Cup of Joe Photo

St Regis Wedding - Monarch Beach

I love shooting extraordinary weddings! Who doesn't? I remember when I got the call from this bride telling me that she wanted to hire me. I was teaching out at our Rimrock Workshop in fall of 2007 and I just happened to have cell phone reception as I was picking up Starbucks (my cup of joe) to start my day. I knew it would be a killer wedding!

This one was loaded with some of the best vendors in the industry. Jeannie Savage and her team from Details Details coordinated the event. Eric Bilardi did the ladies hair. Enchanted Evening did the ceremony music and The James Gang from West Coast Music played the reception. The After Party music was spun by the freakin awesome DJ Theron. The cake is from Linda Goldsheft at The Cake Studio and video was captured by my friends at Elysium Productions!

Congratulations to Sarah and Tucker! Thank you for the privilege of capturing your wedding memories.

Enjoy!

Santa Monica Pier - Engagement Session

It's been soooo busy, I took a few days off from blogging. It's been a great week of catching up.

Last weekend I photographed this engagement session at one of my favorite places to shoot. Kim and James live close to Santa Monica, so we decide to take advantage of the cool scenes the pier has to offer. Check out how cute these two are together:) Enjoy.

Sisters

I was going through images on our "family camera" and I came across so many images that Mikayla had been taking of herself, her friends, and the family. I really liked these of Mackenzie and Mikayla and I thought I would share them with you too.

Freedom Writers

OK, this is a film to see!! Two (cameras) way up. Freedom Writers reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. "To the world you may be only one person, but to one person you may be the world." Check it out. You'll be happy that you did.

Hilary Swank stars in this story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives her students what they've always needed - a voice. Swank plays Erin Gruwell the real-life teacher at Long Beach s Wilson High who inspired her students to overcome the gangs that divided them and the education system that forgot them. Based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary and supported by a cast of first-time actors who drew from their actual experiences on the street Gruwell teaches us all an important lesson about tolerance and trust.

Millennium Biltmore Wedding

A week ago I photographed a wonderful Indian wedding at The Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles.
The event production was coordinated by Smita Mohindra of Ethnic Essence. Videography was done by Premiere Weddings Videography and DJ services and lighting by the fabulous DJ Raj of Sound Nation.
I love to shoot Indian weddings. The colors are beautiful and the culture is warm and enchanting. Congratulations to Neera and Sid. Thank you for the privilege to document your extraordinary events.

[b] in school this fall.

[b] schooled today.

Becker has been working on the best new way for photographers to connect. The [b] school is going to change our industry. I'm so proud of all the energy Becker has put into networking photographers and sharing information so that we can all benefit and grow.

Check it out today! School is in session.

[b] school bonus...THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COMMERCIALS EVER

Burning Man 2008 Gallery Posted

Decompression. The lovely souls that I photographed warned me.

What a long, strange week it's been.

It's really impossible to articulate how my 72 hours at Burning Man have deeply affected me and forever changed my life. That may sound a little dramatic, however those three days have become a new filter, changing my perception of "the real world" in which most of us conform.

Burning Man is about expression. Many of the participants express themselves in ways that do not conform to my concept of daily life. The community of people that I met seemed peaceful and content in this desert family and wore costumes to express their individuality. The funny thing is that because everyone is doing something unique, many people just blend in. It's not a big deal if someone's wearing an outrageous costume or is completely undressed.

From what I observed, Burning Man is a community of peaceful tolerance. An amazing and eclectic mix of thoughts and philosophies apart from the daily intrusion of cell phones and email. I found the freedom from my daily distractions a welcome part of my experience there. While I was there, I focused solely on my art. The photographs I created there make me feel extremely happy and deeply satisfied. I can't wait to return next year.

My Burning Man Gallery may now be viewed. I have left the riskier images out of this gallery. Perhaps I'll show them at another time in another context. For now, you may enjoy these.

I'd like to extend a warm blessing to all those who allowed me to photograph them. Thank you.

Burning Man 2008 Portraits

I seriously LOVE photographing people. This portrait of Renee makes me smile.

Burning Man 2008 Portraits

The shear diversity of participants at Burning Man was overwhelming. There were many times that I had to remind myself that I couldn't photograph every interesting person that was there. So I relaxed and became content to photograph the people in front of me. Jack was one of those super cool, interesting people that I encountered at Center Camp.

Burning Man 2008

Cheating on the date of the post again. If it's any consolation, I tweaked it on the 4th....

More to come soon.