The Black Sheep Motorcycle Gang

My mother's worst fears have come to pass! It appears that I have swept up into a notorious motorcycle gang called 'The Black Sheep'!!! Yep, it's true..... Almost.

The real story is as follows. But first, let's go back in time.
The funnest adventure of my life was about 7 years ago on a small Grecian Island called Rhodes. I was in the middle of a 3 day cruise and Rhodes was one of our day trips. As soon as we hit land a friend of mine rented me and another guy some scooters for a ride around the Island. By the time we were halfway around we realized we were in jeopardy of failing to reach the cruise ship before it left port at dinner time so we cut across the island via some beautiful mountain country road. It was the best day of my life! Since then I have really not felt so free..... That is until I came into possession of my very own Yamaha Vino this week. It is perfect for running around little San Luis Obispo! To the lab to drop off a disc of prints.... To California Pizza Kitchen with Jeff Newsom, another proud Vino owner.... And back to the lab to pick up prints; all in a day's work!

Well, I have been riding everywhere I can since I bought my newest companion. This morning I decided to drive my scooter to my church in Arroyo Grande via the side streets of Avila and Pismo Beach. It was a glorious and beautiful ride along the coast! I waved at every motorcycle I passed having automatically earned their respect and admiration from simply owning a motor-cyclical-vehicle. When I pulled into the church parking lot 30 minutes later, I was delighted to find about a dozen Harley Davidsons for me to park next too. It turns out that 'The Black Sheep' were visiting this morning from Santa Maria. When I came out of church a group of them were standing around my 'hog' admiring it's fine craftsmanship. I immediately began to brag about its 50cc's, raven-black paint job and slick chrome detail. Here is a picture that one of them took and emailed to me. Man.... I am so cool all of a sudden!

Oh, yeah. My girlfriend bought one too. Here is a little clip of one of our first rides. Everyone needs a Vino!

Tim and Adria's wedding was simply AWESOME!

Tim and Adria had a really simple wedding. Because they don't like to be the center of attention they invited about 10-15 family members for the ceremony and had the rest of the 150 guests show up an hour later for the reception. It has been so awesome to meet and get to know this couple and their families. From the beginning of the day I felt right at home and by the end I knew that I was among close friends.

Adria was a star-bride! She was calm and collected when getting ready. Her mother actually had to keep reminding her not to help so much but to allow herself to be taken care of. She was wonderful in front of the camera which was amazing because prior to the engagement session she confessed that she didn't really like getting her picture taken. I really believe that the engagement session helped her to let go on the day of her wedding and just be herself. I found that she has a very sophisticated beauty. She is very much a lady and this was her definitely her day! We got so many diverse pictures of them as a couple.

The interesting thing about the place where they got married is it is an old school house right next door to my grandparents old house. I grew up playing in the backyard right over the fence! A family moved up from Miami Beach just 5 years ago to escape the rat race and raise their kids in 'the country'. Before moving in they gutted it and completely restored the house inside and out. It really has turned out beautiful with gardens on every side and a new in-ground swimming pool. This venue is sure to become a new hotspot for outdoor country weddings!

Bryce and Harmony are Married!

And I say it like this because it really is a BIG DEAL. This couple is one that everyone knew would get married the moment they started dating. They did the whole date for awhile break up for awhile thing so that they knew that they knew it was for sure. I don'’t blame them; I'm just glad that Bryce got his act together. ;)

I have never photographed a more excited bride! What really stood out to me was how present she was during the entire course of her wedding. She really embraced all of the emotions and moments that came with the day. I don't think a thing was missed. There were tears, butterflies, hugs, kisses, laughter.... During the ceremony Harmony was so joyful that she jumped up and down on stage, clapped her hands, waved at people in the audience and even let out little shrieks of delight. It was a really fun ceremony to witness! There were a few times when I laughed out loud along with the rest of the guests. They finished up their party at the beautiful Victorian Pitkin Conrow Estate in Arroyo Grande.

All I can say is that it was really great to be a part of my friend's wedding like this. I remember a couple of years ago talking with Harmony about her dream to find the right man. At the time I was sharing with her my dream for my photography business. It really is amazing where God takes us through life's journey! His dreams are always bigger and more exciting than the ones that we can conjour up. I am happy to see such incredible people find each other. They will be a couple that will persevere through the years and still enjoy holding hands well into years of gray hair and wrinkles. Congratulations friends!






This little guy, Josiah, is my new apprentice. I really think Josiah has a shot a photography, especially if he starts so young. His dad, Jerami, and I have known each other 10 years and I was actually the best man in his wedding. Jerami, Bryce and I were all roommates a few years back. It feels like just yesterday that we were all bachelors living in a house on Madonna road. Most everyone is married now...Witht kids coming out of their ears! Well, hopefully Bryce has a couple years ahead of him before the kids start to come.


If you haven't seen their engagement pictures you've gotta take a look. We ventured around downtown and the Mission for some romantic and fun shots. You can still view them in my blog archives here.

True Beauty

dove evolution

This is amazing.... A good friend of mine, Kenny Morgan, sent this to me last week with the words, 'This will really make you think'. Thanks Kenny for always encouraging me and challenging me. You are a good friend!

This video reminds me that true beauty isn't perfection. We live in a society that paints a picture or 'Photo Shops a picture' of what beauty should be and then billboards it as truth. When really beauty comes from the character within. I'm no Photo Shop guru so most of my pictures are only lightly edited of blemishes or distractions. I love capturing people as they are in reality. When a person is expressing their true self in front of the camera THAT IS BEAUTY.

This one made me get a bit weepy. I really believe it is the parents job to communicate with their children just how beautiful and valuable they are regardless of the media world around them. That kind of communication can only come from time and love spent together. Have you ever met a girl that knows she is loved? That knows she is beautiful? That kind of girl has amazing parents who have succeeded in dispelling the Hollywood-beauty-myth by communicating worth and love in ways that make her unshakable. I really hope to be that kind of a parent someday. Unfortunately, in an age of dead-beat-dads and broken homes these kind of girls are a rare breed.

Central Coast Bridal Faire

I had an awesome day meeting brides at the new expo center located at the Madonna Inn. There were hundreds of couples browsing through the various wedding vendors. Thanks to those brides who checked out my work and talked to me about your day. I was very pleased to share my passion and dream with a few of you.

I was happy with the way my booth turned out; very clean and professional. I have to thank my good friend Ben Brown who made me these amazing tables and 40x60 picture frames. He sacrificed a lot this week to squeeze this project in before the faire. He did such an amazing job and really helped me to stand out from the crowd. I am planning on babysitting this week for him with my girlfriend so that he can take his wifey out on a date. ;)






I've also got to thank my incredible print lab, Digital Precision Imaging! They do such a stellar job and take great care of me and all of my clients. This is Jeff & Caitlin who started DPI sometime last summer and have been about the best thing to happen to my business... Well, almost the best thing. They printed all of these pictures. People kept asking me... 'Are you digital? I had no idea digital was this good!' Jeff and Caitlin and DPI are the best! Here they are after they swung by to give me some homemade chocolate chip cookies. They totally hit the sweet spot and kept me going the rest of the day.

I can't wait to find a couple who wants a larger than life size print! Could you imagine you this big?

War Hurts... It's a long story.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..................................."

That's the sound of the relief that I feel after a mini vacation visiting my family and friends in Oregon. I had the weekend off for the first time since late May so I booked some plane tickets for my girlfriend and I. It has been so refreshing to breathe mountain air, to see the people I love and to have some time away.

My sister actually married a good friend of mine from high school, Toby Johnson, and currently live next door to another couple who are good friends since my teens. Funny story about Toby; he was the subject of my very first B&W portrait assignment at Cuesta Community College. He was going through a real Goth stage and I photographed him in a beach town graveyard that I lived nearby. The photos were disturbing and at the same time provoking validating my love for photographing people in their raw element. I was nervous to show my teacher the images thinking he wouldn't approve of my subject matter. Instead, he totally encouraged me saying that I had good composition, depth of field... All of these words that I didn't understand the meaning to at the time. Here are a couple of shots that I made Toby dig up from the archives.


Well, here I am in Oregon almost 9 years later photographing Toby again (with my sister) for a War Hurts catalogue shoot. Both Toby and Jessica are these amazing break dancers so we got some shots of Jessica breaking at this school yard in Bend, Oregon.



My friend Jesse Roberts is launching this clothing line to help support an orphanage in Nicaragua that he has built and is launching this summer. Except it's not really an orphanage, more like a family home that takes in orphans and street kids addicted to glue. I actually went down to Nicaragua a couple of years ago to scope out the land that Jesse purchased to build this family home. Jesse just got back from a month of filming a documentary about the impoverished and abused children that are the repercussion of a civil war almost 25 years ago. Jesse's wife Maria actually escaped by helicopter to America when she was 12 because her family was being hunted by the Sandinistas; a left-wing Nicaraguan political party. Since marrying Maria and learning a bit of Nicaragua's history, Jesse's heart for missions and social justice turned into a heart for creating this family home. It is amazing to be this close to a dream and see it unfold from a visionary stages to a plot of land and into an actually building soon to house about a dozen orphan girls. Jesse has gone to great lengths to developing this dream and even created a non-profit called Rise Up to be the umbrella company of all of his great missions endeavors. Please check out his website and if you have the heart for it, get involved. Affect your world.





Jesse and his familia.