Family Portrait out in the desert

While out in SoCal I got to meet up with my friend Shaun. We used to ride dirt bikes when he lived here in Colorado. Recently he lost his job with Wagner, his house and got a divorce all in about four months. Hard times for sure.

Shaun moved back to California to help out his dad and while he was out there ran into Kim and her kids. They new each other from way back and have been catching up and spending a lot of time together. It's good seeing Shaun happy again.

They invited me to go dirt bike / ATV riding out in the desert since I was out in Cali and I gladly accepted. I wish Athena could have come but it was to close after surgery and the doctor wouldn't allow it.

We rode all day out in the middle of no where and had a total blast. I got that blue 450cc ATV up to 93 mph top gear wide open at one time. It was so fast!!! Afterwards I asked everyone to get together for a quick photo.

I set up two speed lights about 45 degrees from each other pointing towards the group. Turned them on and BAM BAM BAM off they went right into my face. While I waited for my vision to return I started singing "blinded by the light...."

It seams high powered overhead power lines emit a strong enough signal that they set off my radio triggers. So the flashes kept popping.

What to do? I couldn't move everyone we were on a time limit so I moved the light stands about five feet and they popped off only every once in a while. I could work with that. I just needed one good shot.

All in all I took three shots that day. Two of them were usable. Above is the best one.

Quick night shoot in SoCal

Wow! it's been awhile since I posted anything. Being away from home for a month seriously takes its toll. My lovely wife had her surgery and we were out in California for a month.

I may not of been posting much however I did shoot every chance I got while I was out there. I'll be posting those photos shortly.



Here is our friends Chad and Kym. We hung out with them on afternoon and they told us about this place they go and sit and watch the sun set.



I quickly grabbed my camera bag and away we went. I set up the flash in a softbox on a light stand. The wind was blowing pretty good on top of the hill so I had to have Athena hold it while I shot them. Then Chad or Kym swapped as Athena got a pic with each of them.

Fishing around with B.D. Morrow

I'm not a good fisherman at all. Let me get that out in the open. The last time I went fishing was over twenty years ago and it turned into a really bad experience.



My dad was taking us twin boys up to the lake to spend the day together. I don't remember all the details but I do know that my twin brother Mike & I managed to turn the fishing pole we were sharing into a giant birds nest. Really just the line the rod was fine but we had twenty feet of line in a huge mess. Don't ask!

Needless to say dad wasn't to happy with us and we ended up calling it a day and going home. It's still is sore spot for dad that we never went back out.



Well, I may not be able to throw a rod & reel but I can definitely hook some light. My friend Brian builds his own bamboo fly fishing rods. He actually has quite the setup in his basement. He trained under one of the best in America & has some amazing bamboo rods with all this intricate detail.



Brian needed some product shots for his website so I went over and fished around some lights. We shot some product shoots and then I wanted some action shots of him actually making these works of art.



If you are into fly fishing or not, check out Brian's website for his story and see how much of and artist and a craftsman this guy really is.