David Royal Photography » Uncategorized

The Traveler

Royal — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:57:00 +0000

I came across this photo of a traveler I ran into at the Reno Airport in the summer of 2003. I was on my way back from the Truth With a Camera Workshop and stopped in to shoot my friend’s wedding south of Carson City. I have no idea who this guy is or what he is doing in Reno. I remember grabbing my things at the airport seeing this guy and needing to take his picture. That is the beauty of the camera… an excuse to be more than just curious but to engage with the unknown.

Recent Portraits

Royal — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:52:00 +0000

The first two portraits are of Rahman Al-Kaabi juggling at a house where he has found refuge in Carmel, Calif. Al-Kaabi was an actor and a clown in Iraq with a troupe whose performances angered certain factions to the point that members of his group were murdered.

The third portrait is of Pacific Grove Police Chief Darius Engles as he stands in front of a row of photos of past police chiefs dating back to 1924 inside the entryway at the Pacific Grove, Calif. Police Station. Engles was set to retire.

Change as the Constant

Royal — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Some serious hang time has passed since I got the notion to put any new work up here. Over the past few months my work has been light to steady to heavy and I have shot a wild variety of things.

From a traditional Jewish wedding to a traditional Catholic wedding.

From skateboarders to shots of fresh herbs in to go bags.

I photographed the scene at the Monterey Hostel and made a portrait of Kamal Saleh, a former Major in the Iraqi Military, who was imprisoned and tortured under Saddam Hussein.

Change has been the constant and I have been forced to come up with some creative solutions in a wide variety of situations. I guess this is why I got into the game in the first place. The interesting people I meet, places this job takes me and the challenge of recording it.

Britten and Amy

Royal — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:34:00 +0000

I photographed Britten and Amy’s wedding on the Westside of Santa Cruz, California.They were married at Cowell College at the University of California Santa Cruz.Britten works as a Captain with the UCSC Fire Department so a drive by his coworkers during the event was fun. And former Santa Cruz Firefighter Billy Starr and his Firehouse BBQ crew provided first a fitting meal for the event.

Public Comment

Royal — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:07:00 +0000

I am starting to see that by writing here I’m inevitably going to be doing more learning than anyone who may happen upon this and manage to get all the way through it.

I guess thats the beauty of these things?

Anyways heres a photo I shot on assignment today that brought the idea into my mind.

Old Barn, Old Guy and Natural Light

Royal — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet and shoot photos of Frank Tarantino, 80, beside the old dairy barn he owns in Carmel Valley, Calif.

Built in 1889, the barn housed the cows that produced the first batches of Monterey Jack cheese.

Frank is working with friends to restore the barn before the historic building falls apart.

He’s a classic old guy with an amazing piece of history. This is why I love being a photographer!

For the first two shots I used natural light. I met up with Frank at the barn in the early evening and by then the sun was filtered through a tree. I moved him around to position one of the small slivers of sunlight on his head.

Then in the third photo we went to the other end of the barn. I zoomed my strobe and dropped it down a stop and then popped the light to his left with an off camera cord. I had some help holding the strobe up as I shot from a low angle.

When I first chimped at the images on the back of my camera I liked the high key effect the of the strobed image. Later after looking at the images on my computer I decided that I prefer the ones shot in the natural light.

I was in a rush to jump to another assignment but I did have a few minutes to walk with Frank and hear about the history of the place. I hope Frank gets his wish.

St. Patrick’s Day Glasses

Royal — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:12:00 +0000

My life as a freelancer is evolving quickly and I am starting to develop work in new areas for myself. I will post more about that later for all you interested fans (all three of you) as things develop. For now I’m sending out my best wishes to those at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I feel the pain of those who lost their jobs as I am still adjusting after loosing my staff job.

Here are a few photos from some assignments I shot today. I covered the Otter Open Golf Tournament which is hosted by CSU-Monterey Bay. I was lucky to catch CSUMB golfer Oscar Nystrom as he knocked his ball from a sand trap on the ninth green on Bayonet Golf Course. Sometimes the golfers wait until you have moved on before they hit it into the trap other times they dive right in!

Later in the day I covered the beginnings of festivities for St. Patrick’s Day. I was lucky enough to find a few folks who were in the spirit early in the evening at Crown and Anchor pub and the Farmer’s market in downtown Monterey.

Meeting and photographing Ted Holt, 80, who wore bright green St. Patrick’s Day glasses as he shopped in the open air market, was the high point of my day.

Moments

Royal — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:38:00 +0000

Over the past weekend I found myself with my camera looking for moments in two widely differing situations. I covered Salinas High Basketball team as Bellarmine Prep. hammered them to a 65-36 loss. The morning after that I was just looking to get something different of my friend and his son as they played in their backyard.

And while these two assignments may be as different as night and day I walked away from them with a reenforced appreciation of why I came to photography in the first place: The ability to capture moments in time and harness raw emotion.

And while these photos may not be my best, they serve as an excellent example of photography’s ability to isolate these fragments of time and stir new emotions as we view them at a time removed from that moment.