photo sessions
Film vs. Digital. It’s become clear that it’s no longer a matter of technical quality or megapixels. Digital is the norm of the industry. In many ways, it has “won.” But there are still a select few photographers who shoot 100% film even today, in 2011, and they are standouts in the industry. Jose Villa,…
They told her they were having “guy time,” and the three of them, Mark, Joe, and my brother Albert, ran off to conspire at the beach, leaving her behind with Nikki for the day. Shelly imagined the boys were hanging out a bar somewhere, watching the game. She certainly didn’t suspect this. She was on…
Is there anything more beautiful than getting back to the roots of what drew you to something in the first place? For me, shooting film has been an incredible journey back and a total jolting leap forward at the same time. Shooting film is humbling. You have to get back to basics in your technique,…
The incredible story of how they met spans 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada on foot. They had each embarked– separately, still strangers– on the Pacific Crest Trail at the California-Mexico border, Debby leading by two days without a clue that her future husband was trailing behind her. It wasn’t until three and a half…
Earlier this month, I taught the final workshop of our four-part series. It was a live portrait shoot with two wonderful models, Henry M. Chu and Shannon. We were rained in and spent most of the session in a loading dock, but with all the awesome participants, I think it turned out just fine. First,…
The fog was thick. Water droplets lingered precariously, suspended in mid air. We squinted at the Golden Gate Bridge, attempting to spot its ghostly contours even as we crossed under its towers. And yet, by the time we reached our destination, the gorgeous redwood forests at Muir Woods, we still found two whole parking lots…
Tens of thousands of photographers in Las Vegas? It must be WPPI, the annual Wedding & Portrait Photographers (International) convention. This was my first time at WPPI, and I was prepared to be completely overwhelmed and hoping to be inspired. As it turns out, inspiration trumped overwhelmed-ness, and all in all, I had a great time….
Sometimes, it rains. Literally, metaphorically, sometimes we have to adapt and change our plans. With some things going on in Silvia’s life and forecasts of rain for the week, we seriously considered cancelling the engagement shoot. But I am so very glad we didn’t. It became a reprieve from the rest of the world, a…
You might not see the silly side of them right away, poised as they are as the lawyer and the police officer. But give it just a little bit of time and the right conditions, and their playfulness comes right through. They’ll laugh together and be goofy together, but they’ll also cry together and they…
I can tell you all about how generous and kind Elliot is. I live with him, though we both travel frequently and he works so much that we joke about taking turns living at our place. I can also tell you about how sincere and engaging Sun is, despite having met her only twice. It’s…
It’s so easy to fall in love with these two. They seem like such beautiful old souls, like they’ve already been together a lifetime. They fall into step and interact with a simple ease. Soulmates. We met at Magali and Sam’s building in downtown San Francisco, and we kicked off their session on their awesome…
I waited and waited, and it took several weeks– longer than usual, I was told– but one day after I received Connie & Tony’s guest book in the mail, I got a giant box with this precious cargo inside: my sample wedding albums! For size comparison, you can see Connie & Tony’s 12″x12″ guest book…