Where is Ben?

Surviving my first Earthquake

Today, I was on the phone with Regina (the other half of Digital Mastery) when it felt like something was shaking the bus. I've had people attempt to shake the bus before but even with 3-4 people putting all their weight against the side, it's really hard to notice any shaking. This was different. This felt like maybe 10 semi trucks where passing me at once... the bus was really shaking. It was being tossed about as if it was 1/10th of its size. That's when I leaned that I was going through my first earthquake?

Nothing was damaged and it was largely not a big deal... the bus was simply shaken a bit and then calmed down about three minutes later.

A Month in Van Nuys

I've moved the bus to Van Nuys, CA and will be parked here for one month. During that time I'll be writing a new book... no details on the book yet though.

Over the last week I've been visiting with friends including Greg Gorman, Vincent Vercase, Jesse Diamond, Sibi as well as Tom & Susan Gast.

I haven't taken any photographs this week, so I thought I'd post this odd image. You'll have to click on the image to get a larger version to see that it looks a bit odd to my English-speaking friends.

Route 66 Panollage®

The image above is what I call a Panollage®. It's a combination of a panorama and collage... although this particular one isn't a great demonstration of a panorama since it could have been taken as a single shot. This is four photographs that have been combined to form one image. I captured this image last year while following route 66.

Since my last post, I moved the bus to Tarzana, CA. I should be in the greater Los Angeles area through this weekend... then I don't know where I'll be.

Light Painted Plane

Yesterday, I got together with Eric Magnusson and Lee Varis. After dinner, we went to the local airport and light painted Eric's plane. The plane was lit using flashlights and portable flash units.

Bus Shopping in Columbus, OH

I spent all day today hanging out on a 1947 bus. I'm thinking about picking one of these up and selling my bus. It's five feet shorter than the bus I currently live in. The photos below should give you an idea of what it looks like. Most of these shots were taken with a fisheye lens.

98% of this bus is made out of aluminum. It has an updated engine, automatic transmission, power steering, modern brakes. All that stuff is about as modern as my current bus, which should make it relatively reliable.

The driver's area has the original steering wheel, which is hooked to modern power steering. It also has a pushbutton automatic, cruise control and a transmission retarder, which slows you down without needing to hit the brakes.

Here's what it looks like looking toward the rear... the front door is on the left edge of this shot. The brown things near the ceiling are storage bins that have roll top desk-like doors on them.

The two seats on the passenger side swivel and recline with foot rests. I'd consider removing one of those chairs if I would be able to fit a 24" wide Epson printer.

The kitchen features a three burner stove, oven, fridge/freezer, nukerwave, sink, etc. The sofa also folds down into a bed.

The bathroom is rather small, but is complete with toilet, sink and shower.

The bed room has a queen sized bed, television, supplemental air conditioner and storage under the bed. There is also a closet with drawers that you can see on the left edge of this shot. Between that closet and the booth is a space where I could fit a small desk (about the size of the one I use in my current bus).

I'm not sure if I'll get this bus or not... I have to get back to my current bus and measure up some of my equipment to make sure it will all fit. This bus also has a bunch of storage space in the baggage bays under the bus.

Mini Update

As I write this, I'm on the Flyaway bus service to LAX airport. I'm flying to Miami to present my Photoshop for Photographers seminar. While I'm there, I'll be meeting up with a few friends before I fly to Columbus, OH to look at a 1947 Greyhound Bus that I'm thinking of purchasing.

Here's an update on what I've been up to since my June 1st post:

• Drove from Los Osos, CA to San Francisco
• Parked the bus in Berkeley, CA and met with my publisher
• Did a quick tour of Canada (Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto) to present my Photoshop for Photographers seminar. 
• Replaced my 15" MacBook Pro with a 17" model that has a much higher resolution screen
• Presented my Photoshop for Photographers seminar in San Francisco
• Shot some models in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
• Met up with Bill Atkinson (inventor of the drop down menu, creator of MacPaint and a good photographer) and Charlie Cramer
• Was a guest on Bert Monroy's Pixel Perfect podcast (I don't think they're available yet, but I'll post here with a download link once I hear that they're live.
• Drove to Healdsburg, CA to visit a friend
• Went to lunch with a bunch of people from Adobe
• Drove to Los Angeles and parked the bus in Venice Beach
• Test drove a 1950's Flxible Clipper Bus... the same kind that was seen in the movie "RV"
• Did a bunch of light painting with a few friends and got together with a bunch of people I met during my last visit to Maui
• Spent the 4th of July at a party in Malibu right on the water
• Had a friend from Maui drop by for two five day visits (one in June and one in July)
• Completed a new biography, artists statement and price list for my photography site. I haven't posted them yet, but should get them up there within the next week or so.
• Did some light painting at a rehearsal studio
• Met up with a at least a dozen individual friends in between all the stuff I did above

The photo above is a composite of about 15 photographs. It's a light painted self portrait using two flashlights... one in each hand.

The Blog Is Back!!!

After dealing with terrible tech support for a full month, the switch has been turned back on and you can now see my newest posts. I haven't been posting over the last month because anyone visiting the site via www.whereisben.com could not see any new postings. A setting got changed on TypePad's side that make that URL point to old blog posts. It took what felt like forever to get them to respond to my messages and figure out what was going on. I will switch to another blogging platform at sometime in the future because TypePad's support was so bad that they do not deserve my business. I just don't have time to make the switch right now.

I'll post an update over the next few days that will fill you in on what I've been up to. Right now it's 1:15 a.m. and I'm going to go to sleep. Tomorrow, I plan to shoot a vintage gas station in San Jose, CA, drop by Adobe's headquarters and go to dinner with an old friend. The next day I'll be driving the bus to Los Angeles and will be parked there for a few weeks.

The photo above was taken during my Canadian tour in Toronto by Larry Lee who was attending the event.