Ok, I think it’s time to get back to the basics.  Film was what got me in love with photography and film is where I’m going back to.  It is very cathartic for me when I was developing my own rolls of film and printing out my own prints.   There’s an art to it…a finesse.  It takes time and patience…it takes an understanding of light, composition and equipment.

Although digital is great in its own right, I’m the type of person that thinks certain technologies are a hinderance on life and us as a human species.  Being constantly connected has it’s privileges but at what costs?  When you rather be ensconced in Facebook on your smartphone when you’re sitting at a table with your friends and family, then I’d call that a huge cost.  When you’re walking and on your smartphone at the same time not paying attention to traffic, I’d call that a huge cost.  When you’re at a concert fumbling with your phone to record and photograph the concert instead of being in the moment and enjoying, I’d call that a huge cost.

I’m going to stop trying to increase the business side of things as that has taken away the passion I had for photography.  I’m not saying that that’s bad…just saying that they are two totally separate things.  I want to continue with what I love to do and trust that the rest will take care of itself.  If a business arises from it, great.  If not, no worries.

So, first thing’s first.  I’m going back to shooting with film.  I’m going back to shooting street.  I’m going to setup my darkroom.  I’m going to redesign my site and this blog.

This will become more of a personal blog rather than a photography/business blog.

Renovations start this weekend!

Ok…I couldn’t wait to put my new website, so it’s up!  I’m still sifting through all my photos trying to selectively pick the best ones, as should be when putting up a portfolio.  But man, it’s a hard job…cuz we’re our own worst critics right?

In the meantime, I’ve put up some recent shots in the fashion section that I’m happy with…I may widdle it down still.  I also have to write up my bio page which hopefully will get done by the end of this week.

Lots to do still!  Click here to go to the site and let me know what you think.

Happy new year!

I know it’s a little bit late but I’ve been totally busy this month.  I haven’t updated my portfolio lately so what a better time to do it, right?  And as with updating a portfolio, you need new images…so that’s what I’ve been doing.

As I was looking over my online portfolio, I also decided to give my website a facelift.  So along with creating new images, I’ve also been redesigning and programming my new website which will be making its debut fairly soon! Stay tuned for that!

I will also be adjusting the design for this blog to match that of my website.

On the photography end, I’ve recently purchased some new equipment which have served me well so far. I’ll be posting images for that soon as well. I’ve also have a few projects I’ve been working on which I will share once the new website is launched.

So here’s a sneak peak at what the new website will look like:

Katie has an amazing voice and recently decided to put it to good use.  She’s been going out to auditions and landed a part this past week!  Congratulations Katie!  However, she can’t go out to these auditions without a good headshot…that’s where I come in.

I picked her up in the late afternoon and headed out to the park.  It was an extremely nice day and everyone was picnics and barbecues making it a bit challenging for me to get a good backdrop.  Although headshots most often than not have a blurred out background and cropped in tight around the face, it’s still a good idea to get a pretty uniform backdrop, nothing in it that’ll distract from the face.

I was lucky to have Katie’s roommate come along and offer to hold up my light stand as the wind was having it’s way with it, knocking it to the ground.  Thanks Bree!

One of the things I do as a photographer is to come up with my own projects in order to keep my creative juices flowing.  One of these projects is a skateboarding shoot…but I didn’t want to shoot it like a typical photo you would see in a skate magazine (boring!).  I wanted to show the grace and beauty that skateboarding encompasses much like a dancer performing on stage.  It combines balance, coordination, timing and concentration much like any other sport.

Obviously, I can’t shoot this without a skater. That’s where Greg Lontok comes in.  He’s been an awesome friend , a co-worker and  just happens to be a skater too.  Woke up early and headed out to a skate plaza in Boyle Heights.  One of the advantages of living out in Southern California is the great weather and on this morning we had clear, crisp skies.  The sun was sitting just perfectly for the silhouette shots that I wanted.

Thanks Greg for being my model!

Click on this last image to get the full effect: