Through My Eyes

Kathy Ireland Mentor Program

2006-07-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

I was inveted to photograph another charity event over the weekend. It was a mentoring program hosted by Kathy Ireland, the supermodel. It was a program designed to help young teen mothers to survive in the world. They had workshops, give aways and even a fashion show for thier own self empowement. It was interesting. She was really nice. I was really surprised about that. You would think that someone with her social standings would be less social to all us little folks, but she wasnt, infact she was there for the whole event and even helped clean up. and to top it off, how many people out there can say that they were asked to photograph a supermodel.. much less the icon Kathy Ireland, Anyways here are the pictures enjoy.

well again, im not much for words. but it was fun. hope you enjoyed the picture show.

2006-04-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Second Set of Pictures from the Golf Tournament

well thats it..

911 For Kids

2006-04-20T01:26:00.000-07:00

Photo Journalism and Sports Photography at the 911 for Kids Celebrity Golf Tournament. I was given a chance to go shoot over at Dana Point's St. Regis Golf Resort. nice place. Heres the first set of pictures I was able to edit tonight.

More to come as i get a chance to work on them ok

$6k Gear + Press Pass + Long Beach Grand Prix

2006-04-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

I spend the weekend at the 32nd Annual Long Beach Grand Prix. Miss Mel got us press passes so we had pretty much all access.. pretty dope.. i took some great shots.. here are a few samples.. sadly.. many did not make it.. most of these are of the MotorCross stunt show and Formula D Drifting competition. enjoy...

Here are the drifting pictures.. if you knew where i was for these.. you would freak out..

Victory Circle.. yeah i got passes to those too..

Damn missed a few shots from motorcross.. here they are..

Ill leave you off with the man himself... he was there too.. it was his birthday.. happy birthday !!

Nor Cal Trip for Spring Break..

2006-04-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Aww camera shy

Thats it for now.. ill post up more once i get the time to play with them..

1400 Dollar play thing

2006-01-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

I rented a 1400 dollar lens for this weekend to play around with at the car show. I am testing out this lens and the 70-200 2.8L IS for a photo project i will be doing soon. - i can see now why its worth so much for those interested it was the Canon EF 16-35 F/2.8L USM lens.
Heres the lens.. $23 and some change for a 24 hour rental at Bel Air Camera.. not bad..

Here are some pictures taken at Santa Monica Pier that same day.. before and after the car show..

again thanks for visiting.

New Year ...New Toy

2006-01-10T01:08:00.000-08:00

I got a new toy this week here are some pictures from my Canon 20D. I have yet to give her a name.. but she is pretty..
Long Beach Fog

CSUF Parking lot

Self Portrait

Well there you have it.. great way to start of the new year huh hehe

Jetstreams and Stalker Pictures

2005-12-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

Coronado Island - pretty cool, i was able to stop a FA-18 Superhornet. Didnt take to many shots that day so dont have too many to post up - maybe later on..

well thats it for now.. couple of Jets and some stalker pictures, hope you enjoy.

Back to the motherland

2005-11-29T00:29:00.000-08:00

For thanksgiving this year i spent my week back in the motherland. I was pretty busy taking care of family stuff, more so than i though i would be and didnt get a chance to take as many pictures as i wanted - however i did get a few good ones in.. enjoy

haha my parting gift for you.. not really artsy fartsy.. hahaha.. get it.. nm.. but hey cant see that in the states now can ya.

to the fallen..

2005-11-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures taken at this year's Veterans day memorial over at santa monica pier. There were over 2000 crosses laid out on the beach that day, it was a really different sight to see. It doesnt matter if you support the war or not, whats really important is we honor those who died.

Ill have more posted up as soon as i clean out the rest..

World Trade Center 4 years later...

2005-10-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a some shots I was able to take around the World Trade Center site while I was in New York over the summer. Even though it was over 4 years ago, seeing the site still sends chills.

Ill dig up more for later, untill then, keep looking in.. ive got all sorts of new and old stuff popping up.

For the Men and Women.. The Fallen Heros...

2005-10-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some samplings of the shoot I did over the weeked over at the Los Angeles Memorial Cemetary. I think its someplace every person should visit and pay some respect to the fallen, no matter what political views you may have.

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Caution Danger

2005-09-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is me being creative. Id like to continue this series as i progress, im sure it will end up beign something kinda cool.

Theres a few more of those that i cant seem to find for some reason or the other ill post those up when i find them.

Fashion Photography

2005-09-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Heres my attempt at "fashion photography" I get really nervouse about shooting people, they are so much harder to do that scenery.

Im still working on my skills for that set. It hard to get people to shoot that i woudl be comfertable with shooting.

The Great Defenders

2005-09-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

Consider this a small section for the Men and Women of the US armed forces. I call this The Great Defender Series. Most of them were taken during fleet week in San Diego

F-14D Tomcat

FA/A - 18 Super Hornet.

C-130 Cargo Plane

Fleet week is coming up again soon, so i should have more later on.

Allegra shoot.. get it?

2005-09-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

I think there is a point in every photographers life where they go through a flower stage. Well heres my stage. These were taken at the botanical garden in Balboa Park, San Diego.

Dont ask me what kind of flowers they are becuase i really dont know. It was late in the and were kinda being pushed out, i guess it was already closing time, so i just walked around and fired randomly.

Laura

2005-09-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Laura. She had me take some pictures of her for a modeling thing or a pagent or something like that. Never did hear about what happened to it.

I dont think i did too bad with her. this was done about oh maybe almost 2 years ago, roughly when i started doing portraits.

City by the Sea.. Long Beach, CA

2005-09-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

This was one of my big starts in Photography. These were taken at Downtown Long Beach about a year ago. All in one day too started at about 3pm and ended around 7.
The Marina

Tug Boat

the light setting was just perfect for these next couple of shots. I honestly dont think i could take shots like this again even if i tried.

I plan on going back and redoing long beach sometime this year. ill post them when i do.

Train Art

2005-09-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Train Art. This is a small sampling of pictures I took from the sides of train box cars. Ive always considered Graffiti as art, although misplaced, its still art none the less.

With the exception of a little crop work, no photoshop was done to these pictures. all the colors were as they truely were, besides I wouldnt know how to do it anyways.

Gardener's Graveyard

2005-08-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since Ive posted but here are some pictures from New York.. a darker side i guess you can say.. These were taken at a family cemetary I believe they were called teh gardeners..

Enjoy

not bad for a 7 year old..

2005-07-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

I met this girl when she was seven and i was nine, and every visit from then on she was always stayed 7. even at 8, 9, 14, 18. But during this visit, i guess it had to change. This is my baby cousin from new york. as kind of a grad gift to her, i did a photoshoot. We went out to the Hamptons, Montauk, and some place called Jones Beach for her on site shoot. the thing about it is i had to face the fact that not only is she not 7 anymore, but as some of my friends have said... well never mind what some of them have said. anyways. here is sam.
The first set were from Jones Beach. This is when i was forced to realize that she really isnt 7 anymore...

These are some from the Hamptons and from Montauk.

Here are some Black and Whites from the Same trips.

So there you have it. For those of you who normally give me particular comments and questions about the other girls ive shot, DONT START.. she may not be 7 but she is my baby cousin none the less.

wanna feel poor? Visit the Hamptons

2005-06-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

One of the things that we did in New York was spend some time at the Hamptons. Man that place was so nice. Lots of land and all sorts of pretty things. Nice houses too.. man those houses makes me feel even poorer than when im in Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills just have big houses.. the houses here have an ocean, and a farm in one place. kinda cool. Here are some pictures of the three of us going around the Hamptons.

Of course it wasn't limited to pictures of just us, One of the things i did was do an on location photoshoot for Sam, it was a lot of fun. also got a few good scenery shots.

Here are some of the local scenery

Alright, more to come later on. Still have a few hundred to post up.

Bubbu Gump, Vader and Hot Dogs.

2005-06-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

Ok i said i would be posting up some pictures on here that were not solely for my portfolio but just about my trip, so here are some of them now..
Heres a picture of Melissa and myself at Bubbu Gumps on time square. Good food, lots of it, but damn it was pricey..

After Bubbu Gums we went to Toys R Us, this was unlike anything ive seen at the other toys are us.. there were plenty of characters, lifesize barbie house, and even a ferris wheel inside.

Oh heres another picture from bubba gumps, This is my cousin Samantha, she was the other reason i went to NYC.

One of our goals for new york was to eat sidewalk food like hot dogs and pizzas, good stuff.

This is me from the top of the empire state building...

Well thats it for now.. ill post more up later tonight.

Destination 96th floor Empire State

2005-06-28T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the 96th floor of the Empire State Building. From here you can truely see how big the Big Apple really is.. First in color....

This is what you see looking up from where we were.

This is what you saw looking down... well using a Canon 75-300mm USM at 300mm at least...

Here are some traditional Black and Whites

Well those were taken the first day we were out in the City, like i said i took nearly 1500 pictures.. so there will be plenty more to come..

Time for a Change

2005-06-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry i didnt get to post for such a long time but I've been away for the past two weeks in New York for my Cousin's graduation and to take melissa around for a trip, it was her frist time. But I ended up taking almost 1500 Pictures so ill have a lot to post for the next few days to make up for it. I also decided to make some changes on this site to make it simply a personal site and not just for my photos. so be forwarned of the changes..

Rule 2 - Mexico - El Fenito..

2005-06-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

So today turned out to be a rule #2 day once again. im sorry guys. I though for sure i could find some time to go out and shoot today. But things just kept getting in the way. So i guess i can end my Mexico series today. Theres a lot of picture on here so it will take a while to look through hope you enjoy them though and i hope you enjoyed the rest of my mexico series.

Here are more kids pictures.. once again i have to remind you that this was my first time behind the camera ok..by the way this girl was one of my favorites

Heres are few more in and around town..

Ok these next shots are of us there, kinda like proof that we were actually there and stuff. lol. some good memories tied into it too.

We got to do a lot of outdoorsy stuff as melissa would call it. it was pretty fun too although i didnt walk right after getting off those horses

As athletic those last pictures made us look.. this is pretty much all we ever used the home gym for....

Welp thats it for today folks. hope tomorrow is a rule# 1 day... imma just start stealing catch phrases till i find one for myself.. so yeah.. "May the force be with you"

Monochromatic and a bug

2005-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished retouching some of my older pictures from Mexico that i though you guys might enjoy looking at. I like the dramatic look of black and whites, kinda makes it more traditional dont you think? word of advice to all of you though.. if you dont know already.. dont take pictures in black and white.. take them in color then convert.. you may end up kicking yourself about it later on.. i know i did. enjoy.

Here are some pictures of Miss Mel =)

Here are a couple of the kids from our summer camp

MIss Mel too this shot. I was kinda showing her how to take a picture with my camera and this is what she came up with..

Oh I just found this picture, i thought for sure i lost it over time good thing i made like 50 back up disks last year. Nothing here is photoshopped ok.. this is true to life. It was supposed to go on yesterdays post but i didnt have it at that time so i am going to post this up today.

Well thats it for now... I know ill have more later.. i dont think this will be my post for the day. So come back tonight ok. Im planning on going out so i should have some new stuff. Also im thinking about creating a new blog, less of photography, more of life stuff.. ioono maybe ill be too lazy.. we'll see...

Bitch or Bull

2005-06-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Well looks like another day of rule #2. Spend most of the day indoors doing some stuff around the house, so i guess you can enjoy more mexico shoots. This first set is something that just happened by chance actually. and im really glad it happened. I mean come on its a bull fight how cool is that. I have to admit though it was really disturbing to see what was really happening.. very different from bugs bunny cartoons.. but i guess its something a person has to see once in thier lives. Enjoy.

Oh incase you were wondering this odd looking guy is a real life bullfighter.. or at least thats what he told the white girl he was trying to nail. hahaha

Rule 2 - Mexico part one..

2005-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like another rule number 2 today. These pictures were from a little further back in the day. Two years ago this summer Melissa and I went off to Mexico together to do a summer camp program. we stayed at a cute little house in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon with 6 other people from Iowa, Japan, Mexico and Missouri. I swear man it was a real life real world - dramma and all. Anyways this was my first time out with a real camera, at this point i wasnt even really into photography yet. I had just gotten this camera and to me thats all it was a camera, and for those of you who really care it was an HP Photosmart 850. I took about 3000 pictures that summer, im seriuos about that. lol. ill be posting up a hundred of them or so, but not all at once. For now here are a few samplings of what i have prepared.

Here are some of the stuctures all around monterry. The archways are of a church call Obispado - served as a military base at one time too i think.

This is the great cathedral located in the center of the city. 12 large bells in that one tower alone from what i remember. It was closed the day we were there so i didnt get a chance to look inside.

This is what was inside some of thier libraries. I thought it was a great idea, id probably never use it but a great idea none the less...

Here is a picture of melissa and a bunch of the kids that we had at our summer camp.

One of the things that really impressed me about Mexico, that i didnt like too much, were the large amounts of bugs and how big they were. Here are some of the bugs that were in and around where we worked. Oh and about that grasshopper looking thing - i was told that it is actually part butterfly, sorta. Under its wings were a rainbow or red, orange, yellow and pink and when it flew it flapped its wings like a butterfly. oh and it was a about 4 inches big.

Oh hey look closer...

closer...

yup there we go..bees.. about 2 inches long... and they eat these things as candy...

I made this sign for our bathroom door one sunday afternoon... mexican water and street corner tacos do have thier down side... Sorry guys still no catch phrase.. im working on it .. any ideas? There are plenty more for other Rule 2 days... hopefully i can get some good ones tomorrow.. till then..

Cheap Summer Fun

2005-06-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Wow cool i didnt think i would be able to post new pictures on today, but i got a chance to take some just before i headed off to work. Here are some pictures of my sister playing around with the sprinklers, we spent an extra 10 or so grand on the house because of the pool and this is where she has the most fun during the summer...

Still no catch phrase so give me a little more time

Day at the Races

2005-06-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling that i wont be able to go out and shoot today so i thought that this would be a good opportunity to show off some of my older stuff. I call it rule number 2 (Rule number one being take and post at least 5 new pictures a day). These pictures were taken early may of this year at the Toyota Gran Prix of Long Beach. I met a girl on myspace that ran some of the marketing for it and i asked if she could hook melissa (my girlfriend for those of you who dont already know) up for some press passes so that melissa could do a package for BruinNews 29 (UCLA TV News, Melissa is a Reporter there) and i guess to thank me she brought me along as her Camera man, it was so damn cool. We got to go EVERYWHERE including the inside wall of the track. Most of these shots were taken from a big hole in the inside fence, i had to stick my head in and when i did that i was on the track. some of the cars were literally in arms reach for me when they were driving down. anyways i got a lot of good shots that day, including video footage. so here they are. tell me what you think ok
Can you see how close we got to the track? There is no zoom involved with this shot, we are right up on the inside fence. pretty damn cool huh

Pit Crew shots, i think for every car there must be like 50 people working on them. I think there were only like 20 cars during this race, but there were like hundreds of crew workers on the track.

Just before the main race about 10 sky divers did a short show for us. One or two of them had a HUGE flag strapped to thier leg. Now in this first picture you can see how HUGE that flag really is, well as this guy cam down to the track where he was supposed to land, something went wrong and that flag of his got cought in one of the extended cranes for the TV cameras. It was pretty damn funny, but the TV crew guys were able to quickly untangle him before he fully landed so everything went off ok.

Here are my kick ass shots of the actual cars in action. I have to admit i am really proud of some of these shots, That weekend i must have take 400 pictures (thank god for my 1 gig cards) anyways these guys i was told were going like 200 mile per hour RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, ill show you our hole later to get a better idea of what i mean.

Now these next shots were race cars, well they are buy not really used for racing, its a think called drifting. They drift at like 90 miles per hour fully controlled. in this first shot, my favorite shot, they got so close to me that i actually jumped back after the i took it because i got really scared, i even ducked on the ground ( not that it would have done me any good anyways) people in the stands laughed at me. oh and when i got back melissa noticed that i had tire fragments on my face, she wasnt too happy that i got that close.

Ok now for my odd ball shots

oh yeah almost forgot to mention we had to wear these little blue vest that just made me look really really fat. anyways this is what we looked like that day... oh yeah notice the hole in the fence.. yeah that were most of my shots were taken from, holes in teh security fences from different sides of the track.

Still havent thought of a catch phrase ill start thinking of some tonight. ok hope you enjoyed. let me know i like comments hahaha.

Day at the Zoo

2005-06-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a day at the zoo. I took my sister and my mom out to the santa ana zoo today so that my sister could get out of the house for a few hours. She doesn't really care too much about the animals there, what she really goes there for are the train and elephant rides and the jungle gym that they have. well took about 50 shots today mostly of some animals and some plant life, but none of them really came out. the only ones that came out were of my sister, a bunch of kids, and a couple of the trains. so enjoy. By the way this is my first blog post. and so it beggins....
Here are some pictures of Maya from the jungle gym thingy...

Here are some random kids that I ran into that were cute for little white kids.

This one i really liked crazy thing is there were two of them both had the same ice cream mashed up on their faces.. twins.

These two were from the train depot, the real reason we go to the zoo..

well since we did go to the zoo i figured one animal shoot should be posted..

Well thats pretty much my day of photos. hope you enjoyed, leave me comments i wanna see how this blogger thing works. until next time.. hmm i should think up a catchy phrase to end my blogs...