Daniel Galang Photography

www.DanielGalangBlog.com! It's Official!

2009-04-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well everyone! The moment you all have been waiting for!! Okay - well not really, it's actually the moment I have been waiting for because you all (well most of you) had no idea... okay I'm quickly spinning off topic... ANYWAYS...

Daniel Galang Photography has officially launched! New look, new logo, same 'ol me...

www.danielgalangblog.com

And we will start off with the new blog!!! Here's a lil snapshot!

So!!!! I hope you stop on by, subscribe, leave a comment, say hello, and all that jazz.. please do! I will beg. please? www.danielgalangblog.com

It's been a great ride blogspot! Great memories... But now, a little over 1 year later, I move on to new things! Please do join me as my business moves and shakes in the new year unfolds more pictures and more good times.. Thanks for following along!

Special thanks to the folks at prophotoblog for the amazing design!

Engaged - Scott and Elaine

2009-04-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

Seaport Village - San Diego, CA

Scott and Elaine make this photography thing seem easy. Sweet to each other and easy going for this whole session, I was glad to be able to work with them just before their upcoming wedding in about two weeks!! Wow! Elaine in fact is the very first bride I officially booked way back in the fall – so things are really starting to seem real now that everything is coming together… and it is quite fitting (for reasons you will see in a post or two- stay tuned!) At any rate… we had a good time even though it was a bit overcast and kinda early in the morning for a Saturday :-) Thanks Scott and Elaine for waking up early to do this! I hope you love what we got!

Now this…this is just plain precious…

This last one is one of my faves of the session… We didn’t know the name of the tree, but it was beautiful! Any tree experts that can lend a comment?

Thank you so much Scott & Elaine for trusting me with your special day from day one… As my first official couple to want to work with me, I am really and truly honored you would give me a chance! I just hope I can deliver the best images I can on your big day – just two short weeks from now!!! Excited!!!

Happy 25th Anniversary Mom & Dad!

2009-04-14T13:14:00.001-07:00

Windsor, CA & Healdsburg, CA

Vaness and I had the good fortune to be able to surprise my parents for their 25th anniversary celebration. It was really more of a surprise to the guests though.. my mom is too smart for stuff like that… After I told her we weren’t able to make it up to the Bay, she says to my dad – well, they still might come… You can’t really sneak stuff by your mom – even at this age – momma always knows.

At any rate, my mom and dad spent a day alone together in Windsor before the whole family came to join them for a 25th Anniversary/March & April Birthday celebration extravaganza… we were glad to be able to join our entire family at a small resort property in Windsor for a day of play… BBQ’n, swimming, eating, and just a straight up good time. My Uncle Reimel says that a wedding anniversary is the birthday of the family. ‘Tis true, ‘tis true… and I have to say that after 25 years of marriage, their example to me is always one of strength, love, affection, and work – lots of hard work… Well of course I had to have a camera in my face during the celebration.. hope you enjoy some of the little details!

Lumpia is like a Filipino French fry – it goes with everything. Yoouuu know what I’m talkin about…

I don’t know if you’re supposed to play ping-pong with 2 paddles, but my wife will try to make anything work… I see a small look of guilt in the last picture!

We all got into it!

Real life can hit you like a ton of bricks if you’re not careful – and even if you are – there will always be a day that comes that tests everything you are made of… True story, and for many who were in attendance at Vaness and my wedding, it was a reality that not everyone realized. Here are my two cousins, Caitlin and Geordi.

Beyond just being good kids in general (because that just doesn’t do them justice) I believe they will continue to grow into the world and be positive contributors to the greater good… Kind, gentle, and fun – they love family and know (probably not consciously though) how to make you smile… Close family is an easy way to describe them and my Uncle Reimel and Tita Myra, but even that isn’t enough of a description… Our whole family is very close really - aunts, uncles, cousins - and knowing that fact helps understand what challenged our entire family just a day and a half before Vaness and I got married…

I got a voicemail at 3am the night before the wedding rehearsal… My phone had been off for most of the night and in truth, Vaness and I were having a rough day together – the stresses of the weekend, might just have been getting the best of us really… It all looks petty now in hindsight. I normally don’t check new voicemails in the middle of the night, but something compelled me to just find out what it could have been. The message on the other end is something I’ll never forget and probably never really believed. The sound of a heart monitor beeping rhythmically in the background and the murmurs of hospital locations and medical speak I did not understand… I was confused – I wouldn’t believe it. In the middle of the second listen, I received a text message… Call now! –Uncle Reimel. I’ll never forget that. It still can bring me to tears. After making the frantic call, I realized that everything – my whole perspective on the weekend that was my wedding was about to change. Life began to creep to a slow stop and nothing much mattered except my family… Vaness and I arrived at the hospital at 345am… I still couldn’t believe it… I was told that they were involved in a serious accident on the freeway, maybe 20 minutes away from their San Diego destination. My Aunt was airlifted to another hospital, and the rest of my uncle’s family to Scripps. Critical condition. Leaving a lot of the story out, you can just imagine the scene… The one thing I will say is, in a situation like that, you come to the scene with no real expectation that you can really do anything – aside from providing the comfort of seeing a familiar face, I felt helpless – like I could do nothing, but wish there was a way to rewind time… Not surprisingly, I found my assignment and I believe it was the core reason for the entire family’s survival. I was asked to pray. On the spot. I was almost speechless...helpless… but I knew I had to… “Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” I still don’t remember what I prayed that night. But, I know that my entire family prayed... for weeks... A second chance at life was given and I can’t say enough how glad and thankful I am that they are alive and well... Recovered and safe... Praise God.

So I was grateful that the day after we had had our fun celebrating at Windsor, my family and my uncle Reimel’s family were able to spend time together going to Healdsburg, a quaint little town of shops and scenery… Here are a few shots the place we visited together…

After our little excursion to Healdsburg, we stopped and picked up a few things at the Petaluma Outlets then had dinner at the Roadhouse in Marin for one last celebration!

Happy 25th Anniversary Mom and Dad!! You guys are the best… Here’s to the birthday of our family… Cheers!

Wedding - Paul & Ashley

2009-03-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

Marina Village: Mission Bay - San Diego, CA

The latest wedding features another sweet couple… Paul and Ashley were great: easy-going and down for a fun wedding day… I know I had fun shooting for sure! Thanks to Marjorie Williams for having me along for the day :-) I had a great time and loved shooting with you! Well folks, here’s the post! Enjoy!

Lovin’ the blue wall we ran into at the village…

Sooo…Paul’s dad owns this Harley. The most crazy bike ever… It was B-A-D. MAJOR. I’m not a huge vehicle geek, but Paul was telling me that this is one of the fastest Harely’s around. But, not just that – it’s something that is totally subjective – beautiful. Straight-up beautiful! So usin’ it in the shoot was no doubt an option.

And from this bad-boy of a bike I got one of my favorite ideas/shots from the day…

Love it!!!

Now onto the reception! MmMm… cupcakes…

Love this lil moment they had right before dinner…

Ashley had a lil surprise for guests and dad was definitely down participate and let his inner partier out! They were lovin’ the spotlight on the dance floor!

Now it's time for the bride and groom on the dancefloor...

Another beauty of a moment dancing to Uncle singin’ “Fly Me to the Moon”…

Well Ashley – it was definitely an exciting and full day – you win a well deserved break :-)

Thank you again Marj for having me along. And thanks a lot to Paul & Ashley for letting me be there to capture your special day!

Engaged - Bryce and Julia

2009-03-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Vaness and I met Bryce and Julia at our Rock Marriage Preparation Class this past fall. They have the kind of story of how they met that makes you believe in romance and love… Seriously. And their story just about matches them. We got to know them eventually on a personal level over our 8 weeks together and we have to say that, in so many ways, our class was fashioned together for a reason. We each had perspectives to share that benefited each other in some way… And Bryce and Julia are no exception - they are a really beautiful couple.

I was sooo glad that they allowed me to work with them on their engagement pictures for their upcoming summer wedding! We had some fun at Balboa Park and for me it was a great shot to get comfortable shooting again with some good (and very handsome and gorgeous) friends! Here’s some of what we got! Enjoy!

Julia’s eyes are amazing!!!

Bryce and Julia – you are both ridiculously, ridiculously good looking people!!! (just like zoolander said...)

I really like this next pic a whole lot…

One of my fave’s from the whole day, you gotta end this post with a lil bit of that sun-fire cuz it was an amazingly gorgeous day!

Thanks Bryce and Julia! I hope you had a lot of fun! Vaness and I think you are both way, way beautiful in so many ways and will be definitely praying for you as your Marriage day comes close!

Honeymoon!!

2009-03-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

Grand Mayan – Acapulco, Mexico

It was a rush – the whole wedding experience… and if you have been through a wedding day, it is my belief, that no matter the size or grand-ness of the wedding, there is a special kind of cloud that you ride on through the day… Nothing really could phase the blessings of the day – and oh yes, there were TONS of things that could have (in a very real and serious sense – not just the fact that our cake nearly never showed up) but Vaness, our family, and I got through one of the most intense weekends of our lives… At least for me though, on that day, not much else mattered except for the fact that I was going to affirm my marriage bond - with friends and family present – to spend the rest of my life with my best friend, Vaness…

We had an awesome weekend – memorable ceremony, the best in music, incredible pictures, and just an all around great time…

But, not surprisingly, a wedding and week like that drains the crazy out of you… We were TIRED. The whole week I was averaging 3 hours of sleep, and the night before the rehearsal I snuck in a grand total of ONE hour… Fortunately friends did their best to ensure at least 5 hours before the actual day though.. At any rate – sleep was the topic of our honeymoon… Really. Gorgeous, peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.. oh and food… We must have averaged 13 hours a day in Acapulco, not to mentioned our daily nap-time… The first day, after we woke up, we went downstairs, then fell asleep here…

Tell me that isn’t gorgeous! Seriously! My parents ever so kindly offered to take care of our honeymoon arrangements and it just seemed like they SPARED NO EXPENSE. BALLLLLIN’!! The place was decked out, right on the water and STRAIGHT UP BEAUTIFUL. 10th floor, view for days, 80 degree weather – just remarkable… My folks just know how to live it up and for Vaness and I to get a taste of this was a pure blessing… Check this place out!!!

While we were there we enjoyed a bit of the city and took a lil tour of the area. It worked out pretty sweet too, cuz we were originally going with a group, but on that day we were the only one’s that signed up! Sweet, private tour of Acapulco!! I forget the name of the bay now, but what I do remember is that it used to be where pirates would hide!! Like Tortuga (or whatever that place was in Pirates of the Carribean…

You wouldn’t believe the place they took us to have dinner – It was called La Perla and was set right on the side of a cliff over the water.. Sunset was dropping in the background and they had an amazing cliff-diver’s show right there as we enjoyed our meal. One word to describe it – Expereince. It was absolutely stunning.

I don’t know how high that was – but I sure ain’t doin’ it...

At the resort we enjoyed a whole bunch of things… Like a lil show..

Here is Vaness watching the show – Isn’t she pretty! She doesn’t like this picture, but I think she looks beautiful :-)

We also made sure to eat – really good… man the food was amazing the whole time we were there… You just can’t beat it man!

And we had a lil fun enjoying a lil lounge/bar/crepe café/sushi deli they had there…

Now this pool shark, also known as my wife, was knockin ‘em down in these.. daaaannngg..

Just beautiful.

Of course, I had to have a bit of photo fun…

Now if you’re wondering what ‘18’ is about, January 18 is the date of our wedding and as it would have it – We got engaged on March 18… which is comin’ up in 7 days!! Wow, we’re married.. I can’t believe it was almost 1 year ago that we got engaged… just crazy…

We had a great time – thanks Mom and Dad! Seriously, if you do have the chance to come with us or our family on their little Mexico excursions, it is a definite MUST… Well, I hope you enjoyed this little look into our life and our honeymoon… busy times for the photography things – Stay Tuned!!!!

Headshots - Tone

2009-03-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

Embarcadero – San Francisco, CA

Tone. Roomate for 2 years before I moved and got married, Tone and I go back to the start of college – 8 years ago! Whoa. We really didn’t get to know each other that well until I graduated and to say that we have a few stories to tell about our friendship would be leaving out a lot. But, in these past few years I’ve seen this guy run – literally and figuratively. He is always looking to improve and always looking to push the limits of himself.

This is now the third time Tone has graced the blog as seen in Tone’s Rock n’ Roll Marathon and the ever so famous/infamous Flandskate Anthologies. Quite a trip – and as if I won’t be able to have him in another shoot for a while – Tone asked me to work some headshots for him as he makes an ambitious trip to Japan to seek life, education, and… employment.

Like Matt and Mark, Tone is another brother to me. Two years of roommate-hood isn’t too much with these guys, but we would like to say that we lived with each other as each of us made huge transitions from college kids to grown-man status… Common interests, or common experience – the four of us have them both and it has helped to continue our friendships with strength... It is a great thing to see each of them ‘do their thing’. I've been there for a lot of moments in their lives and these guys were saw me through lots mine... My first time rockin a party on the Turntables, my first full photoshoot, the day I came home with the engagement ring, moments after Vaness and I got engaged (they literally ran to us jumping up and down screaming like girls, haha). We lived life together and in some way or form they'll be in Vaness and my life for the long haul.. I know I’ll see Tone again – maybe when Vaness and I travel the globe! Well, check the shots – just a few, though - Tone was really looking for some simple headshots…

And well – a shot just for kicks – Tone’s new cover for his solo album, breaking away from the Flandskate Boyband as he discovers his new Japan fanclub!

Thanks Tone! Hope all is well overseas man… you’ll rock it for shure…

Here is just a little bit of scenery - I love SF. Miss it major.

So friends, if you’re lookin’ for some simple headshots like Tone was, or even something a lil more fancy like portraits.. or an event, or (of course) a wedding – let’s set something up! You can always email at danielgalangphotography@gmail.com.

WPPI!

2009-02-28T23:39:00.000-08:00

WPPI – Las Vegas, NV

Waaaahooo!! WPPI baby! Haha… Well – it was pretty funny because Vaness and I along with slightly older/newly-weds Adam and Jasmine went to WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) together... And for our first two (out of three days) there we ate at buffets, walked the strip, and even joined the swanky lil GoBee photographers party at the Luxor – All for the convention of course :-) By the way - if you're cool, you'd pick up the Card Holster like I did :-) I even got to meet Sara France and I found out we're practically neigbors! (oh yah, and if you check out her blog, we're in one of the first few pics in the slideshow from the Foto Cabina Booth!) Anyhoot – along with the festivities – we had a great time in Vegas and I came away with great connections, motivation, and information! More things for Daniel Galang Photography…

First thing’s first. If you’ve never been to the hugest in-n-out these eye’s have ever seen then you have not lived my friend. RIDICULOUS. They had those line dividers like you would see at Disneyland – this place WAS Disneyland – It was crazy. Okay. Enough of that…Here’s the proof.

My Wife kinda gets cold easily… But lucky for us, they got these cool little outdoor heaters at the MGM!

Belagio Buffet – MmMMmMMmm.. the best ever – but you only get to see one shot from there…

At the Wynn Garden lunch spot cafe thingy I saw the pepper and salt shaker and immediately thought “P – S… Photoshop??” Add that to the list of “You know you’re a photographer when…”

We spent a good amount of the trip with a camera to glued to our face though… we just couldn’t resist!

Ah, newly-weds, hehe… We actually were trying to shoot a wedd'ed couple session out in the middle of the desert on the way to Vegas, but it just didn't work out, so our improptu/just-for-kicks session in the Las Vegas casinos ahd to do. All the passer-bys loved it - haha...

And here - a picture of Adam and Jasmine after WPPI is over... Adam just must love Jas! Our spouses, what would we do without them..

Oh yes – and here’s my wife – I married up for shure. Yayuh!! I love you babe! Thank you for supporting me through my photo adventures...

Ginger joined us for a few events too!

And here - Adam and Jasmine bring out their inner model… heeeyy!!

Alright, alright – here’s my attempt at modeling after our little escapade at the GoBee Party...

Well – okay, so there isn’t much convention-ing happening in these pictures, but really we had so much fun! I was overwhelmed by the tradeshow itself. A whole lot happened and I’m still processing it all – huge learning experience...

Hedrick and Sheryl

2009-02-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

Tom Ham’s Lighthouse, Harbor Island – San Diego, CA

Well – It has been a while… and ever since my last post about a month ago, a WHOLE LOT has happened. To summarize – I am now a married man!!! My wife (whoa that’s new) and I have been doing a lot of moving, cleaning, gift opening, and settling in. And with that I have also been quite busy with family and work to say the least. But, in only my few weeks of marriage, I’m excited for the future. From our bestfriendship to traveling to getting our morning routine lined up, there is a whole bunch that we are looking forward to… Here’s to a new life together!

In this post, a session I shot a while back, I had Sheryl and Hedrick who are, for all intents and purposes, my little sis and bro. Yes I know, I have a lots of friends that I see as fam, but hey - I wouldn’t have it any other way.. Hope you enjoy the fun we had!

Okay, that stuff was a little too serious… now, here is the fun stuff!!

On our way out of Tom Ham’s after a while of catching up, we were able to catch a fireworks show on the Harbor! Sweet!

Well it has been a while, but I’m back! This year, not only do my wife and I have a whole new life ahead of us, but there are a ton of new changes ahead for Daniel Galang Photography. After a while of thought and prayer, with the encouragement of my wife and many friends, I am preparing for some great stuff this year!! So stay tuned this Spring for the unfolding of many hopes and prayers becoming realized!

Wedding - Tony and Devra

2009-01-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Beverly Hills Country Club - Beverly Hills, CA

Devra has got to be the most easy-going, happy bride EVER. I’m convinced that I don’t think I’ll meet another bride that was this stress-free, this excited, this happy, and this energetic. I’m not sayin it just to say it – it was like it wasn’t real. She wasn’t stressed, she wasn’t worried, she just smiled all day and was genuinely happy the entire evening. Devra and her new husband Tony were even super easy to work with for their private couple shoot – they knew exactly how to pose and what they wanted and let me be creative with them too. No stress for them at all. And as the evening went on it was like she had more energy – she didn’t leave the dance floor! Not only that, but they were super welcoming and always asked if everything was okay the whole day... AND.. their food was the craaaazyyy good.. Persian food - mmmm - my new favorite.. Tony and Devra - rockstars.

For me… After shooting a few as a second, this was the first wedding that I had done completely alone and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I liked it though – I hope those nerves never shake in my future weddings, because it kinda makes you feel alive… kinda like a performance, or the feelings of anticipation for a show, or before you put your fingers on the crossfader/vinyl to start to rock the party, or right before a game when you strap on your helmet and walk out of the tunnel under the lights... I digress to the semi-unrelated... Back on track - here we go! Enjoy!

Devra getting ready to be welcomed into the main room to walk down the aisle…

Now, their first kiss was probably the luckiest moment to capture given the conditions. They had a Jewish wedding ceremony and so had a Chuppah held over their heads during the ceremony. But, in their ceremony they had wanted to include many family members holding the Chuppah - to a point that they were completely surrounded! Capturing this moment was one I was relieved to get…

Then onto the next room to break bread..

And finally – party time!! Their fam can seriously party. If I was just a guest I don't know if I could keep up!

Thanks Kevin for the inspiration for this next shot!

Thank you Tony and Devra for letting me in on your special day! I hope you love the pictures! And… A big thank you to Mike Nalbandian, Videographer (Orange County Based), for calling me to work on this wedding with you… Great job on everything Mike!

Wedding - Ren and Irene

2008-12-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

Michael Katz Winery at Ruby Hall - Pleasanton, CA, Bay Area

I had to post these few shots from Ren and Irene’s rockstar wedding. Ren is Vaness’s very close cousin, so I had the good fortune of being invited to the wedding. One of the biggest things that I love about Vaness’s cousin Ren and his new wife Irene is the way they approach things in life – have fun. They do take it to a whole new level, but the point is, they really know how to make anyone feel comfortable around them and, of course, have a good time too...

Now, their wedding - I couldn’t resist taking pictures at – it was straight heat. They really had a beautiful wedding. I didn’t shoot a lot though, just a few here and there (kinda being an invitee)… check ‘em out!

Check out a bit of the cocktail hour! I really didn’t get to capture everything, but the Michael Katz Winery was major!

And check out their tables and reception area! Wow!

From left to right – Vaness, Emae, and their new sister (their brother Neremiah’s new wife) Ate Joy…

And here is Vaness’s family..

They had a REALLY good band, D’Groove (Bay Area Based). They did some really good covers, orginals, and were just plain talented. They SERIOUSLY rocked it..

Now this next moment is one that would probably exemplify exactly how they are – completely fun loving. They were enjoying a little fun variety show that their family and friends put on for them in the middle of the wedding. I was crazy crackin up (I didn’t take any pics though, cuz I was too busy laughing!)… I was just glad to catch this reaction from Ren and Irene!

Thank you sooo much Ren and Irene for inviting me to your wedding! Vaness and I had a greeaaat time!! Can’t wait to see you in January at our wedding!!

Jesse's 7th Birthday!

2008-12-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

Party Playhouse - San Francisco, CA

This ‘lil guy is growin up so fast. Every single time I go home he gets taller, has a large vocabulary, and gets a lil more bold. He is such different child than me and my other bro Tristan ever were. When I was little, and even through grade school, when I was asked to describe myself, I would respond – “shy” – weird huh? Anyways.. just thought I would share a bit of from the festivities that was Jesse’s bday. This was the first one I actually have been to since he was born. I’m not a bad brother I swear! It was just cuz while I was in school I always had finals, and his bday lands two weeks after Thanksgiving and two weeks before Christmas break. It’s hard to get up to the bay when that is the timeframe! Well, enjoy this lil 2nd lil look into my family life :-)

Geordi, our family’s star bballer wins easy.

Bonnevie is a winner too!

Uncle Remy getting run over by Jesse!

Faith hopin’ to take her prizes home!

Jesse at the wack-a-mole...

Now, Tristan at the wack-a-mole tryin’ to show Jesse what’s up, haha!

Imagine the way this scene probably looked, me taking a picture of my dad taking a picture of my uncle Reimel taking video of the kids… confusing, but really funny if you were there..

Jesse at gift opening time…

A giant Millenium Falcon! Complete with battle stations, lights, sounds, action figures… That thing is amazingly huge – and way crazy big. Truly a Star Wars kid’s dream!

Thanks for following along with me in my last two posts showing my family!

Thanksgiving and Tristan's Birthday!

2008-12-15T01:25:00.001-08:00

Grandma’s, Uncle Reimel’s, Espitus - San Francisco, CA

Thanksgiving – It means family. And this one is one that has a bit of symbolic relevance. It was the last one at my grandma’s house. After her passing, the house that has become a cornerstone memory of my childhood is now on the market for sale. I can’t say that I was particularly emotional about it though, maybe because the house was re-done a few years ago after a fire almost took the life of my grandma prematurely. I guess that’s why I really didn’t take a lot of time taking a ton of pictures (or any at all really)… Here is a little snapshot of the numbers my dad took..

All MY main memories were probably built in the house’s previous shell. Now, with the Technicolor painted walls a new white, the house plumbing in modern working order, the basement “cave of mystery and scary childhood darkness” remodeled into a bright garage and bedrooms, this place that was “grandma’s house” has kinda taken on a new meaning for me. But, the celebration is still the same – Thanksgiving means family. I was glad to take the drive up to the bay with my fiancé Vaness and glad she was at least able to see where I grew up with all my cousins…. Another bit of relevance – this was my last Thanksgiving with my family as an unmarried son, cousin, nephew, and grandchild… weird and exciting at the same time… Here are my two bros in my portraiture attempts on my grandma’s famous steps.

Vaness and my mom sharing some sort of an a-ha moment..

Moving on to my Uncle Reimel’s that evening.. we had more food than we would even want to handle. It was a bit tiring just taking the food on – but once again our family time was full of laughter, food challenges, and - shall we say - some memorable quotes by my grandpa (you kinda had to be there)… Here’s some of that food (Turkey is in there somewhere)! Yum..

The dessert table, on the other hand, was a very rough experience. I think everyone in the household, despite the way too full stomachs, thought that a plate full of dessert was too hard to pass up. Major weight-gainage. And honestly, some major pain (with a dash of regret). Foreal. But, c’mon, if you didn’t gain weight eatin up with the fam on Thanksgiving, well – you have more discipline than me, that’s for sure.

Caitlin enjoying dessert by the plateload!

Jesse getting down on dessert too!!! Okay, okay – he was trying to steal my plate… Alright, alright, I just told him to hold it so that I can get him in trouble and frame him eating too much dessert..

Caitlin, Geordi, and Tristan still grubbin real late into the night!

Mom and Dad kinda wanted to “surprise” Tristan with a birthday dinner at Espetus… Uncle Reimel and family joined along with Grandma and Grandpa Galang… Now, if you have never been to a restaurant like Espetus, then I will first say – meat eaters, pay major attention. Brazillian skewer bbq brought to your table still on the skewer in a non-stop buffet of a variety of several different types of tasty cuts of beef, chicken, and pork complimented with a buffet table of different rice dishes, vegetables, and soups… Seriously! It is an amazing dining experience. We had a real good time and I was happy to celebrate with my bro.. you're an old man now!

And the place is pretty nice too!

Oh, man – lemme tell you, this guy has got it so good he don’t even know.. I’m not bitter, nope – not at all!! Jesse - when you grow up and read this in the future - I'll have to explain it to you..

Happy birthday Tristan!

And, happy biiiirrthdayyy tooooo me. Ha! Just kidding.

That was a real break. My last Thanksgiving as a “single guy”. But, I know my future Thanksgivings will just be more of the same. Memories and good times. And of course, family, family, family.... and way too much dessert!

Well it’s already been a few weeks, but Happy Thanksgiving to all!! I hope you all had a good one!

Collins Family

2008-12-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

Point Loma Nazarene University - San Diego, CA

In my estimation and short experience, family portrait shoots take just as much energy and creativity as any other. You gotta be on your toes, quick thinking, and very fast so you can run after the kids! I first met Hamilton at our church at Ironman. Then at the Men's retreat this fall, Hamilton asked me if I could take his family portraits... It was definitely a fun experience and quite different from the weddings and events I normally shoot. Thankfully I had my Fiancee Vaness with me for moral support as well as Jasmine to come and shoot accompanied with Husband and expert reflector holder Adam.

I definitely had a lot of fun and having a sweet family and the cutest kids makes it a lot easier. Thanks Hamilton, Shannon, lil Hamilton, and Ayla! Enjoy!

Ayla!! Whata Cutie!! Definitely.

I told ya you have to be quick... She was a runner!

Ayla burying her face thinkin - "Aw man, mom and dad!!"

Lil' Hamilton decided to go 'Matrix' on me and sport this death defying jump over the stairs. Now he was definitely a runner (and jumper)..

If that doesn’t say daddy’s little girl, then I don’t know what does!

All the big smiles come out during playtime!

Thank you so much to the Collins family for having me (and my whole crew!) out with you… Hope you had fun!

Matt and Fiona

2008-11-24T01:53:00.000-08:00

Carlsbad Beach and Carlsbad Coaster Station - Carlsbad, CA

Matt and girlfriend Fiona were quite the obliging rockstars when they decided to do this little shoot with me up in Carlsbad. They had the idea that it would be an ANTM shoot for a bit, (that’s America’s Next Top Model for those not in the know – I don’t watch the show, you have to be believe me, I swear – Tone taught me that acronym.. sorry Tone I just called you out)... but, it was that and a bit of just plain old shooting for the sake of good practice. Matt was my roommate back at Flandskate for a few years… The guy is like a brother to me, so I will say that it was a bit weird to have to direct him to “okay kiss” Fiona at the appropriate photo-moment.. ah, what we would do for “the shot”… Check out what we got!

The laughter from the last picture was golden – all resulting from my direction “okay, look sexy…” umm, well that’s just way too easy now isn’t it…

See, this next one, complete ANTM material. No question.

Next one is one of their favorites, I kinda like it too – got the mysterious, but not so mysterious vibe goin on… now that’s sexy…

Alright kids, cover your eyes! Even more sexiness follows…

Way too much fun and some really good practice (and lots of sexiness too!). I was glad that we were able to save the shoot with some nighttime train station action, cuz we ran out of light right when we started the beach scenes... It worked out pretty well actually!

They were really helpful with poses and I was really thankful that they were willing volunteers for this practice session… Now I’m a Pro Nighttime-Carlsbad-Train-Station-Matt-and-Fiona Shooter! Just kiddin.. really, it helped a lot… I got to figure more about directing and even got to find what I’m lookin for in future shoots like this… Thanks Matt and Fiona!!!

Wedding - Journee and Judy

2008-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Judy and Journee’s homes and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel - San Diego, CA

Journee and Judy seemed pretty calm cool and collected… But, after the smiles that they had AFTER the ceremony was over, maybe they were more anxious than calm. Jasmine Marie and I arrived at Journee’s house at the crack of dawn to capture the guys getting ready. Extremely kind and hospitable the whole way through, you can tell he had a real genuine heart. He even congratulated me on my engagement – dude, it’s YOUR wedding day! Congratulations to YOU!!!! Well, it was no surprise to find that Judy was equally sweet.

Thank you to Ohana Photography (David and Kimi) for allowing me to come along to shoot and to learn. Their style is unparalleled, one that is all their own, and no doubt (foreal) one of my legitimate personal favorites. AND - It is definitely always a fun time with the Baxters. I swear, if I’m not laughing and tearing up from laughter when Kim is talkin – then the world has frozen over. Hilarious!! It just makes the whole experience more fun. And besides, you have to laugh – you’ll live longer! Well, on to the pics! Enjoy!

I don’t think that I ever would have take a guy shoe shot, but…

The guys were lookin fresh and clean, but Judy was a complete Rockstar..

Chinese Tea Ceremony...

But first, the girls made the guys wait outside and “earn” their way in…

The fresh kicks in action..

Okay, now the ceremony can begin…

Now, onto church…

Here come those big smiles…

I was unfortunately unable to make it out to the rest of the day and so I missed the formals and the reception… boo. But, I had a ton of fun and it made it really easy when you work with a really easy going and sweet couple… I also learned a bit about the potential shooting differences I may face inside of a church – just means I need to get some new glass!! Haha – or at least rent some anyways…

Thank you soooo much to Ohana Photography (David and Kimi) for everything… I consider myself REALLY blessed to have photographers that are literally at the top of the game that allow me to come along to shoot and learn. I know that it goes miles and miles for my own expereince...

Our Invitations

2008-11-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

One part “work” party, two parts fun times…

Well – here they are! Our invitations, well at least the start of them anyways… A lot of it was a whole day of work, work, and work for a few good (and very giving/sacrificing) friends and some members of our really supportive bridal party... But, more than that – it was a lot of fun times…

And here is the crew that Vaness and I must give many many thank yous to… Starting with Darcie our “envelope-embossing-stamp-expert”…

Here is D.Alaba, Dennis, my best man, using his funnel invention to precisely layout all the gold “dust” necessary for that 3-D effect…

My very good friend, Adam – our happiest worker – mostly due to the great cooking that Vaness’s mom provided for the party!

And of course, his loving wife, Jasmine, whom many of the hand-made ideas of our invitations were inspired from! Thanks Jaz!

Our next crew member, Vaness’s maid of honor, long time friend, and bay-area native at heart, Ginger…

And here she is with Marilou, another one of Vaness’s long-time friends and purveyor of all bay-area vocabulary. Unfortunately, she became the one I “picked on” during our “work” party whenever I fell behind in the assembly line – I needed to deflect! Plus it was too easy! Sorry Marilou!

Here is a very good example – a story VERY ACCURATELY TOLD by my camera’s point of view… Marilou is working on cutting ribbons along with another one of our crew and our good friend Richard, winner of the most precise and supreme maker of invitations and all things involving stationary. Richard's work style, very neat and clean.. Marilou, well, let's just say she had her equally effective way... Observe, as the story unfolds from left to right…

The possible captions are endless! I’ll just leave it for you to make the story… Finally we are joined by Chris, my good friend from High School, and his Fiancee Lisa… I swear they were happy! They were just concentrating on working really hard in the short time they had!

Of course, a shot of my very beautiful Fiancee doing her part to help, taking time from her duties as boss and director of the show… We called her the boss the whole day, but it was only because she had everything so well organized and together!!!

Here are the shots of some of the parts of the final product as the night progressed…

And the final product (minus the embossing done on the seal of the encasing envelope)…

As you may be able to tell, Vaness is very, very happy with the way they turned out! (I am too!!)

Vaness and I are extremely grateful for the bridal party that we have. It is an amazing thing to know that we have the support of our family AND friends in our marriage. Making the invitations was actually a lot of work and in the end they turned out really well – considering it was pretty much done entirely by manual labor!!! For us though, it actually turned out to be a good time where some of our friends were able to meet each other and spend time together.

A huge thank you to Darcie, Dennis, Adam, Jasmine, Richard, Ginger, Marilou, Chris, and Lisa for all your hard work… It really means a lot to us. We hope you had fun!

V and Me in LA

2008-10-30T02:24:00.000-07:00

My Love…

It’s easy to say “stop and smell the roses” or “enjoy the journey” but when do we actually do that? Well two weeks ago I left my job at Entegris as an Applications Engineer… and no it was not so that I can pursue photography full time (not yet anyways, haha!), but it was because I got offered a position at a Materials Research Company as a Research Associate doing work on alternative energy applications – specifically Hydrogen. Yes! (Said like Kevin in Home Alone for all you old people). So how does that relate? Well I was able to take a day off (yah, one stinkin’ day – every single person I know told me to take AT LEAST a WEEK) and take a trip with the love of my life, my best friend – Vaness (V). So here was a schedule and day of events in picture form (Just a small number of pics of course, cuz then it really would not have been a trip for us - it would have been for me!)… First, to the Griffith Observatory, where, of course, we get lost going up there… thanks LA.

I was admittedly totally geekin’ out when I saw this periodic table of elements.. it was soooo cool, they had each element in their own lit up box and displayed inside was sample of that element. Solid form, liquid, gaseous, they found a way to display. I mean except of course for a bunch of the rare earth metals… Way cool! I took more pics and Vaness had to pry me away from playing with all the cool little buttons they had for it… After that we drove down over to.. Hollywood and Highlands…

So, now my chance comes along to tease Vaness and pry her away from something as she “geeks out” over the Harry Potter Chinese theater concrete block. yay. Then I go and score another one and see this cool lil guy.. STAR WARS! CP3O was really there! And you gotta love the R2 droid prints – classic.

Can I be honest? Hollywood – at least the touristy part – is overrated. I mean even for a tourist attraction, I was expecting more. I don’t know – more shops, more little vendors selling Hollywood sign trinkets, more picture booths, more significant Movie Star artifacts, more things to eat… just… more. Maybe I was thinking that this particular part of Hollywood would be that obnoxious, over the top, bigger than life kinda place. Am I asking for too much? Not that I am really all about the tourist trap vendor that sells you that eyesore of a fleece pull-up jacket sportin the “city logo” so you can where it in all other parts of the country to say you’ve been there – and in the real sense, like you actually stepped on that land… yah I think it should be banned, but when you go to a place to be a tourist I full on expect to feel totally gawked at, but freely accepted as - a tourist. Yah that’s right.. And they just robbed us of that whole experience. There really just wasn’t much going on. This is Hollywood! It’s supposed to be grand! With lights! . I mean, even the H&M was kinda weak – I think there were maybe 8 racks of guys clothes – for winter wear… So we decided to add another stop – Santa Monica Pier.

Now that’s a little more like it. Beautiful spot, nice pier, pretty sights, we even made it on time to catch the sunset (through heavy traffic of course)… The only thing – THE WIND. It just didn’t wanna quit! It was crazy, so cold… So after sunset, we figured we would have time before going back so we went over to DOWNTOWN DISNEY!

The perfect end – to a perfect day. If you ever get that chance, take that break, that trip, that one day to just get away. It was rejuvenating (although tiring) but it gave us a chance to just stop and smell the proverbial roses (or LA Smog)… We took a day and just let God lead us to place after place… We had highs and lows, but mostly, we just invested this time with each other… and it was the first real chance in a long time to just simply enjoy each other’s company... You need those kinds of things…

Free to Succeed

2008-10-30T02:10:00.001-07:00

Launching in March 2009

I found that without an understanding of what your body of work may look like in your mind, you can’t pursue it well enough for you to invest in it. And we all know what happens to a goal when it isn’t invested in, passionately. I’ll define goal setting as different from vision. Goal setting requires no passion. You can set it and forget it – it is simply a marker. A point that, if achieved, will signify success and the need to set another goal. Vision – a whole other beast. It requires careful thought, tons of prayer, waiting, answers, signs, and time – then comes – vision. A vision of what that final road will look like. And with all that, to pursue it has to lead to passion. You couldn’t possibly strive for something that has been architected in your mind through thought, prayer, waiting, answers, signs, and time without passionate pursuit. It is almost tangible. You can’t help, but roll it into action.

I attended the Free to Succeed tour hosted by David Jay. Jasmine Star was a main presenter – a wedding photographer with some really great work and one of the first people I was directed towards. I may only understand my current enjoyment for wedding photography and the related because I love events, details, fast-paced shooting, and a story that I can attach my heart to. But, how this field is a place to seriously express myself is something I was still fleshing out. Before the event Jasmine Marie Ko snapped this shot with her PS with me and Jasmine Star. I was a bit “star-struck” (sorry I really didn’t know how else to describe it but to use what is probably a sickly overused pun).

Yah. Hella cheazin’. Seriously? Well anyways… I opened this entry with my understanding of the word vision and how it has been applied by me. I have learned, especially in these past years, that God has given me vision all my life. I pursue that vision with a passionate internal fierceness, and the end result is often nothing short of amazing. Now that doesn’t mean that what I envision manifests itself in a way that I thought it might – but the way there – completely life changing. Bottom line, photography has become a passionate pursuit. One goal? Launch my portfolio, brand, website, etc in March 2009. Why then? It’s in the vision… what else is in the vision?

Well, at the tour, aside from learning a few ways to launch your business and some tools to do so, Jasmine Star posed a question that she implied was extremely key to answer before starting your business. Give 5 words that describe you. Not your photography. Just you. When you have that – it has to show in your pictures. Not because you printed the words, “artsy” or “modern” or “fun” next to your picture, but because you can read in those pictures who you are. You may not think many people can exactly read what a picture says about a photographer, but you’d be surprised what conclusions you could draw if you took someone’s body of work and thought to draw a print of who this person may be like. I think for me, that is what attracted me to Jasmine Star’s work – that drive – she kept saying she is driven. It shows in her work, at least to me it does. Blog-wise, she just lets it flow… And her story of how she went into photography is even more of a reason why I followed her work. She's awesome and definitely one of my photographic inspirations... Anyways, J* said to turn to friends and ask them what they thought one of your words might be. At that moment, Jasmine Marie Ko turned to me and said, “Galang, I would have to say one word for you would probably be – passion”. She had no prior knowledge of this word and its particular meaning in my life, so it was pretty crazy to me that she said that. In fact, at my senior retreat in High School, one of the affirmations given to me was that I possessed a deep passion – so it does hold a lot of weight when it is re-affirmed almost 7 years later. My fiancé easily agreed with this assessment, “yup, that’s you!”.

I found that photography is the one art, thus far, that has seen my passion show through it throughout time. Not every single time, mind you, but throughout time… I hope my passion can show through, along with the other 4 words I’m still working on… And being an art form, me showing through is probably pretty important. Inherently, when something like my passion is showing through this medium, a vision for it has to have been laid in the foreground. My unique inborn natural quality of pursuant passion – well? what do you do with that – looks like it just needed a vision to continuously express itself through… Thank you God for my photography.

Wedding - Greg and Susan

2008-10-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

Balboa Park, Spanish Arts Village – San Diego, CA

The wedding was in Balboa Park with the lovely Greg and Susan at the Spanish Arts Village. BEAUTIFUL. I was loving the colors at the site, of course the scenery at Balboa Park, and the bride and groom themselves were a really sweet couple to work with.

I entered the day a little bit nervous. I didn’t really know what to think – I was going to go along with Melissa Koehler to shoot a wedding in Balboa Park. (You can check out her blog entry on Greg and Susan’s wedding at www.MelissaKoehlerPhotography.com/blog). I was more than grateful and probably equally excited to do this. Just to be given the opportunity to observe her shoot a wedding was a bit – shall we say – confusing?! Why would she even let me on site! Okay, so I know how to use a camera, and maybe I’m being a bit harsh on myself. But, to be ALLOWED to come along was an honor, at the very least. I will always, always, always appreciate it. I had a lot of fun shooting, making my mistakes, and coming away with a great learning experience and even a few triumphs in the way of pictures! Enjoy!

Starting with the a few details…

Getting Ready…

The first look…

Now on to the private couple shoot.. It was really cool roaming around balboa park with them! We got to walk all over the park! Lots o’ fun… Thank you to Melissa and Marlo for showing me the ropes of "Photoshoot Direction", setting up each pose - it really gave me great learning perspective as well as a chance to let the creative juices flow…

Here’s some fun with the whole party!

They had a really beautiful ceremony – Susan rolled up in a classic car with her dad and the whole wedding was in the perfect spot in the center of the Spanish Arts Village...Great colors!

First Kiss as a married couple!

And then, their first dance as a married couple...

Melissa being a rockstar, hehe… :-)

Greg, quite the happy groom…

So the garter was flung into the air and made its way to the front of the awaiting bachelors - right to the floor. Every guy there ensured that there was no catch to be had… But, our innocent ring bearer, bless his kind soul, probably thought “hey! It looks like someone dropped little somethin’ here… I’ll get it!”… The following reaction by the every relieved bachelor in the house probably left him just a bit confused…

I can’t thank Melissa enough for allowing me to come along and learn!! She is a real inspiration to me in the photography world and as I get to know her, she is even more of an inspiration to me as a person. It was really great working with her! And thanks to Marlo, Melissa's gracious 2nd shooter for this wedding, for guiding me through the “second shooting game” too…

And finally, thanks to Greg and Susan, you two were really sweet… Thank you for letting me be a part of your day!

Wedding - Dave and Sandy

2008-09-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

Seventh Day Adventist Church - El Cajon, CA

Alright, another archive one – shot back in August – but c’mon I gotta post this!!

So, Jasmine’s first shot as lead/main wedding photographer became a wonderful and kind offer for me to come along and shoot… Also along with us was Kevin, Jasmine’s good friend, to shoot as well! The three of us had a lot of fun with Dave and Sandy on their big day..

It was at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in El Cajon and was a very simple and beautiful celebration. They had an very intimate wedding, had their reception in the church hall, family cooked and brought food, and they had a table vs. table singing contest (that was pretty funny..) It was inspiring to see a couple take the care for the simple things in their wedding and truly make it about God and family… Thanks so much to Dave and Sandy… This post is longer than usual, but I just had to! Enjoy!

The kiddies were really, really, really, cute! They were soooo sweet… like you had to be there sweet…

Their church was really nice and really pretty… and so was their wedding…

We spent a few minutes with the bride and groom for a few shots…here, the wind caught Sandy’s veil – I kinda like this shot :-)

Now, on to the reception!!!

Here are a few from the table vs. table song singing contest! So funny and lots of great smiles…

We took a little time while there was a video montage to take care of some bouquet/ring shots…

Here we are being a little bit silly (nerdy photography humor if you will) – so if we’re all shooting the same ring, who is at the wedding???

And so, my final shot to show, one of my favorites of the day as far as the “detail” shots go…The bouquet was provided by Mis Ninas in San Diego..

Thank you so much again Jasmine inviting me along to shoot with you!! Definitely a fun experience…. And thanks to Kevin for helping me along!!

And of course, thanks to Dave and Sandy…

Wedding - Adam and Jasmine

2008-09-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Our brother and sister in Christ…

Another little archive post, here are a few shots from Adam and Jasmine’s wedding back in July! I know, I know, I’m running majorly behind… but I promise I will keep up as much as I can from now on! If I haven’t talked to you in a while, we best catch up, cuz a million and one things have happened in the last two or three months! Well anyways… I wasn’t exactly focused on the picture portion as I was in their bridal party, but… I have a few shots from their customary Chinese Tea Ceremony the evening before and a few from the wedding… In a way, this is my first wedding shoot! – kinda… well, Enjoy!

Here is the happy couple, Adam - my brother in Christ who keeps me accountable in my Christian walk - and Jasmine – she does the same for my fiancé Vaness…

From the tea ceremony, and now on to the wedding! Well actually, the reception cuz I think they would have been kinda mad at me if I lugged my camera down the aisle up to the front of the wedding :-)

Thank you so much Adam and Jasmine!! It was a wonderful wedding. I know I came away with Vaness saying that we can only hope to model our wedding after theirs… Not in the decorating sense or anything as small as that - I mean to model it after the love and Christ-centered meaning that they focused on throughout the entire wedding. It was truly a blessing to be a part and so much fun to be around… Can’t wait until January!

B-Boys and B-Girl....

2008-09-09T21:46:00.001-07:00

A lil’ break…

I did this shoot a lil while ago with AnneMarie and crew and at first, I had no idea what to do… I really didn’t have the right gear to do a shoot like this, I was feeling a bit sick, and I really really had no ideas for framing! But, as I learned rather quickly– the moves will just speak for themselves! They are good. Enjoy!

Thank you so much AnneMarie! I hope you and everyone had fun at the shoot!!!

Grand Mayan with the Fam..

2008-08-31T00:27:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation!!!

Just some pics from my vacation with my family (but Tristan wasn’t there) to Nuevo Vallarta… Vaness was able to come along for a time of relaxation and bit of getting’ to kno’ ya’…

I actually didn’t realize I was gonna take so many pictures, but I suppose while teaching my dad a few subtleties of the trade – I couldn’t seriously not shoot a couple shots myself! Enjoy! Well at least I hope you enjoy – hey it’s way better than me forcing you to sit through a 2 hour slideshow... Here are a few shots from our little tour of Puerto Vallarta…

Tequila!!!

So what did we do while we were there?? Well – Short story even shorter – we ate… and went to the lazy river... then we ate… and then we lounged around the balcony… Here are a few from a beauty of a restaurant that we at at, Vista Grill (the group shot of us above was at this restaurant) and a little ‘taste’ of the yummy food/ambiance…

And some more food from a local spot!

Here are a few from the festival we enjoyed right on the beach at the Grand Mayan.

Speaking of the GRAND Mayan – Here is the lobby entrance… My head reaches the ankle of that statue!!!

No vacation with dad would be complete without his legendary/notorious/infamous Cube. But, admittedly good conversation with the family and Vaness was sparked! The starter of good times, haha, who woulda thought…

And for the grand finale – check out these beauties.. I probably can say with confidence that I had never seen what I had seen in this pictures until that day.. The bolts where so huge, so strong, I swear they probably would have hit us… There was one that I didn’t catch on camera that probably hit about 100 yards of the beach in front of the resort.. Here is one striking the water in the distance!!! Crazy!!!

And here is one crawling across the sky!! Vaness was soooo scared!! Okay okay, I was kinda jumpin and running like a little baby too – but if you have ever experienced what we did – you would have too.. believe me. I seriously still can’t believe we saw this… And there were more that I didn’t even catch a shot of!

Thanks mom and dad for the great vacation! You both are rockstars.

I love you Lola...

2008-08-20T00:47:00.001-07:00

Loving and Devoted

I don’t really know if there is a right way to say everything I want to say… or even if this is the right place... but I feel safe using this blog as a space to share some of the things on my heart at the time - even if it is "personal"... I’ll start by saying that my grandmother – well, she is just something else. My cousins and I – there are 16 of them, all close, all know each other well – could share hundreds and hundreds of stories about her… she was a strong one. She has an inspirational, faithful, and powerful woman. She was strict and as my cousins so eloquently put it – she made some great lemonade. Her 6 o’clock Anglus prayer time, making rosaries to store in her blue tin, insisting that ghosts would be out to get us at 6pm if we didn’t come in from the park, sneaking late night video games while she slept, going to the corner store with a blank check to buy a stick of gum and a twix bar, church on Sunday – and Monday, and Wednesday, Thursday and sometimes Friday, telling us to not be so happy (I think she really meant LOUD – because the cousins were really loud – we always laughed when she said that)… We shared so many stories this weekend, it was a side of my mourning and remembrance I actually neglected. I didn’t really know how to bring up all those memories of her… In truth I spent most of my time up here in San Francisco staring at picture after picture while putting together the dedication slideshow for her and our family – in tears at times… I think it just hurt to see my strong and fighting grandmother’s declining health finally get the best of her…

Here is a picture of her in 1939… beautiful..

She made a trip out with us to – I think - Sea World when I was a little boy. Here is my grandma with my cousins and there I am on the bottom left.

She was a traveler at heart. My mom, who had the duty of caring for her administrative details in the past few years and really took the time to care for her and visit her almost every weekend, was able to go with my grandma on a pilgrimage in 1988 to Italy. I know my mom loved her so so much…

My auntie said that she loved all her grandchildren equally – no matter how much she saw you, or how often you visited. Here is a legendary picture – the one with all of the cousins in 1997 on her birthday! Jesse and great grandchildren Kaylin and Jelani weren’t born yet…

Here is a picture that I never actually saw until now… I know I had the blessing of being able to spend a lot of my time in my childhood knowing her and it all started from the very beginning…

My grandma really did love all of her grandchildren. Here are some of us on her often pictured stairs…

and nowadays… with the number of cousins growing (and just us growing too – we can’t fit three to a step like before) we can barely fit in the picture – only 11 of 16 cousins are pictured and we’re missing a great grandchild Kaylin too…

She always prayed for us. I think, though, I had this small feeling of sadness in these last few years for not visiting as often as I could. But, I know that no matter what, she always had all of us in her thoughts and prayers…

Even though she wasn’t able to speak or say much as her health declined, I know that she could still feel us there. You could still tell she was upset when we were too loud, haha.. and if I could just look at her and smile, she would try her best to give a smile back.

I hope I’m just making her proud in heaven. I just really wish I could put a good piece together for her – to really take the time to write something… I don’t have a piece written, but as is my way these days.. I do have pictures, and for me – as I am now – this may be the best way that I honor her memory. I may not have written something, but my cousin Kaye Kaye (who may arguably be the closest to her) wrote one. It was an incredible piece that she shared with the family - it was really good – the kind that you start to listen to while you are staring at the floor then end up with your head up shedding tears with her… Here is a picture of my cousin Kaye Kaye and my grandma…

She was, by all sense, raised by grandma along with her late father, my uncle Marc. Being raised by grandma must have been both a blessing and difficult. The first for just growing with grandma and second - for living with grandma! She was strict – it almost seemed that she picked on Kaye. She lived with her as part of her fulfillment of a promise by her dad to my late grandpa to take care of her til the end… and although other cousins were over the house, she was always the one to take the brunt of the chores and the constant requests for help… In grandma’s way, it was lessons learned - what my auntie Josie called “tough love”. Indeed – with love being the operative word.

I don’t really know what to do with myself still. It is surreal. It has been hard to hold tears back at the most unexpected times. We have been to Lola’s house a few times already and I still feel like she is still there…

I was honored to be able to be a pallbearer for grandma at Skylawn Memorial. We had her service at Immaculate Conception Chapel with Father William who has been with our family and my grandma since the 70s. She has a really beautiful plot right next to my grandpa overlooking a valley with a view of the ocean just a few miles away… I hope to visit soon.. and often. Lola – the woman who I knew exemplifies faith. She is faith. She lived it. I know it was because of her prayers and thoughts that my entire family has been lifted up. She was so strong in her faith – she pushes me to be that much more… She strengthens my faith… I’m gonna miss her – so much.

Goodbye for now Lola. I love you.

Katinas at the Rock

2008-08-06T00:36:00.001-07:00

A band of total passion…

Some stuff from the Katinas DVD shoot at The Rock… Really good Christian band – I love their sound and focus… They have a good harmony and original tracks that aren’t formulaic. They are honest, energetic, and Spirit led. I really love the colors when the venue turns concert-stadium (VERY difficult to shoot though, with all the blaring lights flashing and changing)…

I’m really beginning to like shooting concert events. The big pluses – the energy, the lights and show, and the crowd – I feed off of it… but, the BIG minus – no personal connection with the subjects/performers… I think that is one of the big reasons why I want to become a professional wedding photographer – for the personal connection. At least for a moment, really getting to know the people that I am serving… and if I already knew them before, even better! It just produces more of a meaning to the topic of shooting… and for me, it just helps me perform better as a photographer when I am connected... It’s kinda like DJing - you really gotta have a connection with your crowd for it to be a positive experience for everyone. Portrait shots do have that personal connection, but it doesn’t have that intensity and emotion of a concert event that I feed off of… I imagine a wedding to be the combination of a portrait shoot and a concert event… Fast paced, high energy, lights and décor, with all the personal connection / posed-shots of a family photoshoot… ha… or maybe I’m totally off! Haha… well either way – I’m excited for this passion… The more I think about it, the more I want it. Clarity of vision comes very strong to me – not the way to get there – just the vision… the clarity of this feeling and lack of hesitation/reservation with the inclusion of a heavy dose of fear of failure almost always culminates in a head strong dive into something that changes my life completely… take for example, my choice to play HS football – extremely clear vision, plus zero football preparation, combined with total fear results in one of the biggest character builders in my life… or my choice to go to UCSD – With clear vision I stepped forward without an idea what the steps between ‘my life at the time’ and ‘the accomplishment of obtaining a UCSD degree’ would look like… I see the vision, not the steps – and when I step out on faith, BANG, God shapes me in ways I couldn’t imagine – all the way to the goal He gave me in the first place… Alright, back to pictures... :-)

Pastor Miles greeting the many people who came forward for altar call that night...

The Katinas are real good – a Christian band that brings total passion… if you ever get a chance to hear them live, I think you’ll love it… Hope you enjoyed this last set!! Feel free to say hello! It’s always nice to hear from anyone who stops by :-)

Tone's Rock 'n Roll Marathon

2008-08-04T10:56:00.001-07:00

Winner of the Stud of the Year Award...

Tone would far and away easily win my Stud of the Year Award just by being Tone… and now he goes and runs a marathon in just about four hours and totally just grabs the award from the trophy case before I have a chance to even think about how the award ceremony should go! My original intention was to go to several waypoints along the route and catch him at different points of the race… unfortunately, the time of 5am is not very friendly to me… So, with the end in mind, I was at least able to document the momentous occasion of that crossing of the finish line…

And there is Tone waving to his adoring fans...

So I have never been to a marathon, nor ever plan to actually participate in one, but there was something about being at the finish line that gets you – a bit emotional – if you will… Not in the teary-eyed sort of way, but a way that has to grip you no matter how much you loathe the idea of running a mile or two, or twenty six point two… You are standing at the peak of the Everest of thousands and thousands of - in my opinion – crazy people and watching as each minute and day given up for this one moment completes itself in a ceremonial crossing of one line. It’s nearly spiritual, and if you ask Tone – it was. A consistent battle between two powers in your mind – one telling you to finish, the other telling you to completely quit now... one telling you that the cheering and supporting crowd is helping, the other telling you that all that support is just downright annoying… it screams spiritual, the same battles that run through the mind on a daily basis – it’s biblical… my post conversations with Tone later that night yielded the insight to an event that I may never experience in my own lifetime.. The closest I can liken his experience to is a season of playing football… that voice in your head… and you don’t realize the battle is over until your supporting fans greet you at the end for a meeting which verbal explanations can’t explain why/how you do what you do… I think we were all speechless.

That last picture of the writing on Tone’s arm was his feeding schedule… “goo, water, goo, water”… I’m telling you – completely crazy… I’m not too sure what motivates you to run so far, so hard, for so long, but there is a level of discipline, determination, and sheer guts that can only get you across that one line… I can’t even imagine... What a champ though…

And the last shot of Tone - slowing down behind the group just to soak it all in, pained and tired, ice on the calf - is a shot of a superhero… This guy did it somehow… and although I don’t think I’m crazy enough to run a marathon – cuz I swear it takes some kind of crazy - it kinda makes you wanna get up and run - towards anything, for something…

The Night Concert and Final Jamaica Post

2008-08-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

May 2, 3 2008 – Nighttime

The night had all the energy of a rock concert, with all the Message of three Sundays of church. The artists of both nights, Israel & the New Breeds and Papa San to name a few, were some of the best concert praise teams that I have ever seen. They were straight FIRE. Just total heat and you could feel it... and see it... and I was one of the blessed and fortunate few to experience this whole thing ON STAGE for one of the evenings… That was a shot in a lifetime, and I took full advantage… Enjoy!

Pastor Miles shared the message to nearly 25,000 the first night and 35,000 the second night! Thousands raised their hands to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, so many that our volunteer staff was overwhelmed with the number of people that wanted to come forward. The whole week was the most intense week that I have ever had. I loved it.

I hoped you loved all the images in this 7 part series! It is definitely an experience I am always going to carry with me… God bless!

Daytime Festival

2008-08-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

May 2, 3 2008 - Daytime

Here are all the daytime shots of what I would call a culmination celebration. Festivities of all kinds were held at the “Best Dressed 50 Fest”. To be honest, I am still not totally sure what the name of the event is all about, but what I do know is, it is was day of activities for all Jamaicans, culminating in a concert of very popular Christian artists in Jamaica. Along with that, our pastor, Miles McPherson shared the message at the end of the concert and offered a chance for festival-goers to dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ. We were able to invite everyone that we served the whole week to a concert and day of activities sponsored by our team and all the churches of Jamaica! It was a packed day, and it started with a flourish. Team Faith – an extreme sports team – used their talents to wow the crowd and then share the message of the Word. Their ministry was particularly effective..

They were a pretty amazing group – really fun to watch – and shared the message in a way I have never seen. Here were many of the other activities there during the day…

Our lead photographer Brother Joe, got a shot of a lifetime when he was asked by the local media if he wanted to take a ride up in the helicopter… that’s him hangin out of the chopper! And now, the evening concert performers get their start…

That last picture was a site that you had to see with your own eyes to believe… and the place wasn’t even full yet. The evening was still to fall, and as it got dark, the praise concert really picked up. The energy was so intense…

Fly right by...

2008-07-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2008

Two more schools for the trip and the last day of our community immersion… some of my favorite photos of the entire trip are from this day… enjoy!

That last shot is one of my favorites of the entire trip…

After those visits, I followed the Rock Sports Ministry for their match-up against a local Jamaican basketball club. Testimonies were shared and many came to support and watch. Fun times! I didn’t exactly have any sports gear to shoot the event but hey, you do what you can :-) Here are a few of those shots..

This event concluded the week of community interaction and volunteering. It has been a long week so far, but we were about to go for two more days at the all day events and concert sponsored by the churches of Jamaica… we really didn’t know what to expect... but we were prepared for something amazing to happen…

Thank you all for following along this journey so far… I know that I have been lagging a bit on finishing these posts…Since coming back from Jamaica, life’s journey has been taking some dramatic and fast paced turns… As I conclude this set with the last 2 and final posts from Jamaica (May 2 & 3, 2008) I want to say that I hope that you have been blessed in some way by the stories and pictures shared so far... My photographic journey has been so blessed from this trip and time… I can't even begin to describe how my life has changed not only within, but as a photographer as well…

Following the last two installments of the Jamaica series is coming 4 brand new sets from a variety of shoots – a bboy/bgirl shoot, my roommate Tone’s San Diego Marathon run and perspective post, my family trip to Mexico and accompanying words, and my dear friends Adam and Jasmine’s wedding… I didn’t really shoot the wedding, just the tea Ceremony and a few reception shots. But, it was such a blessing to be a part of the wedding as well as take a few pictures too!… Stay tuned!

Media Team 2 - The eyes of the trip

2008-06-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

April 30, 2008

For this day, I traveled with media team 2.

We visited 3 different places where volunteers were going – A school assembly and mentorship at Howard Cooke, a medical clinic deep in the hills of Mo’ Bay, and a children’s assembly at Challenge Basic School.

One of the things that I found so beautiful and so full of stories was the eyes of all the kids that I was able to capture… After looking at all the pictures this last one caught me… After taking a closer look, I saw an image of me in this kid’s eyes.. Symbolic, poetic, and amazing in so many different ways… Here’s a zoomed in look…

School assemblies are my favorite events to capture and this one was definitely fun… Now, onto the medical clinics... The blessings were so amazing… Unfortunately this was the only time that I had visited a single clinic. We had another photographer covering the clinics extensively and I was pulled for other volunteer efforts… I would have loved to capture the medical clinic miracles, but I served where I was needed… At any rate – here are some of the miracles that happened….

- Nearly $4 Million of medical time and supplies were volunteered for free to hundreds of people of Montego Bay
- Nearly 50 medical team members from several professions – doctors, dentists, physical therapists, optometrists, pharmacists, pediatricians – volunteered their time and created 8 different makeshift medical clinic sites in Montego Bay over 4 days.
- A child came in to a clinic with an infected tooth – not doing well. He was days if not hours from dying as the infection was moving upwards into his root and soon his brain. The doctors were able to pull the tooth, treat the infection, administer antibiotics, and save his life.
- Two young girls were sadly diagnosed with cervical cancer, but now know that steps need to be taken for further care
- A few young women discovered they were pregnant and got appropriate care and advice. Some of the young girls were sadly victims of abuse. They were cared for, prayed over, encouraged, and loved by our volunteer staff.
- A partially paralyzed man who suffered a stroke three months ago was carried into the clinic by his brother for medical care. He was prayed over, given physical therapy, given a walker, and miraculously took his first steps since his stroke - two days later after coming to the clinic.
- Those bits were were only just a snippet of the miracles that happened…

Now… Off to Challenge Basic School for a school assembly with the children’s team! Lots of energy, storytelling, fun, and mentorship…

That last shot is one of my personal favorites of the trip. Not necessarily for the picture quality, but for me it just captured so much about why we were going to individual schools and meeting with the youth of Jamaica. Just beautiful… The day was so full of events – I was exhausted.

I do have to say that after all that – understanding that we are they eyes of this trip really began to make sense. I had the privilege of seeing things on the trip that the majority of the volunteers were not able to see. They often saw only where they served. Community projects builders never really saw a children’s group assembly and the sports team wasn’t really able to see and absorb the miracle of the medical clinics. I was asked to be an observer and a storyteller of multiple avenues of service… a wide-angle view of a vast effort… the eyes of the trip... with that responsibility, I was able to see the tons of different ways that this effort was effecting the people of Jamaica. It just keeps getting more mind blowing...

Farm Primary & Junior High School

2008-05-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

April 29, 2008

Farm Heights is considered one of the more rough areas of Jamaica. I wish I could have captured the long drive up to the school because my words couldn’t capture that scene… it was difficult to see some of the homes and living conditions… Roads were ruins and more the half of the homes being built were basically unfinished. I asked one of the locals later in the week why that was so… His explanation was three-pronged… The buyers and builders of the homes passed away, they completely abandoned the project, or they were in the process of building but ran out of funds and are saving to complete it at a later date. Overall, the average home can take anywhere from 3 to 10 years to build…

You could see the small make-shift shacks lined up outside of the part of the security wall that was in existence for the school. Out of these shacks, vendors sell snacks and little trinkets to the students – this was a regular practice at every school… But that was just about the only regular thing this school had… The school itself was a place that lacked a lot of the things that most schools on the island did have…Out front, the conditions and wear were pretty apparent. Many of the schools that we visited had a security wall. Farm Primary had about half of a wall. This was an real issue as several sad stories were told. Intruders had frequented the campus in the past, harassing students for money, and in one case hospitalizing a young boy… Young girls were assaulted by intruders in the bathroom facilities for the school… And the restroom facilities of the school were also not like other schools – plumbing didn’t work, toilets could not be flushed, the walls were unsanitary, many stalls had no doors, and the smell was described as something never experienced before…

Our volunteers initiated a project to complete the security wall around the entire school (400 ft long open section, 10 feet high) and worked to complete a renovation of the entire restroom - cleaning, re-plumbing, and painting the entire facility. Our media team captured the project at about the halfway point…

The renovation project for the bathrooms at Farm School was about halfway there… above is the girls bathroom, unfinished… as crazy as it looks right now – that’s the way it looks after they mopped it up… below is the boys bathroom, almost completed… Cleaned, power-washed, and painted, it was beginning to come together…

The kids were something else… a little more shyness then Barracks Road, but still the same smiles… this is the part of visiting the different schools of Jamaica that I love…

In the above picture is where you could see the security wall coming together. Some locals also put in time to help build the wall...

I hope what all of our volunteers were able to do was a blessing to both the school and themsleves… It’s one of those experiences that you can’t easily forget.

Sports Clinics - Mt. Salem Primary

2008-05-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

April 28, 2008 – Continued…

We arrived at Mt. Salem Primary and Secondary School and the other team was exhausted. They started to tell stories of all the kids that basically mobbed them the whole first half of the day. They were trying to run clinics and games, but it was way too hard to do short staffed… The kids were everywhere, but it was a good problem to have in a way. From what I understand, not only was it just an exciting day for the kids, but it was a good way and day to keep them off of the streets. On days when a teacher isn’t there, the kids just leave to do who knows what… Better to spend a day playing games all afternoon then anything else…

In two schools – the pattern was already forming… from what I heard at others schools – they all had similar athletic and recreation facilities… The kids ran, played, and laughed in places that people in the U.S. would deem unlivable… It’s amazing what one single day could do for your perspective… What’s even more interesting is - it’s not like I didn’t know… Almost daily, I bring to mind the posh life that American’s get to live, often at the expense of others - or at the very least – with our eyes averted in another direction. Attribute it to ‘just the way it is’ or ‘unfortunate circumstances’ or ‘the land of opportunity’ – we live the lifestyle we have, the majority of the time, in blissful ignorance – and excess… and we want more of it, never ever being satisfied… Unnecessarily large SUVs for carrying 200 lbs of groceries every day and towing huge tractors out of ditches – EVERYDAY, cuz we always need that feature… Homes with 6 bedrooms for 3 people… 50 inch TVs in 14’X10’ rooms (yah that’s me)… the most comprehensive network of recreation facilities on the planet - yet we still suffer from chronic obesity attributed to our healthy American gluttonous appetites for endless boats of food… And we still want more of it all… Oh yes I am putting us all on blast… And we all know this… we take and take, knowing full well that it may be at the expense of others in the world – and we choose the easy road… cuz it’s easier to turn the other way… I almost feel helpless where I live – I can’t really change a society bombarded daily with the message that we need more… and at the same time, I can't get mad.. because I'm just as much a part of it... It's systemic, and I'm in it... I guess all I was really feeling was frustration... you see it, but can do next to nothing - in the grand scheme of things - about it. Unless of course, our entire culture of consumerism changes. Okay - I'm off of my soapbox now...

It was beautiful to see the team and all the kids playing together where it was only about the interaction and the fun… if only we could be just as free back home – free from the chains of the slavery to ‘things’… we trudge everyday craving more… we’re conditioned and trained for hyper-consumerism… it’s a locomotive almost impossible to stop…

This guy was a former Jamaican Soccer Pro teaching kids a workshop with our team. This guy was awesome – he was playin with the soccer ball like a hacky-sack… he had no problem dribbling the ball in mid-air with his feet, rolling it across his back, over his shoulders, then effortlessly up into the air off of his head onto the next person… STUD. I’m not a big soccer fan, nor am I easily impressed in sports, but this was ridiculous… off the wall, off the floor, off the window, off the backboard – nothing but net.. that kind of ridiculous… and it was cool of him to give his time to teach the kids of the school… he actually gave his time all week with the sports team…

The day was amazing… long and exhausting, but amazing… and this wasn’t even the beginning of the stories that were going to unfold all week…

Blessed are the flexible - Barracks Road Primary

2008-05-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

April 28, 2008

My main assignment today was to follow the Sports Ministry as they went to Herbert Morrison Technical High School and capture workshops and a Soccer match. This particular school was a much anticipated place of ministry for the Sports team. You can just see the excitement and look of anticipation in their eyes. As we waited in the lobby to meet the players and the students of the school, the Sports team spent their time passing out the Best Dressed 50 Fest fliers. This was a very productive time for the team, but some news was about to come their way that was gonna test the first rule for all Missionaries – Blessed are the Flexible. As it turns out, there was a miscommunication with the school and long story short – there was going to be no meeting, no match, no workshops, nothing. From that point – we knew it has to be in God’s hands…

I noticed that our driver is playing Christian music throughout the whole ride. When we prayed together, he joined our group in prayer. God’s plan was in the works… Apparently, the bus driver has a son that attends Barracks Road Primary School, a school that was not on the list of places that we were going to visit this week. He offered to take us over there to see if the Sports team could take their ministry there, join them, and work with the students. Being the only real option (the other was to go back to the hotel) we drove over and the administration welcomed us in! As we arrived we were greeted by some of the most energetic and sweetest kids you could ever meet. We ended up catching them right as they were going to begin their daily devotional and were blessed enough to sing and pray with the entire school. From that point, the team split to visit classrooms and many of them began to talk to students individually, laughing and sharing with them, and in some cases, sharing how to have a relationship with Jesus with these kids. I was able to capture so many pictures of these moments – God was showing me so much through this experience. But, there was one picture that captures the theme of the day and the activities that the team and the kids shared, all in one.

This picture was of the soccer field that the kids play on every day. Only one goal on one side, huge rocks everywhere, uneven ground, trash, hills, and these two large concrete slabs directly in the middle of what was their field. Blessed are the flexible indeed. They played on this field because it was their home - and loved every minute of it. It didn’t matter to them, they just played through it all… All these little bumps in the road just added character to them. You truly did have to work with what was given to you, but in the end they were still able to play the game and have an amazing time doing it. The Sports team and the kids ended up playing a very competitive and fun game. This time was filled with so many smiles, so much interaction, and such an amazing blessing.

This was just the first half of the day…with the heat, the activity, and the length of our day, the team could have easily stopped there… But, the other half of the sports team called from another school and said that they could use our help… so what real choice is there? – haha… Barracks Road Primary was so much fun, and being my first school visit, it was a good one to start on… and we didn't even plan on coming here...

Miles Ahead - Travel to Jamaica

2008-05-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

April 25-27, 2007

The entire trip started out as a very blank slate to me… For the last two months I have been living a pretty anxious life – and for no reason other than being overwhelmed by blessing. But, either way, it was still worry, and it was the really rough kind – the kind that made me stay up late at night and wake up feeling nervous… there were so many things on my mind – the wedding, buying a new condo, the missions trip, new ministries, taking my photography to another level, family – its enough to make your head spin… So it was no surprise to me that leading up to the trip, I get sick.. yup… sick… two days prior… I have been running myself to the ground (as I often do) and it finally caught up to me, and probably at the wrong moment… The airport, new people, new faces – I had to prepare myself for the experience ahead – but in truth, I wasn’t really “ready” at all… and in a way, it was a good thing – I came in with no expectations, no real vision for what I was going to do in Jamaica… In hindsight, it would seem that my lack of prep helped me to take things in rather than expect things…

Well folks, here is the first entry of many from this trip… I have been spending several weeks getting the pics together, but mostly collecting my thoughts… At this point, the number of miracles and works of God that occurred, it is really a hard thing to grasp and explain… but maybe blogging will help… and through this, I hope you as a reader are blessed…

There it was, Montego Bay… It still didn’t hit me… I know that this time is going to be a blessing, but for me I had a really hard time figuring out how my photography and ministry of this trip was related… Maybe that was a part of why I was feeing a bit anxious… I think it’s because I imagined myself being more directly involved… then I realized that it was the storytelling opportunities that I was going to have … that was my purpose… to not let all this go by and then forgotten… I’m almost obligated to share…

time to board…

The flight felt like it lasted forever. In total it was about 13 hours with the layover in Newark (or something like that), but I think the cold that I was carrying into it made it feel longer… The best part of the long trip though, was the fellowship. I came on this trip essentially knowing my fiancé and maybe a small handful of others… In the airport, on the plane, and everything in between – Vaness and I got to know a whole bunch of different people from the church. For me, starting the trip that way, was a blessing.

I took a picture of the attendant loading luggage onto the bus… the one and only guy assigned to help us load our luggage on the bus. I put my luggage down and stopped. I felt a bit awkward that he was loading nearly 80 people’s bags on to the bus by himself. A bunch of us offered to help and grabbed a bag to put in the bus, then the driver stopped us and said, “It’s okay mon, no worries, let him do it.” He continued on, pouring with sweat in the hot and humid air serving our group. He had a quiet way about him, but you could tell he had a servant’s heart.

From the moment of the arrival of our group – God showed us the type of people we ourselves were going to serve - beautiful, humble, and hospitable. The entire journey thus far had been full of amazing people – and we haven’t even started yet…

I traveled in the children’s ministry group for Church in Jamaica… That experience in itself was something that I never had before… extremely different, but full of energy, conviction, and love… It was a lot of fun..

The last picture was of Vaness and me at the hotel we were all staying at… The beaches by the hotel were so beautiful, and the sand was so fine… Jamaica is such a beautiful island… a paradise… but no paradise is perfect… and we were all about to find out throughout the week that even with a beautiful island full of beautiful people, there were a lot of people in need of love, help, and prayer.

Status Update...

2008-04-25T11:42:00.001-07:00

Jamaica Missions Trip...

Hey all! Thanks for following along so far - I hope that you have been enjoying my whole walk through the start of my photo-journey... I'm just writing in to say that I will be away from April 25 until May 5 on a Missions Trip to Jamaica with my church! We will be working with a church down there to help a lot of children and schools in the area... We will be holding Medical clinics, doing construction and building for a school there, and spending a lot of time with the kids down there... It is a really exciting time, and I just hope and pray for a lot of amazing things... I will actually be spending a lot of my time there photo-documenting my trip and when I get back I hope to share a whole bunch...

Take care all! Prayers and encouragement are all things that we could use right now.. so... until then..

Claire, Tina, & Patrick

2008-04-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Featured Shoot 4

Here are some highlights of my most recent shoot with Claire and her siblings… Just a snippet of a gift for their mama for Mother’s Day… Enjoy!

Next – my favorite shot of the day… you gotta love this…

I loved how these next two panoramics turned out – definite drama!

And finally, the shot that I couldn’t help but take (I did have to save this one though)

Hope you enjoyed! Interested in doing a shoot like this with you and your loved ones? Contact me – we can arrange something =)

Thanks Claire, Tina, and Patrick! I hope you guys had fun!

Flandskate Anthologies

2008-04-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

Never the types to take ourselves too seriously…

So Ridiculous... I thought that at some point, we were going to put together a shoot because our time as roomies is coming to a close very soon… and well - the day for that shoot is here! MAJOR DISCLAIMER: Although kinda fun and silly in a million and one ways – we, the current flandskaters - are both laughing at ourselves on the inside and very embarrassed to have these photos posted in any public way… We do realize that this can work against us in many ways: Future job interviews, large blow-up sized reprints on our front door, and the internet vehicle in general, just to name a few… but we are never the types to take ourselves too seriously... but, even with that - please… be kind…we would really love that... thanks!

Please don’t take us too seriously in this shoot… we hope that, at the very least, you laugh at us and want a photoshoot just like this one for you! (well kinda like this one…) *wink wink* First: Behind the scenes… Enjoy!

Second: The Olin Mills Portrait Studio dedication - Behind those scenes - the original shots...

Finally: The Olin Mills Portrait Studio dedication – the finished vision of assistant photographer Mark Marcelo… You just gotta love these…

I swear... I'm still laughing at these as I review the post.. sooooo embarrassing and soooo ridiculous.... I really can't stop laughin at the picture just before the last pic/album cover... The Maartes... the all black background, no belts, and hella drama faces... if you know us - you know this totally isn't us - kinda - well you know what I mean... just way too hilarious...

These guys (and David Reyes, not pictured here, moved to Vallejo in April 07) have been my roomies for the past 2 years and really have been the best set of folks to live with that I could have asked for.. the fact that I will be moving in just under 3 months and initiating the final break-up of the legendary old-people household is a bit sad for me… I will have to say that I will look back on these past two years with a great fondness… the best of great memories, laughs, and support, these guys are yet another one of those blessings in my life that I am really grateful for… no matter how embarrassing we are….

Adam & Jasmine - Wedding Invitations

2008-04-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

Work party…

So as any good friend/wedding entourage would (haha, wink, wink - Vaness and I are storing up credits for a returned favor, wink, wink) we helped Adam and Jasmine put together some really great looking invitations for their upcoming wedding!! Just know that the entire invitation package is not pictured here – but what you do see is really top quality invitation-type stuff… you know… the kind you find at Papyrus or something… but, really, Jas and Adam did a really wonderful job designing these... they are really really really nice =) and we had a lot of fun (yes I admit it – office/stationary work is kinda fun) and got to spend some time with Adam, Jas, Richard, and Kevin (a fellow Nikonian)… plus, Adam and Jas even let me take some breaks to capture the moments!! enjoy!!

Adam and Jasmine – a couple who has been a blessing in Vaness’s and my life… We have had the fortune of watching them grow in Christ over the years and it is really amazing that we are all so close to each other now… Like brothers and sisters, we have been able to share a lot about our lives, our faith, our struggles, and our successes… but best of all, we have been able to be a set of couples that can ask each other for prayer, guidance, and encouragement – and that is the type of thing that you don’t take for granted…

The Heroine Project

2008-04-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

For the complete and final result of the Reyelisa Fashion Editorial Shoot please checkout Heroine

San Francisco Pt.II

2008-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

A Photowalk through San Francisco – Revisited..

I flew through a whole bunch of shots in my files to look for a set to experiment with – one where I can begin to exercise some really flabby Photoshop muscles… but really – to say that I was exercising a new-found skill would be saying WAY TOO MUCH… in reality… if I’m exercising what little PS muscle I do have, then Barry Bonds hit every home-run without.. well… you know… help (c’mon, I’m a full on Giants fan – I’m in denial, remember! Blind and Die-Hard support! My Giants can do no wrong! Haha..)… Well as I was saying, if it looks like I’m punchin out my photos in Photoshop like a pro, then I definitely have some… ahem… help… Actions! Totally Rad Actions! No really, that’s the name… TRA for short… and these things saved my life…

Here are some of the ‘rejects’ (they aren’t really rejects – they just didn’t make the initial cut list) from my solo photowalk through my hometown a few years ago… (for the first set of photos from this photowalk check out San Francisco)... Goin' for that old town feel, I worked with a few Actions that I thought could help me develop a ‘look’ or ‘theme’ of nostalgia… all for the goal to tell a story… on of a beautiful city full of culture and history… enjoy!

Saint Patrick’s Church – from what I remember from my childhood, this church was one of the biggest on the block and really made a difference in the surrounding skyline… Now - it is just dwarfed by new high-rise buildings….

You can’t tell from the angle of this picture, but this really talented break dancer only has one leg… He was crazy good too!

This one of the cable car turnaround is Vaness’s favorite of this set =)

I’m learning of myself - that as a photographer - the necessity and beast of post-processing, in whatever program you choose, is still something I don’t really wanna spend my whole life learning ‘how to do’… I want something simple, fast, and most of all – professional… and all the work that I spent trying to learn with the books I read could only give me a base for what I needed to know to take my photos to the pro-level… disclaimer: I’m not quite pro yet… but, facing reality, I know that my post-processing skills are going to be limited by my expertise in a computer program – and that’s kinda sad in a way! I mean I am in no way hatin on CS3 experts out there... in fact, I envy you… I wish I had that skill set to just know the ins and outs of the program… I wish I just knew what to do when I want that effect – that set of steps that makes the colors pop even more – that set of moves to tighten up my photos… but, alas… I am learning to be a photographer – not a graphic artist! So in comes Actions… a program plug-in that gives me – the guy with only a basic knowledge of a layer and a mask – the ability to bring the best out in my photos (still with a natural, less-is-more approach)… and in turn… it gives me the knowledge base to ‘make my own actions’ if you will… all while giving me the option to venture out into the digital/film-effect world that I would normally not go to… a world bombarded and accustomed to fancy graphics and artificial effects – one that I have to, and in some ways – enjoy, getting acclimated to… This part of my professional development is indeed necessary… Actions really has stepped my knowledge of CS3 that much farther that much faster… and it has really saved my life… in the pro-photo-shooter-caught-in-a-digital-world kind of way…

Easter Sunday 2008

2008-03-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

At the Rock Church in Point Loma 8, 10, and 12 services…

Being signed on with the photo ministry has been an amazing blessing and will definitely be a huge help in so so many ways… Really great and beautiful people are involved in the ministry and I am really excited to see where it will all take me… =)

Easter Sunday was an intense shooting day filled with so many moments and frames that it was overwhelming… and because of multiple moments, you are inevitably going to miss some… and the ones I WAS able to pull my camera up for were EXTREMELY challenging… not necessarily for framing (although that’s tough too) but for the low light – and the lights you do get are multi-colored beams blowing up in your face… metering is practically impossible… but it was a really great learning experience for shooting events, concerts, and low-light…

As far as what I was able to capture – even more blessings… here is a sample of the day… enjoy!

The morning was really nice and it was crazy to see people lined up around the block to get into church! Lot’s of favorites in this shoot… Indoors, shooting was really really tough – but I got a few shots to work with…

Hey! You can dance in church! I love it! =) The Rock Steady Dance Team was pretty good and they got an awesome reaction from the audience… So clean!

The next shot is actually from the Good Friday Praise Concert and the rest are a few more ‘artsy’ shots of Easter Services =)

The church community is amazing.. it’s made up of all sorts of people – different races, ages, families, all in different stages in life… it is really a blessing to be a part of it and to capture the day… just the amount of people that dedicate themselves to Christ, service after service, is staggering… God is truly moving in this Church…

I will also say that I love the fact that they had so many different pieces for the Easter and good Friday services… gospel choir, great voices, hip-hop dancin (really crazy! And they are pretty good too!), children’s choir, the Katina’s on Good Friday, and UFC MMA Fighter Diego Sanchez sharing his testimony on Good Friday… and photography ministry! You can’t help it – there is always a place here for you to Do Something… =)

The Engagement

2008-03-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

The Storytelling of a perfect moment captured…

Well… if you can’t tell by the header – Vaness and I are engaged! Crazy! Without a doubt – 100% - We know that it was because God has pushed, broken, re-built, and shaped our lives individually and together… But, with all the learning and incredible growth that we were both able to experience, everything really has truly accelerated in the past year – the point at which we both dedicated our relationship to Christ… Our relationship has truly been heaven sent and God-led… going forward, we both know that this is the only way we can continue to grow together…

The moment that was captured is, hands-down, the best picture and moment that I have taken and will ever take… and somewhat poetically – and really, fittingly – it was a picture which I was not behind the camera to actually take… the capturing of this moment could not have been more perfect and the fact that I was literally not behind the camera for it – to me – speaks volumes as to how our relationship has been guided and molded perfectly by God… sure, I was measuring and metering the exposure, and sure, I set up the camera on a tri-pod to capture it… but God led me to the idea of this moment… there was a huge degree of faith I had to have in order for the picture to be taken in the way that it was… a million things could have altered the moment and its capture… and with all my careful planning and thought… the image that is ingrained in our lives forever through this picture was more amazing than anything I could have ever imagined - a lot like our relationship – even with all the effort and planning, the current result is more than I could have ever prayed for…

A three-part theme to the entire moment as a whole is the next series of photos… The exact moments before, during, and after the proposal… each one of the photos expresses more thoughts than I could ever put into words… without facial expressions – just silhouettes – a story can be told for hours on end….

The exact story as to how it all worked is actually pretty detailed… I will start by saying that, even though everything seemed like it was captured to perfection – I was the most nervous I think I have ever been! I was pretty cool, calm, and collected going up to Hilltop Park – even while we were just hanging out together admiring the scenery – but once the moment was coming closer, I got extremely nervous…

I was thinking Saturday, March 15 was going to be THE DAY… I was so ready for the weekend… we made plans to watch the sunset and have dinner at an Italian restaurant in Hillcrest – and little did she know that those reservations were supposed to be for an engagement celebration!! But, as Saturday came, the thunderstorm of the year (literally! We haven’t had one like this in close to a year) decided to pour down on the sunny San Diego - Vaness likes to point out the “sunny” part of sunny San Diego to me all the time… =)… Vaness recommended to me to not even bring my camera when I went to pick her up… so, on our way to the restaurant as we were driving up the freeway, the hailstorm that we were experiencing began to slow down! Then, out from the clouds, the most beautiful sunset was forming… I was really disappointed and I couldn’t hide it… and, to make matters more difficult, Vaness thought that I was blaming her for me not being able “take pictures of the sunset” – uh, I was upset that I couldn’t propose on such a perfect day! Dinner was great that evening… but, the engagement had to wait until... Sunday…

We made plans again to “watch/take pictures” of the sunset for Sunday and all seemed like it was going to go according to plan this time… except for the fact that it was her parent’s anniversary!!! As we were going to head up to Hilltop Park to “watch/take pictures” of the sunset, she receives a call from her mom telling her that they had just decided to celebrate their anniversary and go out to dinner… disappointment settles in again – this time even more obviously… and Vaness felt really bad that she had to go… I felt bad that she was feeling bad – and well let’s just say that it unfolded into a day that may not be ideal for - the plan…

Monday, March 17 comes around and I get a call from Vaness in the afternoon. We were having pretty normal conversation and then she mentions to me, “You know what my dad asked me today? He asked me if we were engaged yet!?”… great… I had asked for her parent’s blessing the week before, but I guess they may have thought that the proposal was going to happen really soon (and it was!! On Saturday! And on Sunday!)… she actually thought nothing of the question and brushed it off as casual conversation… I was able to push the possible thoughts of an impending engagement by saying, “Oh wow! He really asked you that?? Maybe they are hoping we get engaged soon… Scary! I’m gonna have to talk to your parents and ask them for their blessing soon!!”… yah… I already did that.

Tuesday, March 18 came around and we are finally able to meet together, no distractions – everything seems set… the weather’s good, plenty of time, no rush, good plan… Enchanted even comes out on DVD that day (one of our Disney favorites) and so I decide to buy that for her… I called Vaness to tell her that I’m on my way to meet her - I have something for her and ask her to guess what it is… she says, “A wedding ring???” Ha. Ha. Ha. Is she serious? (In fact, V – are you sure this whole thing was really a surpise?? You SAY it is…=)) I try to shrug that bullet off by saying, “Okay okay, I’ll go get you one right now.. what kind do you want.. plastic? How ‘bout those ring pop candy things – you’ll be REALLY blingin with that one..” She says she was only kidding =)…great… I THINK she doesn’t know… well we head up to Hilltop park before sunset and everything finally seems to be going smoothly.. I got the big ol’ ring box in my left pocket, with my camera bag and sweater covering that whole side of my body… and the whole way up we just talked about little fast-food joints that we may want to eat at afterwards… thankfully she decided it was okay that we eat late, cuz the day before she really wanted to just grab something to eat or cook before-hand… I answered both of those requests by saying, “Uh, if we bring food up there, it will be kinda cold weather for a picnic… and uh, cooking may be too hard in such a short time, I don’t want to be rushed.” Actually, it’s cuz, uh, I already made reservations for our favorite restaurant, Peohe’s, for the celebration of our engagement! Duh! Wow – I think I dodged another one – AGAIN…

Of course – it couldn’t go perfect – even if I had her right where I wanted… I was so consumed with the series of events that had to happen that I must have looked like a total space cadet that day – I feel like I had this very blank stare in my eyes until the sun was setting… my hands were super clammy… all I could think about was everything going right…

She gladly decided to jump into the frame as the sun was setting... as I set up the exposure, even more things began to go wrong!! My camera, for some extremely odd reason, didn’t want to focus!!! I had to take a whole bunch of shots of her standing there just to make sure it all went right… AND, I had my ISO up to something like 1200 for some crazy reason and forgot to change it (Thus the slight grain)! On top of that, it turns out, I had the camera in Bracket mode the whole time – so immediately after a properly exposed shot, a very underexposed and a very overexposed shot follows… I normally know this, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t figure it out!! I was so frustrated!! So I ended up changing my lens to my 50mm prime lens (which ends up being a good thing because it is the only lens with which I know how to consistently get a starburst effect out of a direct light source – thus explaining those rays you see in the final product)… and even then, I’m still struggling! Well, here is a little montage of all those exposures of her patiently standing there…

All the craziness that was happening with my camera made time fly right by – Vaness reminds me, “The sun is setting! I’m sure the picture is fine!!” I was really not confident in the picture the moment that I set my camera on timer – but I had to let go – I’m convinced it was God’s way of telling me that he’s got it all under control… even if I am hesitant to let go of the reigns…

I joined her in the frame and grabbed her for a hug while trying to hide the box I have in my left pocket… I began to fumble for the ring in my pocket… the timer is running down… I struggle to find the front of the box between our hug so that I could open the box in the right direction…the camera timer clicks faster… it’s time…

I bent to one knee and said four words… “WILL YOU MARRY ME?”… ‘Click’… I swear that I had a whole lot more to say than that!! How 'bout I love you? I want to spend the rest of my life with you? You're beautiful? Hi? I guess I was just that nervous… but at least I got the important words out… She answered me by saying “Are you serious? REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? The ring is unreal! Are you serious? Are you sure? Really?”… I stood up and, after a few more of the same questions, said, “Yes, of course I’m serious… so, uh… Well?”… She finally answers, “Oh yah! Of course!! I didn’t say yes yet?”… Excitement really does cause you to forget your words…

The moment of our engagement is a collection of our two passions… My passion for photography and her passion for the sunset… the result is a perfect match and marriage of the two… as for me… Her passion for the sunset – something that is arguably the most powerful symbol of God’s undeniable and constant presence – is just one of the many reasons why I love her… not just because she likes sunsets, but because she appreciates and loves the beauty of what everyone finds to be a regular everyday occurrence… we take it for granted, if you will… but, she finds a place in her heart for those kinds of things, the details in life we all forget… not only does she remember and appreciate the details and the everyday things, but she works endlessly to ensure that in some way, they are recognized… she reminds me, a person who has a wide scope of vision and often sees a whole picture, that the little things and the details matters just as much… small acts of kindness and thoughtfulness are things that we don’t realize have a huge effect on people… she is a romantic in that way… I am in another way… and in both – we fit together…

It is a breathtaking image… A real image… Beautiful… Romantic… I couldn’t possibly take all the credit… Psalms 27:1 - The Lord is my light… the verse directly above my bed containing a picture of - you guessed it - the sunset… You cannot doubt the presence of light in every bit of what is – easily - the most perfect moment I have captured and will ever capture… The moment that I actually never really shot… the one I wasn’t behind the camera to take… God has such an amazing way…

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 4 of 4

2008-03-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

Fashion Layout – Details – Part 4 of 4

Final shoot! With the prestige of San Diego’s Balboa park, you would think this would be a haven for anyone with a camera… and in a way, it was… the moment we got to the pavilion that was the target of our shoot, we spotted 4 other people with dSLRs and a wedding party doing a shoot on the other side… yup – the quintessential shoot location… but as we were shooting, we had the hardest time getting anything that was really interesting! I mean the place is a bit flat when it comes to color, and the place is only really full of repeating patterns – you could take a picture of a bunch of columns only so many ways… well tell me what you think of this one… and remember – you are reading in reverse order, if you want to read forward, skip to part 1 of 4 and progress to here…

Here is part/location 4 of 4…. Theme - Cinderella... Enjoy =)

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

The entire four part shoot was a lot of fun to do and the post processing was just as fun… Thank you to Reyelisa for allowing us all to partake in the project… Thanks to Mark and Cha for all your shooting inspiration throughout the day… Thanks to Tep for coming along for the ride and being a great model…

Special thanks to the Corner House Café off of Sorrento Valley road near Mira Mesa as well as Café Noir in downtown SD for allowing us to shoot directly on location… Thanks to the county of San Diego for having the Organ Pavillion and to the Salk Institute for not sending out the snipers to the roof… =)

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 3 of 4

2008-03-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Featured Shoot 2 - Fashion Layout, Details – Part/Location 3 of 4

Definitely my favorite location of the day…

Part/location 3 of 4…. Theme – The Evil Step Sisters… Enjoy =)

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

This location started immediately as a disappointment… but eventually resulted as the winner of my favorite location… we were going there intending to find a dark, evil location so that we could shoot right out front and get it done… As we drove by it, all the dark character was there – but, it was conveniently highlighted by some spunky neon colored lanterns placed smack in the middle of the entire layout for the purposes of a “grand-opening”… we walked closer, sad faces and camera gear in hand, trying to save the scene in our heads… “maybe we can photoshop it? Or maybe we can keep those happy-time lanterns out of the image?”… then the owner pops out and says “Come on in! We have a photographer’s paradise in the back-lounge!!”…

Wow – this guy wasn’t kidding – I probably could have spent another hour there, but we were on a time crunch… He went on giving us a tour of what turned out to be a quaint little place in the middle of downtown condo-mania… It was a historical landmark apparently, required to be untouched by the city… but this hip and modern place had more charm then the front door lets on… he explained the history of the building and went on about the changes and visions of the little plot of land went through over the years… a true storyteller, you can see the passion that he had for this place in his eyes… He still saw even greater growth and changes coming for a place that he said started humbly, from the ground up – he laid out plans and showed us sketches of the future... this guy could not be stopped…

How fitting… (Read Part 1 of 4 and you will know what I mean)…

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 2 of 4

2008-03-18T00:36:00.000-07:00

Featured Shoot 2 - Fashion Layout, Details – Part/Location 2 of 4

I just realized – that because I am posting in the chronologically forward direction – you the reader will be seeing all the images from END to BEGINNING… haha… well, if you want the full intended effect – scroll down as fast as you can – and start at part 1 of 4… I think I’ll have to post this in front of each new one of this 4 part series… oh well… live and learn..

Although, not as dynamic in the way of tonal ranges as the first location, geometric shapes and leading lines were the practice piece of this location’s shoot… Very challenging, but still fun… the theme and storyboards of all the shoots will be covered in a future post of all of Mark’s work on the project – the photographic visionary and Primary Shooter of this project… He came up with some great concepts to go with the overall design and direction provided by Reyelisa (who received an A+ for all her efforts!) The final fashion portion covered my Mark pulled out some HDR (High Dynamic Range) work and resulted in some incredible images… We worked together to get the final color mapping and filters on the shot and voila – Herra Bomb work. We had a heck of team for this whole project… really, really, fun…

Part/location 2 of 4…. Theme - Fairy godmother, Juxtaposition of Nature and Man... Enjoy =)

| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |

As we were shooting here, security came out to check up on us… They said we were alright, but we could swear that there is some secret underground spaceship from the planet Zerton under this place.. It was probably more guarded than Area 51… This place had cameras on every rooftop corner, long drops, steel bars at every stairwell into the compound, a moat (yes, like the kind in medieval times), and I am fully convinced that automatic 100 rounds/second guns pop out of ALL of those little evenly dispersed and well placed holes in the concrete walls… But, that’s just my theory…

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 1 of 4

2008-03-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

Featured Shoot 2 - Fashion Layout, Details – Part/Location 1 of 4

So I woke up on Saturday morning at 6am, earlier than I really ever wake up during the week… I woke up feeling excited about the shoot – I showered thinking of the angles of the places I need to capture, brushed my teeth thinking of the number of shots I would need… I ate breakfast downstairs, reviewing design/storyboards, and googling locations of the shoot so I could get a better feel for the location and vibe – I was studying… My assignment – 2nd shooter, focus on the details…

Part/location 1 of 4…. Theme - Cindy, Today's strong working woman... Enjoy =)

| Corner House Cafe | San Diego, CA |

| Mark M. | Corner House Cafe | San Diego, CA |

| Corner House Cafe | San Diego, CA |

| Mark M. Tep C. | Corner House Cafe | San Diego, CA |

| Corner House Cafe | San Diego, CA |

After the 4 part location shoot was over, and the editing was done, and my energy completely gone – I opened my eyes after the flurry… I was always told -however repetitive - that in working – whatever I do – I need to follow my dreams and passions… pursue those things I love and do something where I wake up in the morning and say, “I can’t wait to work today”… The rational part of me will begin to reason with my heart and say, "but I can’t do EVERYTHING I want, there’s sacrifices to be made, I gotta get serious…" It kinda stings for a minute, but I get over it and begin to make what I do, fit… There is nothing wrong with working to take care of business, cuz you gotta eat, right? This isn't some "be everything that you ever wished you could be cuz you can just do it" speeches... cuz, if that were true - we would have a disproportional amount of rockstars and blog readers in this world... not every occupation is performed as a result of a deep rooted life passion - it just doesn't work that way... we need people who toil over the soil, technology, utilities, public services, food service (fo sho!), and all occupations listed in Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs... and those jobs are done with love because of the means to an end... But, you can't just COMPLETELY DROP what you DO love...

There was something that I was born with that made me never want to give up the things I love… I always fought for everything that I had a passion for (friendships, family, livelihood)… and this morning I woke up (figuratively and literally) and found that something was slowly being taken from me… I was being required to compromise… My young and impressionable mind began to be comfortable – satisfied that where I am is the beginning of everything life has to offer… but today was different… I woke up with the feeling that I couldn’t wait for the day to start – a feeling I haven’t felt for a few years… this isn’t because I hate my life or because I have a really bad situation – not at all, in fact I am EXTREMELY grateful for what I have in the way of where I work and what God has blessed me with – but, I haven’t felt this way in a few years because I slowed my hopes and ambitions for the speed of the working world… well… it’s time to get back into the fast lane…

God keeps placing deeper and deeper into my heart that this is where I should be... Photography... 80% of things that do get placed on our hearts as passions never get accomplished simply because of fear... whether it be lack of faith that God will come through, fear of rejection, past experiences - it all plays a part in that trick gets played in our heads... the one that convinces us that it is ultimately too much effort, or not worth it, or maybe just only available to those who have talent and luck... Something that I have learned from people who are where I would like to go is - they went after it... not tried it, but pursued it - almost with a healthy obsession (if that's even possible)... and only stopped to smell the proverbial roses until they were at the destination that they were running towards... I found that after they arrived, they weren't more greedy, or more dissatisfied, but instead, incredibly grateful and at peace (dissatisfied, greedy, and ungrateful often only came because of disingenuous motives)... they are all that much better for it... I reviewed my experiences and most cherished memories and accomplishments and they had that same theme - I went after it, didn't stop 'til i got there - and finished/continued much better because of it...

Well thanks for reading so far... and sorry for the long post... sometimes I can't stop writing/talking when it comes to things I'm passionate about... But hey, it's a blog right?! That's what these things are for... kinda...

Enjoy the rest of the shoot in parts 2 thru 4! Cuz I know I did!

Cynthia & Daniel

2008-03-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

Featured Shoot 1

Thank you first to Cynthia and Daniel for volunteering to be a guinea pig of sorts… As this was my first shoot with a pair of people, there was PLENTY of learning to be had… Cynthia was kind enough to take me up on my offer and be the VERY FIRST featured shoot of the blog! Cynthia was an old resident of mine in my final year as an RA… I am really grateful for opportunities like this and hey, they had fun too!! Plus, they treated me to dinner! You can’t go wrong with that! Well, here’s what came out of the shoot… Enjoy!

So I pick up my subjects and we begin to drive down to our first location… Two miles from the exit into downtown I realize that I may have forgotten my one and only memory card. GREAT. What a perfect way to begin the shoot… so… nervous as crazy, we head to Horton Plaza to buy a new card (which I justified by saying that I was going to buy a new one anyways… I really was though!).

| Horton Plaza | San Diego, CA |

After that we just start shooting away… So here I am – doing my best to direct, shootin from all the angles I can, switchin lenses, standin on tables, crawling on the ground – I really felt like I was finally getting down and dirty with this whole photo deal… Everything seems back on track… But…

| Cynthia & Daniel | Horton Plaza | San Diego, CA |

As we were wrapping up the Horton Plaza location shoot, I realize that I didn’t feed the meter when we first parked (45 minutes ago!) I guess I was so worried about the memory card that I completely forgot. GREAT. We hustle back to the car and thankfully, no ticket… =)

| Cynthia & Daniel | Horton Plaza | San Diego, CA |

Driving to the train tracks location I spot the perfect parking spot and just have to make a U-Turn to grab it… of course, the one and only vehicle that was in front of me sees the same thing… GREAT. Thankfully, we had no problems parking at a Jack in the Box nearby… And also thankfully, the rest of the shoot went semi-smoothly…

| Cynthia & Daniel | Coaster Tracks | San Diego, CA |

Now someone tell me how Cynthia pulled off the MJ pose… That is almost perfect… I could probably take that silhouette print it out and paste it on my shirt and no one would know the difference…

| Cynthia & Daniel | Coster Tracks | San Diego, CA |

| Cynthia & Daniel | Belmont Park, Mission Bay | San Diego, CA |

| Belmont Park, Mission Bay | San Diego, CA |

| Cynthia & Daniel | Belmont Park, Mission Bay | San Diego, CA |

And now, as for any San Diego couple shoot, the almost obligatory beach location shoot...

| Cynthia & Daniel | Mission Beach | San Diego, CA |

| Mission Beach | San Diego, CA |

| Cynthia & Daniel | Mission Beach | San Diego, CA |

We were all kinda getting tired by the end of the shoot, but we pushed through and finished up! So, with all that… I’m gonna finish with this…

| Cynthia & Daniel | Mission Beach | San Diego, CA |

I was really glad that they were patient with me as I experimented with the starburst effects… It turned out well and ended up being one of my favorites of the shoot…

Thank you to Cynthia & Daniel for being so willing to jump in and help me learn… One of the biggest things I am going to have to get used to as I do shoots similar to this is the art of direction… As you can see in most of my photography, I have a very photojournalistic leaning – so directing people to stand a certain way for the sake of my composition is something I don’t normally do… It was a learning experience and very fun… You may notice that some of the poses do seem to have a lack of direction from me, but I think they did an AWESOME job at making up for that...

Good People

2008-03-06T02:14:00.001-08:00

The things that matter…

At this point so far God has placed a number of really great people in my life… I have been able to learn and grow in the presence of all sorts of people in numerous ways and the staff that I spent my final year as an RA with is no exception… There was a closeness that I can’t really explain and… well... I really like it that way… unexplainable… It is my work with those folks that make me feel like I need to be involved in a field full of personal interaction…. But for now engineering and research has its purpose in my life (more on that at another time)…

We all got together just this past winter for a celebration of many lives at a turning point… most surprising to me was the fact that a lot of us were actually able to converge on the same day – and as grads, professionals, and current students, we all know how IMPOSSIBLE that is…heck, it was even impossible when we were all working together on the same staff! Anyways.. here are a few pics from that fun little gathering back in December… you can’t go wrong with a bunch of silly, crazy people and no TV… ah, real socializing… and finally some shots of people!

| Jayne S. Priti S. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

It’s good to enjoy a good times with good people. Good stuff. =)

| Salo R. Mohan K. Laura Y. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

As a staff, I don’t think we can ever get around having at least one good counseling-type moment… and of course - complete with a hug. We have got to be the most supportive group of people on the planet. I fully blame Jan - thanks Jan!

| Priti S. Salo R. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

| Mohan K. Harsha C. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

| Vaness C. Aurena B. Mohan K. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

The next one is probably my favorite of the set… There is nothing like sincere laughter – There is just no real way to replicate that in a predetermined shoot…

| Aurena B. Harsha C. Mohan K. Vaness C. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

| Salo R. Laura Y. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

Yet another example of our group’s deep thought capabilities… but the next few shots show just a little bit of that goofy-ness that is a signature of our gatherings…

| Enrique S. Salo R. Laura Y. | Marciano’s | La Jolla, CA |

I had a whole lotta fun hangin out with the people that watched me grow up a ton over my final years in college… We all have a great chemistry and I know I will be hard-pressed to ever find anything that close, meaningful, and intimate in a working environment… Another blessing…

For all the photog types who may be examining the images, a lot of the pics turned out quite soft… I spent a lot of time shooting wide-open on a high speed prime lens and the highest ISO ever… more tech mistakes as usual… but, hey… I’m learning! And most of them still turned out to be kinda fun =) Also, I decided to give TRA (Totally Rad Actions) a try on this set of photos.. some effects and tweeks are more apparent than others.. and I haven’t pushed the limits of the capabilities of the entire action set – but I must say it has very much accelerated my PS learning – and they are just plain fun!…..

Recently, I had a conversation with my roommate about photography style… Something I have been learning about myself is that I am more of a “naturalist”… I need to be engaged with what I am shooting or the fact that I could care less will absolutely show… In the case of this shoot, I feel fully immersed in who and what I am shooting… I love candids and in general I think I am just an observationalist (hey, it’s my blog – I get to make up some words, right?) And of course you gotta love doing shoots of your favorite good people….

Under the Overpass

2008-02-28T10:31:00.001-08:00

San Diego’s roadways…

A simple shoot on a photowalk I went on recently revealed to me a few things I should take into account before I go on a shoot of this nature… Low-light shooting is hard enough when you are at a place where you don’t have any firm footing, you are worried about dropping a lens you just switched out, and you have to deal with on-coming traffic! This is easily something I wouldn't advise anyone to do to get a good angle – no matter how buttery the composition is…

| The Winking Bus | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

I sat there trying to capture some long dof-friendly shots and traffic blows right by me at what had to be a million miles an hour or something… I QUICKLY jumped back behind the “safety” of the rail guard – but in my defense – I was standing on a legal sidewalk... I just don't think it is a good idea to have your face stuffed in a viewfinder while traffic is blowing by you five feet from your back…

| Public Utilities Port | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

I am a natural light enthusiast – which proves to be a challenge when you are shooting nearly a half an hour after sunset… At any rate…I like what the last shot and the next shot caught…

| Post Sunset Parking Lot | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

Capturing that was difficult to do with my kit 18-70 3.5 glass, but I still believe that my work with the simple equipment will lead me to a more rich experience WHEN I do pick up the right body and all the appropriate glass for every situation…

| Under the Overpass | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

I struggled for a while with this last picture in color… and then I finally hit myself in the head and said – there are a ton of different lighting tones in it – go back to your roots fool! I flipped the switch and it appeared almost exactly how I wanted it… okay, maybe the foreground is suffering from a bit of over exposure, but I like it…I could have set up the tripod, bracketed, and then blended with photoshop… and we can talk for days about all the technical rules that I break, but hey, at the end of the day – the question really is – did you capture what you wanted to capture? My photographic goal in the shot - less is more, simple is best, flaws are actually character in disguise, and go with what you got…

San Francisco

2008-02-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

My hometown...

This series of photos has got to be my favorite set of work so far… If you remember from previous posts, a primary observation of my photos from others is that who I am shows very easily through each shot. This is especially true in this series of shots from my hometown. These shots are actually a few collected over a bunch of different photowalks and have varying characteristics – simple, colorful, high activity, unique points of view. More than likely you’re gonna see another blog entry of a San Francisco photowalk sometime down the line…

| MLK Waterfall | Yurba Buena Gardens | San Francisco, CA |

The textures in the MLK tunnel make for a ton of photographic interest. Walking through there was also very humbling and artistic… There is actually a waterfall to the right and whole lot of visual appeal…

This next shot was on Union Square…

| News Stands - Powell Street | Union Square | San Francisco, CA |

We get bombarded by common media and marketing campaigns so much that it becomes ingrained in our mind… Quite honestly, I virtually walked past this set of stands several times before realizing they were free… The word has become stuck in my mental muscle memory and no longer evokes thoughts of opportunity of gain without cost – FREE doesn’t really register… I suppose it is crazy to realize, but we see so many bits of advertising on our TVs and in the streets that it is no longer a thought process but a subliminal message… I guess you pay a lot more attention when you have a camera in your hands...

Further on the observation of the writing on the walls, I saw this on the way down in to the Powell Street Muni/BART Station…

| No Graffiti | Powell Street Muni/BART Station | San Francisco, CA |

I really couldn’t help but take this shot… and part of me found it kinda comical – I don’t know why though…

This next one is also directly outside of that station…

| Street Show Tap Dance | Powell Street Cable Car Turn-around | San Francisco, CA |

I really love the colors and the depth of the composition – I really wish I was able to capture action in this one though…

The next picture is one that I get some surprising reactions from…

| Bart Ticket Dispenser | Powell Steet Muni/BART Station | San Francisco, CA |

A lot of people who have seen this shot actually really like this shot – for a lot of different reasons… Maybe because of the depth and cleanliness of the shot… There aren’t too many distractions and all the people are at each ticket station… For me – I tend to think it’s because of the Muni/BART sign at the top – but that’s just me.

The next shot was taken when Vaness and I took the ferry over to Sausalito!

| SF Skyline | SF Bay , Sausalito Blue & Gold Ferry | San Francisco, CA |

It’s a classic and typical shot taken a hundred times over, but hey… it's a necessary part of the portfolio… I figure I might as well take one that isn’t too common… And with the added effects, I think it turns out to be a pretty good one overall – I kinda like the natural lens flare too..

This next one wasn’t on my cut list initially, but after a little bit of evaluation, I ended up liking it a lot!

| Bay Bridge, Pier 4 | San Francisco Embarcadero | San Francisco, CA |

Right after I took this shot I felt a bit discouraged because I got shots of the Bay Bridge, but nothing really all that spectacular. Even after the previous shot, I still didn’t feel all that satisfied…

Until I stepped back into the car to leave…

| Bay Bridge, Pier 4 | San Francisco Embarcadero | San Francisco, CA |

I always get asked if I was driving or parked when I took this shot… I was parked… but, I do suppose I could say I was driving – just for the extra mystery to the story! Hmm… Anyways… It is my favorite of the whole set and for me will probably be a piece I take with me everywhere…

I really love and miss the city a lot and maybe someday I will be able to live there… but for now… I’m glad to be in sunny San Diego…

Jesse G.

2008-02-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

My baby brother… the ham… he just loves the camera…

This kid is seriously something else… He is absolutely nothing like me and Tristan and has such a different demeanor, it’s hard to figure if he is actually related to us… He definitely has all the bratty qualities of a little 6 year old, but really does have a warm heart and a cuteness about him that you can’t deny… You can’t deny him ice cream, french fries, chicken nuggets, and chocolate milk…

I really did wish I could be there during his early years – cuz God knows all the cuteness credits he has stored up will begin to fade away as he grows up into a little elementary school kid… one thing I think may never go away though - this guy really loves him some playtime at the park…

| Jesse G. | PC Tot Lot | San Francisco, CA |

Jesse and I spent about an hour diggin little tunnels in the sand so that the autobots would have a home base to battle the decepticons… Then after we were done… he jumped all over our work…

| Jesse G. | PC Tot Lot | San Francisco, CA |

Getting him to pose is just way too easy…Every time I would pull up the camera he had a different little pose for me…

| Jesse G. | PC Tot Lot | San Francisco, CA |

Here is Jesse goin’ against the grain!

| Jesse G. | Children’s Playground | San Francisco, CA |

Now that’s the right direction!

| Jesse G. | Children’s Playground | San Francisco, CA |

This one has a lot of distractions all throughout the photo… but still a fun shot anyways…

| Jesse G. | Children’s Playground | San Francisco, CA |

| Jesse G. | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

Jesse has the sort of character that just attracts… He just has that way about him... It’s gonna be interesting to watch him grow over the years… and hopefully soon someday I will be back in the bay to see all that happen…

Don’t those last two pictures scream “I love the camera”?? Another classic example of how easy it was to take a shoot of this whole set and another example of what you can do too! Be a “Featured” subject soon! Email me will ya?!

R-I-O-R-D-A-N!!!

2008-02-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

My youth’s character building… Football…

This shoot is of the ARHS 2006 Football team. They had just hired a new coach to return the program to its competitive stature and I was able to attend and see a lot of alumni on one of the first games of the year. Here is a shot of one of their starting running backs waiting to get in…

| Riordan RB | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

Rob Jones, pictured next, was actually one of the Riordan sports stars, starting at TE and DE, but was best known for his basketball game… Riordan is very well known for the Basketball program and really their sports program in general…

| Rob Jones | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

I like this next shot of the Defensive huddle – a really simple and easy shot to capture, but something that has a bunch of character to it.

| Riordan Defense | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

It is my goal in life to spend my “retirement” as a high school teacher and football coach. Retirement in quotes because to me, retirement isn’t sitting around and doing nothing – in fact – I don’t believe we are called to just sit around and do nothing in retirement – I really feel we are called to activity for our whole lives and what better way to serve then to go back and serve where I was served – because I was fortunate to have great coaching influences through my entire football experience (Coach P, Coach Nuila, Coach Diaz, Coach Herning)...

| Coaches and the O-line | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

I love that picture because it just captures so much – my coaching goals, intensity, trust, teamwork, respect…

This sport has a pretty particular place in my growing up and so does the High School that I played it at… Football was the growth experience that not too many people get the privilege of having in their high school life. In my freshman year at ARHS I decided right away that I would try out for the football team… I look back at myself now on film and would probably consider myself a bit awkward in my young football life (I think that all freshman are actually – haha)… During tryouts, close to a hundred kids are shootin for 60 spots - so it was reasonably competitive. But, at the time, I didn’t realize how competitive. On the final day of cuts I still had not been selected to make the team. There were probably about 30 students left for 15 spots. I remember the night before, I was so frustrated – and all I remember my dad saying was, “just show ‘em what you can do, and that’s all you can do – don’t worry about it”… I ended up being in the last batch that made the cut and finally received my jersey number and football pads. I picked 56, the only really good number that I liked that was left.

I am convinced that because I made the team the way I did, it shaped a large part of the fighting and appreciative character I possess now. I appreciated what I had and took nothing for granted. I ended up starting 3 ways as a freshman and became a captain – I almost never left the field as a left guard, middle linebacker, and special teamer… My final varsity year as the starting left guard ended up like a movie story… we won WCAL (the most competitive athletic league in the entire bay area) – a feat never accomplished by ARHS in a league dominated by 2 other teams for 25 years…we then went to the finals in State Sectionals and lost by 3 in an intense and close game ending the year 11-2...

Perseverance and life learning from beginning to end – I have a lot of reasons to thank God for the chance given to me to grow in this experience.

M319

2008-02-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

My first photo shoot..

Back in my second year in college I had the privilege of living with the best roommates on the face of this planet (at least next to the roomies that I have now of course!)… David, Victor, Cat, and April – M319… Towards the end of the year I was just getting into the whole photography thing and basically strong-armed everyone into doing a photoshoot for memory’s sake… It turned out to be fun and unforgettable…

More shout outs to photography assistants… my ‘dawta’ Chatess actually helped out with this one… What I did to get the right compositions was just like how you would when everyone is trying to get into the family picture – you set up the pose, leave a space for yourself, set the timer, and run into the frame!... Same concept except Chatess acted as my camera stand – I framed the shot and then told her to look in the viewfinder and made her follow points of reference in the shot… There are more photos from this shoot that I do want to add on here, but I need to track down some of the pictures for scanning… here are 2 out of my 6 favorite shots…

This was a whole lot of fun for me and my roomies at the time and something that I envision YOU, yes YOU the reader having as well! Under the left menu bar is a title called Featured… that explains everything… I’m sure there is someone out there that is looking for an opportunity for a free photo-op like this one… Don’t delay!

Turntable-ism

2008-02-22T02:42:00.000-08:00

My other art…

I was so excited after I graduated from college, I dove head-first into both digi-photo AND DJing at the same time… The art of the turntable was one that was unfamiliar to me, but something that I was completely passionate about learning… I don’t think I would have been able to jump into it if I didn’t move into Flanders directly after graduation (the house of DJs David, Mark, and Tone). I was most definitely blessed to have not only encouraging DJ figures surrounding and guiding me, but also learning and knowledgeable ones as well! I think because of that, I was able to become gig ready extremely fast and full of more resources than I can handle. Here is the entire set…

| DJ ChemE Set | Flanders Home | San Diego, CA |

The very first piece of the entire set I picked up was the right turntable. Mark spotted it for me on Craigslist for a total steal and it was the Technics SL-1200MK5 – the beast of the DJ world. So I HAD to get a matching table – Ebay to the rescue, and directly behind that was the mixer via Ebay as well… Closer up on the mixer…

| Vestax Mixer | Flanders Home | San Diego, CA |

I picked it up based on suggestions by both my housemates Mark and Tone. Definitely a solid pick up. Photographically, it has a bunch of interesting angles and subject matter making for an easy shoot – for example…

| Vestax Mixer | Flanders Home | San Diego, CA |

Then the Decision to go with Serato… like Digital SLRs, it is a revolutionary technology that rewrote the entire industry. Like DJing with Serato where you are given the ability to digitally manipulate your music in ways that were impossible before, photography with Digital SLRs has a whole new artistic realm in the Digital Darkroom of Photoshop… Incredible powers – if used wisely and for good Young Skywalker…

I resisted for a long while, the use of Photoshop to alter or touch-up my digital photos… mostly because I just didn’t believe in its use for photos – and because, well, we just couldn’t do all that with film before! But, I realized that I had already stepped across that line in DJing… I conceded and admitted that Photoshop is the industry standard and has become a commonplace part of a photographer’s complete workflow… so as a novice with Photoshop, I decided to go with the approach ‘less is more’… as I learn it, hopefully I will be able to accomplish this in my photos… although now I don’t mind stylization too much every now and then…

KP PCC 2004 - 'Story'

2008-02-21T23:53:00.000-08:00

My first attempt at event photography...

Dianne, Ginet, and Sheryl's PCC in 2004 was a wonderfully intense experience. A beautifully told story and a great concept - it was probably one of my favorite PCCs or PCNs that I have ever seen... In my third year of college, I decided to sit it out PCC (a decision that proved to be continued on for the rest of my years) and as it turned out, I was exactly where I needed to be. I do not believe an entire UCSD KP PCC performance was ever covered photographically, and in fact, I’m not even so sure that it ever was done again in the same way this one was…

Before I go on further – I have to give credit to my lovely Vaness who actually has an undercover talent for photography as well! She was my 2nd shooter at this stage event and actually turned out some amazing photos… At this point I don’t remember which one’s are hers, but they will be noted in the photo footer if I am sure it is hers… also – remember – these are scans of pictures (cuz digi-SLR wasn’t quite completely mainstream yet)… There were literally hundreds of pictures that me and Vaness took... here are some of the better ones... Enjoy!

| KP PCC | Mandeville Auditorium, UCSD | La Jolla, CA |

Here is the view from my point of view... It is kinda cool to see two views of the same situation! This is actually one of my most favorite shots because of its candid qualities. And I didn't pose them - they are actually doing an acting warm up.

| KP PCC | Mandeville Auditorium, UCSD | La Jolla, CA |

This entire photography experience was really fun. It actually was the first time that I was asked to do event photography – and I would say that it was my first semi-pro assignment! Thanks DQ, G, and ading for that chance! It felt really pro - running to all sorts of locations, having tri-pods pre-positioned, over 20 rolls of film, back-up batteries… it all drove the kind of adrenaline that I love about assignments like this… Imagine doing an indoor, dark, stage performance shoot with a D300! For now, I can only imagine...

Evolution of a Photographer

2008-02-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

More documentation of my first work…

The first here is with David – my roommate at the time.. I asked him if he could help me with a photo assignment I had… He said – what did you want me to do.. I said.. uh.. I have no clue??? Yah, for me photo class was always a struggle because it forced me to follow prompts and assignments – now I see that it could have only helped me.. But, then – I was scraping for any kind of creative epiphany.

Interesting composition – in fact it was voted as the most interesting in my flickr (I have no idea how they determine that metric... This other one from San Francisco is the view from a spot very close to my house. It's at UCSF and is a place not too many people know about…

If you look closely, the right third of the entire photo is out of focus… no it wasn’t intentional, and no it was not a function of my camera or even a shooting mistake … and it isn’t a function of my scanning either… it was a mistake I made in the darkroom – I placed my paper down and got ready to expose, and had some goofy object resting underneath the right corner of my exposure plate… that effectively slanted the paper slightly and thus the result…

Over the years I’ve found that the best pictures that I end up composing are not a function of my vision… Sometimes – you just walk and you find it… Actually, a lot of times that’s the case… since then, I kinda stopped trying to ‘make’ a specific picture and let my surroundings show me what to take… from that it has evolved into… (ha… I can’t believe this is the phrase I came up with) an art.

April's Album Cover

2008-02-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

My very first piece... the signature piece...

I guess it would be appropriate for me to start from the start. My name is Daniel and I am an aspiring professional photographer. I have been taking pictures since I was in high school and have really never taken it seriously as an art until I was in college. I was that guy in the group that always had a disposable camera (remember those?) and was always fascinated and appreciative of artful photography… I’m originally from San Francisco and as is so cliché – I have undoubtedly left my heart in that city. I have been told that the heart that I have for my hometown easily shows in my photography. I suppose when this observation was made is when I recognized that this is the art that God has called me to explore. Because ‘ME’ is so easily seen in these pictures, it was hard for me to deny photography’s place in my life…

I don’t claim to have all the knowledge or technical understanding of the craft, but I do have the passion and calling for it. I may make a ton of rookie technical mistakes this early in my career – but that technical expertise that will come… Fact of the matter is, composition is the key… and the composition of my first shot is something that has become a sort of hallmark for me as a photographer.

Every single time I mention the word photography to anyone who has known me for at least 5 years – and knows I take pictures – says something like this…. “Yah! You know, every time I think of your photography, I think of that one picture… It’s a black and white picture of April and her guitar in front of that wall! It’s like… her album cover… if she had an album…” That picture’s composition is so simple and very much the style of my photography… Album cover worthy??? Well, my own harshest critic (me) would say, “its nice, a bit out of focus, maybe could have been reframed, a more textured wall could have helped, and there is that distracting little black block on the top left.” But, in truth – it is a wonderful picture – maybe not perfect, but what really is?

Since then, I have grown exponentially and have shifted to digital SLRs a year and a half ago. I am just starting to learn all the ins-and-outs, but it has been crazy. Beware - a few of the early posts on this blog will be SCANS of some of my old 35mm work (look for the tag on the bottom right) so picture quality isn’t great by any stretch…

I’m doing the blog thing 1st as a means for exposure, but also just to share and document my walk as a photographer. I really do believe in sharing art so… don’t be afraid to leave comments and please do follow along! And of course, if you need a photographer, I need the portfolio, so…

So here is to my first portrait shot… on my first post… on my first photoblog… on the revival and continuance of my photographic career… which God promises me to be a rewarding, blessed, and amazing ride… Startin’ from the start…