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Random Jazz: Circle Gets the Square Edition

More unpublished stuff for you.

First up are some photos of my friend Tim Gill, who’s an amazing musician and leads a few different incredible musical groups, including the Tim Gill All Stars. You should probably go see them live or buy some of their music if you know what’s good for you.
Tim Gill

Tim Gill

Tim Gill

I did some work with my friend Anna Habrat (the Magical Blonde Hair Stylist) for entries in the NAHA competition. While I can’t show you the super rad styles she came up with until after the competition, I thought I’d throw in some interesting outtakes if for no other reason than model Dawnielle has amazing eyes.
Model takes a break

Crying model

I made this mermaid a few months ago with my Pixelstick. There’s supposed to be some dolphins in there, but they’re jerks and aren’t showing up well.
Pixelstick mermaid at the pool

Urban river

This one hurts my head to look at.
Urban fountain

Urban fountain

Tuolomne meadows

Moon reflected in a building

I know this photo doesn’t look like much, but I’m pretty sure it’s the most perfect photo I’ve ever taken. Some day when I die this will be sold for millions of dollars. Get your copy now for a mere $1,000.
Geometry

And last but not least, a giant hole. See you next year!
Pentagon at OC Performing Arts Center

birdyIf you’re viewing this a a single post and have like 6 more minutes to kill, feel free to check out the rest of my work here.

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Lights, Camera, Action!

Like her brother before her, “Action” Abigail was the subject of 7-month-old portraits. No, I don’t know why it was 7 months in both cases, but I do know this is a pretty darn adorable future superhero child. I’m sure you’ll agree.

Older brother Declan in mom’s boots. Nearing 3 years of age, D is like lightning in a bottle if that lightning blew up the bottle and then drank Red Bull made from double Red Bull. Although he wasn’t the subject of the shoot, I tried to catch him every time he ran across my paper. This was about the only frame in which he wasn’t a blur.

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2010: Year in Review

2010 was probably the most challenging year of my life, with a number of personal and work events that pushed me to the brink a number of times. But, it was also the most productive year of my life in a number of areas, certainly with respect to photography. By the time the year was over I felt that I had reached a new level in my ability to capture the world around me. Additionally, I found a new calling in life on a political and social level, traveled and “adventured” like never before, and most importantly, spent an incredible amount of time with a diverse group of amazing people. To all of you, even those who aren’t represented here, thank you for letting me into your lives during the best (and worst) year of my existence.

Even though this is a pretty darn big post, the photos below are only a small selection of some of my favorites from the year. Click on a shot to go to the full post it was originally found in.

Ireland and Italy

I traveled to Europe with my sister and cousin, stopping first in Ireland to visit my brother before heading off to Italy.

Robin and Laurie

Two incredible women who are a true pleasure to be around.

Section 8 at the House of Blues

I got to shoot my cousin’s band from the stage at the House of Blues in Anaheim. That was definitely a cool experience.

Corona Del Mar

I’ve spent a lot of time doing photography along Corona Del Mar. This photo seems to be the one people like best.

Los Angeles Arboretum

I made a number of trips to the arboretum this year. I started the year barely knowing what an orchid was, but thanks to the arboretum and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, I’m pretty much an expert now. :)

These are from two different trips.

New York City

One of the most amazing places I’ve ever been to, and I barely scratched the surface.

Studio Chaos

2010 was the year that I finally got a handle on studio lighting. I’m certainly not an expert, but this once mysterious discipline has let me in on some of its secrets. The first two photos are from some of my first sessions at my new studio. The self-portrait of me isn’t published elsewhere on the site, but since it’s the most obnoxious photo I took all year, I figured I’d include it.

San Diego Ruins

I spent a long time scouring the desert near San Diego this year looking for ruins and pictographs. I didn’t find either; instead, I found this ghost train amid some adventures too crazy to share.

St. Louis

The weather in St. Louis was hot and miserable during my trip, but the stay was one of my best photo experiences to date.

Khmer New Year

Thanks to a connection through my friend Nita, a temple in Riverside asked me to capture their Khmer New Year celebrations.

Huntington Beach Pier

The third most viewed photo I took all year. Having grown up in HB and spent considerable time there, I actually find shooting the pier pretty boring. This one afternoon with my cousin and brother, however, made me feel like a first time visitor.

Scranton, PA

Pennsylvania is awesome. If it didn’t get to negative one million degrees in the winter, I might consider living there. Thanks to Aislinn and Bruce for joining me on some fairly crazy adventures.

Lake Shrine

An unusual retreat in the chaos of LA. Take a blanket and spend time reclining near Gandhi’s ashes.

Team Chaos: Action + Danger

I’ve been single forever, so taking photos of my own kids isn’t possible, given that I have none. Luckily, my good friends have two adorable children that I’ve been fortunate to photograph on a number of occasions. The first photo shows “Danger” Declan in James Bond mode, smooth talking the ladies already. The photo of “Action” Abby in her tiger costume is one of my top 5 favorites of the year.

Christmas with the Moores

In pursuit of a Christmas card, I spent a day with my cousin Dan and his lovely bride Kim, as well as their two very big dogs. After we were done for the day and driving home, we lucked into an amazing sunset and a great place to capture it.

Trenton, my favorite photo of the year

As part of a photojournalism project, parents Wendy and John let me into their family for a few weeks as I documented life with an autistic son. I haven’t published the full set yet, as I’m still working with some other families to get a larger body of work together. For various reasons, this photo of their son Trenton, a dynamic and incredible little guy, is my personal favorite  of the year.

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Medical (Un)Professionals

Location: my studio. Subject: female portraits

As part of my ongoing 100 portraits project, my friends Laurie and Robin stopped by Friday night to pose. My regular 9-5 has been crazy stressful over the last week, so spending an evening with this delightful duo was a welcome respite.

Robin is an all-star RN, and Laurie is a physical therapist working on her doctorate. Both are intelligent, consummate professionals. As a best friend team, they’re animated and funny and have the best stories. Our session started with the wounded Robin nursing a busted knee cap, and ended up with me in a motorcycle helmet having a PVC pipe swung at my head while Laurie photographed. Yes, we had fun. :)

I got two of the best portraits so far in my project, which I’ll have to share with you later. In the meantime, enjoy these other ones from the session.

Thanks ladies!

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Studio Chaos I & II

Location: My studio. Subject: Female portraits.

Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to have a variety of people over, and even more fortunate enough that a few of them let me abuse them in my extra room turned studio. First up were my cousin Laurie and sister  Jennifer, who were over for a little party for Laurie’s birthday. On Saturday night, after enjoying a live music cruise with Section 8 in Dana Point, Jennifer and Brittany were my excellent models.

All of the photos were lit  by my new Alien Bees ABR800 ring flash (modified with a 56″ moon unit), with occasional fill light from a 30″ soft box on the other side or on the background.

My cousin Laurie.

Jennifer: sister, airplane.

I have some mannequins over at my place for a shoot I’m doing for my day job. I have a number of great photos of Jen and Laurie clowning around with them. Here, the mannequin tells Laurie a knee-slapper.

Probably my favorite photo of Brittany. The best photos, in my opinion, are when people are at their most candid.

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