ASID CA Peninsula Design Awards Gala Photography

The Tech Museum - San Jose, CA

I just received approval from the awards committee to shoot “Red Carpet” style photographs of the winners and attendees of this years design awards ceremony. it’s going to be a lot of fun but everyone needs to know and dress appropriately. It is the 26th Design Awards GALA, after all. Spread the word to all and sundry.

My Calling

Passage to Another Reality - B/W HDRI

After spending the last few weeks focused on the CEU I gave to ASID CA Peninsula on the nuts & bolts of interior design photography I need to refocus on my true calling, which is crafting powerful images.

This is an image of the gallery outside the San Jose Museum of Art, and it is an HDRI photograph. I like it because of the strong geometry, the rhythm and repetition of the round forms in contrast to the right angles.

Dreams Happen

This past weekend I was pleased to volunteer my time and skills to Rebuilding Together Peninsula to photograph their Semi-Annual Dreams Happen Charity Auction.

You can see the photographs I took at the event by follow this link to my gallery.

This is a really big deal.. every other year General Contractors and Architects in the area donate their time, skills and the materials to build these fantastic playhouses. These are not just regular playhouses, these things are the stuff dreams are made of. The lucky children that get one of these playhouses is sure to be the envy of the entire neighborhood. You can see a gallery of the playhouses by following this link.

This project was a lot of fun and we helped a lot of our less fortunate neighbors by raising significant funds to repair their homes. I’m not sure what the talley was but no matter what we helped the people in our communities who needed help the most.

SF/SPCA Feral Cat Volunteer Caregivers

Last week I had the opportunity to go out into the wilds of San Francisco to begin documenting the volunteers with the SF/SPCA who care for the feral cat population. I know it’s an odd thing for an architectural photographer to be doing but, I love cats and I want to make a contribution. This seems like a good way to do that.

In case you don’t know the SF/SPCA is a “no kill” facility. The goal of the organization is to care for the animals until they are adopted but sometimes adoption isn’t an option.

Feral cats are in a unique situation, most have never been a “pet” but are in fact wild, unfortunately many of them were pets that were either lost or in some cases dumped by the humans who were supposed to care for them. Feral cats if left alone will breed wildly and prolifically. This causes quite a few problems for the cats and the people who live near them.

The SF/SPCA has a trap, neuter/spay and release policy. Volunteers will care for the animals by feeding & watering them and ensuring they have some form of shelter available. They also use humane traps to capture the animals, give them medical treatment and to spay or neuter, and if the cat can be socialized they will bring it in and offer it to the public for adoption. Unfortunately many of these cats cannot be “tamed” and must be allowed to live out their lives in the “wilds” of the city streets, back alleys and parks.

I am setting out to tell the story not of the cats themselves but of the people who give their time, their energy and their love to these poor animals who have no one else to love and care for them. This is a long term project and I will be posting short episodes here on occasion and once the project is completed I will post a link to the final story of the remarkable people who go to rather extreme lengths to do the best they can for these most vulnerable citizens of our city.

Breakfast in the wild.

Feral Cat Caregiver

Tomorrow morning I begin shooting the volunteer Feral Cat Caregivers with the SF/SPCA.This is the beginning of a long term project to document the Feral Cat program and the remarkably dedicated volunteers who make the program work.

I’m looking forward to it and the challenges that I will be faced with. I’ll post more about the program in another day or two.

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I just joined Facebook

And for some reason the badge isn’t showing up as expected. It’s too late to work on it.

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Fixed now.

Dean J. Birinyi’s Profile

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Second Spam Post

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This one was again nothing but garbage text and links that went no where.