ouch!

Yesterday I raced my first mountain bike race in 13 years and had a really fun time. I headed up to the CCCX race in Monterey and raced the sport class (there are 4 classes; Beginner, Sport, Expert and Pro, with the non-pro categories broke up by age groups 19-34, 35-44, 45+) and actually did fairly well all things considered.
The race started out pretty fast, climbed up a hill then a fast descent. I came off that descent in about 4th place, reached down to grab my water bottle and found nothing there! It had bounced out of my cage in the first 5 minutes of racing! I had a small 16oz bottle but that's how much I normally drink in 1/2 an hour and this would be a 1 1/2 hour race! About 20 minutes into the race I remember thinking "Wow, this is really painful, why am I doing this?" LOL After the first lap I settled in and started to feel better.
The 3rd lap (of 4) I took it kind of easy hoping to put in a really good time on the 4th but the lack of water really caught up with me so I couldn't push it but still actually enjoyed being out there. It definitely cost me a few minutes by loosing my water but I made the best of it and was satisfied with my performance. All said and done, I placed 8th of 14 riders in my class and was 6 minutes behind the winner on a 22 mile course.
While I have no illusions of "going pro" this sort of racing is really fun and gives a great sense of accomplishment. That was definitely one of the hardest 1 1/2 hour rides I've ever done and I plan on heading back in 2 weeks for the next round of the series!

Mark and Viviana's SLO engagement session

Well, I guess it's time to make some non-baby related posts again! lol, life has been a bit nuts with two kids but we're all adjusting to the demands. Kyla sleeps fairly well (for a newborn) but likes to be held ALL the time! Stephanie always wanted Caiden to be more cuddly but I think she's thinking she needs to be careful what she wishes for now! Good times.

Mark and Viviana are getting married next month at the Mission in San Luis Obispo so we figured what better place to do their engagement session than at the Mission. Wedding day's can get so hectic that taking the time to do an engagement session at or near where the wedding takes place is never a bad idea, especially when you are right next to the beautiful downtown of SLO.
We started out on the steps outside the Mission and then ended up wandering around the next couple blocks shooting all we had time for. That part of town has a real Chinese influence so we got some images that reflect that as well. Mark and Viviana are awesome people who are great together. They are both Architects so I was sure to incorporate plenty of interesting architectural features in the images as well! Their wedding is coming up real soon so look out for more. They are having the reception at the wacky and fun Madonna Inn so check back for some super fun...and pink!...images!

Kyla's birth story

Here's a quick slideshow I made from the day of Kyla's birth. I prefer the look of film for really emotional times so I'm super happy with how this all came out as the prints are stunning and it shows an amazing day in our lives. Sorry, I had to put down the camera for the super hard contractions :)

Kyla one week old

So some of you think it's really fun to give me, as a photographer, a hard time about not getting many pictures up right away! Explanations about how the film is at the lab and will be back Thursday just don't seem to appease you so here you go, all the baby Kyla pictures you can handle! I will still post up the stuff from our time in the hospital as soon as it gets here. These are just some quick pics from bath-time.

Kyla Janette is here

After a long 9 months and 12 hours of intense labor, Kyla Janette is here! 7lbs, 2oz of healthy baby girl arrived last night around 1am after Stephanie went through a 12 hour induced labor with no pain medications! I can't believe how tough Steph is, I was truly amazed by her incredible strength! I will post much more about all this later but wanted to get a single image up now of Caiden enjoying becoming a big brother :)

Game Time!

The Doctor decided that considering all the complications Stephanie had the first time around that she will be induced tomorrow. So if I'm a bit behind this week now you know why!
I'm sure I'll have a long story to follow :)

Jenny and Tom in San Luis Obispo

Jenny and Tom are an awesome couple whom I met out in Avila Beach last week for their engagement session. We started at Mr. Rick's playing pool and having a couple drinks before heading over to an old barn and then on to San Luis Obispo. I love starting engagement sessions an hour or so before sunset so that we can get great afternoon light, beautiful sunsets and a bit of night time drama where I can break out all my off-camera lighting. It also gives us plenty of time to cover several locations.
It was really funny, Jenny thought Tom might be a bit shy in front of the camera but he was a natural! They have a great connection with each other and it really shows in their images. I can't wait to photograph them again!
I'm really looking forward to their wedding later this year. It's going to be a beautiful affair down in Santa Ynez, Jenny has some awesome plans that are going to make for some amazing memories!

Shooting Film in Napa with John

About two weeks ago I headed up to Calistoga Ranch (which is in the Napa Valley) to shoot a wedding with my buddy John. John could easily have handled this small wedding himself but his wife was due the following day with their first child so I went up just in case he got "The Call." Luckily that did not happen; John and Jody had their daughter several days later, congratulations guys!
Calistoga Ranch is a beautiful location and was a joy to shoot at. It was super windy but Jenny and Daniel braved the elements and still had an outdoor ceremony. I wanted to post a couple of B+W film shots I took with my new rangefinder 35mm camera. Both these images were shot in almost total darkness inside a wine cave with just a few candles for lighting. It was quite a difficult shoot, technically, but these two image really capture the feel for the wedding.
For anyone curious, I do shoot both film and digital. Both have their strengths and weaknesses but I believe that combining them to only use the strengths gives a much broader look than shooting all of one or the other.



OK, I couldn't resist posting just one digital shot :)

Linda and Jack Engagement Session

First of all, let me apologize for being so bad about blogging lately, I've been so busy, sorry! I've actually only been home 1 day in the past 8 and have been working like crazy. Lots of exciting stuff to talk about, but more on that later.
Last Sunday I met up with Linda and Jack for their engagement session. Let me just say that these guys were a blast! If that first picture above doesn't say everything about our shoot then nothing can. We headed out from Alameda over to San Francisco on a crisp but sunny day but by the end the wind was really blowing which made for some really fun shots! Jack and Linda were really game for whatever so we went to several locations and had a great time.
And a big thanks to Linda for noticing so quickly I left my reflector in the car before I got too far away! I'm really looking forward to their wedding, it is going to be amazing and they are such fun people that I know it's going to be a highlight of the year!

Photoforthepeople.com Interview

My new friends, and awesome photographers, Michael and Anna Costa just interviewed me on their up and coming photography forum, Photoforthepeople.com. In it I share a bunch of behind the scenes stuff about how I using lighting to create some of my images. You can see the interview here.
Thanks so much to Michael and Anna for featuring my work, I am honored!

Here's the diagram for the above image. I shot this image while helping out the awesome duo of Chris+Lynn last fall up in Vancouver. And no, I don't know how to quickly draw a nice curved line so don't laugh at me! :)

Cool shot

I don't talk about it much but I actually do quite a bit of photography for commercial clients like wineries, manufacturer's and restaurants. Normally it's all pretty boring stuff (thus why I don't mention it!) but I do enjoy the challenge it presents. Technically, commercial shooting is way more difficult than shooting portraits or weddings but it mostly lacks the creativity that I really enjoy. But every once in awhile I play around a little bit and get something I really like this this shot of Jim Kish of Kish Fabrication welding a bottom bracket on a custom titanium bike.

Vegas Boudoir

I've been getting lot's of requests lately from my brides for boudoir. Now, I don't do the old-school glamor boudoir you might be thinking of, nor do I shoot nudes, but I do shoot fashionable and beautiful images that husbands really seem to love! :) We've done these in all styles from this sort fashion sexy look to classic '40's pinup; it's really fun and makes a great gift.
Here's a little sample from a recent shoot in Vegas, we rented a suite at Planet Hollywood and had a great time. Kasia's husband was very pleased with the results!

Before I headed out to Las Vegas I swung by San Diego for Steve and Suzanne's engagement photos. They are a really fun couple who's wedding will be in Yosemite next year so we wanted to get some variety by also shooting down there. We met up in the morning near Balboa Park and ran all over the place getting some great shots. They even brought their dog, Tanner, who was a riot! That dog had so much energy it was amazing, both my dogs are older so I had forgotten just how much energy a 2 year old can have! He pretty much took over the shoot but my favorite shot is that top one so I can't complain...he knows how to work the camera!

I'm really looking forward to Suzanne and Steve's wedding! I love shooting in Yosemite and it sounds like they have some really great plans!

This shot here is on film. I shoot mostly digital but find some shots just look better on film as the softness and color is just impossible to imitate with digital. It looks even better printed!