Portrait Session: Derek

Derek is an up and coming Real Estate agent.  He asked for professional portraits for his business.  Donning the suit and tie, we ended up with these photos.  Not too shabby.  One of the few times I've used natural light as the key.

Portrait Session: Warren

Warren has an old tire and decides to create some clouds with it.  Might as well photograph it!

I think the photo is quite accurate of Warren's persona.  Calm and collected while partaking in not so calm and collected acts.  No smile or laughter. Just a James Dean look.

In other news, Fall started not too long ago here in Texas.  It'll be a cool 89 degrees today.  Maybe I should pull out my sweater. 

Backtracking: Trendy Fashion and a Touch of Glamour

About to go on vacation for a bit.  Hitting up my hometown up in New York/New Jersey.  Getting some rest, relaxation and a good dose of cooler weather.  Seriously, Dallas has been HOT.  Routine 100+ degree temps the past 2 weeks or so.  It's so damn hot that a low of 95 at night feels "cool".  Crazy.

So I had this post on the previous incarnation of my blog up until the point it got hacked.  So a little bit of backtracking to show off the goods.

Take two beautiful people, get a very trendy hotel room and start getting some shots of them as if they were high rolling celebs.  That's the shoot that was done way back in September of 2010.  Got most of the shots I wanted and it was definitely fun in the process.  Looking to do more with some other beautiful people.

 

 

Low and behold there's also a behind the scenes video!  Very low quality and editing skills, but a video nonetheless.  Looking to do more "professional" kinds of behind the scenes stuff in the future as well.  Don't laugh too hard at my pitiful attempt.

COBB Tuning - First Thursdays

COBB Tuning in Plano is a performance and prep shop for import vehicles in the North Texas area.  I was invited by my good buddy Kevin Heist to take some event photos of their "First Thursday" meetups.

In all, there must've been over 60+ people who attended ranging from enthusiasts to racers.  Food and drinks were provided.  COBB Tuning merchandise was being sold and the COBB crew was very helpful with questions.

If you're into the scene, it's really a great place to meet and talk. 

One of the many modded cars there.

COBB Tuning

Get your COBB Tuning merchandise here!

COBB the car?

For more information you can go to the COBB Tuning (Plano) site or visit their Facebook page.  Event photos can be found HERE.

Surfers and a Long Lens

I was in Carlsbad, CA late last week and weekend for business.  Great weather.  Real mountains and hills (especially compared to Dallas!), and miles of beaches.  The work days consisted of waking up at 4am in the morning and ending around 2pm for all 4 days.  When I wasn't napping from exhaustion or watching the NBA Finals at the local sports bar I was roaming the area.

I decided to visit the Oceanside Pier.  This thing juts out into the ocean and feels like a mile in length when you walk it.  I slapped on my semi-new 80-200 2.8 lens and walked down, hoping to get some good pics.  Off to the left side were a bunch of surfers taking advantage of the waves.  I was only a quarter into the pier and thought it would be a good idea to test out this lens at a long distance.  After a while, I got the shot below:

Not too bad.  I'm really liking this lens.  Granted it's a very old design and still runs off the camera focus pin the quality of the pics are superb.  Looking forward to using it more.

Polar Ice House - Spring Show 2011

The Polar Ice House is an ice rink in Grapevine, TX that's right next to the Grapevine Mills Mall.  They host local hockey games, teach skating, and have public skating sessions (try out the laser lights public skating session!).

I was asked to photograph their Spring Show event and was more than happy to participate.  They had a full lineup of skaters ranging from barely walking (skating?) to national champions.  It was a great time and everyone performed well.  For now only posting two pictures, as I have to work on the others!

The Dallas Stars Ice Girls (well, 3 of them)

Philippine National Figure Skating Champion Zhaira Costaniano

First printed piece... in 2010

So I should've blogged this last year, but due to a healthy amount of procrastination and a dessert serving of laziness I never got around to it.

In November of 2010 Operation Kindness threw their 18th annual "Canines, Cats, and Cabernet" auction and wine tasting.  It is a "No kill" shelter and they work extra hard to rehabilitate any/all animals that come to them.  Even their adoption process is strict!  I was asked to provide photographs of cute dogs and cats waiting to be adopted so that it could be put inside the program.  

Let me tell you how hard it was to take pics of all these animals and not be tempted to just bring them home.  The quality of care they put towards these animals is amazing.  I saw what looked to be a "quiet room" where a single volunteer and a dog were just enjoying 1 on 1 time.  The dog was just laying down and the volunteer was giving her undivided attention.  Amazing.

The cat to the left was taken by me

The dachshund to the left and the cat in the top on the right page

The Labrador dog on the right

The cover, not done by me.  Maybe in 2011?  ;)

The 2010 Hack and New Year

The hacker in question

So, Happy New Year and all that jazz. The blog got hacked, thanks to a security hole in Wordpress back around December. In the midst of recovering the articles I inadvertently pressed the "Nuke" button on the database, wiping out everything.

So I decided to switch to Blogger. No setup, no upgrade worries, and hopefully more secure.

So what's in it for 2011? I've been a bit quiet recently, but plan on focusing in on a specialty in photography. Stay tuned.