This last weekend I wasn’t able to post because I was driving back and forth and working feverishly to cover all the events I was asked to cover! I calculated my hours and I ended up working 46 hours over the last weekend (Friday Saturday, and Sunday)! Needless to say that I’m still catching up on all my edits and will be updating you with more great things that have been up to! This shoot though was spectacular! I was able to shoot for Harsh Music Co.! When it comes to tracks for music they have it! From a harsh beat for your background tracks to background music for your cinematic trailer Harsh Music has it! The dynamics of each song are pretty incredible, as well as the creativity of this drumming prodigy! I wanted to get images that grabbed your attention in the way that the music stands out. When it came down to putting together a concept and getting great images they didn’t skimp on quality that matched their talented work! He’s been getting a lot of recent attention within social networks the last couple of months and most likely will continue to rise! I hope you enjoy these images and keep a look out for more big things to come out of here and be some of the first to say you saw him here first!

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Last weekend I was able to cover the pre-launch party for one of the most anticipated restaurants in Napa Valley: “Goose & Gander” for GEV (Gastronomique En Vogue) Magazine. This location is one of the most beloved spaces in Napa and was formerly the Martini House. The bar was a local hangout and rich with history which was built my Walter Martini, a retired opera singer Enrico Caruso on several occasions. Martini and his wife moved to St. Helena after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and later bought the William Tell Hotel across the street, now a National Historic Register property. Martini’s basement used to be used for bootlegging wine, which is the current location of the bar in the restaurant. From the ambiance to the food to the music and feel of this place it’s easy to see how this is going to be one of the hottest places in town!
It was my first collaboration shooting with my good friend and co photographer Kevin Osmond from Kevin Osmond Photography. A handful of my other images were also picked up by additional media sources that are being released throughout this week the SF Gate’s “Inside Scoop” being one of them! Already so much buzz has been generated and the locals are just aching to get in there and start chowing down! Having food photography as one of my passions it was such a pleasure to be able to experience a great venue and food that matches its homely feel! I had the opportunity as well to interview the chef about his thoughts of the restaurant and a bit of the history, which was posted in GEV Magazine’s recent post! I can’t wait to hear more great things and will keep you updated with more news covering this event! Check out the video as a teaser of the location!

It’s been incredibly busy this April and I thought I’d give you an update! I’ve been involved in multiple shoots including the GEV (Gastronomique En Vogue) Cover Shoot! I also hired and intern who will be helping me with the business as well as getting great job experience learning the “ins and outs” of how I run my business. I would have to say life does get busier but I don’t even want to see what that looks like right now! I’ve had to wait on releasing certain images from shoots so I apologize for the more sporadic posting. I will say that if they are being withheld now then you’ll see more soon so just hang tight!

I’m still hoping to release a handful of other giveaways as well as launch a few other things that should be more informative as well. I’ve had a handful of people sending me questions about how do they use their camera, what camera do I use as well as plenty other questions. I do want to say that a lot of what I do has taken me years and hours upon hours of work! I would like to reach out a bit more and help out more people that are stifled by all the settings their cameras have, and hopefully simplify it a bit for you as well! This post doesn’t have an image that I normally would upload with but it does have some behind the scenes of the cover shoot for GEV! Take a look and have a great weekend!

I’ve had the privilege of shooting with JE model Emily, and it’s been such a great experience! Shooting with agency models are great when you are aiming to build your portfolio and work with agency approved talent. The great thing about testing is that you have the ability to develop and build your book and at the same time you are able to get credibility with working with a modeling agency. When it comes to shooting with getting test shots with models I usually suggest that you work on building a team that you can rely on for shoots. There are hundreds of makeup artists, and hair stylists in the Bay Area but not all of them have experience working with models and having their work agency approved. over the past couple of months I’ve been able to work with Ford, JE, Scout, and Halvorson models and each time has been a great experience! We tried to get some catalog styled images, a beauty shot, and some edgier yet tasteful shots! Hope you like it!

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I felt like Steve Martin in “The Jerk” when UPS came and delivered my new Business cards. I wanted to run up the streets and yell, “The new business cards are here! The new business cards are here!” It’s a new year and with that a new look! I’ve gone through four different cards already but I would have to say that this one is hands down my favorite simply because I usually go to an eclectic and diverse amount of events that its difficult for me to label my work with one specific. Its weird going to a fashion show and giving a model a wedding card, or a Muay Thai competition and passing out a modeling touch card. I finally had my friend Hendric put together a great logo that I released last year but I wanted to have something that went along those same lines. I don’t need to go into the detail of the card because you can see it, so I’ll refrain but I will say that if you’d like some just let me know because I ordered a bunch! Feel free to pass my cards around like the flu! I did want to remind everyone that I shoot many things, but if I were to say what I tend to shoot most would be; weddings, fashion, food, portraits, and large events. I’m currently east bay but am looking to possibly move across the bay to the S.F. area, but I’ve worked down in San Jose area a lot, all the way up to Sacramento and Napa area. If you are looking for exceptional photography and want to invest in images that will last then send me an email, give me a call, message me on Facebook, or even hire a homing pigeon (personally I prefer singing telegrams)!

I think some people are getting a misconception on what I actually do. I want to first start off by just saying that currently I’m a fulltime student, I work for an after school program, and just finished up my season assistant coaching girls basketball. This I do on top of working more than full time as a professional photographer. There’s always work to be done and I think that’s what has helped me as a photographer and a business owner. Recognizing that you won’t EVER have enough time to do everything will help when you feel like you could do so much more. As much as I’d like to think that all I do all day is take pictures of flowers and scenery and hang out with models that’s far from what I do. As many small business owners there are so many things that we need to be constantly focused on. If I were to give any advise to people looking to get into photography because they think its going to be a fun way to make some money I’d advise them to think twice before biting off more than they can chew.

I was just shooting a MMA cage fight for the Bay Brawlers when I ran into a few other photographers, one who shoots sports as well as weddings, and another who shoots events, and weddings. There are really so many different types of photographers out there that photographers can get into; large events, parties, clubs, weddings, sports, food, fashion, fine art, landscape, portrait… the list really just goes on. Many photographers have their “bread and butter” niche that they make their profits from, and sometimes dabble in other types of photography to develop as a photographer or just to take a break from the day-to-day work. I have a large group of photographers both professional and amateur that I’ve networked with in the bay area, which are all diverse in what type of content they photograph. I tend to focus on weddings, large events, food, fashion, sports, and portraits, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like other forms of photography.

Actually there are many types of photography that I’m interested in but when it comes to business you have to make sure that you are making profit before you play. I actually don’t call myself an artist. I think a lot of people don’t realize that many professional photographers haven’t had “professional training.” That I believe is because art schools teach people how to perfect photography as an art instead of teaching you how to make it a profitable business. Many art schools would see a wedding or event photographer as a sell out. Its unfortunate that many art schools really don’t develop the business side of this industry. So if you’re finishing up at an art school I would hope that you could intern for a photographer or even during art school. Getting a taste of the real world and having to face deadlines, work with clients, balance your business account, market, edit, and so much more. There’s the other side of the business where you are a “professional photographer” basically working under the tables which actually can hurt the industry from the ones that make a living off photography. With the digital age making gear much cheaper and more affordable to the general public its easy to be an enthusiast and actually have better gear that many photographers. It has also created more competition, but has to make you understand quality. I had a friend who was telling me how he was one of the first guys shooting events in Vegas where he was using film 15 years ago. The market has become oversaturated with people who can point and shoot a camera.

What’s sad is that in many ways the influx of this trending market that is being flooded with competition is that quality has in some ways gone down and been a bit more acceptable. Many people are not willing to pay for quality for something because they can get something not as well produced for a more affordable or even cheaper price. The good news is that there are the few solid photographers out there. There are many photographers who won’t water down their quality for a higher quantity. Seeing this I have been working on continuously aiming to develop and improve my craft. I’m not an artist… and I say this because the persona that comes with the artist is the struggle to make some ends-meat. I’m paying taxes on my revenue, tracking my expenses, and growing my network and business. I want to see this industry improve, but it takes all of us.

Here’s a shoot that I recently did with a model and make up artist. We did what the industry calls beauty shots. The goals for these images were to look at them and be able to see them in a magazine; whether for a hair, perfume, sunglasses, or makeup Advertisement or editorial.  If you could look at some of the images and see these images in a L’Oreal, Versace, CoverGirl, or other company’s potential ad, then we did our job. Fashion is a bit more edgy and creative hopefully we headed in that direction. They are a bit different than a headshot but still are important in many model’s portfolios. Hope you enjoy!

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Yeah Buddy! It’s Friday! You might have got kicked around all week, yelled at, cussed out, broke down, sold out, let up, let go, broke up, broke down, beat down, downgraded, down cast, cast down, outcast, but it doesn’t matter because there is light at the end of the tunnel. “Our deepest fear isn’t that we are inadequate, but powerful beyond measure.” It’s like Rocky said “it’s not about how are you’re hit, its about how many times you get hit and keep moving forward.”  So work hard and you can take those steps to achieve what you want most in life. When it comes to pain we should remember its temporary. Sometimes it’s just about getting a larger perspective on the situation. I’m not saying that everything in life is going to be a cake walk, but I will say that it’s the things that are our mountains of today that become the anthills and stepping stones of our future. Too many of us quit, and turn away, fall back and cower when things don’t work out at first. We aren’t willing to fight sometimes, and even at those times when it seems impossible, we need to keep fighting like there is no tomorrow. I hope that whoever reads this will keep their head up and heart strong. That you would be encouraged and take that with you this weekend, revamp, and keep fighting!

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For more motivation watch these videos

http://youtu.be/V6xLYt265ZM

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It’s been a busy weekend and I’m actually heading off to finish the second half of a full weekend of shoots! Lots of great things are going on and of course I’ve been working on more projects; playing with light a bit more in studio, working with models, updating my portfolio, booking weddings, shooting and booking portrait sessions, and the list goes on! I have a handful of things that I’m working on and don’t want to release to you yet but just know that I have been swamped with work and school lately so I apologize for not getting back to everyone as promptly as I normally would! It’s been such a busy season and I’m looking forward to what else 2012 has in store for me!

This post will be a bit short but I did want to follow up on that back to black shoot I posted a while back. I’ve spent over 15 hours working on these images and the one thing to note is that once you starting doing a major touch up then it seems like everything is a flaw! I’ve been working on my workflow and touch up and though I’m not where I want to be I’m closer than I was a few months ago! Needless to say the shoot was amazing and I hope you enjoy the images as well!

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Here’s the video to this in case you missed it!!!!

no smart phone view-ability though sorry!
Back2Black Teaser video on YouTube Click Here!

Hopefully everyone (except for Massachusetts, maybe) enjoyed the Super Bowl and had a lot of fun with family and friends. I will say that if you aren’t a fan of football at least watch the commercials! Unfortunately for me I was busying in studio all day putting together a photoshoot, which I will be releasing soon! Until then the video embedded in here is a teaser of what’s to come from that shoot! We tried a handful of different things for this beauty shot session that we ended up getting a few different “looks” during our shoot. I loved the energy of our team and I’m hoping these images are going to be some more great images that hopefully don’t fall short from epic! I recorded some video in between and it ended up becoming a mini conceptual video in itself! Unfortunately I will say that if you are on a smart phone you will not be able to view this due to what Youtube calls licensing infringement (basically because I used Amy Winehouse’s song “Back To Black”). Still if you get a chance watch it because even though I was goofing off with my camera the video is full of great conceptual ideas and plus the model looks like Naomi Campbell!

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I feel like so much has already happened and its been just the beginning of what I believe is going to be an amazing year! I’ve been working and will be continuing to work on my retouching and lighting, as well as releasing more marketing strategies to boost business. It’s bee really busy so far; I’ve already booked two weddings with a few more in talks, as well as been updating my portfolios and getting ready to re-launch and revamp my work for future business. A quick reminder for those who haven’t heard yet, I am currently running a contest where the winning family will have free family portraits taken by me! On my previous post are the details but basically you need to go back to my photography fan page and upload a family picture, invite your friends to “like” my page and get them to “like” your picture (the most likes wins).

I have a handful of goals this year and one of them will be continuing to work and test shoot with more agency models and building up my portfolio to target high-end clientele. The last two model shoots I was able to work with Ford model Lito, fitness model Alex and Scout model Andie. Since last year where I have had a handful of opportunities to work with great agency models I feel I have been able to really grow and improve in many ways! One thing that I have been continuing to work on is selection and display of my images. As are most photographers we tend to be picky when choosing which images we feel are the strongest or which ones we like the best in our session. Some times I’ll think what I may think the consumer may like, but for modeling and fashion it’s a bit different. When it comes to many other aspects of my photography such as wedding, or portrait for example, no matter what a photographer thinks it’s really what the client sees and the emotions that it gives them when they view those images. When it comes to fashion I have to think in the mind of a potential agency, magazine editor, or even designer. I want to display the model or shoot in a way that should sell. I want the designer, agent, or editor to look at the image and think; I need this model to wear my clothes, or he/she (the model) needs to be in my magazine. If I want a consumer to look at my images I’ll want them to know what the look is and be able to say something like “This looks like a GAP Ad” or “He looks like an Abercrombie & Fitch or Armani model!”

I’m excited for this because I believe it’s a great opportunity to take my work to the next level and continually be aiming for higher end clientele. I’m making the steps this year to produce superior quality images that will catch client’s eyes and continually network to win the right contacts in hopes to make it! Here are a few images of my recent shoots that you can hopefully enjoy!

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