Here’s What Happened In Vegas…

Over the years, I’ve been asked if I’d be at WPPI a multitude of times.
Yet, somehow I’ve NEVER been able to make it. There’s always been
SOMETHING going on during the event so I’ve had to skip!!

This year however, everything we’d planned for the week of WPPI
was able to easily be moved… So at the very last minute; I went!

Arriving Saturday, I was able to hook up with a bunch of old friends
from my days in Orange County… Folks like the venerable Becker,
the adorable Keats, and the rockin’ awesome Jeff Norwood.

I also made some awesome NEW friends like Jen Otchy, and finally
connected with internet buddies like Aric Becker…

All in all, Saturday was rockin’… But then Sunday began.

It all began with a little lighting workshop Lan & Vu Bui put on.
They sold it out almost instantly and had a great group of folks
to teach. Sadly though, two of their models failed to show at the
last minute and my dear friends Matt & Stevi offered to step up
(You may remember them from our time in NYC, they’re the best!)

Here’s a few shots from the workshop:

Another friend from our last NYC trip was there as well… Feuza Reis!!

Another one of my very favorite people was there as well;
Mike Larson and I ended up rooming together for the week.

He’s a TRUE rockstar of the industry, and has some of the greatest
character of any man I’ve ever met… If you’re a photographer, or
even just a fan of photography, I encourage you to spend some time
getting to know Mike… It’ll be well worth your while.

That’s his new Canon 1D MkIV — I spent the week playing with it and I’m in LOVE.

The little guy above is the soon-to-be child prodigy of Grace Liu Anderson’s
(He’s really an AWESOME little munchkin!)

Sunday night was a private little Pictage get together at the Mandalay Bay
which soon was carried away by the Go|Bee Party… I made a few new friends
there as well (who promptly shoved me into a photo booth)

The following morning (Monday) I made the rounds of the trade show
(several times) finally finding myself at the Bui Brothers/ Pictage/ Dane Sanders’
“New Media Lounge” complete with comfy couches, Wi-Fi and the all important
iPhone chargers.

Here’s a quick shot of Lan Bui with the 1D MkIV and 85mm F1.2L MkII

As the day drew to a close I started running around like a crazy person
getting ready for Mike Larson’s incredible speech on “Character Marketing”.

Did I mention that this is Vegas, and the conference center is about a mile
from the hotel rooms? Well, it is… And all in the same casino!

Mike’s speech was a great success, despite technical difficulties that would
certainly have thrown off a less passionate speaker.

More shots from the Canon 1D MkIV:

Here, Mike demonstrates his best Jedi mind trick on my dear
friend Ginny Corbett:

Mike’s workshop was an overwhelming success, people walked
away each feeling more inspired to lean on their character as
the foundation of their business… Each inspired.

Many thanks to Mike, and to Kiss Wedding Books for making the workshop
happen… I was honored to be a part of it!

Tuesday dawned a new day… With BIG plans!!
First off was a morning session with legendary wedding guru Grace Ormonde.
She was really working the audience; helping them understand the best ways
to get their work published in magazines like hers.

Lawrence from ToFurious had invited Mike down to do one of his famous
“camera tosses” to record the event. (Mike and I actually MET because of
a camera toss in Times Square a few years ago, but that’s a different story
for a different time

Here’s Mike’s shot:

Pretty cool, eh?!

Next up, we had to run over to the New Media Lounge for Mike
to hop on “AskDane” with Dane Sanders…

Along the way we bumped into Becker and I finally got to subject
him to what I can only call “Beckering” — He’s famous for shooting
hundreds of photos of subjects in a single pose, largely to get them
comfortable, and partly to ensure he’s captured the PERFECT moment.

But, I had the 1D MkIV in my hands which meant I could fire off
10 frames a second for a full minute or so… I only took fourty or fifty
pictures, but darnit, I still feel like I “Beckered” him good

Then, it was off to the ShootQ booth for another quick speech.
(It was actually really fun chasing after Mike all afternoon, I got
to capture all kinds of things

Next on our list was a sprint over to the OTHER tradeshow building
for Mike’s speech at the Pictage Booth… Where my dear old xanga friends
Bob & Dawn Davis were just finishing up:

Jim Collins, the CEO of pictage is the one in focus… That man is a rockstar

Simon from pictage interviewed Mike all about his thoughts
on Character Marketing, etc. He was quick to point out that one
of Mike’s photos hung above us… Which was pretty darn cool

And then in a blur, we were off to our next stop…
Dane Sanders‘ Platform Session… With nearly a thousand other people
crowded into the room!!

Mike, Jesh De Rox, and I ran to the front row right as things
were getting started… Here are a few photos:

You’ve got to see Mike’s pictures from this… They’re awesome!
He doesn’t have them up on his blog yet, but I’m sure they will be soon

That evening was a rapid fire series of rockin’ parties…
First off was Dane’s after party at the Centrifuge Lounge, followed
by the biggest party of the week… Pictage’s VIP Event at Studio 54.

Both Kiss Wedding Books, and ShootQ sponsored shows during
the party, and when my friends Kevin Swan & Shaun Austin from
Kiss asked if we’d shoot their special event, there was no way we
could say no!

So, here are a few shots from that:

And here’s a rockin’ awesome video Lan & Vu Bui put together:

After the Pictage party, a group of us made a dash to the Mandalay Bay for
Becker’s [b]School party… Which ended up being ANOTHER awesome event

No pictures though, I left my camera in the room, that thing gets heavy fast!

Wednesday morning, I was scheduled to fly out at 8:00AM but I skipped
my flight to attend the first ever “Unite” meeting at a WPPI.

Unite is an incredible group of Christian Photographers, led by Mike Larson &
David Jay as well as many other photographers around the country.

We worshipped, prayed, and shared for about 2 hours… And my only wish, is
that it had gone on for 10 times as long… It truly was an immense blessing
(and well worth the cost of booking another flight, haha).

David Jay and Mike asked if I’d shoot a few photos to capture the event;
they’re attached below:

And since that’s about all the vertical ones I took, let me find a few more
landscape style

There are so many more photographs to post, and so many other friends to mention;
but I must let this post end somewhere!

Many thanks to each of you who made the week so wonderful…
I can’t wait until the next time we meet, and I am truly blessed by each of you.

As always, I am here to serve.

P.S. If you were there, would you do me a favor and leave a comment with
YOUR favorite moment from WPPI 2010?

I’d love to hear from you!
(Even if you weren’t there

One of My Favorite Places in the World…

I love California… Orange County, San Francisco, Yosemite, EVERYWHERE.
Such an amazing State.

It’s one of the only places in the world I just naturally feel AT HOME.
And yet, each time I go back; I find some new gem, some new cherry on top
of the heaping scoop of awesome that California IS.

This time, it was Santa Barbara… While it wasn’t my first time IN SB
by any means; it sure felt a lot different this time. Maybe it was because
my darling wife was with me, maybe it was because I was shooting another
amazing couple’s wedding…

Who can be sure?!

All I know is that I *love* Santa Barbara (and the rest of the Central Coast,
for that matter)…. Here’s a little taste of WHY:

Beautiful light, isn’t it?!
Mmmmm.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself again (nasty habit, that).

Brian And Mandee’s Wedding Adventure….

I *love* these people.
When they first announced their engagement, I knew I’d be getting a call
soon… And a great one at that

See, I’ve shot three different weddings with this couple in them; from the
first one a few years ago; when they’d just started dating, to the next (Brian’s
sisters) last year where I took the liberty of shooting a few “pre-engagement”
photos… Like this one:

Cute, aren’t they?!

Well, when the call came I started planning our trip cross-country.
Nelle and I decided to make a crazy road trip of it; with no real plans
as to where we’d go, how long we’d be gone, or where we’d even end
up in the end!!

I’ve got about 15 posts worth of photos from our trip (and endless
adventures to share) but I’ll save that for another day.

We were hired to shoot Brian & Mandee’s entire Wedding Adventure;
four VERY full days of fun. In all, we shot WELL over 5,000 images

So, what follows are just a few to give you a little taste of their love,
and of my love for California

Thursday night began with a delicious Italian meal:

Followed by a rousing game of BROOMBALL:

The Bride, Mandee thought it’d be fun to be the best player out
there… ’till she nosedived into the ice about halfway through the game:

Of course, she kept playing and ended up having a TON more fun.
(I love Bride’s with a little adventure in ‘em :))

Friday, we shot the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner… Lots of great details:

And then it was the Wedding Day

Isn’t her bouquet gorgeous?

As for HER, she’s ALWAYS one of the most radiant people
I know; her Wedding day simply increased the brightness

Time for a little boutoniere help.

Mom wants a picture too

Caught in the act!

A Little “Epic” Action

And hey, why not a picture of ME showing them that picture?



(Many thanks to my assistant for the day Carlos Chavez for shooting that one :))

Ahh soooo many fun portraits to share from this wedding!
I’m going to try to limit the number; but here are a few more

/\ That one is one of my new all time favorites /\

And another favorite:

And then; it was time for a wardrobe change… Mandee planned two
separate dresses, receptions, and more

Great times were had by all

The “Big” Portraits aren’t something I post very often; but here are a couple
of my favorites from this group:

And Another:




This one was their idea; not mine… Haha.

I always encourage my Bride’s and Groom’s to take a few minutes
to get away… To recapture themselves; close their eyes…
And just BREATHE on their wedding day.



I make EVERYONE leave them alone… Even if it’s just five minutes.
A bit of time to relax, and be alone is just SO lovely

Cute, aren’t they?

I have a bajillion more photos; I’m going to put just a few more
in this post and then possibly set up the rest for a future one

As we were walking down the street; I spotted this tiny little oasis
off the sidewalk. Brian had to carry his bride across the shrubbery;
but we got the shot!

I really DO get to shoot the most beautiful Brides

SO many more photos I *could* post; but I’ll leave you with their
wonderful ceremony… This is my second in this Church, and I just
LOVE the wood

Now,  as you might have seen by the new logo; I’m *finally*
re-launching myself as a photographer. I’ll be explaining all
of that sometime soon.

Can’t wait to share it all with you!

So tell me; which photo is your favorite?
I’d love to have your feedback

Or At Least, I Hope Not…

What can I say?
Life is wonderfully zany

Saturday was our three month anniversary… And since I haven’t blogged
Engagement, Wedding, Honeymoon, or Celebration photos; I figured it’s
high time I finally do at least one of those

So, like I said… Why not go out of order?

Our Honeymoon:

It all began on Sunday, September 13th… We rushed out of my family’s resort
(http://ChaletSuzanne.com) already a little rushed to make our flight… Only to
discover that our getaway car had a dead battery!!

A quick jumpstart and the fastest airport trip EVER (Literally; we made it in about
half the time it should take… While barely speeding!) we arrived at the Orlando airport
and picked up our tickets… At which point, my beloved Bride learned where we were
going

Maine!

I’d spent months and months researching places we could go; and it all
came down to either a small Cay in the Bahamas, or the Grand Old State
of Maine. In the end, we opted for Maine since it’d be COOL (and far
less likely to be in the path of a Hurricane

Man oh man, were we ever glad we went!!

See?

Truly though, Maine was perfect… We went to four breweries, two forts, and
spent LOTS of time exploring.

See, when we landed in Portland, we went to pick up our rental car and they gave us
a choice… A bland ol’ Chevrolet, or the Toyota Prius Hybrid… To be blunt, I’ve always
harassed the Prius and their fleet of predominantly slow, boring drivers

But on the roads of Maine? The Prius was a blast!!
We drove over 800 miles on $38 in fuel (58mpg+!) and I was even able to test
the “crazy” factor… Got it up on three wheels a few times, and brought the fuel
burn down to 4mpg… Haha TOO much fun!

Of all the Coastal villages we visited in Maine, we liked Bucksport the very best.

It was beautiful, quiet, and wonderfully devoid of the plethora of tourists that are
EVERYWHERE else in Maine.

Bucksport, ME

See that bright white building in the middle?
That’s a quaint old Bed And Breakfast that was recently bought out by
Best Western… Know what that means? Beautiful, quaint rooms with ugly
comforters, windows that open wide, and clean surroundings… Perfect!!

We stayed there for 3 days, and loved EVERY minute… See,  Bucksport
is unique in the fact that they have quite a few REALLY cool little things.
First among them, is “Fort Knox” — No, not the one you’re thinking of,
but the ORIGINAL Fort Knox from the early 1800s.

We visited

See it Larger…

It was truly a cool, and unique place

Though admittedly, my attention was elsewhere

Bucksport is also the home of Maine’s fastest elevator…
Which takes you here:

To the top of their gorgeous bridge observatory…
The view rocked

B&W = Love.

One thing we may not have mentioned… The REASON there aren’t a lot
of tourists in Bucksport… Simple.. There’s a “small” paper mill there:

But the view from our hotel could make up for anything:

And here’s our view of Fort Knox…

The clouds were just Oh SO Amazing.
After three days in Bucksport we were ready to take off for the North…
Bar Harbor was our next stop; but before we’d arrive there, we just HAD
to stop by our second brewery of the trip… “Atlantic Brewing Company”
t’was AWESOME

Nelle agreed

Then, suddenly we were in Bangor:

I stopped in and bought some *great* old books

The next day, we headed South, back to Portland…
And to our 3rd brewery of the trip “Shipyard Brewing”

The last day of our trip, our flight didn’t leave ’til the late afternoon so
we took off on a lighthouse / Fort hunting trip…

It was successful!

Shipwreck!

Nelle and I decided we needed to snap some more photos of the two of US.
I think I’m getting better at the whole self portrait thing:

An amazing old building on the Fort’s grounds…
It was used as an Officer Quarters in the late 19th Century.

And as a silly finale for this post…
Here’s the Greatest Graffiti of ALL Time:

That’s all for now
MANY, MANY more posts to come!!

P.S. Do me a favor?
Leave a comment to motivate me to  post more!
Which was your favorite photo??

**UPDATED!**
Robert & Angela’s Wedding Adventure!!

This past weekend in Santa Barbara, CA we experienced something radical.
Something DIFFERENT.

You see, most days in Southern California, we’re blessed by divine weather…
Clear, blue, 65-75 degrees and far from humid… Occasionally though, we’re
blessed… Nay, BLESSED by what I can only call “Hawaii Skies”

You’ll see what I mean below… We had such fun with Robert and Angela under
those “Hawaii Skies” that I really cannot even imagine shooting them without
the impending threat of drenching rain, lol.

Gorgeous eh?!

We started things off on Friday afternoon with a quick engagement session,
before we rushed off to the ceremony site for a fun and easy rehearsal
(and a DELICIOUS dinner!).

Trees!!

I’m a big fan of Piers

But I have a serious love affair with THIS photo:

So has every other guy I’ve shown it to though… Must be a guy thing

They’re perfect for each other

Look at those crazy clouds!!

So Cute

And Romantic too!

The Santa Barbara Courthouse has some great views from the top…

P.S. I’m officially addicted to Tilt Shift lenses…

And you can see why…

Click to see the LARGE version *HERE*

Brian and Mandee

Click to see the LARGE version *HERE*

Call me non-traditional, but I simply couldn’t resist capturing a few pictures
of the Bride’s brother and his girlfriend… They’re just too cute!

Besides, I met Brian and Angela at the wedding I shot in the redwoods
a couple years back… So I already knew they were BOTH awesome


And that’s the end of day one
I’ll add the day two photos to the end of this post sometime soon,
but for now; I’m exhausted and getting sick!!

Oh, and I’m moving back to Florida too
Loooots of reasons why and I promise to fill you all in soon.

_______________________________________________________

Day Two:

It’s 3:26AM so I’m going to do my best to post just a few photos and very few
words… That said, I’d LOVE to get your thoughts on them, so make sure you let
me know which you like best!

Preparations…

The Waiting Game…

Sometimes it simply amazes me how little sleep we get during big events
in our lives like weddings… Makes catnaps all the more appreciated!!

Push!

Beauty…

Sometimes over exposing an image can bring out the most beautiful things

Boys…

You really ought to see alllll the ones I have of them horsing around,
they’re too much fun!! (A few more made it onto my Facebook, so if we’re
friends there you can check ‘em out!

Girls…

Flowers!

A Moment… Just For Them.

Swoop!

Kiss time

Testing…

My lights… Before I decided to go it without ‘em

A Good Choice!

Back Up…

They’re just TOO cute together, aren’t they?!



Last One… Epic!

I really need to photoshop more of my images… None of these have been properly
“shopped” I’ve only just BARELY run them through Camera Raw. One day soon,
I’ll upload images that look like these… Only better

Matt’s shots are phenomenal as well, and of course we have hundreds more from
the ceremony, and the reception… But; I’m falling asleep… Sooooo that means it’s
time to POST this thing!

Thank you all as always for your time, and for sharing your thoughts.
You make the time spent blogging OH so worth it!

P.S. I promise to finish up the “Adventures of Bugsie” as soon as possible
too… Right now, my primary concern is getting packed, and getting healthy!
(Have a nagging little sickness that’s just begun Pray for me!)

P.P.S. Which was your favorite photo so far??


Oh, and what can I be praying for YOU about?

Mechanics, Motors, Micro-Brews,
and (Finally) Making Headway!

*Or, How I Came to Love A Grandpa Who was Not My Own*

I‘ve been blessed with an incredible set of Grandfather’s…
On my Mom’s side, “Pappa” was a fighter pilot in WWII, a flight
instructor, a chef, an aircraft salesman, and a serial entrepreneur.

His soups made it to the moon on Apollo 15-16, his restaurant has
been awarded the Golden Spoon award for decades… Oh, and he
holds at least one Guinness World Record that I know of… Not Bad!

As for my Dad’s side, “Pop-Pop” is a hero, a soldier, family man…
And the greatest fisherman my Dad’s ever known (and THAT is saying
something, ’cause I’ll tell you what… My Dad can catch some serious fish!)

It shouldn’t be taken lightly then, the whole “loving another grandfather”
thing. But you see… I’ve gotten ahead of myself a bit.

__________________________________________________________

Monday morning I woke up with a start.
It was late! I hurriedly got ready for the day, scarfed down some DIVINE
Apple Cake, and rushed to borrow my friend’s home phone (haven’t
I mentioned that they’re seriously stuck in a hollow? No high speed
internet, no cell service, NOTHING! haha).

I knew who I needed to call… They’d been closed all weekend and
nearly all of the dead ends I’d phoned before had recommended I call
them… Needless to say, I was excited when they answered the phone
on the first ring.

My hopes were dashed though “We don’t work on old Bugs any more”.

Blast!

They gave me a name and number though… For THE guy they recommended
“If any one can fix it, he can… Heck, he can listen to your motor and tell you
exactly what’s wrong with it”.

Suddenly, I felt better

After a quick conversation, and one more desperate attempt to fix the car
myself, I set out… Clattering, banging, popping, and smelling like poor Bugsie
was about to catch on fire… Insane!

We made it though… And as I pulled into the shop “Grandpa” looked at me
like I was CRAZY. “This thing’s about to blow!”

After I told him what had happened, his concerns for my sanity were confirmed
“You SANK your Bug??” he asked. “Yup” I replied… “Oh”.

After that, he was stuck with this look on his face for much of the day:

Oh, did I mention that my new hero was wearing a “This is What the World’s
Greatest Grandpa Looks Like” sweatshirt? He was workin’ it too! haha.

It took us several hours, tinkering about, before he finally decided to take
a lunch break, and I walked over to a local brewery (great beer and food!)
I was STOKED to discover that they had WiFi also, as it’d been 5 days since
my last “proper” internet connection and I was downright jonesin’!

In fact, that’s where I finally posted Day One of this adventure… I was a little
behind, lol.. Hadn’t expected to be THAT out of touch!

As time passed, I caught up on my hundreds of emails, 200+ Facebook
notifications, and a few checkups with my team leaders (it still amazes
me how much they can get done even when I’m literally “off the grid”).

Then my battery died.
SO, I made my way back over to the shop.. Just in time to hear my baby
start… Stutter, cough, then run better then she had in days!

Things still weren’t right of course, so after a few more hours of tinkering,
we started tearing parts off his little roadster project “sacrificed” in the name
of Bugsie’s needs.

“Sacrificial Lamb”

“Tools For Transplants”

“Trained Hands”

Speaking of hands; one of the very first thing “Grampa” taught me that day
was all about gout, and how it’d been rotting away his finger… DISGUSTING!!!

But let me jump ahead a bit… Because after we transplanted a carburetor
(apparently, even though I’d spent the day before, rebuilding mine, there was
still something wrong in it), the distributor, the spark plugs, and more…

Tested the compression, torqued the heads, changed the oil, reset the timing,
and God knows what else, we finally set to fire her up again… Only to realize
that her fuel tank was DEAD dry!

So, after draining a bit of fuel from one of his SWEET sand rails:

She RAN!!!!!
And boy did she ever… After over 200 miles of the most painful driving I’ve
ever experienced in a car… Sputtering, complaining, backfiring, and overall;
HATING me… She was like an all new creature!!

Ahhhh it was love

Oh, and Gramps was nice to me on the cost too… Even though he had to
put off all his other projects for the day, and focused solely on my little girl…
Tore all sorts of parts off HIS car, and more… What a tremendous blessing!!
(I love my Bug, I love my life!).

God is good.

And so, as the sun was setting, I set out.
The plan for the evening? Head North… And boy did I ever!

On the drive up, I passed the light house Ethan and I slept “in” on our ride down
from Alaska, and many other landmarks that I’d have loved to have spent some
time around… But now, I was THREE days behind and I had to make serious time
to even get close to Seattle before Thanksgiving.

Of course, that didn’t stop me from taking a half hour at the Golden Gate Bridge.
I think it paid off, don’t you??

Landmark…

Landscape…

You simply MUST see this larger… I’m certain you’ll agree:
Click Here!!

From there, I’d planned to find a place to sleep, somewhere North of Marin
County… But I just kept going… And going… And going. about 4 hours later,
I finally made camp the FIRST TIME… But my, this story is getting long, you’ll
have to wait ’till the next episode before I tell you of deer, cops, more deer,
more cops, MORE cops… Oh, and more…

SUCH an eventful day is to come…

P.S. Tell me, which was your favorite photo in this set?
The ones from Day Six are going to absolutely blow your hair back!!