ptpix

Going back to Cali, Cali, Cali...........

Been kinda slow around these here parts lately. Did get to do some Smallmouth fishing on the New River near Sparta, NC. Fishing was slow, but good company as I was hanging with some of the guys from the Carolina Fly Fishing Club. Been feeling a bit under the weather as I get ready to head out to LA for 9 days. I am heading out to second shoot 2 weddings with my friend Laura. Laura runs an excellent wedding photography business in LA specializing in shooting film (!). We are working on building a wedding book for me so that I can become one of her photographers. I love going out there, I miss LA. Laura and her awesome husband Daniel and their lovely daughter Willa, live in a great neighborhood between Santa Monica and Venice. They have a guest house whose first floor is Laura's office and the second floor is where I stay. It is so nice to just head to the beach and watch the surfers and the tourists. When I lived in LA, Laura and I were housemates, and we lived on the Eastside. So of course we stayed away from the Westside, other than a few trips to the beach. But now I like the Westside better. One of the things I like about LA is how easy it is to be 'green' and to eat healthy. Where I am now there is NO recycling and healthy eating means veggies from a can. In LA, everyone carries their own reusable water bottles, you can eat fresh fruits and veggies on every corner, there are businesses set up for 'green' cleaning of your house. You can drive your scooter without people thinking your doing so because you got a DWI! Oh, and I can play poker in LA!!

Anyway,I checked the weather and it is like 75-80 and sunny the whole time, lows in the low 60's. Just perfect. I'll be posting from Cali, so stay tuned.

Here are some photos taken on Venice Beach when I was out there in Feb.

The Market

Growing up in Freehold, when some one says "hey, we're going to the market" it only can mean one thing, the Englishtown Flea Market, officially known as the Englishtown Auction. It is where you went for food, cameras, fruit and veggies, cheap tee shirts, cheap gold, junk, junk, junk, junk, junk and more junk. There are 5 building housing stalls that sell everything from food, to bras, to musical instruments, to records, to books, to really anything you could want. There are food stalls everywhere, some so, so, so good and some not so good. You can eat your way through the market with burritos and funnel cakes and snow cones, and mini doughnuts and sausage and peppers, don't forget the pizzas. and the bagels, the bagels are oh so good. There is fresh fruit and veggies, there used to be a butcher, and a fish market, not sure if they are still there. 

There is Walt's Camera's. When I was younger and still in college, Walt's was a place for me to buy gear. My mom bought stuff from Walt all the time and he carried just enough top level gear to keep me interested. He had great prices and some interesting used gear. He would have 100's of lenses and camera bodies stacked up on the shelves behind the small counter, you had to push thru the crowd to get his attention. But when you did you had it. He would talk for hours about cameras. I stopped by his booth when I visited the market over Memorial Day weekend,  it was just a shadow of what it once was. some old musty gear, a few busted up enlargers that would work if you can find the chemicals and the paper to make prints, a board of filters with 1/4 inch of dust on them, a display case with only a few used obscure items in it. Just a victim of the times Walt says, not as much traffic through the market these days and no one wants the old gear anymore.

While you can get everything you need at the market, from your groceries to your clothing, it is the stuff you don't need that makes the  market the best. Outside there are what seems like 1000's of tables set up, acres of sellers, think garage sale on a  city level. Some are in the same spot every week, but most of the tables are first come first served. You get there at 4am, pick out a table and put your junk out for sale. Sometimes you have sold it all by 7am other times your still looking at it all at 4pm, packing it all up just to bring it back the next weekend.. These tables of junk are where the real treasures are. You probably are not going to find any 'steals' here as they were all picked up at 4am by sneaky dudes who then resell that stuff at their own table, but you find all kinds of stuff that you didn't even know you needed. Toy's, lamps, tires, tools, all kinds of tools from air powered drivers to socket sets to antique hand tools, tools that aren't made anymore and you won't find anywhere else, knobs, nuts and bolts, hubcaps, fishing gear, old sporting equipment, boxes of makeup and toothpaste that 'fell off a truck', clothes from vintage to new, shoes, antiquated electronics that are 4 generations old, memorabilia, baseball cards, old ads, really anything you could think of is there. It is crazy. I have spent the whole day there making 4 or 5 trips to the car with arms full of stuff. Glass 5 gallon water bottles! Old cameras by the box load! Old magazines that might be worth something some day! Just too much junk to remember.

So it was over Memorial Day weekend that John, Sue, the boys and I headed over to get some veggies and some burritos from the burrito lady. I took a bunch of photos, really it was hard not to. I had never really took any there before and I can't remember why I didn't other than our interests and taste in photos change and evolve. I took these pix thinking I could put them up here on this blog. I have never really had a place to show photos like these before. I mean they are not portfolio material, but they are 'good' photos. These days it seems I am taking photos for the joy of it again, not just for work. I like that.

Disks, do any of you even have a computer that can use these?

how long have these been here?

nothing for me in this booth!

Who doesn't need a Perry Como 8 track tape? and where else would you get one?

Just randomness.

Old pipe wrench.

not sure what is in those boxes

fresh green beans

need one for your Toy Story collection?

this is a detail of a box of old keys, maybe 2-3 thousand of em.

If you had an old TV that needed a knob (yes, they used to have knobs to change channels and volume) where else would you find one?

High fashion!

I love me some cherries!

good stuff

Wish I had bought these old fisherman lamps.

The Woodpeckers

My friend John V. plays softball on a team called the Woodpeckers. The Woodpeckers has been a team playing softball in Freehold, NJ for about 30 years. John's father, Slick, was one of the founding members. A few other of my friends play on the team also. As the years have gone by, the team has become a mix of original members and their sons. For the last 20 years, whenever I've been in Freehold and there was a game, I've gone to it. There is usually some beer to drink and some trash talking going on. I've come to know many of the players and been to many parties and BBQ's. Years ago, maybe 10 or 12 years ago, I did a series of B/W photos for John V. They lived on his families fridge for many years. When I was back in Freehold this past Memorial Day, John asked me again to take some photos for the Woodpeckers website. Here are some of them.

Recent fishing trips

So, I have been doing a bit of fishing the last couple of weeks. Here are a few trips all wrapped up in one post. All photos taken with the point and shoot, so quality is good to iffy.

Over Memorial Day weekend I was able to fish two places from the old days when I was growing up in New Jersey, Manasquan Inlet and Turkey Swamp Park.

First up is Manasquan Inlet. Growing up in Freehold, Manasquan Beach was the beach to go to. We went there often when I was young. I spent all my time in the waves or climbing up and over the jetties. As I got older and my friends and I started to drive we still went to Manasquan, I even went there after my prom passing out on the sand and waking up at noon with major sunburned legs. After college I even ended up living there for 2-3 years. I spent very little time fishing the surf and have only done it a few times. I fished mostly for fluke in a back water creek called Glimmer Glass. A couple of years ago as I was getting into fly fishing I really wanted to fish the surf for striped bass. They can get to over 40lbs and are a blast to catch on any gear. So, Thursday before Memorial Day weekend I drove straight thru the night to get to Manasquan, stopped at on of my top five bars and grills, Leggetts, had a beer, then crashed in the car in the parking area near the south jetty. Got up at 430 when the low tide was finished and the high tide was getting ready to come in. It was cold, in the 40's and very windy, blowing from the shore to the surf, keeping the tide and the bait fish off shore. There were a few other fishermen already on the beach. I found a spot and started casting a chartreuse and white Clouser fly. After a couple of hours, no one was catching anything and we determined, well they told me, that there was no use fishing anymore this morning with the wind keeping everything off shore. I moved over to the jetty and waded out as far as i could and took a few more casts. Then, I finally caught this little guy, he aint big, but he is the first striper I have ever caught on a fly in the surf!

jetty where I fished

Me and my striper

Later that weekend I snuck away from the BQQ's and parades and headed over to the place I used to ride my bike to every chance I could get. Turkey Swamp Park is a Monmouth County, NJ county park. It was about 3 miles from my house. I used to load up with worms or night crawlers when I was in grade school and then later I loaded up with Mepps and Panther Martin spinners and my Ugly Stick, hoped on the bike and rode on up to the park (there is no way I would be allowed to do that nowadays, the traffic is just sick on those old roads and there are just more and more McMansions on what used to be farm land). There is a lake at Turkey Swamp and I used to hike all around it looking for those big fish. There is also a dock and a boat rental, I used to sit on the dock and catch little sunfish. Eventually I found this little 1/2 acre pond off of the main lake. It was in a part of the park the you couldn't get to from hiking around the lake and you had to get to it from a picnic area and through some huge fields. Now there is a fitness/hiking trail that goes right by it. When I was a kid I thought I had a secret little fishing place, there was never anyone there, of course when I went last weekend about 30 people walked by. So this time I went just to take a look, a visit to the old days. I brought along the fly rod and tossed a popper into the pond while throwing a ball for Bella, she loves big fields. I ended up catching 7 sunnies, 4 black crappies, and 3 bass, in about 2 hours. No size to any of them, but it brought back memories of how much fun I used to have there just catching anything.

The pond

The fish

And lastly, yesterday, Saturday, I headed on up to fish the Smith River in Martinsville, VA. The Smith is another tailwater river and is loaded with trout, 2000 fish per mile. I went up there with Josh for a day of fishing with the Smith RIver Trout Unlimited chapter. They invited up fisherpeople from all over to experience their river. I had always wanted to try it out and this was a great opportunity to fish it with some locals and experienced Smith RIver fishermen. The group all fished on our own for the most part of the day. Josh and I met up with his friend Ben who fished there once a week or more, and we went to a few of his favorite spots. We had good luck catching a bunch of fish. The river runs through the town of Bassett (think furniture, big factories) and that attracts not only fly fishermen but spin fishermen too. Not to sound too elitist, as I used to be one too, but at one point Josh and I were fishing about 20 yards apart just upstream from a bridge and this spin fisherman comes walking down stream right behind us and then stops between us and just throws his spinner right into the run we are fishing. Of course his one cast caught a fish! So rude, but we didn't say anything, not going to start a argument. He released his fish and then walked on down stream. Later in the afternoon we all met up for a BBQ and a quick talk from the VA state biologist who works the Smith. He had some interesting things to say. There was also a drawing for door prizes, I won a $20 fly box, always nice. Then we fished some more, right up until dark and even into the dark a bit, as Josh and I seem to do. Over all I caught 17 trout all browns except for one rainbow. We even took a trip up to the dam for Josh to cast some of his huge articulated flies.

A couple of Brown trout

look at these colors!

The dam letting some water out

Here is the totals for the year 

Fish Totals as of 6.1.08

Species and totals for 2008

Brook Trout - 23
Native Wild Brook trout - 15
Rainbow Trout - 22
Brown Trout - 52
Largemouth Bass - 28
Sunfish - 97
Black Crappie - 11

Striped Bass - 1

Breaking news! well, it is cool at the least.

I was just alerted by someone who had seen some photos of Bella as to what breed of dog she is.

She is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever or a 'Toller'

from one of the websites:

"The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (Toller) was developed in the early 19th century to toll, lure, and retrieve waterfowl. The playful action of the Toller retrieving a stick or ball along the shoreline arouses the curiosity of the ducks offshore. They are lured within gunshot range, and the dog is sent out to retrieve the dead or wounded birds. 

This medium sized, powerful, compact, balanced dog is the smallest of the retrievers. The Toller's attitude and bearing suggest strength with a high degree of agility. He is alert, determined, and quick, with a keen desire to work and please."

"Tollers are extremely intelligent and learn very quickly, but also are easily bored and can often have a bit of a stubborn streak...the secret to success in training a Toller is to find ways that make the Toller think that the whole thing was his idea all along!

They are a hard to come by breed it seems:

"As you may already know, Tollers are not always an easy breed to come by. Realistically, you can expect to spend 6-12 months on average waiting for a pup. Most breeders maintain waiting lists, and all good breeders will carefully screen their puppy buyers before even adding them to their waiting lists."

Here is the website to a major breeder and to the AKC description

http://www.tollwest.com

http://www.akc.org/breeds/nova_scotia_duck_tolling_retriever/

and of course Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Scotia_Duck-Tolling_Retriever

these sites describe a dog that is exactly like her, the photos look like they could be her brothers and sisters. What do you think?

Bella

photo from tollwest site

I have more posts coming from the past weekend, a couple of fun shoots i did just for me and one of fish. Stay tuned!

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day. It means something other than a BBQ. So many have given so much for our country and our way of life, so while you are enjoying that hamburger and drinking that beer, pause for a moment and give them a thought and thanks either silently in your head or call a toast. If you know a veteran, tell him or her you appreciate their service wether it was recent or 25 years ago or 50 years ago. Go to the parade and stand up proud to show your support, bring the kids and tell them why you are there, not just for the candy!

Support our current troops by helping to bring them home as soon as possible and giving them all they need once they get here.

I am in Freehold, NJ, my hometown, visiting friends and we will be going to the towns parade in the morning with their kids.It's been a great weekend and I have a few thing to post about later in the week.

Since I have an unwritten 'no post without a photo' rule, I have picked a few from different stages in my life, one from AZ, one from Somalia and one from the first Gulf war while I was interning at a newspaper.

Newsweek assignment

So, I mentioned a few posts ago that I had done a job for Newsweek. Well it is running in this weeks issue and online. It is a small FOB (front of book) assignment for the section called 'My Turn'. Here it is online.

I was assigned this job from a new photo agency called Rapport Press which is my friend and poker buddy Warren Winter's newest endeavor.

This job went well, it was fairly easy with a strict set of guidelines as far as posing and having eye contact. The author, Tammy Dominski, was a joy to work with and very pleasant. Her husband had just gotten out of the Army after a few tours in Iraq and the article she wrote is about the quilt she made to help her husband be reminded of the childhood milestones he missed while serving in Iraq. It is a heartfelt and touching story and reminds us all of part of the real people cost of this war. 

Here is the photo that they ran online, I have not seen the print version yet.

Fishing trip to Shady Valley, TN

WOW! What a great trip. This was the spring 'Show' for the Southeast Fly FIshing Forum. About 35 guys showed up, we camped in a field, had great meals, huge fires, and lotsa lying and fish stories.

I got up there on Wed, met Josh and hit the Soho, the South Holston RIver. What an incredible fishery. It is a wild Tail water. We met up with Josh's friend Blake, who loves the river so much, he bought a house nearby just so he can fish it 300 days a year! We fished the Soho for 4 days, fished from 8am to 9pm most days. We caught 2 spinner falls, where the mayflies mate in a huge cloud of bugs, this goes on for maybe 30 minutes then the females drop down into the riffles and drop the eggs, while the males just die and fall into the water. This creates a massive feeding frenzy from the trout, they cruise up and down stream just to get there. We even saw a big wake running through some riffles of a brown trout moving into position. It is easy fishing, just toss out a fly, but with so many naturals, the trout can be a bit picky. We stopped in at the South Holston River Fly Shop every morning just to say hi, of course it cost me 20-50 bux each time! We fished so late every night, we missed dinner a couple of times, but were back to camp in time to sit around the fire and hear stories of everyone's day, drink a couple of beers and try to stay warm and dry. It rained every night we were there! The weather was on the cool to cold side and the wind didn't help at all.

Man, it was a really good time, I was so exhausted when I got back on Sunday, I just fell asleep. 

I hope the photos tell you more of the story.

Josh and Blake watching the Sulphurs and waiting for them to fall

Josh casting to some fish

Josh with a fish on!

Brown trout who took a split case Sulphur nymph

Brown Trout trying to shake the fly.

Paul releasing a brown

Sulphur mating cloud

Josh in the fog

Classic Soho riffles

Josh, Paul, and JB walking back to the car after the spinner fall under the full moon.

Fish Totals as of 5.20.08

Species and totals for 2008

Brook Trout - 23
Native Wild Brook trout - 15
Rainbow Trout - 21
Brown Trout - 37
Largemouth Bass - 20
Sunfish - 83
Black Crappie - 7

Off to the woods!

I am heading out this morning to go fishing, go hiking and just be out in the woods for a few days, look for a trip report Monday or Tuesday. I am anticipating a long term project to get started soon and will not be able to take off for most of the summer, so I am trying to get some outdoor time in before then. We ( this is a trip with the Southeastern Fly Fishing Club, 35 people going ) will be heading out to Shady Valley, TN. From there we will fish the South Holston, the Beaverdam and 2-3 other rivers and creeks. The SOHO will be my first time fishing a tail water, the back end of an impound lake where the water is let go from the bottom of the dam and therefore is always very cool, good temp for trout. Big, big brown trout. This weekend is also Trail Days in Damscus VA. I had a blast at trail days last year while hiking and many of my hiking buddies will be there again this year. I am planning on stopping in for a visit. A funny thing about this fishing trip being in Shady Valley is that that is where we found Bella while hiking the AT last year. On the 20th she will have been with me for a year. It is unfortunate that she can't come along on this trip, but no pets are allowed at the campsites. so sad.

On another note, my parents left this morning for their trip to China. They were scheduled to go to Chengdu, but after the earthquake they were told there was no way to even get there. The bulk of their trip was to be in the Sichuan province. They are pretty disappointed to not be going, but of course are grateful that they hadn't started their trip earlier. 3 people in their group dropped out and the rest were to adjust their itinerary on the 19 hour flight. Our thoughts are with the victims of the quake.

So not wanting to have a post without a photo, here are 2 shots of Bella from out first day together. we had hiked about 13 miles and it was a hot day.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's all about Mom today. Had all the family over, Pops smoked some ribs, fished the pond with the kids, did a family photo (complete with them heckling the photographer). We did have a dark mark on the day. My sister, who was enjoying her own Mother's day by chilling, stubbed her pinkie toe while moving to a chair and BROKE it!!! She tried to tough it out for a couple of hours, but finally she had to go have some x-rays and get some pain meds. My mom took her in and is probably enjoying the relaxing waiting room, reading all those Highlights magazines! Moms and Pops leave next week for a 4 week trip to China and Japan, so it was a nice day for everyone to get together as they get ready to leave.

So, here is Mom.
(photo taken with Polaroid T-55 P/N film)