Dawn to Dusk

Mono Lake is a large lake in Central California. It is believed to have been formed some 760,000 years ago. Because there are no outlets, there is a high salt content in the water. The lake is known for its unusual rock formations (Tufas). Tufas are formed from a chemical reaction between calcium and carbonates in the water. They grew under the water, but are visible because the lake levels have dramatically decreased over the years. I captured the images below in 2011 and the interesting thing is that they were captured in the morning and evening of the same day.

Captured on Fuji Velvia 50 and scanned

Bodie, California

Bodie is an original mining town from the late 1800’s. It is located in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains North/East of Lee Vining in Central California. In 1962 the California State Parks System declared it a State Historic Park to preserve what was left. At that point, only about 5% remained. What’s left today stands in a state of “arrested decay”.



I recently ran across these images from a 2011 trip to Central California and thought I'd share them. As I prepared the images, there were some that I included from the surrounding area that are not actually from Bodie but captured on the same day. Thanks for looking.

Shot on film with a Pentax 67II and scanned

Moments in Time

SNOQUALMIE, Washington (November, 2015) - I spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in Washington this year. It was unseasonably cold throughout the trip. Mornings were about 27 degrees and the daytime high was in the low 40's. The area had heavy rain in the weeks before, but we hit a sweet pocket where it only rained one day.

Snoqualmie Falls is a 270 ft. waterfall on the Snoqualmie River between Snoqualmie and Fall City, Washington. Most of the river is diverted into a power plant, but because of the heavy rainfall the water flow was very heavy which created a blinding spray. It was very wet, almost like standing in the rain. If your camera wasn't sealed you might of had issues. In addition, if you didn't have a lens hood your lens element would be wet. When I arrived visibility was just about zero. I heard moans from the other visitors about how you couldn't seen anything and many were leaving. The interesting thing I noticed was even though visibility sucked, the afternoon sun was peaking through the clouds. For many, this made things worse because of the backlit exposure challenges. I setup in a position and after a while started to notice little moments of clarity. Patience was a virtue on this day.

This image of Mount Rainier was captured out of the window of a moving car while driving across a floating bridge. I shot three frames to ensure focus was right. Once I had a chance to look at it, I noticed the bird in the foreground. Amazing how little things happen in milliseconds and could possibly go unnoticed if not for these captured images.

The next image of Mount Si only existed for a short period of time. The mountain was named after a local homesteader Josiah "Uncle Si" Merritt. It was made famous in the show Twin Peaks, which was filmed in North Bend, Washington. From the time I captured it, the clouds continued to drop and completely dissipated within 10 minutes. Amazing how life's moments can pass you by if you're not paying attention.

Playoff Bound

CARSON, Calif. (October, 2015) - The Cal State Dominguez Hills men have all but finished the season ranked 5th nationally and with a conference record of 9-0-2. They have one more game with Cal State Stanislaus this evening before the CCAA playoffs. Here are a few images from the match with their cross town rivals Cal State Los Angeles where the Toros beat them 1-0.

Redhot Toros

The 2015 Toros are off to a great start at 6-2-2 overall and 2-0-2 in conference. They are currently ranked No. 14 in the NSCAA Top 25. The CSUDH Men's team brings back a majority of last year's team, returning a total of 21 from the 2014 roster, eight of which were on the starting lineup. Here are some images from their game at the StubHub Center.

Sun and Moon

I recently ran across these images and thought I would share them. These images were captured in early Spring of 2009 in the Eastern Sierras. Looks are deceiving because while it looks nice and pleasant, it was 22 degrees. This first image was captured from the side of the road at 500mm, 1/800, f/10 at ISO 250.

This next image was captured on Fuji Velvia with my Hasselblad at 50mm. With film there is no EXIF data associated with the file and I can't remember my settings from 2009, lol.

Block Party Reveal

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (July 24, 2015) - Although the wedding was in May, the bride and groom requested to not release any images until the home wedding reception. This manifested itself as an outdoor block party, catered with gourmet food trucks and a slideshow projected on a 9 foot screen. The images were revealed for the first time in a slideshow which contained approximately 550 images and was about 45 minutes long. The music was piped through a large sound system, so it had kind of an outdoor summer concert vibe. In addition, the house was decorated with 16x20 prints of family and friends. The slideshow was well received even though the quality of the projector kind of sucked. Below are a few images from the wedding.

Mt. SAC 2015 (Part 1)

WALNUT, Calif. (April 17, 2015) - I must apologize for my lack of timeliness with this post. I have been very busy and I'm just getting caught up from this April event. The following are images from the 57th running of the Mt. SAC Relays. We had some great weather this year (not too hot). As usual, Allyson Felix, Carol Rodriguez and Jenna Prandini were out tuning up for the USATF Outdoor Championships. Here are some images from the meet.

Allyson Felix

Jenna Prandini

Carol Rodriguez

4x100m Relay Team

A little slice of paradise

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (May 9, 2015) - Every morning is uniquely beautiful in Mexico. A little cool and breezy on this day, but the view is addicting. For the entire week, I made sure I was up every morning to witness the beautiful sunrise. Shot was the Zeiss 21mm at f/11 for 30 seconds.

2015 Observer Article

WALNUT, Calif. (Early May, 2015) - Mt. SAC Relays Observer article.

Toro Track & Field

CARSON, Calif. (April, 2015) - The 4x100 Relay Team is the bright spot of the Toros season. The team of Sanita McNeally, Mariah Walker, LeShava Evans and Tyrana Beasley will compete at the CCAA Championships this weekend in San Francisco. The team took 4th place at the Mt. SAC Relays and 2nd place last weekend at the Aztec Track & Field Invitational.

(L-R) Sanita McNeally, Mariah Walker, LeShava Evans and Tyrana Beasley