Fade To Black

Shutter Speed = 1/320th sec, F-stop = 1.8, Focal Length = 50mm (canon fixed 50mm), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 7-3-10 while camping at Stoney Ford OHV Park in Stoney Ford, CA. I love the extremely high contrast in this photo. It has true blacks and true whites, which aren't as common as most people think. I also like that it takes something as simple and ordinary as a campfire, and makes it look so cool and dramatic. The ground fades quickly to black as the light from the fire dissipates.

Intensity

Shutter Speed = 1/1000th sec, F-stop = 11, Focal Length = 300mm (Sigma 70-300mm telephoto), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 4-23-10 at Almaden Meadows Park in San Jose, CA. This photo is cool because i feel it captures the intensity of the bird really well. It also captures something in a position that usually happens too fast for us to see in real life.

Spiral Architecture

Shutter Speed = 1/80th sec, F-stop = 3.5, Focal Length = 6.5mm (opteka 6.5mm fisheye), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 8-22-10 at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It is inside some random tower thing that overlooks the east end of the canyon. I like this photo because it is very sharp, it has deep focus, and there is a lot of good contrast. There are so many different shapes in the photo that it makes it very interesting to look at.

Sloozey With a Gun

Shutter Speed = 1/60th sec, F-stop = 4, Focal Length = 18mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), ISO = 400, Handheld, Speedlight 430exii at -3 with a Gary Fong Lightsphere (collapsable)

This photo was taken 5-23-11 in our apartment in Bixby, Oklahoma. We were bored before work and my brother Nick was shirtless as always. I had just purchased the .38 special/.357 magnum Rossi Lever Action Rifle he is holding, and we decided to take a few pictures. This one ended up being my favorite. There is some post-work done to add grain, vignette, and burn/dodge a little.

Serenity

Shutter Speed = 1/60th sec, F-stop = 5, Focal Length = 18mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), IS) - 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 9-7-09 on a hike through a random part of Mt. Uhmanum off the side of Hicks road in San Jose, CA. There is alot about this photo that is beautiful to me. The colors of the fall leaves on the moss covered rocks and trees and a nice color contrast against the mostly neutral colors of the rest of the scenery. The ripple in the pond is only coming from the small waterfall in between the rocks, so it doesn't just look like regular turbulent water. It is a very calm and serene photo that shows how beautiful even the small stuff is in nature.

Casa Loma - Ian Guner

Shutter Speed = 1/50th sec,  F-stop = 3.5, Focal Length = 6.5mm (Opteka 6.5mm fisheye), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 2-2-10, on the side of Casa Loma Rd in the Santa Cruz Mountains in CA. The subject is Ian Guner, and today is his birthday. Happy Birthday Ian. I really love the fisheye effect on the trees and how you can see the ground and the tree canopy all in the same shot. There is some post-editing done to alter the colors of the ground and trees that give it a little more surreal look which fits the fisheye effect a little better.

Shutter Speed = 1/100th sec,  F-stop = 3.5, Focal length = 18mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 9-14-09 at Boulder Creek Country Club in San Jose, CA. This tree is actually growing out of the boulder in the bottom of the frame. I like this photo mostly because of how colorful the sunset was that night. 

Brian Gradwohl of The Halflings

Shutter Speed = 1/400th sec, F-stop = 11, Focal Length = 18mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 1-26-10 behind a supermarket in San Jose, CA. I was with some friends and we were working on a portrait project for our photo class. Brian just happened to be at the supermarket so we did a really impromptu shoot. A couple of the photos actually turned out really cool. 

A Confident Walk Into The Unknown

Shutter Speed = 1/250th sec, F-stop = 9, Focal Length = 18mm )18-55mm canon kit lens),  ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 1-12-10 on the IBM property in San Jose, CA. It was raining this day and we didn't really have anything to do. Ian and I went out exploring and we stumbled upon the place. I told Ian to go down by the creek so I could take a picture. I randomly snapped this photo as he was walking away and it ended up being my favorite of the day by far. It is still in my top 10 favorite photos I have taken.

Downhill Lean - Garret Evans

Shutter Speed = 1/320th sec, F-stop = 13, Focal Length = 28mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 10-10-10 at Sundance Ski Resort in Sundance, Utah. I had just moved in to my new apartment and I noticed some dirt jumps in the parking lot. Every time I passed them, I thought about how I wanted to find the kids riding them and take some pictures. One day I finally passed by while they were riding. I met Garret Evans, and he said he was down for a shoot, since he needed some for his sponsor, Demon Dirt, anyways. This was my first time photographing Downhill biking, and I am pretty pleased at how they turned out. I will definitely be looking for more opportunities to shoot downhill in the future.

Stairway To Heaven

Shutter Speed = 1/250th sec, F-stop = 10, Focal Length = 18mm (canon 18-55mm kit lens), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This photo was taken 8-5-10 on the hike up Half Dome in Yosemite, CA. There are so many things about this picture that are absolutely breathtaking. The waterfall in the background, the rough stone staircase, the back of Half Dome in the background, and the streaks of light coming through the mist from the waterfall. The colors are vivid and detailed, the scenery is beautiful. Its just a beautiful photo.

Stephen Hall

ShutterSpeed=1/60th sec, F-stop = 11, Focal Length = 6.5mm (opteka 6.5mm fisheye), ISO = 6400, 

Handheld

This picture was taken 11-5-10 in Moab, Utah. It is a spur of the moment portrait of Stephen Hall. We were exploring a tunnel in Moab while camping, and I had a speedlight 430exii on my Canon Rebel T2i. Randomly I took this picture of Steve. The fisheye lens and the corrugated steel of the tunnel ended up having an awesome look that I would never be able to get with any other lens. My flash was diffused by a Gary Fong Collapsable Lightsphere, and as you can see it does an amazing job of lighting everything evenly and reducing those harsh shadows.

Water Droplet

Shutter Speed = 1/4000th sec, F-stop = 5.6, Focal Length = 300mm (Sigma 70-300mm telephoto), ISO = 400, Handheld

This photo was taken 2-20-11 on the balcony of my apartment in Provo, UT. It had just snowed that morning and this droplet was the result of a leak in the gutter running just above the balcony. In the droplet you can see the trees, picnic benches, and river that are in the middle of the complex outside my apartment. Water, just like smoke, is an extremely fun thing to photograph. You can do so many different things with it, it has a completely unique personality, and it almost never will turn out the same.

Secluded

Shutter Speed = 22 sec, F-stop = 4, Focal Length = 27mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), ISO = 1600, Set on a picnic table

This photo was taken 8-1-10 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is my friends jeep and I was bored so I started taking some long exposure photos. I noticed a truck up the hill that was going to drive past his jeep so I quickly set up the camera on a nearby picnic table. I set it to bulb, and with a remote, held the shutter open until the truck had passed. It ended up looking pretty cool. I got extremely lucky with focusing because this was manual focused at midnight with no light other than a small flashlight, and it ended up being focused perfectly.

Enveloped

Shutter Speed = 1/200th sec, F-stop = 18, Focal Length = 55mm (18-55mm canon kit lens), ISO = 100, Handheld

This picture was taken 11-4-10. This was the first thing I did to test out my new cowboy studios wireless triggers for my 430 exii. I took several variations of this "smoke from a match" setup, some of which I will eventually post. This one is definitely my favorite of the batch. I love taking pictures of smoke because it has so much personality. It will never make the same pattern or shape, there is always extremely high contrast, and it never produces a photo that isn't interesting in some way. The way the smoke is enveloping the matchstick and drifting off in to the wind, truly is beautiful.

Michael Belligan - Tail Grab

Shutter Speed - 1/1600th sec, F-stop = 13, Focal Length = 149mm (sigma 70-300mm telephoto), ISO - 1600, Handheld

This photo is of Michael Belligan wakeboarding. Its was taken at Calero Reservoir in San Jose, CA on 6-21-10. Of all the pictures from that day, this one is my favorite. There are pictures of him doing all sorts of ariels and whatnot, but I personally think that as far as wakeboarding goes, usually the grabs look best in photos, and the ariels look best on video. I also love the framing of this picture. I feel like it makes this photo much more aesthetically pleasing than if he were centered in the frame.

Superbike Lean

Shutter Speed = 1/1600th sec, F-stop = 13, Focal Length = 300mm (sigma 70-300mm telephoto), ISO = 1600, Handheld

This was taken 5-15-10 during the superbike races at Infineon Raceway (formerly Sears Point Raceway) in Sonoma, CA. It is of an unknown rider in a deep left lean coming out of an S turn. There really isnt that much to say about this picture. Its not some amazing photo or anything, I just like how sharp the rider is, the slight motion blur on the pavement, and how much the color pops from his bike and his leathers.

Epic Sun Ray Vs. The Lone Tree

Shutter Speed = 1/320sec, F-stop = 4.0, focal length = 108mm (sigma 70-300mm telephoto) , ISO = 400, Handheld

This photo is in my top 10 favorite photographs i have ever taken. Everything just fell perfectly in place. I had just hiked half dome in Yosemite, CA and this was on the way down. Exhaustion and dehydration were setting in, and then I saw this. The sun peeking perfectly between two mountains created a spotlight effect on this lone tree. Its shadow cast perfectly against the mountain behind it. There is no burning or dodging done to this photo. Yes, that is legitimately the natural sunlight. Everything about this picture is absolutely beautiful to me.

Cam McCaul - superman backflip

Shutter speed = 1/1600th sec, F-stop = 4.5, focal length = 31mm(canon 18-55mm kit lens), ISO 800, Handheld

This is a picture of Cam McCaul throwing a huge superman backflip. I took this photo at the Post Office bike jam in Aptos, California on 4-18-11. Since this is a once a year event that takes place after the Sea Otter Classic downhill competition in Monterey, I feel extremely privileged to have been around to photograph an event so epic. Some of the best freestyle riders in the world come out to a dirt jump park next to the US Post Office in Aptos and throw there best tricks all day long. This is one of many pictures I will eventually post from this day.

Sf Bay Bridge #2

Shutter Speed = 0.6 sec, F-stop = 3.5, Focal Length = 18mm (canon 18-55mm kit lens), ISO = 1600, handheld

This is my favorite picture I have of the Bay Bridge. It was taken maybe 10 minutes after the first picture I posted of this bridge. I personally think it is a much better, and much more interesting photo. The camera was angled so that the bottom of the frame paralleled the cement pylons in the water. As I was taking this photo I was thinking "this is probably going to look stupid." I was greatly mistaken. Years later, this is still in my top 10 favorite pictures I have taken.

SF Bay Bridge

Shutter speed = 0.4 sec, F-stop = 4.5, focal length = 34mm (canon 18-55mm kit lens), ISO = 1600, handheld.

This picture was also taken in the first few weeks of owning a DSLR. This is the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, CA. To me the Bay Bridge is much more photogenic than the Golden Gate. It may have something to do with the fact that I have never had the opportunity to photograph the Golden Gate at night, but I always seem to get better results with the Bay Bridge. This day we were actually in SF as a family for my Moms birthday. I bring my cameras with me everywhere and since I had them, we stopped to take a few shots. They ended turning out pretty good.

The Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to force me to be involved with photography constantly. It will also give me something to do with all the pictures I take. I love everything about photography; waiting for just the right moment, fine tuning all the manual settings for that perfect exposure, post-editing and being able to play around with things that are unimaginable to most. Photography for me is a passion, a way to channel my creativity, and it is truly something I love. I will be posting pictures from time to time with a brief description or story about it, and hopefully somebody out there will be able to appreciate it. This is one of the first Pictures I ever took. At this point I think I had my Rebel XTI for just a couple weeks. This was taken handheld at 55mm on the kit lens. F-stop = 5.6, exposure time = 1/13th of a second, ISO = 1600. This spot is also the host of many other decent pictures that I have taken over the years. It was definitely inspired by straight photographers that I have studied about in my first photography class back in High school.