Orange Couch and America

Messing around with my flash and exploring the lighting possibilities of it with some simple accessories. This was shot using the flash above the camera with aluminum foil wrapped around the flash and shaped into a skinnier, more focus beam of light. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out with such minimal equipment. Might just even use this for a bio picture for my new website that I'm building.

June Gloom

New one for my Water and Light/ Immersion Series (still not set on a title). I haven't really done any black and white for this series but with it being June and the ever present gloomy skies every morning there's not much else you can do. I'm still quite happy with this one no the less.

Nike Lowers Pro

Spent a few days last week making the long walk down to trestles (which is a pain in the ass with a bunch of camera gear I learned) for the Nike Lowers Pro. I went down there intending on documenting the contest for a documentary class at my school to focus on the corporate sponsorship and the recent changes in the surfing industry but it didn't turn out as strong as I thought it could. Maybe I'll focus more on it in the future.

Shooting from the water at Lower Trestles is a lot more difficult than I originally thought it would be. I think next time I go there I'll try to shoot with a longer lens and maybe use a boogie board to sit off the peak and raise my perspective a bit.

Michel Borez boosting on the inside.

Yadin Nicol wrapping one around

Cory Lopez going huge backside

Tanner Guadauskas

Dane Reynolds not looking to pleased to be doing another interview after his heat win

Stress

This is the first photo of a new series im going to be working on for the next month or so. I've recently been going through some rough couple of weeks and plus the added stress of graduating college soon and uncertain plans for the future. I'm actually really happy how this photograph turned out. The lighting is just beautiful in my opinion

Kelsey

Here's a few samples from a sitting I did yesterday with my friend Kelsey, who some may remember from the "Hit Me" series I did a few weeks back. She approached me a few weeks ago to see if I was interested in taking some graduation portraits for her and her family. I was happy to do so because I really wanted to try out my new reflectors. I couldn't find someone to help me out that day so I had some trouble getting the shot and simultaneously hold the reflectors which was quite difficult with how windy it was. It was a lot easier when we went over to the school later. I think they turned out pretty well and I'm excited to incorporate these lighting techniques into my repertoire for the future

Hit Me #2

Hit Me

This is from a dramatic lighting assignment for my studio class. The idea I decided on (or peer pressured into by my great friends) was to take a punch to the face. I came to this idea through a lot of deliberation and self reflection. I am nearing the end of my college days and the real world is fast approaching, therefore my mindset hasn't been the most anxious free. I decided that in order to prepare myself this upcoming challenge and to stay motivated, I had to get over the fear of failure or uncertainty. In order to succeed you have to get over that negativity and believe in your strengths. Allow failure to humble you but don't let it break you. For this photo I willingly allowed my friend to punch me as hard as she could in the face. This is taken about five seconds after the hit. Sure it hurt but its not the end of the world. More photos and video evidence to come soon.