Camera: Canon PowerShot S500, Taken: 4.27.2004 @ 3:30 p.m., Exp: 1/159 sec. F/11, Altered w/: Photoshop

Tess was an interesting girl that posed for me after I ran up to her and asked if I could take her picture.  During my time at Santa Monica College I would take a shuttle from a satellite parking lot to the main campus.  I would see a lot of pretty girls during those short trips to and from the parking lot.  Tess was a girl I saw during my second to last semester at SMC.  Her womanhood was abundant, and I found myself looking at her over and over again as I waited for the shuttle to arrive.  I felt compelled to ask her to pose for a picture, but I chickened out at first.  The shuttle arrived, and we drove to the parking lot.  Upon getting off the bus I forced myself to go up to this girl and ask her if I could take her picture.  She was nice, despite her audacious appearance.  She obviously agreed to pose for a couple of pictures.  I wanted her natural pose, and I got it.  I told her, "Pose however you like" and she proceeded to give me, and the camera, the bird.  I feel that the picture really captured who this girl was; completely comfortable with whom she is, audacious, and overwhelmingly feminine.

Camera: Canon PowerShot S500, Taken: 4.3.2005 @ 5:40 p.m., Exp: 1/400 sec. F/2.8, Altered w/: Photoshop

Etc. is a picture I took during a daytrip.  It was shortly after my Grandmother's death that I found myself searching for a something.  One day I found myself home alone.  Instead of sitting at home watching TV, or generally wasting my time, I thought that I would travel on the metro and take pictures during my trip.  I wrote about that day in "Day Tripper: Downtown L.A." on another page here.  One picture that represents the discovery of that day is the one above.  The store was closed, but the clouds looked really great in the background that I had to take this picture.  That was a special day in that shortly before taking this picture I had the thought of getting home quickly, only to remember that there was nothing to come home to since my Grandmother was dead.  She meant so much to me, and not having her around changed my life forever.  This picture reminds me of the moment when I realized change was staring me in the face, and there was no turning back.

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Camera: Canon PowerShot S500, Taken: 7.6.2004 @ 8:34 p.m., Exp: 1/3 sec. F/2.8, Altered w/: Photoshop

Bus Window was taken during my last semester at Santa Monica College.  I had but one more math class to complete before I could transfer to the university, but the only time I could take the class was in the evening.  Though my time at Santa Monica was coming to an end that time was anti-climactic in a sense I had taken every class I needed to transfer except one.  In my mind I was already off campus, despite still taking this one class math class.  Taking the class at night also took the edge off my thoughts.  It wasn't the same as taking a class during the day.  This picture pretty much shows the desolation during those days.  The shuttle carried no more than a few students during the night, while on most days it was standing room only.  This picture illustrates the contrast and desolation during that time of my life.