This shot was taken less than three hours ago as I went in the water with triathlete Jenn to create an image.  This is exactly what I had in mind  – it only took 100 other frames to nail it.  Out of focus. Or just an arm showing. Or just water.  Or accidentally turning the camera off as a wave hits. Or accidentally hitting the bracket button….Hard Work.  I stood chest deep as Jenn charged back and forth – harder work for her!

Jenn was so happy to be done she was jumping for joy

The Frolic Room – a landmark dive bar in Hollywood near Hollywood and Vine. Right in front of Gary Cooper’s star on the sidewalk.  Charles Bukowski was a regular and it can be seen in the films LA Confidential and The Black Dahlia.  I went in Sunday evening to shoot for an international glossy travel magazine.  Sunday seemed a good choice as it would not be crowded but instead filled with hard-core regulars.  I got lucky as Stänzi Pezét was having fun as I’m sure she always does there, providing some great moments and images along with Joe the bartender and Scott the doorman. Low light is always a challenge – the image on the right was 1/15th @ f/2.8 , 14mm and the D3 at ISO 4000(!). The issue should land in October – some outtakes:

A series from yesterday evening with great clouds that were out of place in our usual summer weather  – Jenn’s a triathlete and training for a 50 mile  ultramarathon. She is also the girl with the peacock feathers in her hair a few posts below.  The unusual clouds brought double rainbows which of course brought dolphins leaping offshore to complete the magic.  High tide at 8PM came right to the bluffs, chasing us off the sand.  Shot with the D3, lit with a Profoto beauty dish from an Acute 600BR pack.

A photograph of Kevin Brown won in the Environmental Portraiture category of PDN’s Faces 2010 competition.  Photo District News is the go-to magazine for pro photographers and industry creatives. This is featured in the July issue. I share the pages with other winners in Celebrity/Editorial, Animals and Self-Portrait categories.

Kevin is situated 2600 feet above the treetops on a multi-day ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.  We had climbed Excalibur, a hard and seldom climbed line that was beating us up with its wide body-width cracks. Near the top we traversed from Excalibur to link up with the Salathe route and finish the final headwall, above which this shot was taken just after sunset.  I’m anchored, leaning way out as far as I can with my feet propped against the outer edge of the red porta-ledge (sleeps 2) to get the full sweep down the face to the trees.

The image is a special one for me as Kevin passed away last fall. An incredible athlete and human being, Kevin had taught me how to climb Big Walls 20 years ago.  Yesterday I took his young son out climbing on local crags in Santa Barbara, just like Dad.

Last weekend was Santa Barbara’s annual Summer Solstice Celebration – this year I thought I would create studio portraits near the start of the parade (last year I shot the event traditionally – here is a story of images of Solstice 2009.) With so many great characters creating and joining the carnival atmosphere it was a visual playground.  With the assistance of the Solstice organizers we used a part of David Shelton’s great metalworking studio right at the start of the parade. With help from Samy’s, Nico and I set up the seamless with two background Profoto heads and a third in an Octabank and welcomed over 100 beautiful individuals over the course of 4 hours before they launched into the parade and festivities.  Here are the Solstice 2010 portraits. Hidden among the portraits are some wider shots of the studio.

Update June 30:

The portrait session is the lead feature of the day in local news Noozhawk.

The Mad Hatter barely fit into the studio, Steele said. When he stood up in his checkered pants, his giant hat was one inch from the tallest beam.

“With so many great characters creating and joining the carnival atmosphere it was a visual playground,” Steele said. “I had so much fun shooting this.”

GEOmini launched last Fall in Germany, part of the venerable GEO brand.  It’s targeted at children, much like “National Geographic Kids” magazine here in the US. The July issue has a four page spread with six images telling the story of young Arjun:

Heute ist ein besonderer Tag….”Today is a special day. Arjun sees the sea for the first time. So much water! Until now, mountains were his world. The seven-years-old comes from Asia – more exactly from the Himalayan mountains, the highest mountains of the world. He was an orphan. Because of that, Erik and Ellen, two Americans became his new family two years ago. Together, they live in Colorado, a state in the western part of the USA. Since then, Arjun’s life has become exciting. His father is a real adventurer. He climbed the highest mountains of the world, he skis and paddles kayaks and he’s flying with paragliders – and all that despite being blind!”

The images were shot last summer out at the Channel Islands. Here is the opening spread of the feature:

The past weeks have been a whirlwind of shoots, inspirations, friends, family…LA, SF, Denver, Boulder, Yosemite.  Images below are from Saturday’s Blue Canyon Trail Race. I pulled in from Yosemite after 10pm, threw the bag on the start line and then woke up to shoot pre-race portraits of the 100km runners at 4am.  The post-race portrait below is of men’s winners Andrew Crenshaw on the right (100km ) and Brooks Williams (50 miler). Looking good despite race temps over 100 degrees!

One of my images was selected and used this week in an email promo sent out by the Editorial Photographers association,  representing 1500 magazine photographers.  The promo went out to 5,000 Photo Editors and Creatives at magazines and ad agencies.

The Santa Barbara Junior High production images can be found at this link here.

100% of proceeds benefit the SB Jr High Theater Dept.

After shooting Karl Rove today I hit the beach with Shane, Rochelle and Nico to log some personal frames and see what we could do with beachballs, paddles and sunshine.  The sunshine came with gusty wind – one of the two beachballs ran away when we turned our backs.