Slightly Stoopid - Cricket Amphitheater San Diego

Way back in the day when I was still a resident of the Midwest I use to get photo passes to Slightly Stoopid shows. This is when they were a 3 piece band and the first on the bill of four. I have video of show in St. Louis back in like 2000. The bar wasn't going to let me film and all three of the guys in stoopid stood up for me at the door to make sure I got in and could shoot their show. As an 18 year old kid that really stuck with me. So here it is 11 years later and their management is still as cool as it was when there were 10 people at a show on a Tuesday night in St. Louis as they were this weekend at a packed show in a humungous amphitheater.

Leia's Turning El Numero Uno - Coronado

I just got back from my session with Sarah and her daughter Leia (whom is turning 1) and wanted to post a couple shots from our session. It was one of those shoots that was just super smooth and fun do to. The lighting was great (sometimes a huge hit or miss....) Sarah had one of those "I have known you all my life" personalities and Leia is a natural around the camera.

And to really top it all off....I got my kids out of the Del without having to visit the candy store.

I Love Alienbees Beauty Dish.

I have been wanting to get a beauty dish for a while. I am not sure what took so long since they really are not all that expensive. Every time I watched a behind the scenes video with a photographer I liked they were always using a beauty dish. So I got bought one and I love it. If you are thinking of getting one, do it. I have a plethora of soft boxes and grids, but none of the touch the way I can manipulate the light source to EXACTLY where I want it into a certain contained area. The dish below is an Alienbees 22" Beauty Dish.

Although I just shot the photos below today, I have actually had this tool sitting around unused for over a month. My kids help me mess with it when I first got it, but I wasn't unable to unleash its purpose until today.

The Set Up.
....the blue paper I purchased for a newborn session that I never ended up taking with me. I found it, still sealed up in my studio space. I have a plethora of shit hanging around that I "needed" to get but still haven't used. (I am sure my wife is stoked to know that...) I tacked it to the wall and pointed the beauty dish at a 45 degree angle to where the model would be standing.

The Shot:
Below is model Shannon Noelle. Shannon shot some promotional images with my company before and was just returning to San Diego via Argentina and hit me up to see if I wanted to shoot. Unlike many of the "models" you find on modelmayhem.com , Shannon is actually a respectable full time working model (Adidas, Seedless, Affliction) and being able to shoot with a pro for free is awesome.

The shot set up is simple. There isnt much trickery to the actual setups of most studio lighting shots.
The real work comes in on setting the lights power vs. the setting on the camera to really dial in what you are looking for. On this shot I had the Alienbee's B800 powered to about 3/4 power and then my camera set at 1/200 f5. It seemed to be about the perfect combination is really letting the beam of light from the beauty dish shine and let the non light areas die off pretty fast in the image.

The resulting shots. These have only had minor RAW adjustments and not fully worked in post production.

If you have any question on gear or shooting or anything photography/nerd/geek related feel free to hit me up anytime!

The White Family at Mission Trails in Santee

Only another Father would understand not showing up to a photo session without a shirt. I am sure people without children might say "James, how do you forget your shirt?" Those people that sleep in on the weekends, eat dinner at 9pm without having to tell anyone else at the table to eat their food and can guarantee that every time they walk out of the house they will remember to be fully dressed.

Parents? nothing is guaranteed. (James isn't present at the beginning of the shoot so he could run back home and grab his shirt.) Below are a few shots from our session together.

The Lugo Family and the Infamous "Wall of Rims"

You would think finding such a unique place such as a wall of rims would be an easy task right? It is not. After driving around for a few miles through San Marcos and finally stopping and asking what looked to be an ex-stripper and her tweeked out boyfriend where this Wall O' Rims may be. Well we found it.


Lessons to be learned? Never be afraid to ask directions from a tweeker. (they are like walking google maps.) But in case you do not want to risk the interaction....


Cardinal Auto Wrecking: http://bit.ly/Hud9K9
We shot there on a Sunday afternoon. The owner was in the office and after asking he had no problem with us shooting there. The wall extends over a large parking lot area. If visiting for a shoot, please be respectful so this location stays available to other photographers. 


The blue garage door location is the loading dock of a natural gas company in an industrial area of Escondido, ca. The exact name of the place escapes me at the moment. If you are interested, shoot me an email and I will find it for you. 

Nick Holly and Ella

I have known Nick and Holly since I was thirteen years old (or about that. I think. I am getting old and my memory isn't all that great) Nick saved me from liking shitty music (what 14 year old ever owned a Husker Du album?) , turned me on to Jack's Naturally Rising cheese pizza's (which are still the shit, but kraft doesn't sell them in SoCal) taught me that the old record shop downtown above the furniture store was way cooler than the one in the mall, was the first person I ever got drunk with (icehouse, backpack, Destin, FL..hah) and was my first band mate (FMSH!)  Nick, Holly, myself and a few other friends were in our own little crew.

Like with a lot of friends when growing up you kind of go separate ways here and there, but we still have always had that tie to a time in our life's where were just trying to figure out who we were. Fortunately Nick and Holly didn't go their separate ways, but grew closer together and married. It seems like ages ago that we would all layout on the trampoline in Holly's backyard without a care in the world. But here we are some 15+ years later all living in San Diego, CA starting our own families. It will only be a matter of time before our kids first basement show.

Below are a few photos from our session introducing little Ella. I thought the first photo was perfect. Baby sleeping. Dad in a Bad Brains t-shirt. What is cool about Nick is that this photo could have been taken 15 years in the past or in the future and he would still be rocking Bad Brains.