Playing around with my camera, again.

Got a call the other day from make-up artist pal Cathy Highland asking me if I could "swing by" and take some photos.


Styling by Kelvin Seah, Hair by Will Carillo, Model Veronica Taylor from LA Models

Too soon to talk about Spring?

Fully Released Stock Photos available for Use Licence:

Old Fashion Frontier Hold-up or, The Bad Kids from Bodie

It's not hard to act out a Ghost Town Hold Up with your own kids when visiting the old mining town of  Bodie.
Stock Photo Image available for use license:

Just a Bucket of Bolts - Stock Photo For Sale

Stock photo image of a bucket of old rusty nuts and bolts in an old coffee can...
Plenty of room at the top of this vertical aligned image for copy text.

Acer Circinatum - Oregon Vine Maple

Some fall colors on the Vine Maple - Stock Image available for immediate license and download.  Pay for usage via Paypal.

Libby Riddles - The first Woman to Win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race

Winter 1980 - I had been working as a cook for a geophysical research crew out on the ice of the Beaufort Sea and

I think my schedule was something like 6 weeks on and one week off.  It was a fascinating experience full of

24 hour daylight, single engine airplanes on ski's and 60 degree below zero wind chill's.

I was just getting into photography at that time and was reading a lot about it and experimenting and taking lots of

pictures. I was also writing away for information from Brooks Institute and Art Center College of Design,

hoping eventually to pursue photography as a career ;-0

One of my breaks coinsided with the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race that year and it happens that I was

spending my week off with a friend who lived in Wasilla.  So, on the day of the start we decided to go and watch.

I had a new Canon AE-1 35mm camera and was excited to play around with the concept of "panning".

That's where you use a slowish shutter speed and pan or "follow" a moving subject with your camera.

When you get it right, this creates a sharp subject with a movement blur in the background.

The sled dog race was perfect for trying this out! So there I was panning away as the race contestants came swooshing by.

It just so happened that while panning, I got a pretty clear shot of Libby Riddles as she went by.

1980 was her first Iditarod race and in 1985 she was the first woman to win.

Unemployment Hits 10.2 Percent! Got Fired? or Got Hired?

Stock Photo Image available for immediate license and download - fully model released. 
Got Fired?



Got Hired?

Kids on Cellphones - Stock Photo Images Available

There's a lot of talk out there about what age kids should be allowed to carry and use a cell phone.  These Stock Photos are fully model released and available for immediate license and download.  Just click on an image to purchase.  White background, clean studio box light.  Two heads on the background and one key box light above camera.  Fill card front, center and angled up under the chin - filling shadows.

Charlize Theron for Guess Handbags - 1994

I had been shooting for Guess Jeans since about 1985. Parties, Fashion Shows, Lookbooks, The Guess Journal
as well as photo projects and catalogs for the various Guess licensee's.
This shoot was originally meant to be a handbags product shoot but Paul Marciano's office called me at the last minute
and asked me to find and shoot with a model as well.
This was great news! I would much rather shoot the handbags with a model!
So I called around to the model agencies I knew and managed to pull in a quick favor.
I also grabbed some of my favorite crew including Lisa Ruckh - Hair & Make-up and then wardrobe stylist Teness who 
has since become an outstanding photographer.
We had no idea what the model looked like. All I knew was that I had told the booker that this was a shoot for Guess
and that we needed someone spectacular and new. New is right! 
I think Charlize was about 18 when I took these photos.
Charlize was perfect! So beautiful and such a natural. Her attitude and posing was spot on for each idea and I could
not stop shooting. Thank you Charlize!
We shot in my old studio in East LA. Mostly natural light or single strobe bare-bulb bounce fill. 35mm and 120 Kodak 
Tri-x film. Canon T-90 and Hasselblad cameras.

Old German Handwerck Doll

Stock Photo Image of an Old Heinrich Handwerck Doll in a Cardboard box all in pieces. 

Boo! Happy Halloween Everyone!

Stock Photo Image of a young Boy with Joker Make-up on, getting ready for school. Fully model released.

Feeling Frisky?

Being silly with a wide angle lens after shooting actor headshots.

Fully Released Stock Photo Image ready for Immediate License and Download.

Canon FD 28mm f/2.8 Lens

Veteran Cowboy Actor Peter Breck

This photo was taken with a home made light box and hot lights on an old home movie light bank (3 - 200 watt lights I think).  
The light box was made from wood slats and a piece of white scrim material over the front.
I took this photograph of Peter in '81 I think. 
I was taking acting class from him at the time (to meet girls).  
I had an interest in photography during that time as well and Peter encouraged me to begin taking pictures of the other students in class.  
If there is a person for whom I could blame as being responsible for my initial inspiration in pursuing photography as a career, it would be Peter Breck & his wife Diane.

A More Recent Photo I took of Peter Breck
Peter Breck's Personal Website
Peter Breck on Wikipedia

Happiness is Black Lingerie

This photo was shot on medium format transparency film with a Hasselblad camera.
The lighting was a mixture of available window light and strobe fill.  
April was a natural and did a great job with her expression and body language.
We shot most of the day and got many different wonderful images. More to come.
Fully Released Stock Photo available for immediate license and download. Many variations available.

Going to Work at 30 below in the Artic Winter

A Catskinner runs through blowing snow and sunshine to get into the cab of his D7 Caterpillar Tractor. 
While working out on the ice of the Beaufort Sea you will experience some wild weather.  
Here, the wind is blowing along the surface of the ice, picking up snow and ice particles on its way.
Just 10 ft above the apparent "storm" the sky is clear and blue.
This is a common weather phenomenon out on the ice, north of the coast of Alaska.
Stock Photo Image available for immediate license and download.

Geophysical Research Camp is Safely Moved over Crack in Sea Ice

After building a snow bridge to disperse weight, housing and equipment trailers are towed safely over a crack in the sea ice. Geophysical crews work during the arctic winter when they can travel out onto the ice of the Beafort Sea, north of the coast of Alaska. This photo was taken in 1980 on Harrison Bay, west of Prudhoe Bay and the oil town of Deadhorse. A D7 Caterpillar tractor moves trailers, which are on Ski's.

In the winter of 1980 and '81 I worked as camp cook for a catering company serving Geophysical Research Crews collecting data in the oil fields near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I was responsible for the diet and nutrition of appx. 45 men for up to 2 months at a time.

Should Your Baby get the H1N1 Swine Flu Shot?

There's a lot of information out there about whether your kids should be vaccinated.  
Fully Released Stock Image of Mother holding her Baby while the Baby is being Injected.
Available for Immediate Download. Pay via Paypal.

Okay! Now give me your "Serious" Look?

Gotta love shooting kids! - Fully Released Stock Photo Available for Immediate License and Download.
This was photographed on a white background, 3 lights. 2 bare bulb heads behind onto the background and one box key light from camera.  This image has been knocked-out to a clean white.  Variations available!

Tomboy, Pigtails, Fitness and Dance

This is a Fully Released Rights Managed Stock Photograph of a Dancer in Torn Jeans.
This looks like it was shot in the sun but I used one "bare bulb" strobe to capture this photograph.
Notice the hard shadow against the wall just like you would see if this were shot outside in the sun.
The shadows are nicely filled because the room has white walls and a white ceiling which allowed the light to bounce all over. No fill or bounce cards needed!

Residential Location Film Production - Stock Photo Image

Night filming with camera operator sitting on a boom.
The West Adams area of Los Angeles, California is popular with Film Production companies 
because most of the old homes have large, interconnected rooms, tall ceilings and pocket doors.

Below is a photo of the same home circa 1904-05: