Day 2 in Ireland

I dont have as much time to type text for this entry as I want to, but heres a snapshot of today. Typical downtown streets, these downtown sections are quite small, this is an average town. Very colorful.

And I could not resist snapping one of my beautiful bride. Traveling with her is so easy, she knows how to take care of me and make me comfortable, and vise versa. What a blessing...

These ruins pop up everywhere, they are classic and often unexpected surprises around every bend in the road.

This image below is of the Burren area in western Ireland. A unique formation of flat limetone. I am wishing the surf was bigger, so tempting to go out, but its pretty small and flat. Some locals were sharing that last week, it was 30 feet or so.

This place is amazing, so clean, peaceful and exciting to travel around. every road feels a bit like I'm traveling down a tranquil trail in a Lord of the Rings scene.

Ireland!

I am so stoked to be here, when we arrived we literally "ran into" our new friends, Martina & Andrew, who are getting married in Italy this summer. She met us and took us back to their town where we later went to dinner @ Trim Castle, which you may remember from Braveheart.

The next morning we drove out to the coast, here is a shot of the west coast!

We have seen a lot of this kind of terrain, lush areas on the barren hillside. The old Irish people would take sand, silt & seaweed and haul it up on the hill so they could grow crops and graze animals. I'm thankful I was't an irish lad in those days, for the labor must have taken forever!

The signage is kinda crazy, so we got a little lost, but we saw some amazing back roads and cool country. No matter what way you drive, you cant go more than a couple hours before hitting the coast in any direction, so left or right, you will travel somewhere beautiful.

This is the Tara hill castle, feels like i'm walking around in the 1600s here.

We are now heading south towards County Kern & Iveragh peninsula to the Ring of Kerry.

Airline Loyalty Perks

Feeling like you're home, before you've arrived.

Being loyal does have its perks, here at the Star Alliance Lounge in London Heathrow, food, internet, and spacious couches are free for the taking. I am stoked to fly United and will always be loyal. The small savings I could get by flying the cheapest airlines at the time, is nothing compared to the comforts of using the "Star Alliance" . This is the Diamond Lounge in London Heathrow Airport, where food, drink and internet are free. Its so relaxing, the couches, and peace. I must say this makes layovers quite more enjoyable. And I look forward to travel just that much more.

Dane & Kristin (Part II)

Dane & Kristin us in Pasadena, CA on a warm evening last week. It was such a beautiful day. We headed out and went to a few locations, We ended up starting out the day in the Beautiful Huntington Gardens & Library. From there we went to the Pasadena City Hall. We ended the night over some sushi and good times. It is SO much fun connecting with every couple we meet up with. spending time learning about them, their lives and passions. I believe its what goes on "behind the scenes" to make the photography that much more real. The dinner we treat them to is icing on the cake. So here is the rest of the images from their day.

I love the way light is in the morning and evening, this is the sweet light, and to capture it right takes perfect timing.

Larry & Trudy + San Francisco

Sunday in San Francico, This was an amazing day. We headed up the coast to the city for "tour de San Fran" We hit up 5-6 locations in a limo, so we could relax and maximize shooting, and minimize stress. This was perfect.

Larry has this Harrison Ford attitude and style, and I loved this shot of him.

It was so sweet to see the romance and character they had together. Rachel and I LOVE so much the blessing it is to work with a couple who are so passionate about each other.

At the Palace of fine arts, which is a fav for us, brought us great evening light and it was clear enough to have an empty backgroud. You'd think the park was empty.

Nothing beats a Scomas dinner on the water. That is one of the Best restaurants in the city!

Jose Villa's Sweet Gathering Party...

Jose Villa put on a great party the other day, and he send me a few images from the evening. As I was cleaning up my hard drive, I had these images sitting on my desktop, and I thought I'd post.

Here pictured below are the "san luis obispo crew"
from far left to right, a sweet couple that I didn't catch the name of, Michelle & her husband, Me, Cameron & Anna Ingalls, the Newsoms. What a sweet group of people. Its so great to live by a great bunch of inspiring and friendly group.

Jose has a huge heart and is a great host. Thanks man!

Pasadena (Dane+Kristin)

Ok, I am heading out the door for valentines day, but everyone here at the studio said I HAD to post at least one image, so here are my top 2. I'll put up the other 7 images tomorrow!

Kiss Wedding Books Workshop

Kiss wedding books has a rented Big sweet house in Las Vegas. They have asked me to come speak for a few hours or so on Wednesday the 19th, from 2-5pm. check out their blog with all the info! We will be covering many things, but to give the highlights, we'll be doing a little fashion shoot, and covering some of the biggest trends & important things in the industry right now to help you be a better photographer, and have a better life. I am honored and stoked to be here to share. I'm an open book, come ready to have a good time, share and grow.

Surfing San Onofre on an amazing Summer day!

Dawn Patrol, again, Trying to get every ounce of daylight from these nice summer February days. I love this time. But its what we get for paying to be in California. I don't think I could EVER live anywhere else. Maybe Australia or Oahu, but thats about it. I love this place. I try and get out in the mornings to surf every chance I can get.

This photos is thanks to my buddy Jim Russi over in Oahu

Check out the Surfline link to the break


So get out there, and enjoy this weather. If you are reading this from a cold place, I wish you some warm days ahead.

Trestles Surf Session

This is monday therapy for me, Surfing Trestles at 7am. It was so beautiful out and the water was so nice. This break has been on of my favorites since I first surfed it back in 2001. There is a movement to stop a proposed 241 Toll Road from going in, It lost, thanks to the Cal Coastal Commission. I'm thankful! check out Savetrestles.com This movement inspires me. Change can happen in this country, and I think the people have more power than they think. Here's a sweet image of treslt

ker_trestles_rocks.jpg

Annual Thirst Relief Auction

Thirst Relief is hosting a benefit during the WPPI. Im excited to announce that I’ve been asked to be apart of this very cool mentorship program. This is a great way to have a 1 on 1 session with a photographer you are inspired by while giving back all at the same time.

{Here are the points you need to know}

-The auction will go live on February 9, 2008 at 10 EST. The auction is based on EST.

-The auction will not be visible until Sat. but you can pre-register.

-The bidding will only go on for 3 days, and will end on the 12th, so remember to place your bid.

-The winner will get a chance to have a 90 min. 1 on 1 session at WPPI with the photographer's bid they won. I am giving away a special gift for photographers so check it out on the site!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE AUCTION AND BID!

Sent emails...

Its our way of life, we write hundreds of emails every week, last night i wrote 71 in the last hour before I left work. So far since my birthday on October 8th of 2006, I've written 20,267 emails. Correspondence has risen so much, we are able to stay in touch with a thousand people, yet sometimes its easy for us to be a mile wide and an inch deep. Then there's our spouse/family. I have yielded more joy from ending early and spending more time with my wife than I used to. I know emails are a slight competitor to her at times. We as businessmen, get torn from our passion to stay in touch with our clients, colleagues, and friends. I wonder how many hours those have taken to write, not to mention reading the emails that have been sent to me.

Here is my rough calculation:

(20,000 emails) / (Last 16 months) = 1250 emails a month

(1250 emails a month ) x (Average of 2 minutes to write an email) = 41.6 hours a month/2 hours per working day

(50 hours a month) x (12 months/1 year) = 500 hours or 20 days per year writing emails to people.


I just find this interesting. This year, I have vowed to write at least 10 handwritten letters per month. The fast I type, the worse my handwriting gets, but that all changes this year.

Decide before you have to Decide...

I had to post this one, along with a little bit about life...


We spend some time in the mountains today, taking an easy monday morning start to the week. As I realized after this last trip to the mountains, I was reminded of something:

We often toil and toil after that which we seek after. Spending hours and much effort, thinking, "I'll be done next week", or, "as soon as this project is done, I'll have some free time to make some time". Well, if I have learned anything over the last year, Its that you have to have made the decision before hand, what you will do when the decision time comes. Booking it in the calendar is step one. Things always come up, they always do. But those who make the decisions ahead of time will have no problem WHEN those decisions come up. Making time to relax, spending time with their wife, family, children, friends. I know that there are many things that are going on in my life, but I do know, that when I decide to do something big, every other smaller decision will be already decided. My smaller decisions conform to my Big decisions. They always do. And I have to decide BEFORE its time to decide in the situation. I love getting away. It always ground me.

Yosemite Winter Wonderland

Its 3 am. Time to get up, get packed and ready to go. Rachel, Jon & I head out, sleepy, but excited. We're headed to Yosemite. Making good time, since there is nobody on the road, we make it past fresno in less than 3 hours. Snow is falling at 2800 feet. That is good news! So glad we finally have a 4x4, avoiding chains, and spin outs.

So yea, nuff said, there is TONS of snow up here, more than the likes of which I have not personally every seen. Its great driving and hiking around the valley, checking everything out. Here are some of my fav pix. If you have not ever been to Yosemite in the winter, take the time and MAKE it up here, when it snows, its like no other place in the winter. From the Ahwanhee to Wawona, the waterfalls, cliffs, trees coated with a layer of frosting. Everything is so quiet when it snows here.