I just recently spent three weeks traveling through Ireland and the UK. All of the photos are now online and can be viewed at: http://www.paullangphotography.com/europe08/

Get something to eat before you sit down to go through them as there’s more than 1400 images to browse through. Let me know what you think of them.

A friend of mine is a guitarist/singer in The Swedish Models, a local San Diego band. I went to their show a few nights ago to get a little experience with concert photography. The location, the Whistlestop Bar in North Park, was DARK! It’s a really fun place, but it’s a dungeon for the sake of photography. The concert was hosted by Commune Wednesdays, a very cool monthly show that features local artists and musicians. Check them out at jointhecommune.com. Still grabbed a few that I’m proud of. Check out the whole set at http://www.paullangphotography.com/swedish_models

 

I picked up a housing for my camera a few months ago and have been slowly learning how to use it. Last weekend the weather at the beach was absolutely amazing. The sun was shining, the water is warming up, and everyone on the sand was having a great time. The wind was up too, so I took a break and shot Corky and Erik for a little bit.

After taking of my shoes and belt and jacket so I could walk through a mysterious white plastic arch watched over by an underpaid Federal Security guard who held an equally mysterious squeaking wand in his left hand, I put my sandwich bag full of trial-sized toiletries back in my bag and walked up the stairs while trying to keep my pants from falling down. “Keep Moving” the sign says. I do my best to obey for fear or being tagged, labeled, or questioned further. I arrive to the gate with over an hour to spare, and the anxious are already standing in line, pretending to check messages, emails, and business memos while trying to look as important as possible.

A graying man with a bluetooth headset in his ear throws a candy wrapper at a trash can and misses, but makes to effort to pick it up after watching it fall to the carpet. A fifyish woman with over-sized sunglasses and over-injected lips talks to her husband louder than necessary so that everyone will hear her travel plans. Two young men, both with retreating hairlines and expensive suits, pull out their laptops and Blackberries; not a moment left unproductive. A mustached man with snug jeans pulled neatly over his cowboy boots and his head topped neatly with a cowboy hat keeps pulling his ticket out of his front pocket to inspect it, checking to make sure he is in the right place at the right time. A young woman with jet black hair, too much makeup, and giant golden hoop earings races by in a pink sweatsuit with the word Juicy written out across her ass while dragging a matching pink suitcase on wheels. Two teenage boys argue with each other about who gets to plug their iPod or PSP into the only available electrical socket in the entire terminal.

I stay in my seat, afraid to wander more than two feet from my bags; not because someone might steal my camera, socks, and shirts, but because my dirty underwear might be mistaken for a suspicious package and taken away to be disarmed on the tarmack while I take a leak.

No, I’m not following the fire department around Point Loma, even though this is the second time in the past week or so that I’ve taken pictures of them. After two loud noises, our power went off. Shortly after, I could hear voices in the street, so I walked outside to see what everyone was looking at.

Apparently, a manhole cover had been blown off by an electrical short. Smoke was still coming out of the ground. Within a few minutes, the police and fire department were there, so I grabbed my camera.

 

Just happened to be driving down Rosecrans Street when I noticed that a palm tree was on fire next to the road. I pulled onto a side street and parked just as the San Diego firetruck arrived. They had the fire out in no time, and people just kept on driving by on their merry way down Rosecrans Street.

My wife and I decided to spend the Holidays on a road trip through Baja California. We have both been to Baja many times, but we went further south and ventured to places we had never been before.

The most surprising town was San Ignacio. If you didn’t pull off the Mexico 1 “Highway” to take a look, you would never even know the town was there. San Ignacio has a long history, dating back to the early 1700s and is home to a Jesuit Mission that was completed in 1786. The small town is full of old buildings, some of which are in use and some of which are crumbling. It was very surprising to find an old-world small town, just a little over a day’s drive from our home in San Diego.

I spent some time photographing old doors in San Ignacio, among other things. Some doors led to rooms that were completely open because of roofs that had fallen in; others led to businesses that are operating in centuries-old buildings.

So, if you have watched the news at all this week, you might have heard about the fires that we’ve been having down here. It all started with an unusually strong Santa Ana wind that started last weekend. At the last count I heard, over 1,600 homes had been destroyed.

This disaster has been terrible, but all the smoke in the air has been making for some surreal sunsets. Best wishes to everyone who has been impacted by the fires.