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On the way back from Tahoe, there is a stretch of the freeway that runs right up against an orchard of trees. So, of course they caught my eye and of course I had to pull over, get out in the rain and create and image that was calling to be made. The image creates a sense of orderly confusion that, in a way (I’m about to get deep here), mirrors modern human society.

[taken w/ iPhone]

A nice benefit to photographing people in bright daylight when snow or water is part of the scene, is that those elements not only add to the image in terms of subject matter, but that they essentially become natural sun reflectors. This creates scenery with fantastic natural lighting conditions. Here is a great example of both water and snow acting as reflectors to fill in the shadows.

[taken w/ iPhone]

Last week during the storm, I got excited and headed for Tahoe. We left Wednesday evening and braved the snowy summit in the dark. Thursday morning, we arrived at Alpine Meadows to find about 50 cars in the parking lot… It was very cold and visibility was not so good. But knee deep powder in the trees made it worth while. We got all the goods on Friday too. Saturday morning, as we were resting our achy muscles, we checked out Squaw. It was bright and sunny and hard not to go ride. But years ago as ticket prices went flying past $50, I vowed not to ride on weekends and spend half the day in line. So instead, we went up to the lake, had a leisurely breakfast and walked over to the lake’s edge at Sunnyside. Here, my friend Lucky is kicking snow from a dock directly at the camera, providing for a great opportunity to create something interesting by freezing the action with a single frame. We did this over and over. It’s hard when you’re dealing with a camera that has the dreaded delay, especially for those of you with kids. You almost always miss the shot… And I was shooting with my iPhone. I had to say ‘Go!’ and then click the shutter, hoping the timing would be right. There were a lot of botched attempts, but we nailed this one. And I gotta say, I’m really impressed that I captured this with a camera phone.

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My Dad

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Although easier than dealing with composition in motion, achieving flawless still life composition is no easy feat. Here, I do what I grew up watching my Dad do at the dinning room table… line things up. I always do it when I’m talking on the phone and looking out a window. We are subconsciously refining the composition of the scene before us, always looking at life as if it were a picture. I’m sure many of you can relate. I used to see way more things than I captured on film. But thanks to good camera phones nowadays, I capture almost everything that catches my eye. It’s weird. It’s not something I can turn off. Sometimes I’ll see something and try to ignore it. But it calls at me, begging for me to preserve what will never be again…

On a technical note, the sun flare spots you see adds some real sun to the scene. But they could have been avoided by using a lens hood - something that can make or break a shot.

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I discovered this place in Architectural Digest one year when my then-girlfriend wanted to go to Thailand. Only problem was I had been traveling a lot and was so not in the mood for another serious journey. It’s not the journey actually, it’s the planes and airports, etc. I can’t stand flying anymore. It drives me nuts. When I was a kid they still permitted smoking in the back of the plane, but they were more considerate of the people they now pack in and treat like cattle. I digress… The point is, I didn’t have to go through hell to get to heaven. If you live in California, Mexico is a quick (and fantastic) getaway, especially if you speak Spanish. Having lived in both Mexico and Costa Rica for short periods of time, my ability to communicate enriches my experience and in turn, my images. Here is the infinity pool at Verana. It’s a decent shot, but the sky is totally blown out. And because the palm trees are in the sky, I’m losing some detail there. I should have used a neutral-density graduated filter. We’ll talk about this at length in the landscape workshop.

The more I look at it, the more I am troubled by the sky. So I decided to just get rid of it all together. There is saying in imaging that says “the eye goes to white” and that’s exactly what kept happening here. I really want the eye of the viewer to stay relaxed and soak in the calming serenity of this space. This cropped version below is more in line with that goal. Read the rest of this entry »

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This is a great example of when to use a really wide-angle lens. I stood right behind the chairs, and shot down, in order to get this perspective. The morning was very dark and gloomy with a thin layer of fog on the water. Sometimes, photographers shooting landscapes get sad when there’s no sun. But if you pay attention to light and dark, you have the potential to make a great black and white. In looking at my settings, I realize that for even greater depth of field, I probably could have increased my aperture another stop or so before the shutter speed got too slow to hand hold.

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This is the largest water fall in Europe. And it’s in Iceland. It’s AMAZING… Wikipedia has another photo taken further to the right. I arrived here with my fellow travelers to find that the only 2 people there were leaving. There is no big gate, no big signs, no trashcans, no pic-nic tables, not really much of anything… except a realllllllllly big waterfall. When you are at a place like this and there is really no sign of man, it can lead you to imagine you are there at a time when the earth was created. Here in the states, a place like this would be crawling with yuck. I know that was SO eloquent, but also very accurate…

Last summer, I spent a week with my family on Monhegan Island and Boothbay in Maine. Boothbay is where one of my two uncles moved with his wife while he saught treatment for leukemia the last couple of years. Chip was an adventurer, often coming to visit with wild tales that seemed almost Indian Jones-like. He had the same sparkle in his eye my father does. My cousins and the rest of the family were all there together for several days, looking at very old family photos and eating lots of lobster. Chip passed away several months ago, bless his soul. We miss him dearly, but he will remain in our hearts. Here is a slide show I made of our time together. Remember to cherish the special people in your life. It all happens way too fast…

I was recently asked to photograph a family. But they didn’t want posed shots, so we went and played on the jungle gym structures. It was a lot of fun. Here is a slideshow of the winning shots, set to music.

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Sometimes things really come together.

A few couple of years ago, two guys name Tad and Alex decided to open an SF franchise of Supperclub, originally started in Amsterdam. The entrance to the bar, seen here, is the most impressive part of the architecture. It’s a very red room with lots of shiny disco balls hanging from the ceiling. I was commissioned to photograph the entire space, empty as well as the grand opening party and several other key events and performances. I always enjoy shooting there.

I recently came across this print of a very photogenic ex-girlfriend. I worked on this shot in the pool with her forever. It was in 2000 and I was just starting to get excited about photography on a pro level, shooting with a bad-ass Nikon D1. We were on vacation in absolute paradise; a little spot called Verana, in Yelapa, near Puerto Vallarta. I was learning how to balance flash with daylight all manually. She was very patient…. You should almost always use a fill flash in bright midday sunlight. Otherwise, you end up with dark shadows on people’s faces. You need to manually turn the flash ON with your small digital cameras that you think will flash whenever necessary. What most people don’t know is that your camera doesn’t know to use a flash in the daylight, because there is plenty of light. What you are doing is just filling in the dark shadows manually.

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In keeping with the beach theme, here is a lovely example of when you might want to watch your exposure. As the sun sets, it creates long shadows which can fool a light meter and over expose your image. Here, my sister Jill, is mostly in shadow, as is the building wall in the background. What you want to do here is expose for the light, not the shadow (which is what your automatic setting will do). You need to manually adjust the settings or use your exposure compensation to drop it down 2/3 of a stop or so. At sunset, the light is much softer and warmer in tone. So the way it falls across her back here is much more flattering than it would be at midday.

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I love this image for many reasons, especially the contrast in color and light. You might almost think I had the kids wearing those short on purpose. But I was just walking down a pier and these kids kept jumping off just as a wave would pass by, making it deep for only a moment. What I love are the brightly colored red and blue shorts, coupled with the dark shadows created by the angle I’m at in relation to my light source (the sun) and the boy jumping in the water. I am shooting perpendicular to my light source, such that the light falls across sideways, creating graduated shadows and visual depth.

In my travel photography workshop, we will discuss this image at length, including the settings used and why.

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While watching the sun set in Waikiki one evening 2 years ago with my good friend Sol, I noticed two surfers who had gotten out at the end of a jetty and were making their way across. The angle from which I first noticed them was not it. I knew that I had to be about 100 feet from where I was in order to get the shot I wanted. But they didn’t know that and continued walking. I started running as I checked the camera settings so that when I arrived I could begin shooting immediately. Time was not on my side here. I actually shot 2 frames as I approached (as JIC’s - just in case… you don’t get the shot you’re after).

I quickly got to a spot that was lower than they were, allowing me to put them up high on the horizon line. I got 5 frames off and by the last shot they were down below the rock line and onto the sand. Moving quickly and thinking fast will create more opportunities for you to capture the right moment, from the right angle…

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This image was made early in the morning on August 28th, 2007 as the moon set over the Golden Gate Bridge, from the deck of my house. I knew it was going to be a glorious full moon, so I set my alarm for 4 in the morning, but it was still way too high in the sky. When shooting the moon, you have to include something closer to you in order to provide a sense of scale in the frame. Here, I used a telephoto lens and cropped in post-production, in order to fill the frame with as much of the moon as possible while still holding on to the bridge. I knew sunrise was at 6 but I was hoping the moon would set over the bay while it was still totally dark. I should have checked the moon set time. It hung high in the sky all night only to come down shortly before dawn. I have a shot like the one I was hoping for already, so no biggie and here’s a great addition to the set. Look for our landscape photography workshop this summer and join us at the house for a sunset photography and cocktail party.

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Klara is from the Czech Republic, has a unique aura and is very comfortable in front of the camera. Her eyes are pale blue and incredibly striking set against her black hair. We’ve been working on a joint portfolio project for a little while now and it’s coming along fantastically. Here’s an image we made the other day that I think gives her bit of a 50’s movie star look.

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The mist after the storm looming in the crevasses of Thornhill Canyon.

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Since we’re in the middle of storm season, I felt it was appropriate to bring out a shot from Belize that was taken almost a year ago exactly. This is an example of a shot that will always frustrate most amateurs. When you have a bright sky and a dark foreground, unless you use a filter in pre or post production, one area of your image will not be exposed for properly. The first thing I plan to cover when I begin teaching my workshops is learning how to see light the way the camera does. Here, I shot without a filter but exposed for the darker foreground, which is why, even though I brought down the sky (in terms of brightness), there is still an area in the center which is hot (blown out). I wasn’t shooting RAW at the time, which has more blown highlight recovery potential. Woops, in looking back just this second, I found another image later in the image strip, where the clouds covered that spot and make for a better final shot. It’s interesting to me, that I just wrote “image strip”, because I originally wrote “film strip” but then realized there was no film and reflected on how my serious approach to this rapidly changing art form began just as the big time pros were still teaching with film, but beginning their own switch to digital. I feel so fortunate to have a such a solid foundation in film, which at least for now, is still the basis for digital…

Along with the rain from the storm on Friday came a substantial landslide in the Oakland Hills that closed a portion of Skyline Blvd for an estimated 6 months. The slide is threatening 2 homes, which have been yellow tagged, on Oakwood Drive. Authorities have closed that section of Oakwood to through traffic, where it looked like a river bed until Public Works cleaned up. Jerry Brown recently purchased a new “green home” within 100 feet of the slide, but does not seem to be in imminent danger. It was due to a clogged storm drain and could have been worse had the rain not let up. At this point, the street and drain system will have to be reconstructed but should be able to handle future storms of this magnitude.

KCBS News report is here