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Greetings from Guatemala!

Helloo!! just a quick post to catch you all up on my coordinates. i'm lovely guatemala this week to 2nd shoot a wedding! i can't tell you how excited i am. i came here about six years ago, and it was probably the first time i really realized how into photography i was. this is so crazy that i get this chance to return to one of my favorite places on earth to shoot a wedding!!

my apologizes to a few of my couples on the delay. i hit some snags before leaving, one being a catostrophic photoshop meltdown followed by fever, chills, and a sore throat.. let me tell you how much i enjoyed flying like this.. ghh.

but.. all better now, and psyched to be here. I'll be back late on the 10th and will be getting back in touch then. hope everyone's having a great week!!

photo workshop roadtrip model shoot sushi fest

i'm not sure where to even start with this one. two of my fave friends and wedding photogs MK and Jaime came into town the day after i got back from WPPI for continued workshopping, shooting and some general talk of taking over the world (or at least both coasts). we also ate a heck of alot of sushi.

we started in the desert (of course) and ended in LA with a few model shoots. i had a blast and i was really sad when i dropped them off at the airport today. but, with the modern marvels of planes and the interweb, look for more collaboration and mayhem in the future.

a field of crazy purple flowers that looked soft and fluffy but really were just painful.

the secret lives of flower underbellies at joshua tree

the salton sea needs to be further explored. this place was eerie and super fascinating. there were trailers and burned out homes and businesses next to inhabited residences. the shot below was from a burned out restaurant in bombay beach. the table is semi-set, looking like it's ready for ghost patrons.

abandoned chair out on mud covered salt flats. we almost lost jaime to the muck.

oh-so-rare self portrait inside superburger. they had veggie burgers. i was amazed.

jaime, checking out a cool abandoned trailer.

random shot of Jason Lopez, an actor in LA. we took tons of photos of him (not hard to do my friends) but i think my fave came after we had finished and were just hanging out.

i have hundreds of photos that will probably never see the light of day, but this really was an amazing amazing trip with two amazing ladies. i'm looking forward to more good times and future endeavors together.

Vegas, Baby!

So Money!

i'm off to vegas for the WPPI convention! please forgive my slow response times for a few days. i don't think there's a square foot in this town free of screaming slot machines and bells and whistles, and for some odd reason it's 40 degrees outside with 30 mph winds.. so phone calls between sessions have been really difficult. i promise to be in touch as soon as i can, and rest assured, i'm learning lots of new things to make your photos even shnazzier!

Cassidy + Sean. Casa de Los Flores, Pauma Valley

i should be sleeping in preparation for the early flight to the WPPI conference tomorrow.. but i couldn't wait to post these! i had SO much fun today. cassidy and sean are so sweet and obviously awesome together. i'm so so so thankful they invited me to be part of this day. it was so intimate, beautiful and just all around wonderful.

so many amazing photos of her, i had no idea which one to post. she just looked awesome.

sean, thinking he had some private time before the ceremony.. i felt a bit like i was spying, but this was just one of the coolest moments of the day watching him prepare himself before the big moment.

the emotions were running so strong! i almost started crying!

i love this shot. this was not a posed portrait. he was patiently waiting for her to remove her vail and rejoin the cupcake party.

the grounds offered endless places to stroll through and shoot. i could've kept them for hours.

the cutting of the cupcake. my favorite quote of the day, not so much of a quote- but it came from sean who was so emotionally choked up it took him a full minute to say thanks to everyone for coming out.

cassidy and sean- you're a sweet and amazing couple. i wish you guys the best! thanks again for having me!!

Road Trip Report #1 - Home from Loma Linda

there wasn't a whole lot photo-worthy from the conference, but it was more about the food than anything. for a vegetarian conference, i'm not sure i ate a single vegetable the whole time i was there. every fake-meat company in the book was on hand to satiate every salami, meatball and meat-on-a-stick need i've had for the past 10 years.

the photo story of the month is of course flowers. however, i took some silly advice to drive up in to the mountains (which were snowcapped) to find the blooms. had i thought about that for two seconds i would have seen the error before coming up on the frozen ground. however, it was gorgeous. and it was an amazing day for a drive. i headed up to lake arrowhead, and then back down the other side of the ridge to silverwood lake, which was absolutely incredible.

reason #59 why california rules. 45 minutes, four wheels and you can end up just about anywhere.

there had been a fire up here as well.

cool light through these creepy trees above silverwood lake

lovely silverwood lake. loved these guys just hanging out and fishing.

i pulled over to take this weird model-like looking train.

i shot this through my windshield straight into the sun (photo lesson #1, this is not the best idea), but again, it's just amazing to me how fast the terrain can change. sometimes i just LOVE driving. i popped in the decemberists, and zoomed back to san diego.

in search of flowers

spring has arrived! the roads along the 5 are on fire! i've never seen anything like it. i grabbed a few unsuspecting friends over the past few days (i think i promised one we were headed to a pool downtown) and scoured the land for flower fields. the weather has been crazy wonderful. i'm also always looking for new places to take couples for photos, so i considered it official serious business.

i hit up a few burn areas where the flowers have just taken over. it's pretty amazing to see this vibrant new growth sprouting up from the destruction.

lake hodges is a great place to see the new life sprouting up from the fires.

kevin in flip flops and swim trunks (i'm not sure he'd have come along had i not promised swimming).

friend and fellow awesome photographer Aaron posing among the flowers. i get so excited when i hang out with other photographers who get as giddy as i do over things like trees that most other people think are dorky.

i've found lots of cool new places. im just sad these flowers aren't going to last. that means i'll just have to get out as much as i can this week to continue my work.