know what I SHOULD have done instead of what I DID do. I'm interested to hear your opinions!

Draft Results
Round 1
1	Frozen Ropes	Albert Pujols (1B STL)
2	Unforgiven	Jose B. Reyes (SS NYM)
3	Substandard Deviants	Alfonso Soriano (OF CHC)
4	ScurvyDogs	Chase Utley (2B PHI)
5	Sox	Johan Santana (P MIN)
6	Mark Stanley	Alex Rodriguez (3B NYY)
7	Mizzle Wizzle	Miguel M. Cabrera (3B FLA)
8	Tom Kephart	David Ortiz (U BOS)
9	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Ryan Howard (1B PHI)
10	KenaleiZdurg	Carlos Beltran (OF NYM)
11	WHIP It Good	Carl Crawford (OF TB)
12	Got Beer	Derek Jeter (SS NYY)
Round 2
13	Got Beer	Mark Teixeira (1B TEX)
14	WHIP It Good	David Wright (3B NYM)
15	KenaleiZdurg	Vladimir Guerrero (OF ANA)
16	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Travis Hafner (U CLE)
17	Tom Kephart	Matt Holliday (OF COL)
18	Mizzle Wizzle	Ichiro Suzuki (OF SEA)
19	Mark Stanley	Manny Ramirez (OF BOS)
20	Sox	Grady Sizemore (OF CLE)
21	ScurvyDogs	Hanley Ramirez (SS FLA)
22	Substandard Deviants	Jimmy Rollins (SS PHI)
23	Unforgiven	Lance Berkman (1B HOU)
24	Frozen Ropes	Aramis Ramirez (3B CHC)
Round 3
25	Frozen Ropes	Rafael Furcal (SS LA)
26	Unforgiven	Bobby Abreu (OF NYY)
27	Substandard Deviants	Carlos N. Lee (OF HOU)
28	ScurvyDogs	Andruw Jones (OF ATL)
29	Sox	Derrek Lee (1B CHC)
30	Mark Stanley	Miguel Tejada (SS BAL)
31	Mizzle Wizzle	Michael Young (SS TEX)
32	Tom Kephart	Paul Konerko (1B CHW)
33	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Jason Bay (OF PIT)
34	KenaleiZdurg	Justin Morneau (1B MIN)
35	WHIP It Good	Chris Carpenter (P STL)
36	Got Beer	Francisco Rodriguez (P ANA)
Round 4
37	Got Beer	Garrett Atkins (3B COL)
38	WHIP It Good	Roy Oswalt (P HOU)
39	KenaleiZdurg	Brian Roberts (2B BAL)
40	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Juan Pierre (OF LA)
41	Tom Kephart	Vernon Wells (OF TOR)
42	Mizzle Wizzle	Robinson Cano (2B NYY)
43	Mark Stanley	Joe Mauer (C MIN)
44	Sox	Jake Peavy (P SD)
45	ScurvyDogs	Billy Wagner (P NYM)
46	Substandard Deviants	Bill Hall (SS MIL)
47	Unforgiven	Jermaine Dye (OF CHW)
48	Frozen Ropes	Joe Nathan (P MIN)
Round 5
49	Frozen Ropes	B.J. Ryan (P TOR)
50	Unforgiven	Mariano Rivera (P NYY)
51	Substandard Deviants	Prince Fielder (1B MIL)
52	ScurvyDogs	Carlos Delgado (1B NYM)
53	Sox	Jonathan Papelbon (P BOS)
54	Mark Stanley	Todd Helton (1B COL)
55	Mizzle Wizzle	Hideki Matsui (OF NYY)
56	Tom Kephart	Carlos Guillen (SS DET)
57	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Huston Street (P OAK)
58	KenaleiZdurg	Johnny Damon (OF NYY)
59	WHIP It Good	Victor J. Martinez (C CLE)
60	Got Beer	J.J. Putz (P SEA)
Round 6
61	Got Beer	Brian McCann (C ATL)
62	WHIP It Good	Ryan Zimmerman (3B WAS)
63	KenaleiZdurg	Francisco Cordero (P MIL)
64	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Ben Sheets (P MIL)
65	Tom Kephart	Torii Hunter (OF MIN)
66	Mizzle Wizzle	Bobby Jenks (P CHW)
67	Mark Stanley	Adam Dunn (OF CIN)
68	Sox	Daisuke Matsuzaka (P BOS)
69	ScurvyDogs	Brandon Webb (P ARI)
70	Substandard Deviants	Chad Cordero (P WAS)
71	Unforgiven	Roy Halladay (P TOR)
72	Frozen Ropes	Jim Thome (U CHW)
Round 7
73	Frozen Ropes	Mike Cameron (OF SD)
74	Unforgiven	Corey Patterson (OF BAL)
75	Substandard Deviants	Jeremy Bonderman (P DET)
76	ScurvyDogs	Richie Sexson (1B SEA)
77	Sox	Felipe Lopez (SS WAS)
78	Mark Stanley	Carlos Zambrano (P CHC)
79	Mizzle Wizzle	Alex Rios (OF TOR)
80	Tom Kephart	Felix Hernandez (P SEA)
81	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Chone Figgins (OF ANA)
82	KenaleiZdurg	Julio Lugo (SS BOS)
83	WHIP It Good	Josh Barfield (2B CLE)
84	Got Beer	Howie Kendrick (2B ANA)
Round 8
85	Got Beer	Cole Hamels (P PHI)
86	WHIP It Good	Gary Sheffield (OF DET)
87	KenaleiZdurg	Trevor Hoffman (P SD)
88	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Edgar Renteria (SS ATL)
89	Tom Kephart	Ian Kinsler (2B TEX)
90	Mizzle Wizzle	Delmon Young (OF TB)
91	Mark Stanley	Brad Lidge (P HOU)
92	Sox	John Lackey (P ANA)
93	ScurvyDogs	Coco Crisp (OF BOS)
94	Substandard Deviants	Alex Gordon (3B KC)
95	Unforgiven	Troy Glaus (3B TOR)
96	Frozen Ropes	Aubrey Huff (1B BAL)
Round 9
97	Frozen Ropes	Brett Myers (P PHI)
98	Unforgiven	Aaron Harang (P CIN)
99	Substandard Deviants	Chris Ray (P BAL)
100	ScurvyDogs	Tom Gordon (P PHI)
101	Sox	Scott Rolen (3B STL)
102	Mark Stanley	Rickie Weeks (2B MIL)
103	Mizzle Wizzle	Adrian Gonzalez (1B SD)
104	Tom Kephart	Edwin Encarnacion (3B CIN)
105	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Adam A. LaRoche (1B PIT)
106	KenaleiZdurg	Jeff Kent (2B LA)
107	WHIP It Good	Freddy Sanchez (3B PIT)
108	Got Beer	Scott Kazmir (P TB)
Round 10
109	Got Beer	Dan Haren (P OAK)
110	WHIP It Good	Jose Valverde (P ARI)
111	KenaleiZdurg	Jason Giambi (1B NYY)
112	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Nick Swisher (OF OAK)
113	Tom Kephart	Michael Barrett (C CHC)
114	Mizzle Wizzle	Erik Bedard (P BAL)
115	Mark Stanley	Rich Harden (P OAK)
116	Sox	Curt Schilling (P BOS)
117	ScurvyDogs	Matt Cain (P SF)
118	Substandard Deviants	Willy Taveras (OF COL)
119	Unforgiven	John Smoltz (P ATL)
120	Frozen Ropes	Chris B. Young (OF ARI)
Round 11
121	Frozen Ropes	Josh Beckett (P BOS)
122	Unforgiven	Lyle Overbay (1B TOR)
123	Substandard Deviants	Jason Schmidt (P LA)
124	ScurvyDogs	Rocco Baldelli (OF TB)
125	Sox	Stephen O. Drew (SS ARI)
126	Mark Stanley	Brandon Phillips (2B CIN)
127	Mizzle Wizzle	Ramon Hernandez (C BAL)
128	Tom Kephart	Mike Piazza (C OAK)
129	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Orlando Cabrera (SS ANA)
130	KenaleiZdurg	C.C. Sabathia (P CLE)
131	WHIP It Good	Dan Uggla (2B FLA)
132	Got Beer	Josh Willingham (OF FLA)
Round 12
133	Got Beer	J.D. Drew (OF BOS)
134	WHIP It Good	Brian Fuentes (P COL)
135	KenaleiZdurg	Jorge Posada (C NYY)
136	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Takashi Saito (P LA)
137	Tom Kephart	Michael Cuddyer (OF MIN)
138	Mizzle Wizzle	Dave Bush (P MIL)
139	Mark Stanley	Jason Isringhausen (P STL)
140	Sox	Adrian Beltre (3B SEA)
141	ScurvyDogs	Frank Thomas (U TOR)
142	Substandard Deviants	Jered Weaver (P ANA)
143	Unforgiven	Kenji Johjima (C SEA)
144	Frozen Ropes	Ivan Rodriguez (C DET)
Round 13
145	Frozen Ropes	Orlando Hudson (2B ARI)
146	Unforgiven	Tadahito Iguchi (2B CHW)
147	Substandard Deviants	Eric Gagne (P TEX)
148	ScurvyDogs	Chris R. Young (P SD)
149	Sox	Russell Martin (C LA)
150	Mark Stanley	Chipper Jones (3B ATL)
151	Mizzle Wizzle	Octavio Dotel (P KC)
152	Tom Kephart	A.J. Burnett (P TOR)
153	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Brad Hawpe (OF COL)
154	KenaleiZdurg	Nick Markakis (OF BAL)
155	WHIP It Good	Conor Jackson (1B ARI)
156	Got Beer	Mark Teahen (3B KC)
Round 14
157	Got Beer	Magglio Ordonez (OF DET)
158	WHIP It Good	Ryan Dempster (P CHC)
159	KenaleiZdurg	Morgan Ensberg (3B HOU)
160	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Mike Mussina (P NYY)
161	Tom Kephart	Ray Durham (2B SF)
162	Mizzle Wizzle	Ty Wigginton (1B TB)
163	Mark Stanley	Pat Burrell (OF PHI)
164	Sox	Bob Wickman (P ATL)
165	ScurvyDogs	Scott Olsen (P FLA)
166	Substandard Deviants	Carlos Quentin (OF ARI)
167	Unforgiven	Javier Vazquez (P CHW)
168	Frozen Ropes	Jeff Francoeur (OF ATL)
Round 15
169	Frozen Ropes	Bronson Arroyo (P CIN)
170	Unforgiven	Akinori Otsuka (P TEX)
171	Substandard Deviants	Ryan P. Freel (OF CIN)
172	ScurvyDogs	Ian Snell (P PIT)
173	Sox	Raul Ibanez (OF SEA)
174	Mark Stanley	Justin Verlander (P DET)
175	Mizzle Wizzle	Andy Pettitte (P NYY)
176	Tom Kephart	Joe Crede (3B CHW)
177	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Randy Johnson (P ARI)
178	KenaleiZdurg	Dave Roberts (OF SF)
179	WHIP It Good	Adam Wainwright (P STL)
180	Got Beer	Luis Castillo (2B MIN)
Round 16
181	Got Beer	Ryan Shealy (1B KC)
182	WHIP It Good	Barry Zito (P SF)
183	KenaleiZdurg	Kelvim Escobar (P ANA)
184	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Jorge Julio (P FLA)
185	Tom Kephart	John Patterson (P WAS)
186	Mizzle Wizzle	Anthony Reyes (P STL)
187	Mark Stanley	Joe Borowski (P CLE)
188	Sox	Barry Bonds (OF SF)
189	ScurvyDogs	Aaron Rowand (OF PHI)
190	Substandard Deviants	Rich Hill (P CHC)
191	Unforgiven	Salomon Torres (P PIT)
192	Frozen Ropes	Scott Podsednik (OF CHW)
Round 17
193	Frozen Ropes	Todd Jones (P DET)
194	Unforgiven	Rich Aurilia (3B SF)
195	Substandard Deviants	Boof Bonser (P MIN)
196	ScurvyDogs	Craig Monroe (OF DET)
197	Sox	Austin Kearns (OF WAS)
198	Mark Stanley	Dontrelle Willis (P FLA)
199	Mizzle Wizzle	Tim Hudson (P ATL)
200	Tom Kephart	Moises Alou (OF NYM)
201	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	A.J. Pierzynski (C CHW)
202	KenaleiZdurg	Nomar Garciaparra (1B LA)
203	WHIP It Good	Eric Byrnes (OF ARI)
204	Got Beer	Derek Lowe (P LA)
Round 18
205	Got Beer	Joel Zumaya (P DET)
206	WHIP It Good	Khalil Greene (SS SD)
207	KenaleiZdurg	Ted Lilly (P CHC)
208	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Armando Benitez (P SF)
209	Tom Kephart	James Shields (P TB)
210	Mizzle Wizzle	Adam Loewen (P BAL)
211	Mark Stanley	Dustin Hermanson (P CIN)
212	Sox	B.J. Upton (3B TB)
213	ScurvyDogs	Chad Tracy (3B ARI)
214	Substandard Deviants	Ervin Santana (P ANA)
215	Unforgiven	Kevin Millwood (P TEX)
216	Frozen Ropes	Chris Capuano (P MIL)
Round 19
217	Frozen Ropes	Placido Polanco (2B DET)
218	Unforgiven	Chris Burke (2B HOU)
219	Substandard Deviants	Marcus Giles (2B SD)
220	ScurvyDogs	Kelly Johnson (2B ATL)
221	Sox	Kenny Lofton (OF TEX)
222	Mark Stanley	Chris Duffy (OF PIT)
223	Mizzle Wizzle	Jonathan Broxton (P LA)
224	Tom Kephart	Greg Maddux (P SD)
225	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Eric Chavez (3B OAK)
226	KenaleiZdurg	Chuck H. James (P ATL)
227	WHIP It Good	Gary Matthews (OF ANA)
228	Got Beer	Jason Kubel (OF MIN)
Round 20
229	Got Beer	Brad Penny (P LA)
230	WHIP It Good	Casey Kotchman (1B ANA)
231	KenaleiZdurg	Randy Wolf (P LA)
232	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Pedro Martinez (P NYM)
233	Tom Kephart	Nate Robertson (P DET)
234	Mizzle Wizzle	Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B SD)
235	Mark Stanley	Brian Giles (OF SD)
236	Sox	Tom Glavine (P NYM)
237	ScurvyDogs	Vicente Padilla (P TEX)
238	Substandard Deviants	Mike Jacobs (1B FLA)
239	Unforgiven	Scot Shields (P ANA)
240	Frozen Ropes	Adam Eaton (P PHI)
Round 21
241	Frozen Ropes	David DeJesus (OF KC)
242	Unforgiven	Corey C. Hart (OF MIL)
243	Substandard Deviants	Matt Murton (OF CHC)
244	ScurvyDogs	Daniel Cabrera (P BAL)
245	Sox	Jacque Jones (OF CHC)
246	Mark Stanley	Gerald Laird (C TEX)
247	Mizzle Wizzle	Hank Blalock (3B TEX)
248	Tom Kephart	Tom S. Gorzelanny (P PIT)
249	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Claudio Vargas (P MIL)
250	KenaleiZdurg	Dan Wheeler (P HOU)
251	WHIP It Good	Shane Victorino (OF PHI)
252	Got Beer	David Dellucci (OF CLE)
Round 22
253	Got Beer	Bob Howry (P CHC)
254	WHIP It Good	Scott Linebrink (P SD)
255	KenaleiZdurg	Jose A. Contreras (P CHW)
256	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Bengie Molina (C SF)
257	Tom Kephart	Anibal Sanchez (P FLA)
258	Mizzle Wizzle	Ryan Church (OF WAS)
259	Mark Stanley	Curtis Granderson (OF DET)
260	Sox	Jason Varitek (C BOS)
261	ScurvyDogs	Johnny Estrada (C MIL)
262	Substandard Deviants	Chris Iannetta (C COL)
263	Unforgiven	Paul Lo Duca (C NYM)
264	Frozen Ropes	Mike Napoli (C ANA)
Round 23
265	Frozen Ropes	Doug Davis (P ARI)
266	Unforgiven	Shea Hillenbrand (1B ANA)
267	Substandard Deviants	Chris Duncan (OF STL)
268	ScurvyDogs	Josh Bard (C SD)
269	Sox	Jake Westbrook (P CLE)
270	Mark Stanley	Freddy An. Garcia (P PHI)
271	Mizzle Wizzle	David Ross (C CIN)
272	Tom Kephart	Rafael Soriano (P ATL)
273	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Jorge L. Cantu (2B TB)
274	KenaleiZdurg	Jason Kendall (C OAK)
275	WHIP It Good	Ronny Paulino (C PIT)
276	Got Beer	Gregg Zaun (C TOR)
Round 24
277	Got Beer	Zach Duke (P PIT)
278	WHIP It Good	Jason Jennings (P HOU)
279	KenaleiZdurg	Jose Guillen (OF SEA)
280	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Chien-Ming Wang (P NYY)
281	Tom Kephart	Wes Helms (3B PHI)
282	Mizzle Wizzle	Troy Tulowitzki (SS COL)
283	Mark Stanley	Pat Neshek (P MIN)
284	Sox	Jose Lopez (2B SEA)
285	ScurvyDogs	Bobby Crosby (SS OAK)
286	Substandard Deviants	Jonny J. Gomes (U TB)
287	Unforgiven	Mark DeRosa (2B CHC)
288	Frozen Ropes	Brandon McCarthy (P TEX)
Round 25
289	Frozen Ropes	Ken Griffey (OF CIN)
290	Unforgiven	Jeremy Hermida (OF FLA)
291	Substandard Deviants	Rod Barajas (C PHI)
292	ScurvyDogs	Melvin Mora (3B BAL)
293	Sox	Kevin Youkilis (1B BOS)
294	Mark Stanley	Mike Pelfrey (P NYM)
295	Mizzle Wizzle	Matt Garza (P MIN)
296	Tom Kephart	Brad B. Wilkerson (OF TEX)
297	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Nelson R. Cruz (OF TEX)
298	KenaleiZdurg	Al Reyes (P TB)
299	WHIP It Good	Clay Hensley (P SD)
300	Got Beer	Dan Johnson (1B OAK)
Round 26
301	Got Beer	Justin Duchscherer (P OAK)
302	WHIP It Good	Jim Edmonds (OF STL)
303	KenaleiZdurg	Zack Greinke (P KC)
304	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Chad Billingsley (P LA)
305	Tom Kephart	Ryan Theriot (2B CHC)
306	Mizzle Wizzle	Erick Aybar (SS ANA)
307	Mark Stanley	Cliff Lee (P CLE)
308	Sox	John Maine (P NYM)
309	ScurvyDogs	Milton Bradley (OF OAK)
310	Substandard Deviants	Matt D. Capps (P PIT)
311	Unforgiven	Oliver Perez (P NYM)
312	Frozen Ropes	Kei Igawa (P NYY)
Round 27
313	Frozen Ropes	Jay Gibbons (OF BAL)
314	Unforgiven	Mark Prior (P CHC)
315	Substandard Deviants	Sammy Sosa (OF TEX)
316	ScurvyDogs	Wily Mo Pena (OF BOS)
317	Sox	Mike Gonzalez (P ATL)
318	Mark Stanley	Nick Punto (3B MIN)
319	Mizzle Wizzle	Homer Bailey (P CIN)
320	Tom Kephart	Tim Lincecum (P SF)
321	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Wade Miller (P CHC)
322	KenaleiZdurg	Kip Wells (P STL)
323	WHIP It Good	Bartolo Colon (P ANA)
324	Got Beer	Luke Scott (OF HOU)
Round 28
325	Got Beer	Fernando Rodney (P DET)
326	WHIP It Good	Scott Hairston (OF ARI)
327	KenaleiZdurg	Orlando Hernandez (P NYM)
328	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	John Danks (P CHW)
329	Tom Kephart	Jeremy Sowers (P CLE)
330	Mizzle Wizzle	Adam Lind (OF TOR)
331	Mark Stanley	Garret Anderson (OF ANA)
332	Sox	Casey Blake (OF CLE)
333	ScurvyDogs	Shawn Hill (P WAS)
334	Substandard Deviants	James Loney (1B LA)
335	Unforgiven	Jhonny Peralta (SS CLE)
336	Frozen Ropes	Omar Vizquel (SS SF)

2007-03-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Top young hurlers always seem to top people’s wishlists during draft season. Last year was an explosion of young pitchers making an impact in the majors. The amount of talent that was successful was unparalleled to previous years. Justin Verlander, Francisco Liriano, Jered Weaver, Cole Hamels and a bunch of other young arms help determined the winners of many fantasy leagues last year. Now, a year later, how will these guys survive the sophomore slump? It’s anyone guess, but a significant portion of these guys along with a bunch of younger “veterans” saw a significant increase in innings pitched. Will it lead to an injury this year? Will it contribute to a “sophomore slump”? It’s one factor out of many, but one that can be an indicator to a poorer performance the following year.

From 2004 to 2005 there were 15 starting pitchers under the ageof 30 who saw an increase of innings pitched of a least 40. Of those, seven had decreases in value in 2006. Of those seven, four of those had what wouldbe considered significant decreases in value. Here are the four pitchers who appear to be the most effected by significant workload increases:

Pitcher	Age	Tm	05 increase	06 $ Change
Patterson,John	28	WAS	100.1	$(14)
Chacon,Shawn	28	PIT	88.1	$(12)
Seo,Jae	29	TAM	71.8	$(14)
Towers,Josh	29	TOR	56.1	$(23)

Patterson, the TGR poster-child in 2005 for sleeper pitchers, spent most of the season on the DL managing only 8 starts. The other three posted promising seasons in2005, but were major disappointments in 2006, even though the expectations werenot as high as Patterson. 25% of thepitchers who saw workload increases in 2005, disappointed in 2006, while almost50% actually saw a decrease in value. While this is only one years worth of data, thetrend also exists in 2003 and in 2004. Some names from those years? How about Mark Prior, Brad Penny, Eric Milton, and Byung Yung Kim? All promising arms, all ran into into injury issues the year after a significant increase ininnings.

The pool of players to watch in 2007 is exactly the same size, 15. The major difference is that the numbers of increased innings pitched is significantly higher this year., and the names and pedigrees are significantly higher. Francisco Liriano has already succumbed to Tommy John surgery, but that may have more to do with his jump from 156 innings in 2004 to 192 innings in 2005 (all in the minors),as he only ended up pitching 123 innings last year. Does this mean we’ll see more injuries this year? Maybe, maybenot. But the following pitchers do bear watching and perhaps discounting their value based on this increased workload.

pitcher	Age	Tm	06 Incr/(Decr)
Weaver,Jered	24	LAA	124.0
Cook,Aaron	27	COL	104.1
Hamels,Cole	22	PHI	113.1
Jennings,Jason	28	COL	90.0
Olsen,Scott	22	FLA	80.0
Halladay,Roy	29	TOR	78.8
Sanchez,Anibal	22	FLA	64.5
Marshall,Sean	24	CHC	53.4
Padilla,Vicente	29	TEX	53.0
Armas Jr.,Tony	28	WAS	52.9
Hensley,Clay	27	SD	49.7
Bedard,Erik	27	BAL	47.9
Verlander,Justin	23	DET	47.6
Madson,Ryan	26	PHI	47.1
Meche,Gil	28	SEA	43.1

Some of the pitchers experienced injuries in 2005 (Cook, Hamels, Jennings,Olsen, Halladay, Padilla, Armas,Bedard,) so they should already have some discountbuilt into their prices to account for the injury history. Should this preclude them from the list?Probably not, since only one season separates them from a major injury, and coming back too quickly can hinder one’sperformance. Two of these pitchersmoved from relief to starting (Hensley, Madson)though they were both starters in the minors, so perhaps the effects ofincreased innings may not effect them as much, thoughpast history shows that’s not always the case.

The remaining players definitely bear watching and one is alreadyshowing warning signs of more trouble ahead.

Jered Weaver is experiencing issues with biceps tendonitis and, in fact, started his off-season workouts a couple weeks later to rest his shoulder.
Cole Hamels, with his history of injuries, definitely bears watching, though he’s hit the ground running this spring, along with a few other of the pitchers on this list.
Anibel Sanchez doesn’t have a history of arm problems, but has moved up through the ranks fairly quickly. His no-hitter last year is what’s really put him on the map, but his strikeout rate dropped after his promotion and his walk rate rose. Hopefully, missing AAA ball won’t delay his growth, but the Marlins have burned through more than their share of pitchers in the past
Sean Marshall was pressed into duties after injuries to various Cubs starters (surprise!), and didn’t do well. He racked up a bunch of innings, but hit the wall later in the season, and is now experiencing “fatigue” in his pitching shoulder. He’s expected to start the season in the minors, so hopefully, they’ll baby him a little more.
Justin Verlander burst onto the scene last year with teammate Joel Zumaya. Both were starters in the minors, but Verlander was shut down at the end of 2005 because of a shoulder issue. He earned a spot in the rotation in 2006 and after all was said and done ended up pitching 70 more innings than the previous year when you include the playoff run. Verlander, like Weaver, took extra time off in the offseason to rest, so he’s behind in getting ready for the season, and his spring stats have shown it. Don’t be surprised if he gets off to a slow start this year.
Gil Meche parlayed his 11-8 record with a 4.48 ERA and 1.43 WHIP into a $55 million deal with the Royals. If only we could all turn mediocrity into huge pay raises. Moving to the Royals certainly doesn’t make him a target of many fantasy owners this year, and certainly don’t expect the huge increase in innings to get this guy to the next level. In fact, he might even fade away into obscurity.

Hopefully, this article doesn’tsteer you completely away from these guys, but ideally it will readjust yourexpectations for some of them and prevent you from overpaying or overdrafting them. While these pitchers carry risk, sometimes taking on risk is the onlyway to be the last one standing at the end of the year.

Deserted

2007-03-06T08:14:00.001-08:00

Deserted, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

rowboat at Hog Island Oyster Farm. Taken with Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. B&W done in Photoshop Elements 4.

Five Players to Avoid

2007-02-28T22:04:00.000-08:00

Every year I build a list of list of players I expect to disappoint. Some of these I avoid completely, while others I would only take at a deep discount. They are players that I’m actively not looking to draft. If there’s another player with similar numbers available, I’m more likely to take the other player than one of these guys. About 70% of the reason I’m avoiding these guys is strictly gut, which means there’s a 30% chance I’ll be wrong about them. I’d rather be wrong and miss out on them, then right and be stuck with underperforming or injured players. The price on these guys would have to drop dramatically before I drafted or purchased one of them.

Dan Uggla, 2B, Florida Marlins – This rule 5 draft pick is stirring up a lot of talk this spring. Some people expect more of the same, while others think last year was a fluke. There are cases that can be made for both sides, but I think one thing is clear. No one expects him to improve on last year. Which means, best case scenario, it’s more of the same. There are a couple of warning signs that point to a “sophomore slump” for Uggla. He had a horrific September hitting .221 with 15 runs and 10 RBI in 122 At Bats. He also had a career high 611 at bats. While this could simply be that he wore down as the season went on, I think it was more of a case of his returning to the mean. I don’t think he’ll be horrible, but I do think he’ll be closer to average.

Jermaine Dye, OF Chicago White Sox – Dye had a career year last year. While Dye has been relatively healthy for the past three years (averaging 143 games/year), and he’ll still be in a potent White Sox lineup, everything about last years line screams career year. Often there’s no where to go but down. He jumped dramatically in every category. One of the reasons he was so good for many teams last year was that he came cheap. He’s not going cheap this year, and, in fact, many people are paying for last years stats. For me, I think 2006 was an aberration, though an argument can be made that he’s been trending up for the past few seasons. The leap in 2006 was far too much though, and likelihood of him maintaining that is slim.

Vernon Wells, OF Toronto Blue Jays – After two disappointing seasons in 2004 and 2005, Vernon Wells broke out in a big way last year. So big, it netted him a 7 year $126 million deal. Overall, his line for the season looks very good, but there are a couple things that have me worried (other than the huge deal). His home/road splits were ridiculous last year (28 HR at home, 8 on the road). That alone doesn’t necessarily scare me, but add in the fact that Wells fell off considerable in August and September (6 Homeruns in 2 months, .268 BA with a .357 Slugging) and I start seeing visions of the prior two years. As a late second round pick, there’s about half a dozen other OF without the warning signs that I’d rather have.

David Bush, SP Milwaukee Brewers – Several things worry me about David Bush, and it’s hard for me to admit, since I rode him to a couple championships last year. The first thing that worries me is all the hype he’s getting as a “sleeper” candidate. That likely pushed him out of my price range anyways. He’s a control pitcher, not a power pitcher. That doesn’t mean he can’t strike guys out, he struck out plenty last year, it just means is margin of error is smaller. If his control isn’t on, it’s going to be harder for him to get through innings without any damage. Combine that with the fact that he’s not an extreme groundball pitcher (think Brandon Webb), and that he gave up 26 homeruns last year, and it leads me to believe last year was a “perfect storm” of a year. David Bush is still a very good pitcher, I just don’t think he’s as good as he was last year.

Julio Lugo, SS Boston Red Sox – Another guy getting lots of “Sleeper” votes, simply by moving to Boston and becoming their starting shortstop. People are still projecting tons of SB for this guy, but frankly, I just don’t get it. He’s a career .277 hitter with an On Base Percentage of .340. The Red Sox don’t run. They run less than any team in the majors. Just ask Johnny Damon. Take away the stolen bases and you’re left with a mediocre shortstop that’ll likely score more runs than he has, and since he’ll be batting leadoff, even less RBI’s. On the field, he’ll probably help the BoSox. In fantasy, there are a lot of other options out there who will do just as well if not better and still provide you the 15 or so bags Lugo will end up with.

Photographer Arrested by Miami PD

2007-02-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

Thomas Hawk has been following this story for the past couple days. You can a read a more detailed account of it here. Basically, a photographer on assignment, Carlos Miller, was harassed and arrested after taking some shots of some police action on Biscayne Blvd in Miami. While one should consider both sides of the story, as well as the location of the event, there seem to be some serious inconsistencies on the police side of the story. (See photo courtesy of Rebecca Wakefield). I understand the need for cops to be more aggressive in higher crime areas, but I also believe that there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed, even if the guy is a criminal.

Normally, I take these accounts with a grain of salt, as even the most well intentioned person tends to exaggerate some aspects. However, in this case, its clear the cops took this one a little over the top. Even if Miller was mouthing off to the cops, it certainly doesn't justify the treatment he received. I would like to see more of the photos from that evening. Maybe they were shaking down a pimp for a payoff or something, I don't know, but clearly this story bears watching some more.

Fields of Gold

2007-02-22T14:06:00.001-08:00

Fields of Gold, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

While driving over to Taylor's Refresher for lunch on Monday, we passed this particular location. I saw the barn out of the corner of my eye and slammed on the brakes. (luckily, no one was behind us.) I'm thinking of entering a similar version of this, but horizontal and at a different f stop, into the Napa Valley Mustard Festival photo contest. I'll be getting the prints shortly, and if they look good enough, I figure it be fun to see my photo up on a wall.

5 to Watch (and a few more)

2007-02-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Every season, there's a consensus list of "sleeper" players that end up on every website, magazine, and fantasy player's draft list. These are players that people expect to have great seasons, but haven't yet done it. Rather than tell you the same things you'll read everywhere else, I'd rather point out players that I wouldn't consider sleepers because, likely, they’ve failed to take advantage of the opportunities when they’ve had them. They are, however, in a position to make that next step, or at least return to where they were, this year.

Dan Johnson, 1B (Oak) - Last year was a disaster for Johnson, no doubt. His .234 batting average, 9 HRs and 37 RBI's certainly aren't exactly a selling point, but he had a very solid rookie season, and absolutely killed AAA pitching last year after his demotion (.314 BA, 7 HR, 44 RBIs in 100 less at bats). But here's where it gets interesting. According to a recent San Francisco Chronicle report, Johnson battled blurred vision last season as a result of some prescription medication he was taking. With that issue resolved, Johnson should be able to bounce back to his rookie year indicators and provide a nice cheap, hidden power source for some fantasy teams this year.

Chad Billingsley, SP (LAD) - This kid was supposed to be as good as Cole Hamels last year, if not better. Instead, he stumbled out of the gates in June, and in the fickle world of fantasy baseball, was quickly discarded by many as a bust. He had a good second half (7-2, 3.16 ERA), but still struggled with his control, walking too many and not striking out enough. He's in line for the back end of the Dodger rotation, but should he harness his command, he could quickly become a force in the pitcher-friendly fields of the NL West. Add in some tutelage from newly acquired Jason Schmidt, and this is one end-gamer I'll be adding to every team I can get him.
Jason Kubel, OF/DH (Min) - Jason Kubel was going to be a stud outfielder. He had great ability to get on base and his power was growing with experience. Then he blew his knee out in the Arizona Fall League, missed all of 2005, and spent 2006 on and off the DL with various knee problems. Like Dan Johnson, specialists were able to identify a torn meniscus in the off-season, and repaired it. That, coupled with his weight loss of 10 pounds, puts Kubel in better playing shape and ready to contend for the starting DH/OF spot for the Twins. Should he do so and stay healthy, Kubel might be able to get back on the path to superstardom.

Matt Garza, SP (Min) - By now it should be obvious the Minnesota Twins have an eye for pitching. Garza is the next top pitching prospect to try and step out of the shadow of Julio Santana. Unfortunately for Garza, he was thrust into the big leagues at a rather quick pace, mostly due to the injuries of Francisco Liriano. The result was a mess: a 3-6 record, 5.76 ERA, 38/23 K/BB Ratio and 1.7 WHIP all in 50 major league innings. Fortunately for fantasy owners, those stats will drive most people away from him. Those who look beyond those stats will find a minor league record of 14-4, a 1.99 ERA, 154/32 K/BB with a stellar .88 WHIP in a little over 135 innings in 2006. The issue may be lack of experience, and for that reason, I wouldn't be surprised to see Garza struggle in the first half, before finally figuring it out after the All-Star break. The talent is definitely there, it's just a matter of time and experience.
Kahlil Greene, SS (SD) - Greene might be a fashionable sleeper this preseason, but he'll likely only show up on those lists because of his age. He turns 27 this year, which puts him in the "sweet spot" for a career year, not to mention he signed a one year deal, which will make him a free agent next year, giving him more motivation. However, Greene's problems are many: he bats in the bottom of the order; he lacks the SBs for a middle infielder; his power has been mediocre; he hasn't been patient at the plate; and he's been nicked up many times. Last year, he seemed to be putting it all together until a torn ligament in his finger prevented him from playing the last two months of the season. Greene isn't even listed on ESPN's top 250 players, which means he'll likely go undrafted in regular mixed leagues. With more motivation to finally reach his potential, and a little luck on the health side, Greene could make an impact in 2007.

Willy Taveras, OF (Col) – He needs to get his on-base percentage up to remain in the leadoff spot, but should still be able to manage 35 stolen bases, with upside for more.

Chris Burke, OF (Hou) – Burke will be the full-time center fielder this year. I think part of his problem the last few years was playing too many positions. With only one to focus on this year, he could finally start living up to expectations. He’ll also qualify at 2B this year, always a plus in my book.

Mark Teahen, 3B (KC) – Alex Gordon is getting all the attention this year, with some pundits already predicting he’ll win the 3B battle. Teahen figured it out last year, and regardless of where he plays, he’ll still qualify at 3B, and likely put up 20-25 homers.

Layers

2007-02-18T15:43:00.001-08:00

Layers, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Another from the West Oakland BART Platform. Stopped on my way home from work on February 15th. The nice part is that West Oakland itselt is relatively flat and the BART platform rises above pretty much anything else in the area.

World on Fire

2007-02-16T13:38:00.001-08:00

World on Fire, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

This was taken from the West Oakland BART platform. I had been trying to get there at sunset for a few weeks now, but it seemed it just wasn't going to happen. I'd either get there too late, or it would be raining, or it the sunset just wasn't that good. I finally lucked out last night with both my timing and getting a decent quality sunset. I took over 50 shots, whittled it down to about 25, and have maybe half a dozen standouts. This, in my opinion, was the best of the night.

I never realized how much the Image Stabilization in my Canon 28-135mm really helped. The 75-300mmm I used to take this really showed that I could never ever be a surgeon. I used the wall to brace myself, even rested the camera on it a couple times. Eventually, I ended up switching to Shutter Priority mode, and took shot shots at 1/200 sec. It seems to have worked out for this one, though the others weren't nearly as good.

Highway 29

2007-02-14T09:58:00.001-08:00

Highway 29, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

This is my favorite stetch of Highway 29 in St. Helena (Napa Valley). I don't think this photo does it justice at all, so I'll be trying again in the spring. It's a little busy to be in the middle of the road, so suggestions on how to improve this shot from the side and capture the filtered sunlight would be great!

cookbooks

2007-02-12T10:52:00.001-08:00

cookbooks, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

I have a ton of cookbooks. You could probably say I collect them, since some of them I hardly use. Most of them I regularly use at least 1 or 2 recipes from them. I've run out of room on the "cookbook shelf" in the breakfast nook, and now have a large stack on the countertop in the kitchen.

The Decemberists

2007-02-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

Periodically, I discover a band that, while may not be new to everyone else, is new to me. While watching How I Met Your Mother, specifically, the "Ted Mosby - Architect" espisode, I hear a clip of a song in the background. What struck me about this clip was not that I liked the little I heard, but that the lyrics were "and I am nothing of a builder, but here I dreamt I was an Architect". Being easily amused as usual, I thought, "wow, the creators really found a song with the word Architect in it."

My next step was to log into iTunes and search for Architect. It has to be that easy, right? Of course it was. The first song to pop up on the list was The Decemberists "Here I Dreamt I was an Architect". While I had heard of The Decemberists before, most notably on The Colbert Report, I hadn't really listened to any of their music. I listened to a few clips on iTunes, was pleasantly suprised, and download the last three albums to listen to in full.

The newest album "The Crane Wife, released in 2006, is inspired by an old Japanese folk tale. Here's the jist courtesy of Wikipedia.

While there are many variations of the tale, a common version is that a poor man finds an injured crane on his doorstep (or outside with an arrow in it), takes it in and nurses it back to health. After he releases the crane, a woman appears at his doorstep with whom he falls in love and marries. Because they need money, his wife offers to weave wondrous clothes out of silk that they can sell at the market, but only if he agrees never to watch her making them. They begin to sell them and live a comfortable life, but he soon makes her weave them more and more. Oblivious to his wife's diminishing health, his greed increases. He eventually peeks in to see what she is doing to make the silk she weaves so desirable. He is shocked to discover that at the loom is a crane plucking feathers from her own body and weaving them into the loom. The crane, seeing him, flies away and never returns.

Needless to say, I've been listening to the Decemberists over and over again over the past week or so. Some of their songs remind me of early REM, some of the Barenaked Ladies, but overall they have a sound all their own. I highly recommend you check them out, and if you don't want to purchase all their albums, I put together a list of my favorite songs along with the album they are on:

1. Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect - Castaways and Cutouts
2. The Crane Wife pt. 3 - The Crane Wife
3. O Valencia! - The Crane Wife

4. On the Bus Mall - Picaresque

5. Grace Cathedral Hill - Castaways and Cutouts

6. We Both Go Down Together - Picaresque

7. Yankee Bayonet - The Crane Wife

8. Clementine - Castaways and Cutouts

9. Summersong - The Crane Wife

10. From My Own True Love - Picaresque

If you're only going to buy one album though, I'd make it The Crane Wife.

Brooklyn Bridge - NYC 2006

2007-02-05T11:36:00.001-08:00

brooklyn bridge, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

On my first visit to Manahattan at Thanksgiving. The wife and I walked three quarters of the way across the bridge and then back. I really like this shot in Black and White, especially since it was such a gray and overcast (not to mention cold) day. I think this is a pretty standard shot of the bridge, but we got lucky since not too many people were walking around on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The architecture seems to fit better in black and white too.

F Train at Night

2007-02-02T10:44:00.001-08:00

Palm and F Train, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

I love black and white photos, but lately it seems I increasing prefer to try night shots. Might be that when I convert my photos to B&W, they don't really seem to turn out that well. I use Photoshop Elements, so maybe the simplified version there isn't what I need to good B&W shots.

This particular shot took a little post processing to get the colors to jump like I wanted them too. I'm happy with this effort, but realize the composition probably leaves a lot to be desired. At least I've figured out how to process some of these photos. I'll have to go back and looks at some of my other photos and see if I can process them better now.

Let me know what you think of this one, or any on my flickr photostream, for that matter.

Moon over Bay Bridge

2007-02-01T11:36:00.001-08:00

Moon over Bay Bridge, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Probably needs a crop right above the Sinbad's sign, but I liked the way the moonlight was playing off the clouds. Not exactly how I hoped it would turn out, but I'm still pleased nonetheless. This, by the way, was handheld as I didn't have my tripod or a decent place to rest the camera to get the shot.

Picture of the Day

2006-12-11T20:26:00.000-08:00