Katie's Coffee House, Great Falls, Virginia

I flew into Washington DC to visit my family in Virginia for the Christmas weekend. I really enjoyed seeing everyone and it was nice to have a change of surroundings. On Christmas eve my brother-in-law took me for a ride in his GTR and we drove to Katie's Coffee House where a lot of local car enthusiasts come to hang out.

The coffee was awesome and the early morning weather was a nice relief from the blistering cold of Colorado as of late. I got to see a lot of amazing cars I'd never seen before in person, especially so close; it was great.

Later on the way back home my brother-in-law pulled the car over and to my surprise had me get in the driver's seat. I was nervous to drive such an expensive car but the opportunity was too great. The Nissan GTR is a dream car, it's everything that one would want from a sports car and excites you like you're a kid again. The drive was unlike anything I've driven before, everything was so refined and precise; it truly is a remarkable machine.

Photo Session with Anna

Yesterday I had a shoot with Anna using my new 135mm. We'd originally planned this shoot a week ago but due to weather issues it was postponed, but I'm glad because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use this great lens. We were able to get some awesome lighting before the sun went down providing a nice golden glow. I have to commend Anna for putting up with the cold, she was very patient and had a great attitude which made the shoot all the better.

You can see more from our shoot by clicking here.

The Right Tool for the Job

There are a lot of people under the impression that in order to take compelling photos you have to have the most expensive gear, I can attest that this is not always true. Having a dslr is great because of the lens options, larger sensor, and manual controls; but aren't necessary all the time because depending on the lighting, the subject, and your required final resolution, you can capture roughly the same image with a point and shoot as you would with a professional dslr.

The photo here I think is a great example of this which was taken with my old Fujifilm J10 on a site visit for work. I think that if I were to have used my dslr the photo would have been very similar. Granted I did do some post work on the photo but I would have done that with the dslr file as well.

Being that I was there for work having the big dslr wouldn't have been very practical. I dropped my J10 on the concrete during this visit and I've gotten mud on it at other sites, not things I'd like to do with my expensive dslr so the J10 was the better camera to have. Sometimes there are sacrifices you have to make for what's practical, but as long as you know how to use what you have you can still capture photos you'll enjoy.

Photo Session with Monica

I had the great pleasure of doing a photo shoot with Monica today and I made sure I was early so I wouldn't upset her like the girl last week, haha! Monica is a sweetheart and I had a great time working with her. The shoot didn't last as long as I would have liked due to weather but I managed to get some good ones before rain and wind came in.

I've had a lot of extra time lately and so I've been learning a lot of new lighting and processing techniques so it was exciting to practice them with this shoot. You can check out a few more of the photos from our shoot by clicking here.

Seeing Red

I've had sort of a crummy few days as far as photography goes. This past Friday I had a model shoot planned with a girl I've never worked with before, so I was pretty excited. Usually the models I've worked with are never on time and I'm usually early. But the one time I'm running late, the girl shows up to the location early! I was in rush hour traffic heading toward downtown and I made my best effort to get there as soon as I could while giving her updates along my way.

I finally get there 15 minutes late and call her and tell her where I am. I wait 10 minutes but she never shows and so I call her again only to hear that she decided to leave. She gives me an ear full about how unhappy she was by the whole thing and I feel bad but I didn't see the need for her to get so upset. She lives downtown also so its not like she went out of her way to get there. But oh well, what's done is done.

Then my new ball-head on my tripod broke. I think I now know why it was substantially cheaper than the brand name ones. Just a note out to anyone looking to buy a ball-head, avoid getting a Smith-Victor; they are junk. The thing is supposed to be rated for 40 lbs but that doesn't matter at all once you break off the knob that locks it in place. Guess I'll be shopping for a new one soon...or someday when I can afford something good.

Then finally the photo you see here was probably on the top 5 list of the hardest things I've ever photographed. It consisted of two days of trial and error, a lot of preparation, patience, and frustration. I planned to post this photo days earlier but failed miserably on my first attempt. But I finally got the shot I wanted and finally something worked out well. Macro photography is something I've been thinking about doing for some time now and I'm interested to see if I'll continue with it.

Sorry this post was so negative but I felt the need to vent and aside from photography my week has been really awesome.

Your Soul is Mine

Work has been pretty slow lately. My days at work consist of staring at an email inbox containing nothing related to work and studying texts books I drooled on in college. Nothing exciting. Time slows down. Life passes by.

I had to get out of the office so I decided to leave early today; many already had a head start on me. I like to mix it up and lately I've been trying my hand at street photography, so that became my afternoon activity once I escaped the life sucking abyss of my cubicle.

I have to admit, street photography is hard. I think I suck at it, there are many others who do a way better job. I've tried this a few times before and this is the first time I really made an effort at shooting people's faces. Usually it's the back of their head or someone going by on a bicycle.

But I busted out the ninja skills and actually really got into it and started to have fun. It became my mission to track down interesting looking subjects and I got kind of a rush from doing something completely outside my comfort zone. It's kind of like the feeling you get from approaching a pretty girl, you're nervous and you think of all the ways things can go wrong.

I did however have my 85mm lens, which allowed me to keep a little more distance away from the subjects to make things a little easier, less intrusive and hopefully keep me unnoticed. The photos can lose value if the person becomes aware of what you're doing. The thing I like about street photography is that you are capturing moments in people's life when they aren't expecting their photo to be taken and you kind of get an insight into their world, every photo tells a story.

Everyone has things going on in their own life and we rarely care about what's going on in a stranger's life. We focus in on ourselves, our family and friends; people of which who typically share common interests and social class. We complain about things a stranger would find a luxury. We laugh at things a stranger would find sad. We throw away things a stranger would find useful. We neglect opportunities a stranger would never get. We get frustrated with our jobs a stranger would love to have.

But think about this: We are all strangers to someone.

The High Road

I think it goes without saying, drinking and driving do not mix and I encourage everyone to always drink responsibly. I've made some bad decisions before and luckily nothing bad came of it, but it only takes one mistake to ruin your life.

Knowing your limit, staying in control and making sure you have a safe way home is something everyone should remember and do. Also being able to say no when you don't want to drink is important too. Enjoy life, but don't forget how fragile it is.

This photo was taken with my Sigma 50mm that I recently got back from being re-calibrated. Despite the new camera body being able to adjust the focusing, it was still causing problems before. It seems to be working better now and I'm looking forward to shooting with it more.

The Alchemist

I recently read a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho that I thought was really great and I would recommend it to anyone. I won't spoil the book but it's about going after your dreams and living your life to its full potential.

It got me thinking about my own life and the things that I would like to do. While I haven't fully figured out all that I want to accomplish, I know one thing I'd like to do is travel and see the world as much as I can. Hopefully by continuing to expand my horizons I can one day discover my own personal legend. But for sure I'll be taking photos the whole way.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Yesterday I went to the zoo with my family and shot some animals. Then we went to eat dim sum at the Empress on Federal. The food was good but the smell of the place reminded me of the zoo. If you go, order take out.

Botanic Gardens Denver

Today is my birthday, yaay! I have family visiting and yesterday we spent the day at the Botanic Gardens, here's a few photos; enjoy. I'm off to go buy me some new sunglasses as a gift to myself. My titanium Italian made Ray Ban frames after 5 years broke on me this morning, of all the days for it to brake!

Message from the Pulp

When I was ten years old I saw the movie Pulp Fiction in the movie theater. Not the best movie for a ten year old to see and at the time not a movie I liked. I'm walking through Target today passing some DVDs and it just stands out to me for some odd reason and I buy it.

I just finished watching it and it is a totally different movie from the way I remember it. I like it a whole lot more than I did at ten years old. I now find it humorous, original, and thought provoking. In the last chapter of the movie Tarantino revisits a scene with Jules and Vincent not shown earlier in the movie. By some miracle they're untouched after being shot at multiples times while caught off guard. Jules (Samuel L. Jackson's character) describes it as "divine intervention" and starts viewing the world differently.

Earlier today I think I may have had some divine intervention take place. I went on a long bike ride and ventured further than I've ever gone down a particular path that runs along highway 470. After riding for about three hours I start to feel my thighs tightening up, so I start to ride slower but when I reach parts of the trail that go uphill the feeling comes back. I soon get to the point where I have to stop and that's when the real pain began.

Once I stood and had my legs straight both my quadriceps immediately tightened in an excruciating pain. It felt like my muscles were being crushed and they were hard as rock to the touch. I couldn't even bend my legs so I just stood there waiting for it to pass. As I stood there I turned to the highway and noticed a black car that stood out to me as it passed by, no big deal.

The pain finally goes away and I can bend my legs again so I start to ride, much slower and careful this time. Soon I can hear sirens up ahead but I don't know why. I get closer and I see a fire truck, two police and an ambulance. I expect a car accident but I see no car...until I get closer. The same black car I saw earlier had driven off the highway and crossed the trail and landed into some bushes.

After hearing about Samuel L. Jackson speak of divine intervention it had me thinking. Had I not had to stop riding earlier, I wonder if I would have been closer to the part of the path the car ran into? It's unlikely but it just has me thinking. The car by the way looked just like my very first car, which was a black 1994 Honda Civic EX coupe. What year did the movie Pulp Fiction come out?

Another Shoot with Alyssa

Put the new camera to use and did another shoot with Alyssa. She was once again great to work with. Last time we shot I suggested Alyssa model with a motor cycle and a car we found in an alley hoping the owners didn't come back. This time she suggested we do a little trespassing and hop a fence, haha. I like that she's adventurous, open minded and willing to put the extra effort for an interesting photo.

It's been months since I've worked with her and I can tell I've improved as a photographer since we last met. I just felt a lot more confident and way more photos turned out the way I wanted.

You can see the rest of the photos from our shoot here.

...And Now It's On!!!

My 5D Classic breaking on me got me really discouraged and I felt it was time to finally step it up and upgrade to my dream camera, the Canon 5D MkII. This camera is amazing and so far I've had a lot of fun with it. Even the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 that was mis-focusing I was able to micro-adjust on this camera and get working properly. I absolutely love the combination of this body working with this lens, the results are amazing and I hope to post samples soon.

Getting this camera is a big deal for me and I thought it would be cool to do something special and artistic to announce its arrival. Completing this photo took many hours spent over three days to finish. I had this vision of what I wanted to create but it was a challenge figuring out how to pull it off. Looking back there probably are some easier ways I could have done it.

My 5D Classic was able to be fixed by Canon and it was used to create this photo which will sadly be the last time it is used. Like the 35mm which was sold recently, this will be sold also to make up expenses of the new camera. Another unfortunate side note is that my Gorilla Pod was broken during the making of this photo.

Lights Out...

My day starts out with excitement over getting a new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens. I'd ordered it a week ago and was greatly anticipating it's arrival. When I get it everything seems great. I admire the new finish and size of the front element. It appears to focus correctly only to disappoint me later on as I find out it front focuses. Damn Sigma, you got me again!!!

But the nightmare doesn't end there as my camera starts to no longer meter correctly. Everything is underexposed and I'm like wtf?! I take another picture when suddenly the image through the viewfinder shakes and goes black. I look down the lens and I see my reflection (to those who don't know, that's not supposed to happen). I take off the lens and out falls the mirror. Trying to put it back is no use as it just falls out again, it doesn't even look like it was firmly set in the first place. Funny how I'd been warned of this happening to this particular camera only a week ago. Hopefully I can get this fixed, but in the mean time it's game over for me...

Pikes Peak Drift Event

1.) You wait in line.

2.) You drive to me...

3.) I take your picture!

A Healthy Addiction

I got another tattoo today, this time from Curtis at Tribal Rites Tattoo in Fort Collins. I was super excited as I had scheduled the appointment about four months ago and had been patiently waiting. This tattoo I had done on the inner part of my bicep to complete my quarter sleeve all around.

Curtis did a great job and more than met my expectations, I would recommend him to anyone. Tattoos are very addicting for me and now that I've found an artist who's style I really like, I plan to get more. I currently have another deposit for another tattoo....:)

Photos were taken with my 35mm f/1.4 to prove it's still alive.

Asahi Pentax K1000

So, I didn't actually break my 35mm lens; just kidding! ;)

I always take good care of my stuff, I wouldn't let something like that happen as I plan to have my equipment for a very, very long time. One of the things that my father has had for a very long time is the Pentax K1000, which he purchased back in 1976. He's kept in very good shape since then and is planning on passing it on to me.

The original K1000 were manufactured in Japan but later on were made in Hong Kong. The original Japan made cameras are distinguished by the "Asahi" designation above Pentax on the pentaprism housing. Given the camera's good reputation and popularity it has become a collector's item.

The camera in the photo is not my father's, it is one I was able to find off Craigslist over the weekend. The body is one of the original Japanese bodies, however the lens is not. The one my father has is completely Japanese made and I'll look forward to when I can have it as it is currently on the opposite side of the world.

Photo was taken with my Canon 85mm f/1.8, which I've been neglecting and would like to start using more.

$1,500 Paper Weight

The problem with having nice things is that when you break them it tends to suck really bad... really, really bad.

This photo was taken with my 28mm which I was planning to sell since I had this 35mm, but now I guess I'll keep it.

Hipsters Are Everywhere

I'm sure you've seen them before, they're everywhere these days. Individuals who think of themselves as more creative, independent, witty, and cooler than you because they refuse to go along with what's popular. You'll commonly find them at coffee shops, libraries, and anywhere in Wash Park. The music they listen to is always better than what you got on, their taste in literature is beyond what you'd consider interesting, the bikes they ride have one gear, and they take pride in making you think they don't care what they're wearing.

My personal opinion is that being a hipster is just another fad and is becoming part of pop culture to the point where being a hipster can no longer be seen as cool. Too many kids dub themselves as a "hipster" to be a so called individual when in actuality they are just conforming to another trend. I've seen adults follow suit too and it's getting ridiculous because you'd think as adults they would have some kind of self identity by now.

I've always hated labels because they generalize a group of people so that everyone has a common conception of them. I have to admit, there are things I like that can be considered hipster but I'm not going to change my life so that everything follows what it means to be a hipster. I think that personalities are too complex to have labels and I think that to be truly an individual is to embrace who you really are.

While the girl in the photo may actually like how she looks; it's really quite terrible. While you should embrace who you are, you should also have some self respect to present yourself as a value to society. This girl was actually quite pretty and it was immensely down played by her hipster fashion sense. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would disagree with a lot of what I'm saying, but being an individual is being able to speak your mind.

Photo was taken with my new Canon 35mm f/1.4 lens acquired with the departure of my 7D (you will be missed).

Photo Session with Karissa

I met Karissa a few weeks ago and over this past weekend got to meet up with her to take some photos to add to our portfolios. I think she did great and is a natural in front of the camera. Weather was challenging due to high cold winds, but we had a nice overcast sky.

Photo was taken with Canon 50mm f/1.4 with bare Canon 580EXII. I ended up dropping the 580 on the concrete due to cheap light stand adapter connection. Luckily it survived but it has a lot more character now, haha. Also special thanks to my buddy Ken for letting Karissa know I was a photographer, without him this shoot might not have happened.

Los Angeles, California

Last weekend was pretty sweet, I got to go to Los Angeles for the first time. My buddy Alex wanted to check out the opening event of Formula D in Long Beach being the drift enthusiast/driver that he is. I'm always up to check out cool cars, cute girls and new places so I was all for it. Tickets were purchased early in advance so we got a good deal for the plane, hotel, and rental car.

We arrived in LA at the butt crack of dawn, still tired from not much sleep. There's no rest for the wicked so we sped along to the Westin Hotel in our rented Nissan Versa! I was thinking it was going to be a pretty shitty car but surprisingly that car was pretty cool, nice pep and maneuverability which came in handy for the way people drive there. Good times usually start with some beers so we headed to a bar as fast as we could and then headed to Formula D to check things out.

To our surprise the first day of the event kind of sucked, not many people and the models were out shopping or looking hot somewhere else. They also had a giant fence which made all my photos of the cars drifting look horrible. But I was mainly there to have fun so I wasn't going to let that bother me and decided it was time for more beers!...or so I thought. I actually got pretty dehydrated and had a killer headache and was tired so after a nice meal went to sleep! Hell yeah hardcore!!

The next morning we were fully rested and ate at a nice French restaurant where I got fresh squeezed orange juice and crepes, so GOOD! We decided to do some sightseeing so Alex drove us to Venice Beach where we hung out and sipped on smoothies. Then after went to Hollywood to check out all the tourist spots there but it was getting late in the day and needed to head back to Long Beach to catch the second day of Formula D. Los Angeles traffic is pretty notorious but we managed to get back without much headache.

We got there with two hours to spare and this time the place was packed with people. The drifters were also doing tandem runs to determine the winner of the event, the skills they had were amazing. There was just so much going on it would have been nice to have had more time to take photos but I still was able to get a few decent photos to remember everything by. From there it was time for eating and drinking, so we went to a seafood restaurant that had some of the best catfish I've ever had. Bar hopping was next on the agenda where I discovered a beer I've never had called Kilkenny that was really great. We got pretty toasty and called it a night as our efforts to find a cool night club were unrewarded.

The final day in Los Angeles was really nice and laid back. It was my turn to drive so I took us to Huntington Beach where we rented bikes to ride along the trails by the beach. We walked around also checking out volleyball players, surfers, and other people just enjoying the wonderful weather. From there I took us to Beverly Hills to just kill time and check out the area. The place had really nice homes and expensive cars everywhere, it was impressive. But then it was time to go home and head to the airport, our trip had come to an end. I had a great time and I hope to visit California again.

For the trip I packed the Canon 7D with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS and 28mm f/1.8 and borrowed Alex's 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS. I didn't know this at the time but in the picture with the two girls, the one on the left is Playboy Playmate DJ Alie Layus...

For the Love of Photography

My buddy Alex recently gave me a Canon EOS 630, which is a film camera that was in production back between the years of 1989 through 1993. It was in great condition and since I'm able to use the lenses I own for my digital cameras on it, I was pretty excited to try it out.

One of the first things that stood out to me was the small size despite being a full frame camera. I'm so used to the heavier magnesium bodies of my 5D and 7D. There is also only a single auto focus point, which wasn't a problem to get used to. Manual mode is available on the camera however it's cumbersome to use so I found myself using aperture priority the whole time.

But the biggest difference compare to digital is that when shooting with film I found myself being a lot more careful with each photo. I'd make sure my composition was good, there were no distracting elements in the frame, my aperture was set correctly, etc. With digital there isn't any consequence of shooting as much as you want, with the exception of the time spent deleting the photos that suck. So at times there isn't as much care taken into each photo.

My evaluation of the film camera might seem funny to some who have had more experience with them in their life time, but I really had no interest in photography before about a year ago so the only film camera I ever used before were those disposable plastic ones and a cheap Olympus I used once on vacation. I don't think I will use the film camera much because I think there are a lot of limitations to it, but it was a nice tool to remind me to slow down and think more; instead of mindlessly shooting hoping something will be good.

Photos shown are untouched original scans of the developed matted prints which included the white outer border. Lens used was a Canon 50mm f/1.4. I don't remember what kind of film I used but it was expired, haha!

The Other Side of the Tracks

I recently moved a few weeks ago to be closer to work and get out of having a roommate. My old roommate Cassie was a great girl who I got along with just fine, but I enjoy my personal space just too much! I now live in Englewood and I absolutely love it here so far. I'm so centralized and everything is so close and convenient. I also am able to take the light rail train to work now which is really nice too.

One day on my way home riding the train out the window in the distance I spotted a neat group of buildings with really impressive graffiti work. Most of the stuff I see around town isn't that great but this was different. On one of my free days I made a visit to see it all up close and was very impressed. I later went to use the graffiti as a background to some of the photos I'd done for Dj Tommy Michael and just a few hours ago joined my brother in shooting our cars.

One of the reasons the graffiti here is so good is that the artists have permission to add there work here without fear of getting covered up or getting in trouble with the law. I think it is a great idea and I appreciate the talent involved. Photo was taken with my Canon 28mm f/1.8, which hasn't seen much action since the PI trip so I thought I'd show it some love. Along side my Canon 580EXII flash, I used a new Sunpak PZ42X flash I got a smoking deal on.

DJ Tommy Michael

Last Sunday I did my first promo shoot with local Colorado Dj Tommy Michael. Not only is Tommy a Dj but he is also the marketing coordinator for Beta Nightclub and was the one who allowed me to do my club shoots there. He enjoyed a lot of the photos I'd done there and requested a session with me and I immediately jumped on the opportunity.

Tommy is an awesome Dj and a great guy to work with. I was experimenting with a strobe I borrowed from my brother and he was very patient with me which I appreciated since I wanted to do my absolute best. I was also experimenting with a new lens I've added to my line up, the Canon 85mm f/1.8. This lens is amazing and is hands down my sharpest out of my three primes.

With every photo session I do, I learn more and more. This one was no exception considering it was the first time doing portraits at night. I think the knowledge I've gained will only help to build upon all of my experience so far to make me a better photographer.

Photo Session with Alyssa

I had the opportunity to photograph Alyssa this weekend, who was really great to work with. It was very casual and a lot of fun to try out different lighting set ups. I'm not yet the kind of photographer that knows all the great locations to shoot so we just walked around Downtown Denver and shot what ever we thought looked cool. The motorcycle in the photo is unfortunately not Alyssa's although she looks great with it, just one parked in an alley we happened to stumble upon.

Photo was taken with my new Canon 5D with 24-105 mm L lens and a 43" umbrella with a Canon 580EX II flash.

Join the Club

I've finally joined the group of full frame camera photographers with the purchase of my Canon 5D! The image quality improvement is amazing and the wider focal length is very useful. I still really like my Canon 7D as there are things like fast shooting speed, better auto focus system, and hd video that the 5D doesn't have. Not to mention there is great sentimental value with how much I've used it that I plan to keep it.

My first time out with the new camera body was shooting at the Beta Nightclub again. I was very pleased with the results of image quality, but I wasn't happy with the very short battery life however I think this will be resolved with newer batteries as the ones I received were used. It was a good thing that I brought my 7D as back up so I could continue shooting as the two sets of batteries for the 5D didn't last the night.

The DJ headliner for the night was Martin Solveig from France, who had one of the most amazing sets I've ever seen. He really knows how to please the crowd, it was a crazy night!

The top right and bottom left images were taken with the Canon 5D. It is hard to notice the image quality difference at this resolution but they are there believe me!