Esalen Institute

I'm off to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA today for a weekend of dancing Gabrielle Roth's 5-Rhythms, soaking in the mineral baths and just hanging out at my favorite place and one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Brain Fog

Sometimes I just don't have anything to write about. It's been a period of rest for me going into and through this holiday weekend. I did revamp my website, check it out and let me know what you think. More additions to come over the next few months. I did a few portrait sesisons over the past week. Here are a few pictures of Chris looking just too cool.




He looks like a total hitman in this picture.

San Francisco Street life

I shot these two pictures last night and thought they were pretty cool.

Valuing Integrity

I was just reading an article about this guy, C.C. Myer, the man who is rebuilding the MacArthur Maze after the fire a few weeks back. He is the one who rebuilt the Santa Monica freeway in record time after the earthquake. It's a great article. The last line is the best though, he says: "It's not the money," Myers said. "It's being proud of what you've done, the enjoyment of being able to show what you can do."

They say about him: "He says what he means, does what he says and will move heaven as well as earth if he has to." That's someone to look up to in my book. When integrity takes a higher president than a fast buck, everyone wins.

Baron's getting nasty

It brings joy to my heart when I see the Warriors living up to their potential. This dunk is just icing on the cake.

Chicago PartnerCon

The past 2 days I've been in Chicago at a Pictage photographic conference. I got to study with the likes of Denis Reggie and Mike Colon. I stayed here with my new friends Dave Wittig and Nancy Beale. We all went out as a group and toured around the city, then had a large group meal together at Cafe Iberico. Here are some pics.

Richard Avedon

Today I went to see an exhibit of Richard Avedon's "In the American West" and another exhibit of Gordon Parks. They were both awesome and very different in their styles. Avedon's stark background created great contrast for the larger than life black and white enlargements and Park's dark and shadowy images added a sense of mystery to his subjects. Both though told the stories of everyday people in their natural glory.

Go Warriors

OK, so I was wrong about the Golden State Warriors this year. In an earlier post I thought that they still did not have a winning mindset but they proved me wrong (thank you) tonight beating the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. Yeah!!

Big Heart

I've been asked what my logo represents to me. Besides the fact that my initials make up the heart (which I think is very cool), my intention is to capture love - expressed in every photo I take - and to do what I do with passion.

A beautiful hike in Wunderlich Park

I went on great hike the other day to Wunderlich Park, my favorite place to hike. Besides the giant stands of redwood trees, the trails were covered with wildflowers.

Rengsdorff House Wedding

Here are some more of my favorite images from the Rengsdorff House wedding. Sorry I didn't get them up sooner then this. Watch the slideshow also.

Photography course

I spent the day today with Curt Littlecott, an award winning photographer from Florida, learning about light, composition and album design. It was very inspiring for me and reminded me of why I am doing what I'm doing; to produce beautiful images for people to look back on to recall a special time in their life. It's important to me to learn as much as I can about the craft I'm doing, especially with the ever changing technology. Of course, the basics sometimes never change.

Fun, fun, fun!

This is one of my favorites from the other day. It shows to me how much fun and joy there was floating around and that what I am all about wanting to capture.

Chris and Lanny's Wedding

Yesterday I had the pleasure of shooting my friend's wedding with my assistant Heather. Chris and Lanny are so photogenic which makes it easy to shoot. It was a very fun time, and it shows on everyones faces. Enjoy the slideshow over to the right of the page. All comments are always welcome.

Blessings,
Michael

New Website

My new website finally launched today. I'll be updating it a lot in the near future, but I'm liking how it looks right now. This Saturaday is Chris and Lanny's big day, what fun it will be. Next week I'll have some great pics of their wedding to post. Stay tuned.

Kayaking in Sausalito

Today, as every Sunday I kayak in the Richardson Bay in Sausalito. Here are some photos showing the houseboats surrounding the bay and the view of San Francisco in the backround as well as the wildlife. To me there's not much better than being out in the water on a beautiful day.

Family Photos

Today in the middle of preparing to launch my new website I did a photo shoot with Chris and her family. We had previously taken some pregnency shots so it was fun to follow it up with these.

A beautiful day in Marin

Here are some photos I captured of Tara on a shoot we did in March.

Portraits

Here are some sweet portraits I shot recently.

Sting yourself

I was dancing this morning in my class in Sausalito and one of the songs that played was Sting's "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free". It got me thinking about how that relates to loving ourselves, and how if we really loved ourselves, we would set ourselves free; to be authentic, to be true, to be ourselves. That's my journey in being a photographer, and in being a human being.

The other great song that played (this will really date me) was Jefferson Airplane's (does anyone remember the Airplane?) "Pretty as You Feel". Another thought provoking yet cliched song.

Spring has sprung

We've been having such great weather out here in northern California. Today I did some major work with some help on my garden. What satisfaction I get from digging and planting. It's the best. I've been spending lots of time lately looking at other wedding photographers websites just to see what they're up to and to get inspiration. Today I spent some time with thebecker.com. [b]ecker's work is just amazing.

It's Me

Here's a picture of me from last year. How different I look from my photo above. We all have different aspects that want to be expressed. How important it is to be true to ourselves, no matter what others think.

Thought of the day

Do what you feel in your heart to be right --- for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. – Eleanor Roosevelt