J-Dawg Gets Student of the Month

A big congratulations to J-Dawg for getting Student of the Month for September. This is the second time he has gotten this and we are real proud of him. It's a trip to watch him in class. He is such a fireball 99% of the time, but when he gets into the classroom, he just chills out and does a great job.

After the ceremony in front of the school, he was presented with an award in front of his class. The students then took some time to write little notes to explain why they thought he was awarded with Student of the Month. It was freakin' hilarious to read what some of these kids wrote.

Here's a shot of the big man after the ceremony. All the recipients got to stand up there so all the parents could grab some shots. I tried to get him to do his Guitar Hero face but he didn't do it. I might have to post a shot from the Oceanside shoot to show his "ultimate shreddin'" face.

Dream Wedding

Even though I mentioned last month that I am not shooting weddings for a while, I wanted to post an image from a wedding I shot with Scott Robert back in May. For those that have kept up with my ramblings, I started attending Scott's seminars a while ago. He e-mailed me a while back and asked if I wanted to assist him with a wedding. Of course I jumped on the opportunity. I didn't find out until about two weeks before the wedding who the actual bride and groom were. The bride, Penny, was a dancer for Britney Spears. The groom, Steel-O, is a dancer for Gwen Stefani. Needless to say, the day was sweeeeet!

We had just finished shooting the bride getting ready and as we walked out of the room, Scott saw the shadowed texture on this wall. While Scott was capturing his angle of Penny, I was off to the side capturing my own. The biggest lesson I learned that day was to constantly keep my eye looking for light and textures. For me, this is the biggest reward with photography. You look at the world with a keener eye and it makes you slow down and really look at things in a whole new way.

Seeing first-hand how Scott worked the wedding that day gave me such a boost of confidence. Penny & Steel-O were great with the camera and really opened up which made for some great images. When I do get back into weddings next year, the biggest thing I want to convey to the bride is how being open to ideas can produce great photographs. A big THANKS goes out to Scott for providing me with this experience. I will be posting more from this wedding as I process the images so stay tuned.

*All the images from this wedding were taken by me for Scott Robert Photography*

Surfin' with the Alien

Yes, I was one of the knuckleheads that stood in line for 3 hours of my life in order to get the midnight release of Halo 3. I was going to pick it up Tuesday morning but I figured it would be nice to wake Jake up with a fresh copy so we could play first thing in the morning. I ended up taking the day off and letting him take the day off from school so we could have some dad/son time without estrogen floatin' around the house. We beat the game on normal in a collective 8 hours. For those out there thinking that today's youth spends too much time inside, we also went to the park that evening and played football with my brother and then played frisbee football once the sun went down. Overall, we saw a lot of similarities between this one and the original Halo. The graphics rock. Our favorite level is STORM and nothing beats kickin' some alien ass while crankin' some System of a Down. Thanks Rob for the mix CD. Jake has a newfound appreciation for Motley Crue and Ratt.

For tonight's image, I did a fair amount of processing to come up with the one you are looking at now. This is the 4th version and the one I like the best. Rob thinks I should enter this one in some local contest. I have no idea how that works as I have never entered anything in any type of contest. I think it's time to push the envelope though. And yes, the title is a nod to Joe Satriani. I thought it was fitting for tonight's mix of text & visual. Let me know what you think.

Tower

I at least got up in time for the game today but the Chargers must have slept in. We are just not firing on all cylinders right now and it's starting to annoy me. We'll see what we can do next week here at home against KC. At least Denver lost today as well.

Enough about football. I'm continuing to post images from the Oceanside Harbor shoot. I tried a new processing technique on this image. It's more of an illustrated type look and I like the way it works on some landscape shots. I also tried it on the image I am going to post tomorrow and liked the way it came out. In the meantime, here's today's image. If anyone is still reading this, let me know what you think. I plan on implementing a way for my faithful readers to comment without having to e-mail me.

Oceanside

So I lied. I said I was going to post once a week, but this makes 2 days in a row. We went to Oceanside Harbor today to celebrate a 40th birthday party for my buddy Greg's wife Karla and her sister Marla. Luckily the weather turned out a lot nicer than expected. It seems a lot of people held off on going to the beach today which made it great for parking. The harbor is usually packed.

I was hoping to get to bed at a decent time tonight but I ended up spending a lot of time processing images from today's shoot. I think I have enough images from today to post every day this week so stay tuned. It's now 3:24a.m. and the Chargers game starts in about 6 and half hours so here's today's image. Hope you enjoy.

Where Does the Time Go

Sorry folks for the major delay in posting. I ended up taking a longer break than I expected. It was good though and I have come back totally refreshed. I am going to be taking on some new projects soon. My goal is to post an image a week for the next month. I would love to post more but I don't want to make promises I can't keep. I have a lot of respect for people that make the time to post every day to keep things interesting. For those who keep coming back, I appreciate the support.

I have made a decision to concentrate on expanding the portrait side of the business. I am putting weddings on the back burner for now. I am also starting a project soon that will portray different parts of San Marcos. I have a few projects in mind, but want to start off with this. The focus (pardon the pun) will be after the sun goes down. This is going to test the crap out of my processing skills as nighttime photography takes on a whole new dimension. The goal of these projects are to expand my capabilities, both in photography and post-processing, as well as giving myself something to strive for. I work a lot better under pressure.

In the meantime, I will still post photos of the kids so everyone can keep up to date. Here's an image of Jayden that I took the other night. Jess picked her up a cute little robe and she is just adorable in it. She is outgrowing her clothes quite quickly.

Making Progress

I finally launched the new site! It's taken a lot longer (a whole lot longer) than I thought it would but it's finally here. I'm curious to hear from my faithful readers on how they like it. Just drop me an e-mail with your comments. Just don't e-mail me saying you can't see the wedding portfolio. It's on my to do list and you know how long that can take. One day, I am going to implement a comment section on the blog. That's a whole 'nother thing that will hopefully add some more interaction with the site. In the meantime, take a look at the portrait portfolio and let me know what you think. I wanted to put a variety of pix so people know that they have options. I am trying to get some more environmental portraits so let me know if you'd be interested. San Diego's weather and location provides a lot of options!!!

In case you missed the update, the slideshows should be working in Firefox and IE. If for some reason you have issues with any browser, let me know and I will get on it. A big thanks to Rob for taking the time to help out with the problem.

Jake and the Ongoing Textures

Here's another shot of Jake while we were down in San Diego picking up some marketing materials. I meant to post this along with the bench shot I posted a couple days ago.

Finally Another Update

For anyone that checked in yesterday to see that I finally started posting again, thanks for hanging in there. Another month has passed and I finally got around to processing some more photos. Our little girl is definitely getting bigger. She had a doctor's appointment today and weighed in at a nice 10 lbs. 4 oz. Looks like Mama has been feeding her the good stuff. We ended up making the transition to formula on Saturday. It was kinda tough on Jess but I think she is enjoying the nights we have been having. Jess actually got a full night of sleep last night. I ended up staying up way late (a mix of working on photos and working on some upcoming features for the site) and I kept looking at the clock. Jayden was supposed to wake at about 2:00 for a feeding. 2:00 came and I continued to work. Then 3:00 came. Still no crying. Then 4:00 came and I finally crashed. I woke up at 7:30 and Jess asked if I had fed Jayden throughout the night. "Nope. I thought you woke up to feed her after I crashed," I said. Needless to say, a full night of sleep was definitely good for Mama. Anyway, enough of my rambling on. Let's good to the goods.

A full tummy makes for happy baby!

And now for one of the things I have been meaning to set up for a while: before and afters. Here is a before shot of my baby girl while sleeping (whoever said little girls sleep a lot more than boys must have been kidding). Anyway, I wasn't able to set up my lights (not enough room or time).


Some may wonder why it takes a while to process photos. I was reading an article last night on digital metamorphosis and it summed up some of the processes I go through once an image is opened. I go through a mental process of what I want the image to convey. This is the artsy part that is fun but can be frustrating. For this next image, I wanted to convey a night time sleeping shot. Could I have set up the studio lights to get the same results? The answer is yes, but time was the determining factor. So here is the final image...

I think I have found my next studio lighting project!

This next series was taken in the early afternoon. Jayden has really been smiling a lot lately and I finally got my camera ready for the action.

The next two shots were taken while Jess was feeding Jayden this afternoon.


Don't look at me when I'm eating!!! I'm picturing some Rage Against the Machine playing. Fight the power!


I still have a lot more stuff to post this month as the list up top has grown. So stay tuned in!

It's Been a Month...

...and I have neglected to update this bad dog. After a few e-mails and a few personal confrontations, I guess it's time to update some pix. The good news, I HAVE taken some new pix of my little girl. The bad news, I haven't processed them yet. They are sitting in their folder waiting patiently for me to get to them. I am almost finished with the re-design of the site, which has been taking longer than I expected. A lot longer. I finally purchased some software yesterday that should speed up some of my design issues, but I found out at about 4:00 this morning that Firefox and Internet Explorer don't want to play nice with each other. So the saga continues. Anyway, here is a pic of Jake that I finally processed last night.

Time Stops for Nobody

I can't believe how fast this week is going. It is literally flying. Our baby girl is 4 days old and doing really well. Momma and Jayden came home Wednesday so we have been busy with the adjustments and trying to get caught up on sleep. Jacob is an extreme help. He has been nothing short of spectacular with getting up and rockin' and rollin' in order to get to school. He has been really focused on helping out with his little sister. He has only played video games for about a half hour this week and for those that know Jake, that is just crazy.

Here are some more pix that I worked on tonight. There will be more coming in the next couple days. I just wanted to post some more from this week and keep you all posted.

Here's Jayden after getting ready for nighty-night. She loves to wake up at about 10:00p.m. and start her night. She keeps hours like her daddy!


Papa holding Jayden during Day 2.

A big thanks to Uncle Mike for bringing Jess the flowers. It definitely added some color to her hospital room.


More to come in the next couple days. I want to give a shout out to all the people that continually read this and keep up to date (even though I may go months at a time without posting. I've done pretty good this week, so stay optimistic). Tomorrow might bring some new pix of Jake trying out baseball. He is finally showing an interest in the sports gig so stay tuned.

And One More Makes 4

Jayden joined the world at 7:48 this morning weighing in at 7lbs. 11 oz and at a length of 20.5"! Jess and I are still tripping out on the amount of hair she has. Mom is doing great and is recovering nicely. In the meantime, I am tending to getting Jake to school and then making my way between the hospital and Jake's school. I'm so used to the normal routine of going to work while Jess takes care of Jake. Needless to say, this week is going to be interesting. Jake has already expressed his concern with my ability to play "mom" for a while.

Here is our sweet baby girl already getting used to daddy taking pictures! Take a look at those long eyelashes.

And here is big brother Jake holding his baby sister. I think he is adapting well.


Look at her little tootsies! So cute.



Putting it all into perspective.


That's it for now. I just wanted to give you all a glimpse into our wonderful day. It's day's like this that make you realize what really counts in this world. Jess is scheduled to come home sometime Wednesday. It will be nice to have the whole family back at the house.

I want to thank the staff at Palomar Hospital for helping us out today. The student interns from SDSU did a great job and I would like to extend my gratitude to them as well.

Maternity and the Never Ending Quest to Update This Blog

Well, it's been a while since I last updated the blog. We have about 6 hours until Jayden joins the world and our family. I have been meaning to post to keep you all updated. To some people, 24 hours seems like a while. In our case, we are always trying to see how much we can cram into a 24 hour period. Needless to say, I have been lagging.

Tonight was kind of trippy. We dropped off Jake at his grandparents house to stay the night. As Jess and I were walking into a store, I mentioned to her that it was weird that instead of waking up and picking up Jake, we are going to wake up and go have our second child. Having a scheduled C-section is kinda weird like that. Anyways, enough of my rambling on at 1:20a.m. Here are just a few of the shots that we have done since Jess got pregnant.

The shot above is the one we used for one of the few baby showers we had.

Jess also wanted to get some shots at the beach yesterday showing her and Jake's relationship. They are truly fun to watch. As most people know, Jess keeps me in check on a daily basis. On the other hand, Jake can get Jess wrapped around his finger in a heart beat. She is a great mom and I just love to sit back and watch these two. Jess has truly enjoyed the one on one time her and Jake have had over the last 8 years!



That's going to be it for now. I need to crash out for a few hours before we head out to the hospital.

Jess and I want to thank everyone that helped us out with all the baby stuff. We couldn't be more thankful. I will be posting more tomorrow night. The camera bag is loaded and ready to go.

Just Below Big Bear

We made our annual trip to the snow right after the Christmas holiday. This year we stayed at Lake Gregory which is about 2000 feet below Big Bear mountain. Jess' sister Monica was kind enough to invite us to stay in the cabin for a few days. The cabin has a wonderful view of the lake from the balcony and was a perfect place for chilling out and playing guitar, although Monica might have thought differently. Here's a shot of Jess by the window that leads out to the balcony.


And here is a shot of Jake as he was heading down the stairs



Jake was ready to find some snow so we set out for a place to set up a battle ground for a snowball fight. There is a school about a mile from the cabin that had a nice spot where we eventually ended up. After about an hour of pelting each other with snowballs, Jess had found another spot where we could go. It happened to be a perfect spot to try out my new lens that Jess got me for Christmas (85mm 1.8, which is competing very hard with the 70-200 to become my favorite lens).



You can see in the last photo how wet Jake was getting from playing in the snow and he quickly realized why being cold is not the most fun thing in the world. He soon found his way to the car where the heater provided the right amount of comfort he needed. The little coffee house we went to right after this helped out as well. Luckily, Jess was a willing participant for the lens battle and didn't mind posing for me.


On the way to the coffee house, Jess saw this view of the lake as we were driving around.


The 3-day stay went by way too quick. It wasn't cold enough for snow to fall the night we got there so hopefully next year Jake and the "little one" will get their first winter with actual falling snowflakes. Hopefully we find out for sure what we are having on our next visit to the doc. Once we find out, I can replace "little one" with Jayden. I hope we can stay at the same cabin next year. The place is huge and has a very cozy feel to it. I still have a few more photos I am going to be posting over the next few days so check back often. We hope everyone had a nice Christmas and enjoyed the holiday season!

Harumi & Larry's Wedding

Harumi and Larry officially tied the knot at Castle Creek Inn located north of Escondido. The last time I was there was about 5 years ago to play a round of golf. Larry is a retired Marine who is a great person and a great friend. I had scoped out the location the weekend prior to the wedding and the overcast skies were very pleasing as far as photography is concerned. Being that we are in sunny southern California, the sun was in full swing on the actual day of the wedding so I had to make a few minor adjustments. Here are a few of the photos of Harumi prior to the wedding. Harumi, you look wonderful!




After the ceremony, we stepped outside to grab a few photos and here is one of my favorites!


This little girl is just too cute. She would follow me around everywhere I went and when I started taking photos of other people, she would try to get in the shot. I have a series of 3 photos with her grabbing her mom's camera to take my pic. I need to add those. Ain't she a doll!


Here are a few details of the wedding





This next one was taken during the best man's toast. It was more like a roast and the whole room was filled with laughter.


Congratulations Larry & Harumi. This was a very fun day!

Back From Pasadena

We made it back home tonight after spending the weekend up in Pasadena/Hollywood. Jess had been wanting to go to Universal Studios this summer but I had been working on the business side of my photography. I have also been laid up for a couple weeks with a torn calve muscle (and who said volleyball wasn't a contact sport)! I had planned a meeting with Scott Robert and I actually became more than just a hat rack. Pasadena's right next to Universal Studios so why not just make a weekend out of it? I have been impressed with Scott's work and figured he could really help me out. At times, weddings can be a big challenge. Either the light's just not optimum or you want to get a better angle but you don't want to miss the moment that is taking place. At times, you just have to get the shot in spite of the situation. I know what I want to convey but the shot is dictated by the situation at hand. Take the example of Jake in the following photographs. As we were walking around (walking off a killer dinner we ate at Mijares - I highly recommend the Baja Special), Jake was running around. He was literally climbing up the walls. I noticed the light being cast on the wall and thought it would be a cool shot. So I had him stand there on this little ledge where the light was just falling on his face. The shot is cool but it just needs a little seasoning to make him stand out.


...and BAM! (am I watching to much Emeril??) This is what I was seeing in my head! Just a little more drama needed to be added. The image was captured with a Canon 20D w/50mm prime, ISO 1600, f/2.0 @ 1/125 sec.


The next image was taken just around the corner from the first shot and I wanted to get him just chilling out. I was actually just finishing up some pix with Jess and Jake had sit down next to this wall. If you look closely, you can see a drop of sweat dripping down by his ear (I told you he was running around like a banshee).


..and the conversion. The highlights on the right are still a little funky but it's 2:00a.m. and I need to post some pix. Image was shot with a Canon 20D w/50mm prime, ISO 1600, f/2.2 @ 1/50 sec.


This last photo was inside this cool outdoor mall. I just really like the colors in the sign. Image was shot with a Canon 20D w/50mm prime, ISO 1600, f/2.8 @ 200th.


The weekend was a blast. Jess enjoyed getting back to Universal Studios and I got some time to photograph in a new area. Pasadena is beautiful and very historic. I would like to get back there soon. There are some really nice places to photograph (Westin Hotel is next on the list). It had been 22 years since I had been to Universal Studios and the place was cool.

A little side note before capping off the night. There is a lower level at Universal Studios and there are a series of escalators that take you down there (5 series total). There are also stairs that run parallel with the escalators (about 500 steps total). If your child decides to take the stairs on the way back up to the top level as Jake did, your quads better well be rested. I remember those days of endless energy and man do I miss them.

Janna & Mike

Mike and Janna were married in La Jolla on this wonderful day. I was fortunate to be asked by a fellow photographer and friend, Melinda Del Toro, to assist with photographing this fun and energetic couple. The weather did not start out particularly well, but the sun made every attempt to not put a damper on the day's events. I had the pleasure of photographing the groom and his party and then it was off to La Jolla for the ceremony. Mike is a very down to earth person and was very cool to work with. (All images are (c)2006 Taylor Design & Photography for MDT Photography).


These ladies were having a wonderful time and the umbrellas were perfect.


Doesn't Janna just look radiant along with her wedding party? She kept that wonderful smile all day.


and for a little detail...


The weather ended up being perfect for the wedding ceremony.


Janna walking towards the crowd of excited attendees


A little Charlie's Angels action (for those that remember the original).


This is one of my favorite photographs from the day.


These two are just so happy in each other's presence.



Congratulations Mike & Janna! Your wedding was so much fun. You both made the day flow so easy. It was an honor to photograph your day and I wish you both the best!