Gabriel Lopez Dot Net

Giants Win World Series!

Gabriel Lopez — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:02:33 +0000

The scene at Polk St in front of McTeague’s Saloon…

A short video I put together that captures the atmosphere

Bad Dads Art Show

Gabriel Lopez — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 04:03:16 +0000

I caught a cool art show this afternoon in our neighborhood…they didn’t seem to mind that I took pictures.

An Art Show Tribute to the Films of Wes Anderson
Over 60 artists reinterpret their favorite characters, scenes and themes.
@LoPo Gallery – 1141 Polk St San Francisco

Click to view slideshow.

Film Project – Documentary: People of the Tenderloin

Gabriel Lopez — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:29:22 +0000

My next film project is to shoot a documentary style movie about the people of the tenderloin district – the neighborhood I’ve called home for the past 5 years.

The plan is to interview as many folks as possible that live and/or work on the streets. Last night was my first outing. I ventured out of my apartment around 1am, and starting walking east towards Union Square. I only made it two blocks before running into my first panhandler sitting in front of my favorite Thai Restaurant – OSHA. As I approached him, he asked me for some change but before he could finish I asked him if he’d be interested in making a little more money for 10 minutes of his time. I explained to him what I was doing and convinced him to walk down the block to a church, where we proceeded to setup my equipment near the front steps. This being my first time, it took me a while to setup all my gear and I was a little nervous having never interviewed anyone before, let alone a homeless person. He was very patient with me and in the end the interview went fairly smooth. About half way thru, I realized I had forgotten to attach my new microphone to my camera! Oops. The sound did not turn out that great, but hopefully still usable after I tweak it in postproduction.

Here’s a pic of my first interviewee, “Tootoo” Brown.

On my way home, another (younger) guy asked me for a dollar, so I gave him the whole spiel, and before I know it I’m setting up again at the same church stairs. This time I remembered to attach my Microphone. The interview starts and immediately I realize this man is not all mentally there. He was also jonesing for some crack (which he revealed later in the interview) causing him to sway back and forth a lot and act very jittery. It was clear he was in need of a fix. He claimed to have been a professional golf player who was currently down on his luck and had recently lost everything. The interview lasted about 5 minutes before my battery ran out and I was forced to pack up and go home. It was late and I was tired but too excited to lay my head down before checking out my new footage. After transferring the files over to my laptop, I was devastated to find out that there was no sound for the second interview! I didn’t understand why until I realized I had forgotten to turn the Microphone on! Ah well, bet I won’t do that again.

All in all, I learned a lot last night. Not just to be mentally and physically prepared but I also discovered some techniques that work and others that don’t work at all.

Equipment Used:

Canon T2i
Canon EF 50mm Lens 1:1.4
Rode VideoMic
Tripod

World Cup 2010

Gabriel Lopez — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:34:44 +0000

I was lucky enough to watch several of the World Cup matches this year. Some at home early in the morning before work. While others were seen at my local sports bars in the Financial District, during (looong) lunch breaks. The two most memorable games for me were the US vs England opener at ATT Park, and the final match between Netherlands and Spain, which they showed at Civic Center on two big screens. Definitively not the most exciting matches of the tournament but experiencing them with thousands of other cheering fans made for a great atmosphere.

Americans showing their support for Team USA. The Ball Park opened up their doors to all for free and aired the game on the jumbo screen.

Sometimes as a photographer you get lucky, like in this case where I was taking photographs of this guy dressed up as Captain America running around in the stands. In this shot he just happened to be standing in front of the Virgin “America” sign…

For the final match, Aiden and I showed up early to get a good spot on the lawn at San Francisco’s Civic Center. He actually slept throughout the whole first half (before mom came and got him) despite the loud noise coming from the crowd and the few Vuvuzela’s sprinkled throughout.

Forget this, I'm taking a nap...

Speaking of Vuvuzela’s, here is Cousin Chris with his special edition horn direct from South Africa.

Spain Scores!!!!

Aiden Gabriel Lopez has arrived!

Gabriel Lopez — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:07:05 +0000

Born March 30, 2010 at 7:07pm
8 lbs, 6 0z. 21″ long.

More pics and video can be found at his new sites…

http://www.aidenlopez.com
http://www.vimeo.com/aidenlopez

GoPro HD Hero Camera

Gabriel Lopez — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:38:14 +0000

GoPro HD Hero; a little gray box in a waterproof case that can record 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 60, and comes with a selection of mounts that will enable the thing to hang on to just about whatever you want. This camera is incredible. The video quality and durability are well worth the price. My first unit actually came with a defect; a black spot on the inside of the lens.

Test Footage

GoPro support replaced it without any hassle and I am happy to say the new unit works as advertised. If you’re looking for a way to record your next outdoor adventure in glorious HD, whether it be on land or sea, this is your answer.

I took it up to Lake Tahoe with me this winter and was able to get some killer footage.

Snowboarding with the GoPro HD

Lazy Lopez Lethargically Launches

Gabriel Lopez — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:20:24 +0000

The launch of the new site is official. With the help of Paper Raincoat, I created a place to showcase our videos and some of our favorite pics. Check it out.

Tenderloin Graffiti

Gabriel Lopez — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:20:46 +0000

Some more art that went up in our hood recently…

Farewell old friend…

Gabriel Lopez — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:11:26 +0000

Tribute Video

Fly Tying?

Gabriel Lopez — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:17:56 +0000

I bought a close-up lens that attaches to my 50mm Canon Lens earlier this year in order to take some macro shots of some of the trout flies I planned to tie (It was a lot cheaper than buying a separate macro lens). Been pretty busy lately and haven’t really had time to tie any flies, nor use the lens…until today.

I noticed a spider in our backyard was busy “tying” his very own fly, so I jumped on the opportunity. Would’ve come out clearer with a tripod, especially at these distances, but cool none the less.