Sweet! I was just accepted into the PPSDC which stands for Professional Photographers of San Diego County, which is the PPA local affiliate for San Diego. And what’s even better is that, due to my website design and development background, they have asked me to be on the Board of Directors as the Marketing and Advertising Director! That means I’ll be in charge of website design and functionality as well as obtaining interest from other to joint the organization.

I’m really looking forward to the opportunities in the group. I’ve already got ideas lined up for the website, and I’m getting excited to network with other wedding photographers.

And for you San Diego photographers out there, if you’d be interested in taking your photography to another level, and surrounding yourself with some really powerful photographers, you should join. It’s only $90/year. And there are a ton of benefits to joining.

I’m such a terrible blogger. The big Pala Casino Bridal Show was this past Sunday, and I’m now just getting to it.I’d like to say it was because I was catching up on sleep, but not really.

It was my first show, and was initially a bit nervous. But my assistant Esther and I ended up having a great time there. We met some very pretty brides to be. And I really felt that we stood out from the rest of the photographers.

We met some really cool vendors as well. Brandy Pellegrino is a Boudoir only photographer, who I had met at the last PPSDC event. She recommended I do the show too. And Phi from Finicky Flowers is a sweetheart, with brilliant floral designs.

I had a free engagement session up for grabs, which I will be announcing this Friday.
And I took a picture of the booth with my iPhone. It’s not the best resolution, but what do you think?

I’ve spent the last few days in a fury of preparing prints, scheduling rental equipment, and general craziness getting ready for the upcoming Pala Casino Bridal expo on Sunday. As I was selecting prints, I came across an image from a wedding I did a few years back here in San Diego for Cameryn & John (above left). It had a great view of the foothills around the Ramona area, but the sky was completely blown out. I thought that it would be a great image if I could do something about the sky.

That’s when I remembered that I had a super intense glowing sunset shot from the same wedding (above right), and if I could get that great image I needed.

So into Photoshop I went. Now, it’s important to know how light works, how it falls off and gets reflected and refracted in the real world. And in this photo I was dealing with a strong directional light from the right, as well as a mountain in the background that fell off due to the strong light as well as some atmospheric haze.
What I did to compensate for that is created a white gradient come up from the mountain and fading into the sky and desaturated the sky so it was not too powerful.

The resulting picture looks very natural, and retains the character of that beautiful afternoon we took those photos. I will also be blowing up this picture to 20″x40″, mounting it on Masonite, and using it in the back of my booth over all the other photos.

If you are up in the Fallbrook area on Sunday, come see me at the Pala Casino at the Bridal show. I am in booth 60 near the Fashion Show. Come say “Hi” and see the above print.

As I had mentioned in my last post, I have moved back to San Diego for good.
I still have to come back for some photoshoots and a weddings I have booked, so I will have a chance to hang out with some of you Austin-ites again.

I just wanted to share a few things

• Why I moved and why it was so sudden
• My journey out to San Diego
• My future here in San Diego as a wedding and portrait photographer

~There are a couple reasons for leaving Austin. I had a chance to take stock in my life, where I wanted it to go, and where I was. The truth is, I was spending my time trying to make money so I could visit back to San Diego more than I was. I was also using a consulting job I had and the economy as an excuse to not move back.
But what I was really hiding to myself was the strong desire to be close to my dear friends, and be able to surf every afternoon I wanted.

And when my divorce to Heather became final on July 15th, there was one less thing keeping me from moving back. From the beginning, I think we were really just trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. It’s very unfortunate and sad. I wasn’t happy trying to fit that mold. Through it, I’ve found a profound respect for honesty with oneself.

And with that honesty, I saw that if I didn’t move back I would only hurt myself more. And that I would constantly be living a life ruled by my circumstances and excuses. So I took back my life two days before I was supposed to leave on vacation. The next day, I started getting things lined up to move out.

~With Austin in the rear view mirror, I set out to climb a mountain. It was a metaphor and an actual physical challenge. A new beginning in life seems like a spiritual and emotional mountain to ascend.
Sierra Blanca is the highest mountain in Southern New Mexico, as well as the Southern U.S. I had first learned about it back in ‘98 or ‘99. But then it was only the backdrop to the Spencer Performing Arts Center in Ruidoso, NM. It was designed by Antoine Predock, who, as a Architecture  student at the time, I had a major crush on. One year on a photo trip through the Southwest, I made sure to include Ruidoso on my itinerary to see the building up close.

Since then I have had an unquenchable desire to climb a mountain. And Sierra Blanca was a good one to start with. 12,000ft, easy trail for most of the way up the 2,500 foot elevation change, a little scrambling before the summit, but nothing technical. So that was the one
I tried on my last trip to San Diego over Christmas, but the mountain was covered in 24″ of fresh powder which denied an attempt at the summit.
But on my way out this last time, I had beautiful conditions. And I did it!

It was the most physically challenging thing I’d ever done in my life. The altitude punished my lungs and consequently my oxygen deprived legs. Even the slightest uphill slopes would have my sucking air. There was a smaller peak to the North of Sierra Blanca called Lookout Peak, and as I rested at the top, and saw my goal in the distance, I knew nothing was going to stop me from achieving what I wanted to that day. The ascent up the saddle was the worst thing I had put my body through, but an hour later as I scrambled over those last few boulders and I walked out 12,000 feet over New Mexico, it was the greatest feeling of accomplishment in my life.

~Taking the metaphor of the mountain to my new beginning here in San Diego, it is very much like looking out at that big peak, knowing that this is something I will do. It will be very tough, starting a business in this economy is a tough prospect. But I know that I am a gifted person, I know that I can provide an amazing service, and I have a tremendous amount of faith that my work will spread and the business will grow. My goal is to become recognized as one of the top 10 wedding photographers in San Diego.

It will be tough, but I am already hot on the path, I have an appointment to be voted into the Professional Photographers of San Diego County which is the local PPA affiliate, and seek out possibly becoming a board member, I am lining myself up for the big bridal shows, and looking for any and every opportunity to promote myself and my photography. My days, inbetween hunting for a real job, has been market research and putting together product offerings. I’ve never been more motivated to make this work.

~Things have been a bit of a whirl wind the past couple weeks.  And, I had a photographer friend from England ask how I continue to photograph people being so expressly happy on their wedding day, while I go through my divorce and a big upheaval in my own life.
It’s quite easy for me actually. I’ve been photographing and surfing since before I was 14 years old. I’m happiest in life when I’m doing one of those two things.
And knowing that we all are not perfect, that we all have some form of crap to deal with in our lives, documenting an occasion when everyone takes a break from that stuff in life, to honor and celebrate two people’s love for one another is just the tops for me. I couldn’t be happier.

…Well maybe if the wedding took place on surfboards.

Wow… It has really been a very eventful couple of weeks.

• My divorce to Heather became finalized on July 15th, which was to be our 2 year anniversary.
• My week long trip to San Diego for my birthday became a moving trip in the Nth hour.
• And on my drive out, I climbed the 12,000 ft Sierra Blanca in New Mexico which turned out to be the most physically challenging thing I have ever done.

And upon arrival, my dear friend, Marne, had arranged for me to photograph two of the most warm spirited and incredible people, as they came together as man and wife during a very intimate ceremony at Swami’s Beach in Encinitas.

Erin and Mike are two of the coolest people I have met. Both incredibly warm souls that wanted most to share their union with their closest friends and family before they moved back to Europe. Their ceremony was led by their yoga instructor, Tim from the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Carlsbad, who spoke about Ashtanga as having eight limbs to master, but in his own philosophy, marriage was like a ninth limb, in that it was above and beyond all that was needed or desired to be achieved during our time on this planet.
The thirty or so witnesses gathered in a semi circle facing the beach, listening to Tim’s delivery in deep thought, and then to Erin and Mike share their vows to each other, with emotion and happiness.

One of my favorite moments of the entire day was after the ceremony, as Erin and Mike walked towards the point alone, I snuck up behind them and popped a couple shots off. It was then that I noticed a tandem surfing couple take off on a wave, and as the man lifted his partner, the significance of man and woman as partners came to life in a visual metaphor right in front of me. The male surfer held his partner at chest height just as she swept her body up into a swan dive position. I grabbed the shot, while the newlyweds in front of me looked on. It was one of those gifts from the higher powers. I’ve included a photo above, if you look at the inset, you can make out the dark figures riding the wave with the woman’s arms and legs pointing up to the line on the horizon.

At the reception Erin and Mike were reunited with everyone to enjoy Peruvian and South American food and wine at Casa Q’ero in Leucadia. The night lasted until 11pm when they cut their vegan carrot cake.

Mike and Erin, thank you for allowing me to share such a beautiful time with you, your family and your friends. Congratulations and I wish you only happiness, strength and flexibility in your journey of the Ninth Limb, aka Marriage.

And a big thanks to Patrick and April at Casa Q’ero for making sure I was fed and hydrated, and to the rest of the staff also, for tolerating me and my camera in the kitchen.