Lunch with the Fellas from Work

My buddies treated me to a tasty pizza lunch for my birthday!  Thanks, homeys!

A very tasty pizza

Sunday Turns Rainy

Today started off with beautiful sunny weather.  It was warm and the surf was fun.  Nate and I spent a couple hours at Uncle Shoe Dogg’s pad to watch the Vikings obliterate the Dallas Cowboys.  It wasn’t a great game, but it was cool to watch Brett Favre playing so well.

As the day went on, clouds started coming in and we started to get the rain that we had been promised by the weather forecast.  We went indoors for the birthday of one of Nate’s classmates.  After a couple hours of running around we finally drove home and we’ve called it a day.

Although I don’t do it often, I enjoy taking photographs in the rain (especially at night) because the wet ground reflects all of the lights in a particular scene.  The next several days are supposed to be rainy so maybe I’ll get some cool shots and post.

My Wingnose Fin

Nate's Toy BMX Bike

Running around the Party

My First Project 365

Yesterday, I had read a blog post about doing a Project 365 and thought that it would be a good idea to start my own 365.  Basically, I will be shooting and uploading at least one image everyday for 365 days until my next birthday.  I love shooting portraits, but if I’m not working on a project then sometimes my camera can sit for days.  I figure that my 365 will get me shooting things that I might not normally be inclined to shoot and hopefully I’ll get some interesting images along the way.

Since I made the decision to start the project yesterday, my birthday post is actually the first post in my 365.  This is my second.  I’m only now getting around to write about the fact that I’ll be shooting and uploading everyday.  Since my job requires me to travel sometimes, I’ll probably be uploading some images that I’ve taken with my iPhone, but at least it will be an image.

Fun Morning at the Beach

My Son, Nathan, at Ronnie's Diner

Sky at the Pie 'n' Burger in Pasadena

Birthday Post

Today is my birthday.  I turned 39.

My lovely wife invited my high school buddies over to the house for a surprise birthday party.  After dinner and some games on the Wii, we went to some of the local joints in Westchester.  First to Lei Aloha.  This place is open at 6AM (like the Cozy) and has a very Cozy vibe except there is no shuffleboard and there are no Sony employees or LMU co-eds.

Three Kings

The Lovely Lei Aloha Bar

How did they know it was my birthday?!

Then to the Beacon.  I had always wanted to check this place out.  Met some cool people and had a great time!

The Beacon

The Beacon

DJ at the Beacon

Pinball Action

Where's Waldo?

Wave Dave

This is a portrait I took of Wave Dave, an El Porto surfer, standing next to his old Ranchero after a session at El Porto.  He is a super nice guy, but he’ll never admit to it.  He can get a bit grumpy about the crowds, but he does it in a way that makes you smile.  And he likes to wear his surf trunks over his wetsuit.  Gotta love Wave Dave.

Wave Dave

Sand Dunes in Death Valley

Just a few weeks after my wife became pregnant with our son, we took a photography trip with some friends up to Death Valley.  It is one of our favorite camping destinations.  We wanted to get some pictures of the dunes without any footprints so we decided to park pretty far from the normal parking spot for accessing the dunes.  The dunes looked like they were about a 5 minute walk from the car.  It took us over 30 minutes to arrive at the dunes!

We kept shooting until the sun went over the mountains, but by the time we got back to the car, the sky was almost pitch black.

This shot was taken with a Hasselblad using an 80mm lens.

Sand Dunes