I was in an interpretive mood.......

I was out at the field with Koa again, he loves to go out there to throw the ball around. The light was fading and Koa was running like crazy, i decided to do some surreal motion stuff. So i cranked the ISO to get some nice grain and dragged the shutter.......i LOVE this 1st image! Dont know why but i was really happy with it, feels very painterly to me. I am continuing my efforts to do minimal processing on my images, the first two images have nothing done to them the last one has a slight reddish filter added to it. Overall im pretty happy with them, the next few weekends will be a challenge though. I have a few portrait shoots coming up and its going to be a challenge for me as my portrait work is where i can go a little overboard. Any thoughts or opinions are always welcome. Enjoy!





How can you say no to this face?!

New Carlsbad Cover

New issue of carlsbad magazine is out, i have the cover shot for this issue. Go pick up a copy, its a good read for all things carlsbad!

For your consideration.....

I present to you 2 different versions of the same photo of my beautiful wife. One has very basic exposure and color corrections and nothing else done to it, the other has more contrast and some toning to it but still does not deviate to far from the original. I like them both but definitely am leaning more towards the natural one. What do you guys think? Any opinions and input are welcome. If you follow the blog you may remember that in my last post i vowed to do a lot less post processing on my images. There actually is a reason for this shift, in seeing the work of many different photographers i began to notice one common thread in all their photos. All of them were using color toning or cross processing effects on their photos, many photographers in their quest to become more artsy have jumped on the band wagon and started using color filters or actions on their photos. Like i said before i am very guilty of this myself and by no means am i saying that i am better or above any one else on this matter. I think that some photographers do it extremely well and have definitely redefined what a photograph can be, for me on the other hand i started to feel like much of my work was just over processed and began to look the same or just downright wacky. I have begun to study the work of the masters again, gone back to the basics to see what makes a photograph great to see why they stand out and what makes me say "that is so cool". Many of the great photographs that i have been going through all have beautiful light and great compositions.........and minimal touch ups. This is my continued goal to bring myself back to basics and reinforce the foundation of my craft, heck i even dug up the old film bodies and loaded a roll in there.............that felt good.

Koa's pleased to make your acquaintance........

You should shake his hand he would love to meet you :) On another note, i feel that so many images now are getting on the artsy bandwagon and are looking over processed. I am not exactly innocent of this but its starting to feel like a crutch more than a tool. Ive been checking out some photographers who shoot some amazing photos and give their photos very minimal processing but they are still amazing photos. From here on out my goal is to use actions and filters less and less and to focus more on composition and lighting. If you follow the blog feel free to keep me accountable to this.......Wish me luck!

The waiting game.....

If there is one word that can describe a constant in landscape photography it is this one........waiting. Waiting for something to happen, waiting for elements to come together, waiting for the light to be juuuuuuuust right. Constant and constant waiting, it is the thing that if you cannot learn how to appreciate the little things in life or just sit there and contemplate it will drive you absolutely crazy. The absolute worst is when you wait and wait and wait and wait and you walk away with nothing, this happens more often than not. Working on something right now (even though im sick as a dog right now) got to the location early, set up and got ready and then i waited, not 100% happy with it but persistence is my middle name.......ill keep at it. Enjoy!

A weekend in the snow......

Last weekend i got to spend the weekend with the college group running around in the snow and throwing said snow at people. The majority of my time was spent doing sound for the worship team, taking photos of people hanging out but i was also able to get a way for a little bit to shoot some landscape photos and hang out with some of the students. Most importantly thought i was able to let go a little bit and get some time to worship and recharge. Theres lots going on with life in general right now, many questions go unanswered, looking for direction...........i think after holding so much back i just finally broke down. It was good and felt refreshing, for that i am grateful. For now all i can do is move forward keep seeking the Lord and pray that HE makes things clearer to me...........i dont want to make this all about me so here some photos from the weekend. Enjoy!!

The last few weeks.....

and weekends have been.......well......incredible! Having the ability to go out and spend time with my beautiful wife and get to do what i love to do all at the same time is an incredible blessing. Since we got our puppy our never ending quest to tire him out so he is not ridiculously hyper at home has gotten us out of the house pretty consistently. The ever changing weather patterns in San Diego have also been a blessing, its given me many opportunities to capture some cool landscapes. Here is the end result. Enjoy!!