Create the light you want

I'm a huge fan of shooting in green, dusty canyons. And I'm a huge fan of shooting with my friend, Sarah, who's effortlessly at home in front of a camera. And I'm a huge, huge fan of backlighting with the setting sun. But sometimes, the sun's already set, so you need to play tricks and have a flash stand in for the sun.

Four great moments

I had a great time this afternoon meeting up with Tim and Jen to capture some engagement images, and I'm super stoked for their outdoor wedding next month. I've got plenty of great stuff to work through, but these four were initial favorites.

Voices raised as one

"Fight, fight until the end."

The voices of many, echoing in a canyon of concrete, glass and steel. Protesters crowded outside the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles this afternoon, demanding Turkey finally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Old and young, crying out for justice.

Have you passed through this night?

One of the great things about working in journalism is getting to meet interesting people and hear (and share) their stories. Last week, I had the honor of interviewing Renee Firestone, a Holocaust survivor who has remained tireless in sharing her story and raising awareness of ongoing oppression in the world. You can read that story here. When it came to shoot her portrait, I was working quickly, and wanted to keep the composition simple, a bit somber and with a bit of shadow. 

The moon is down.

Our lives are frequently marked by the unexpected.

Coming home on a Saturday night, I didn't know that within half an hour I'd be on dark desert roads headed to Las Vegas.

My friend hadn't known until that afternoon that his father was lying in a Nevada hospital bed, body wracked with cancer.

It must've been sometime around 2 a.m. when we got there. The halls of the ICU were hushed, dimly lit and smelling faintly of the chemical smell all hospitals have. Joseph went in to spend some time at his father's bedside while we waited down the hall. At one point, he text-messaged me, asking me to take a photo. 

It's one thing to shoot these kinds of images for a news story, when there's a certain divide between you and the story. It's another when it's of a close friend, sitting there watching a machine keep his father alive. 

And frankly, as powerful as I find this image, I wouldn't have posted it unless Joseph had asked me to, after his father passed this week.

A sunset kind of love

They were high school sweethearts. Now he's a Marine, and for months she's been waiting for his return from Afghanistan. Now, they're reunited as they prepare for a July wedding celebration.

Yesterday, I had a blast spending time with Julie and Tyler, capturing images of them around Edmonds. You two are great, and I can't wait for July 3 to roll around.

Love Theme Intro

So, these happened on Sunday. (And there's a lot more to work through.)