Hangin’ at the beach with my friend Kristin and the new love of her life, Raul. It’s all fun and games until you sunburn your ankles. It’s not easy to wear socks, let alone shoes, when you’ve got a big-time sunburn. But it was totally worth it. Kristin Raul and I had a chill time at the beach snacking and talking. Good times. I shot this one with my Lensbaby composer.

We are the crowd we’re comin’ out
Got my flash on it’s true
Need that picture of you
It so magical we’d be so fantastical

I’m your biggest fan I’ll follow you until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
Baby there’s no other superstar you know that I’ll be
Your papa-paparazzi

We did a shoot for Ignite magazine in 2006 at several different nightclubs in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was done outside Axis/Radius which was closed down for renovation. We were able to shoot after the renovations were done, two nights before they had their grand reopening. We told everyone to ask friends to show up to be the crowd and outfitted a few people with old cameras to act as paparazzi. The shoot was poking fun at the Scottsdale club scene and the club goers as wannabe celebrities.

I’m bringing sexy back… and flashback Fridays. I’ve decided to start up my 90 Day project again starting with the 4th, which is the one year anniversary of the project. I will once again post a photo every day and on Fridays I will select a photo from my archives to post. That, at least gives me one day of rest. This photo appeared in the fashion spread of kontakt magazine for the June/July 2008 issue. It was originally a color photo but I though it would look cool in black & white.

It’s been exactly two months since I’ve posted a new picture here. Shame on me! I will post more often (I promise). The first anniversary of this 90 Day project is coming up on the 4th. I’m thinking about doing it again. 90 days straight of posting photos. I think I need that goal because if I only post when I feel like it, I never post. So here is a self portrait that I just did on the spur of the moment for shits and giggles. I think I am going to do another one that is actually planned out. And maybe get a remote trigger so I don’t have to keep running back to the camera to push the damn button every time.

I was lucky enough to be invited to to visit Berlin and the Beisheim Center in 2006 for kontaktmag. It was a press tour and there was a group of writers and reporters from all over Europe. It was a whirlwind architectural tour that started as a walking tour, then we bused to the airport to fly over the city in a helicopter and then a bus tour around the city. We were treated like visiting dignitaries with all the courtesies and amenities. I gave this one a little tilt/shift action because that’s the kind of guy I am.

I was walking in Tempe and saw a young woman floating along the cross street. The was a thigh-high wall so I thought she might be on rollerblades. When she rolled past the wall I saw she was on a skateboard and then observed she was wearing a blouse, skirt and high-heels like she was skateboarding to the office. Luckily, I had my camera out so I was able to shoot this before she got out of range. I wish I could have gotten the shot as soon as she cleared the wall in front of me. I guess this is a case for always having your hands free, camera on and lens cap off.

This shot was done back in 2006 at the now defunct Paper Heart Arts Venue in Phoenix, Arizona. It was for an article in Ignite magazine about these three solo acoustic performers. From right to left they are Joey Arroyo, Candice Aragon and Reynaldo Moreno. All three had been playing the local scene but, I think I remember, Candice had never met Joey or Reynaldo before this shoot.

I’ve been away for a little over two weeks and I left my razor and Shea back in Cali. I miss my razor right now but I really miss Shea. Look at that face! You look at him and know exactly what kind of dog he is. He is the sweetest, most loving companion a person could ask for. To know him is to love him and there’s no way I could love him more. OK, enough sappy stuff.

Samson was a complex creature. At his core, he was a sweet and loving dog. Pretty responsive to direction, he was more or less an obedient companion. His more apparent side, was much more neurotic. He was very anxious when encountering anything out of the ordinary. He was extremely mistrustful of strangers and pretty much anyone else with the exception of me, my nephew and my sister. He even had to be muzzled when he was brushed by my brother-in-law. He could be very enthusiastic and would make funny noises whenever anyone was in the kitchen in anticipation of food. He earned the nickname of “cat dog” as he would walk back and forth rubbing against our legs. When he was happy, his tail would curl up and wag so fast it almost looked like it was vibrating. He and I got along great. He loved me and I was fond of his goofy ways. He never gave me any problems until a couple of weeks ago when he unexpectedly bit me in the face. I’m not sure if he meant to bite me hard but the location of the bite made it severe. I was the third person he bit so my sister decided she needed to put him down.

On Thursday, March 24th, Samson was executed by lethal injection in a punishment that did not fit the crime. This picture and post is my salute to Samson and my sincere wish that he is truly in a better place and free of anxiety. I’ll miss you buddy.

This one is too funny not to post. I did an engagement session with my friends Tyler and Katie. What looks like an action scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was actually Tyler jumping up to click his heels (in his funny shoes) and Katie trying to get out of the way. More of this session will be posted on my regular blog.