iPhonetography 3.0 {My life through the lens of my camera phone}

One of the most key ingredients to my successful business is my creativity. I must guard it, nurture it and renew it often. Photography is perhaps my greatest passion and talent. Because it’s also my job (the way I generate income) there is a danger of it becoming work. Money has a funny way of spoiling life’s purest pleasures. ;) That is why it’s essential that I continue to capture photographs when I’m not ‘on the job’.

This has proved to be a dilemma in times past because when I carry my big camera around I transform into my professional photographer alter ego and end up taking 137 pictures that I have to later process on my computer; which becomes more work and less fun. I tried to go backwards in time by shooting with a quirky holga camera but I found myself ruining rolls of film or only getting a couple usable images; a waste of time and money. :(

I also really don’t like to carry around an obscene amount of technology with me. My iPhone is just enough; computer, phone and camera all in one! So here is my life in the last year through the small underrated lens of my iPhone! These are the pictures I capture because of my obsession for documenting all of those magical moments that are here one second and gone the next. I often say that I have a bad memory and that’s why God made me a photographer. I hope that you enjoy this little glimpse into my world.

I LOVE where I live! San Luis Obispo is like a little slice of paradise. Most of the scenery shown here will be of mountains and oceans literally 5-10 minutes from my house. Left: Bishops Peak. / Right: Anderson Hotel.

Left: New Years celebration at my house. Right: Wyatt posing at fro-yo.

Left: My in-laws fence in Arroyo Grande / Right: My lovely bride, Mrs. Anna Ingalls on a Shell Beach cliff. She was just a couple months prego here.

Left: Avila Beach / Right: Friend and fellow photographer Ken Kienow. His favorite coffee shop is Joe Mamma’s in Avila. This is from one of our bro-mantic coffee mornings together.

Left: James McCarthy rocking a pink and purple whale shirt in the streets of San Francisco. Just outside Blue Bottle. / Right: New haircut compliments of Sunnie Jones!

When I met Anna I didn’t consider myself athletic. Just a lazy surfer. She loves to board but I’ve always been too afraid to learn. I guess love has a way of helping you conquer your fears. Here we are celebrating our 2nd anniversary on the finest slopes in Colorado.

When we got home we discovered a little bit of exciting news; we were pregnant!

Left: Crying kid with yellow balloon. Who doesn’t like their picture taken when throwing a tantrum?! / Right: Port San Luis

Left: An incredible graffiti mural in L.A. / Right: Chris Rhoads and I posing in Anthropology at The Grove.

Left: Bowling with the Newsoms. I think it was Kim’s birthday. Jeff has a funny face. / Right: Cameron and Anna dressed in bowling shoes.

Left: My gift from Justin Lyon after the winter Mammoth Men trip. They thought it hilarious that I didn’t know what that meant but flashed it in a picture with my couple at their wedding. / Right: Mark Brooke milking Justin Lyon. Weird.

Left: Morro Rock during a date night with the wife. / Right: Holland Ranch: epic wedding venue!

Left: My backyard jungle. / Right: Simon Jones and Eli Stewart cooking dinner over our fire pit.

Left: Nephew Sam posing in an alley downtown. / Right: All of the nephews and my headless niece on a Bob Jones trail walk.

Left: Kate, my favorite niece! Isn’t her head pretty? / Right: Proudly gripping my homemade lemon picker. First thing every morning I drink Emergen-C with half a squeezed lemon. I don’t think I’ve been sick for 2 years!

Left: Anna on a family photoshoot. / Right: Me running the 6k Miracle Miles for Kids. When we met Anna wasn’t a photographer and I wasn’t a runner. It’s awesome how marriage causes you to share passions. (I still don’t LOVE running ;)

Left: Ryan Allshouse handling props during a commercial photoshoot for Level Studios / Right: Big Sur coastline

Left: Abandoned mental hospital makes for a great photo-shoot location. / Right: Inside building. Danger is my middle name.

Left + Right: Anna and I flew to Montreal Canada for a wedding last summer.

Left + Right: I bought a self-timer app and here are my test shots. I don’t think I’ve used it since. ;)

Left: Kojo; a sweet kid that was adopted from Liberia / Right: Wyatt dressed for army. Kojo and Wyatt are sweet friends!

Left: Justin Wilczynski at Joans on 3rd a couple blocks from his house. / Right: Dinosaur ranch in Huasna. For reals.

Left: Moustache Cam at Jose Villa’s b-day party. / Right: I wanted to be on www.peopleofwalmart.com so I had Anna take this silly picture of me. I didn’t make the cut.

Left: Morro Rock at sunset. Nice dinner view! / Right: Brother Joel and nephew Ethan cruising the yack for my 30th birthday.

My last man-trip before Asher was born. Kayaking off the coast of Big Sur. Left: Mike Larson pulling in a rock cod. / Right: Just a little grossed out that I have to fillet my catch.

Left: The day my Asher came into this world to steal hearts. / Right: His ever growing cheeks of chub!

Left: Morgan and Joel’s engagement shoot at Laguna Lake. / Right: Ben Potter proudly holds up his greatest catch moments after proposing on an Avila hilltop.

Left: Decorated tree where Ben proposed. / Right: As I was hiking down the mountain a guy stopped me and told me to take a picture of the sunset. I laughed because I’m not really the sunset-photographer type. But I complied anyway and was amazed at the result! I shot one with my pro camera and one with my iPhone so I could email him the image on the spot.

Left: Asher is in for a lifetime of photo shoots and costumes. God help him! / Right: Hanging at the salon while mommy gets purdy.

Left: Asher dressed as a lumberjack for church. / Right: Asher’s first day at the beach. He loved it!

Left + Right: Engagement session at Port San Luis.

Left: Asher participated in Tie Tuesday. / Right: Wyatt wanted to wear a tie because Asher was wearing a tie.

Left + Right: Wyatt’s turn spending the night.

Left: On a hike at Montana de Oro with the Mrs. just days before Asher was born. / Right: A fishing boat in Port San Luis during a family outing.

To keep up with my iPhonetography in real time follow me on twitter!