I can’t believe summer is already over… Every year, when Labor Day rolls around, I say exactly the same thing. Maybe one day I’ll live in California, where the summer never ends.
In the meantime, here’s some shots of my boys at the local swimming pool, and a rare couple of pictures of me too.
And now a bunch of shots I took with my good friend Brittany. Wandering around in her neighborhood with a Holga:
Lindsay wanted to surprise her husband-to-be with a bridal session, so she specifically asked me not to mention anything anywhere, especially on Facebook where he might catch wind of what we’d been up to, until after the wedding…
Well… That stunning wedding took place on May 14th, so I’m finally free to share these gorgeous shots with the rest of you 
My girlfriend recently invited me and my boys to a treasure hunt. Yes, a treasure hunt. Apparently there are little cans and other tiny containers, hidden throughout the city and the country, that have little trinkets inside…
Once you find the (hopefully) well-hidden container, you open it up, fill out the log with the date and location, place another item inside and put it back in its hiding place. Some of the trinkets have little tags on them so you can see where they’ve traveled and how long they’ve been traveling.
Intrigued, I said yes. The following images (aside from that first one) is what resulted. All the shots were taken on my Elan 7E.
My little boy still carries around the golf ball like it’s the most valuable thing he’s ever found.
After picking out a bunch of personal favorites from Justin & Melanie’s beautiful wedding for the sneak peek, I decided to do something very bold (for me at least) and go almost exclusively to black & white on all the images.
I’m really happy with what that did as a whole and it seems as though black & white is becoming a habit of mine. Almost anytime I try something in black & white, I fall in love with it and decide to leave it that way. Some of my shoots are even designed to only be presented in black & white, though these are usually model shoots (doing one later this afternoon! Woohooo!!)
Maybe my body is preparing itself for something I don’t know is coming… Like going color blind…
I’m going to start with my personal favorite from the whole wedding and possibly one of my all-time favorites:
I KNEW I’d forgotten something important!!
The following photo booth series of images embodies how we all were on this most awesome of road trips. It was supposed to be at the end of Part 2 but I forgot. We all had tons and tons of goofball fun!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Best. Road trip. Ever.
As promised, here is the second and final part to my recent road trip to LA.
I have to admit that I’m not in the same mood I was in yesterday when I posted Part 1. I was in a much happier place then. Last night and most of today has been a painful struggle. Suffice it to say that… Well, I suppose some people just don’t have a heart…
But thinking back at this trip, the quiet moments of contemplation, the peace, the smell of the ocean water, the sand between my toes, the sound of the crashing waves, the inescapable awe for the architecture, and best of all, my friends Brittany and Lizel, together with all the jokes we made and the laughs we had; that helps.
Because it reminds me that there are still wonderful things to behold in this world and that there are still good people. There are still great memories to be made.
So here’s to you Brittany and Lizel, for making this vacation the best I’ve ever had.
It’s been far, FAR too long since I last went on a road trip.
A proper road trip.
And there’s no way I could have gone had it been scheduled for even as little as a few weeks earlier.
Plus, I could feel myself burning out on wedding season about a month ago, so I’m glad it was my good friend Brittany’s 30th birthday on September 12th (Happy Birthday!!). She grew up in LA, oh and Disneyland is in LA, so naturally, she chose LA as the destination, invited me and Lizel, one of her friends (now also one of MY friends), to come along.
We were only there for a weekend, with two full days spent driving and being within close quarters in my little Civic. Technically I think that’s asking for trouble
But oh the fun we had! Every picture I’m posting, even the ones I’m not, have a story of their own. Maybe next time I could have another dude come along though. You know, just to balance things out a little.
Still, it’s no contest…
Best.
Road trip.
EVAR!!!
First we settled into the hotel after an 11-hour day on the road…
Then we headed out for some grub. Lizel was so excited for Sunday’s trip to Disneyland that she pulled out the map and started planning.
Then on the last day, Disneyland! Now, I’m not a huge fan (I much prefer Six Flags so I can be flung three miles into the atmosphere at twice the speed of sound), but in great company, everything is fun, and Disneyland was no exception.
I’ll be posting my favorite day of the road trip tomorrow, with beaches, architecture and good-old-fashioned weirdness, so stay tuned for that!
My kids love to go swimming. They’d go every day, all day and then stay overnight if they could.
Here are some Diana moments:
Beyond our professional relationship, Dani and I are close friends. So it made perfect sense that late at night on May 19th, Dani called to see if I’d be available to shoot the very next day. She needed some shots of an outfit before she had to return it to its designer on May 20th, the night of our shoot.
I want to mention something in passing.
I love Dani (big surprise, huh?). It’s no coincidence I’ve worked with her seven times with no apparent end in sight. She’s impossibly fun to be around, easy to work with and endlessly talented.
And about that talent, I remember taking those first few shots thinking “Man, I don’t have to tell her anything. We’re in perfect sync. She just moves exactly the way I’d like a model to.”
This last one isn’t particularly good, it’s just a pre-cursor to something I’m shooting next week
By far the oddest request I’ve had for weddings this year was from this couple.
Cliff & Jjana: “Could you NOT shoot pictures at the ceremony?”
Me: “No pictures at the ceremo–…” THUD! I fall to the ground.
When I finally came to I was in a hospital and was told I’d been in a coma for 12 years. That’s weird… I must have traveled back in time during my coma.
But as much as I tried to convince the beautiful couple to let me take pictures during the ceremony, they insisted that as actors currently living in DC, they’d become too aware of themselves with a camera clicking away to be natural during the part of the wedding they didn’t want anyone to remember in any way but in their hearts.
I respect that. They knew what they wanted, they knew what they were giving up but felt that what they were gaining was greater.
Cliff & Jjana were an absolute dream to work with. Very laid back and the coolest personalities. And their guests were too (see?).
Hope you enjoy the photography and Happy Memorial Day!
