The Blight - Photography by Neil Girling   

I was brought in to cover the three days of RoboGames in San Mateo—see the photos on Flickr or Facebook.

Electric Boogaloo (left) loses a plate of armor to Last Rites’s 72lb spinning blade.

Dxter gets pushed around and set ablaze by Raging Scotsman’s flamethrower.

New to my arsenal are two tools for creating panoramas: a GigaPan Epic Pro for gigantic, multi-gigapixel images, and Photosynth, an app for the iPhone that allows well-nigh instantaneous image making and sharing on-location. Below, I’ve embedded one of each and given a link back to the respective galleries. Of course, viewing them here won’t do them justice, so go to the actual photo pages and take a (much) closer look.

Photosynth

View Larger — Go to Photosynth Gallery

GigaPan

View Larger — Go to GigaPan Gallery

Anonymous protestor—”I could lose my job for having a voice”

NYPD clears Washington Square Park and then pushes pedestrians down sidewalk Saturday night

An Occupy Wall Street General Assembly Sunday evening

Today marks the seventh day I’ve been at Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park / Liberty Square in downtown Manhattan. I’ve got much to say—and another day to photograph—but you can see my current work up here.

Midway through the third week now and stronger than ever, Occupy Wall Street is beginning to finally get noticed by the mainstream media. The coverage, largely nonexistent at first, is picking up steam; Slate, the Washington Post, the LA Times, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, and even the President  has something to say about the protests.

I feel they’re missing something.

In the coverage I’ve seen, there has been little to no honest coverage of who these protestors are; there have been a few passing mentions of “anarchists,” and the usual dismissive “smelly hippies” and “kids,” but I don’t believe that’s accurate or intellectually honest. I want to show that this protest contains many employed and employable folk like you and me. The blog We are the 99 Percent has done an excellent job putting a very human face to the movement (and disenfranchised) itself, but they’re not photographs of the protestors themselves, on the streets of New York. I want to change that.

So, thanks to a very generous sponsor, I’m going to New York. He’s set up a page so that others might go, too: go donate here.

Contact me with inquires here.

The Man burns as seen from a scissor lift

Go see the photo gallery here.

And don’t miss Whitney’s excellent photo set–see them here.

Photos from both Friday’s World Fair and the Ball Proper on Saturday are finished and online! If you’d prefer to see them on Facebook, go here [Friday | Saturday]

Guests at Saturday’s ball proper

Dwoira in Dark Garden’s fashion show at Friday’s World Fair

I will once again be your photographer for the Edwardian Ball! Get your tickets before they sell out.

The Man and Fire Conclave burn night

We arrived Saturday afternoon under iron gray skies. It had been an effortless jaunt from Sparks; we had taken a lazy lunch in the parking lot where the weather alternated between chilly in the shadow of the clouds and blazing hot when the sun poked through. We had heard the reports: that though last week had hit 115°, this weekend promised rain, and the forbidding horizon did not dispel that fear. But we were not worried: we’re varsity. We’ve done this before.

Replicating the success of last year, we — my old friend and stalwart companion, Evan — packed little past essentials and stayed the night in a hotel in Sparks. Too tired (unmotivated?) to move our gear inside, plan “Let’s Leave it and Hope For the Best” was successful, and our pickup truck of dusty gear was unmolested in the morning. Refilling our ice chests from the free hotel ice machine, we headed to our usual supermarket to load up on water and last minute essentials (beer we had in spades; Irish cream, cup-o-noodles, eggs, cheese, crackers, some vegetables, more ice were procured) and we were off.

The Temple of Flux; us photographers all discussed how we didn’t really know how to capture it.

(Read more below…)

The weather so far has been… interesting. It’s not often freezing cold, windy and rainy during the day, oh no. Our camp is wholly setup and now that the ground has dried out I’m getting to work on bringing you pictures. Here so far you see but a teaser: come back soon for more. I’ll be posting at least once a day.

Ladies and gentlemen, preparations for our yearly company picnic are well underway. We have reason to believe that the above map most accurately reflects precisely where your intrepid narrator will be located on the playa this year (the X, if you will).

So, one way or another, we should be right on 3:30 between the Esplanade and Athens. Look for a row of black and white flags, and if I get my affects in order, a sign that says THE BLIGHT. See you in the dust.

PS: If you have any ideas for a photoshoot, right now would be a great time to contact me.