California Dreamin'

Every time I'm in Los Angeles for work, or play, I crash with a few buddies of mine, one of them being my best friend of 27 years, Ryan. One of the other guys at the house happens to be a guitarist for Lifehouse, Ben Carey. What a perfect opportunity to get some edgy rock star portraits.

For this set I wanted a ring flash effect, which gives a very direct flash to the subject, filling all the shadows on the face and produces a "halo" around the subject. Since I don't have an extra $500 lying around, once again I had to improvise. I taped two Canon Speedlight handheld strobes directly to my 16-35mm lens, which unfortunately only created half a halo. I was still very happy with the results.

Ben Carey, guitarist, Lifehouse

Ben with his dog, Gibson

I also tested the system out on another buddy of mine. I love the urban look I get from this photo:



I love how this technique lights up the eyes:



A trip to southern Cali isn't complete without a ride on the Harleys. Ben on the left, Ryan on the right:




Matt Nelson, of the Nelson Brothers:



Matt on his shiny new bike:



Ryan cruisin' the 210:

Bikers

Here's a few portraits of some bikers that were in town for a fundraiser. You can check out the story behind the photos on my other blog, on my newspaper's website, thespectrum.com.

Seattle

This past weekend I was in Seattle for my two days off (quick trip....don't ask). Every time I make it back to my home town, I make sure I hit up the market (Pike Place Market) and take in the atmosphere, that always helps me feel like I'm really home again. And of course, I always take my camera. I like to challenge myself and try to focus on a different aspect of the most photographed site in Seattle; this time I wanted some black and white images. So I grabbed my 50mm and hit the market....

Seafood Stress:



Chinese:



Fruit:



Feet:



Love:



Market:



Sailing:



The Original:



Tourists:



Tunes:

Bull Riding

A few select images from the bull riding event held in Cedar City, always fun being a cowboy for a night....

The Subway

Yet another long and strenuous hike, the Subway Trail in Zion National Park.

Brett repelling:



Sarah walking through the "subway" portion of the hike:



Six feet deep and forty degrees, this is where our hike ended:



Dionne and Emily making the trek down to the river, the hike back up was not fun:



There were several nice waterfalls along the way:



Sarah photographing a frog....if a frog could laugh, it would be laughing at Sarah:



Another nice waterfall:



Closeup:



I fear nothing:



Except this, Laura sporting some bugeye shades:



Watch out for the cow Dionne:

Pie Your Professor

I know, I know, I don't update nearly as much as my loyal readers (all two of them) would like to see. So here's some recent daily work, hopefully I'll be able to update with daily stuff at least once a week.

In recognition of finals week at Southern Utah University, I thought it would be fun to throw (no pun intended) some photos up from the "Pie Your Professor" event on campus. Luckily for me, the Fine Arts department was left out of this event. Although I don't think it would have mattered, my students love me too much to toss a pie in my face.