Let the posting begin!!

Im back in the game!! A delicious new toy came in and i have it all set up and running, ill be posting "opening" ceremony photos soon, in the mean time i have been using the time to get caught up on the massive amounts of photos from Hawaii, weddings that needed to be finished, portrait shoots that needed processing, shooting shooting shooting..........its feels crazy at times but its exciting also. Ive really enjoyed going over the Hawaii photos from this year and seeing just how incredibly different they are from anything i have taken i years past. Also refining editing techniques so some photos have been re-processed to look a lot more natural than before, all part of the learning experience. So yeah, stay tuned to the blog cus the coming weeks i will be posting a lot as more and more stuff gets finished and i make more time to go out and shoot. 1st off as promised Hawaii photos, these are from all 3 islands that we visited on our 3 1/2 week stay this summer. Enjoy!!


North Shore on the Big Island, you can only explore this area in a jeep.


Heading toward the south side of the island, we shot the sunrise there. This was before the sun had come out.


Sunset on the beautiful North Shore of the Big Island




Rainbow Falls in the morning on the Hilo side of the Big Island


Boggie Boarder catching a wave in Anahola Bay Kauai


Beautiful waves at sunset in Anahola Bay Kauai




Sea turtle at a white sand beach on the Big Island


Great vistas off the side of the road on Maui


The Gorgeous Iao Valley in Maui


5 Photo composite of rainbow falls on the Hilo side of the Big Island


Threadfin Butterfly fish


A small school of Yellow Tangs in Honaunau on the Big Island


Snorkeling Molokini 2.5 miles off the island of Maui, not sure what kind of fish these are.


Sea Turtle at Tunnels beach on Kaui


Sea Turtle at Lawai on the island of Kaui




Sea Turtle swimming the reef at Ke'e Beach on the North Shore of Kaui


Photographer and our tour boat at Molokini on Maui


Our tour boat at Molokini on Maui


Stair through the forest on the short hike to the Seven Sacred Pools on Maui


Wild flowers on Kaui

coming down the pipeline.....

things coming soon to the blog!

more hawaii stuff!!






the amazing and beautiful taylor johnson!!






coolest family you will ever meet.....the incredible Groths!






Wedding stuff!!





and opening ceremony photos for a delicious new toy!!! what could it be?!?! find out next week!

I heart summer time....

Couple of weeks ago my wife convinced me to go to the beach for sunset, im glad she did. I have been really busy editing and trying to catch up on my work that i havent had time to go shoot. This was a nice little respite from all the editing i have been doing.....helps me keep my sanity. Love being so close to the beach, just a couple of photos for you but hope you enjoy them anyway.

Giving credit where credit is due......

Its true, every photographer likes to hear and know that his or her work is appreciated or dare i say loved. Its nice to know that your work is appreciated, this is specially true in wedding photography. Happy clients equals word of mouth business, with the business having a central figure (the photographer, in this case me) the one that meets with the clients, books the sessions, shoots a majority of the photos and as all the photos are being enjoyed and ooh'ed and aah'ed by the aforementioned happy clients the photographer is the one who gets ALL OF THE CREDIT! Yet the question must be posed. What about the assistant? Thus this question brings us to the ultimate purpose of this post, because in all honesty while yes i am the one who has all of the weird ideas i truly would not be where i am today with out my assistant. It is and awesome coincidence that my assistant is also my wife! It is unfortunate though that few people realize that so many of the photos that they love come not from me but from my wife, the one who hangs back behind me while i shoot all of the "important" stuff and shoots incredibly beautiful candid moments. Little slices of time that would be forever lost to fallible human memory were it not for her, she hangs back and captures these wonderful things with great skill and precision. Still this is not what makes her so amazing........what makes her so amazing is the fact that she takes an incredible burden upon herself by being my assistant. 1st of all she has to deal with me and my impatience all day long ( no easy task ) but more amazingly when she shoots a wedding with me she is giving up an entire day out of her weekend, her time to rest from her full time job as an amazingly skilled accountant. To some this may seem like a random thing to post on the blog, but for me it is important to note that what i do i do not do alone. Greatness must be recognized from time to time and Jens talent has hung in the shadows long enough. In my wife i see greatness and an ability to capture touching moment that can bring tears to the eyes of a client. Be it a small detail in decoration, a smile on a loved one, or that boisterous laugh from someone they love, these things are very special to a bride and groom for they experience so few of these moments on their big day. How blessed am i to have a partner helping me with the ability and sensitivity to captures these wonderful moments. Where would i be without you Jen? Not something that i care to fathom, from the bottom of my heart i thank you Jen you make my job so much easier and enjoyable. I love you and delight in your growth behind the lens.

TURTLE!!! TURTLE!!!

That little outcry is something that you hear on beaches all over the island, it always comes from tourist in the water that see one and pop right up and yell for everyone to come over to see the turtle or from some freaked out person whos never seen one they dont pop out of the water but still yell it out underwater forgetting that they have a snorkel in ther mouth. The affect is always the same though, people flip out and come over in swarms and start following them all over the place and the thing that really ticks me off is all of these people trying to touch the turtle. Really makes me want to go over there and punch some of them in the face, i know i difficult to restrain yourself but really people, they are endangered creatures that if you agitate them they will probably protect themselves. Anywho, i love these creatures, they are incredibly docile and gentle and incredibly curious, sit still long enough and they will probably come over to check you out. It help that they can see their own reflection in the port of the housing so they think they are looking at another turtle.I could seriously stay and watch these guys for hours! Incredibly fun to go out and find them and shoot photos. Its incredibly sad that these creatures are endangered but lucky for all of us they are very well protected by the law and their numbers are on the rise and with luck they will be around for a long long time. So heres some photos of these beautiful animals..........

Aloha from Maui!!

Wow, its hard to believe that it has been 3 1/2 weeks since we left San Diego. Our trip has come to a close, and this will be the last post that i do from the islands.........but it wont be the last i do about our vacation. So this was the 1st time that we have been on Maui and my emotions about it are definitely mixed. The is land certainly has its charm and beauty but it is defitnitely very "touristy". I found myself really kind of frustrated with the mix of people here on the island and how there are resorts EVERYWHERE!! Still, there are some very beautiful places to see the Aiao Valley is gorgeous, the north side of the island has some spectacular views, Honolua Bay offered some INCREDIBLE snorkeling, the Road to Hana was an incredibly windy drive but also very beautiful. The 1st time on the island is always the most difficult for us as it takes a lot of time to figure out what you want to see and do and you quickly realize that there just isnt enough time to see it all. On top of it all this was our last stop on our trip, and after over 2 weeks of nonstop driving and shooting you eventually hit a wall and its hard to find the energy to do anything. Overall Maui has a lot to offer but you have to like all the touristy type stuff and everything here is incredibly overpriced, Jen and i are used to going to farmers markets and buying tons of local fruit and finding lots of hole in the wall places with cheap good food. Maui had very little to offer of both, we still had an amazing time though and this island i went a little panorama crazy. This is the 1st time that i have really tried to do any serious panoramas and while i think i came away with some good ones its still a process that i am definitely refining and i still have a lot to learn. Stay tuned for more from our trip.......Aloha for now!!