Every morning while traveling to our crew “meet-up” spot on base, we drive down “Old Ironsides Avenue”, passing this tank on the way. I don’t know if this tank is the actual “Old Ironsides”, but it looks cool! On Saturday morning we traveled the same route, but noticed the awesome sunrise while passing the tank. I hopped out of the van for a quick shot, and here’s the result.
More shots coming soon!
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As many of you know, I’m currently out in Radcliff, KY at the Ft. Knox Army base shooting images of ROTC leadership training courses. Today was day 4 of 9, and things have been rolling along smoothly thus far. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next few days, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll have enough time to shoot before the skies open up and the storms roll in.
While I’m out here, I’m usually up before the sun rises, and then after shooting it’s back here to my hotel to catch up on client work. That means the blog has had to suffer a little bit. There’s just not enough time in my days while I’m out here!
Here are a few random shots from the last few days. Keep in mind that other than the “standard” portraits, all of these images are taken as they happen. The cadets go about their training, and I have to wiggle my way into the mix and pick up moments without disturbing them, or the rest of the training squads and leaders. Most of the time I’m using my telephoto lens, and running around liek crazy trying to capture a moment before it ends.
My buddy Ch4d is out here with me, and expressed his unhappiness to me about the lack of pictures on the blog featuring him. So, to start off, here’s a snap of Ch4d from earlier today. If you look close, you’ll see me doing a stupid pose in the reflection of his glasses. I’m on the right. I don’t know who’s in the left side. The boogeyman?
And here are a few more from the last few days:
A couple of portraits:
Yes, I’m hanging over the edge of a 50 ft. tower while getting this shot. (Sorry Mom!)
Check back for more images over the next few days!
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Just a quick note to let all of my clients and blog viewers know that I’ll be out of the office until July 7th. I’m currently in Ft. Knox Kentucky shooting for the US Army. I have internet and phone access, but my schedule is a bit unpredictable. If you call or send an e-mail, I’ll do my best to respond as quickly as possible. If you don’t here from me right away, please know that I will respond as soon as my schedule allows.
I’ll be posting pictures from the shoot in the coming days, but for now, this iPhone shot definitely made me do a double take. I didn’t realize you could actually get gas for less that $4.69/gallon. This is the station right next to my hotel:
Check back in the coming days for Army images!
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Yesterday I had the pleasure of assisting my good friend Melissa Koehler at a wedding down at the Island Palms on Shelter Island. It’s been at least a year and a half since I’ve had the chance to be a 2nd photographer at a wedding. Melissa is awesome, and it was a blast to watch her do her thing. I forgot how fun it can be to just assist, and help out a fellow photographer.
Here are a few shots I was able to snag throughout the afternoon.
A couple dress details:
Shoes!
The beautiful bride just chillin’ and relaxin’ while getting ready. She’s so stunning!
I love this Summery, flared out, warm and glowing portrait of the bride:
And one more for good measure:
The lucky groom:
A shot of the bride struttin’ her stuff on the way to the ceremony:
I love this moment with the bride and her parents hidden behind a wall, just before turning the corner to walk down the aisle.
A beautiful, sunny, southern California day on the harbor:
The happy couple:
A nice moment:
I’ll take my cake with a slice of flare on the side, please:
The first dance:
The groom secretly created a slideshow of images of both him and his bride. The photographs ranged from her as a baby, all the way through their relationship together. He did an amazing job, and the bride was in tears the entire time.
Melissa brought along her husband Mark to help us out throughout the day. He was awesome! Here’s a cute snap of the two of them during the reception:
Missi, thank you so much for allowing me to come along and help out yesterday. I’d forgotten how fun assisting can be!
Be sure to check out her images on her blog!
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While it’s been excessively hot for the last few days, today is the actual first day of Summer. Well, at 4:59pm PST it will officially begin. I’m so happy to be moving out of East County, as the temperatures out here are consistently 10 degrees hotter than where we’re moving.
Here’s an iPhone snap of the temperature gage in my car from earlier today:
Things are slated to cool off in the next few days, but I’ll be out of town by then. I hope the Midwest is a little cooler than out here!
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On Wednesday afternoon I met up with a wonderful couple at Balboa Park to snap a few engagement photos. I was originally scheduled to photograph these guys a few weeks back, but it just happened to be the day my kidney stone took me out. They were super-cool about having to re-schedule, and it ended up working out beautifully, as the light could not have been better!
It’s certainly makes my job easier when the couple is ridiculously hot:
The famous Balboa Park tree roots:
Again, ridiculously good looking:
I couldn’t decide on which one of the following moments I liked best, so I through them all into a fun little collage:
And quite possibly my favorite moment of the day. Some days the light just blows me away!
On a side note, every single one of these images were tweaked and beautified using the brand new set of Totally Rad Actions – The Revenge! If you haven’t yet picked them up, click the banner below to snag your your own set!
I also want to say a special thank you to my friend Chris for referring these guys to me!
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Last night Jen and I headed up to Mira Mesa to spend some time with our good friends, and fellow photographers, David and Kimi Baxter. It’s almost impossible to spend time with these guys without smiling the entire time. David has a fantastic sense of humor, Kimi has the most infectious laugh I’ve ever heard, and both are just all around good, good people.
Before heading out to dinner, I snapped a couple headshots for David, and thought I’d post a couple here.
Photographer’s note about this image: Other than a TINY amount of clean-up under the eyes and skin, and some sharpening for the web, this image is straight-out-of-camera. I shot this using my in camera cross process color settings. I often talk about my in-camera cross process color settings, and how it should be used very sparingly, but sometimes the color just seems to work beautifully without the need for ANY adjustments in Photoshop.
Thanks guys for your hospitality, and a fun evening!
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Yesterday shortly before my procedure during the preparation, a nurse asked me to “sign my initials” near the approximate area where the procedure would be taking place. I thought that was a little weird, but then quickly realized they weren’t taking any chances when it came to the procedure/location of every patient.
It reminded me of stories I’ve heard about patients going in for certain operations, only to find out later that a completely different procedure had taken place. Like… going in for a colonoscopy, only to realize the doctor had performed a vasectomy. Or someone going in to have their left pinky amputated, only to have their right leg removed. Scary, scary stuff. That’s why it was very good to have no less that 5 nurses and doctors verify who I was, and what procedure I was having prior to entering the O.R. You can never be too careful!
It was difficult for me to sign my own left abdomen, so I had Jen do the honors. Whatever kind of ink is in that pen will NOT come off! I’ve taken three showers since yesterday morning, and it’s not going anywhere. Jen has permanently branded me!
iPhone abdomen goodness.
I missed my crunches last week, so I apologize for not having my usual six-pack. :)
Happy Friday everyone!
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My Lithotripsy procedure went very well this morning! I was in the hospital at 5:45am, and out by 10:00am. I first want to sign the praises of the absolutely amazing staff at Sharp Rees Steely. From start to finish, today went as smooth as I could have ever hoped. Every single employee given some sort of task regarding my short stay (at least 15 people) was pleasant and professional.
I was put under at 7:30am, and woke up at 9am while being wheeled down the corridor to the post-op area. I have a bit of dull pain that will hopefully subside by tomorrow. Now, all that’s left to do is hope that the procedure did what was intended in breaking up the stone. The only way to know that, is to wait and see if the fragments begin to pass.
I know that this was a very simple procedure, but I do want to thank everyone for their support, and taking an interest in my well being. You guys are fantastic!
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This past Saturday I had the chance to photograph another wonderful wedding here in beautiful sunny San Diego. After a few weeks of extreme temperatures running the gamut from super-hot to cold and rainy, this weekend’s weather returned to the sunny, mid 70′s beauty we all love.
After a 7 year engagement, everything came together perfectly this past weekend. From the touching ceremony at Blessed Sacrament church in Talmage, to the elegant reception at the Rancho Bernardo Courtyard, these two took their time to get it just right. Due to some time restrictions, I was not able to capture the usual details of the wedding dress and shoes. Sometimes that’s not possible, and that’s ok. I was able to snag a quick shot of the bouquet:
A couple of the beautiful bride:
The groom was exceptionally relaxed all day long:
I love this shot of him looking suave in the hotel lobby:
The groom’s son was a super-cool young man. Here he is showing some pumped up energy:
It’s very apparent the groom and his son share a very special and close relationship. I love this shot of the two of them:
I love kids at weddings:
I love these next two images – The bride and her father in a moment just before the walk down the aisle, and the grooms reaction to seeing his his beautiful bride for the first time:
A sweet, subtle moment just after the exchange of rings:
A couple shots of the happy couple:
The reception was held at the beautiful Rancho Bernardo Courtyard:
Holy pink cakes!
Proud father:
A nice stolen moment during dinner:
A gorgeous night for a party!
Special thanks to my buddy Aaron Dieppa for coming all the way down from Orange County to shoot with me! You can check out some of his images on his blog.
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