Kellie

Here are a few shots of a beautiful young lady.  Her name is Kellie. We shot these in between rain showers on Tuesday Oct. 5.
Kellie has a very interesting story to tell.  I'll be sharing this with you soon, but for now, here's a look at Kellie!

Karl Grobl: Humanitarian Photojournalist

Have you ever wanted to see some of the most exotic places on Earth? Go to these far off lands to experience the people, their culture, their world,  and take some great photos along the way?
Absolutely!  you say.  But where to go?  Where to stay?  How and where to shoot?
The answer to all these questions is Karl Grobl!
Karl Grobl is an award winning humanitarian photojournalist.  He has worked in over 50 countries in the past ten years.  His work has appeared in numerous publications including Newsweek, CNN, and Town and Country.
Karl specializes in photographic documentation of relief efforts and development work of NGO's (non governmental organizations) worldwide.  There's a good chance that when you see an image of the 2004 indian ocean tsunami, or photos of peace-building efforts in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and East Timor, that you are looking at a Karl Grobl image!
In addition to working with NGO's, Karl teaches photography workshops and leads international photography tours.  Take a look at Karl's amazing body of work @ www.karlgrobl.com.

I have been following Karl's work for about two years now.  I don't think I need to tell you that I am a fan of his work.  I recently got the chance to meet Karl.  Here is a photo of us.

 Karl is the good looking guy on the right :) !

After meeting Karl, I knew right away why he is so successful at what he does.  He has a true passion and deep understanding of the many people and cultures of the world.  Combine this passion with his strong artistic ability as a photographer, and you begin to understand who he is and why his images are able to tell such compelling stories. 

To say that I had a great time talking with Karl would be an understatement!

Take a look at Karl's work.  Better yet, sign up for one of his workshops or tours!  www.karlgrobl.com

Off Camera Flash

The great thing about SLR cameras is the flexibility to do so many different things in terms of lighting, interchangeable lenses, etc.
Beautiful natural light is the best.  But, as we all know, often the light outdoors is just not the light you were hoping for.  It's either too bright, too many shadows, not bright enough, the list goes on.  The cool thing about getting the flash off camera is that you can simulate exactly the lighting scenario you want.
In this family portrait below, the sun was still pretty high in the sky casting shadows and causing the background to be too bright.  I under exposed the overall scene by 1.3 stops to darken the background and bring in detail.  Then I increased the output of the flash by about 1 stop to get back the light I lost by under exposing the whole scene.  The result is an image that looks more like it was shot at sunset, not mid day.

            

In this example I used Nikon's CLS system with a SU800 commander mounted on my D3.  Only one SB900 flash was used camera right.  I used a 1/2 CTO (color temperature orange) filter on the flash to warm up the image as bit.
If you have never tried off camera flash, give it a try.

The Power of Black & White

We all see the world in color.  But there are times when B&W better captures your subjects feeling and mood.

Master Guitarist

David Jerome

David Jerome is an amazing Guitar player!  I had the good fortune to meet David last week.

Here I am talking with David.  Not only is is a great musician, he's a real nice guy too!  You can see that I have two CD's in my hand.  I bought both for only $10 each!  My wife and I have listened to both CD's a few times already.   Wonderful and refreshing music!

If you like great Guitar music, or just good music in general, check out David's website:

Jeromeguitar.com 

Yes, Music Allowed!

We went to see the "Dennis Jones Band" last night at Dos Lagos. While, as you can see from the picture below, there are a few things you can't do at Dos Lagos, music is definitely allowed!

This band was great!  Awesome blues and Jazz.  Dennis Jones can really play that guitar!

Dos Lagos is having free concerts on Friday and Saturday nights form 7 pm - 9 pm.  Located just off of the 15 fwy about 7 miles south of the 91.  It's worth the drive.

Had to get a B & W in here.  The sound man checks "the sound"

South Coast Winery

We are members of SCW.  A few days ago we went to pick-up our membership wine.
South Coast Winery is located in Temecula California.  SCW was voted best overall winery in California for 2008 & 2009.
The vines are full with grapes right now.  Grapes will soon be harvested to make wine.  If you get the chance, Temecula wine country is worth the drive!
Here are a few photos of the grapes:

We also did some wine tasting.  A must when you go to a winery.