Scenes from a Catholic Baptism

Last week, my wife and I photographed a Catholic Baptism in Riverside.

It's no secret that Catholic churches are among the most beautiful of any denomination.

The ceremony was equally beautiful and wonderful!

Here are just few photos I wanted to share with you:

Handsome Shawn and his Mommy

Baby Jack

Church members that passed away in 2010.  Our dear friend Amber is shown in the very center.

Catholic Church in Riverside Ca.

Think for the camera

Last week-end we photographed a wonderful Catholic Baptism in a beautiful Church in Riverside California.

The interior of this Church was quite dark with most of the light coming from the stained glass windows and a few small lights hanging from the ceiling.

The first picture shown here was shot at f5.6, 1/60 @ ISO 5600 on my D3.  It's a decent image that shows lots of details about the interior of the Church.  But with all that detail, the exposure completely missed the true mood and feeling that was present.  The camera did exactly what it was designed to do, give an average exposure.  The camera did not know that the interior of this church needed to be underexposed to give the correct mood.

In this photo, I underexposed the ambient light by two stops and used a touch of fill light to properly expose the priest.  There was an amber warming filter on my flash to keep the color temperature close to that of the warm ambient light.  To me, this image is much more interesting to look at.  Sometimes less is more!

Money Rocks

Here are a couple of photos I took while on assignment in San Diego.
I came across this man at Seaport Village, who has found a very creative way to make money.  He balances rocks!  That's it.  Using rocks that are already there, he balances rocks using in "his words",  "NO glue, magnets, gimmicks or gum!"

I took a look in that DONATIONS bucket and there was quite a bit of cash in here!  

This guy could care less whether  a Republican, Democrat, independent, or whatever is in office!  He'll keep stacking his rocks and making money.  If the rocks suddenly disappear, I'm sure he would quickly find another creative way to make it!
I think most of us could learn something from this man who stacks rocks for money!

Candid Portrait

When we think of a portrait, we normally think of picture that is static by nature.  Posed, and choreographed from start to finish.

Here is a portrait I took of a mom and her son.  This image was captured without the mom being aware of my intentions.

I feel that the genuine emotion and love she has for her son shines through.  Getting the same emotion from a completely posed portrait would be very difficult to capture.
Next time you are taking pictures, look for that special moment in between what's expected.  Quite often that is where the magic lies!

Tahquiz Rock

Here are two photos of Tahquiz Rock also known as "Lily Rock".
This rock sits above the town of Idyllwild at an elevation of 8000 feet.  It's a very popular rock climbing spot, but don't even think about it unless you are advanced.

The two pictures I took shown here were taken from the exact same vantage point at different times of the day.

The image shown here was take around mid day.  The colors here are accurate but flat.

Here is the same image as it catches the golden rays of the setting sun!  Now this simple photograph start to show interest.

This is the GOLDEN HOUR!  The last hour or so before the sun sets into the horizon.  This is a wonderful time to take pictures!  No harsh shadows to deal with, and the light from the sun is soft and warm (as in color temperature).

This is my favorite time of day to shoot!  

The early morning hours just after sunrise are also very nice.  The difference is that shadows cast tend to take on a cooler (bluer) tone.

Next time you're out with your camera, keep the "golden hour" in mind.  I think you'll like the results!

2011 Leukemia Cup Regatta

A few days ago I posted pictures we took of Kellie for her profile photo honoring her as the 2011 honored Skipper!
Please read Kellie's amazing story below and visit this link and join the fight against blood cancers.
leukemiacup.org/ocie


2011 Honored Skipper: Kellie Canaday

As a participant in the Leukemia Cup Regatta, you will be raising funds in honor of Kellie Canaday, our 2011 Honored Skipper. In addition to Kellie, you are encouraged to raise funds in honor of your personal honorees. Your time and efforts will help Kellie and thousands of children and adults in their fight against blood cancers.

My name is Kellie; I am a college student at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, California and I hope to transfer to Loma Linda University sometime next year. I have always heard stories about people with cancer and I have always thought "Oh, how sad for them and their family" but I never thought that it would happen to me and my family. Then in 2005, on the day after Thanksgiving, I went into urgent care, covered in bruises and very weak. After several blood tests and a few long hours that felt like days I was told I had Leukemia; Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) to be exact. I knew in that moment that my life would change forever. I was no longer able to go to school, go out with friends or even go out of my room without a facemask and an i.v pole.

No longer worried about what was happening on Friday night I was more concerned with when my next round of chemo would start and how I was going to ask my sisters to help me shave my head. I convinced my doctors to let me go home on Christmas Eve so that I could spend, what might possibly have been my last, Christmas with my family. Fortunately, I had great doctors and lots of support from my family and friends to keep fighting. My family constantly referred to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s website for information and answers to their questions which helped them maintain a positive outlook, even on the worst days.

Again, trying to convince my sister to come to the hospital and shave my head was one of the hardest conversations I have ever had; that is something that just shouldn’t have to happen. The only thing harder than that was watching my mom try not to cry the first time she saw me with no hair at all. I could see it was breaking her heart and yet she still tried to be strong. She made sure to tell me that even though I was bald she still thought I was beautiful.

There was only one day while I was in the hospital when my white blood cell counts were high enough to be able to see my niece and nephew. When my then 8-year-old nephew said to me "Wow, Auntie Kellie you look like Stone Cold Steve Austin!" I knew then that I needed to get better. I did not want him growing up remembering me like that.

I am now 25 years old and only a few months from my 5th year in remission, which marks a cure! I love getting to spend time with my family and my nephew even wrote an essay for school on how curing cancer can make the world a better place because he doesn’t want anyone to go through what he saw with me. Now I am focusing my energy on going back to school and becoming an Oncology RN so that I can help other people during their fight with cancer. In my spare time I volunteer with LLS so that we can fund new research and hopefully find a cure for blood cancers!

Beautiful Fall Colors

Fall is one of our favorite seasons in California!
Perfect weather as the leaves start to fall from trees in beautiful colors that say Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

Take a look at this beautiful photo my wife took while visiting Idyllwild.

This image is straight out of the camera with no edits.  

f 5.3 @ 1/320 sec.  ISO 1600 

Fall is the perfect time to get out there and take pictures!  So grab your cameras and find those incredible fall colors before they disappear again.