Sweetie Rolls Her Rs

Sweetie, one of our family's dogs, can roll her Rs. This is further proof that growing up in a bilingual household leads to higher intelligence. She makes this noise whenever she greets someone she hasn't seen in a while.

Sweetie used to look like this. She was cute.

This is our other dog, Nikolas Tesla Valdes:

He used to be cute. Now he pees like a girl.

Latino America

Latino America from Manuel Valdes on Vimeo.

This is a collection of photographs - some good, some bad - of my trips to Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Nicaragua and Panama, set to the music of Calle 13's "Latinoamerica." (Great song, by the way.)

I need to travel again. I've yet to see the majority of Latin America. Maybe someday I'll update this to include more countries.

I shall plot another escape soon.

Mexico and Guatemala (2011) shot with a Canon Rebel T2i, and the rest with an Olympus point-and-shoot.

Back Behind The Camera

It had been months (thanks OLYMPIA!) since I had pressed the record button. This week I was sent to get comments from the Barefoot Bandit's (aka Colton Harris-Moore) lawyer after a federal court hearing. Probably could have zoomed tighter on the lawyer.

Photo by Kevin P. Casey

Guatemalan Bike Riders Stare at My Camera & Vice Versa

Any time I go back to the country of my birth, I feel like an outsider. That's to be expected after leaving so early, and staying away so long. Plus, I wear too many shorts and my Spanish is not up to date.

But feeling and looking like an outsider is acerbated by the camera. That big black box with a tube coming out with a little motor noise - it stands between you and people; though, sometimes it unites you with a person, but often it doesn't. Like in this case, where the camera is just an object from a car staring like a tourist at the way these people live and transport themselves.

So the people stare back.

Often I wonder what kind of person I'd be had I stayed in Guatemala, I'd probably be skinnier.

Guatever

Monterico, Guatemala

Legendary (and perhaps cheating) war photographer Robert Capa is widely attributed to saying, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

It's sage advice for anyone who photographs people, and one echoed to me by several of the pros in Seattle.

It's advice to follow.

But in my recent trip to Guatemala, I did not. I didn't feel like talking to people, something neccesary to gain their trust for a photogenic moment.

So I lagged behind and instead looked for wide shots, trying to capture human figures in different lights.

The pictures are basically from three places in Guatemala: The beach of Monterico, on the Pacific Coast; the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala, and from the highways cutting from the coast to Guatemala City.
 

Here are the results:

As the sun fell on Monterico, a large group of men and women, and children gathered near the hotel where I stayed to play soccer and volleyball on the beach.

A group of kids were there, too, kicking and bouncing a volleyball:

Antigua:

Last Line: Dave Ammons

Dave Ammons, who spent nearly 40 years with the AP in Olympia, stops by the bureau to say hi to new capitol press corp member Mike Baker, not pictured. Baker took over the bureau in late April. Always beaming with a positive attitude, Dave was a rarity in the cynical world of politics and journalism. His love for state government continues to show as the communications director for Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Cuba - Part 2

Dug up some old pictures from the 2008 trip to Cuba. All of these were taking on the southern coast of Cuba, in Trinidad or the small fishing enclave of La Boca. Taken with an Olympus point-and-shoot that died during this trip. 

Last Line: Spring in Olympia

 Spring in Olympia, it brings rainbows.

Last Line: The House

Brought my trusty Canon 550D to Washington state's House of Representatives before a key vote on a proposed budget. The picture above made the AP wire. The rest, well, are good enough for this blog.

The light of the caucus room. Reporters aren't allowed in. This is where lawmakers discuss bills before they make it to the floor for a vote - if they make it to the floor for a vote.

Sometimes caucus meetings go long, too long. Here Rep. Hans Dunshee of Snohomish talks on the phone while Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson of Seattle does something else.

House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan and an aide looking busy.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, one of the most powerful politicians in the state, speaks to Sullivan before voting on the budget. 

Rep. Ross Hunter of Medina is the lead in the budget this session. Often seen with a soda can in hand, the man plans to buy a 5D Canon in the interim to work on his photography.

Seeing my pictures being used on the Web or in a newspaper brings that old but nice giddy feeling I used to get when I started my career in journalism.

seattlepi.com used my picture!

Skateboarding videos

These videos were passed around the Internet a few months ago, but they are worth re-posting.

The two skateboarding-themed videos - one a commercial equipped with nifty special effects and the other a short documentary sponsored by the denim company Diesel - are beautifully shot.





SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL from Diesel New Voices on Vimeo.




Burn Ignite :: Ride :: feat Steve Berra (OFFICIAL HD) from Burn Energy on Vimeo.