Yesterday was one of those days that could only be fixed by an almond croissant and a tall glass of nonfat milk from Rigolo Cafe. And the only dining companion I could bear to talk to was my San Francisco street bird/bum friend, Blackie.
Masonic Street is on my route to Japantown where I buy all those Fudge magazines and Doodle Books. There’s not much to look at, as streets go, but now and then we find a sweet Victorian Lady tucked in among the liquor stores and apartment buildings.
I've been taking a lot of pictures of San Francisco from the passenger side of our car, en route to work, school, or some miscellaneous errand. These are not pictures of San Francisco landmarks -- just regular photos of daily, ordinary things, like these pictures of the Inner Sunset.
The Inner Sunset is a mixed residential/business district with many colorful homes in the gingerbread Victorian style. I've taken about a hundred pictures so far. And I noticed they were just collecting dust in a folder on my desktop. So I thought it would be fun to put them here as another weekly feature of five per week. I'll call it SF Drive Thru.
I bought a 35mm camera from Walgreens today. It was a really good deal, too. It came loaded with a roll of color film with 24 exposures (400 speed). And, if I get it developed at Walgreens, I won't have to pay for film ever again since the camera comes with a lifetime worth of refills!
It's been ages since I've handled a 35mm camera. The last time I used one was during my trip to Europe seventeen years ago. I took pictures casually then, for fun, and didn't care at all about good composition. Sad to say, but after seeing the pictures I took today, I don't think I've improved much. My new camera from Walgreens has revealed a lot of my shortcomings and surely, I have plenty of room for improvement. Of the 24 shots, only 4 turned out okay. But, that's alright I guess since I'm still learning. I really want to become a great photographer one day. So I registered for an intro to photography course at City College next semester and I'm feeling optimistic and excited.
We drove to San Francisco this morning and spent it with my Aunt Marianne, who moved into a cute little studio on Telegraph Hill. I wish I had taken more good pictures -- if only direct sunlight hadn't ruined most of my shots! Anyway, here are a few that turned out okay:
