Friday, December 11, 2009

I'm Published!


Lately I've been submitting photos to various magazines and on-line venues. It's a great way to achieve recognition and get, well, recognized. ;-) It's always a great feeling when someone appreciates your work, and they can empathize with what you are creating. But nothing says this more when you receive praise from your peers. As of this week, I am an officially published photographer! This is my first time being published, of what I hope to be only the beginning. I'm in the current issue of Shutterbug Magazine, 1/10.

They published a blog that I actually posted months ago which you can check out here: http://mindintheshutter.blogspot.com/2009/06/shopping-in-recession.html

The line for autographs start over to the left. ;-)

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo of the Week


Portraiture can be one of the greatest challenges in photography. How do you "stage" a shoot, but capture natural and spontaneous expressions? More times than not, the perfect shot ends up being when the person least expects it...


Tower of Power at Golden Hour




Here's a series of images I was able to capture just as the setting sun was hiding behind the clouds. These are the giant electrical towers that run through Mission Valley. The dark horizon is where the turf meets the surf in Point Loma (near where the San Diego River runs into the Ocean).


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Photo of the Week


This week's featured photo is a night shot of Mission Valley. It's facing south, from the bluffs above Fashion Valley Mall, looking across to Hillcrest. This was a 30 second exposure at a small aperture of f/16 to bring out the starbursts in the lights.


Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Mission Bay Morning






It must have been the perfect, sunny and warm weather, but the other morning I was hit with inspiration to head to Mission Bay and capture some of this "morning mood". As I found myself being drawn towards Ski Beach at Mission Bay, I notice how calm and tranquil it was. Much different at 8am, as opposed to the hustle and bustle later in the day. Here's a few of the images I was able to bring home...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Get Your Yacht On!





Well, I just recently had my most challenging assignment yet. I was hired to shoot interior and exterior shots of a yacht that recently went on the market. It was the middle of the day, and the sun was shining in through all the windows into the much darker interior. The contrasting light was definitely the most challenging I've encountered. I captured all these shots with no controlled lighting! I was able to work around it by shooting at different exposures and "fusing" the photos together to get a fuller exposure. And I won't even start about the lower interior of the yacht - no windows, low lighting, and bathrooms not much bigger than an outhouse. But I love the challenge, I love the experience, and I love learning. I kinda loved that yacht too - whew! The greatest thing about this assignment was gaining invaluable experience and how to do a better job with better techniques next time. A big THANK YOU to Mark Gibbons who hired me and trusted me, knowing that it would be my first yacht shoot. It only gets better from here ;-)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Rises and Sets



Hello world! I hope everyone had a fun and safe Spook Day - a.k.a. Halloween. It must be the change of the seasons, but we've been having some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. I was able to capture both of these over the weekend - each taken from my balcony overlooking Mission Valley, here in San Diego. The sunrise had this amazing hue of the deepest red/orange I have ever seen. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this super-thick blanket of fog rolling inward through the valley as the sun was going down.


Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Photo of the Week


Ahhh the famous "eyeball" shot. I recently put together a "Lil Book of Macros", and this was one of the featured photos in the book. I actually captured this shot by bouncing diffused light off the ceiling to retain the softness and even lighting. And of course, a little touch-up in Photoshop - enhancing the eye color and pulling back the detail and saturation in the skin. Here's looking at you......



Friday, September 25, 2009

Make Me Retro!

I don't know what it is about the retro look. Maybe it's just that I like things to look different, with it's own unique flavor. In the past few years I have been delving deeper into different effects of the retro look. Call it what you will - retro, throwback, old school, vintage - but they all give a certain "feeling" and "mood". The effects can turn a regular looking photo into something unique and creative. I am currently playing around with a new effect I am calling "Make Me Retro". Here's a few samples of the look. It's still under the "polishing" stages, but I'm really liking this..... Far Out!





Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Photo of the Week


I always get hit with a sense of calmness and peace whenever the hustle and bustle stops. Even if it's for a brief moment. While at this very busy park the other day, filled to the brim with kids, not only did the swing set become vacant, but it actually became vacant long enough to become still.


Monday, August 31, 2009

Photo of the Week


I just finished up an Engagement shoot in Balboa Park. The couple are actually friends of mine - Tamara and Chris. Balboa Park makes such a great location for this type of shoot, with all the intricate architecture and prolific flora and fauna. And, of course, you gotta have great subjects - and they were....naturals. Thank you Tamara and Chris for this opportunity. This photo is one of my favs from the shoot. I don't think Tamara was complaining too much either. Congrats to both of you!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

Photo of the Week


Last week I finally got to experience the Nighttime Zoo at the San Diego Zoo. The best way to describe it - less people, more animals. And by animals, I'm not talking about the children. I'm talking actual lions, tigers, and bears. This shot, which I call "Monkey Love" was actually taken in very low light. I used a 300mm zoom lens with the light sensitivity (ISO) cranked way up. This creates a lot of "noise". But thanks to a little post-production magic, I'm able to remove most of the noise. I also sprinkled a little monkey dust on the post-production process to give it that high dynamic range look - where you can see all the details in the shadows and in the highlights. It also helps when you're wearing a yellow hat.


Thursday, August 20, 2009

Balboa Park

Here's a series of photos from last weekend while cruisin around Balboa Park in San Diego. That "hyperreal" effect is achieved through special sharpening techniques I apply in post production. A great way to bring out detail and give it an interesting flavor.






Monday, August 17, 2009

Photo of the Week


If the three most popular things in real estate is "Location, Location, Location", then for photography, it would be "Lighting, Lighting, Lighting." Even the word "Photography" means, "Light" and "Writing". Writing with Light. I captured this image - converting it to black and white, to bring more attention to the dramatic lighting.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Spider at the Front Door


It's almost as if I actually heard a knock at the front door, when I opened it and saw this. I was amazed at the size of, not only the spider itself, but of the full-blown web. I knew I had to capture this moment. Getting in close was the scary part. I mean, maybe these things are black-belts and can leap 30ft through the air. Who knows... I was able to get off a few shots, and then suddenly, it looked up at me and opened it's mouth - almost as if it had enough of me - giving me a warning to leave before he gets all ninja on me. My entire body filled with chills and fear, but I got the shot, which is what you see here. Then I happily, and quickly left.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Romance on the Rocks


This moment was captured while hiking around the trails at Sunset Cliffs in Ocean Beach. The high tonal range and hyperreal appearance was achieved by a technique where I "digitally develop" the same photo twice. Once for the highlights, and once for the darks. Then I fuse the two photos together and I'm able to achieve this pseudo high dynamic range effect. I think this is where I'm supposed to wave my digital wand.....


Friday, July 31, 2009

Draw Me a Photo

Another style that I really dig is the hand-rendered or hyperstylized look. I admit, it's a little trendy, but it's not an easy look to achieve, but when you can get the perfect look, it really gives another dimension to the photos. And it doesn't work well on all photos - it seems to be very judgmental. Below are some of my experimental renditions of this style....






Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Groovy Color

Lately I've been really into exploring colors. I've created a coloring technique which gives my photographs a very hyper-exaggerated flair of color. I like it so much, I actually made a name for it - it's called "Make Me Groovy". With this in mind, last weekend I went in search of some subjects that would best show off this technique. Behold my grooviness!







Monday, July 27, 2009

Photo of the Week


Here was a shot I captured using a shallow depth of field with this interesting perspective. With the electrical wires strung through the clouds, I can't help but think of ol' Ben Franklin.


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Jesi and Brian's Wedding

Last Saturday I had the privilege to attend the wedding of my friends, Jesi and Brian. For some crazy reason (I wonder why) I had a strong desire to bring my camera gear. I guess I'm just one not to miss any photo opps! Although they had a hired photographer, I still thought I might be able to get some decent shots to complement the collection. Of course, I was glued to my seat, and I couldn't control the lighting at any point, but some of the shots came out ok, all things considering. And we won't even mention the champagne. Oh, and the one where they are walking to the customized stalls - let's just thank Photoshop for that one. Shhhh, they haven't seen that photo yet ;-)