Category Archives: People

My 11 favorite pictures of 2011

It’s the end of the year, and that means that it’s time to make “best of 2011” lists.  This blog will be no exception.

This year was a year of exploration for me, thanks mainly to my good friend Greg (of Alpenglow Images; he just posted his own top 12 of 2011), who inspired me to push my boundaries photographically, as well as to start sharing my photography online.  But it’s far too easy to ramble on in posts like this. So, here are my 11 favorite images from 2011 (with many thanks to Michael Russell and Mike Cavaroc for inspiring this with their own posts earlier this week).

First, my top three:

Closeup of flower buds on the Agave vilmoriniana inflorescence. (Marc Perkins)
The Future, from my Agave and Aloe series (1 | 2).

I woke up to a foggy morning at Lower Moro campground in Crystal Cove, and found this beautiful little purple and white flower covered in dew.  I love the few strands of spider silk connecting the flower to its stalk, also covered in water droplets.  A botanist friend of mine identified this as _Stephanomeria sp._, a plant in Asteraceae. (Thanks Jeremy!) (Marc C. Perkins)
Foggy Morning Sunshine, from my Crystal Cove State Park series (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6).

Kira, a brown tabby, relaxing on a shelf next to a brick wall.  I love how she looks mildly inquirous while also looking serenly peaceful and comfortable.  She's also got her paws cutely folded up underneath her.  How cat like! (Marc C. Perkins)
Listening Cat is Happy to Hear About Your Problems – 2 (aka: Kira relaxing), from my cat galleries (1 | 2).

And now for the rest:

Sunset at Corona Del Mar State Beach, seen from a lookout above the beach at Inspiration Point.  I love how the wet beach sand looks golden / silver in color.  Three silhouetted figures stand in the foreground (a photographer, lighting assistant, and girl having quinceanera pictures taken of her in a fancy dress). (Marc C. Perkins)
Metallic Beach, from my Inspiration Point and Corona Del Mar gallery; taken at Inspiration Point in Newport Beach, CA.

Nauset Light at dusk on a cloudy winter night shortly after Christmas.  The light streams out to sea, visible thanks to a light mist in the air.  This image is far better viewed on a solid black background, so the glow of the sky is more visible.  Nauset light is in Eastham, MA on Cape Cod. (Marc Perkins)
A Light in the Dark (aka: Nauset Light at dusk), from an unpublished gallery. Taken in Eastham, MA shortly after Christmas 2010.

Mohammed (Marc C. Perkins)
Mohammed, from my 24 Faces of Occupy Irvine series.

Lucca looking decidedly unimpressed.  This picture reminds me of a typical LOLCat image (e.g., http://icanhascheezburger.com); I think the caption would be something like "Unimpressed cat is unimpressed", "Meh", or "Is it really Monday already?".  But, sadly, I won't be submitting it to that website, as their terms of service for uploaded images give them way too many rights for free (http://corp.cheezburger.com/legal/terms-of-service/). (Marc C. Perkins)
Unimpressed Cat is Unimpressed, from my cat galleries (1 | 2).

Nobska Lighthouse in Woods Hole, MA on Cape Cod.  The red-roofed keeper's house and white and black lighthouse are both visible, as the wind blows the flags in front of a clear blue sky. I love how the lighthouse feels like it standing proud; a little bit of Americana.  This image is cropped to be printed at 12x18". (Marc Perkins)
Nobska Light: Classic Americana, from an unpublished gallery. Taken in Woods Hole, MA.

A closeup of a poinsettia flower cluster from the side.  Many people confuse the bracts (red leaves) with the actual flowers; they're quite different.   This macro shot shows multiple pseudanthia  (flowering structures) surrounded by a sea of red bracts (colored leaves associated with a flower; mostly out of focus in this picture).  The flowers themselves are called cyanthia; the green tissue surrounding each flower is an involucre, a cluster of bracts (leaves) fused into a cup-shaped structure that contains multiple male flowers and one female flower within it.  Emerging from the involucre you can see red filaments supporting yellow anthers on the male flowers, and you can even see some of the pollen grains.  Also emerging from each involucre you can see a number of dark-purple structures supported by short stalks (that are about a tenth of the height of the filaments).   The bright yellow, liquid-filled structures attached to the involucre are nectar glands filled with nectar to attract pollinators. (Marc C. Perkins)
Poinsettia Inflorescence Extreme Closeup, from my poinsettia series (1 | 2). Taken at Orange Coast College’s Ornamental Horticulture Department.

A large agave inflorescence that's still growing seen at the entrance to Little Corona beach in Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach), CA just before sunset.  The distinctive arch rock of Little Corona is visible in the ocean in the background. (Marc C. Perkins)
Agave Inflorescence at the Beach 2, from my Little Corona Agave post. Taken in Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach), CA.

A vertical view of the arch rock offshore at Little Corona after sunset, in black and white using a long exposure to make the ocean water silky smooth.  I love the soft curves of the clouds drifting overhead. (Marc C. Perkins)
Vertical Arch Rock and Clouds, from my Little Corona long exposure series (1 | 2). Taken at Robert E Badham Marine Life Refuge in Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach), CA.

Those are my top 11 pictures of the year!

As an encore I’m going to include one more image. While this didn’t make the cut artistically, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and thus seems to belong here.

I'm pretty sure these are two southern pacific rattlesnakes (_Crotalus oreganus_ helleri) mating.  I first noticed the pair when I was only a foot or two away from them on a trail; after moving a bit away I captured this shot of the two snakes wrapped around each other.  Sadly, I think my presence may have interrupted them. (Marc C. Perkins)
Two Rattlesnakes Mating, from my Crystal Cove State Park series (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6).  Taken in Crystal Cove State Park, CA.

Black Friday Protest by Occupy Orange County at South Coast Plaza

Today is Black Friday, and that means that most stores are having big sales to try to draw in customers. The Occupy Orange County Irvine and Santa Ana groups both decided to hold a protest march at South Coast Plaza, a large high-end mall in Costa Mesa.  Since many stores were opening their doors at midnight this year, the march started at around 10:30pm in front of the Best Buy, and continued until after 1:30 am.

The lines were, predictably, very long:

The line for Old Navy's Black Friday sales at midnight. (Marc C. Perkins)
The line for the Old Navy at South Coast Plaza Metro Pointe at midnight extends out onto the sidewalk of Bear street.

The Best Buy line was gigantic, and the dozen or so Occupy Orange County protestors who were there walked up and down the line, chanting and handing out fliers.

Occupy Orange County protestors hand out fliers to people lined up at the Best Buy at South Coast Plaza at 1:25 am on the morning of Black Friday.  Emahn is the man in the black suit jacket and jeans in front, while Joese is in the brown jacket and white pants further along the line. (Marc C. Perkins)
Occupy Orange County protestors hand out fliers to people lined up at the Best Buy at South Coast Plaza at 1:25 am on the morning of Black Friday. Emahn is the man in the black suit jacket and jeans in front, while Joese is in the brown jacket and white pants further along the line.

Most of the protestors who weren’t handing out fliers were tied together by a rope:

About a dozen Occupy Orange County protestors were in front of the Best Buy in South Coast Plaza early in the morning on Black Friday.  The protesters were tied together by rope, being led by a single protestor dressed in a suit (as a banker), symbolizing how the 1% lead the 99%. (Marc C. Perkins)
About a dozen Occupy Orange County protestors were in front of the Best Buy in South Coast Plaza at 12:30am on Black Friday. Here the protestors stand tied together with rope in a line holding the "Occupy Orange County in Unity with Occupy Wall Street sign".

The rope was a part of a human art project by Occupy Orange County, Irvine.  At the front of the rope line was Web, dressed in a suit and holding the end, happily leading the rest of the protestors.  The goal was to illustrate how the 1% lead the 99%.

"Web" (Andrew) leads the Occupy Orange County, Irvine Black Friday march at South Coast Plaza.  This picture was taken in front of the Best Buy.  Web is dressed in a suit, and is posing to try ot appear like a falsely-simling banker.  The other Occupy Irvine protesters were tied together by rope, which Web was holding the end of, symbolizing how the 1% lead the 99%. (Marc C. Perkins)
Web (Andrew) leads the Occupy Orange County, Irvine Black Friday march at South Coast Plaza. Web is dressed in a suit, and is posing like a smiling banker who is holding the end of the rope that ties the 99% to him.

Continue reading Black Friday Protest by Occupy Orange County at South Coast Plaza

24 Faces of Occupy Irvine

The Occupy Wall Street movement is, in their own words:

Occupy Wall Street is a people’s movement. It is party-less, leaderless, by the people and for the people. It is not a business, a political party, an advertising campaign or a brand.  It is not for sale.

While I was photographing the November 5 march of the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp (see my highlight pictures here) I tried to get closeup portraits of a representative sample of the people present.  The movement isn’t about any one of these people; it’s about all of them together, and together they represent the diversity of the 99%.

I’m calling this project “The Faces of Occupy Irvine.”  I don’t normally showcase my work as a slideshow in posts, but for this I think it’s appropriate (see the gallery for all of the images separately):


Not seeing a slideshow or want to look at the individual images? Click on the image above or head to my Faces of Occupy Irvine gallery; the slideshow on that page works on iPads and iPhones.

These are raw street portraits: all but one of these were taken as a single exposure with natural lighting, no reflectors, no flash, and no posing instructions from me1.  All of the people pictured here gave their permission to have their images captured.

I was inspired to do this project by the work of street photographers like Medhi Bouqua (see, for example, this post) and Danny Santos II.

Here are a few of my favorite images from the series:

Anastasia (Marc C. Perkins)
Anastasia
Mohammed (Marc C. Perkins)
Mohammed
Charlie
Charlie

Continue reading 24 Faces of Occupy Irvine

Highlights from Occupy Orange County’s November 5 March

After taking some pictures of the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp a week and a half ago during some calm hours (see this post), I wanted to try my hand at photographing the camp at its busiest: during their Saturday march.  The theme of the Occupy movement this Saturday was encouraging people to move money from large banks to local credit unions, and their march was scheduled to take them on a two and a half mile loop that would pass by branches of Bank of America, Citibank and Chase.

I ended up staying more than 6 hours, photographing the entire march as well as the speeches and sign-holding that went on before and after.  The protesters were universally welcoming, and were great fun to photograph; their cheerful, expressive mood was infectious, and led me to feel extremely creative.

In this post I’ll highlight a few of my favorite pictures from the day; if you want to see more pictures from the day, head to the galleries linked to in my November 5: the pictures post.

The event was attended by a wide range of attendees: everything from children with their parents to college students, working adults, and retirees.

Anastasia at the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on November 5. (Marc C. Perkins)
Anastasia, a young woman just out of school who wants to be a web designer but is stuck working at Taco Bell, at the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on November 5.
Cov (left) and Virginia (right) sit in lawn chairs while holding signs at the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on November 5. (Marc C. Perkins)
Cov (left) and Virginia (right) sit in lawn chairs while holding signs at the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on November 5. 

After a brief speech on marching safety and laws, the march got underway with a swell of enthusiasm. This picture, of Cov in the middle of a pack of marchers crossing the street leaving the camp, is probably my favorite from the day:

Cov starts marching from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on Saturday November 5 while a number of protesters hold signs in the background.   Her sign reads "Jobs not cuts". (Marc C. Perkins)
Cov starts marching from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on Saturday November 5 while a number of protesters hold signs in the background. Her sign reads "Jobs not cuts".

While the media loves to cast the Occupy protesters are destructive hooligans, these people were as kind and non-destructive as can be; practically the only people even doing something as minor as walking on lawns during the march were photographers and reporters. The mood was euphoric, hopeful, and friendly.  In fact, I almost didn’t publish this picture because it can so easily be mis-construed to represent aggressive yelling instead of hopeful chanting:

Dew-b Outlaw takes part in a chant during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on Saturday November 5. (Marc C. Perkins)
Dew-b Outlaw takes part in a chant during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on Saturday November 5. 

What is Dew-b Outlaw holding so high in the air?  A flute, which he played beautifully during the march:

Dew-b Outlaw brought a flute on the march, and played it during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on November 5. (Marc C. Perkins)
Dew-b Outlaw brought a flute on the march, and played it during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on November 5. 

The marchers were generally led by a small group of Occupiers, chief among them being Dew-B and “Web”:

"Web" (Andrew), one of the leaders of the march, talks into a megaphone during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on November 5.  His orange arm band signifies that he's part of the Occupy Orange County safety brigade, responsible for ensuring all marchers follow laws and managing traffic around the march. (Marc C. Perkins)
"Web" (Andrew), one of the leaders of the march, talks into a megaphone during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on November 5. His orange arm band signifies that he's part of the Occupy Orange County safety brigade, responsible for managing traffic around the march and ensuring that all marchers follow laws.
"Web" (Andrew) leads a chant at a Bank of America in Irvine, CA during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on Saturday November 5. (Marc C. Perkins)
"Web" (Andrew) leads a chant at a Bank of America in Irvine, CA during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on Saturday November 5.

At the banks the protesters proudly displayed their signs and chanted, but never blocked the entrances or sidewalks. When non-protesters came walking along, Occupiers would repeatedly call out “clear the way” or “coming through” to ensure that nobody was obstructed. No-one entering or exiting a bank was harassed at all.  But that didn’t stop there from being great displays of emotion on both sides of the bank walls:

Anastasia (right) and Adele (left front) hold signs and chant in front of a Bank of America in Irvine, CA during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on Saturday November 5.  Signs read "Think about my future", "Get corporate money out of politics" and "Move your money to a community bank or credit union" (Marc C. Perkins)
Anastasia (right) and Adele (left front) hold signs and chant in front of a Bank of America in Irvine, CA during the Occupy Orange County, Irvine march on Saturday November 5. Signs read "Think about my future", "Get corporate money out of politics" and "Move your money to a community bank or credit union" 
Charlie (foreground) takes part in a chant while sitting in front of a Bank of America as a portion of the Occupy Orange County, Irvine's march on Saturday November 5. The chant is "I am the 99%, you are the 99%, we are the 99%", and she's currently illustrating the "I am the 99%" portion. (Marc C. Perkins)
Charlie (foreground) takes part in a chant while sitting in front of a Bank of America as a portion of the Occupy Orange County, Irvine's march on Saturday November 5. The chant is "I am the 99%, you are the 99%, we are the 99%", and she's currently illustrating the "I am the 99%" portion.
Charles, a security guard at a Citibank in Irvine, CA, warily watches through a locked door as protesters from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp march in front of his bank. (Marc C. Perkins)
Charles, a security guard at a Citibank in Irvine, CA, warily watches through a locked door as protesters from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp march in front of his bank. 

The marchers were well organized and energetic, even at the end of the march, which made for great lines and emotions when crossing a bridge on the way back to the camp:

Continue reading Highlights from Occupy Orange County’s November 5 March

Charles the guard

One of the great things about photographing an event like Occupy Orange County’s march last Saturday (see all my pictures from the day here) is that you’re guaranteed to meet a whole lot of interesting people.

The protesters marched to three different banks in the afternoon, and at every one the banks locked the doors and posted a guard as soon as the marchers arrived1.

At Citibank, the security guard was Charles:

Charles (Marc C. Perkins)
Charles

He looked bemused more than anything else, standing there in his blue uniform with matching blue eyes, opening the doors for customers entering and exiting the bank while the protesters chanted outside. After the protesters left, I stayed behind and chatted with him; he smiles a lot, and was friendly as can be. His first comment to me as he opened the door was that if he had a soapbox, he’d ask “How many of them voted?”

While the interiors of most of the banks were extremely dark, this Citibank was decently bright inside, so I was able to get some shots of him through the glass during the protest.

Charles, a security guard at a Citibank in Irvine, CA, warily watches through a locked door as protesters from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp march in front of his bank. (Marc C. Perkins)
Charles behind the door, #1
Charles, a security guard at a Citibank branch in Irvine, CA, warily watches through a locked door as protesters from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp march in front of his bank on November 5. (Marc C. Perkins)
Charles behind the door, #2

I want to pick just one of these for the final gallery. My question for you, kind reader, is which of these two do you prefer, and why?

1 The customers inside generally looked shocked when they came out and found themselves surrounded by 50 protesters, though the marchers were entirely peaceful and didn’t harangue anyone either entering or leaving any of the banks.  Some customers hung around and watched the protest, but most scampered out and got away as fast as they possibly could, looking terrified and grasping their children tightly. I didn’t want to add to these customers’ stress levels, so avoided photographing them.

Occupy Orange County November 5: The Pictures [updated]

I’ve been working on my pictures from the November 5 Occupy Orange County, Irvine march; it’s been a fun day of processing, and I’ve got a lot to share. There are a few images that I love artistically, and many more that aren’t so artistic, but that I want to post for documentation or so people in the march can see themselves.

I’ll be dividing the pictures up into themed galleries, which are linked to below. If you’re not sure where to start, just check out the highlights gallery, my highly edited collection from the day.

Highlights from the day

Individuals

People and their signs

Marching

Protesters at banks

Speakers

Marion (Marc C. Perkins) Faces of Occupy Irvine

Blog posts from the event:

This page will get updated as I add more pictures and blog posts, so if you want to link to my pictures from the event this is probably the best post to use.

[Updated Nov. 8 to add a gallery of people with their signs, and Nov. 10 to add a gallery of the afternoon’s speakers.]

Preview from today’s Occupy Orange County march

I had a great time photographing today’s Occupy Orange County, Irvine march.  I’ll post more pictures in the days to come, but for now wanted to share the link to my highlights gallery for the event, which currently has a few preview pictures in it.

Cov starts marching from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on Saturday November 5 while a number of protesters hold signs in the background.   Her sign reads "Jobs not cuts". (Marc C. Perkins)
Cov starts marching from the Occupy Orange County, Irvine camp on Saturday November 5 while a number of protesters hold signs in the background. Her sign reads "Jobs not cuts".

Many thanks to everyone who let me photograph them!

Photographs of Occupy Orange County Irvine’s camp

A man holds a "Jobs not cuts" sign and flashes the peace sign behind the "Occupy Orange County in Unity with Occupy Wall St." sign at the encampment at Irvine, CA. (Marc C. Perkins)
A man holds a "Jobs not cuts" sign and flashes the peace sign behind the "Occupy Orange County in Unity with Occupy Wall St." sign at the Occupy Orange County encampment at Irvine, CA.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began about a month and a half ago, and since then has spread a cities worldwide, including Irvine and Santa Ana right here in Orange County.  Regular readers of this blog will know that my photographic genre can best be described as cat pictures biological macro photography: I take pictures of spiders, mice, plants, and other such things.

A man walks in front of the bright orange "Occupy Orange County - in unity with Occupy Wall Street" banner while holding a sign with a newspaper boy holding a paper with a graphical "No greed" written on it. (Marc C. Perkins)
Tom walks in front of the bright orange "Occupy Orange County - in unity with Occupy Wall Street" banner while holding a sign with a newspaper boy holding a paper with a graphical "No greed" written on it.

Over the weekend I decided to try my hand at some documentary street photography, and headed down to the Occupy Orange County – Irvine camp to see what was going on.

On Sunday evening there weren't many folks holding signs; the tents were taking care of the task for them. (Marc C. Perkins)
On Sunday evening at Occupy Orange County there weren't many folks holding signs; the tents were taking care of the task for them.

The camp was fairly quiet on Sunday around sunset, so I focused on documenting the environment, including the sea of tents that has popped up.

Continue reading Photographs of Occupy Orange County Irvine’s camp