Fresno State softball

Here's some Fresno State softball from Friday afternoon. This was a big test for the team with their new coach since they were facing rival Boise State. And everything worked out apparently, since they won.

Oscar Wilde Actor Haley White

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]aley White plays Oscar Wilde in the New Ensemble production of "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" at the Broken Leg Stage in Fresno's Tower District. Photographed for The Fresno Bee.

Real Estate

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ere's another home in the foothills northeast of Fresno that is going on the market from Jason Farris at Guarantee Real Estate. He has asked me a few times to photograph his homes. This one is pretty big, it sits really nice on a hill with a great view of the valley and the Table Mountains. I came out a few times to chase down some good light and even stood out in a field waiting for the sun to set to get a nice twilight scenic. Looks like a nice home that features a tennis court, pool and spa. If you buy it, don't forget who made it look too nice to pass up for you. I'll be over for the first pool party!

Mike & Holly

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]igh up on a mountain top in the foothills east of Fresno I met Mike and Holly for their engagement session. It was the home of Mike's longtime boss, a good friend of his who often has him over for parties and get-togethers. Of course it was the perfect location for Mike and Holly's engagement session. We had fun working with their host's rustic backdrops, like a wagon and a shed. But we also took lots of advantage of the lovely foothill scenery that surrounded the home. This was the first engagement session of the year for me, one of several I hope to do for Mark Janzen photography.

Memphis Belle Flight

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]very now and then you get a pretty choice assignment. On this one I got a chance to take a media flight on a WWII-era B-17 bomber, The Movie Memphis Belle, over the skies of Fresno. The flight was pretty full with different media taking up the Liberty Foundation's offer of a 12-minute flight. But we were able to move around a little and even see the bombardier's seat in the nose of the plane. I shot a gallery and video for The Bee which was pretty good since it was only 12 minutes. The story got even better when one of those on board happen to be a local guy named Rudy who flew B-17s in the war and hadn't been on one since.

Garden of the Sun

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ere's a few photos from a recent assignment at the Garden of the Sun in Fresno. It's a pretty cool place where people learn to be master gardeners or where master gardeners do demonstrations. There are lots of educational activities that go on but it's also just a nice place to relax and look at a lot of nice horticulture. Our story was a look at area places that are considered hidden gems. This is one of them.

Cru Wine Bottles

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y friend Jason Farris, who has done some work for the Cru Wine Company contacted me over a year ago to see about photographing the company's wine bottles. I told him I'd give it a try. Wine bottles by the way, since they are so reflective, are very difficult to shoot consistently. After a few trial and error experiments I was able to come up with an acceptable method for shooting wine bottles and have been doing several cases a year now. Makes it fun to stop by Cru and stock up too. I'm feeling more and more confident these days about doing product shots and can indeed be a big part of my forte.

Mona & Gurpreet

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] covered Mona and Gurpreet's wedding for Mark Janzen Photography starting at Mona's family's house in Fresno and then continued at the Sikh Temple in Selma for the ceremony. After the traditional Indian wedding we went back to Mona's house where had had her send off ceremony, leaving her family in Fresno for the last time to live with her new husband in Yuba City. It was a very emotional time, with a lot of people crying. Indian weddings are pretty cool to cover since they are so steeped in tradition.

Jane & Kevin

[dropcap]J[/dropcap]ane and Kevin's wedding was held at Engelmann Cellars west of Fresno. It's now become a favorite place of mine to shoot weddings because of the grape vineyards, the trees, the sunsets, that old wind mill…and the wine. It's also a great place for a fun reception since it's got a large outdoor patio. Can't wait to go back!

Josh & Jackie

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]mages from Josh and Jackie's wedding at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and reception at the Banker's Ballroom in downtown Fresno. This wedding was pretty special because both the bride and groom were great musicians and singers, so many of the guests sang during both the wedding and reception. There was a lot of great music throughout with choirs singing and harmonica and pianos playing. It was a very entertaining wedding.

Cat's Senior Portraits

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hese are senior portraits for my friend Cat, who I've known since she performed in kids theatre with my son. It's so awesome to see that she has grown up to be such a beautiful young woman and attending UCLA. I'm sure big things are in store for Cat.