I just recently received a phone call from my local paper, The Fresno Bee. The reporter said that he had FOUR assignments over the course of two days and was wondering if I was available for any of them. I didn’t hestitate, I said…

“‘I’ll take them all.”

After four knee surgeries I can’t say that I jumped for joy, but I did trip over the dog while smiling. We all have to do our little parts to keep the world a happy place don’t we?

And speaking of happy places, I found mine in the middle of a high school football field shooting a high school track meet.  I was impressed by how fast some kids ran and how far another group ran, but the group that really caught my eye were the pole vaulters. They’re like watching fearless poetry in motion. They glide down the track and launch themselves into a graceful ballet with gravity.

It was also a technically difficult shoot to pull off with the harsh afternoon sun burning out everything, but if you’re interested, I’ll tell you how I decided to solve the problem after the jump. (Get it, jump? It’s a joke…)

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Ninety percent of the models I work with are a joy.

This picture is dedicated to the other 10%.

If you’re not going to show up to a shoot, don’t get upset when I don’t call you for another session.

If I provide you a dozen processed web-ready & print-ready shots from the 400+ shots from a TFP shoot, please don’t expect 388 more web-ready, print-ready shots. By Monday.

And if you’ve just recently been hospitalized but still show up for the shoot I admire your strength, however, the only look you’re capable of is ‘illness’.  I’m a photographer, not a plastic surgeon.  I’m only willing to do a finite number of hours in post processing.  I’d prefer to invest that much time into a new shoot with you.

Common courtesy and common sense seem not to cross the minds of some women with uncommon beauty.

‘Nuff said.

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Update – I just added a video link to the end of this post! Enjoy!

I had the opportunity to spend a day in one of my favorite places on earth – Monterey, California. Not only is it scenic (as is the whole California coast) but it has a charm about it that is not pretentious. The people are warm, the food is great and the Aquarium is INCREDIBLE!

My buddy Rick and I took out the cameras (Canon 5D and 5D2) and just shot up the town over 24 hours.

There’s not really much of a story to tell except that I got to try out lots of the new features on the 5D2 and that I had a really crazy idea – what would a picture look like if you shot a fish using a fish eye lens?

You can see for yourself after the jump…

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