Tilt/Shift Photos Of S.F

Hello to you all in the land of the internet!!! I'm going to be leaving later today for Sacramento and then to Monterey for my cousin's college graduation. It's going to be a super fun time!!! I'll post some photos when I'm back from all the fun. So here are some more photos from S.F. All of them were taken of my tilt/shift lens even the last photo I just didn't tweak the lens all crazy.

Susan G Komen Walk & 100th Blog Post

This last Saturday Christine, her parents and I went down to the California state fair grounds to walk for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. It’s really amazing to see how many people showed up!! It had to have been way over 10,000 people there walking and some running. We only did the 1-mile walk, but next year will do the 5k. This post is the 100th blog post on this blog!!!!

Tilt/Shift Photos Around Mammoth

Here are some photos that I took while I was down in Mammoth. These photos were all taken with my tilt/shift lens while I was out and about fishing. Every afternoon the thunder clouds would come up, so I couldn't pass up the chance to take some photos.

Convict Lake



It's so hard to take a self-portrait with a tilt/shift lens and I was super stoked on this one!!! I'm not a vain person, but when I was in community college we had to take self-portraits for every class and I hated it. Now I love seeing what I can come up with!!!


The playground right behind my aunt's condo.

Mammoth Creek

Last Day Of The Season

I was down in Mammoth the last couple of days skiing it up for the last time of the season and also doing some fishing. It was super nice the first two days of skiing and then the last day it was super windy with thunder storms, so I ended up just driving home. Bye Bye snow see ya next year. All of the photos are taken on my point and shoot camera.

Some self-portraits while skiing!!! Don't try this at home kids.


Views out of my last gondola ride of the season.

More S.F. Photos

Here are some more photos that I took while Christine and I were in San Francisco about a month ago. It's always fun to walk around a big city and just take photos of random things. Ok I can't think of anything clever to say so enjoy some photos!!!!


An intense game of chinese checkers


Random shot of the sun while waiting for the trolley

Our very skillful trolley driver

Almost every time I saw a trolley I sang the Rice- A-Roni theme song.

Kendall & Lucas Engagement Sessioin

This last Saturday Christine and I had a blast shooting Kendall and Lucas’s engagement shoot all over South Lake Tahoe. When I went to Brooks we always used some kind of lighting in are photos. I haven’t done any of this in a long time and I was able to break out my ring flash and also do some off camera lighting. It was so much fun doing this again!!!! Kendall and Lucas were a riot to photograph and it was fun to hike all around to get some great shots. Their wedding is coming up in June and can’t wait for the big day. I know it’s going to be super fantastic. A big thanks to Christine for being my lighting assistant. Click here to view the slideshow.

Lake Tahoe Sunset

I just got back from riding my bike down to the lake to watch the sunset. It was a really good one and I'm glad I rode down to the water. I only brought my point and shoot camera since I was on my bike, but I got some great shots with the little guy. Here are some photos from tonight.

Alia 4/14/08

So I’ve been trying to blog for the past day and blogger has been freaking out on me and not letting me publish through my FTP onto my sever. For all of you that didn’t understand that, it means that I couldn’t upload anything onto my blog. Some how all of a sudden I was messing around with stuff today and now it finally works. Don't ask me what I did, but it works now and that's all that counts.
I was down in So Cal last week for a great portrait workshop called The Modern Portrait. I learned soooo much and I know that it’s going to help my portrait business a ton!!! While I was down there I was able to photograph my cousin’s baby. Alia is now 5 months old and has grow a ton since the last time I saw her. She was so much fun to photograph and was such a happy baby. Click here for Alia's slideshow.

S.F

Ok so I’ve still been really busy with my crazy life. Now I just can’t wait for the wedding season to make my life even crazier and to top it off I’m creating a new website!!! Ok so here are just a few photos from our S.F. trip that Christine and I went on a couple of weeks ago. Sorry for the short post, but I’m off to So Cal for a portrait workshop in L.A.

Lombard Street

Road Rage in China Town :0

More China Town

The view from our hotel room which was the Parc 55. Let me tell you this hotel ROCKS!!!

WPPI & Goldfield, NV

So I'm finally back home!!! I went down to Vegas for WPPI, which was super fun and I learned sooooo much. Then I was home for around a day in half. Then Christine and I went to San Francisco for a couple of days and then spent some time up here in Tahoe hanging out and then back to Sac. More posts to come from the super fun time we had relaxing. So on my way down hwy 95 to Vegas I went though this living ghost town called Goldfield out in the middle of Nevada. So on my way back from Vegas I stopped and took photos for around an hour or so. I shot all of the photos with my 24mm tilt/shift lens. Even the rabbits foot shot, I just didn't tweak out the lens. So enjoy the photos of the wonderful place.

Here's a pic of the view I had from my hotel room in Vegas.

The Goldfield school!!

Anybody want to buy a gold mine with me?




A self-portrait while having fun in the middle of nowhere.

Tin can ducks surfing it up!!!





My lucky rabbit foot that I found on one of the many dirt roads in Goldfield.


My new home away from home.

Anika & Luke Engagement Part 2

Hello!!! I just got back last night from WPPI and learned so much. The afternoon before I left for WPPI I photographed the second part of Anika and Luke’s engagement session. It had been nice weather for about a week or so and then the day before and during the session it was super cold and snowed. That’s all right though they were troopers and it made for some crazy cool photos. I think that shooting in bad weather creates great drama for the photos. I can’t wait to shoot Anika and Luke’s wedding this June up here in Tahoe. It’s going to be a blast!!!! Click here to view the slideshow.

Photo Fun Around The Capital

So last Sunday while down in Sac Christine and I went on a photo field trip to the California state capital. I think it’s good for me to go out and have some fun shooting just random stuff once in a while. It forces me to be creative which in the end helps me in my wedding and portrait work. So here are some of the photos that I took and some of Christine’s photos too.



I love this shot!! I shot this from my hip, so they wouldn't know that I was taking their photo. I shot this with my tilt shift lens, so I was just amazed that it actually came out!!

Some of the crazy things you see around the capital. Someone brought this photo to this bench and ripped it up. I just placed it how I liked it and took this photo.









A photo of Christine taking a photo. The bottom picture is what she is shooting in this photo.

These two photos are Christine's that I worked for her in photoshop.


More crazy stuff that you see around the capital.

Powder Fun With Old Friends

At the end of February some of my friends from So Cal and Nor Cal came to visit the snow and me. It didn’t snow that much in February, but they hit it right and showed up the same day as a big storm hit Tahoe. We ended up getting 4-6 ft during a three-day period. We had so much fun building a jump in the storm and coming back three days later to hit it again in the sun. I was so stoked about learning how to do 360’s again and landed one on my first try. So here are some photos of the fun in the powder.








Thanking the Powder Gods for all the snow!!!

Avalon's 2nd Session

While I was down at my cousin’s house I was also able to photograph Avalon for her 2nd session for her year in the life session. The last time I photographed Avalon she was only 9 days old and now she is almost 2 ½ months. She is so big now and is still one of the cutest babies around. Avalon is one of the mellowest babies I’ve seen to date, which is good for my cousin, since they have Waylon running around. It’s crazy to think that she might be crawling around the next time I’m back to photograph her. Click here for the slideshow.

Waylon's 2 year session

Hello there!!! I’m still alive I’ve just been busy with friends visiting me and then going down to So Cal to do my taxes. While I was down in So Cal I was able to photograph Waylon my #1 baby model. Waylon just had his 2-year-old birthday, so I was stoked to photograph another stage in the little man’s life. Waylon is growing up so quickly and is one big ball of energy. I don’t know how my cousin keeps up with. Can’t wait come back Waylon and play around with the super fort. Click here for the slideshow.

Amgen tour de California 2008

When Christine and I got back from Mammoth I ended up staying in Sacramento to photograph the 2nd stage of the Amgen tour de California. They started in Santa Rosa and end the stage in Sacramento with a 4 lap circuit around the capital. The stage was 115.8 miles long and they got to ride most of it in the rain. I was so stoked to see all the top pros in the world in person riding their bikes. Most of these teams and riders ride in all the top races like the Tour de France. The first place I was taking photos at was the town of Winters and then I drove as quickly as I could without breaking any laws to Sacramento to take the final photos of the race.

Here's a photo of all the people I got to hang out with for 2 hours in Winters while waiting for the riders.

I forgot this riders name, but he had an 8 minute lead on the racers when he came by us. His lead didn't last though.

When the rest of the racers got to Winters I was taking some photos in one spot and then was running to another spot to take some more photos when all of sudden one of the riders crashed right in front of me!!!

The rider was Tom Danielson who is a big name US rider who use to ride for the Discovery Team.

Radioing to the team car for an new front wheel.




And he's off again to catch back up with the pack.

Now at the capitol in Sacramento. If you look closely you can see George Hincapie on the right of the front rider. He's also a big US pro who use to ride for the Discovery Team.



The sprit begins for the finish line.

And then the break away begins.

Mark Cavendish sprinted away with a big lead!! I love this photo, it shows the pain of riding almost 115 miles and then giving it your all to try and win.

Mark Cavendish ended up getting caught and placed 4th, while Tom Boonen won the race.

I had a great time a will be back next year for sure. For all of you that live in So Cal the race ends this Sunday in Pasadena. If you love to bike ride I would say this is a must see event.

Anika & Luke Engagement Mammoth, CA

As I promised here is Anika and Luke’s Engagement photos from Mammoth. This is part 1 of their engagement shoot; I’ll be doing the second part back up in Reno soon. Wow, well I’ve been friends with Luke since I was 3 years old and have known Anika since Jr. High. I’m so stoked to be shooting their wedding up here in Tahoe in June; it’s going to be a blast!!! Luke and I use to ski race together, so I thought it would be a cool idea to do part of their engagement shoot at a ski resort. I had a blast shooting the engagement shoot. Come on, how many people get to go skiing and work at the same time. I can't wait to shoot part 2 of the engagement session. Click here to see the slideshow.










And no Anika didn't get hit by the snowball.

Skiing down in Mammoth

I just got back from Mammoth last night. I was down there taking a break and skiing it up. I was also down there to do part of my good friend’s engagement shoot for his wedding that I’ll be shooting in June. I’ll post some of the engagement photos soon. The weather was super nice and the snow was even better. Here are some photos that I took with my point & shoot camera, while skiing around.



Had to take a photo of this guy. He was straight out of the 80's with his mullet and Porsche ski coat.

A self-portrait before skiing Hole In The Wall

My last run of the day on Friday was "Hole In The Wall" which is just out of bounds at Mammoth and is super fun as you can see by the photos. It's not everyday that you get to ski through an old lava tube.

Mistakes are good sometimes.

I've started to shoot with a Holga camera again for fun. A Holga is a toy camera that shoots on medium format film. There's no thinking involved at all, you just point the camera at something and then take the picture. But with this camera if you don't pay attention you can make double exposures and that is what happened to me when I finally got my film developed. Which turned out to be a good mistake. One was of a Lake Tahoe sunset and the other one was of Waylon my #1 baby model. So as they say sometimes mistakes are good.


This one wasn't a mistake, but Waylon looks so cute in the photo I had to post it up.

Brandi & Josh

This past Saturday I was down in Santa Barbara to photograph Brandi and Josh’s wedding over the hill at the Crossroads Estate/Firestone Vineyards. On my way down there it was raining, the day before it was raining and then finally no rain on the wedding day!! A storm was moving in though, so I was just praying that it didn’t start raining until after I was done talking photos of them. I was so stoked to be able to take them outside to take photos!! About 10 minutes after we were done with the photos and back inside it started to rain. We all lucked out and ended up getting so really great shots!!! The whole day Brandi and Josh were laughing and smiling, you could really see the love that they have for each other. Another great thing about this wedding is that I got to have my good buddy Tim Halberg second shoot with me. Tim and I started out at Brooks together and stayed friends since. Brandi and Josh ski a couple of runs for me while you’re in Whistler/Blackcomb. Click here to see the slideshow.

Christina & Matthew Lubbes

On Sunday I shot my first wedding of 2008 and it was one to remember. It was a Tahoe winter wedding and Mother Nature was in full force with a snowstorm. Christina and Matt are huge Charger fans so while they were getting ready the game was playing on all the TV’s at both the guys and girl’s cabins. Unfortunately the Chargers didn’t end up winning. But Christina and Matt won my trooper award for taking photos out in a snowstorm in 20-degree temps. I think Christina and Matt will hold on to this award for a long time unless someone else decides to have their wedding photos taken in crazier snowstorm. All I know is that when we were done I couldn’t feel my hands for a while, but it was well worth it!!! Thanks Christina and Matt I had blast!!! Click here for the slideshow.

Waylon Having Fun

Here are some photos that I took of Waylon when I was down in San Clemente taking photos of his new sister Avalon. Waylon is always a riot to take photos of he's just so crazy fun. Last time I was down there he would only let me push him around in his car and I had take pictures of him at the same time. Thank God for wide angle lens!! Well this time I ended up holding a book for him in one hand and taking pictures with the other. So he could eat his O's and read at the same time. This kid is living the high life!! Here's a little slideshow of the fun.


Here's a pic that I stole off of my cousin's blog. Nobody took a pic of me this time pleasing Waylon and taking photos.

Here are just a couple of photos of me holding the book and taking photos of him at the same time.

Happy B-Day to My Blog

Well today is this blog's 1st B-Day. I can't believe that I've been blogging for one year already. In this blog's life my life has changed a ton and for the good. I still can't believe myself all things that have happened to me, I feel so very blessed. Well enough writing!! My first blog was about me skiing in Mammoth. So here are some photos from Wednesday of me skiing at Sierra At Tahoe doing some storm riding. Please wish my blog a happy B-Day.

Wong Family

On January 2nd I had the privilege of photographing the Wong family over at Sand Harbor. For the past couple of years they've come up and stayed in Incline Village for New Years. Well this time they decided to get a family portrait done. It was a great winter day up here in Tahoe and I had a blast. They got lucky with the weather because two days later the big storm rolled in. Here are just a couple of photos from the session. Also a BIG THANKS to Michael Escalera for helping me out on the shoot!