Naomi + Ali::Pious

For those of you who aren't familiar to the word "pious" in an eastern philosophical tradition it means to show one's parents great honor and respect. In fact in Confucious teachings the term "filial piety" is a cornerstone principle. Last night's wedding in which I was asked to be a 2nd shooter for my good friend and uber talented photographer Luke Snyder both Naomi and Ali displayed great filial piety in three different traditional ceremonies: Persian, Western and Chinese Tea ceremonies. Ali, being Persian had his father conduct the Persian ceremony. Naomi who is half caucasian and half Chinese had her father conduct the Western ceremony. If you've ever seen an Chinese tea ceremony the bride and the groom kneel before both sets of parents as a sign of respect. The entire day was amazing as was all three ceremonies. I was touched as I had to hold back tears during the tea ceremony.

Enough with the sappy stuff. Check out the images from last night's incredible wedding for yourself.

Patty + Jose::Warmth

Words cannot even begin to describe the overwhelming warmth I felt the entire time shooting Patty and Jose's beautiful wedding this past weekend in Fresno. As you guys might remember we had an awesome and visually stunning engagement session back in March. When driving to the home of Patty's parents in the small town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada's right outside of King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks I immediately felt a sense of warmth. And no, I don't mean the triple digit weather conditions in the Central Valley. There's just a charm about the rural farm lands of the Golden State that brings such a feeling of peace and clarity. The warmth of love was ever so evident in the Patty's home where she and her family grew up in as soon as I walked in the door.

Their beautiful ceremony held at St. Rita's Catholic church in Tuluare was beautiful and sweet, and from there we headed to Fresno for an amazing and incredible night of celebration. I'm truly blessed and honored to have such wonderful clients and friends in Patty and Jose. Thanks for having me!

Now for a few goodies:





















Mr. Torres, Patty's father is an amazing, good hearted man. I LOVE his expression seeing his baby girl in her wedding dress.




































Mr. Torres again. He was crying almost the entire duration of the father-daughter dance.


Young patron waiting his turn during the money dance.

2009 OFASS:: 19 Days Around the World

I'm so blessed to have this opportunity to do two things I'm passionate about: Teaching and Photography.

As many of you might know I pushed really hard for donations for this year's Oakland Fine Art Summer School program in which I am teaching photography. The first two days has went well, though most of it is going over rules and how to handle the cameras. Yesterday (day 2) I brought in the gear (2 of my own cameras, 2 donated cameras, and 3 in which I purchased out of my own pocket) and had the students play around and get familiar to the equipment.


Last year since the kids were using all my gear I had no chance to document the entire process. This year, I've made sure that I have my camera so that I may show everyone the journey we are taking during these next 4 weeks.

Here are some shots from my camera.

A couple of my students from last year. This girl in particular, Kijika (dreded hair) told me last year at the end of the program that she wants to be a photographer when she grows up. I was very touched by that.








This student isn't in my classes in particular but I liked his hair so I took a photo.


These girls are not in my class as well, but I thought they were adorable w/ their glasses.


That's my D300 w/ my 60mm AF-S lens. Don't worry, I taught them well how to handle the cameras. On top of that this student was from last year so he knows very well how to handle the gear.


I thought the expression on this student's face was priceless.


Thanks everyone. If you or if you know someone who would like to donate printing services please do contact me directly.

My New Assistant::All the ladies love him

Ladies, eat your heart out. If you'd like to have a chance to meet my new assistant, you'd have to hire me first.

Here he is helping out on a photo shoot today.