Category Archives: Thrift Store

DISPATCH Tour Almost Finished- Only 5 More Stops!

DISPATCH Tour Almost Finished- Only 5 More Stops!
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A little over a year ago I (we – Leah’s been to most of them too) started a project we casually called the DISPATCH Tour (Deseret Industries Super Photo Adventure Tour – gotta call it something, right?) A year later, we’re close to being finished. We’ve only got 5 stores left to visit and we’ll have been to every Deseret Industries. If you laid every used Barbie Doll end to end, it would reach from here to…

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Someone on Tumblr asked me a question, and I thought I’d post the answer here:

Why are you visiting a chain of Mormon church owned and operated thrift stores?

A few reasons: First and foremost, I’m from Utah, I’ve scored tons of vintage cameras and dozens of flannels there.

Second, there’s always characters there. Deseret Industries (DI) has sort of a cult-following. There’s a crowd of hoarders, collectors and families at the doors every morning itching to get in and find a deal.

And third, the main reason I decided to do the project: I was casually chatting with an acquaintance at work and the subject of Salt Lake City and thrift stores came up. She said “I won’t shop at DI because it’s owned by Mormons.” I thought that sounded bigoted and petty.

Who cares? It’s recycling. It’s cheap. And if you look hard, you find cool stuff. I don’t care who sets it up, Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Atheists, Capitalists, Communists, etc. Just because Mormons run it is a stupid reason to dislike it.

I decided to visit them all. At the time I didn’t know there were 43. I thought  there were… I don’t know 12? No way. There’s 2 in Seattle, one in Sacramento, and 4 in L.A. Also Phoenix and Tucson. I’ve been to almost all of them now, and I’ve been saving Salt Lake City stores for last. So yes, I’ve driven to the Seattle ones, the Tucson one, and the San Diego one. I see the same junk at every single one. I could do a very long commentary on possessions and the fleeting nature of ownership, but that’s an answer to a different question.

It’s been an interesting project, one I started a year ago this weekend, and hopefully I’ll finish it in another month or so.

Thanks for asking, it was interesting to actually think about the start of the project again – it helped alleviate a little artist burn-out. Only 5 more to go!

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I’ve had a few interesting suggestions about publishing a book of of some of the photos. Someone recently suggested I create a photo book and have the initial release party in the parking lot of a DI – I like that a lot. Any other suggestions? Free used crutches? A swatch of DI flannel with each book? I wish I could package the smell – that’s what really says “Deseret Industries” to me… maybe a line of thrift store cologne?

Thanks for looking.

Also, Leah’s been doing a pretty brisk business in the leather goods lately – if you haven’t checked out her stuff yet, now’s a great time. If you don’t have slim leather wallet, there’s no better time than spring. People in Belgium are even getting on board!

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Winter Afternoon Thrifting in Moab

Went thrift shopping with a friend a couple weeks ago. Got some unique photos.
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Shot on my Nexus 5, edited with the stock Android photo editor, and posted with the WordPress app.
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It’s much more difficult to imagine how this is going to look on a computer when editing the post and adding the photos with the phone…
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Three Sisters Thrift has completely changed from the old Memory Lane days. It’s super clean and much more organized. It’s still a little dark in there, but much of the former funk has been cleared/cleaned out. I ran into this character while I was there…
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Can’t figure out why that last photo is smaller than the others – it is cropped more severely, but not substantially so. Guess that comes with shooting with a phone? Also the workflow is such that due to lack of familiarity I feel somewhat hindered…
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Golf Balls. I swear – if you ever buy golf balls or golf clubs new you’re a total chump. After going to so many thrift stores I can safely say those are two things that are at every store in abundance… And although I know very little about golf I’m pretty darn sure brand new clubs won’t make a Tiger Woods out of anyone (although there’s plenty of marketing companies that don’t want you to know that)…

So there. An entire post captured, edited, written and uploaded all with a Nexus 5 running KitKat. It wasn’t easy like with a computer, Photoshop and a Ricoh GR  or Canon 5DMkII – but I did it all in a slouch on the couch…

End of the Year Roudup

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Everyone else did their end of the year round up at the end of December… I was too busy napping on the couch and enjoying the holidays to care about blogging. That actually sums up my attitude toward blogging from about the middle of November until now. I’m ready to get back to it though – I had a goal to create 2 posts a week last year and I came pretty close.

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In 2013 I created 105 unique blog posts. My blog got 19,000 views. In the big scheme of things that’s not many. For me though it’s 18,925 more views than I got in 2012.  My most popular post was a lament about missing my little Ricoh GRD IV that I sold in late 2012 to get the Fuji X100. It garnered 1,746 views. In second place was a post I created about making your own sandals – it got 1,420 views. Interestingly enough, both these blog posts were done kind of quick and without a lot of thought… funny they became my most visited posts of the year.

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My busiest  day of the year was the 10th of September when my post about the Scott’s Peak aid station at the Wasatch Front 100 went live and I got 302 hits. Not quite a viral sensation, but it was a big deal for me.

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My most popular Youtube video was an unboxing and comparison of the new Ricoh GR to the old Ricoh GRD IV – it got 1695 views and continues to be semi-popular.

My Redbubble page is a decent representation of what little success I achieved on the internet in 2013 – I closed the year with over 80 designs available, 25,000 views and 181 sales of stickers and t-shirts with camera designs I created.

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I sold 82 books on Magcloud.

I now have 1107 photos on Flickr, 608 photos on Instagram, and 1109 posts on Tumblr.

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More exciting than all the raw numbers that somehow add up to mean I lead a pretty dull life is the fact that I (we – my wife and kids traveled along the whole way) visited 28 of the 43 Deseret Industries stores in Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona on what we’ve been calling the DISPATCH PROJECT. We drove a total of 5,900 miles to see 28 of the 43. We have (obviously) 15 left, but they’re all in Utah and much more accessible than the one in Seattle. We drove from Vernal to Tucson, from Moab to San Diego while visiting Seattle on the (out of the) way, and most recently from Moab to Rexburg, Idaho. I ended up with some interesting photos, lots of memories and a couple flannel shirts I really like.

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I’m going to try and do fewer posts this next year, but focus on doing somewhat more interesting ones… at least that’s my thinking this early in the year. I’ll keep adding to my Redbubble designs and I’ve opened some sort of wacky Amazon Associate Store I’m currently calling Strayfoto Supply on an unlisted page of my site – we’ll see where that goes. Right now it contains pens and camera gear I like – all of which I’ve owned and used extensively and think are pretty cool. If you choose to purchase anything listed there, please use the links. It doesn’t cost anymore and I earn a small commission that keeps me buying more pens and cameras.

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I switched my Facebook from a profile to a page and I’m hoping to be a little more active there in 2014.

Here’s my two favorite photos I shot this year. They’re both available as downloads or prints at 500px if anyone wants to pick them up. Thanks for looking._1011222_strayfoto_2013__strayfoto_2014_ R0012647_strayfoto_2013__strayfoto_2014_

 

California Deseret Industries Tour Complete

California Deseret Industries Tour Complete
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We hit the last four Deseret Industries in California yesterday – Calimesa, Colton, Los Angeles, and Chula Vista. Some photos from the tour below. Tomorrow back to Utah and the warmth. You know you’ve spent the summer in the desert when San Diego seems cold.
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Thanks for looking.

DISPATCH Tour

Last week Leah and I started some sort of thrift store madness in what we’ve taken to calling the DISPATCH Tour. It might or might not stand for Deseret Industries Super Photo Adventure Tour.

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Wabi Sabi Moab Utah Thrift Store

Moab Utah Thrift Store

If you’re looking for Moab, Utah thrift stores, on the east side of town in an old funeral home and across the street from Milt’s Stop and Eat, there’s a decent sized thrift store called Wabi Sabi. It’s actually one of two stores called Wabi Sabi in Moab, the other one is out by the highway on the south end of town.

Wabi Sabi has an “eclectic vibe” – you can use that worn-out phrase for most places in Moab, but at Wabi Sabi it’s essentially true. The store is decorated in a random and almost bizarre fashion that lends to the feel. The book section is great and while the clothes are a little on the “boutique” side of the pricing scale, selection is good. There’s a lot of outdoor clothing / gear on tap, but this being Moab, most of it’s thrashed well beyond use. They have a really cool system at checkout where they offer you a token and you’re able to vote for donations to local charities. Very cool. As far as Moab, Utah thrift stores go, it’s one of the best. Here’s some shots of my last visit. Photos shot with a Fujifilm X100.

Moab Utah Thrift Store Continue reading

Uncrate Garb Spoof

Uncrate Garb Spoof. I present: anti-garb.

There’s a very famous website called Uncrate that features tons of gadgets and fashion stuff and enough cool junk to send even a conservative guy to the poorhouse. Occasionally they post to a series called “GARB“. While many of the fashions don’t really do much for me, some of them are cool. They’re cool because somehow, presented in this Pinterest-friendly and fashionable way, they make me wish I was a little more hip or well-dressed. But it’s not going to happen. I could be Bill Gates rich and still not spend $300.00 on jeans or $3500.00 on an ugly watch. I thought I’d offer my own take on the “GARB”  posts, so I present this:

Uncrate Garb Spoof Continue reading