One Piece Weekly Challenge: UFO

Me and a bunch of my friends live for One Piece, the Shonen manga by Eiichiro Oda of grand adventures, fantastic battles, and epic scale.  And some time ago, a good friend thunk up the idea to do some weekly art of this common passion of ours.  After all, its a great way to keep the creative juices flowing, the art skills improving, and our fandom satiated~

Well, anyhoo, recently I've been busy with some freelance work, hardly being able to get away from the computer.  I noted earlier today that I'd been slowing down and needed a good kick to get efficiency back to maximum capacity.  So I used this as my bolt of inspiration, which resulted in the above work.  A certain, recent event brought visions of star ships and beam guns to my mind, and after jotting down a thumbnail, the subject matter quickly took themes from a certain space opera~  Enjoy~

Beach Pup

Since I take my pup to the beach so much, and since Endless Summer I and II, and Step Into Liquid are among my most watched movies of all time, I've always wanted to do a beach video.  Heck, I even decided the music track I wanted to use for it long ago, Hammerhead by the uber-talented surf-rock group, The Halibuts~

Some months ago, I installed Magic Lantern on my 50d, which enabled video.  Now, I'll be honest, my favorite feature of Magic Lantern is, yes, FAST ZOOMING IN PLAYBACK MODES~  But dang it, video is a nice feature when you need it or want it.  May as well give it a go, right?  DON!!!

So here it is, in all its dog-running, butt-wiggling, water-spalshing, super-unstabilized-shaking glory~  I'm a noob at this video stuff, if you can't tell~

Forty Miles Til Sunset

Today, again, I need a break away from the machine that seems to occupy a great deal of my time; the computer.  So I took it upon myself to drive forty miles to take a photo of the sunset~  But, little did I know that those forty miles would turn into two and a half hours in traffic.  And, I do love driving, but traffic just drives me crazy...  Oh well, the timing worked out nicely~

Due to the traffic, and lack of forward movement, I ended up taking a few shots, thinking that I'd miss the sunset I drove all this way to photograph.

People at this particular stop just love feeding the animals.  Squirrels and gulls took turns eating peanuts off the dusty ground.

I left before the sun fully set and managed to grab this snapshot.  I like the fact that the arrow sign is pointing to the sun~

Dirt Trails and Cluttered Thoughts

My mind cluttered by too many thoughts, my eyes burning from the soft glow of computer screens, I decided  to give both a break with a short hike at Fairview Park.  I love trails; walking down them, taking photos of them, drawing them.  Its like a guide to where you're going.  Don't like the direction its taking you?  Then stray off a bit to get where you wanna go.

The skies were on fire as the sun was setting, and a gentle breeze energized my spirit just enough to make it up a hill steeper than I was planning to take.

The clouds danced throughout the sky, and the blossoms of this plant mimicked their shapes nicely enough.

A lone leaf sitting idly on a dirt path littered with bike tire tracks and foot prints.

Happy Hour Jamba

For the past week, Jamba Juice has been having a special~  Between 9-11am, a 16 ounce Jamba costs just one dollar!!  Oh yeaa~  Tomorrow is the last day, so if you're craving a Jamba, check it out, yo!  We went yesterday, too, but I didn't like the picture that came out.

A part of me almost wishes it had boba, or jelly~

Morning Jog & Corn

Yesterday, the intense Summer heat started fading out and I and trillions of others breathed a sigh of relief.  At last, it was comfortable outside, and inside as well!  The energy to run the air conditioning isn't cheap, after all...  Anyhow, me and my brothers decided this was a good time for a trip to the beach, a jog along the shoreline.  I have some excess weight get rid of, though not for reasons of being fit or for vanity's sake, but rather, for the sake of cosplay, so that I don't have my gut hanging out of these costumes~

Now, I'm not a great jogger by any stretch of the imagination.  Sadly, I still can't run for terribly long, partially due to my lack of physical exercise, and also due to my lack of veggies diet.  But hey, I try!  I ran for a bit, under and through the pier, among crowds of kids learning to boogie board, surf, and train as lifeguards.  Running on the beach is definitely more taxing on the body than running on asphalt or grass.  The soft sand that gives way to each step gives one's legs a much more strenuous workout, and the swiftly moving salt water of the ocean wets one's shorts, adding much more weight, skin-clinging, and uncomfortable dampness.  But it was fun.  Tiring, but fun~

We walked back to the car and strolled a bit through downtown Huntington Beach.  Being a wannabe photographer, I did my best to capture the essence of beach-town life.  I took quite a few photos, but this one is the the only one I really liked.  A chain-linked fence, ripped fabric, and an abandoned building make an interesting subject~

We got back, steamed some corn, (which is delicious, I might add), and watched The Wizard~  "I love the Power Glove.  It's so bad."

One Piece Summer Beach Shoot

Today, me and some friends had a little summer beach photo shoot with a theme of One Piece!  The day started out interesting, to say the least.  Let's just say that its summer, the past week has been very hot, and the location is a California beach of all places.  So, to say it was crowded would be an understatement!  We spent almost half an hour just looking for parking, even the paid parking spots were short on space!  Eventually, we all found parking, made the arduous journey down to the beach, and the day began!

We snacked to fill our bellies, and drank to satiate our parched mouths.

Mmmm, Capri Sun~

The rushing waves constantly attacked our pile of stuff, so we built trenches, and even a wall, nicknamed Basingse.  

Here's Michael and his attempt at perfecting Basingse~

And, obviously, we took a TONNE of photos~  Enjoy!

 I LOOOVE how it looks like he's shooting a beam of light~  A FRIGGIN BEAM!!!

 Our fishman and mermaid~  Kids kept asking if she was a real mermaid, haha!!

 The life of a tall person; gotta make sure you don't accidentally step on the smaller people~

Striking a pose~

So cute!  I love the way this came out~ 

Mero mero mero~ 

Boyband style shot~

Such an awesome bumper sticker~~

Beach Dog; Life Is A Beach

Lately, my pup has been staying with my parents as my free time finds itself preoccupied with freelance work, and trying to find a full time gig.  Though, whenever shes in town, I like to take her to the dog beach.  Sure, the dog park is a paltry five minutes away (probably less, actually), and has free parking on top of that, its just that I can only take her there so times a week. Plus, there are people there that just don't pick up after their dogs, which really pisses me off.  Most of them do, of course, but for those that don't...  Well, lets put it this way; even at the dog park, the last thing you wanna do is step on poop carelessly left there by some irresponsible douche bag of an owner.  So, I go to the beach a lot as a result.

Here is the asphalt walkway to get down to the sand from the parking area~

I love the look of fresh, wind-blown sand, still untouched, almost like mini dunes~

If I had to guess, over the past two and a half years, I've probably gone to the beach over a hundred times.  And each and every time, I will bring my camera along.  Why?  Because the best camera is the one that's always with you~  So, needless to say, I've got hundreds, thousands even, of photos of my dog at the beach~

I've always enjoyed selective focus to add a bit of variety for my photos.  After going to the same place and shooting the same subject day after day, it gets tough trying to make your photos look different from the last several times you went.  And I figured, one of the ways I can do this is to change the focus of the picture, while keeping the subject the same.  I don't know how effective it is since I'm still a noob, but I like what it achieves~   Also, another thing I've grown fond of is marks; marks of life, of existence.  At the beach, one of the simplest forms of these marks is quite plentiful; footprints~

I was going for a lion-in-the-Serengeti-sunset type look here~

Though, not a great photo in the least, I just love the lights and shadows here~

Sunsets are fun as well!  Especially if you catch someone (in this case, my dog) running through the falling light of the sun.  There's an almost raw, visceral nature to it.  The lights and the shadows and the silhouettes romance each other in their dance with the wildness.  Except, its not the wilderness.  Its Huntington Beach.  And the subject, not wilderness as well, is a person, albeit, a non-human person~

I like that there's a surfer in the background  while my pup runs towards me~

Butt shot, HAHAHA!!!  The background is cloaked in bokeh~

My friends, watching from the sand~

What else is there to say?  Go to the beach and have fun, meet some interesting characters, hang out with friends, enjoy some solitude, get some exercise with your dog, take photos like there's no tomorrow~

Drawing Theme: Transportation

So, I take part in a drawing group with a bunch of my friends that forces us to get off our butts and draw.  And the first theme of the group, which was a couple weeks ago, was transportation.  Anything and everything that had to do with getting from one place to another was game to be drawn.

And at the time, my good friend Jo was linking me videos of giant pumpkins, as in MASSIVE, and how there are these people that would carve them and race them as boats!  Pretty darned awesome, yea?  Anyhow, what else could I think of to draw except a friggin giant pumpkin boat?!?  So here it is~

Welcome!

Welcome, readers, to my new blog!  It is my goal to post regularly here of places that I've been, people that I've photographed, doodles that I've drawn, and whatever random thoughts that may pop into my head.  I'm a big otaku, so don't be surprised should posts about nerdy subjects concerning manga and anime and the like show up.

Also, in case it piqued your curiosity, I named this blog somewhat similarly to one of my favorite movie series of all time, Indiana Jones, which I happen to have playing on the tele right now (The Last Crusade).  And since I was born and raised in California, it was only natural that it make it into the title.

The above and below photos are of me at Pismo Beach, CA, a charming little beach town that captures the hearts of its visitors with its soft and fine-grain sands, warm California sun, cool Pacific waters, and the scent of delicious foods wafting through the air and stirring appetites everywhere~

I hope you enjoy your time here!

~dean