Mark Mendoza - photoblog

Mark Mendoza — 2008-07-11T00:00:00Z

]]> July '08 [3 of 3] Another random grafitii. It's some kind of face with blood dripping off it. That's it for now. Thanks for viewing! Hopefully something again in week or so.

Mark Mendoza — 2008-07-09T00:00:00Z

]]> July '08 [2 of 3] This photo was taken at one of the concrete bases of the bridge. It was an obvious drinking spot for some kids as there were broken bottles scattered about. I have no idea what this graffiti is about. A merman that has been crucified? It kind of gives me the creeps and at the same time I find it humorous. [next release: July 11]

Mark Mendoza — 2008-07-07T00:00:00Z

]]> July '08 [1 of 3] I started a black & white photography class last week. Honestly, I didn't even know it was black & white and it is the old school photography that I'm not used to (non-digital ;_;). Not being able check my photos scares me. I guess this digital age has me pampered. So now I take shots with my DSLR before using the SLR in order to see how B&W photos look. With the digital photos turning out 'ok', I'm hoping the SLR will turn out the same! Everyone in the class has to develop there own photos in the dark room, so that should be fun. Wish me luck on that. About this series: I live in Lethbridge, AB and apparently our city's main historical attraction is this gigantic bridge that crosses the coulees. I went on a short hike towards it and took a gander. I didn't bother taking many photos of the bridge itself, but I was looking for interesting things around it. [next release: July 9]

Long Way Home

Mark Mendoza — 2008-06-18T00:00:00Z

]]> June '08- Some Random Abandoned Farmhouse on the Highway [5 of 5] No matter what they say, this is where I belong. On the way back home, I spotted broken down shed. It looked pretty creepy so I decided to get a closer look. Running through the rain while trespassing on private property, I quickly took a shot. It's my favourite from that day. What a nice way to end a day trip =D. End of series. Thanks for viewing, see you next time!

Nature's Sparkle

Mark Mendoza — 2008-06-14T00:00:00Z

]]> June '08- Waterton Park [4 of 5] Sparkle and Shine. Before I left for Waterton, I was being warned of floods or snow still on the trails. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The water levels went down and snow had given away to make room for the flora. Flowers were in bloom so it was a good time to take a macro. These were just scattered alongside of the trail. [next release: July 18]

Bertha Falls

Mark Mendoza — 2008-06-10T00:00:00Z

]]> June '08- Waterton Park [3 of 5] This was the destination of the short hike, Bertha Falls. I went up a bit closer to get a better look and snapped a few shots. In that short duration, I was soaked from head to toe from all the water. [next release: June 14]

Rockbound

Mark Mendoza — 2008-06-06T00:00:00Z

]]> June 08- Waterton Park [2 of 5] Not much of a choice on where to go. The hike that we went on was Bertha Falls. About an hour and fourty-five minutes to the destination and back. A lot of it was uphill, but not so much that it was exhausting. The path was beautiful with mesmerizing striations on the mountain sides. Despite the rain, there were quite a few people on the same trail as us. [next release: June 10]

Across the Darkness

Mark Mendoza — 2008-06-03T00:00:00Z

]]> June '08- Waterton Park [1 of 5] The mountains pierced through the darkness. It calmed us down as we sat and waited for the end. Over the weekend, I went on a day trip to Waterton Park to go hiking. I heard that it was going to be light showers so I took the risk anyways and went. So the trip was mostly clouds and rain, but it was still warm enough go around in a t-shirt (only a plastic poncho kept me from being wet). I managed to get a bit of excercise for myself and my dog as we hiked for two hours. We kept it short as the forecast was saying the rain was going get heavier. [next release: June 6]

Fireflies

Mark Mendoza — 2008-05-25T00:00:00Z

]]> May '08- Galt Gardens Dancing in the distance, the lights beckoned me. Words drifted across the distance, "Why don't you leave the fray? Come dance my way." A few nights ago there was an event with a few local musical artists playing (totally missed that part though) at a downtown park. After the live performances, a DJ hit the floor with some break beats. I arrived late with the majority of the audience already leaving. The floor was open for firedancers for the rest of the night. The dancers were all local hippies with DIY staffs, swords and things on strings. I thought it was just weird watching this subculture at work. The guys treated their staffs like martial art weapons (I thought this was really silly because, knowing a few of them personally, had no martial art training) and the girls were more about grace (similar to club dancing). There was a bit of talent that shown through the rest, pulling off dangerous tricks that would leave a few burnt hairs on amateurs. It was interesting, but more I was more weirded out than anything. There was also a guy playing with devil sticks. I miss those. I haven't seen those since grade school.

Excuse Me?

Mark Mendoza — 2008-05-17T00:00:00Z

]]> May '08 His smile turned into a laugh as he said, "Excuse me? I don't think you heard me right. Let's try this one more time." No series this time. I kept it simple and tossed what I had into one image anyways. I like to get my friends into photos. It's free and let's me experiment with little worries. I just tell them to bring stuff (a hat and zippo in this case) and we just work around from there. It's all for fun =D. I was aiming for a bit of flow for the photos so hopefully it was achieved. Also, I use a high contrast to hide black blanket in the background, but with my laptop screen, I can never tell if I hid it correctly or if I overshot the contrast (though I think I overshot this time). Maybe nature stuff next time. Cheers!

Clear Blue Haunt

Mark Mendoza — 2008-05-08T00:00:00Z

]]> April '08- Pavan Park [2 of 2] Casting my eyes away from the labrynth of trees, I looked up for an answer. The sky calmly laughed with a ghastly smile as it leaned back on its arc of clouds and stretched itself to infinity. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. However, the scenery was not =P. I was little bit depressed but I went here fully knowing that the park has only begun to recover from winter's wrath. Only a short wait and this will all be green. I'll be planning on visiting this park again in mid-summer on a bike ride. Well, that's it for a while. I originally had two more photos for this series, but I decided against them. Aside from running out of time to edit, they just didn't end up as good as I hoped. So I've decided to move on. Whenever I get I some time from summer classes, I'll try to take some new photos :D.

First Warm Day!

Mark Mendoza — 2008-05-05T00:00:00Z

]]> April '08- Pavan Park [1 of 2] My dog and I going for walk at a park just outside of city limits. It was the first warm day of the year (15 degrees Celsius!) with the snow melting a few days prior. The grass is just beginning to turn green again and the trees won't have leaves for another month or so. This was actually more difficult to take than imagined. I was balancing my camera bag on my right shoulder while trying to take a photo with one hand. The other hand was gripped on the leash making sure my dog wouldn't try to pull a fast one on me, haha. After a moment of frustration, I just sat on the leash and used both hands with the cam. There is reflection of my hands holding the camera in my glasses frame.