The two hour drive East from Panama City, to the Darién gap, with my Sister's husband, Juan.

Juan is in the exotic hardwood business, and he's brought me along to experience a day-in-the-life of a Tree Farmer. We set off at 6AM to visit his Teak Farm, meet the indigenous peoples, sample the road-side fare, and time permitting search for wild cacao.

Rule #1, bring your passport. Colombia borders Panama to the East, and so it goes without saying that being an American, traveling with my Canadian brother-in-law and his Mexican associate, we were going to be spending some time being profiled at checkpoints.

Rule #2, bring your camera.

Rule #3, drink water.

One of the many decorated commuter buses.. Panama's version of the "art car".. This one dedicated to "El Patron".

Juan sees the Forest for the Teak

Hitching a ride behind a Toyota "HiLux".. the breeze feels great.

A herd of Brahman going against traffic

A local deep in the forest with his pets

Children of the Forest

We witness a spider wrap a cricket in a matter of seconds

Juan shows me the seed pod of the Panama Tree. The National Tree of Panama.

We ask a Village girl to climb a tree in search of Cacao pods

Juan prepares to catch falling children

Success!

Sonoma Spring time

If you've spent enough time living in, or visiting Sonoma, then you'll recognize the view from Napa Road on your way in to town. I felt it was worth stopping last night for a quick sunset landscape photo.. the "driveway" to Gundlach Bundschu makes for an amazing backdrop to a late Spring sunset. Taken from the "SCRIBE" outlet. Thanks, folks!

San Francisco turns green!

We were approached by the Ireland Office of Tourism last week to photograph Coit Tower and City Hall in San Francisco, both lighted green for St. Patrick's Day. This was a great opportunity to capture a view that has never been seen.. Coit Tower was glowing bright green and was a sight to behold, and Photographed!

This panoramic image was captured from the top of Green Street with a 5dmk2 at 100mm, stitching together 8 vertical photos.

City Hall was equally as impressive. The entire building was lighted green and created an eery glow in the rain.

For more info about the "Greening" project, click here

Amazing Venues...

What an amazing Month, October, and what a busy Summer and Fall season it has been for us!

Some incredible California Venues, from our list of recent corporate events, that we find worth mentioning...

The Pavilion at Vintage Estate... the combination of perfect weather, a relaxed (and thoroughly wine-soaked) group of folks visiting from the East Coast... enjoying dinner on the Pavilion's lawn. This spot is perfectly located in the Napa Valley and has seen a boost of vitality over the last Year... This spot will alwaysbe tops on my list for favorite places to photograph.




The Rubicon Estate
Talk about history, talk about character, this place breathes Old World.. The staircase is worth the visit in and of itself.

The Montecito experience! Variety magazine...

Thanks to all of our Clients and Friends of the Business who have asked about our Blog update, and thanks for your patience! It's been an incredibly busy, and enjoyable Spring and Summer Season, and a personal record for miles logged in the air and on the road.

Among many recent assignments, we most recently have been published in Variety magazine for a private client who is listing their home in Montecito, CA (Santa Barbara).

This project lasted for a few weeks, and after many patient hours of waiting for the Marine layer to clear, we were able to cover this amazing property from every angle.



This property sits right on the Pacific Ocean, and is the quintessential "California" experience... literally just sitting at the beach front seawall and listening to the waves creates a vibe that you can't find anywhere else! This property was a challenge to photograph in that the feeling you get being there is very tough to show in photos.

This image was recorded as a wide-angle panorama, and covers a view of approximately 220degrees.


For more photos of the property, and for information, please visit www.montecitoparadise.com

An Irishman's Birthday Poster design

I was recently commissioned to design a poster for a friend's Birthday (gone unnamed)... Little did I know it would turn into a nine-hour photoshop intensive assignment.
I was approached by a local cadre of Irish SF Socialites, all mutual friends of the birthday boy, who wanted to commemorate the special occasion with a limited edition of posters given to party guests. Easy, I thought.
Well, the design request called for "a fighting leprechaun dressed in a green tuxedo, conjured into reality by the birthday boy through a psychedelic array of flashbulbs and sparks in a fantastic character-come-to-life comic book cover look and feel".

I've had numerous request to share the design online.... Here it is! whew!

Note: all images used were sourced from an iphone camera. Yah! seriously.

Sense Yountville 2010

SENSE Yountville 2010, the quintessential event showcasing the amazing food and wine in Yountville, and this time the first weekend of May (normally reserved for The Kentucky Derby) has been indelibly marked on the calendar of events in the Napa Valley... photographer's note: I've made the Yountville scene as a local/photographer for the last 20 years, and I have never seen a celebration like this!
The stars have aligned for the Town of Yountville over the last year, and Sense Yountville has officially made its mark. This is not to be missed in 2011!


Grilled Morel mushroom, skillfully prepared by Sean O'Toole, head chef at Bardessono







THE Bob Hurley in his "perenniallyartfuloffering" of Wild Boar... This is one of many dishes that Bob has mastered and I will always set my camera down for!



Paul Jeanty serving up a pork loin topped with foie gras, designed to knock your derby hat off...