Hyvää päivää to all!

That's Finnish, of which I am partially descended, which is a burden I must bear, while being most proud of it as well. I blame flickr for greeting me in all those languages for bringing this up in the first place.

I like taking pics of just about everything. It might be easier if I just liked landscapes, or old cars, or signage, or portraits, or photojournalism, or wildlife. It would be easier in the sense of marketing, or really focusing in, but it wouldn't be as much fun, so I'm going with it as is.

I hope you like something in the sets or photostream. Tagging is a Sisyphean, yet progressing task, so please search on a color, a location, car make or model, whatever, and who knows what will pop up, and there's more to come. I still have more archives to mine, as well as new stuff to add. It's been nice to get things better organized and see just how many pics of rusty Buicks I have. And to see how tagging varies in quality late at night. And to see what I really like to take photos of versus what I claim ... the answer is still just about everything.

As of 12/10/10, hovering near 7700 images. Mostly cleaning up and editing summer and fall shots. I'm behind in editing, but not so much as before. Still have old shots to dig thru, but I've become busier in other areas. While I am obsessed in certain ways with photography, I leave room for other obsessions and obligations as well.

I used to obsess over music. Listening, collecting, that is. My own talent did not lie in making it myself. One must recognize strengths and weaknesses, to figure out the best ways to spend time. But music, what an immense world ... I ended up collecting ~50,000 albums. What I learned was that I cared less for individual artists than I did individual songs. Even albums as a whole are so seldom perfect, but a song, ah, that CAN be perfect (look up Everything But the Girl's version of "The Only Living Boy in New York" sometime). Maybe like a single photo. Overall, perfection is impossible, but every once in awhile, everything can come together just right for a brief moment.

Despite my claim to love songs, not artists, there are some artists who got it right quite often, or maybe just put out so much stuff that by sheer quantity amassed a collection of great moments. Some of these are the following, in no particular order: Willie Nelson, the Flaming Lips, U2, firehose, Dave Brubeck, Billie Holiday, Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega. Sufjan Stevens, Thievery Corp, Pixies, Ani Difranco, the Meters, Hot Tuna, Daniel Lanois, Vangelis, Allen Toussaint, Art Tatum, Alison Krauss, Bill Laswell, PJ Harvey, Calexico, etc.

There are certain artists who kinda capture people forever, it seems like: Bob Dylan, Rush, Pink Floyd, Residents, Miles Davis, Seals and Crofts. Just kidding about the last one, as impressive as "Summer Breeze" is. Just seeing if you're paying attention.

Who you claim as a favorite says an awful lot about you, I recognize. It goes back to teenaged days to make snap judgments based on musical criteria. But even today, if I say I like Buckethead, it means something quite different than liking Basia, and instantly segments someone. But it's easy to claim some impressive musician like Miles Davis as a fave to impress others while forgetting to also mention the Bangles CD on constant rotation. I do disavow the Bangles, by the way, but can't escape Nelly Furtado for some reason. We all have our inexplicable weaknesses, or who we really are, in other words. Go with what works for you, I say, while trying to attain perfection. Sade is hypnotic too, curse her smooth vocals, lush rhythms and exotic looks.

But enough about music, back to photos ...

The photographs on this website are copyright Studiobaker and cannot be used without permission. All unauthorized use will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. All rights reserved. With that said, if you like something and want to use it, please ask. Thanks.