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.

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...

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 ;-)

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.

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......

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!

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.