Hornet Lunar Eclipse
If you live in North America, you may have missed the total lunar eclipse last weekend. The eclipse was visible throughout the rest of the world and it was also the longest total eclipse of the century. Six months ago, my children and I viewed a total lunar eclipse near our Bay Area home. We […]
Songs for California
“I’m out to sing the songs that will prove to you that this is your world, no matter what color, what size you are, or how you were built.” Woody Guthrie Yesterday I drove to the Central Valley to photograph the Fresno County Blossom Trail. I wanted to reconnect with the part of myself that […]
Spring Forward Part 1 – Art of Gaman Continued
It is a few minutes past midnight on Sunday March 9, 2014. I have just returned home from Fresno County and I decided to post my photos from my last Fresno County visit. I wanted to post while it was still International Women’s Day, because this story reveals something unexpected about the struggle for liberty. […]
Sharing Valentine’s Day with Steinbeck
A journey is a person in itself… We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. – John Steinbeck Sometimes I have to let go. Too much happened in February. I want to understand it and explain all of it. Now. I want to explain one February […]
National Walk for Epilepsy
Dorothy Gale! This morning when I woke up in my own bed, I finally had an explanation to my recent eight day odyssey. I had survived three (?) Emerald Cities in eight days. I photographed two epilepsy awareness walks (Here are photos from yesterday’s National Walk for Epilepsy). My adventure included lions and super shuttles […]
Theme Songs for a Simple Life or Bad Funeral
I visited the San Joaquin Valley twice in March to photograph the Fresno Country Blossom Trail and surrounding area. Compare my photos from the first visit and the second visit. During the drive to and through the valley, I reflected on ”being from the Valley” while listening to the radio. On my first visit, a local radio […]
Talking to Derby Girls about Joan Jett
Last weekend, I took my new derby persona, P Giddy, on the road to Santa Cruz. I also took my family. We live about 2 hours from Santa Cruz, and my persona did not adjust until I walked into the new Kaiser Permanente without the kids … and Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation played. If P […]
Country Roads Take Me Home
Lately, I have wondered if God were my D.J. At the exact moment I need to hear a song, Pandora, Whole Foods, or some random person selects the song with the appropriate message. During the last two weeks, I have heard John Denver’s Country Road two times. I am not from West Virginia, yet the […]
Fresno High School Senate 2012 Stogie Bowl
The Fresno High School Senate was established in 1890. Until the 1970’s, the club only admitted boys. (There was an equivalent for girls during part of the first 80 years, but the club is so old, American women did not have a Constitutional right to vote when the Fresno High Senate started. ) We’re talking […]
Every Convention Tells a Story – JEA San Antonio
True story: While I was preparing for my final presentation, a sales person approached me in my hotel lobby. The woman wanted to sell me something similar to a timeshare, “but it was not a timeshare.” I stopped preparing my presentation while my tea finished steeping. She continued asking me questions loud enough so that […]
Sundial Bridge
A year ago today, my family returned from Redding, California before our kids began school. My younger child was beginning kindergarten and my daughter was starting second grade. I am posting these photos from the Sundial Bridge at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park. I have learned that when I am in the middle of processing […]
Napa Valley Oxbow Public Market
Napa seems far away from Oakland. Napa Valley is not really part of the Bay Area, but Napa is closer to Oakland than other Bay Area cities. If traffic is light, I can make it to Napa in about an hour. On Friday, I went to Napa to spend the night with my wife. We […]
On a Mission to Santa Barbara
I attended UCSB and lived in Santa Barbara for twelve years. Two weeks ago, I returned with my daughter to meet many of my good friends. I wanted her to meet the people who shaped me and to learn how to create community. We visited my old school and my old church. My daughter met […]
Vapiano Restaurant – Washington DC
About three years ago, I changed my diet. I forgot how much I enjoyed restaurants until my recent visit to Washington, D.C. when I ate at Vapiano three times. The last two times I photographed the chefs. [photoshelter-gallery g_id=’G0000njDWkFVpkmc’ g_name=’Vapiano’ f_show_caption=’t’ f_show_slidenum=’t’ img_title=’iptct’ pho_credit=’iptc’ f_link=’t’ f_enable_embed_btn=’t’ f_send_to_friend_btn=’t’ f_fullscreen=’t’ f_bbar=’t’ f_htmllinks=’t’ f_mtrx=’t’ fsvis=’f’ width=’590′ height=’393′ bgcolor=’#AAAAAA’ btype=’old’ bcolor=’#CCCCCC’ […]
Live Music with the Wil Gravatt Band
One month ago, I traveled to Washington DC for the National Walk for Epilepsy. The night I arrived, the Wil Gravatt Band was performing downtown at the Hill Country Boot Bar. Wil Gravatt operates Wil Gravatt Entertainment when he is not performing. Wil also helps my friend Chad Barth organize the Concert for Epilepsy. [photoshelter-gallery g_id=’G0000jK1hyrA.Uok’ g_name=’Wil-Gravatt-Hill-Country-DC’ f_show_caption=’t’ […]
Distracted Drivers Vigil
I live in Oakland, California. Depending on traffic, Oakland is about thirty minutes from Concord, California. On Saturday April 7, I was listening to the news when I heard that a Concord family was beginning a horrible journey that started when a teenager lost control of his Cadillac Escalade. The father, Solaiman Nuri, had taken his […]
Student Journalism on the Edge
Student press supporters often claim that students “do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” At a recent national journalism education conference, I noticed a different version of this quote. Outside the schoolhose gate, students express themselves too. [photoshelter-img width=’590′ height=’413′ i_id=’I0000mQ7qAY_byQI’ buy=’1′] Fourteen year old Malcolm […]
Portfolio Presentation at National Convention
At the 2012 JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention, Mark Murray and I presented a photography portfolio workshop. We have presented thirteen portfolio workshops at the last twelve JEA/NSPA national conferences starting in Nashville, Tennessee. (We have also presented at other conferences separately.) At last year’s Anaheim convention, we presented with Jim McNay. Jim is an influential photojournalism educator who helped […]
2012 National Walk for Epilepsy
The Epilepsy Foundation of America organized the Sixth Annual National Walk for Epilepsy on March 31, 2012 in Washington, D.C.
Penn Station Baltimore Maryland
Just as I am about to lose faith, I meet someone like Tyrone. I am in the Washington, D.C. Metro area for the 2012 National Walk for Epilepsy. Yesterday, I flew into Baltimore Washington International Airport. I spent the night in Baltimore and took the MARC train this morning from Baltimore’s Penn Station to Union Station. Since I visited […]
Snowboarding at China Peak
Children learn how to snowboard and ski at China Peak snow resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Snowy Days at Shaver Lake
Do you believe digital photography is easier than film photography? What makes digital easier? Digital cameras store information that many photographers would write in a notebook or on the back of printed photos. The shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO information is stored automatically. The above photo is mostly about shutter speed. After taking photographs for […]
Stout Maksimowicz Wedding Day Portrait Session
NOTE: These photos were updated on 12/12/12, primarily because of site changes that a viewer can’t see. All of these were outtakes from the wedding of Courtney Stout and Nick Maksimowicz on December 10, 2012. Last weekend, I photographed the Carmel Valley, California wedding of Courtney Stout and Nick Maksimowicz. I also photographed their rehearsal and portrait […]
Pigasus Horse Riding Ranch
When my wife and I drove up to the Pigasus Horse Ranch for our children’s riding lesson, I asked my wife if she had ever wanted to ride horses as a kid. I was surprised by her response. “Of course, every girl wants a pony.” [photoshelter-gallery g_id=’G00007PYgcQI5aac’ g_name=’Pigasus-Horse-Ranch’ f_show_caption=’t’ f_show_slidenum=’t’ img_title=’iptct’ pho_credit=’iptc’ f_link=’t’ f_enable_embed_btn=’t’ f_send_to_friend_btn=’t’ […]