Wildflower Triathlon 2013

Sports Photography

The Wildflower Triathlon is one of my favorite events to travel to each year. It is a 2-day festival on remote Lake San Antonio with camping onsite and thousands of participants competing in half Ironman (70.3), Mountain Bike Triathlon, and Olympic distance triathlon. This year had extreme contrasts in weather from Saturday to Sunday with temperatures in the 90’s on Saturday and the a sprinkling of rain with temperatures in the 60’s on Sunday.











World Triathlon San Diego

Sports Photography

There are eight events that comprise the World Triathlon Series and San Diego marks the second stop of the tour. The full event spans several days and includes individual races for Elite Men and Elite Women – but between those two Pro races, an amateur “Age Group” race takes place on the same course. The age group race kicks off shortly after sunrise and the starts are staggered so it can be difficult to tell “who won” the race until results from each of the categories come in. But ultimately most of the athletes are racing against the clock and themselves, so the ability to compete on the exact same course as the best in the world is a great thrill on its own.


Cute Doggies

San Diego Family Photography

The flowers behind my place are in full bloom right now – so I am thrilled to have a few photo sessions lined up to take advantage. These nasturtiums grow under a beautiful canopy of mulberries creating a magical lighting scenario for photography. I was lucky enough to photograph Melissa and her adorable dogs once before… and they behaved very well for me once again today.














Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2013

Sports Photography

Today I was out at Camp Pendleton for my third mud run of the season. The races are a ton of fun to spectate but they are a little rough on me and my gear. Take today for example… in that first picture it would not immediately come to mind – but every drop of dirt and sweat that might come off the athletes on this obstacle is going to land directly on me and my camera (yuck!!). At location #2 it might not be hard to imagine how I might end up a bit messy :). But in any case – when you are hard at work, you soon forget about the little things (like someone else’s sweat dripping on your face) and it is not hard at all to get caught up in the excitement of a fun event like this. For now… I have a while before I need to consider whether I want to subject myself to something like this again next year!!



La Jolla Engagement Photos

Engagements

I almost always get to do some location scouting – even if it is just a google search for other photographs or a street view. But heading into this engagement photo session I was flying completely blind. We were meeting in the middle of an upscale neighborhood in La Jolla near a small trail that accessed the ocean (at low tide). The funny thing about last Saturday is that the tide was high and so was the surf. We ended up on just a small cliff about 30 feet above the water, and with the high surf I still managed to got soaked in the first 10 minutes of being on location. Still, the conditions were great for taking pictures and these guys were super photogenic. And not only did the beach location work out well… I may have discovered my favorite stair case in San Diego only about 200 yards from our beach trail.









Superstition Mountain

San Diego Weddings

When Fallyn first called me to tell me she wanted me to be her wedding photographer… and that the wedding was “out in the desert” I knew I was in for a treat. Of course – what inspired me to leave my SUV at home in favor of the hybrid sedan is another matter all together (but I still managed to show up early). This wedding fulfilled all expectations with an absolutely stunning location and a beautiful wedding with good friends and family. Not even the 95 degree heat could put a damper on this spectacular celebration.







































Unexpected Turns

News & Updates, San Diego Weddings

I am lucky to have a great job that I love to do and I’m pretty good at it. But sometimes I am reminded how important it can be to people as well. I know that I am not saving lives or curing cancer… but preserving memories in creative/artistic captures can be incredibly important in the most unexpected ways on occasion. I was reminded of that again this morning when I received an email from a very recent wedding client (in the past few months) that their mother had passed away – and that I may have some of the last photos ever taken of her. I am currently looking through my original batch of files for anything that I can share to help create a memorial book for the family.

The Not Wedding with Exquisite Weddings

San Diego Weddings

My friends at Exquisite Wedding Magazine asked me to come out to The Not Wedding hosted at The New Children’s Museum downtown 2 nights ago. This event hosted a “mock wedding” combined with a small bridal show offering a chance for engaged couples to get a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at a wedding – and also a chance to meet some wonderful vendors. My duties at this event were a bit more relaxed than most of the other people involved – I simply had a chance to photograph the guests as they arrived.