I knew that the first annual Santa Cruz NEXT award ceremony, aka the NEXTies, would be a big, fun party. But I wasn’t expecting the venue to be quite so fabulously decked out. Walking into that room felt like boarding some kind of super-hip spaceship, and I was astounded by what they were able to create from blank industrial space. I don’t think my photos really do it justice, but you’ll get the idea. All of this amazing design work was done by Nielsen Architects, a talented Santa Cruz group that includes Timerie Gordon, who blogged about preparing for this event with no budget and a lot of hard labor. The light fixtures were made from wine barrels and were constructed by artist Maurice Connolly. And the projected light installations were crafted by people from Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) at UCSC.

I shot this event alone, as Patrick was working late hours preparing for our appearance at the rapidly approaching Santa Cruz Bridal Expo. Usually at an event like this, one of us will use a flash and the other one will shoot with available light only. As the sole photographer, I came prepared to switch back and forth between those two modes of shooting. But when I saw how creative the venue lighting was, and how successfully the right mood had been conjured by the designers, I couldn’t bear to ruin it with bright flashes. I used available light only for most of the night, which meant shooting at maximum ISO and letting the shutter drag for the wide-angle shots.

Since that night, I’ve learned a few new techniques that will allow me to use a flash without destroying the ambiance of a room. I’m still working on those techniques. I have a very strong natural inclination towards sticking with available light because I love the sense of reality it lends to a photograph. But there were plenty of things I couldn’t get good photos of with the light that was there, such as the delicious food offered by various local gourmet vendors. (Of which I only sampled a tiny bit, because of the danger of leaving greasy fingerprints on my lens. However, I couldn’t turn down the dessert that involved bacon tucked into strawberries.)

The award ceremony itself was easier to shoot because the winners were on stage, under spotlights. The winners (click their names to view their sites): Marina Sousa, Reyna Ruiz, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, and Danny Keith. If you want to read more about who they are and why they won, this Good Times article has great profiles and photos of the four winners. The ceremony featured video profiles of the winners created by SoWat TV, and you can view those videos in this Santa Cruz NEXT blog post.

A band called Persephone’s Bees took over after the ceremony, and they rocked. I had to leave during the break between their sets, to go home and get some sleep before the next few days of Bridal Expo prep. But what I saw and heard of Persephone’s Bees was impressive and the party seemed to be just getting started when I walked out the door.

A belated congratulations to everyone who was a part of creating this event!

On a side note, no party is really ever complete without Jeffrey Kongslie, which is why he appears at least three times in the photos below.

Last month, Santa Cruz NEXT had a little party at Surf City Billiards, and it was the first time either of the Red Bats had seen the place since it became a billiards hall. We were impressed. I found myself wanting to ask people to drape themselves over the tables for some of the shots, but instead I settled for urging people to “Look cool!” They did look cool.

Here’s the Santa Cruz NEXT blog post about that evening.

Take a closer look at the guy in the middle in the next-to-last photo and the woman on the right in the last photo. Don’t they look like they deserve a lifetime of marital bliss? You have just experienced Red Bat foreshadowing. Stay tuned…

UPDATE: Find out what happened to Crystal and Peter by clicking here!

This post is old news by now- once again, I’m reaching back into the ancient mists of July. Please forgive this overly busy Bat for the lack of posting during July when it was actually happening. And stop me if I’ve told you any of this before…

On July 5 (you know, the day after Independence Day, when you can expect to see beaches littered with debris from parties celebrating the American tradition of trashing the place) some devoted early risers from Santa Cruz NEXT, in conjunction with Save Our Shores, collected 257 pounds of trash and 62 pounds of recycling at Twin Lakes Beach. Here’s the Santa Cruz NEXT blog post about that day.

I was there to take photos of people picking up trash, making me once again glad to be a photographer, tasked only with lifting my camera and walking around. These folks were out at Twin Lakes at 7 am, collecting trash. And no, they did not go to bed early the night before. They partied like the rest of us (though presumably with less mess) but got themselves up at the crack of dawn to make Twin Lakes tidy again. Their enthusiasm at 7 am was very impressive. I hope they all went home patting themselves on the back, because they deserved that and more.

Here are some photos:

Red Bat Photography is very proud to be the official photographer for Santa Cruz NEXT, a local organization whose mission includes “actively promoting access to and development of economic, social and cultural opportunities” and “connecting Santa Cruz’s next generation of residents to the community at large” (I got those phrases from their newly revamped website).

Recently (well, actually, two months ago, but time has a different meaning during WEDDING SEASON), this organization had a lil’ shindig at the Del Mar Theater. People gathered to chat, network, enjoy great deals on delicious beer and kombucha cocktails, and watch the premier of FOOD, Inc. The Red Bats were there to shoot the participants. Here are a few photos from that evening. You can visit the Santa Cruz NEXT site to read their post about it and see more photos.

Click here to learn more about Santa Cruz NEXT, and here to learn more about FOOD, Inc.