Happy New Year! I thought I would use this little bit of free time and throw up some photos from last week’s test shoot that I did down at Smash Photo Lab in Long Beach.  I teamed up with Janet Pippins (makeup artist) from San Diego and Yarley Arauz (Model) from LA and set up a few looks for potential portfolio display.

I kept these very simple and wanted to stay as clean as possible. For you photographers that read my little slice of web-land… I used no more than 2 lights on any of these. The first couple beauty shots were lit primarily from camera left, with a little fill light fired in on camera right. The red couch shots were ring flash only. The last one was done using my right flash as well… but this time, I put the light up on a boom and fired it about 45 degrees down, straight in front of the model. The ring flash becomes a beauty dish at that point and gives you that familiar “butterfly” shadow under the nose.

Anyway… I hope you enjoy the photos. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions and/or leave comments below. Have a safe and happy new year!!

Wassup y’all. Wanted to share another shot from the Gravity Clutch shoot with you all. This guy might look a little familiar, if you saw my last post with Darin, Gravity Clutch’s drummer. Well… this is actually Ryan, Darin’s twin brother, who plays guitar and is the lead vocalist for the band.

At the end of the shoot we decided to get Ryan in for a few snaps. Again… my job was so easy. These guys are total hams and pack a ton of personality. We got some great shots right away and got to pack up just in time for their gig at Friar Tucks later that night.

Check out this shot… Ryan lighting it up.

A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by Darin Meyer (Gravity Clutch, drummer) to setup a shoot with him and his new drum kit from Six Gun Drums. This idea alone was exciting to me, since I love shooting musicians and/or music related subjects. When he mentioned shooting inside of an indoor gun range with bullet holes, targets, etc… you can imagine my reaction.

We shot quite a few frames for this as it is intended to be used for promotional media, ie - press kits, advertisement, etc. The shot below ended up being one of my favorites from the shoot and I think it will work very well when put to use! It’s just fun to look at! =)

So, again… thanks Darin for hooking up such a killer location and letting me run with it. I love being able to shoot with all that creativity and license. I hope you really like your photos!!

Enjoy!!

Hello blog-land! Finally… I have the photos to show you all from Paul & Jen’s wedding at the beautiful Coyote Hills Country Club in Fullerton, CA. This wedding was very fun for me since Paul was a coworker of mine for 3 years. Paul and Jen are an extremely fun couple and I was honored to shoot their special day.

Things started out with a little bit of a scare due to the looming storm clouds overhead. Luckily the weather held up and it ended up being a blessing in disguise. The gorgeous outdoor wedding was very comfortable and cool… the cloud cover made for some VERY nice light!!  =)

Below are some of my favorites from the wedding. Again… I had a lot of fun shooting this and I really hope you like your memories, Paul and Jen! Enjoy!!

Probably the cutest flower girls you’ll ever see!!…

This next shot never went to Paul’s head… nahh!  =)

One of my faves…

I love this next shot. I think I might have to start a new “Party Formals” trend!  =)

Thanks again P+J! I wish you guys the happiest of futures… you rock!

P.S. - On a side note, I want to congratulate Paul on graduating from the police academy down in San Diego. His last day in the academy was the day before his wedding!! There is nothing better than fulfilling a life goal/dream like that… all in one weekend! Cheers to Officer Tena! Be safe out there!!  =)

I recently had the honor of shooting a wedding for a very cool couple at Coyote Hills in Fullerton, CA. Such a fun wedding… I had a blast shooting all day. I will leave you all with this little teaser for now… more to come soon!

Hey party people. I had a great time on Sunday down in Laguna Beach for a Senior Portrait session with Athena. It was one of those days where everything fell right into place. The weather, a talented makeup artist (Thanks Kasey), a gorgeous beach and last, but definitely not least… Athena and her awesome family!

We met up downtown and walked down to the beach a little bit before sunset. We had a great mix of sun, haze, clouds, water and rocks. I love the how these turned out! Check ‘em out, leave a comment… enjoy!!

Hello Blog-land! Not a lot of time to post, but here is a sneak peek at a KILLER senior portrait session in Laguna this past Sunday.

Enjoy!! More on the way…

Wassup blog-land?! Thought I would put up a quick post and share a cool little tid-bit with all of you. I just had one of my photos featured on USA4Real’s website. A little while back, I shot a great set for a band called the Superficial Saints. They are a great group of guys and are very talented, which makes me glad to see how far they are coming in the music industry. USA4Real has made them their Artist of the Month and featured one of my photos of the band on their site! How cool is that?!? =)

USA4Real - August Featured Artist, Superficial Saints

So… be sure to check out the band and listen to their latest single. They have an album release gig at the Key Club in Los Angeles onAugust 25th… more details on their website and MySpace page.

Congrats you guys! I wish you all the best on a successful career in the music biz!!

What’s up peeps?! Hope your week is going well. I just wanted to share a few shots from this past Saturday’s wedding that I was able to tag along on. I had the pleasure of working along side the extremely talented Don Norris for a wedding at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset. Don was such a pleasure to work with and it was amazing watching him in action. Subsequently, I have found a new love for infrared photos… Don is a master! (He may not say so, but I think he is.)

The day started off for me shooting the guys “pre-game” in their suite. The groom, Eduardo, and his groomsmen were a lot of fun to hang out with and provided quite a bit of laughter. Here are a couple shots of the guys…

From there I went and met up with Don and the bridal party to finish up a few shots before heading to the church. Here is Maricela getting some finishing touches…

At the church…

I thought this shot was really cool. Yes, it’s blown out, but I really love how genuine and real this one is. The blown out background, to me, gives it a certain spiritual feel.

Gorgeous wedding party! They had a permit to shoot at Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills. Awesome!

I really had a blast with this wedding. Couldn’t have gone better! Thanks again to Don Norris for having me along as a 2nd. I really hope to shoot again with you. Also, Maricela & Eduardo… Thanks so much for the pleasure of attending and covering your special day. May you have a fullfilling and wonderful life together! Cheers!!

Hey everyone. I was just looking through some older portrait work that I had done and came across this portrait of Dalila. It’s still one of my favorite classically styled portraits that I’ve shot and I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

It’s a simple 2 light setup. One strobe thru a white umbrella off camera left (Rembrandt style) with a bare strobe behind her off camera right. Shot with a 50mm prime lens on my old Canon XTi. I then ran my usual dodge/burn and retouching… no presets or actions here.

Anyway… I hope you like this one as much as I do.

Thanks!