Abortion rights pioneer Harriett Stinson

Harriett Stinson, abortion rights pioneer

Harriett Stinson, who is 85, recently spoke publicly for the first time about the illegal abortion that she had in her 20's.  Stinson founded Republican Women for Choice and founded Planned Parenthood in the bay area and has long been a reproductive rights and abortion rights activist.  She came forward about her experience because she's worried that the Republican Party is pushing a conservative line against family planning and abortion, and that we will end up having abortion be illegal again.  Stinson wants to encourage more women to share their stories.

BART protests

The San Francisco BART police have been under heavy criticism for two separate shootings - Charles Hill in July and Oscar Grant in 2009.  Protesters were gathering every Monday to march, and more than once things got heated.  I got sent to cover one of the days of protests, which ended with a couple arrests but no real violence.  A couple of weeks after protesters damaged one of the BART stations.  

A protester flashes the peace sign to cops in riot gear

 

  

 

Mayoral candidates

Here's a couple from some of the SF mayoral candidate stories I've shot over the past few weeks.  The first is Bevan Dufty, whom I got to spend some time with and go to pick up his kid from school, and the second is Leeland Yee, whom I got sent to take a portrait of.  

Legendary painter

I recently photographed a famous painter, William Theophilus Brown, in his San Francisco studio.  Brown is 92 and still gets over to his studio about six days a week to work.  He has painted with some of the best, including Picasso.  His life story reminded me of a conversation I recently had with Alicia, where she was talking about what it would have been like to be around in the times of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.  It's hard to imagine the circles Brown ran in, and the kinds of collaboration and inspiration he got from the people he hung out with.  Or that Henri Cartier Bresson was a guy he could run into while out at the symphony.  It's so amazing to have a circle around of people who inspire you, and I have to say, since moving to San Francisco I've been super fortunate to meet a lot of people who are stellar photographers and individuals.  Exciting times.

William Theophilus Brown

And if you're interested, the story on Brown is here. 

A portrait, deconstructed

  

Last month I got the assignment to photograph Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez for the San Francisco Chronicle.  Emilio just directed his dad in a movie and they were in town promoting it.  We had 30 minutes and the room at the back of the bar for the interview and shoot.  I wasn't allowed to shoot during the interview, so I waited until they wrapped up, then had about 3 1/2 minutes to grab quick portraits of them at the end.  Those of you that know me know I'm no lighting god, but I have been making a conscious effort to learn more.  Good thing, because the room was dark as a tomb.  I set up two lights, and had to grab quick shots of them together and separately before they had to run.  There wasn't time to vary the lighting, and we were limited as far as where we were allowed to shoot.  The good news is, they were both extremely pleasant and professional to work with.  The bad news is, I'm still not a lighting master.  So, what I learned from this shoot:  I need a boom arm.  Or an assistant.  But probably a boom arm.  The wall behind them was so shiny I think the only way to kill the reflection would have been if I could get the light above them more.  And, as much as I don't do it normally, I should probably chimp a lot more when I'm working with lighting.  In this case Emilio moved after the first couple frames and cast a shadow on his dad.  But, here's a couple frames of what I ended up with.  The first one is the one the Chronicle ran, and you can read Peter's article here.  Feel free to leave comments, and all you lighting gurus, tips are welcome.