Christmas lights

I live near a neighborhood called "Candy Cane Lane" that decorates their houses with lots of Christmas lights. Maybe Grand Ma got run over by a reindeer (a cheesy song) because Santa was driving a truck with Mrs. Claus.

Chanuka pictures.

Yes, I know it is almost Christmas (or Kwanzaa, or whatever you may celebrate), but I was putting together some family pictures and thought I would share.

Graduation from UMass Boston!

I'm finally done finishing up my BA at UMass Boston.
It's finally starting to sink in.
I will not get my diploma until February, and I want to perma plaque it, which takes (another) 8-10 weeks.
When it gets here, I'll make a nice color copy of it and put it in a frame while I'm waiting for the perma plaque to get back.
But that means I still don't have anything for now.
Hmm.
So this is what I did. I went out and bought a mat for a frame that I already have.
Then I printed a B+W laser copy of a photo a classmate sent me when she finished in August. I've kept the photo on my desk top as a reminder and motivation when I was pulling my hair out writing a paper. (I swear I had a lot more hair 16 months ago when I started school again to finish at UMass.) I cut out the diploma portion of the photo, and scotch taped it to the mat.
Totally silly, I know.

Jumping with joy

On Thanksgiving my family gathered at my cousin's house. My cousin Asley, 9, (with the pony tail) is a gymnast. Jumping around with her are my nephew, Ian, and my niece, Michaela. I don't mean Ashley takes a gymnastics class. I mean she is a gymnast. She trains 6 days a week and is home schooled by her mom, Michelle. Ashley declared to her pediatrician at age 5 that she was going to be a gymnast. Really. I couldn't make that up. What's even more astonishing is that she is completely self motivated--this is NOT coming from her parents. Her drive at such a young age is remarkable. She called up her dad (cousin Arnie) at work one day (unusual by itself) and asked if he would get her a trampoline for their backyard so she could train more. Wow. With the high cost of education, we're all hoping she lands a college scholarship, too :-)

Art glass and wedding favors..... sort of.

I discovered art glass many years ago, but at the time it never occurred to me that I could learn to do it myself. So about 3 years ago I took a glass blowing class at Santa Monica College, one of the very few public institutions left that still offer it. I have not blown much in the past year as I have been to busy shooting or working on my classes at UMass to devote the time and energy to it that is really necessary to get good at it.
It's incredibly demanding, and also very expensive and time consuming--kind of like photography, but more dangerous :-). The glass is over 2,000 degrees, and when you work with it, sometimes the only thing between you and a large glob of molten glass is some wet newspaper. Cuts, nicks, dehydration, and of course burns, are quite common. Glass can also explode (literally) if it cools too fast, so when you are in a hot shop, frequently one can hear cracks and pops above the roar of the furnace. I've been cut by flying glass on at least two occasions that I can remember.
I made one pic as a self portrait--look carefully and you will see my reflection. The deep red is because thats just what this glass looks like when it gets "thin" at the bottom of a piece.
The other pic is of the same glass bowl with no added light or photoshop tricks. The patterns and colors are from the metals (gold in this case) in some of the glass I used. It is a process called reduction. It is called reducing because you bring out the metals to the surface by reducing the amount of oxygen in the gas/oxygen mix when you re-heat the glass.
Anyway..... so, um, Dude, what's the wedding connection, huh? I'm so glad you asked! At Rob and Amy's wedding, they gave away succulents as wedding favors. My mom hauled some of them home. The TSA cops at the airport looked at her funny, but let her through with them. I just transplanted them in a larger terra cotta pot, and I put some colored bits of purple/blue and yellow glass shards in the pot also. I think it looks really cool! Do you do any crafty kinds of things, dangerous or otherwise?

Day of The Dead pictures

I had the afternoon free yesterday, so I went to shoot a local Dia de los Meurtos festival (Day of The Dead festival in English for us gringos). And that tiny bride and groom in the foreground of the vertical shot? Yes, that is indeed a cake topper! That dude in the car--yeah, I'd be worried too if I saw him at the wheel :-)

Why photojournalists kick butt

Unless you have been on another planet (have you??), you have seen coverage of the wildfires in Southern California. There have been a LOT of amazing pictures, but sometimes there is one picture that rises to the level of an icon. NPR did a great piece on this photograph, taken by Karen Tapia-Anderson of the Los Angeles Times. Click on the link to see the picture and hear the story behind it. Photojournalists do whatever it takes to make great storytelling pictures that matter--that's why you should hire one to shoot your wedding :-)

Grand Tradition in Fallbrook: jumping in and getting my feet wet!

On Saturday I shot an absolutely gorgeous wedding at Grand Tradition in Fallbrook, CA, with Silvia of Cara Mia Studio. The couple, Michelle and Simon, wanted a group shot of the entire wedding party. A staff member was kind enough to tip me off that I could get to the top of the waterfall. "Make a left at that palm tree and go behind those bushes," he tells me while pointing. So I climb up there, and as I look down I see that there is no way to get a clean shot--unless I get INTO the waterfall. I start taking off my shoes and socks to get in, yelling down to Silvia and everyone else that I'm going in. Apparently, everyone thought I was nuts. I got in and everyone was cheering me!! How cool is that?!? Getting cheered on by 100 plus people at a wedding? It was awesome!! Silvia nailed a shot of me before crouching down behind some guests so that she wouldn't get in the shot. At right is Barbara, a photog that Silvia is training. I'll do almost anything to get the shot for a client :-)

Lebowski Fest!

I shoot mostly weddings, but being a photographer, sometimes I shoot unique events. Lebowski Fest is definitely unique. For those who are not Achievers (this is how Lebowski fans refer to each other), Lebowski Fest is based on the Coen Brothers movie, The Big Lebowski. It has become a bona fide cult classic. It has even inspired a philosophy and a book. Jeff Bridges plays the main character, The Dude, and John Goodman plays his mentally unstable sidekick, Walter. It is really impossible to describe the film, but it has to do with a slacker who loves bowling, a stolen rug (it really ties the movie together), a case of mistaken identity, fraud, kidnapping, and some nihilists. The Coen Brothers (who have NO association with the Fest) have said that the film is not really supposed to make much sense, and frankly it doesn't, but that's not important. What's important is that the movie is hysterical, and the fans of it have a very high commitment to the film. Very high. You can see more of my pics on the Lebowski Fest web site.
What cult films are you into??
(NOTE: Most of my work is candid photography, NOT camera aware or posed. Lebowski Fest is an exception.)

Wedding in Ramona, CA

I haven't had a chance to get Jennie and Nick's wedding up on my web site yet, but I wanted to share a few pics of their beautiful wedding. I shot this as a second photographer for John Schnack again. It wasn't hot like our last shoot in Temecula when it was 110. However it had been raining really hard the day before. They were unable to get a tent at the last minute, but luckily there were only a few drizzles. They had their wedding and reception at Jennie's parents house in Ramona. Primal Alchemy catering (great food!) transformed the barn into an amazing full service kitchen. Wedding planner Catherine Smiley Jones did an awesome job of running things and making sure every thing was gorgeous. The last shot is of everyone dancing under the moonlight--it had finally cleared up!

Big Springs Gardens Wedding

I was just going back and looking at some of the pictures from Amy and Roberts wedding in August, held at Big Springs Gardens in Northern California. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. It is on about 30 acres of land surrounded by a National Forest. There are lots of hand groomed trails to explore too. If you are looking for a venue in this area, check it out! The owner only has about 5 weddings their per year. The staff is very friendly, the on-site coordinator was great, and the catering was yummy. Robert is a wildlife biologist and has been collecting cacti and succulents for many years, so when they were thinking about wedding favors, they decided to give guests succulents. They did each and every tiny pot themselves. I thought it was really creative.

Temecula winery wedding

Welcome to my first blog entry. I've done some blogging before, but that was for a class at UMass Boston. (I'm in the process of completing my BA--only 2 more classes!).
This blog will revolve around wedding photography.

So the last wedding I shot was as a second photographer with John Schnack at a winery estate in Temecula. It was hot.... very hot. Did I say it was hot? 110, and humid. Icky. Malik, the groom, in a very sharp 3 piece suit, was having to continuously mop his head down. His lovely bride, Babette, later took up the task as well. Malik had severely fractured his hand shortly before the wedding. I was so bad that he needed surgery and required several pins to keep everything in place. Note the cast on his right hand where his best man is tying Malik's shoes.