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iPhone Friday

2012-01-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

iPhone Friday returns! Have a great weekend.

Wave Abstract

2012-01-25T23:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the things you see along the way are the most beautiful.

Ethiopia 2012 Part 2

2012-01-23T23:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much for all the comments here, on Facebook and Twitter!

One day during our stay in Lalibela, a few of us visited a monastery just a few miles outside of town.

The Saint Neakutoleab Monastery is built in a cave nestled in the side of the mountain. Unfortunately due to it's location and the path to get to it, there was no real way to photograph the whole of it from outside. I was told that it dates from around the 15th century and also goes by the name Cave Church. This was a wonderfully tranquil place with a small but steady stream of believers coming in and out.

The resident priest was an interesting character. As soon as we walked in he quietly began setting up and laying out treasures to show us. He laid the treasures out with such quiet routine that I have to assume foreigners come here almost daily. Also interesting was the way in which he handled these ancient artifacts. He grabbed crowns, crosses, bibles and liturgical items as if he was rummaging through books at a library. "Here's the cross that was given to the monastery at it's founding" said in a bored, almost scripted way. This is a six hundred year old cross given by the king of Ethiopia! Items you would normally see behind glass at a museum were piled up in a cabinet.

The following day we left Lalibela and traveled six hours by bus to the lakeside town of Bahir Dar. We saw houses under construction, decorated donkeys and views that reminded me of the Desert Southwest.

We were supposed to fly from Lalibela to Bahir Dar, but Ethiopian Airlines decided to cancel the flight. I'm really glad they did because I would not have wanted to miss out on the beautiful scenery along the way.

For the next two days we woke early to jump on a boat and head out on Lake Tana. The lake is massive. There are islands throughout and many of them have monasteries built on them. Lake Tana is also the source of the Blue Nile, so it's impact on not only Ethiopian history but the history of Sudan and Egypt can't be underestimated. The lake is full of fish (mostly Tilapia), birds and even hippos. Going out in the early morning with fog still on the lake was so peaceful. The only people out were us and the fisherman in their papyrus boats.

The monasteries here were very different than the one we visited outside Lalibela. The buildings were round with a square inner room accessible only by the priest. They were no less fascinating or ornate.

After two days we flew back to Addis and ended our trip with a lovely dinner at the Jupiter hotel. I can't say enough about the people I traveled with; a truly talented and sharing group of photographers. I learned so much from David and Jeffrey, but also from viewing the work of my fellow participants. This trip profoundly affected the way I look through my camera. If you are looking to challenge yourself and improve your photographic eye, I can highly recommend a workshop like this. In fact, if you're thinking of taking a workshop like this you could do no better than David and Jeffery's Within the Frame. You can check them out here.

I hope that these posts gave you glimpse into Ethiopian life and culture. This was a once in a lifetime trip for me and I am so glad I can share it with you. Thanks for reading!

Travels in Ethiopia

2012-01-22T23:21:00.000-08:00

Whew, it's been quite a hectic and amazing three weeks since my last post. I apologize for not posting last week, but it took me a while to figure out which day it was supposed to be and when I should be sleeping (any moment I could, it turned out). I also started work at my new place last week and that was awesome and busy. Excuses aside, I'm back now and I promise that this post won't disappoint.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Ethiopia? Maybe I have, but I'll say it again: I love that country. Getting to visit places I'd never been was amazing in and of itself, but visiting those places with an amazing group of photographers that included my favorite modern photographer was mind blowing. I gained insight into making photographs that show people in the context of their surroundings and the elements that help the viewer of my images connect with what I am showing. It was truly eye-opening to the type of photography I want to do, and the photography that I'm capable of doing.

First, the group I traveled with. David duChemin, amazing world and humanitarian photographer, along with his co-leader Jeffrey Chapman guided a group of 10 photographers from around the world. We had participants from Australia, Israel, Italy, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Canada, and several from the U.S. We all met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa to begin our journey. From Addis we flew to Lalibela, which is in the north eastern part of the country. Lalibela is a town and holy site built by King Lalibela in the 13th century. It is widely believed that his goal in building the churches here was to recreate Jerusalem in Ethiopia. The churches and spaces around the churches are named to represent the important events written about in the Bible. Yes, the pictures are coming, I'm just trying to lay down some info to give context. It's a literary device. I think.

King Lalibela decided that the way to represent Jerusalem was to carve a series of churches, not only from the ground, but in the ground. These rock hewn churches are unique to Lalibela and stand as marvels of engineering and dedication. The most famous and most photographed of these is the Church of Saint Georges. Here's a wide shot of it to give you some context and scale.

All of the other churches are built in a more standard rectangular format, but this is unique for being in the shape of, no surpirse, Saint Georges cross. These are enormous structures carved directly down into the rock, and the interiors have been hallowed out the same rock. They basically just removed everything that wasn't a church. Amazing skill and craftmanship. Here's Saint Georges at a more photogenic time of day.

These are a few samples of the churches interiors.

The top picture shows not only the beautifully carved archways, but the painted decorations that went into the interiors. The bottom picture is one of twelve carvings representing the twelve apostles. Each apostle was about nine feet tall.

Since most of the churches are more traditional in shape, and the fact that many of them are covered with these hideous looking steel and canvas structures, photographing the buildings themselves wasn't very appealing.

The lack of landscape and architectural images to be made really forced me to focus on the people to tell the story of this place. And with almost 100,000 pilgrims present, there were plenty of opportunities to make images of people.

After six days in Lalibela we visited a monastery then traveled by bus to Bahir Dar, on the shores of Lake Tana. Check back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!

I made it!

2012-01-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, I'm all up in the Africa. After two planes and twenty hours, I made it. Haven't slept a wink, but strangely am not tired. That's gonna make tomorrow pretty messed up. We jump on another plane at 7 in the morning to head up to Lalibela (it's currently 11:30 pm). Just wanted to post a quick picture from today's travels and give a couple of shout-outs. The picture today comes from somewhere over Greece.

First shout-out goes to the lady that sat next to me from Frankfurt to Addis: your constant farting for 7 hours left an indelible mark. Secondly, to the family that sat across from me: letting your child scream for the last 45 minutes of our flight really put a button on my travels. Oh, and from my observation, repeatedly saying please has no effect on your child.

Ethiopia!!!!!!

2012-01-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

Well Happy New Year to one and all! I thought to myself, "What's the best way to start off 2012?" BY GOING TO ETHIOPIA!!! I know I mentioned it here months ago, but as you read this I'm winging my way to Ethiopia for a two week photo workshop with with my favorite photographer, David duChemin. Favorite photographer + Ethiopia = mind blown. There will be seven other photographers plus another leader/teacher to spend the time with. I saw David (I call him David now) tweet back in the summer that he would be leading a workshop in Lalibela, Ethiopia during Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas (Jan. 7) when many believers pilgrimage to this place.

If you've never heard of Lalibela, it is famous for it's stone carved churches that are over a thousand years old. The churches are carved down into the rock and all the interior spaces are hallowed out. Click here for a link the Wikipedia page to get a better idea of what I'm talking about. The town will be filled with white-robed pilgrims carrying brightly covered fabric umbrellas who've journeyed to celebrate Christmas in Ethiopia's most holy place.

After spending six days there we're heading over to Bahir Dar which is located on Lake Tana. Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is dotted with islands holding homes and monasteries. There should be some amazing, and different things to see there.

Our trip wraps up back in the capital, Addis Ababa. I feel so fortunate that I'm able to go on this once in a lifetime trip and witness the beauty and diversity of my daughters' homeland. My internet access in uncertain, but I will hopefully to able to post some images while I'm there. As always, you can follow me over on Twitter ( twitter.com/fxmixer ) if you want to keep up with all the fun.

Have a great week!

Grand Sunset revisited

2011-12-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took earlier in the year at the beautiful Grand Del Mar hotel in San Diego. Actually, it's not the exact picture. When I took this image the sky was cloudy and gray and nothing happened at sunset except it got dark. I really liked all the other elements in the picture, so I decided to replace the sky with something a bit more colorful. For me, this takes it from "Yeah, that's cool" to "Wowsers!".

Sacred Falls

2011-12-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

This is a waterfall that flows into the lower of the Seven Sacred Pools in Hana, Maui.

Birthday Girl

2011-12-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

My beautiful girl turned 6 on Christmas Eve. Her Mama bought her a gorgeous dress and she looked and felt like a princess in it. I love you baby girl.

Beautiful ending

2011-12-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

A beautiful end to a perfect day. I hope everyone has a most excellent Christmas!

Impressions of Christmas

2011-12-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

My younger son and I teamed up to capture this impressionistic image a Christmas program we went to last night. And by "teamed up" I mean he grabbed my arm while I was taking the picture. Be open to serendipity.

Cold and windy

2011-12-20T00:58:00.000-08:00

It was a cold, cloudy and windy day at Glacier Point. Thankfully the clouds opened for a few minutes to let Half Dome peek through.

Wallpaper for you

2011-12-16T01:12:00.000-08:00

Switcing thngs up a bit today I created this image to be used as a wallpaper for the iPhone and I am giving to you, my loyal readers for the low low price of free! You can get he full size version here. Please to enjoy.

How I'd like to start every day

2011-12-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

Purplelucious

2011-12-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

Feeling festive and out of focus.

Check that one off the list

2011-12-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

My good friend Joe just recently bought a red '98 Acura NSX. This is a car of my teenage dreams. He texted me on Friday an asked if I was up for some cruzin'. Um, yes. We drove back into the mountains, popped the top off and roared up and down some mountain roads.

Here's Joe and his sweet ride outside my house before leaving.

There was lots of this.

Which led to a lot of this.

No matter how twisty it was, Joe's face was the picture of contentment.

It turned out to not only be the best day, but the best time of day. Here's our first stop.

Our second stop. Joe with his baby.

We stopped parked near some telecommunications equipment.

Not only did we get to see an amazing sunset, but the full moon rose over the mountains just as we were about to go.

It was a life-affirming time spent with a good friend. And the car was just as amazing as you've imagined.

iPhone Friday

2011-12-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

My little Hawaiian gecko friend. I think he likes me.

Holiday Bokeh

2011-12-07T23:46:00.000-08:00

WaVe AcTiOn

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

Beautiful and warm.

iPhone Friday

2011-12-02T08:40:00.001-08:00

Sphere and Shadow

Mystery Mountain

2011-12-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, I really have no excuse for not posting the past two days, but I'll give one anyway. I did a photo shoot with one of my favorite bands, Uncle Daddy, on Monday. (check out their music here) The shoot went great and the guys were awesome. I wanted to get the pictures back to them as soon as possible so I spent the last few long nights editing. I delivered the images today, so I'm all done. It was a great experience and we came away with some really fun stuff. All that to say that I'm back on blog-track and will keep the pictures coming!

UUSS Missouri

2011-11-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. This was not one of the ships that was attacked on December 7th, but it is the ship on which the Japanese surrender was signed. If you turned around from where I'm standing you would be looking at the USS Arizona memorial.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for these three.

Makin' music

2011-11-23T00:40:00.000-08:00

My friend Matt working his magic.

Smoldering hills

2011-11-22T01:04:00.000-08:00

This is the Puu Oo cinder cone of Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. It has been erupting continuously since 1983. At this time, most of the lava flowing out of the cone is underneath a covering of hardened lava. You can still tell where the lava is though because of the steam that is created as it flows. These steam plumes were at least a thousand feet tall and stretched for over a mile. The helicopter in the upper right can give you some sense of scale. It is the same distance away as the steam and flying at nearly two thousand feet. You can also see a mini tornado of steam right in the middle.

I'm thankful

2011-11-21T00:39:00.001-08:00

Hey, it's almost Thanksgiving and you know what that means! You got it, the L.A. Auto Show!! Year after year I can't resist the siren song that is a massive collection of all things automotive. This was the first year my daughter's been and she had a great time. My boys are old pros now, and they were determined to sit in everything that wasn't locked.

I decided not to take my big camera this year and just rely on my iPhone. My neck and back were very thankful, and it turned out to be very freeing. Hard to fiddle around with settings when there aren't any! I continue to be amazed with the quality of images I can get from my phone. It's definitely my most used camera. The best camera...

iPhone Friday

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Have a great weekend!

Albino

2011-11-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

White, brown, purple, green, I don't care what color they are, big gators are scary!

Mountain Trail

2011-11-16T00:11:00.001-08:00

The hills of West Maui.

Old Navy

2011-11-15T00:51:00.000-08:00

I took the kids out to the Van Nuys airport on Sunday. They'd been begging me for days and thankfully it had stopped raining. I had a great time cuddling with my baby girl and watching my boys pretend to be airplanes. And I got to see this old thing. ;)

Stately Flower

2011-11-14T00:27:00.000-08:00

I present to you the state flower of Hawaii, the yellow hibiscus.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

A day we remember and honor our veterans for their service and sacrifice. Thank you.

Liquid Gold

2011-11-10T15:16:00.001-08:00

Like liquid gold falling from the sky. Winter brings rain around here.

theft live

2011-11-09T02:50:00.000-08:00

A shot of one of my favorite L.A. bands, theft at a recent concert. You can check out their music here.

Private Island

2011-11-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

Off the coast of Oahu. Can you spot the person?

How I'd like to start every day

2011-11-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Aloha! In this case it means hello. Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram (look for fxmixer ;) you will know that I just recently got back from a 10 day vacation to Hawaii. For those of who didn't know, I just got back from a 10 day vacation in Hawaii. ;) I was very last minute and we just decided to round up the kids and go. If you've never heard of these undiscovered gems in the Pacific, you really should check them out. We found them to be quite beautiful. We stayed on Oahu (Waikiki) for 6 days then flew over to the Big Island for 4 days.

Today, the pictures are from around our hotel, the Sheraton Waikiki.

Racing the ocean

2011-11-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Three of the happiest kids in the world.

The good and gentle ocean

2011-11-02T00:54:00.001-07:00

Waikiki Sunset

2011-11-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered if the sunsets in Waikiki are beautiful? Spoiler: they are.

Happy Scary Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

I shot this specifically for today. This is straight out of the camera. Have a great day!

iPhone Friday

2011-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Red Ripple

Blurry end

2011-10-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yosemite in the Falls

2011-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wire abstract

2011-10-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rainy Nose

2011-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Aboard the USS Midway in San Diego.

iPhone Friday

2011-10-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

Spyrulate

Dusky Evening

2011-10-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

Rose Blu

2011-10-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Rainbird sunset

2011-10-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

Beachside Dream

2011-10-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Maui, where else.

Granada Hills sunset

2011-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

This one's a little closer to home. We were at a friend's house celebrating his birthday and the sky just it up.

Clouds, valley

2011-10-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Guess where this is?!

To the Sea

2011-10-14T00:01:00.001-07:00

Yosemite Falls creek

2011-10-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love me some Yosemite, and I love me some black and white.

Gotta get off my...

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

I read a post over at Chase Jarvis' site yesterday called "10 Things Every Creative Person (That’s YOU) Must Learn". They are all excellent points, but the one that really stuck with me was #10; "Real Artists Create". I call myself a photographer and a creative, but I haven't really been putting out any work. I've taken and worked on a lot of images, but they aren't much good just sitting on my computer. I've gotta get more disciplined. I'm going to commit to posting a new image 5 days a week. I was doing this for a while, but I got lazy. Normally it will be every week day, but I'm gonna start by posting one a day until next Friday. Get ready for some Yosemite love!

Half Dome, in a storm.

Day of my birth

2011-10-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

I started my day today with the sunrise over Yosemite Valley. So glad to be alive and be in this place.

Stormy valley

2011-10-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

My only excuse for not posting in a while is I'm lame. I am in Yosemite this week though, so I offer this humble image as my apology.

subway ghosts

2011-09-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

iPhone Friday: Car Edition!

2011-09-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

At work yesterday there was travel fair with high end hotel and car rental places represented. The only things I cared about were the exotic cars. I got to sit in all of them! They were as awesome as you would think. The Ferrari was especially sweet. I felt like a little kid seeing Christmas presents under the tree for the first time.

Foggy Sunrise

2011-09-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

I stopped on my way to work this morning to watch the sun rise over this field of fog. It was so peaceful. It's worth it to stop now and again and enjoy the moment. Live in the here and now.

UFO Sighted

2011-09-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Conventional Reflection

2011-09-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

A long exposure image of the San Diego convention center. Have a great Monday!

iPhone Friday

2011-09-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

Aerial Asassin

Last Lights

2011-09-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Water, water everywhere...

2011-09-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

I left my heart in...Monterey

2011-09-12T11:09:00.001-07:00

Twilight view from the Monterey Plaza Hotel.

iPhone Friday

2011-09-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday all! Today marks the official launch of iPhone Friday. I take so many images with my iPhone that I thought I'd set aside a day just for them. Today's images come courtesy of a 1965 Pontiac GTO.

Huey

2011-09-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

A Vietnam era Huey helicopter onboard the USS Midway in San Diego.

Shrouded Moon

2011-09-07T07:39:00.001-07:00

Blowhard

2011-09-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone! I hope those of you in the U.S. had a nice and relaxing holiday weekend. For those not in the U.S. I hope your Monday was awesome. ;) This blowhole is a famous natural formation along Maui's west coast. The waves have worn out a channel beneath the waterline that exits at the top of the shore. When conditions are right, the waves will send a giant geyser of water out this hole. Seeing this from a helicopter is, I think, the driest and safest way.

Painting By Numbers

2011-08-31T07:36:00.000-07:00

Land Crusin'

2011-08-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

My dad's sweet ride.

Cirticular Clouds

2011-08-25T07:47:00.001-07:00

Cloudscape

2011-08-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

Seen from 35,000'.

Creation and Erosion

2011-08-23T00:20:00.001-07:00

Faded

2011-08-21T23:16:00.001-07:00

4 Sacred Pools

2011-08-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Sugar Mill

2011-08-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Maui's last surviving sugar mill.

Tropical Drinks and Candlelight

2011-08-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Our table at The Feast at Lele luau. Order the Banana Madness, you won't be disappointed.

Birthday Bro

2011-08-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

For my brother, an unabashed car lover like myself, happy birthday.

Sweet Ride

2011-08-12T00:34:00.001-07:00

I rented a Jeep for our time in Maui and loved it! I'd never driven one of these and I thought it would be a fun vacation car. There are so many Jeeps on Maui! Seriously, I would come out to the parking lot and have to wander around clicking my key fob to remember which was mine. There are many like, but this one is mine. ;)

Maui: Water II

2011-08-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

So I said I would have more water pictures today, and here they are! Yes I know it's the middle of the day. Circumstances out of my control (I fell asleep) prevented me from having the post up first thing this morning. But I've worked through those issues ;) and I'm back. Enjoy!

Maui: Water

2011-08-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

To say that water defines Maui is obvious, but it's not just the ocean that surrounds it. The rain, or lack thereof, creates unique and beautiful landscapes across the island. The central plain gets around 6 inches of rain a year, contrasted with the rainforest (only a mile apart in some places) which gets over 300 inches. We stayed at the Sheraton Maui on the southwest part of the island and we would watch it rain in the mountains and not feel a drop where we were. From sea level on the central plain you could look straight up to the 10,000+' peak of Haleakala. Water must be brought through an impressive array of gravity powered channels and pipes from the east side of Maui to the central plain to support farming there.

Some of the most amazing water features of the island remain hidden to most. Although there are some beautiful waterfalls to be seen on the Road to Hana, such as this one,

the vast majority of them can only be seen from helicopter. We booked a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and toured Molokai (to the west of Maui), and west and central Maui. If you want to take a helicopter tour, these guys are the ones to use. Their staff and pilots are amazing, and their Eco Star helicopters are simply the best sightseeing helicopters available.

I actually had such an amazing time on our first tour that I booked a different one for the next day! Seeing the island from the air gives you a unique perspective on the geography and interaction between land and water. Here are some images from the air.

It's really difficult to get the scale from some of these images, but to give you some perspective, that last waterfall drops 1000'.

Check back tomorrow for pictures from ground level!

Sunset Leap

2011-08-09T00:50:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Very tired, but back. I had this grand idea for a post today that would talk about our trip and introduce this weeks pictures, but our we didn't get home until 4 in the morning and I'm wiped out. I'll be posting lots of images from Maui this week and write about the favorite things we did there. As a starter, here's an image I took on our last night, right in front of our hotel. This is Black Rock, which is significant in Hawaiian culture and as an attraction for would-be cliff divers.

Road to Hana

2011-08-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

We took a tour van down the Road to Hana today. Ah-mazing. A windy, narrow, dangerous road that is breathtaking and spectacular. I was so thankful to have someone else driving so I could see all the beautiful views. Our driver, Debra was hilarious and informative. Couldn't have asked for a better day. If you're ever in Maui and want to take this drive, think about booking Valley Isle Tours.

First Maui

2011-07-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, Maui's kinda beautiful. I wish more people had heard of this place! Good first day here, although we're both kinda wiped out after flying and driving. More to come.

Maui Bound

2011-07-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow my wife and I leave for a week long vacation in Maui! We are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary and, for the first time in 11 and half years, we will be spending more than two nights without our kids. We love our kids very much, but this is gonna be awesome! Neither of us have ever been to Hawaii, so this is quite an adventure. I want to thank all of our friends and family for their great advice on accommodations and sights to see.

Right, photography blog. As you might imagine I plan to take some pictures. I can't take everything I own, so I've had to pair things down to one bag. My tripod will have to ride in checked baggage, but otherwise this is what I'm taking.

What's in the bag: Canon 5D MkII with 24-105L lens attached, Canon 7D body, 50mm 1.4, 16-35L 2.8, 70-200L f4, Canon intervelometer for time-lapse recording, Zoom H4n audio recorder, LED headlamp for nighttime work. Not seen: GoPro Hero video camera, polarizing filter, graduated neutral density filter, assorted neutral density filters, flashlight, extra 8GB CF card, spare camera battery, Canon AC power adapter for extended time-lapse recording, lens cloth, battery charger, iPad camera connection kit, card reader.

Whew, I'm outta breath. While not everything I own, it's close. I mean, how many chances do you get to go to Hawaii?! I hope to be posting some images during the trip, but can't say that there will be any regular schedule. If you have an iPhone, I'll be posting from Instagram often. You can follow me (fxmixer). I'll also be putting out updates on Twitter @fxmixer. Off to the islands!

Grand Reflection

2011-07-27T21:41:00.001-07:00

Taken by the third floor pool at the San Diego Grand Hyatt. Did I mention that sunset is a great time to take pictures? ;)

Sweet Motion

2011-07-26T22:33:00.001-07:00

San Diego YMCA

2011-07-25T23:10:00.001-07:00

Whirling Dancer

2011-07-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

We went to an Ethiopian restaurant called Messob this weekend to celebrate a friends' birthday. We know them through Ethiopian adoption, so it seemed fitting! The owner of the restaurant is a friend to us all (thanks Getahun!) so it was more like getting together for dinner at a good friends' house. One of the highlights of the evening was watching an Ethiopian dancer perform. The dancing is so unique and expressive that I wanted to try and capture some of the movement and energy of it.

Have a great week!

Fall Creek

2011-07-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's totally turned into Yosemite in the Fall week. I was going back through one of my albums and rediscovered a bunch of images. This was taken along Bridalveil Creek.

Orange Crush

2011-07-19T01:15:00.001-07:00

Staying in Yosemite, here's a picture from a few years back taken amidst the Fall colors. I said "amidst", hehe. Makes the picture sound fancy.

Sunset Square

2011-07-18T01:22:00.001-07:00

Ah Yosemite. No place like it on earth. I just pulled off the side of the road on our way back to the cabin and this was my view. Beautiful and humbling.

The wait is over

2011-07-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

In honor of the final Harry Potter film being released today I'm serving up a trio of images from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando. It is a must see for any dedicated Potter fan. The Butter Beer is amazing!

The Bank Heist

2011-07-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

The second in my series of Legos in Peril. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that this is the most complex Photoshop creation I've ever made. 26 layers of elements and adjustments make this up. It is very rewarding though, as I had a concept in mind and was able to see it all the way through. And hey, any excuse to play with Legos works for me!

If you want to see it in better detail, click here.

Morning Friend

2011-07-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

I found this cute kitty on a walk around the neighborhood. The friendliest little guy you could hope to meet.

Lap Pool

2011-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is the lap pool and the Grand Del Mar Resort. I wanna go back.

Fireworks

2011-07-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the light posting week. I finished a film this week and it was crunch time. Today, I finally got a chance to go through my 4th of July pictures and pick out a few that I liked.

@chasejarvis I made a little something for your shoot tomorrow.

2011-07-05T12:22:00.001-07:00