I figured it was time I started a blog purely dedicated to my pursuit of my craft. If anything it will be a way for me to document my growth. It'll be a way to see where I've been,where I am, and perhaps figure out where my next move will be.

Just a little background: I've been creating images for well over twenty years. It stared when I had a job as a courier for a law firm in the mid 80's. I got to drive all over L.A. so I got my first 35mm, a Nikon FG. I swore I'd never go digital. Now I swear I'll never go back to film. For twenty years I shot mostly landscape images. I was too nervous to shoot people. That all changed in July of 2008. I officially started my photography business. I dove head first into shooting people. Now it's hard for me to shoot anything else. So I'm anxious to see where I am a few years from now. Never say never, right?

Currently my "thing" is learning lighting. I'm fascinated with off camera lighting (aka Strobist style). David Hobby has done an amazing job presenting this craft. I feel like I'm only beginning to scratch the surface. Another recent influence is the work of Mike and Andy over at Lighten Up and Shoot. They present short informative videos that really show the "how to" without all the theory. Very practical. And they're funny!

I'll end my first post with one of my most recent images. This is Alexis and this was her very first shoot. She did an wonderful job and I think she had a blast. It was a shoot that ended up with some rather unexpected drama for both of us but that's another story. All in all, it was a great shoot. Here is one of my favorite shots from the shoot. I exposed for the blue sky in the background. One of Alexis' friends held my strobe (Vivitar 285hv) in a softbox at camera left and at about a 45 degree angle (about 10 o'clock). I love how the light sweeps across her and drops off quickly into deep shadow. I purposely did not use a reflector to pop back light into her right side. I liked the extreme contrast here.