She knew from the beginning, even before he asked her to be his girlfriend, that she wanted to marry him. It was over videochat that he introduced her to his adorable nephews who were sitting on his lap. Jason had little Justin ask the first question– will you be my uncle choo–choo’s girlfriend? And Mega…
After I shot my first few rolls of film, I did a little experiment. I sent one roll to my local lab, Oscar’s Photo Lab, in San Francisco, and I sent the rest to Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles. Richard Photo Lab is easily the most well-known film processing lab in the country today,…
With the sand castles, the gorgeous weather, and the element of complete surprise, their proposal was perfect. If you missed Shelly & Mark’s proposal, you’ll need to head there first and come back when you’re done. After all the tears and the uncontrollable grins, such a wild spectrum of emotions, we headed back to our…
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…
And now we wait. Yes, I shot film. Real, tangible, old school film. I’ve been seduced by film photography. I love everything about its look, the buttery softness of the highlights, the beautiful colors, porcelain skin tones… everything. So after attending Jonathan Canlas’ Film is Not Dead platform class at WPPI, I had a new…
The feelings had crept up under my skin. I barely noticed them sneaking in, and it’s only in hindsight that I can trace them back. In truth, I didn’t know that anything had changed in me until that very moment when I drove up that final stretch of I-280. As I rounded the bend in…
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…
This weekend, the fabric swatches will manifest as tablecloths and linens, the myriad glass containers will be gathered into perfect little vignettes, the splashes of coral will be replaced with gorgeous blooms. All of these mockups and ideas will be transformed into a wonderful styled shoot. It’s a true collaborative event involving several several amazing…