"Buddy"

What a perfect day for a portrait of our furry, four-legged friend, "Buddy"... Buddy's adopted parents live in NorthBeach, and they wanted to portray Buddy in his element. After several great spots, including the park, walking the cablecar tracks, and running up the near vertical ascent of Taylor street, Buddy seemed most comfortable right at his own front stoop.
I found myself reaching into my bag of tricks to get these RCA-style shots of Buddy... the old "cat sounds" trick works every time.

Little "Elle", cutest baby of 2008 award

We had a wonderful experience with this "little person" portrait. "Elle", and her proud Parents, were all ready to go when we arrived for the portrait. We had yet to meet little Elle, and as we turned the corner into the kitchen, she immediately froze, and just stared at us with her huge blue eyes. "BLUE BERRIES!", I announced!
This would turn out to be, officially, the most photos we have ever taken in a thirty minute portrait! Over 300 RAW images @21 megapixel= over 12 gigabytes! (Any professional photographer with the opportunity to photograph such an adorable baby would understand what we mean!)... Thanks, Michelle and Adam. You are blessed.

Charlotte's imagination

Little Charlotte had no problems having her photo taken, she was so distracted by the flowers, fountains, and little park that we found in Yountville, California. Candice and Seamus (Mom and Dad) weren't even finished fixing their own hair for photos, when I followed Charlotte on her own little adventure. A great little spot for portraits, and a child's imagination were the key ingredients to capturing Charlotte's portrait today.

More press for V Marketplace...

We have more photos in Luxe Life magazine, this time a double page spread for V Marketplace in Yountville, CA.
These were our detail photos from the various Businesses in the Marketplace, including Sisters, Vianett, Tay & Grace, Domain, NorthBay Gallery, Gallery 1870 and V Wine Cellar. The night photo was from our coverage last year of the Yountville Festival of Lights, a favorite day-after-Thanksgiving gathering of Locals for the last decade, where the Holiday Lights are "switched on!"
See you there!

Rippin' it up at BlackBerry's Developer Conference!

I recently experienced a personal flashback!
BlackBerry brought me in to cover their inaugural Developer Conference, and amidst the networking and demos that you might find at most Tech conferences, there was a group of young skate pros "pulling air"!
This was the type of entertainment you might have seen in the late 90's, during the dotcom boom.
These guys were getting agro on a couple of quarter pipes, and putting on a good show!
hey guys, if you happen to catch this post, please forgive my 80's skate lingo... I'm from the San Francisco scene... Thrasher/CBS/fogtown/justin-herman plaza, etc. good times!
Keep it up! don't pose.

Lyndsey & Peter

It is difficult to describe the "Perfect Wedding". There are many reasons why EVERY wedding is perfect, it's a relatively subjective matter, just as there are many ways to look at a beautiful work of art. Weddings are meant to celebrate the beauty of a relationship between two people, and when the relationship is meant-to-be, and when the setting is as equally meant-to-be, the result is usually breathtaking.
Photographing a wedding is a lot like being a guest, you notice what is beautiful to YOU- and you GO AFTER IT. In the case of Lyndsey & Peter, I was very very busy! I soon realized that I was going to be on my feet all day... which is fine, because this was one of the more beautiful relationships and settings that I have seen in a while.
Thank you for inviting me to photograph your day, Lyndsey and Peter, it was BREATHTAKING!

featured ad in Lux Life

We have a few photos in a recent issue of Luxe Life magazine for VMarketplace (announcing Napa Style & Bottega of Michael Chiarello fame), and we hope to see more of our "lifestyle" work this Fall and into 2009.
More to come!

Talk Show Live

Tonight was the final curtain for Talk Show Live, and the feeling was as bittersweet as "bittersweet" gets. This was my sixth show in attendance as "official-unofficial photographer", and just when I was getting into the groove, my good friends Alisa Baker & Kurt Bodden pulled the trap door!  This has been THE quintessential San Francisco Monday night experience, and Kurt's wit and wise cracks will be missed by all who had the opportunity to catch the show! Bravo, Kurt! Brava, Alisa!

TechCrunch wrap up...

The week ends and another round of TechCrunch Winners hits the Marketplace... The conference unveiled an impressive lineup of newcomers. the $50k grand prize went to "Yammer", which is, according to TechCrunch, “Twitter with a business model.”

The Company that seemed to be the overall crowd favorite (and in my opinion should have won) was one of the very last to present, the Company GOODGUIDE, has put together a team of scientists and technologists, and compiled product information from hundreds of sources, that could be used to shed light on the lesser known aspects of products and how they're made...

Founder and CEO Dara O'Rourke's presentation left the crowd of 1500 and four judges on stage in awe, what seemed to be an incredible idea was beginning to sink in with everyone that its time had come, and it appeared that this amazing new company's birth was the "grande finale" of TC50!

Judges Jeff Weiner, Sean Parker, Don Dodge and Loic LeMeur, were duly impressed... Weiner was "blown away" and Parker seemed to freeze during the site navigation demo and literally stare at the presentation monitor.

When asked why this hadn't been done before, O'Rourke remarked they were perhaps the only ones crazy enough to take on the challenge. Everyone in the room was glad that they were crazy enough to try this, as TechCrunch puts it, "this is a company that everyone seemed to agree should just exist".

GoodGuide took 2nd, but left everyone at TC50 feeling that they had just witnessed the launch of a GREAT Company!

Video from the presentation can be found here:
tc50_goodguide_video

TechCrunch 50

I had the opportunity to photograph the TechCrunch Conference 2008 this morning at the San Francisco Design Center Concourse, and was curious to see who the presenters and panelists would turn out to be. The list of Companies for TC50 2008 was released this morning, and has once again created a buzz that the 52 showcased new Companies have basked in but also helped to create.
I recognized a few familiar Tech Industry faces this morning... Chad Hurley of YouTube, Marissa Mayer of Google, and Ron Conway, to name a few. Then there was a surprise (as I'm sure many of the attendees were thinking they were about to be Punk'd!) to see Ashton Kutcher take the stage... Kutcher was co-presenter for his new venture "Blah Girls". Interesting ideas and honest, experienced feedback is what the Conference is all about, and Ashton was not spared any criticism by way of his celebrity status.
After a few conversations with the attendees, I piqued up on some rumors... Companies to watch are "FFWD", "Photrade", and most notably GOODGUIDE.com

More to come!

Family History through Photography

Today was a refreshing reminder that there are people in the world who cherish Family, tradition, and photography!
I was called on to capture a Family portrait in San Francisco... It was a beautiful sunny day in Pacific Heights, and photographing in Alta Plaza Park was a nice, yet haunting feeling for me as it's my old "stomping grounds" from childhood. The park has always been a symbolic landmark in my personal history, and to be capturing a piece of history for someone else in this same spot left me with a nice feeling that lasted through the weekend.
This is the type of work that reminds me that I really love what I do.
Thanks, Karen!

Burgertime!

Today was a "food & wine" assignment in the Napa Valley... This was a 9am marketing shoot for the Pacific Blues Café in Yountville, and the focus was on their lemonade and cheeseburger. This was a serious excercise in restraint for me- I've photographed a lot of food before, but a juicy cheeseburger first thing in the morning was making my stomach growl!
In-n-out is the old standby for me in all cases of burgercraving, but this place makes an amazing burger with blue cheese, avocado and bacon!

Sciandri Family Vineyards 2008 bottling

I'm not sure how much wine actually made it into the capsule for this maiden bottling of Cabernet, but everyone in attendence was certain of two things; this 2006 Cab is going to make for an interesting Thanksgiving, and the two Rons are more excited than kids at Christmas about it!
At least one magnum and one cork didn't make the cut, as winemaker Donald Baker quarantined our photo "props" as evidence... My bad, Don! This was my idea!

World's Best smelling Alley?

Road tripping along the California Coast, looking for that quintessential coastside photo... Who'd have thought we would find ourselves enjoying the smell of an alley!
<Burning our feet at Pismo Beach, CA
>Nose breathing in "Bubblegum Alley", San Luis Obispo, CA

Whole Lotta Love!

Today belonged to Sarah & Hans, and out of 500+ weddings I've seen, theirs was in the top 10 as far as displays of love and support. I felt very fortunate to be part of the experience, and to photograph a wedding that really "feels" good. Most weddings try so hard to "look" good, and the important aspects (sincerety, expressiveness, emotionality... being oneself) seem to fall through or just glance by, and in some unfortunate cases, are avoided entirely... Today was one of those amazing days that reinforced my need for feeling fulfilled in my role as photographer, I really felt like the images I was capturing would be cherished for generations, and hanging in the halls.
Congratulations, Sarah!... Nice catch, Hans!

ABP at VWC, finally!

V Wine Cellar
Yountville, CA

After several Months of image editing, printing, reprinting, framing, canvas stretching... blood, sweat, and beers. We're finally "on the walls".

My current collection of work at the V Wine Cellar is selected from a series of photos taken over three days in September of 2007 in the Stag’s Leap Appellation, from both the Clos Du Val and Regusci Wineries... The "Harvest" Series.

The 12 images displayed are in two different formats, limited edition and numbered silver halide prints which are custom matted and framed, and limited edition canvas fine art prints, which are personally hand-built and numbered.

Working with Scott Lewis and his crew at V has been a pleasure, and their patience with my process (showing up with "one last thing I gotta do" or begging to keep the shop open late) was what really helped tie the entire project together! Thanks guys.

For a preview of the Series at V, just click below (or visit in person and have a glass with Scott):
click here to visit my Harvest Series online gallery

Saluté!

Sciandri Vineyards' winged foot of Nike?

300 meter view of Sciandri Family Vineyards. Notice the shape of the Lake, and back vineyard, taking on the form of the winged foot of Nike... Ok, maybe it's just me?


Wayne Lackey of Wine Country Helicopters took us up for his aerial view of the Napa Valley (thanks, Ron & Roberta!)... Wayne is a shoe in for Napa's most interesting characters top 20 list, and to say he's simply a "tourguide" is an understatement. He's more of a birdman, carefully tucking his mutant wings into the back of his shirt so as not to freak out his passengers.
This photo is not posed in any way, we all figured he was checking for what migratory bird patterns he would need to avoid. That, or he was feeling out wind patterns in order to pull off his signature 2g wine country heli-dive, during which he was sure to yell out his motto "drop altitude - gain airspeed!"
Thanks, Again, Wayne! awesome show.

The middle of nowhere

Day 1 of 4 on a 1000 mile loop through Nevada with CJ and Hoover. A mystery tour through junkyard after junkyard of Reagan-era cars riddled with tightly grouped bullet holes. This is a land of mirages and fast changing weather patterns, where if you're not watching the GPS closely, you'll realize before long that it's a blank screen and you are the little blinking arrow right in the middle of nothing. By the time you realize you've forgotten to record your "out-of-office" message, it's too late... That's when it sinks in that you are truly "off the grid", an addictive feeling once you get used to it.

Bern & Chap

Today was a first for me! Killing time in Napa before a evening Corporate Event shoot in St. Helena, I met a complete stranger in her wedding dress, and convinced her to allow me to photograph her wedding that was to be held in 30 minutes!

I was spending my "time to kill" at the V Wine Cellar, in Yountville, with my good friend, and owner of V, Scott Lewis.  We were carrying on and suddenly a woman approached the counter, wearing a beautiful white dress, and jewelry, asking Scott for a bottle of Tench!

"Bernadette" immediately opened up, and I just had to ask.... It really WAS a wedding dress!

Scott asked if she had a photographer, and she looked at me and asked "Let me guess.. you're a photographer?"

One thing led to the next, and after a very special 20 minute ceremony at Tench, Bern & Chap were married, WITH photos and a friend in California!