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!

Nighttime Zoo

Here's some more shots from the nighttime zoo.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.....