Home Grown Soul

Tonight was a wonderful night of low-light photography. This type of photography is very challenging, but if done right can produce some very dramatic and engaging images.

The Home Grown Soul is an event that promotes local singing talent in the Sacramento area. Every Thursday night independent artists come to display their talent on stage in front of a live audience. The event is very mellow and a good place to go to be entertained and maybe have a drink or two.

In lighting situations like this I typically like to use available light. When you use available light the photos seem to come out more true to life. Take a look at these and you will see what I mean...

This is the headliner "Miss MouthPeace"

I love the atmosphere in this one




The guitar player played very well and was very engaged with his music




Here's a pic of the bass player groov'n

One of the better singers of the night (IMHO)




The whole crew on stage

Rumpus in the Rainforest

My oldest son Oliver starred in his first school play today. I had the absolute best time taking photos of the event and watching my son perform. I was really impressed with how well he remembered his lines.

The whole experience for me was very touching. It was touching even more so for the fact that I performed in my first play at the very same age (8yrs old). I play Martin Luther King Jr. in a "I have a Dream" play.

I managed to capture some great pictures that will become priceless in the years to come. I love this boy with all my heart. I am honored to share these with all my friends and family.

Don't ask what those things are on the top of his head because I don't know, but they're cute nonetheless.

Here he is reciting his first lines of the play (and of his life for that matter)

Oliver looking on as one of his good friends gets her mic situated




When Oliver seen me in the crowd he signaled for me to take this pic of him and his bud




I love the expression on this young lady's face. Good times...

Here's some cool scenes from the play...

A Day With Whitlock Entertainment

It was that time again today. It was time to get another round of promo photos for some of the artists under the Whitlock Entertainment umbrella. Earlier in the week we settled on taking an outdoor shot some place in downtown Sacramento. We ended up outside of the US Bank building on 9th and J Streets.

I started out by shooting some photos in dim shaded area supplemented by a little fill flash. The fill was coming from a flash unit placed off camera and through an umbrella. After a while of shooting with this setup I decided to try some photos in the open shade just using natural light.

I was very pleased with the natural light photos and all my favorites were from this natural light setup.


The master mind behind the operation - Mr. Will Whitlock

The lovely Ms. Jackie Bryant

The bass player

The drummer

The Group

J Redd

Today I met a cool cat by the name of J Redd. He is an up and coming singer from the bay area. He has recently relocated to Sacramento and was looking for some photos to use for marketing himself.

J Redd is very cool to work with and willing to try anything when it comes to making a good photo.

Check these out!

I like the mood J pulled of in this one




More mood being displayed here




The red in this one really pops

I saw this background which was the side of a train. I had to get a shot here




Using the same train as background here




This little ledge prooved to be a good spot for photos

Snowboarding at Sugarbowl

Today was a glorious day. It was a day I got to fuse two things I am passionate about into one big set of "Good Times." For the second time this season I was headed to the slopes of Tahoe.

This would be the first time in all the time I have been snowboarding (about 11 years or so) that I would take my camera to try and get some pics. I say try and get some pics because I love boarding so much that I don't how I would like to be hunkered down by a camera.

To avoid carrying so much weight, I decided to take my trusty Sony point and shoot camera. Even though it is a point and shoot camera, it has advanced functions that allow it render some pretty good photos. The other plus to using this camera is that it can record pretty decent video for the web. I gave an example of the video below.

The final synopsis is that it wasn’t too bad. The only thing is that I don't get to many photos because I am too busy trying to ride. As I take the camera with me more and more I will try to incorporate taking more photos to document the event better. I also want to get enough video clips to make a highlight film of my entire season of snowboarding.

Here is a highlight video clip for the day to give you an idea of how nice it was out there along with a few shots I grabbed of the troops.

These were taken at the top of the hill just after lunch






Meet the riders

Remi


Dave


Alonzo (aka Zo)



You'll have to forgive my voice in this video. I had a cold but was still down to hit slopes.

Helping an Old Friend

An old friend of mine gave me a call wanting some information about his newly acquired digital camera. I decided to meet with him downtown to go over some basics of digital photography.

I am really glad that Jaswinder and I hooked up because it by showing how to use his camera it really reminded my how much I love photography. It took me back to a time when I just took photos purely for the love and fun of it. It didn't matter what was on the other side of the lens.

I had a good time today just taking pictures of random things. Here are a few...

We started on K Street - and yes I got the typical IMAX shot




I love the light and detail in this shot




The colors attracted me here




All and all it was another great day of shooting

Little Ms. Olivia

Today I enjoyed tagging along with one of my fellow photography partners Teresa of Teresa K Photography. She was meeting one of her clients and as luck would have it her client brought her beautiful daughter along.

Besides her beautiful name, Olivia had a very nice personality and was a great subject for photos.

Here are some of my favorites of the day

I love the mood of this one




Such the young little model...

I caught this smile at the end of the session

Happy Birthday !!

Every year for the past few years my Grandmother and cousin have been getting together with the family to celebrate their birthdays. Their birthdays are both very close in January. It has always been nice to use this time for all the family to get together and celebrate.

This year we found ourselves at the Claim Jumper restaurant in Roseville. The food at this place is pretty decent and the portions are ginormous.

This was another one of those low light situations so out comes the fast lens along with ISO 3200 and a whole lot of color adjustment throughout the night.




The birthday girl




The birthday boy




This one of my favorites - a picture of me with my wonderful Granny...




Some of my cousins that attended





My baby cousin Justyce in the picture above was so excited to get this badge...



Another one of my baby cousins chill'n with Granny