Some random photos

These haven't seen the light of day...what do you think of 'em? The last two - I can't tell which one is better, bird or no bird.

Seattle Marathon

This was a fun shoot, although the picture above is one of the only actually creative shots I was able to take. I mostly just sat in a camping chair, sipping some hot tea and shooting hundreds of close-up mug shots of the runners. Then they get to buy prints of them if they want. Before the the race began, I shot some of the runners warming up in the near freezing air at like 6:30am. I hate getting up this early but once I'm up, I'm always happy and there are always good pictures to be made. This seems to always be true...maybe that's only because I'm never up that early so early morning time just seems to hold more wonder for me...I'm just seeing early morning stuff that I don't usually see...It's like traveling somewhere that you usually don't go. It's always good to change up the routine and find something new. For me, that's what photography is all about.

Pendleton Round-Up

Nothing says 'America' like going to the rodeo, and the finals of the Pendleton Round-Up is the place to be if you want to see some good rodeo action. I had a great time meeting some really nice folks last weekend in Pendleton, Oregon and I went home with some photos that I am very happy with. Take a look by clicking here.

Another Story in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Check out today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer front page for a photo of mine:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/frontpage/SPI-20070901-A-001.pdf

Hempfest Seattle

Why do so many thousands of people go to Hempfest? Who are they and what do they do there? Watch this 3 minute multimedia piece, made by yours truly, and find out.

Rat City Rollergirls Multimedia Piece

Follow this link to watch a slide show with audio and interviews from the most recent roller derby bout...

You'll see a lot more photos that you didn't see in the story that ran in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Friday (see previous post).

Rat City Rollergirls

I shot a story that ran in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Friday, August 17 with some fun pictures. They gave it a huge space on the front and back of the sports page, with a teaser photo on page one of the paper as well.

Click here to see the story on the P-I website



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Photo(s) of the day

This one is from my vault of archives (Feb 07). Photographer for La Nacion (Buenos Aires) Hernan Zenteno, peering out the back of a train from the conductor's area, looking for relevant things to shoot. The assignment was on slums and squatters' shacks becoming too close to the train tracks.

Bilal Hussein

AP photographer Bilal Hussein has been imprisoned by the U.S. military, with no charges brought against him, since April of last year. The AP, along with Pullitzer-winning journalists have been very active in the fight to get him free...

http://freebilal.org/english.htm


_______________________

Picture of the day

It's abstract...I usually don't get to shoot that way when shooting as a photojournalist...my style used to be very abstract, and I'd like to go back and develop that some more...

I wonder if many editors would run this photo...perhaps as a part of a larger picture story. This was the very last shot I took out of about a thousand during a 3 day backpacking trip I took with my girlfriend. This is her walking up the stairs as we arrive back at my apartment...

Picture of the day

Here's a photo I just shot. Hungry? Mmm...healthy. It's romaine lettuce.

Rampart Ridge Hike

Visit this hidden gallery on my site to view some images from our hike to Rampart Ridge in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, WA this week. It was a little rainy, but still beautiful...allowing for some nice shots of the foliage covered in water droplets...

It's wedding season

I shot Paul and Selina's wedding last weekend...check out some of the pics at http://ryderpictures.com/wedding/wedding.htm or click on the pic below...It was on the 17th floor of the WaMu Center in downtown Seattle...a truly amazing venue with like a huge grassy meadow landscaped out there on the patio.

The big chance

This doesn't ever happen - I read on aphotoaday.org that the VII Photo Agency is soliciting new members. Read the story from Photo District News. The folks at VII are some of the best in the world. I wonder if I'm ready to submit a portfolio yet...




I do have another big chance however; this one is more realistic. I interview on Monday for the position of 'photo and illustration editor' at the quarterly, Communities Magazine. They're all about developing communities in responsible and healthy ways. This will be a nice return to my editing responsibilities at The Univ of WA Daily last year...just looking a pictures and shooting some when needed - can't complain about that kind of job.

Jumping Pictures

Here's a funny shot, made with help from my sister behind the camera. We went to the park to take a family portrait for mother's day...and then have a few beers with my friends and do some good ol' fashioned jumping pictures. That's me on the right in case you don't know.

A New Website

See photos from my U.S. road trip and more at my brand new site -

http://www.ryderpictures.com

I've finally returned home after 4 months and more than 14,000 miles driven. I ended up with two speeding tickets, but no wrecks and no break downs. I ought to do an ad for Saturn, huh?

Since I last wrote, we drove along the Gulf Coast, while stopping for extended stays in Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana. Let me tell you that the Big Easy ain't lookin too good.

It's overwhelming and depressing to see post-Katrina New Orleans, and to learn about the failures in relief efforts. I was there 15 months after the storm hit, and it really seemed like it had hit just the day before. The Ninth Ward was desolate and void of human life. I have a selection of photos from New Orleans that I felt were particularly moving, available here.

We drove through Texas, which is just way too big, and made our way to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Weird name, I know. But great hot springs there, and cheap - the town's name actually used to be Hot Springs.

After that was the world's second largest hot air balloon festival in Gallup, NM, followed by a couple days in Vegas. After that we pretty much high-tailed it home because it was so damn cold (6 degrees Farenheit in Gallup); plus, we kinda did miss home.

So here I am, home in Kirkland, WA.
Go look at my new site! Again, it's http://www.ryderpictures.com It's great!

Peace,
Dave

Sunny (Thunderstormy) Florida

NEW PICS -- http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek8

Old pics -- http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek6
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek4
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek2
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek1

"Flaahda" That's where I actually am. Though it doesn't feel like it right now. Sometimes I hear an accent like that, and I also feel the humid, hot weather. Then I know I'm here. Then (right now) it's gloomy, rainy, and just like home. Where people talk normal, recycle, and eat granola.

It's very off and on, that whole recycling thing. But I did finally see someone else in Winn Dixie with granola in their shopping cart.

We're camping right by the Everlglades, about 30 min from Miami, in a town I embarassingly don't know what to call. And I've been here for like 4 nights. It's funny too because I've been talking constantly of finding work, or a campground where I could work to pay for my site, and the opportunity just arose. I just didn't feel like doing any roofing yesterday. It was hot, I was tired, and so I swam and lay by the pool instead.

Then I did some more lounging, just to keep it consistent, you know. You can't just lounge for two-and-a-half days, then just start roofing all of a sudden. Better just keep it simple, 'stay the course' if you will - as Dubya would tell me. Then again appartently we've "never been 'stay the course,'" as he declared on national TV a couple of days ago. Well, then I have never been lounging this much ever before, either.

Whether or not our president is a liar, or we're fighting an illegal war that costs tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars...I can at least admit I have lied before, too. I really have been this lazy and comfortable, and will 'stay the course' by the pool this afternoon. If the sun will ever come back. I do admit, also, to being constantly irritated in this state that's governed by Jeb Bush.

You may know my background, and yes I'm liberal. That might be an understatement to some of you, to whom liberal just means radical and argumentative. So I'll continue to write with a smile, knowing that you disagree about my opinions on Cuba. But hey, I lived there, so whadda you got?

But seriously, The Miami Herald is like a White House propaganda organ spewing out garbage in its seemingly daily anti-Cuba articles. They might as well just change the international section to the 'Today's Reasons Why Castro Should Burn in Hell (As soon as that old bastard will finally just die!) section.' I'm serious, though, and Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales (leaders of Venezuela and Bolivia, respectively) have been in that same 'Burn in Hell' section every day so far.

I'll tell you right now that I did come to the South to get a taste of some culture that's foreign to me. You're right if you tell me I shouldn't expect anything else - 'cause yeah, I guess I came here for this. I guess I'm just lucky I'm a white man who's looking to see why folks can be so ignorant down here. It could be much more uncomfortable; I ain't denying my privilege.

The radio stations are just as bad, and it makes me wonder how amazingly powerful anti-Castro Cubans are around here. And you can exchange the word 'Cubans' with 'money' in that last sentence. That lobby is so very strong in Washington, D.C., too; you can bet on that. Jeb's yapping in George's ear, because Jeb's hearing it in his ear every day (and feeling it in his campaign contributions) . It's not like it's top secret or anything.

Last night on 98.3 FM (a popular Spanish language channel) an artist made the official announcement that, due to overwhelming pressure, he is willing to destroy one of his masterpieces on the behalf of the exile community. He's gonna incinerate his sculpture of Castro's head. Pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

It's not like he's erecting a Saddam Hussein statue on 1600 Pennsylvania, D.C. It's Castro, people, come on.

Let me try to clarify something. Rich folks own mass media outlets, which greatly inform public opinion. With the case of Cuba, the news media have always told us one certain thing. After a while, like my whole lifetime, I took that thing for granted to be fact. Truth is, I did't really know at all. Republican or Democrat, or whoever you are, you can't really disagree. But I do now understand both sides of this argument.

So, examine the case of a country which we are not allowed to enter. They welcome us, but the State Department says it's a big No-No. Why is it illegal? It must be for our own safety, right? After all, Mr. Bush tells me that Cuba is in the (cue scary music) *Axis of Evil*

That's not a joke, Bush honestly grouped Cuba in with Kim Jong-il's North Korea and Hussein's Iraq.

Well I went to Cuba and, oh Jesus, I came back alive! Truth is, there's just got to be some things that those folks in Washington just don't want us to understand. Come on, am I just crazy?

Savannah, GA

New pics: http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek6

Old pics: http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek4
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek2
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek1


Here I sit, under the stars and gazing at the river in Savannah, Georgia. And I'm checking my email. I'll make this a quick blurb so I don't miss anything cool. You see, I usually update from a boring library or the passenger seat of my Saturn. This place is different.

Georgia is my favorite state so far. We kind of blew through Atlanta and found ourselves in Savannah last night (coming from Nashville). I love everything about Georgia, and especially Savannah, and I haven't even sampled any of their famous peaches.

It reaaaally feels like the South now. There's Spanish Moss hanging from so many trees, and leaving the state park today (our home for the next week or so) felt like a tour through an old horror movie. Imagine a dark road lined with scraggly gray trees dripping sea-green moss from every branch.

More to come later...just look at this week's pictures. Most are from Kentucky, where we checked out a lot of horse stuff. Very cool horse stuff - just look at the pictures and you'll see!

I am a monk now. Well, for 10 days at least.

Photos, new and old:
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek4/
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek2/
http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek1/


A few doubts crossed my mind, but then I jumped in headfirst. I lived on the donations of others, did not eat any meals after midday, and meditated for over 100 hours. On September 13 I started a 10-day meditation course at the Illinois Vipassana Meditation Center in Pecatonica, near Rockford, Illinois. I think the course was the most influential part of my road trip so far.

There were about 30 of us meditating, some new students and some old, and we didn’t talk, touch, or so much as look at each other the entire time. We arose at four a.m. every morning to meditate before breakfast, and continued to meditate for at least eight more hours. If you’ve ever climbed a mountain, then you know how I feel right now after finishing. I’m exhausted, proud, happy, confident, and somehow both irritable and very calm. I gained some wisdom and some strength, and yet I feel like never meditating again.

Of course I already meditated this morning, the day after leaving the course. Like my attitude toward mountaineering, I just need a little less intensity after finishing, because the course was so challenging. Sometime in the future I will probably sit another course, but that won’t be any time soon. As for now, I really do want to incorporate meditation into my everyday life.

I won’t spend much time here preaching or anything like that. I’ll just say that it was a great experience for me and if you want to know more, just let me know. Everybody should definitely give it a try. You can go to http://www.dhamma.org/ to check it out.

I’m writing from Mukwonago, Wisconsin, where we’ll be for a couple days, just relaxing at a campground in farm country. On our way to Milwaukee I’m getting excited to eat some cheese and visit that old beer brewin’ town. Afterwards we’ll drive along Lake Michigan to Chicago, and hopefully snag to a ticket the see the Seahawks beat the Bears on Sunday.

I last wrote from Dodge City I believe, and I don’t have too many pictures of our trip since then. We kinda blew through Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois because we had to be at the meditation course so soon. After Dodge City we stayed in Abilene, Kansas where we bought a new car battery and stopped worrying about getting stranded. We also caught the opening day of the Kansas State Fair, which was pretty awesome. It wasn’t too different from the fairs back home, so after a deep-fried Snickers bar and some examination of the plethora of Confederate Flag paraphernalia for sale, we continued on our journey.

Next was St. Louis, where we took some pictures at their giant arch and drank some coffee in the university district. Hoping for some Seattle-like comfort, I ended up finding the city a little lame. It seemed pretty segregated as well, and some parts were really ghetto. We slept in a nice little spot north of town, which was relaxing.

Of course, we found that place after first leaving the world’s creepiest RV park in the outskirts of St. Louis. We left the first place pretty late, after setting up camp and soon taking it right back down. That meant we had to wind through some eerie forn fields, trying to follow signs in a very dark night. Fierce lightning and thunder made it more of an adventure, and upon arriving we had to sleep on a popped air mattress - an unfortunate by-product of leaving the world’s creepiest RV park in such a hurry.

The next night was spent at a nice KOA campground around LaSalle, Illinois. We washed some clothes and watched the Simpsons in the lounge for a nice change. Then we had our last night of freedom before taking a nervous gulp and heading to the meditation center.

Look out for many more new pictures to come, as I need to play a little catch up. And if you're enjoying the blog, or at least just made it to the bottom of this page (!) let me know...

The Trip by the Numbers:
4,512 – miles driven so far
11 - states covered
2 - nights spent sleeping in Wal-Mart parking lots
107 - hours spent meditating
15 – average dollars spent per day (with gas, camping, beer and all!)
2.24 – (dollars per gallon) the cheapest gas price we’ve seen, which was in Kansas
1 - Speeding ticket (so far...)

Get the heck outta Dodge

All of the photos will be hosted by sportsshooter.com now, so just click this link for a few of this week's pics: http://www.sportsshooter.com/dryder/usaweek2 The thumbnails might be all black but just click em and you'll see some sweet pics, guaranteed.

I like Dodge City, Kansas, but there's a hell of a lot of flies. That's why I want to get the heck out, but it is a great place to relax and poke around. We had to eat lunch in the tent today, which was like sitting in a sauna, because there were so many flies swarming our picnic table. Tonight will be our second night staying here at the Watersports Campground, which is located right on a big, calm pond in Dodge City.

Kanna and I enjoyed Antelope Island, Utah, before heading to some unnamed spot a couple hours east of Salt Lake City, near Provo. We saw a sign for camping, continued past the campground, and made our own little space near a creek where cattle roam. It was pretty calm, and free, yet still smelled a bit like cattle. The next night was spent in a very nice campground in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado. It was luxurious but a little boring for our tastes. Naturally, we graduated to the parking lot of Wal Mart for the next night's accomodation.

I know it sounds weird, but it was free, and surprisingly more adventurous. The plan was to set up camp just like normal, and we got the 'ok' from asst. manager Joe inside Canyon City's Wal Mart (still in Colorado). However, as we watched a large brawl take place outside the store's main entrance, we decided to find another location. The wild goose chase that ensued only led us back to Wal Mart, two hours later, with our own fear restraining us to the inside of my Saturn. We drove all over trying to find the state park, and just ended up sleeping in the car back where we had began.

Things took a turn for the better, as we encountered enchanting Fowler, Colorado. By enchanting, of course, I mean small and weird, and kind of uncomfortable. But it was a nice two nights of 'catching our breath' from too much driving and not enough relaxing. Fowler is just a pit stop, if you will, for travelers of highway 50. Our neighbor in the permanent trailer next to us at the RV park enchanted us with tails of the town's mysterious cat murderers. And vicios dogs chased me as I took a jog by the cemetery.

As we follow highway 50, which brought us to Dodge City, Kansas, I am truly glad we chose to avoid major interstate highways. Blue highways are the way to go (the ones that look blue on the map--not the big freeways). The scenery is great, the pace is more manageable, and the towns are very unique.

Tomorrow we'll continue on our way, not before sampling the town's Mexican food, of course. There seems to be a large Latino population here, something I'm seeing a lot of on this trip, and I'm dying to get some food that rivals the taquerias that I came to love while living in Baja.

Like I said last week, that wallet ain't getting any fatter, but we're doing alright. And that beard is kind of big; you should see it. Maybe I'll add a pic next week. And the car is, well, workin' real hard. The brakes started smoking in the Black Canyon, which forced us to pull over and let them cool (and let our nerves cool, which was probably more important--it's a damn steep road!). The battery was completely shot yesterday, and the trunk popped open while we were driving. Sadly, we lost my beloved American flag folding chair. It fell straight out onto the highway, never to be seen again. Se la vi.