Vacation time in Hawaii

It was our first full day on Maui and we made the most out of it, by waking up early (since we were still on California time) and heading to the water. We went snorkeling (with the under water camera) and saw the awesome sea turtles. These turtles are really big. They range from 3 feet long to the size of a small car.
Then the kids wanted to hit the waves at a nearby spot just North of where we are staying. So off we went and everyone had a great time. After we were done with all of our activities, we were driving back to the condo and realized that it was only 2pm. I guess this is what you get accomplished when the whole family wakes up at 4:30am.

And then our first day in paradise is over and we are treated to a nice Hawaiian sunset. It was really cool to watch the whales breaching in the distance as the sun fell below the horizon. In the next couple of days we will make our whale watching trip.

Another CAS school play - Grease

Last year was the first time that I photographed the school play at my son's school and this year (even though he was not in it) we had to go and see the performance. Trust me, this is not your typical 8th grade play. The costumes, sets, acting and singing is really exceptional. This year the play was Grease and the kids really seemed to enjoy the singing and dancing from this era.

We can't wait for next year's play and Connor will have already graduated from the school - we hope! :)

Palm Springs Climbers

This was my first trip to Palm Springs, CA and I had no idea what to expect here. The town itself was OK, not too much to photograph, but myself and Dave Carlson (from Canon) had time to make a quick trip out to Joshua Tree National Park and that was really nice. Lots of cactus, big rocks and blue skies. Towards the end of our day, we saw some climbers coming down from a small peak. I had just enough time to get into position to shoot the climber coming down in between some nearby boulders. I like the way the big rocks frame the climber.

A shot that I have wanted to take for 2 years

I can not tell you how many times I have driven down Highway 280 and seen this one lone tree on this hillside, and how many times I have thought that this would make a nice picture. Well...after many years of thinking this, I finally had my camera gear in the car and was willing take the risk to pull over on the highway (during hush hour traffic) to take this. Now I can drive by this and think "OK - I got that one!".

My LARGEST image ever

One of my favorite views of San Francisco is from Twin Peaks. I grew up within a couple of miles from this point and have not been back there for a while. Since I was in the city and the weather was pretty clear (especially for SF), I made my way up the "hill" and shot some pictures. As I drove up to the peak, I knew how I wanted to shoot the images. My goal was to capture a panoramic shot of the entire city, from the Golden Gate Bridge to South San Francisco. Well...I did that. I shot 20 vertical images (handheld) and then came home and stitched them together (using Arcsoft Panorama Maker 4 Pro ) into on MASSIVE file. Yep...that is 20 images at 21 megapixels. That would make this a 400MP image that takes 450MB on my hard drive. It is so big that Photohop won't let me save it as a JPG or PSF file. The resolution is so high that I can zoom into any of the buildings downtown and have a clear image. Totally cool! The image that you see here is 4% of the original size. If you click on the image, you can see it a little better.

Taking pictures in my home town

Yesterday I had a meeting in downtown San Francisco, and with the weather being as nice as it was, I brought the camera along. I did not have a lot of free time to scoout locations, but I knew about this sculpture by the foot of the Bay Bridge and thought that it would be fun to try out the new Sigma 15mm Fish Eye lens with my Canon 5D Mark II. I have seen many pictures of this sculpture and wanted to try something different with the distortion of this lens.

Alex's Bar Mitzvah and a GREAT party

Last Saturday I made the drive up to Walnut Creek to photograph Alex's Bar Mitzvah. We had really nice weather and a Temple with really nice lighting inside. Once again, I was able to use the video capabilities of the Canon 5D Mark II to capture images in the Temple without the annoying shutter noise from the camera. And the quality of the shots from this 21MP camera is awesome.
After the service I made the trip to San Francisco to visit my mother (since I had time in between the service and the party). I was showing her the capabilities of Photoshop and how you can manipulate images. I turned this image to B&W and then brought back the color in Alex's eyes and tie. My mother was very impressed and Alex loved this picture when we projected the images at his party later that evening.
I saw this very cool piece during the Kiddush luncheon. The Rabbi poured the wine into the top and it spilled into each of the surrounding cups. In all the Temples I have worked in, I have never seen this. Always looking for the cool detail shots, this is one of my favorites.
The party...what can I say...this one rocked! "Denon and Doyle" did the entertainment and I have to say that they were amazing. It makes my job so much easier when there is cool lighting and lots of action. This party had it all, the music, the lights, the props, nice people and most of all...fun kids!

Blues Traveler

Last week, at WPPI (photography show), Nikon was nice enough to host a party and bring in the band Blues Traveler for a fun evening. I didn't shoot many pictures because...hey...I am a Canon shooter and did not want to break out my Canon camera at a Nikon party. But, I did borrow my buddy's camera and shot a couple of frames. You know, all those photographers (yes, you Mr. Moose) always say that we should have a camera with us at all times. Next time I will ask for forgiveness and bring in my camera and fire off 16GB of images. BTW - this guy can really play the harmonica!

A Great Bat Mitzvah!

Last weekend was another Mitzvah shoot for me and this time it was back up in Oakland, CA. An interesting thing happened on this particular Saturday. Usually I am not allowed to photograph in this Temple, since they do not want to deal with the sound of the camera shutter during the service. But, they do allow video capture. So...here I am...armed with my new Canon 5D Mark II which captures high def video. Hmmmmmm. I ask the Rabbi, "Can I use this camera to capture video?" and he gives me the OK to shoot. Heck, I can grab frames from high definition video and also capture images with the camera's shutter locked in the video capture mode. What a cool concept!

I mentioned that this family did it right. Not only did Aliza show poise and confidence during the service, but this family knows how to have a good time.

Check out the cake. When I first saw it, all I could think of was the TV show "Ace of Cakes" which my kids watch all the time. As it turns out, Aliza's cousins made this cake. It was totally amazing. A great photo opportunity too!

A Great Day in Yellowstone National Park

OK, let's get this out now...I am a city boy (other wise known as a flat lander) and I don't usually get a chance to see great wildlife in the SF Bay Area. Well...I guess there is some wildlife in the Bay Area but not the four legged type. :) But, this past weekend, in between shooting a National Ad for Lexar, we had some time to venture into Yellowstone National Park and photograph some of the great wildlife that calls the park home. I was especially excited to photograph the Bighorn Sheep. They are so cool looking! Even with the temperature hovering somewhere in the neighborhood of -4 degrees Fahrenheit, we stood below the mountainside for over an hour shooting images of these guys. It was probably a good thing that they went back up the mountainside after an hour, otherwise I might have gotten frostbite on my "city boy" face.

Yellowstone National Park (Below Zero)

We have finished shooting the images for the National Ad Campaign and now we are photographing for some fun (and maybe an other background shot for the ad). Yellowstone is really amazing in the winter. Lots of cool wildlife that I have never seen up close before. We are exploring the North entrance which is not near Old Faithful, but it is a different view of Yellowstone which I am really enjoying.
These two bison were having an argument when we came upon them. They might have been a little ticked off but I was loving the change to photograph them in their moment of dispute. :)

I shot a Grizzly Bear and a Moose today!

After a couple months of planning, I made the trek to Bozeman, MT and photographed Moose Peterson and a very cool grizzly bear for the next National advertisement for Lexar. Both Moose and Brutus (that's the bear!) were great subjects. I have posted a couple of pictures of Brutus but you will have to wait to see the finished ad (which should run some time in May).
This is the typical picture that you would see when people want to show how dangerous grizzly bears are BUT trust me, these bears are truly amazing and not what you would expect. They are gentle creatures who need to be understood. I do like this picture but you need to understand that Brutus' trainer had him make this face for the camera.

Photo by Moose Peterson

This is me feeding Brutus a meatball. Better to give him a snack than for me to become his snack! You will notice that I am bundled up pretty good (wearing two hats and the hood from my sweatshirt) since it was 2 degrees Fahrenheit for the 4 hours of shooting the ad.

Tails in the Air

Yesterday, on my way to Bozeman, MT, I flew through Denver International Airport (for the 500th time), but since I had to go to the end of the terminal for the small regional jets (otherwise known as scarf and goggle planes), I was intrigued by this different view of all the United planes lined up at the gates.

Boys will be boys

Today, I photographed twin boys who will be having their Bar Mitzvah in the next month. In between the "serious" photos (to be used for their sign-in boards), they decided to have some fun. This shot makes me laugh when I look at. No shortage of personality here!

Surfing in January!

OK, I have to admit it, living in California sure is great when most of the country is draped in freezing cold temperatures and we are hanging out at the beach in 75 degree weather. This weekend we made a family trip to the beach in Capitola, CA (about 30 minutes from the house). With the unusually warm weather we are having, there were a ton of surfers out catching waves. I stopped for a couple of minutes to capture some images.

I know I will miss this weather later this coming week when I am in the deep snow of Montana shooting another print advertisement for Lexar.