The first of several portraits that I took of Yeni back in November for another class. The bottom image was shot with a Nikon N80 and the head shot was taken with a Horseman LX 4x5 and a 210mm lens. Both images are on Fuji Provia 100 color transparency film, with minor retouching and color adjustments in Photoshop, other than that they're pretty much straight scans. I'll upload more images from these shoots in the next few days.

A few old shots I was working on last night. The first two were for an extra credit assignment that involved going out and shooting something "blue." The last picture is an outtake from the shoot I did with my friend Phil and some of his guns back in September.

These two images were from another assignment involving the use of "blackglass" to control background lighting and to highlight a product on a specular surface for catalog style photography. The images I've posted here are the cover pages I digitally created for each shot and placed into my composition book for the class.

Here's a shot of one of two theme assemblies I had to create for my studio lighting class. All of the shots I've posted from that class were created at the Brooks Institute of Photography studios in Santa Barbara, Calif. I used Mole-Richardson hot lights on every shot (we weren't allowed to use strobes for "learning" purposes).

For those of you who might be curious about the technical details, here are a few shots of the studio setups I used to create a few of the images I've posted here. Sorry for the low quality of these, but I shot them in low light without a tripod. Hence they're not the best photos in the world, but at least you can get a general idea of what the set looked like.

Well, here are three shots of a travel mug from one of the local coffee shops that I frequent. I did a little cropping on these for the final presentation, but they're posted in full frame here for your viewing pleasure. Keep in mind that some of them have issues like a crooked horizon (top photo) or extra stuff around the edge of the frame (all three), that I knew I would fix when cropping the final images.

Okay. I'm finally done with my "Lighting Studio" class at Brooks Institute of Photography. This class has been one of the most challenging, expensive, time consuming, and informative experiances I've had in about 8 years. I don't think I've learned this much about photography since I first picked up camera and said, "what happens when I push this button?" As the name indicates, this class was all about how correctly light specular and diffuse subjects for shape, texture, form, and seperation. I also spent a lot of time working with the theory of reflectivity... (angle of incidence = angle of reflection). Alright, I know that just got a little technical, but knowing how to practically apply that theory can lead to an incredible amount of lighting control in the studio. I have to admit that I'm not really into tabletop photography, but I love learning new skills that will improve my ability to communicate my vision. I also realize that, whether I'm into it or not, knowing how to shoot small products will improve my ability to pay off the insane amount of debt I'm going to be in when I get done with school. Alright, enough rambling. Now, I'll get to posting some of my photos from this class. However, I have to throw in this little disclaimer: These photos are not scans! They are just digital shots I took of my 4x5 transparencies on my light box for the purpose of using them in a composition book I had to create for class. I didn't even take them out of the negative sleeves before shooting, because I wanted to give a rough "behind the scenes" look to the book. That being said, I thought they looked pretty good for what they are. So, without further ado, I'll get to posting some photos.

Here's a few variations of a shot I did with my friend Tracy back in November. The assignment was to create a classic "Hollywood Glamour" style portrait. I think the top one fits the theme pretty well, with her looking aloof and snobbish, but I like the other two better. I've got a couple more from this series that I'll try to post as soon as I get a chance. But right now I gots-ta get some sleep, because tomorrow is going to be a long day in the studio... table top shooting galore!

I love Hawaii! This is a shot from back in 2001 when me and some friends from the boat (I was still in the Navy back then) went hiking up to Manoa Falls on Oahu island. Unfortunately, the web doesn't do much justice to the colors, but you get the idea.

Two versions of a shot I did with my friend Phil where he was dressed up as an old school gangsta. I used one light and reflector for this shot outside of his apartment down by the beach in Ventura, Calif. back in September.

Just an old photo from the Ventura County Fair that I had hidden away on my hard drive. The caption goes as follows: A ride operator motions for Ferris Wheel patrons to start forming a new line during the Ventura County Fair at Seaside Park in Ventura, Calif. on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2005.

A few shots of an old brush fire that took out about 10 acres on a hillside above Ventura Ave. in Ventura, Calif. on Aug. 19, 2005. The first shot is another digital composite I did of two images. It actually looked like this in person, but since digital cameras are incapable of recording the same wide range of light intensity that the human eye can see, I had to shoot to different exposures and blend them in photoshop to get a realistic rendering of the scene. The second shot is a straight photo of some firemen working to contain the blaze before it got out of hand.

This is World War II veteran George Tilton walking through the Arlington West memorial on the beach in Santa Barbara, Calif. while the Nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is anchored in the background. Each of the 1,863 crosses represents one U. S. service member who has fallen in the Iraq war. That was the number of U. S. casualties as of Aug. 21, 2005; as of today, the number sits at 2,283 and continues to grow each month. George is a volunteer with the Santa Barbara chapter of Veteran's for Peace and usually helps setup the crosses every sunday morning and then take them down later that same evening. Veteran's for Peace is a non-profit educational and humanitarian organization that's trying to increase public awareness about the cost of war.

I finally got some time to post a few new images. Well, actually they're old images, but they're new to this blog. I don't have any of my current stuff on digital because I've been shooting everything on 4x5 film. The only digital photos I've taken over the last two months are of my lighting setups for the table-top stuff I've been shooting. Thankfully I'll be able to start shooting digital for school in about three weeks! Until then, I'll try to get caught up on posting some of my old stuff.

Just a few old photos from my days as a navy photographer. I'll probably post a lot more of these as I get around to them.

Okay, I've finally got a free moment to upload a few more photos. So, here's one more shot from the McEuen shoot at Zoey's Coffee loft. It's a digital composite of two shots that I took with my D70. I shot this on B&W film as well, but that version is an actual double exposure. It turned out a lot like this one except for the color.

I've been insanely busy trying to finish all of my shoots for school before the Christmas break and my internet went down for a few days, so I haven't been able to update for awhile. But fear not!! I'm still alive and kicking. In fact, I've got some photos to upload. But alas, now that my internet is up and running again, I need to head out for another shoot. Don't fret though, I'll have those shots up in no time... I hope.

Last Monday I was lucky enough to hang out with the talented musician, Jonathan McEuen, and some of his musical cohorts during an after hours jam session at Zoey's Coffee Loft in Ventura, Calif. I was there to shoot a portrait of Jonathan for a school assignment, which required film. So, I shot the assignment on Kodak TriX 400, but I also took some digital outtakes; which I've uploaded here for your viewing pleasure. Feedback is always welcome and appreciated, enjoy!

It's all about La Guitarra!

Here Jonathan ponders the meaning of it all, while some friends cover a few Johnny Cash tunes in the background.