Exquisite Weddings Magazine Cover Contest

The couple portrait below was recently selected by Exquisite Weddings Magazine as one of twenty finalists to be on the cover of the magazine in the future.  The winner will be selected by voting.  I'm not big on asking for votes (as evidenced by the fact the voting ends today), but if you'd like to vote (for any of the finalists), the link can be found here: http://sdmag.us/top20.

I shoot landscapes, not only because of my love of wild places, but as with sports, I believe it's important to cross-train, develop and hone new skills, which in turn strengthen my wedding and advertising work. Beauty is everywhere and Death Valley is no exception. Here are some images from my last visit as well as the first image, a dog-leg trip up to Mono Lake for a sunset as well.

                           

 

Portfolio Work

A few images of the beautiful and talented actress, Chasty Ballesteros.  Love the opportunity for open ended creativity that portfolio work affords.  And it always helps to work with spectacular looking people as well!

Best of Nature-Natural History Museum

I'm honored to be included in the Best of Nature photography installation on display at the Natural History Museum in San Diego for the third straight year. 72 images were chosen for display out of 1000 entries. To atone for my notable absence of late on my blog, I've decided to have another print giveaway. One of the following ten images, counting left to right, top to bottom was the jurors selection. I'll print an 8x10 or 8x12 for the person to correctly guess the chosen one first. You can email your guess or post it below.

Filler

Had a nice shoot for Nutrilite Corporation the other day. Luckily it was indoors because it rained for the first time in months. I took this while waiting for images to download afterward in my car.

Senior Toad

We were graced by the handsome Mr. Toad awhile back, dog-sitting for friends of ours for the day. Despite his perceived reluctance, he was actually quite the willing model- as long as he got his food afterward! Probably could have given him a bigger bowl, but where's the fun in that?

Details, details

A few detail shots of the unbelievably beautiful and diverse terrain found in Coyote Buttes South, AZ.

"Hell of a place to loose a cow"

The astute quote above is credited to Ebenezer Bryce, long time resident of the area and for whom the canyon is named. Bryce Canyon is truly a delight- teeming with wildlife, sights to see and miles of trails to hike. Unfortunately, we had only 12 hours there, just enough to catch a sunset and sunrise before making our trek back to Las Vegas international. The contrast between the solitude below and the City of Lights- in such a short distance, always kinda trips me out too.

Pioneer Pro DJ- ArtMix 2011

I recently wrapped a fun project for Pioneer Pro DJ. Pioneer sent several artists and celebrities a CDJ-2000 and tasked them with 'pimping' it out however they saw fit. The end result, ArtMix 2011 and a glossy 44 page catalog documenting all the pieces. Below are a few excerpts. Also, I didn't take the profile images (upper left).

The cover and CDJ-2000, the blank canvas

Arizona!

Couple more images from my June road trip. On the left is Upper Antelope Canyon outside Page, AZ and South Coyote Buttes on the right.

Headshots and Portfolio work

Another quick shoot. Thanks to Naureen Zaim (model) and Kimberly Carlson (kacartistry.com) for hair and makeup.

Ocean Conservancy

I got word my image of Ecola SP was selected as an honorable mention in the Ocean Conservancy's annual photo contest yesterday. It will also be February in their 2012 calendar. I'm honored to be part of such a fantastic organization!

The Southwest at its best

I've found a lot of cool things, but this seasoned scull is up there with the best of 'em. I'm guessing it's a horse. I found it in South Coyote Buttes, AZ and photographed it above at Pink Coral Sand Dunes, Utah.

282 feet below sea level- Death Valley, CA

Monument Valley

On the border of AZ and Utah, my buddy Jeremey and I, along with my Mom, brother and sister, all got to see Monument Valley for the first time earlier this month. Completely dependent of the weather, we hung around just long enough on a cloud covered day for the sun to break through at sunset for all of five minutes, giving us some good light on the 'Mittens.'

This is the view just North of MV on the 163 looking South. Interestingly, it's where Forest Gump decided to stop running in the movie and, where my buddy Jeremey left his tripod on the side of the road. Very generous of him...

Captivating

I may get some flack for combining the images below along with the quote by John and Stasi Eldridge from their book Captivating, but as an image maker, recording beauty is generally my goal. Obviously humanity is intrinsically attracted to beauty, be it a landscape, art or within another person and the study of this phenomena I believe, reveals much about who we are and how we were created.

I place this post in-between the beauty of sprawling landscapes on purpose as the pursuit of capturing beauty in still imagery permeates across genres for me as an artist. Beauty is beauty and for me as a very visual person, it’s undeniable in its many forms. That being said and to clarify, I’m merely speaking of physical beauty here and as we all (should) know, there are many more layers of it than simply what we see. The quote below delves a bit deeper into that, but includes the two dimensional kind as well. I've had the blessing of learning this difference first, from a Mother who helped define multi-layered beauty so well that I managed to find the ultimate source of this blessing in my life, my wife. Who also happens to be physically beautiful, but truly does fulfill the heart, spirit and life portion of the quote below as well.

To be sure, ‘beauty is, without question, the most essential and the most misunderstood of all God’s qualities-of all feminine qualities, too.’ Just as the words we speak, food, alcohol or anything else God created, beauty can be used inappropriately and therein lies a great confusion over what to do with it. Personally, guidelines and limitations ensure my work, hopefully and if done successfully, is defined by a tasteful elegance, timelessness and....classic beauty : )

"Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Think of what it's like to behold a gorgeous sunset or the ocean at dawn. Remember the ending of a great story. We yearn to linger, to experience it all our days. Sometimes the beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing. For what? For life as it was meant to be. Beauty reminds us of an Eden we have never known, but somehow know our hearts were created for. Beauty speaks of heaven to come, when all shall be beautiful. It haunts us with eternity. Beauty says, There is a glory calling to you. And if there is glory, there is a source of glory. What great goodness could have possibly created this? Beauty draws us to God.

All these things are true for any experience of beauty. But they are especially true when we experience the beauty of a woman- her eyes, her form, her voice, her heart, her spirit, her life. She speaks all of this far more profoundly than anything else in all creation, because she is incarnate; she is personal. It flows to us from an immortal being. She is beauty through and through.

Beauty is, without question, the most essential and most misunderstood of all God's qualities- of all feminine qualities, too. We know it has caused untold pain in the lives of women. But even there something is speaking. Why so much heartache over beauty? We don't ache over being geniuses, or fabulous hockey players. Women ache over the issue of beauty-they ache to be beautiful, to believe they are beautiful, and they worry over keeping it if ever they can find it.

A woman knows, down in her soul, that she longs to bring beauty to the world. She might be mistaken on how (something every woman struggles with), but she longs for a beauty to unveil. This is not just culture, or the need to 'get a man.' This is in her heart, part of her design."

-John and Stasi Eldridge, Captivating

-Imagery made for Leilani Dowding (model)

-Hair and makeup by the über talented, Dehx Star

Somewhere South of the middle of nowwhere...

For me, there are certain places in the wild I recall with sentimentality, reverence and other terms typically reserved for the likes of an old friend. Oftentimes my first visit, like to South Coyote Buttes below, feels more like a homecoming or a reunion. The unique features I see for the first time, but the fingerprints of the great designer are distinctly familiar. I'm at home, in a place God made knowing I would show up on this day, with a talent He gave me...and it would blow my mind! I'm not saying my imagery is all that, I'm simply saying I enjoyed it that much! God gives good gifts. (Ps.19:1)

Navajo sandstone with criss-crossing color patterns

Seven Days in the Southwest

Ok, I haven't posted for a LONG time! Between buying a house and moving, getting bronchitis, guests visiting, a good run of assignments recently and a road trip, it's fallen between the cracks and I truly apologize!

I just returned from my longest landscape shoot to date, seven days through CA, AZ and Utah and got so many photos I could start another landscape portfolio. I put together a preview below, but I'll post a couple larger versions every few days to try and make up for my absence of late : )

Kreativ

Quick shoot for a music leaning, lifestyle based t-shirt startup.

One pimped CDJ-2000

This was a fun shoot for Pioneer Pro DJ. This digital turntable was embedded with graphics that where only visible under a black light. So not only where these shots created utilizing a strobe pop followed by a five second shutter lag to pick up the screen and other ambient lights on the unit, but within that five seconds I had to find the right amount of black light to bring out the 'hidden' design.

The beach and other luxuries...

It may seem an odd pairing, a serene beachscape next to two tanks. Taken on the same beach, this contrast is why I enjoy visiting Del Mar beach on Camp Pendleton whenever my family camps there on vacation. The military presence is what affords us the luxury of words like serenity, peace and...freedom.

My little bro, Chhay, age nine and one of my favorite persons to hang out with!

I took 56 shots before I got this one. I was shooting and at the same time throwing and sometimes faking to throw handfuls of spaghetti in the air, haha. I was pretty popular, until the spaghetti ran out.

My Mom found a shark that had passed and washed up on the beach. Don't know what kind it was or why it died, but was only about 3 1/2 feet long. Ever the explorer, upon dissected it, she found it was carrying three, perfectly formed babies about 7 inches long each.