On Location: Free from Original Sin

Baby Joss is growing in front of everyone's eyes. Another baby milestone for her, being baptized at St. Michael's church in Poway. I was honored that Ryan and Christine wanted me to shoot Joss again. It was very intimate baptism. I always thought it was during a huge mass. Not this one, she was baptized among close family and friends. Afterward was the reception at family member's house to party and to drink. Here are some of the pictures of Joss' day. Ryan and Christine are very proud parents.

Camera Info: Canon 20D with 50mm 1.4 along with the Canon 430ex with omni bounce. Shot mostly at ISO 800 and f/4.0 with flash but shot wide open without flash. All shots edited in Adobe Lightroom 3. Simple curves, exposure, sharpening.

e$co to LBC then back, then WORK!?!?!

alright, alright, alriiiight....you're gonna learn today. Mini suicide trip, for reals, I just got off work to post this. REALLY!? One of Jess' good friend was celebrating her birthday and this is what I remember. Honestly, if it wasn't for these photos I wouldn't know what happened. I could of been raped and wouldn't of known. It was a cool time, DJ, a weird way taking shots, alcohol, drunk Mexican food prepared already. The girl to guy ratio was ridiculous!!! Ok, thanks for looking. I'm going to bed.

Camera info: the same set up i always use. LOL!!!! You swear i make money to buy other lens and gear.

Just F**kin' around.

During Halloween, I wanted to take some pictures of some murder scene. The image would of been cool if I had a model. I bought some gels for my strobes...so clutch. I just set up my camera and lights around the living room. I just wanted to practice on using some gels and balancing out the different light sources. I think it'd work better in a deeper room. Cause the Red strobe and the bare bulb kinda mixed. Didn't really want that. But it's just a cool idea. Don't mind the clothes too, I was getting ready to play some basketball. So next time I'll be sure to dress up a little better and when I'm not on a time constrain.

 I dropped off my roommate and soon to be ex-roommate at the airport. So while I was there, might as well take advantage of the sunset across San Diego. It was beautiful. It was cool seeing people fish on the side, coupes walking the island, runners and bikers doing the same. It was very peaceful...shooting at my own pace with the serenity of the water crashing on the shore. Pretty cool.

This shot is composed of literally 11 different shots and merged together to get a nice giant one. I shot it with my Canon 75-300 f/3.5-5.6 lens (which is garbage). Shot it vertically and shot it from left to right. I realized I need a better tripod too. It was frustrating editing the photos when they were all skewed.

Of course, I had to take a self portrait. This was shot with my Canon 50mm f/1.4 shot with the aperture of 2.8 to get a subtle bokeh of the skyline. I'm holding Jive's film camera. It's just collecting dust. But I figured I can use it as a prop since that's how most people see me, looking at life through a lens. Hahaaa. I think ALL my self portraits are gonna be like that now.

On Location: Foot Clan needs Pizza Power

I think it's safe to call myself the official photographer of the Co-Ed Indoor Soccer Foot Clan team. Still tweaks to work on but it's not about winning, or is it? Well, it makes me want to run on the field and play instead of being stuck on side lines and taking pictures. I love photography, but I do enjoy sports and being active as well. ErRrRRr....I hate my sports photography. I NEED a new lens if I continue to do sports. My crappy 75-300 f/3.5-5.6 lens is not cool. I bump the ISO to the highest level, try to shoot wide open, those stupid lights are not bright enough for my camera. I can only shoot during the day, but then I have to work about stupid shadows. I want that 70-200 f/2.8 lens bad!!!! ohhhh well, I work with what I got.

Camera Info: Canon 20D shooting in aperture priority mode. Shooting wide open when I need to which was a lot. Edited in Lightroom and Photoshop CS3.

Thanks for cheering on The Foot Clan.

On Location: Halloween Wine and Cheese

Halloween, the one year when you can be anything you want. I always appreciated girls who slut it up. When good girls can be sexy something, cop, nurse, whatever. They're not sluts on a daily, but they want to say 'I can be slutty' which is awesome. Good for them.

I can be something I always wanted to be. It took a while until people caught on, but I was getting a fever...a Beiber Fever that is!!! Hahaa. Nothing too crazy, dressing up in costumes, acting a fool, drinking, staying classy. Mando and Mel were Ash and Misty from Pokemon which was very cute and done very proper. But in my honest opinion, the best costume was J's costume of being Weezy F Baby, Lil Wayne. It had the dreads cause long hair don't care. He was tat'd up from the blood tears on his cheek to "Blessed" tattoo on the neck, skinny jeans, wife beater, and most importantly the attitude. He stayed in character throughout the night. Hahaaa.

Hopefully you can enjoy the photos. It was a good time with good friends. Always a good time.

Camera Info: Canon 20D with Canon 50mm f/1.4 with Carbon Fiber lens hood along with the Canon 430ex. Most shots were shot at ISO400 with f/5 and a slow enough shutter so the flash can be synced. Longest shutter was 1/40 while the flash was pointing towards the ceiling. All edits done in Lightroom 3. Boosted saturation with a HEAVY vignetting to try to capture the Halloween feel.

Always, thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday El Cunado

Happy Birthday to my good friend Jive!! The revolution will always find a reason to drink, but tonight was a joyous occasion in celebrating Jive's Birthday! It's just the beginning too. It was day 1 of celebration. More picture's and entries will come. Pre-drink, sang happy birthday, Tavern and bowled and drank the night away. Friendly competition between friends and strangers. Todd in a chugging race!? These pictures do not do justice on how much fun we had. Or maybe it does because of lack of photos. I don't know. I was drinking, clapping, eating with friends. You can't be mad at that kind of combination.

Camera Info: Canon 20D with 50mm 1.4 with Canon 430ex with diffuser/bare. shooting in manual. Long shutter with f/5, rear sync curtain.

Thanks for looking.

Bates Nut Farm

I haven't posted in a while, long over due. But I think I have my new favorite model. Baby Joss!!! As I was listening to Rick Ross feat. Nicki Minaj-You the Boss!!! Joss is the BOSS!!!!

I come across a lot of interesting people, I guess a camera brings a lot of attention to yourself. I love talking anything photography, but I always have to stress the fact that I am not professional, strictly an enthusiast. People ask me, what would be my dream photography job. If I had a dream job, I'd want to be a traveling photographer and do National Geographic work or travel with a close family. The Galimbas is just a glimpse of that dream. I am following this little girl, Joss throughout her young life. When she grows up, if she picks a debut or a car, she shows off pictures of her childhood, I know my photos will be there. Capturing moments in a fraction of a second. That's real time traveling.

Funny story, when i say funny story, it usually means I was drinking. Anyways, a good friend, Jess was reminding how much of an honor it is to shoot Joss. I am one of the few lucky ones where I am able to photograph their pride and joy. Because Joss is an angel, adorable from head to toe. The Galimbas and future Galimba aka Jess were pumpkin searching. I came along to photograph Joss' first fall season. It sounds like fun in theory except EVERYONE decided to go to TODAY!!! I think it's because the Chargers are on their bye week. So it took us literally 2 hours to get there.

As soon as we arrived, we went straight to business. Enjoying the scenery. We just basically walked around the property and posing Joss. I had Jess be my assistant. She was holding it down. Handling the reflector like a pro, providing shade and a good fan for the model Joss. She made my job a whole lot easier for the given situation. It was not a cool day at the farm. But by the end of the day, I'm happy with my photos. I never appreciate the pictures til later. But I definitely had fun, from the car ride with Aldrich watching youtube videos, photographing the Galimbas, and ending the shoot with some shaved ice. Success!!! Joss is very fortunate to have great parents, awesome uncle and aunt, and a great photographer. Hahaaa.

Photograph Info: Canon 20D with Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens with Canon 430ex bare. Most photos shot at f/8 or f/11. All edits were in Lightroom except for the Trio picture, that was in CS3 (I know, OLD!!!).

Like always...thanks for looking.