Yesterday the 2013 San Francisco Marathon went off without a hitch. Thousands of people came out to run full marathon, half marathon, a 5K, as well as support their friends and families. The sun was shining bright and the wind was just a slight breeze making this SF Marathon one best as far as weather was concerned.

I was lucky enough to get on the official photographer team with Marathon Foto. We started candid images at 4am which kicked off our 10 hours of race coverage. The experience was great. Marathon Foto team leads seemed to execute their game plan for the event flawlessly given how many freelance photographers they brought on. Well done guys.

Congratulations to everyone that ran in any of the events yesterday. You can visit marathonsfoto.com to find your picture from the days event in a week or so I'm guessing. There were easily 15+ photographer on the team, and if my image count (around 3,200 images) is any indication of how many images need to be sorted and processed.. Well I'm sure you get the idea.

Thanks for stopping by the original Tripod Diaries here at blogspot. I leave you with an image of the sun rise over the Bay Bridge from that morning. Cheers!

Today was one of those days where I didn't get coffee until about 12:30 this afternoon.. And... Go... :P

While I was rounding out my day I had to do a watch photo for work (aandewatches.com). Straight forward into the light box outta the light box, into lightroom, into photoshop, back to lightroom. These photos aren't made really big or used for a billboard so over processing is almost better then under processing in my opinion. If you look at Jewelry and Watch photography today it is outta control. Doesn't even look real anymore. I guess that's just the trendy thing to do right now..  This is the Cartier - Tank Francaise

 On my way home from the day job I was inspired by the sun beaming through the clouds out by the Point Bonita Lighthouse. The Lighthouse is located in the Marin Headlands among bunker ruins from when the Army occupied the area during WWII. On the way there you realize how many bunkers are just scattered over these hills. Made me think; "How many land minds are out here?" Tho this image is of an old dock that has been destroyed or not kept up over the years, the bunkers are going to be the focus of the next outing to the area I now call my backyard.

 This photo didn't mean much to at all when it was taken. The broken down dock again, adding the little white house on the cliffs edge, and then it really hit home that this image can be soo metaphorical. Fragility, destruction, their balance, and how much (which isn't much) separates the two..  My favorite image of the day.

I always forget my tripod.. Or don't think that I'll use it.. I'm always that guy you see leaning crouch and hugging any foreign object to steady the camera for slower shutter speeds. This photo painting was a serious task. I think I shot about 30 or 40 bracketed images to get one that isn't even tac sharp.. I'll be buying another tripod to keep in the truck here pretty soon. Along with a wide angle lens.. some polarized and neutral density filters..  HAHA.. This one was with a 30mm prime lens. Does anyone know where to get a sponsor!?



All and all it was a productive day... I rounded it out with a few beers, a post processing session of my walk, and an event invite for a friend of mine. It's now almost midnight and I'm pretty much up for the next two hours watching the back of my eyelids until this coffee runs off..

What do you do with your time when the coffee buzz is getting you jacked for the task at hand?

We as people, artist, mechanics, athletes, politicians, et.. have to start somewhere. In getting to where your going its always good to reflect and learn from where you've been. To kick things back into gear around here at the Tripod Diaries; I'm going to be theming for the next couple of weeks to show more work, share my feelings on various topics in art, and hopefully get some feed back on the way!

Throw Back Thursday (clique yet fitting) is going be in full effect!!

*drum roll*

This week is going out to the Oakland Athletics (my home team) for accomplishing what was said to be impossible at the beginning of the 2012 season. American League West Devision Champs! Has a nice ring to it right?

These two photos were from 4-5 years ago when the A's weren't so hot. My younger Sister and her friends always seemed to be at the games whenever I showed up. True die hards. Makes these pictures even more memorable for me given what the team has accomplished this season.

These two were having a great time 2 rows behind us in the bleachers.

On the migration into the coliseum you'll get opportunities to by merchandise at a discounted price, and honestly I would recommend this for the simple fact that Lew Wolf doesn't spend money on the team why should you (aside from your tickets of course to be there to support a great team on the field).

At any rate these images were taken with a 35mm film camera, zero compositional elements, and a twitchy shutter finger. Nothing exciting artistically here exempt the memories.

Cheers to you 2012 Oakland Athletics.

A lot of people have really great photos sitting on their hard drives. Just sitting.. on their hard drives. Those photos aren't getting printed, their not being shared, and their, well.. .just sitting there. I've been a stock contributor for some time now, and honestly I don't make enough money to pay the bills with my photography yet (keyword "yet"), but I am making some money from my family and vacation photos. I even get the bug to do studio stock every now and again.

At any rate:

visit this link above and get started selling your photos today..

And if your a designer who needs photos I've come up with a link for you as well:



Hopefully next time I'll have my slideshow finished from our Cabo Trip!!

Wow.. I've been completely MIA for the past few months since our trip to San Jose Del Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I've taken a lot of images, processed them, and now in the middle of creating a sideshow from scratch for the very first time using more of my favorite Adobe products. Both Adobe Premier and Adobe After Effects are great stand alone editors for many uses, however; combining the two has huge advantages. Think Lightroom and Photoshop. Just a great workflow. At the moment it's a bit slow going, but I'm starting to pick things up. Look for a few different slide show in the not to distant future.

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Group Travel - "Jamaica"

Group Travel has become a very popular way to travel among friends, and other like minded people that want that dream vacation but don't want to break the bank. It is hands down the best way to travel to a new destination. There is a pre-trip meeting where you meet a bunch of people going on your journey, the bonding at the airport, and of course the friendships you take home with you.

Our group consisted of 28 people from Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, and Florida. There might have been another location involved as well that I can not name off hand. This group ranged in ages from 13 to who'. A good diversity in personalities and personal interests, but all there for an experience that may only happen once at a particular destination. I can highly recommend reaching out to your local travel agent to find out about any group trips forming in the not to distant future. Or if you have your own group simply set the dates. Great times.

Our trip to Ocho Rios Jamica was absolutely awesome. The people of Jamaica are very kind, relaxed, and have a sense of humor that doesn't quite. Every local that I had personal contact with was more then willing to tell you the history, good places to eat, and a good place to go for night life.

We stayed at the Riu which was a 4 star hotel located right on the beach. The beautiful white sand beach led out to 80+ degree water that was crystal clear. A perfect get away for the beach lover. Activities at the resort were not limited to: Volleyball, aqua aerobics, game shows, dance parties, and snorkeling to name a few.

Dare to adventure the real essence of Jamaica and visit the shopping located just minutes away. Be ready to buy tons of stuff because the people of Jamaica know how to run a bargain and let you know about it. There is also horseback riding, zip lining, river tubing, and off road vehicals that are tons of fun!

I would recommend a personal tour guide for your first time. I met Seymore Samuels who had the island down pat, and whish I would have met him at the beggining of our trip. A very knowledgable person who can show you anything you'd like to see or learn about Jamaica.

Personally a return to Jamaica would be a no brainer. With Jerk Chicken, warm weather, fulled by positive vibes, "every'ting be irie, yah-mon."

If you would like more information about contacting Seymore Samuels for a guide please feel free to drop me line at jurphotographer@gmail.com.

The photos that appear above were my favorites from the trip. The island is not camera shy whatsoever, and would take a life to truely capture it's beauty.


To hire JurPhotographer for commercial travel work please feel free to contact him through his website www.jurphotographer.com or the email address above. Thanks again for visiting the Tripod Diaries.

SRJC Photgraphy, a group on Flickr.

The SRJC Photography Group is in full effect!! Come join the group if your SRJC student. Drop me an email and jurphotographer@gmail.com with your flickr id and what semester/photography class you've taken. I look forward to building this group further!