Inlaw Outlaw Party...

So while i was up in Big Bear (yeah i know this is WAAAYYYYY overdue.....sorry) i had to come down to do a family portrait for Caren Brownlie and her extended family. They had family come in from all over the place and it was so much fun to be there with them. I couldnt believe how open and welcoming they were, it was amazing, i wanted to stay and just meet all of them and hear their stories. Thank you so much Caren for allowing me to photograph your family and for making me feel like a member of the family, you were all so amazing............i wish there were more families that are as welcoming as you guys were. Heres some photos from the day.

A few last images for the road....

Just came back inside from outside and im defrosting......im exhausted though so i wont write much. I looked outside and just felt like i had to go out there to get a couple of last minute pictures. Shooting at night is so incredible and fun for reasons to numerous to go into. Needless to say God has an incredible imagination and i just love the fact that all the incredible beauty of nature can be appreciated any time of the day or in this case night. Here are the pics from tonight, hope you enjoy them. Good night.

So it continues......

It snowed again last night, got down to 11 degrees so it was FREEZING outside. Woke up today and there was a fresh blanket of snow and the lake that was in a liquid state yesterday is now a big block of ice.Of course i had to venture out again today and try to get some shots, everything is really white and grey so i focused more on doing some macro stuff rather then shooting landscape shots. Wouldnt you know it though.....as soon as i set up my shot then the wind starts to blow!!!!! Yeah that was lots of fun! Oh well at least i stayed warm, all in all i had a lot of fun, i hope to get some night shots tonight since it is our last night here. Well thats all for now, enjoy the photos.


This lake was liquid yesterday:

Frag Bear got dumped on....

So i had to go down to Carlsbad on Saturday for a family portrait shoot that i had to do. My brother David was kind enough to take me all the way down, wait for me and then bring me back up. Well before we had even left for the cabin on Thursday we knew that there was the possibility for snow, but on Saturday those chances had dropped and David and I thought that we probably wouldnt get any snow. Oh how wrong we were, on the way back up we see dark clouds enveloping the mountain, our hopes of reaching the cabin without incident were shattered as we saw that once we got on the mountain it started to rain and the temperature began to drop. "well maybe it isn't snowing yet" we both said, and then we began to see cars coming down COVERED in snow............and then we were engulfed. Oh what fun it was to be in the snow putting on chains and being pelted by ice. Yeah how about NO!!! We were about 30min away from the cabin but that turned into about an hour trip since we had to drive in the storm. We made it back safe and sound, and it snowed all night long, so this morning everything was white. I eagerly anticipated the afternoon light so that i could go out and have some fun, and now here i am ready to show you how beautiful it is up here. Enjoy the photos.

Big Bear LAN Party 06.....

Or as my brothers Steve and David have so affectionately dubbed it "Camp Frag Bear 06". Its that time of year when all of us nerds get away for a week of all night computer games, good food, good brew, non stop movies and great company. Yes we actually retreat to the mountains to play computer games, i know i know......you don't understand the appeal right? Well im not going to try to explain it, but aside from all the indoors fun we do venture outside, and i will tell you it is BEAUTIFUL up here. The temp is about 40 degrees outside right now, and i couldn't resist the urge or more accurately the need to go outside and do a nice long exposure. So once again, i venture out and have some fun with all of the gear i hope it snows a little so i can get some fun images. So far it has been a lot of fun, i look forward to the rest of the week to see what it will bring. Heres a picture of our sanctuary up in the mountains...........my life is just way to much fun. For those of you who are wondering....yes i do miss my wife and look forward to seeing her soon. Enjoy.

My French Nemesis...

For many years now i have had the "pleasure" of knowing Callyn Galloway. Callyn is one of those people that likes to fight back and thinks that there is hope of defeating me whenever we get into an insult match. Yet after all these years of constant defeat she still hasn't learned that there is just no way to defeat me and my amazing verbal wit, but you gotta give her credit she just keeps on trying. Shes like the little engine that could, she thinks she can, i guess you could say that i am oh i dont know........the Intercontinental Ballistic Nuclear Missile that comes out of nowhere and vaporizes her!!!!! Muahahahahaha.......she eventually sees that there really is no hope and bows her head in shame. I pat her on the back and tell her its ok......youre part French. So this back an forth banter has been going on for years, truth be told i have nothing but the utmost respect for her. Ive often thought that if i could have another sister and pick who it would be then it would be Callyn. She is just too cool and extremely talented musically. Anywho, a few months back Callyn asked me if i would take her senior portraits, i of course said yes and was very excited for the opportunity. Well yesterday we finally got around to getting the shoot done and i gotta tell ya, it was one of the funnest ones that i have done to date, her boyfriend matt came along and he became my diffuser holder which was a huge help. After we were finished we still had some time so we did a little "couples" shoot around O'side and that was a blast too, cus we all know how much guys just love to take pictures. All i have to say is thanks for a great afternoon guys, and Callyn, know that despite all my teasing i love you dearly! heres some pics. Enjoy.

oooooooh a new toooy!!!!

Well, i have been getting enough work that i was able to order a new toy!! I placed an order for the Nikon 12-24 DX zoom lens.........finally i get my wide angle capability back!!!! I am super excited right now and cannot wait for this lens to come in, i have been shooting all of my extreme wide anlge stuff with my fisheye right now. I cannot tell you how annoying that can be to only have one lens that can capture what you want and have your pictures start looking the same. So im checking my email on an hourly basis just waiting for the tracking number to come trough, and once it does i will be checking minute by minute just to see where in the country my package is. Be sure to check back soon as im sure that there will be new pics up as soon as it comes in. For now heres a screen shot of the lens.

Goin out to play.....

How cool is it to know that you're working but you feel like your playing? I went to Carlsbad on Tuesday to drop off the cd with the 3 images for Carlsbad Magazine, did various errands and decided to stay in Carlsbad. I went over to Vinaka ( our favorite coffee shop) and decided to work from there, since they have free Wi-Fi I set up my laptop there and answered emails for the afernoon.......you gotta love technology!!!!! It got to be right before sunset and since I had my gear with me I decided to pack up and go shoot, shot some random stuff and waited until after the sun had gone down to do some long exposure stuff. I didn't have my tripod with me so this made for a very interesting endeavor. I was at the jetti at tamarack and the tide was pretty low so I wanted to get closer to the water so I could get more of the moving water with my wide angle lens. While my gear didn't get wet my shoes did, the water was surprisingly warm.......but man did it get cold after the sun went down. My feet were FREEZING!!!!! Lesson for the day? Always take your stinkin tripod and always remove your shoes before you get close to the water.......despite the death of my shoes I still had a blast. Here's some shots.

And now more cool news...

I dont know if i mentioned this in the Carlsbad Street Fair post i did a while back, if i didnt then here it is. While i was shooting at the street fair i saw a booth for Carlsbad Magazine, its a small magazine that focuses on Carlsbad and the lifetyle and culture for that community. Its a pretty cool publication and i have always wondered if i could submit photos to them and have them printed. Well i never really got around to looking into it and seeing if they do take outside work into consideration.......but at the street fair i finally got my chance. I went up and met Tim Wrisley and asked if they were ever looking for photographers, to my delight he said yes!! So he asked me to submit some photos for their next issue and so began the journey. I told my parents about it and they were totally excited about it and they have been lifting it up in prayer since i found out about just the possibility of having some work published.I submitted a bunch of photos and they seemed to like most of them, but it was so nerve racking just waiting to find out to see if they would take any of them. So about a week ago i get an email from Mr. Wrisley and he let me know that theres 3 photos that he really liked and wanted high res images for publication. I am totally excited to have some of my work published, the exposure that i can get from this is a very cool thing right now. As you can see its been a pretty exciting few weeks for me, its amazing to see everything happen and seeing God just open doors and providing. Right now im just enjoying life and preparing myself for whatever trials are coming up, because when they come im sure ill look back on this time and remember that God always provides. I certainly could not have come to this pont without Him and the support of my amazing wife. And to have the amazing support and encouragement from my parents has been amazing....thank you guys for believing in me. Heres the 3 photos that will be published, look for the new issue to come out on Jan 1st.

Test Subject # 2...

Ok my second shot for this little project was my other borther in-law John, hes more of a beach person and loves to surf. So for this one the logical choice was the beach, he was a little apprehensive at first, but thats why i love digital. You can take a few shots and look at the good ones and show your subject that they dont look stupid like they think they do and its a totally different person in front of the camera after that. This shoot was even more fun cus my wife came with me and helped out so much!!!! You never realize how much work you do on location until someone else is helping you and you realize that your job is about 1000 time easier!!!! Why is it easier? Oh yeah!!! i didint have to hold that reflector, while keeping the camera steady and look through the viewfinder to make sure my focus is still sharp!!!! So thank you to my lovely assitant, and to John too for being such a good sport. Plus it was fun to hang out with him since i dont get to see him much. Ok ill be quiet now, heres some pics.