Sacramento Elk's Tower Ballroom Shoot

I attended this dance workshop shoot organized by Mark behrens  at the Sacramento Elk's Ballroom. There were a variety of proffessional & semi-pro dancers from Ballet to Jazz and Hip Hop. This was my first time shooting dancers on this level. Great shoot! I had a good time shooting and  meetting some of the photographers. Talented group of younG ladies that were fun to shoot!

Check out the behind the scenes video to the shoot! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eOHKjmIfbQ

Also see link to my photos from the shoot!

http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/elks_ballroom

Sutro Bath steel wool spinning

Well I had been wanting to try this for a while now. We went out to Sutro baths and Bill, Don and I had our cameras setup on the  tripods. I am spinning in the photo above on Ocean Beach right below the cliffhouse. I had Bill hit the remote on my camera and this is what I got.

This is a shot of me at the entrance of the cave at Sutro baths. I can't wait to go out and try it again!

See more light painting here!

http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/light_paint

New camera 5D Mark III

I finally broke down and bought the 5D Mark III after using the 40D for the past 5 years. This was one of the first photos taken with it. I was able to test out the in camera multiple exposure mode here. I could not get the headlights and tail lights in a single exposure so I took advantage of the Canon 5D III multiple exposure mode. This photo was taken in Sacramento right by the Embassy suites hotel. So far I am happy with the results of this camera!

Mare Island light painting

Went to Mare Island to do some light painting. We found these old Abandon Barracks. It was spooky inside. There was broken glass and holes in the floor, you have to watch every step you take because you could easily fall into one of the holes that was in the floor. I like the way the colors glowed off the walls and floors.

In this photo I used a flash light with a red gel to paint the front, Don Taylor was upstairs with the flash using it to light up the upstairs and Bill was spinning the light making an Orb. We had a full moon so it helpd to light up the side of the building.

See more light painting here!http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/light_paint

Enchanted Brides

Here are a couple of shots I took at a photo shoot at Empire Mine park in grass valley. Nice place for a model shoot lots of photo ops.

See more photos here!
http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/enchanted_brides

Fourth of July fun

These are shots of me and my son playing around with fireworks. I used a Tripod with remote trigger. Camera settings were f8 25s iso 100. We used sparklers to get this effect. I was practicing with the sparklers for an up comming experiment I have been wanting to try.

Urban Nighttime and Glam in Old Sacramento

Shot these model in Old Sacramento at a Capitol City shooters meetup. I used a shoot thru umbrella with a 580ex ll on a light stand. Some shots I used a grid on and 580ex ll and another 580ex without a diffuser. I am still doing at least one portrait style meetup a month. It is helping me to use  and understand my lighting equipment. Hoping it will pay off in the long run. The models were dressed in Hollywood glam dresses. They were easy to work with and knew how to pose with little instructions.

See more photos here! http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/urbanshhot

Hedge Creek Falls

This is Hedge Creek falls in Dunsmuir, Ca. A small waterfall about 30Ft. in height, but I like the thin flow of water. Short easy hike ! I did not notice this girl was in the photo until I downloaded my photos to my computer. I like shooting the thin waterfalls, the exposure is asy to control. This was shot in June, if you want to shoot it in the morning make sure you are there before 11 a.m. because the sun starts hitting it around that time.

Lombard St. from a different perspective

This shot of Lombard Street was taken from the bottom looking up about a 1/2 a mile away. I did not notice the two people standing at the top unitl I viewed the photo on my computer screen. This was a 94 second exposure. Shooting from this distance you need a clear windless night. I was happy with my results!

Abandon House Light Painting

After shooting the full moon last night we decided to stick around and do some light painting. This old abandon houe is in Woodland, Ca. right off of highway 16. The light from the full moon helped to light the sky and clouds, which made for a nice sky. We are learning more about light painting evry time we go out now. To get the vibrant colors we would keep the light source in the same area for a longer time. This was shot at 10mm on a Canon 40D for 140 seconds.  Using flash light with colored gels. Inside the doorway I had my canon 580ex 11 flash set to fire with a remote trigger.

This was another two & a half minute exposure. I like this perspective with the sky. With the long exposure it's hard to tell that it'seleven oclock at night. Well I cant wait to find a new location to do more light painting!

Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary Celebration

Well we drove from Sacramento to the Marinheadlands to photography the Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary celebration which ended with a fireworks show. This was one of the best fireworks displays I had ever seen! We arrived at Marinheadlands around 4:00p.m. We decided we wanted to shoot the fireworks from a perspective above the bridge. We parked on Mccullough Rd at the start of the coastal trail. We were able to find a spot right at the trail head. (Pays to be early). We hiked up and checked out a few other views. Then we hiked up the trail just shy of the Waldo tunnel. The sun was shining bright but it was really windy and cold. It was still three hours before the firworks were going to start. We took a break and had some water and snacks. I hiked over across the top of the tuneel to check out another perspective. I also took a few shots. Well when I got back it still was 45 minutes before  the fireworks  were going to start. We could see the southbound ltraffic slowing because everyone was trying to get into the Marinheadlands for a parking spot. Well the fireworks started and the wind had died down quite a bit. I started shooting and  adjusting my exposure every minute or so to adjust for the diffrent burst. I was happy with my results!

This was the view point were we shot from. You can see the tail lights of the traffic and if you look closely you can see the blue like of a motorcycle cop zigzagging controlling the traffic. This was a 67 second exposure.

Another shot of the fireworks lighting up the bay!

http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/golden_gate_75_years_old  See more of my shots here

http://www.pbase.com/billphoto/golden_gate_anniversary  Bill Taylor's Gallery!

http://www.pbase.com/donphotos/_golden_gate_bridge_75th_anniversary_celebration__
Don Taylor's gallery!




Video will start automatically.
Check out this video produce by Michael Coleman - www.colemanfilm.com 


Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary Fireworks Celebration from KFOG Radio 104.5/97.7 on Vimeo.
The Golden Gate Bridge's 75th anniversary was a spectacular waterfront festival! Thank you to everyone who joined us on Sunday, May 27, and to all our partners who helped make the day a memorable one!

Event Production by Foghorn Creative - www.foghorncreative.com
Video Produced by Michael Coleman - www.colemanfilm.com
Audio Produced By Chuck Smith, Creative Director/KFOG and Lance Tipton
Fireworks by Pyro Spectaculars North www.pyrospectaculars.com
Lighting by Lightswitch www.lightswitch.net
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy - www.parksconservancy.org

Eagles Falls

We left Sacramento at 2:30A.M. to catch the sunrise at Eagle Falls. I was amazed that there was no wind and the temperature was 51 degrees at 4:00 a.m. We hiked down to the top of the falls right from the road. Easy hike (the kind I like). We had a few clouds but it was not the dramatic sky I was hoping for. I would like to go back maybe earlier in the spring when there is more water and possbly some snow.

 I stayed until the sun made it over the mountain top. I was about to put my camera away and decided to shoot the falls with this couple in it. They were shooting from a nice poitn of view also. This is a blend of three shots. I thought it looked better than the single shot. I enjoy shooting a nice water fall with a good background or fourground!

Glam Xtreme Photo Shoot

I attended a photo shoot with the Glam Xtreme group. One of my photography goals this year is to attend at least one portrait/workshop per month this year. I would like to become as proficient with my portrait photography as I am with my landscapes & cityscape. Attending these workshops will help me achieve this goal! This shot is identical twins Sabrina & Sara.  They were fun to shoot! see more from the shoot here. http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/glamxtreme

Curvy Lombard St

This was my second time going to Lombard St. to shoot the trails from the cars tail light. I shot the trails a couple of years ago, but from a diffrent perspective. This time I wanted to shoot from the top of Lombard and Hyde. To get this berspective I had to lift my camera and tripod up on the 3 foot brick wall. Although it was not a clear night I was happy with the light trails I captured. This was a 30 second exposure, it was perfect to catch the tail lights. These type of exposures are my favorites to capture.

California State Fair Exhibit

I was happy to here that my photo of one of the rides at the California state fair was selected for exhibit during the California State Fair. I named the photo "State Fair Midway" The exhibition will  run from July 12  to July 29.

Golden Gate Super Moon

Super Moon beneath the Gate!

Truck passing in front of the Super Moon!

Shot the Super moon from Kirby Cove with photographers Bill Taylor & Ken Morgan.

We hiked down to Kirby, since it was a madhouse up in the Marinheadlands. Our intent was to

shoot with a  big zoom lens to get a big moon. There were other photographers at Kirby Cove, but we were able to get just about any spot we wanted.

See more here http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/golden_gate_bridge

Temple of poi 2012

I attended the Temple of Poi 2012 Sunset shoot at the San Francisco Civic. It was a fun but short shoot.The security officer only allowed the photographers to shoot at the Civic center for a little more than a hour. Well we broke up into several groups and started shooting. There were lots of photographers but I think we all were able to get some good shots. This is a shoot of two of the fire dancers spinning. Shooting fire dancers is a challenge because you have to use a long exposuers and they are also moving. You have to get a exposure short enough to get a sharp photo and long enough expose to for the fire also. With enough practice it can be achieved. see more about Temple of Poi here with owner Isa Glittergirl  http://templeofpoi.wordpress.com/

Here is another shot of dancer Kandice Korves- Kaus
see my shots from the Temple of Poi 2012 shoot at the Civic center http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/temple_of_poi_2012

Point Reyes Light Painting

We went out to this old boat in Inverness, Ca. It has been docked there at the Tamales Bay for quite some time. We wanted to shoot the boat at dusk using gels to light up the inside, we set up our camera's on the tripods and used remote triggers to fire our strobes that we set up in the boat. Thanks to Bill Taylor and Don Taylor for  helping setup this shot.  See photos below.

 The man that bulit this boat was named

Merrel S. Rocca Sr.  I found this on a blog from photographer  Julia Wahl

Here is a little history about the boat from his daughter.

"My name is Sandra Racine. This is my father's boat. He built this boat in 1951. His name was Merrel S. Rocca Sr. I think it's amazing how everyone likes's to take pictures of my father's boat. He is long deceased now, almost twenty-one year's. He was a commercial fisherman and I fished with him often. Certain things bother me whenever I see the boat because I knew he was very particular on keeping looking well maintained. My father came a a long line of fisherman and he was born in our house in Marshall. Thanks, Sandra Rocca Racine"

see Julia Wahl's photos here http://www.panoramio.com/user/100907?with_photo_id=2867741

This was shot at sunset! You can see the light from the gel cover flashes we had set up in the boat. We all felt like we had a productive night especially after getting home and seeing our results on our big monitors.

Here is another shot after sunset. One strobe inside the boat and a we used a gel covered flashlight to paint the ouside of the boat. We shot this during a low tide other wise you would have to wade through a few feet of water to get to the boat.

See my light painting gallery  http://www.pbase.com/cdsims/light_paint
See Bill Taylor's light painting gallery  http://www.pbase.com/billphoto/light_painting
See Don Taylor's  gallery http://www.pbase.com/donphotos/northern_california

Finding the light

Good tutorial on using natrual light

10 of my many Favorites from 2011

These are not in any particular order, but they are some of my favorites of 2011!

This is Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park in Washington.

I was on a eight day photo trip with a couple of my friends. We hiked down to the beach and waited until sunset to captured this shot. Lots of nice beaches in the state of Washington!

I did some product shoots for Lisa Scarr. She is the owner of bagsulove.com. She sell good quaility purses. She wanted to to do some single shot product shots and also some shots with a lifesize Mannequin to showcase her purses. This was a diffrent type of shoot for me, but was a great learning expirence for me. See her web site http://www.bagsulove.com/

This is a shot of Seattle's skyline. It was taken from Kerry Park on a beautiful August night. The  conditions were perfect, clear, no wind or pollution. There were lots of other people taking pictures also, but we arrived early to get a good spot.

This is a shot of my grandkids during the Christmas holidays. They did very good during this session. They listened really good and I just  kind of let them pose on theire own and hit the shutter. Used 3 AB800's, one for the background, one meduim softbox to the left and one large soft box right center. This was a fun shoot!

Shot at Rancho Seco former nuclear power plant. Used a two minute exposure and my friend Bill Taylor drove his car up the hiil and came back down with the only his parking likes on. I love photgraphing anything with motion, streaks and light!

Shot of Sol Duc Fall in Olympic Nation Park. This was a easy  one mile walk from the parking lot. We arrived at the falls around 8:30 in the morning, just when the sun was at the right angle. I shot a few perspectives and you can see my friend Bill Taylor on the bridge in the background. These falls are worth the visit.

Baybridge shot from the overlook. When we first arrived at this spot it was dark and the fog did not look very thick, but as dawn rolled around the fog also rolled in. Setup my camera on the tripod and exposed this shot for 15 seconds. I was happy with the outcome and I think the fog added a nice mood to this shot.

Family shot I took of the Tu family on a 100 degree day at William Land Park. Although it was hot it was a fun shoot. There is a lot of nice choice's for a portait shoot within the park.

Shot of Imperial Beach Pier in Imperial Beach, Ca. There was a beauitiful sunset on Imperial Beach and I am glad I drove out to the beach that day on a recent stay in San Diego. I like when being patients pays off!

The Astoria Bridge spans the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. This shot was taken from the Oregon side. My friend Bill Taylor scouted this location out weeks before we made the trip to Oregon. This was the last day of our Washington and Oregon photo trip. This is a long bridge and there were not very many cars crossing the bridge so I had to use a 90 second exposure to get the car streaks to show up across the entire bridge.

RT #51

This is a shot of the Tower Theatre in Sacramento. While taking this shot an RT bus stopped  for the redlight. This photo was selected for the April exhibition at Beatnik studios , the theme is  “Tower and the Broadway Icons”.  On Friday, March 30, Beatnik Studios will celebrate a new exhibition of original artwork inspired by the Tower Theater and other icons of the Broadway Corridor. I am honored  Beatnik studios selected my photo for the exhibition!

Wedding workshop

I attended a wedding workshop last weekend with the Northern California portrait photographers meet up group. This was my first time attending this type of workshop. I learn a little bit more about preparing to be wedding photographers. I also learned a couple of interesting lighting tips. See the link to view some of the photos that were taken by members of the group.

http://www.meetup.com/Northern-California-Portrait-Photographers/photos/all_photos/?photoAlbumId=6935632

Devil's Falls

Took a drive to Colfax to see Devil's Falls since we had a few days of rain the falls were running good. Devil's Falls is right off the road, you can see the falls from your car. Lots of other falls to see along the way on Yankee Jims Road.

Directions from Sacramento, take I-80 north towards Reno. Take the Canyon Way exit or the Colfax/Grass Valley exit and turn right on Canyon Way. Approximately 2 miles down, turn left on Yankee Jim Road. From there, the falls are about 5 miles further in. The road start out paved then it turns to a dirt road.

Alcatraz

Well I finally made it out to Alcatraz for the first time. We caught the 9:00 a.m. ferry from Pier33. There were lots of people on the island, but I was able to shoot without any problem. You just have to be patient! Seeing it in person gives you a diffrent perspective. You kind of get a feel of how it may have been to be a prisioner on Alcatraz. This is a shot of one of the solitary confinement cell's aka "the hole" I used a off camera flash with a gel light red gel to get the color. I want to go back to Alcatraz again on one of the night tours.

See more Alcatraz shots here

Tower Bridge & moon set

I got up early on a cold January morning to capture the full moon setting over the Sacramento  tower bridge. I met my photog buddy Bill Taylor in the parking lot in front of the State Capitol. We sat in the car wating for the moon to get low enough to include the bridge in the shot.  Time is very limited when shooting the moon. I did capture a couple of shots with the moon centered right over the tower, but this was my favorite. I had to set my tripod up in the middle of the street. I had to hurry because the car was headed right towards. I did have enough time to get my shot and get out of the path of the car!

See more Sacramento night shots here

Bliss Dance

I spent several  hours on two trips to Treasure Island to shoot the Bliss Dance Statue. You can shoot this from a variety of perspectives to make the statue look like it's changing poses.  Late afternoon , early evening into the night is a great time to shoot. At dusk the lights come on and the colors changed every couple of minutes. You can also get the San Francisco skyline and the Baybridge in the background also.  Check it oot on your way to or from San Francisco while crossing the Baybridge. Take the Treasure island exit!

See more from my Bliss Dance gallery here

Palace of the Fine Arts

This was a cold windless  early morning shot of Palace of the fine arts in San Francisco. The drive from Sacramento was woth it, I was happy with my results!
See more San Francisco night shots here