"Hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature"

Left Behind!

2011-04-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry for those who have only been able to follow me on here, I have moved my site to here, as it is much more helpful for small businesses and is, frankly, much easier to use!

At the speed of light

2010-09-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

Its hard to believe that September is almost over already, but hey, who is fighting it? The sooner it cools down here, the better!
Here are a few bits and pieces from recent shoots and some personal and school projects from the past couple weeks.

This was just a little scene that I put together.

Here we have Neya and Michael, they are my new models, and I look forward to working with them again really soon!

You can become a fan of Neya on Facebook

Just a candid portrait of my friend when we went out to lunch the other day.

And now ending with Ben, who is going to be serving a mission in Idaho.

Tiger

2010-09-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Just one quick post before bed (I'm exhausted!). This has been a great week, I had a model shoot and took a crack at animal photography. I think these opportunities are just repayment for all the computer issues I seem to have been experiencing...

Have a great Labor Day!

New York

2010-08-25T23:10:00.001-07:00

It's been an insane past couple weeks, I have barely found enough time to post some of my favorite shots from a trip to the big apple with my dad. New York is truly an incredible place!

Everywhere we went, there was something that caught my eye, I saw this door and wondered how many people must pass it daily, but never stop to admire the symphony of color it displays.

From the top of a tour bus, I could appreciate this mural painted directly on the side of a building. (I wonder if it blinds any airplane pilot that may pass by!)

A lot of our time was spent waiting for subway cars that we just barely missed. This wouldn't be so bad if the tunnels were a stifling 85+ degrees at 40% humidity. At least I was distracted!

This Space Invader mosaic is no larger than my hand. I must have stared at it for a few minutes before Dad got annoyed at me for wasting time!

One subway was decked out floor to ceiling in these incredible mosaic pictures, I will have to post more some other time

And of course, we walked the Brooklyn bridge!

July

2010-08-10T18:50:00.001-07:00

I just finished my "Strategies for College Success" class, and now there is two weeks till the fall semester. Woo summer!
Linds wanted some cap and gown pics, and it kind of grew into a second set of senior photos!

Sam is one of my closest friends, and next week he will be serving a mission in Madagascar for 2 years. I'm honored that he wanted me to take his "official" missionary photos.

Later on back at Sam's house, I had a staring contest with his cat.

He won.

Keeping Busy

2010-07-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much free time lately due to school and other obligations, so its been slow going on learning the new creative suite, but this weekend I'm determined to figure out its secrets!

The past couple days I have been trying to tackle the HDR Pro function, its probably the most powerful tool I've ever seen in a photo editing program.

I also purchased lighting equiptment recently, and so the other day I did a self portrait for practice. I promise, the beard is gone for good now!

I'm Back!

2010-07-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! It's been quite a while since my last post, I've been rather busy with an into to digital photography class (It was pre-req, I had no choice if I planned on going on to more advanced classes) and it cut into a lot of my free time.
BUT its finally over!! :) and I look forward to weekly posts once more.

Mom and I went hiking in Usery today, she got annoyed at how often I would stop and play with my fisheye adapter and take pictures. :) I still had fun! Both mom and I are very sore from the rocky 7 miles.

These are pictures I took for my photo class, I don't want to go on a rant on how much of a waste of time that class was for me because I'm quite familiar with the camera basics... So that's all I'm going to say :) and these shots were a couple favorites from one of the rare assignments that required using an actual camera.

Once we had to go to the MAC to take pictures. I had nightmarish recollections of my last digital photography course in high school. *shutters*
I took a picture similar to this one almost exactly a year ago. I enjoy the nostalgia and being able to see how my vision has changed since.

Abigale

2010-06-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Over spring break (Yes, I know, that was ages ago!) I visited my brother and his family in Winston-Salem, NC, where I had the privilege of taking pictures of my absolutely beautiful niece, their daughter.

Peek-A-Boo!

This was when Abby was getting tired and wanted to play with mom instead :)
Thanks David and Suzi, I miss you so much!

Josh

2010-05-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's official, school is over and summer has begun!! And what a better way to celebrate than with a senior session?
Have students graduating in 2011? contact me! It's never too early for senior pictures :)

Other Projects; My Wanderings: Part 2

2010-05-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the opportunity to edit anything that wasn't a portrait lately, so this was quite nice.

I was exploring the lower salt river yesterday, when I discovered this strange phenomenon...

I really wanted to touch one of the formations.... I think I'll go back tomorrow.

The rest are rather old pictures that I've just been able to get to,

^ My picture won "Nature" photo contest in our yearbook staff.

This is a "Bleeding Heart" I've never heard of these, but I wish I took this one home from NC.

Now, if you have followed my blog from the earlier days, I had a picture similar to this, here. I wanted to see how I have improved so I spent a couple hours today perfecting what I tried to do half a year ago. It was humbling to say the least :)

Thank you everyone for your support so far! Some one comes up to me every day with kind words, you have no idea how much you all mean to me :)

Ashley

2010-05-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back, I did 5 senior shoots in one weekend. Please don't stress your photographer by waiting! ;) hahaha I've never done so much work so fast, but it has been well worth the effort, and I love photography more than ever!

Since these, I also have done a baby shoot, and I was the group photographer for the Menlo Park Youth Conference. On Friday I have Garrett and Lillibeth's wedding, I can't wait!!

Garrett and Lillibeth

2010-04-14T23:40:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday I had my very first engagement shoot! It was a lot of fun, we were able to try out some new locals and I was able to try out some new theories I learned about lighting! (all of which turned out to be BRILLIANT by the way!) I am anxious for their wedding in a few weeks, it'll be my first reception job as well.
I'm looking forward to a VERY packed weekend, consisting of four senior shoots and one special shoot. Lets hope I can sleep at some point!

Yes; courtship is the time for sowing those seeds which will grow up ten years later into domestic hatred
- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Just kidding :) have a good day.

Scenes From The Fishbowl

2010-04-08T11:09:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of visiting my brother and his family in Winston-Salem, NC over Easterweekend. He attends Wake Forest Medical School, and offered me to show me around the campus.

There was one small room of the school that seemed almost poetic when you explored it. This room, appropriately named "The fishbowl" due to its large windows facing the hallway, is where the over-worked students go to have an environment of total silence to study.

Each space told the story of the person that occupied it, the students are like hermit crabs in this case. My brother shared with me some very funny stories of cubicle wars which he and his friends had taken place in.

The area was full of little mnemonic devices that the student created to lighten the load on all their difficult work.

I was amazed when I found this chart that someone had drawn up over some chemical process (or processes) which occurs in the body, I bet it must have taken him or her hours!

And I superimposed the chart over one of the more organized areas I came across. These men and women are artists when it comes to learning, I believe.

And some of the spaces told a story of those students who's studies took a little more out of them than the rest.

Chelsey and Paul

2010-03-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Spring break was an INSANE week! Thursday I had two senior shoots and only a nap to keep myself going, the first of the two was with the lovely Chelsey and her boyfriend Paul. We were out for 3 hours, and had a bunch of fun along the way.

Salt River

2010-03-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wanted an adventure. So I did what any explorer would do, and brought two of my best friends along to the area just north of Mesa. The desert/forest landscapes made me get my favorite band, The Bowerbirds, stuck in my head. So it only seemed appropriate to listen to them while I edited the photos. I blame them for inspiring me into experimenting with the cross-processing effects!

Sadies

2010-03-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, Heritage had it's Sadie Hawkins (or Morp) dance. The theme was "Let the Good Times Roll" and the scholar counsel got creative this year, so for the first time ever, our dance was held at Skateland. It was a blast! (Though I still have bruises from attempting to skate myself!) And a whole lot of fun to take pictures at.
Since Prom occurs past the submittal date for our yearbook, this is the last dance I will ever photograph for the school. This was a bittersweet realization.

Everyone was extremely creative with their outfits to fit their favorite decade, be it the 60's, 70's, or 80's (I, being on the lesser part of the creative dressing spectrum, went as a starwars geek).

Though I fell more than most, it seemed almost everyone had plenty of trouble trying to master the darn skates.

It seems like the skates had a mind of their own as friends would drift away from their groups while I tried to get group shots!

About half way through the dance, the skates came off and royalty was announced and the rink was transformed into a dance floor

Water

2010-02-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I have had the time to go take pictures just for fun. So yesterday I took advantage of the cloudy weather and the breathtaking gardens we have thanks to my mom, and got this beautiful flower right as the sprinkler turned off.

Now, I shot this almost a year ago when we were on vacation in England. I was looking through the old pictures and saw this fountain shot, and couldnt resist sharing it with you all!

Over the summer I spent a week in San Juan Capistrano, unfortunately none of my friends could come along, so I was stuck with my camera. I have posted a picture like this on an earlier entry, but this one catches what it was like that day much better!

Toni and Lindsey

2010-02-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

I know lately all I do to introduce all the pictures on here is complain about how insanely busy I've been with school, so this is new :) the first two shots are really photo editor work I did for my friend Toni, she needed pictures for her personal dedication ad in the yearbook. And of course, how could I say no??

These next ones are from a senior session last week. This is Lindsey, she is incredibly fun to be with and this by far has been the most fun I've had on a shoot!

I also want to thank Elise for being such a good sport and for holding my litediscs for this, thank you!

New Equipment

2010-02-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Deadline is over! Thank goodness, now all I have to worry about is a massive reasearch essay and a physics project! (eww to both) At least I finally get to have some sort of break. (even though getting to sleep BEFORE one without worrying seems good enough)

Yesterday I FINALLY was able to pick up a Wacom Tablet after saving my pennies for a while, this is the inaugural picture :)

Heritage Yearbook Staff

2010-01-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

Wooo... Man alive I need to sleep, I've never been so busy. Deadline is coming up and I have "senioritus". Not a good mix! Life has been like a marathon, except I'm not lucky enough to stop after 26 miles *groan*. The past couple weeks I have been taking my yearbook staff members' portraits. These were all very fun to shoot, portraiture is so fufilling!

Taylor

Sidney

Cecily

Caitlin

Alisha

Maddi

Lisa

Aileen

Allison

Maddie

Lindsay

Life Of A Photo Editor, Part 2

2010-01-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

Its been yet another insanely busy week! I need to be careful to not worry myself sick again whilst I figure out our yearbook staff pictures. *sighs* And I call this my "passion" :) Haha!

Anyways, enough about that, here are some shots I got of our fantastic varsity basketball team at their recent game against Tri City Christian Academy

Heather

2010-01-12T17:03:00.000-08:00

Here is another one of my Christmas break shoots, meet the lovely Heather!

Milissa

2010-01-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

Over the break I was lucky to have a few shoots, and I've been too busy to post any of them, so here is the first one! This is my beautiful friend Milissa (yes, that IS how it's spelled) and we took these at some new places I scouted out.

Back Yard Shoot

2009-12-27T21:59:00.001-08:00

Last thursday before the wonderful insanity that is Christmas Eve began, my sister was nice enough to trust me to take her son's christmas pictures. We hurried through it (I had work in 30 mins) and I got great shots of Mr. P!

Kayla and Courtney

2009-12-23T20:59:00.001-08:00

Its been a while since I have had a just-for-fun shoot. They are always great to have so I'm able to try out new techniques I've learned. Yesterday, I arranged one with two very lovely friends from school

The sun started shining from behind a cloud RIGHT as I took this. Early christmas gift? I think so!

Birthday Party

2009-12-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

My niece (whom for my sister will be named Miss E) just turned one. She is some sort of a muse to me, I always have great ideas whenever Dia wants me to get pics of her.

The birthday girl.

Mr. C., my nephew, he loved the camera!

Mr. P., also my nephew, didn't seem understand where the bright light was coming from, I think.

"Oh I found it!"

Christmas Orchestra and Band Concert

2009-12-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

The semester is finally over! And to put a close to it, the orchestra and band had a special concert where the parents were able to sing along and just have alot of fun getting into the Christmas spirit.

We entertained one another while we waited for the conductor to begin

Life of a Yearbook Photo Editor

2009-12-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

In the past two weeks, I've been put through the ringer. For the past few days I've been feeling sick because I have let the stress of school, dances, work, the yearbook, musical tryouts, and other personal issues get to me. So, this next post isn't too long, its just to show you a small piece of what I've been up to. I want to go sleep, but deadline is coming up, along with SEVERAL finals. :P

Scholar Counsel portraits

Missing senior portraits

HA choir concert.

HA dance concert.

I love the liberties that the camera gives me, I can go where ever I want so I can get the shot and people excuse and even admire me for it :) . For some of the dance concert pictures, I actually sat on the edge of the stage (not in any of the dancers' way of course) and got a few decent ones in the low light.

JohnJay and Rich Christmas Wish

2009-12-06T19:43:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, (Friday, Nov. 27) I was listening to 104.7 and running some errands, when my favorite personalities were at the Tempe Marketplace for a charity that their show is doing. I'm a crazy fan, so this was an opportunity I couldn't miss :)

JohnJay giving me the thumbs up, I was so exited that he even paid attention to me, I totally forgot to frame the shot :P

There was music provided by a local gospel band,

celebrity interviews (some chick from Baywatch),

auctioning off donated celebrity items,

and meeting and greeting fans.

I was on my way out of the Marketplace and I turn a corner and I'm taken aback as I see Frankie Muniz! He came out to support the cause with the station, and I got this fantastic shot!

The Binghams

2009-12-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

This has definitely been one of the longest, busiest, and best weeks of my life. I'm exausted but can't seem to sleep... so I might as well catch up with another blog post! (I'm kind of 3-4 posts behind! Ahh busy busy) I also want to thank Elise for making my logo at the top of the screen :)

Saturday I was out, bright and early to Freestone park to take my seminary teacher's christmas photos. His family was amazing!

The Woolfs

2009-11-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

On friday afternoon I was napping after a trip out to Tempe Marketplace to see the JohnJay and Rich show (pics up later), and I was awakened by a frantic phone call of Anita wanting me to do their family pictures. I was more than happy to :)

And... *fanfare* this was my FIRST paid shoot! Thus begins my career :)

My Wanderings

2009-11-26T11:05:00.000-08:00

Ahh back in the saddle! My play went fantastically and I miss it so much! thank you everyone that went to it!

Last saturday Benn was in town and he wanted to come along with me while i scoured the city and surrounding areas for new places to take portraits and abstract shots. We found some amazing spots!

Hahaha! Never a dull moment with a friend!

Heritage Orchestra and Band concert

2009-11-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

I know in my last post I said that I would be too busy to post anything, but at the concert I promised some parents that i would get these up here ASAP.

The play premiers this week, I'm freakin scared, and im kinda bummed that I won't be able to get pics of it (seeing as I AM the bad guy) so no pics for here :(

anywho, the concert was fantastic and all the scholars did wonderful

homecoming game

2009-10-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

due to circumstances beyond my control, my blog layout is lame for the time being

I apologize for the lack of pictures, most of them are under lock and key for yearbook (my decision) and i don't think the pictures i took at the dance were really "blog worthy" (because I only post my best on here).

There probably won't be many posts for the next few weeks, the school play is starting to build momentum and I can't let this distract me any longer :)

Corey got knocked out, but with my new speed light, i was able to capture the moment! (He is perfectly fine, don't worry!)

We won!

The Empire State And Boston

2009-10-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I went on a history trip to Boston and New York with the 11th and 12th graders from my school. It was an amazing experience and I was greatful to go to a school that offers the opportunity.
The Kaylas

I took pictures of these two, because I LOVE how they light up when they see each other.

A battle during the revolutionary war took place here.

I can't seem to remember what this building was...

my lovely friends

Boston

The Empire state building

I want to have a shoot with Kayla sometime soon! There were several of her that I took, but unfortunately the sky was so dark half the time, so only few worked out.

This is a small lake about a quarter-mile from Cape Cod.

Central Park

Times Square from the Empire State Building, it was very cold up there!

The amazing Emilee, whom I walked up and down 5th Avenue with and we had a blast :)

Rockefeller Plaza

Allison! I hardly knew her before this trip, shes dang awesome!

Freestone

2009-09-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

I was so exited to finally get some new pictures! last saturday I got my camera and went out to Freestone Skate Park and got some shots of my friends doing what they love.

I was also fortunate enough to observe a professional photographer, whom I've quickly come to respect and learn from, Chris Halloran. I actually came out to the park just to observe him and how he handled a photoshoot. I learned alot from him, like always shooting in .RAW (or in my case, .NEF). It was a joy to be around someone so enthusiastic about photography

^This one is my favorate of the bunch^

I understand that some of these are just the slightest bit out of focus (then again, im not wearing my glasses) but im getting better at action shots :)

lost tempe photos!!

2009-09-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

im still waiting for the weather to turn around.. so.. hopefully i can bring you all new pictures sooner or later :)

takin' a break from work

2009-09-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ive been super busy lately, so i did this to relax
I hope to take more new pictures soon :)

I found a spider web.. hehe

last saturday's photoshoot! (first pics edited with CS4)

2009-09-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last saturday, as I have already stated, I had a photoshoot of a group who had made their own costumes for comic con. It was a new experience because I have never been around people who were THAT kind of hard core fan :) it was alot of fun, and even more fun using the pics to find my way around the new territory that is Photoshop CS4.

Nikki was my dutiful assistant for this whole process :) it was rainy, so she held an umbrella over my head and carried my camera case. Thank you so so so much!

The people in the group kept on switching on calling eachother by their character's name or by their given name, so unfortunately, i can't remember either! XP

This girl was cool, she was totally decked out in her rave candy. I overheard her saying that she had even more back home. I wish she had brought them!

Ahhhhhh I LOVED editing this one! I think its my favorate of the bunch.

This girl didnt really have a character. She just wanted to dress up, and i liked the outfit.

You know when I said I couldn't remember anyone's character name or real name? I lied. Here is Gambit (Casey), I dont know if he was posing, or just bored enough to play solitare with part of his costume.

My friend's older sister.

We had another photographer with us. She was really cool and had really good ideas with pictures :)

Aaaaaand heres the entire group.

HA vs James Madison pics, and cosplay preview

2009-09-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't have much opportunity to take different types of pictures, so I have some from this past weeks football game. I'm getting sick of sorting through night photos. They are depressing to see because they are blurry 99.99% of the time or too noisy (grainy) to look good :( .
Here are a few from our game against James Madison. We won and got rained on along the way :)

Luckily, my friend invited me to a "cosplay" yesterday. A cosplay is when a bunch of fans of a certain subject group up in costumes, that they made themselves, and take pictures of each other. (in this case, they were all Xmen) I have around 1200 pictures of them, so, needless to say, itll be a little bit before I post them. (If im not distracted, perhaps tomorrow)

OH!! also, I got CS4 yesterday :) I'm exited to see what I can do with it!

HA football pics and the best flower pics thus far

2009-08-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

i posted a new movie on my youtube channel, you should watch it!

on thursday i went to the first game of the season! we creamed the other team, but i don't like football much, and apparently, neither does my camera!!! of 500 ish pictures, i got 13 ones i would even dare calling good because it was SO dark out there!

the low lighting was a constant problem, leaving alot of pics a little bit out of focus.. :/

... playing with layers.. i coulda done a better job i think

da girls are showing support for thier favorate players. (not the greatest quality, but i like it nonetheless)

i love going into Americopy with new pics to print, because they always compliment me on whatever i bring in.

funny story behind this pic ^ i thought those were gerber daisies... rofl!

this is one of the pics i gave to Stef for her birthday. im so happy she liked them!

already missing summer

2009-08-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have been too busy to have another entry lately, but I'm getting back into the swing of things at school finally! ill be out taking more and more pictures and ill be blogging regularly again :) as for now, i hope these will suffice!

i have these empty pill bottles layin around after my wisdom teeth were removed, at least now they are serving a purpose!

heres a preview of what is to come:

I spent a while getting Stefani's b-day present all lookin nice, heres the set up i had afterwards. i felt pretty 1337 :) ill post the finished pics after her birthday

backyard shoot

2009-08-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Dia wanted me to take some pics of her baby FOREVER ago, and finally we had an overcast day to do it :)

i liked how this looked in B&W

the ever present expression of "something HAS to be going on around here"

new things on old pictures

2009-07-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

one quick note: i wanna give kudos to my good friend, Elise on her last photoblog (July 25, 2009) it is really dang good :)

okay, i admit, the first two arent old, but i NEEEDED something new to work on

...dont judge me.. ^

Arlington natl. cemetery

Benn and Keri posing for our prom pictures. which i took :)

my two cousins somwhere in England. i dont know if they knew i took this..

i hope you liked these.

lately ive been getting very discouraged in the photography zone. bleh.. maybe im just grumpy. and sick of this beard.

latest photoshop projects

2009-07-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

this one was a major pain... it was very noisy (laymans term: covered in speckles) but i did the best i could

i used quick mask and practiced more of that fancy channel mixer stuff

i upped the contrast so we could see the moon better

we were happy to not see any ghosts, mutants, murderers, or zombies out there..... we were afraid of zombies the most...

2009-07-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

i was doing some yard work and when i was done i realized that i didnt want to spend the whole night at home, i noticed the moon was out so i texted cameron and sam and we went out to Usery trail to take pictures! it was kinda touch and go for the first because it was cloudy when we reached the spot.

i took this with my new 8-star filter

the moon was very hard to take pictures of especially because of the stupid wind..

this hill was pitch black. i had to leave the shutter open for thirty seconds

if you look at the road, you can tell a car drove past :)

"use a tripod" they say "itll keep your picture steady" they say.

they clearly never tried it in the wind.

Downtown Tempe

2009-07-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

yesterday me and a friend were bored, and it at least started out cloudy, so we decided to to hoof it out to Tempe to take some pictures

(be sure to click on the pictures especially, they look great in high res.)

this one was my favorate of the old mill :)

i had to get away

2009-07-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

last week my entire family and I went to a small beach in california for seven days. when i had to get away from all the racket, i went outside and either played guitar or took pictures of the ocean

shootin' things

2009-06-10T09:19:00.000-07:00

Part 1: no assembly required

im gonna start out with my favorite pictures that ive taken which have required no photoshopping

i was impressed at how well this picture turned out

i LOVE lighting effects, and i try to utilize them as much as i can

i took this with my new telephoto lens

this is my very good friend Chelsea, she is always very willing to be a model for me when im bored and want to take pics

part 2: the photoshoppin'!

(high res)

Part 3: illustrator stuffs

i havnt done too much with illustrator, so thats why there isnt much..

(high res)

i used a wierd gradient effect on this, but i didnt create the original spatter

(high res)

i took a picture of a paint spatter i saw on a wall and turned it into vector art, it wasnt as easy as i thought it would be..

(high res)

i created this off a pic i took at school

part 4: photoshop-illustrator hybrids
..well.. thats what i call them at least...

(high res)