PetSmart - volunteer photo shoot for charity

On Saturday I donated my time and services to take photos at the Santee PetSmart. For every $10 photo sold, $5 of that went to San Diego Animal Rescue, which is a non-profit that provides foster care for homeless pets awaiting adoption. It was a huge success and I had a lot of fun meeting and playing with the animals ;-)

Lowepro - it's my bag, baby!

I just hooked up with Lowepro (the maker of innovative camera bags) for an exciting project! I'll be testing and photographing some "top secret" new products that are yet to be announced. In addition, I'll be coordinating and organizing a collaboration between Lowepro and the SD SmugMug Photographer's User Group to get other photographer's involved. This IS my bag, baby! ;-)

Photo Love

I'm in the process of updating my portfolio. Since I went pro about 5 years ago, I've accumulated thousands of photos. I love siftin' through my art and reconnecting with photos from the past...

Photographers Photographing Photographers

Windansea Landscape Shot

Taken during sunset at Windansea. 4 second exposure with off-camera flash at right to bring out details in the foreground.

On-line Photo Album

Hey friends! Here's an on-line photo album featuring some of my work. Wait a minute - I'm not sure I'm vibin' with that word "work". Here's my photo album featuring some of my "play". Ahhh, much better  ;-)

www.mindintheshutter.com/de-Alba-Photography-10x10-Album-online.pdf

Photo Album

Hey all! I put together a de Alba Photography Photo Album, and wanted to share one of the pages ;-) This was a wedding party shoot from last year...

Kid Shoot

Some photos from my latest kiddie shoot...

New Lighting!

Just got some additional, travel/portable lighting equipment to add to the arsenal ;-) Here's a few quick shots of my first test. Both shot during dusk using a single light strobe about 10 feet away to camera right, using a 45inch reflector for diffusion and balanced with the ambient light. Stayed tuned as I take the equipment out on my off-site shoots for some high-end pro shots. ;-)

The Viking

Here's some photos from a recent shoot out on San Diego Bay. The yacht, "The Viking", was for sale, so I was hired to capture interior and exterior shots to be used for the listings. I love my job! ;-)

It looks like a bebe!

Here's a collage of some of the photos from a recent shoot. Thanks to Natalie and Scott for trusting me and opening up, allowing me to capture some of these intimate moments ;-)

Lens Crafter

Here's one of the shots from my latest assignment. The client (PTI) was looking for a close-up, creative shot of a lens, with reflection on the glass and dark surroundings. BAM! ;-)

Me and famous Photographer Rick Sammon!

Tonight I went to a seminar by photography guru Rick Sammon! He's one of my favorite photographers and I got a chance to meet him afterwards!

Set Point!

I recently went on a shoot to create stock photography images with a tennis theme. Thanks to my buddy Eldred for letting me use his cool racquet and tennis balls to stage the shots. Here's a collage of some of my favorites...

That's Me!

Some shots of me at my latest photo shoot. Photo credits go to my assistant for this job, Steve Marshall, aka Steve-o!

Product Shots!

Here's a few of the final product shots from the Zero Waste USA photo shoot. For each product, I masked out the backgrounds in post-production. Thanks to Steve-o for being a great photo assistant and a big thanks to Tony (owner) for hiring me!

Portraiture Lighting

I recently upgraded my studio lighting set-up!!! It's been a long time coming. Here's a collage of some initial test shots against a white background...

Muskles

I was recently commissioned from a client to do male back and shoulder shots. Here's some of my favs...

Dandelions in the backyard!!!

Fun With Balloons!

San Diego Nightscape

A shot of downtown from the bridge at Balboa Park - and having more fun with creating stars!

Flag Footballin' it up!

I brought the camera out to a local flag football game. I thought I'd have a little fun and practice some sports photography. Although I wasn't using a zoom lens on this one, I still managed to capture a few cool shots.

Moon on the Bridge

Havin' a little fun with compositing here. I captured two separate shots - one of the moon, and one of the bridge. I composited the two shots and created the "halo" effect around the moon. Then I created a 3rd composite layer of pure black, and applied a noise filter for the stars. I merged the 3 layers using masks and a "screen" blend with the stars. All in Photoshop. ;-)

Shape and Form

I love how the shape, form, and grid harmonize.

Experimenting with Color and Texture

Mushrooms in the Front Yard!

Mushrooms in the desert? Couldn't be, could it? I guess when you get dumped on with as much rain as we did here in San Diego over the last few weeks, weird things happen. It kinda makes me wanna go down the rabbit hole...

The Conger Family

Here's a collage of one of my recent shoots out at Mission Trails with the Conger family; Jeff, Amy, and Talon.

A Tuesday at the Beach

The Pest Control peeps came today to spray the place for bugs, so poor me had to evacuate the house and spend 3 hours down at the beach. Of course I couldn't resist taking the camera - here's some of the photos...

Yoga Supreme

Here's a collage of some samples from my latest photo shoot. Much thanks to Brooke for hiring me - and much thanks to Brooke for being such a great model and such a good sport!  ;-)