Rikki's Rock - DPChallenge Forums

07/26/2006 01:14:11 AM · #1

Congrats to Rikki on his 7th place finish in the "On the Beach" challenge. I gotta tell ya, the two of us hit Santa Cruz on a Friday night trying to get some nice sunset shots - we hit traffic and got held up at dinner, so we were scrambling to try and get something. I introduced him to National Bridges State Park Beach and we started taking the long exposure shots. For me, I got home, looked at the pics and said "crap, nothing good". I took basically the same pictures as Rikki and I saw "a rock". He throws a damn yellow filter on the camera and sees a top 10 image!! Kudos my man!!

Here are some of my shots of what will forever be known as "Rikki's Rock". :-) [including my sad attempt to get the same yellow effect, although via PS]

Quick humorous story - we decided to grab some dinner when we first got to Santa Cruz. We were hoping for something a little more upscale than McDonalds. Rikki saw a burger joint that he said he had eaten at before (name escapes me, but is was something like "Saturn"). We get in and of course are talking photography, so we don't notice the crowd around us. After getting seated and ordering a couple Space Cowboys (BBQ burger), the waitress asked if we wanted "fake" beef for "fake" chicken. I'm feeling a little clueless so ask "why is everything 'fake'?" She kindly replies with a smile on her face, oh we are a vegan restaurant. Way to go Rikki! SURE you had a burger here beforeâ�¦.you THOUGHT it was a burger! :-) Of course, we immediately start to look around and realize we were the only ones in the restaurant without body piercings, tattoos, or chains hanging from some body orifice. BTW, the food was "ok" (whatever it was we were eating).

Anyway, congrats Rikki on truly having the eye for art, cause I still look at your picture and mine and say "it's a rock". Guess I have been seeing the California coastline too long. :-)

Final moral of the story - I went onto eBay and ordered a few Cokin filters! :-)

ShutterPug

Canon EOS-6D

07/26/2006 01:17:12 AM · #2

love the story! And your shots are not bad either! I would say it's your rock just as much as Rikki's

Judi

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

07/26/2006 01:19:06 AM · #3

Hahaha....maybe he saw the rock as a burger too!!!

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

07/26/2006 01:24:01 AM · #4

Originally posted by ShutterPug:

love the story! And your shots are not bad either! I would say it's your rock just as much as Rikki's

Yeah. Nice of you to "let" Rikki finish 7th. :P

07/26/2006 01:39:18 AM · #5

Originally posted by Judi:

Hahaha....maybe he saw the rock as a burger too!!!

Ha! Ya, I think we were both still a little hungry after that vegan meal. :-)

07/26/2006 01:39:45 AM · #6

LOL! Great story Mark!

I swear I ate a burger there before at the Saturn Cafe. It was quite interesting I might add that we got in and were seated immediately and Mark and i were still conversing about photography. We were looking at the map and trying to plan our night shooting. After a few minutes, Mark had to get up and use the restroom and said, "Just order me the Space Cowboy". I thought, heck that sounds good, "what's in it?" And then Mark replied, it's a bacon burger. Alright. I'll order two then.

While Mark was gone, I started looking around and noticed kids like these

9 out of 10 were pierced. Heck even the waitresses were pierced all over. Tattoos seemed mandatory as well. So goes Mark's side of the story.

As soon as we were done, the minute we walked out the cafe, I turned to Mark and said, "Was it just me or did we stick out like a sore thumb?"

"Uh-huh" was all Mark could muster.

As we were getting in the car, a doped up hippie on a bike decides to test his luck by ramming into an oncoming pick up truck. Let's just say that dying due to tetanus would be a more severe pain than being hit by the truck.

"What happened? We're outta here man!" Mark says as we sped off.

Oh and the rock? Yeah it was just a rock folks. But see, what Mark doesn't realize is that I see in Hypercolorâ�¢. Just go buy a pair of these Iridium Gold shades and you're set dude!

A few days later, Mark sees my entry and asks for my score. I told him I had a comfortable 7+

"It's just a rock Rikki"

"I know Mark. It's just a rock. But a golden one at that"

I told him to go get some Cokin filters. And an hour later, he said he did. Woohoo!

:)

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

07/26/2006 01:42:53 AM · #7

You failed to tell the rest of the story - like how Rikki was attacked by a Great White and how it spit him back out cuz all it could taste was Tofu.

Tofu: Shark Repellent. ;-) Congrats Rikki! But I think Mark's photos are infinitely better. ;-P

07/26/2006 01:44:59 AM · #8

See one of the problems Mark had was actually shooting the rock. Half the time he was facing the wronf direction :P

07/26/2006 01:47:14 AM · #9

Originally posted by Rikki:

As we were getting in the car, a doped up hippie on a bike decides to test his luck by ramming into an oncoming pick up truck. Let's just say that dying due to tetanus would be a more severe pain than being hit by the truck.

Oh, I totally forgot about the biker getting hit! How could I have missed that part!

Originally posted by Rikki:

True story! I cannot tell a lie. :-) You da man!

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

07/26/2006 01:48:57 AM · #10

Originally posted by Rikki:

You forgot to tell about the Polar Bear attack...

07/26/2006 01:50:22 AM · #11

Originally posted by Rikki:

See one of the problems Mark had was actually shooting the rock. Half the time he was facing the wronf direction :P

Sorry dude, I was trying to get some pics of the BayWatch chicks while you were shooting pics of a rock! :-)

07/26/2006 01:54:22 AM · #12

Oh and how long did we shoot for? We started at 8:30 and were done by 10:30pm. If it weren't for the fog we would have probably been there a bit longer. It was interesting to note that at night, a familiar scent of "weed" seemed to emanate around the beach ;) Then again, we were in Santa Cruz... at the Boardwalk.

Let's do it again Mark ;)

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

07/26/2006 01:56:39 AM · #13

Originally posted by Rikki:

Ahh brings back fuzzy high school memories. I spent most of high school at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Sometimes went after school hours also.

07/26/2006 02:00:43 AM · #14

Originally posted by Rikki:

Anytime my friend, anytime!

PhilipDyer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

07/26/2006 02:08:47 AM · #15

Sounds like you guys had a great time. But I'm confused -- there were people with piercings, smoking pot in Santa Cruz? When did that start? ;-)

07/26/2006 12:12:15 PM · #16

Originally posted by PhilipDyer:

Sounds like you guys had a great time. But I'm confused -- there were people with piercings, smoking pot in Santa Cruz? When did that start? ;-)

yeah... that is definitely interesting Philip :) LOL!

th3ph17

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

07/26/2006 12:17:21 PM · #17

i live just behind Saturn Cafe. Best fries in Santa Cruz. But yeah, it is a loud music, mostly vegetarian sort of place.

the bathrooms there? that is the most interesting part...and it is always funny to watch tourists figure out which door to use. Boys and girls in both.

Message edited by author 2006-07-26 12:19:15.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

07/26/2006 12:33:38 PM · #18

maybe you should get your own place ;}

Originally posted by th3ph17:

i live just behind Saturn Cafe. Best fries in Santa Cruz. But yeah, it is a loud music, mostly vegetarian sort of place.

th3ph17