on thursday feb 4th from 5-8pm, i will be joining 3 of my esteemed colleagues who have also recently published books (pictured above) for a book signing event at the cota st gallery.  while we all teach at brooks, each of us have a different way of thinking, teaching and taking pictures. this type of diversity is one of brooks celebrated strengths and it will make for a fun evening that you won’t want to miss. at the event, the gallery will have books for sale and all the proceeds go directly to the vern miller scholarship fund.

if you live in the area we would be honored to have you stop by – i hope you can make it!
click here for directions

it’s been a full couple of weeks and i apologize for the lack of recent activity on the blog. i’ve been shooting a ton, teaching and developing, writing and recording some new digital imaging/photography training. over the next few months my schedule will continue to be a bit full, yet i’ll do my best to keep the posts coming.

as a side note, a few days back a fellow photographer and friend of mine named mattia balsami, took a couple of mug shots of me (example photo to the right and a partial view of the setup below). it was interesting to be on the other side of the camera, mattia did a great job and i learned a ton.  it reminded me that if you want to become a better photographer its not all about looking through the lens… and sometimes it might even mean looking at things from the other side of the lens. so here’s a creative challenge for this week – ask someone to take your portrait as see how it goes. perhaps you’ll learn a thing or two about how to become an even better photographer.

a portrait of one of my teaching colleagues harry liles. this one was captured last week with a wood and brass large format camera and t55 polaroid film (yep i still have a few boxes left!).

i just received my copy of ralph clevenger’s book, “photographing nature” and i am so excited to finally have the book in my hands (thanks to greg lawler for snapping the photo above and below). the book is phenomenal!!!

as many of you know, ralph is one of my colleagues/on the faculty at brooks, one of my photographic mentors and a great friend. as you can imagine i had high hopes and expectations for the book. i’m incredibly pleased to say the the book exceeds even my extremely high and outlandish expectations!

i’ll post a full review once i’ve read it completely, yet for now you can view
more info about his book by clicking here.

tim mantoani has been working on an amazing project titled, ”behind the photographs.” he is a brooks institute grad and was having a show at brooks institute (where i teach). the show is absolutely stunning. if you live anywhere near santa barbara you have to check it out! to the left is a photo that i snapped of tim while he was setting up the show.

click on the link below to listen to a conversation we had while walking through the brooks cota gallery. you will find his words intriguing, enlightening and inspiring – enjoy!

click here to view more of tim’s work

here’s a portrait of one of my colleagues in his office at brooks. his name is chris broughton and he is an incredibly inspiring person, photographer and teacher.

i really enjoy being a teacher because there is a constant influx of inspiration. i was reminded of that this morning as i went to ask a paul a question. (paul is a fellow pro photography faculty and an amazing teacher and person. he just moved into the office next to mine.) just glancing at his office, which was filled with a poetic morning light, made me reflect and smile