The Ultimate Man Cave
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]'ve been working with Monster City Studios for a little while now documenting a project the creatives there refer to as simply "the man cave." They've also called it an Indiana Jones-themed adult recreation center or the Temple of Vroom. I call it amazing. Complete with pool tables, shuffle boards, arcade games, a full bar sprawling below a military jeep creeping along a rope bridge, a giant Buddha head and DJ stage, a pyramid temple and facade's of quaint villages from third world countries, this is a big kid's dream. All this tucked away in a nondescript warehouse in the middle of Fresno. I'm told it belongs to a Fresno businessman who will use it for family parties and special private engagements and fundraisers. How do I get on that guest list?! Anyway, it's quite a remarkable sight. Monster City designed and constructed all of the 3D pieces that surround the warehouse; most of it milled from Styrofoam and hard-coated with polyurea. You've probably seen other pieces of their work at Chukchansi Park and the Fresno Fairgrounds.
Fresno Chaffee Zoo: Frogs & Fairytales
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is the second year for the Fresno Chaffee Zoo's Frogs & Fairytales event and the second year that I have shot it. And once again there where lots of boys and girls dressed as princesses and knights with a chance to see cool animals and especially frogs close up. It was a very nice day and lots of activities available for the kids. Looking forward to coming back again next year!
Professional Portraits for Vivian Kim, MD
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ere are some commercial portraits I did for a doctor starting her new practice in Fresno. She is an ophthalmologist who will have her own website and blog so she needed a number of professional images with different outfit changes. We did them all at her home using my backdrop as well as some environmental backgrounds.
Autumn in Yosemite
[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast year I made a fall trip to Yosemite to start a series of photo pages for The Fresno Bee on capturing images through the iPhone Instagram app. This year I came up to do a fall feature on Yosemite again, but this time I decided to bring out the big cameras - My Canon 5D Mark II's. In fact, it really didn't start out as a Fresno Bee assignment at all. I even went on my day off and spent all day up there - something I never get to do when I'm on deadline. My buddy - fellow pro photographer Gary Kazanjian - and I have been entertaining the idea of doing a workshop for photo students in Yosemite. So we thought it would be good to go up and scout out locations and build up a library of images that potential students can look at and decide if they want to try to learn some of our techniques.
In the end I did make a few photos for a Bee photo page on fall color, but one of my favorite photos of the day was more of a Yosemite icon moment. We got to a spot on the Merced River and waited just as the sun was dipping below the cliffs when it lit up El Capitan with a golden glow. I had planted my tripod in the very shallow water of the river and Gary had suggested I try an HDR image. I had never done it before and wasn't keen on what I had seen from others doing it. But I gave it a try anyway. I exposed several images - a few over exposed and a few under exposed at different shutter speeds. I imported those frames into Photoshop and ran it through the HDR process. What came up was way too extreme. It was what I was used to seeing from other photographers. So I tweaked it a little bit - brought back some hard shadows and let some of the highlights go brighter. Then I was pretty happy with what I ended up with and glad I gave HDR a shot.
This iconic Yosemite in Autumn image is one that I am selling as a print or canvas. So if you are interested in purchasing, please contact me through my contact page. Thanks!
Play.Create.Grow
I recently did a commercial photography shoot for a cool children's books and activities company in Fresno called Play.Create.Grow. The company is having their website done by my friends at Nettra Marketing.
On one day, we photographed the books and products at the company's office in Fresno. Then on a second day, we took a bunch of kids to Woodward Park and a residence to show how kids can use the books and products to be active and imaginative in their play. In addition to these photos, I also did a little introductory video that will play in the background of their site. I can't wait to see the final product
As I said, this looks to be a very cool company with a lot of good ideas. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Play.Create.Grow in the near future.
Video website production: Play.Create.Grow
I recently began doing some limited video website production for marketing clients in Fresno. This is among the first, which was done through Nettra Digital Marketing for Play.Create.Grow, a children's books and activities company in Fresno. This will become a background video that will run on the company's website without sound. Apparently, it's a popular effect for a lot of company websites. Since I have been doing so much video journalism for The Bee, I'm hoping to use that expertise to expand my business in offering video production.For this video we spend part of a day in Woodward Park and a home in Fresno photographing kids either reading books or participating in activities or crafts that are based on products from the local children's book company.In the end I think we did a pretty good job with this. I'm sure the effect will be quite eye-catching on their site. I can't wait to see it when it goes live.Below is the Play.Create.Grow video, which was edited and produced by Nettra Digital Marketing in Fresno.
Cityscapes: Downtown Los Angeles
[dropcap]I[/dropcap] had never been to Dodger Stadium and as a Giants fan, I thought it would be a great to finally check it out in the middle of the pennant race between the two rivals. I dropped in to visit my son, Randy, who is attending school in LA so it worked out as a good father-son get-together too. I was very impressed with Dodger Stadium - it is really quite amazing, especially since it's older than me. But then again, it's no AT&T Park either. I was equally impressed with the view of the downtown Los Angeles city skyline from the parking lot. I was glad I brought along my camera so that I could make a couple of long exposure night shots after the game.The game didn't end quite as well as I had hoped. The Giants couldn't muster much in the way of hitting from the middle of their lineup and that Zack Greinke was just too much for us. I did still enjoy seeing the game and visiting my son but it was also cool to take a little souvenir back too - that evening shot of LA.We were parked right next to the edge of the cliff where we had a great view of the city so while everyone else was stuck in a unmoving line of traffic, I set up my Canon 5D, tripod and cable release. In between 2 minute exposures, I was asked to take photos of folks walking by with their cell phones. Apparently I wasn't the only one caught with the impressive view.
ClovisFest
After 15 years as a resident of Clovis, I thought it was finally time to see the balloon launch for ClovisFest in 2014.I can't believe I've missed doing this for so long. I've been to the kick-off event (for The Bee) which is done with mostly media and only one balloon a day before the real ClovisFest celebration, but that's nothing compared to this. Seeing eight balloons take off with hundreds (thousands?) of people watching was really pretty cool. I guess it was the 6am alarm on a Saturday that kept me from ever doing it. And my kids were never into checking it out either.So since I my schedule had me free in the morning, I thought I would take a run out to the Clovis Rodeo Grounds and finally check it out. It was about as cool as you can imagine. The air was cool and very comfortable in the predawn moments just a day away from fall. As the sun began to peak over the mountains, the balloons began to inflate and catch the warm colored rays of light. In minutes, the balloons were a flight and hovering above clovis. There were photographers galore out there so it was tough to stay out of people's shots, but it really was a cool event for families.Glad I went.
Golden Gate Bridge
[dropcap]I[/dropcap] grew up in the Bay Area so I have a particular fondness of many things there, but a big one has to the the Golden Gate Bridge.I love looking at it from lots of different angles - nighttime or daytime. I've even walked across it a few times - once was during the 50th anniversary of the bridge in 1987.So recently I decided to finally take a few nighttime photos of the bridge from the Marin Headlands overlook. I set up my tripod and waited for the sun to set and the lights in the city to take effect while my family waited in the car (we were on a vacation visit - thanks family!). Finally the sky was dark enough to take a few long exposures. I had to hurry because the state park rangers were closing access to that road just after sunset. My favorite image shows a streak of light from a jet about to land at SFO.I managed to hit a couple of other spots along the road. It was tough though because I wasn't the only one with that idea. Dozens of photographers were dotted along the vista parking areas on the road. Someday, I'll have to hit it again because there was one more spot I would love to get.If you are interested in prints from this shoot, go to my contact page and fill out the form. Just select "other" in the drop-down menu and I will get back to you with options and costs.
JULIA Boutique
[dropcap]J[/dropcap]ULIA Boutique is a jewelry and accessories store located at the River Park Shopping Center. They recently asked me to do some boutique photography of the merchandise in their store as well as the store location itself to help gets some online traction through shoptiques.com.I always think it's a smart move for store owners to get professional photography for their stores to help make their merchandise really stand out. Professional business photography will provide images with clear, sharp focus and good lighting and give them a professional edge. It's worth it to spend a few bucks because viewers who see quality photography will be more inclined to click and potentially buy.While it's always a great idea for businesses to use professionally designed marketing and websites, the single most important part of presenting your business online is going to be the photography. You can even have a sharp, well-designed website with professional copy writing and slick features, but poorly lit or blurry photography will turn people off right at the get-go.I can totally understand why some business owners would prefer to go with "Uncle Bob" to do their photography. He needs something to do, right? And you can't beat free. But the problem is, is that the Canon Rebel he got for Christmas isn't going to cut it. You need professional cameras with high megapixel output to produce high level images. And beyond that, you have to have lenses, lighting and a creative eye to make those images pop. You're only going to get that from a professional photographer.The shop owners at JULIA Boutique at River Park had the forethought to hire a professional for their boutique photography because they know what's going to attract business. I hope JULIA sees some quick rewards from their decision to do so.
Dumont Printing
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y first of many (hopefully!) Fresno commercial photography shoots for Nettra Digital Marketing was of the Dumont Printing Company. Basically any complex printing jobs in the area are all done right here at Dumont - and many go all over the country too. It's quite an operation, printing on everything from four-color programs to cups and banners. It's quite an amazing place and I was happy to help show off their work and their workers with some good photography for their website.
Summer Soiree Dance Photography
[dropcap]I[/dropcap] provided dance photography of the NOCO Fresno dance company, who were rehearsing at the Fresno Art Museum, for an article in The Bee's 7 section a couple of weeks ago. They were planning for their Summer Soiree concert and performance with members the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. Always nice to see my friend Amy and her talented dancers, even if it was 102+ degrees in the museum's sculpture garden. At leas we got some good photos and I hear they had a really nice event.