just got back from a trip to costa rica. lots of swimming, surfing, adventures, monkeys, sloths, butterflies, remote beaches and best of all visiting some of our best friends who now live there. above is a picture of my little fish swimming with her eyes wide open. more pics to follow….

last weekend we went up to northern california to visit family for mother’s day. i brought along my old wooden large format camera and had set it up next to a window in the living room. while i was setting up, my oldest daughter annika asked if she could take a picture of herself. of course i obliged and as far as i know, this is her first ever self-portrait. wow. isn’t it just beautiful… it’s one of my all time favorites. what a gift.

i was digging through the archives today and came across this photo from last year. a classic shot of surf board shaper al merrick and surfer/musician/all around cool guy rob machado in the shapping bay at channel islands surfboards. (click on the photo above for a larger view)

above is a recent pic jeff johnson for the current issue of surfer magazine (pictured below). jeff is a climber, surfer, writer, photographer, deep thinker and all around super inspiring person.
click here to read the beginning of the article.

jeff is one of the main characters in the film titled, 180 south. i have to say, its one of the best films i’ve seen/experienced in a long time. the film tour is just beginning. if you haven’t see it, don’t miss out.
click here to watch the trailer and to find out more info.

today i walked into borders’s and was surprised and stoked to see that the latest issue of triathlete magazine hit the stands! (i snapped the above pic with my iphone). for this issue i shot the cover and interior photos for an article on uber triathlete and good friend chris lieto.  it sounds goofy but it is always so fun to see your photos in print. and plus, my mom even called me from barnes and noble where she saw the issue and she told me she was proud :)

>> click here to check out the article

after looking around at some of the other magazines, i noticed another friend todd glasser’s cover photo on surfer magazine. the whole thing brought another big smile to my face.  knowing that i needed to seize the moment, before i left i rearranged the magazine racks to make for a better show  ;)

i’ll have some more photos to post from these issues, yet for now thanks for sharing in the joy of it all. cheers.

if you’re not familiar with peter, he is a surfer, musician and all around interesting guy.

this week i had opportunity to photograph chris lieto for the cover of the april issue of triathlete magazine. chris is a world class athlete, 3x ironman champion and someone who never gives up. at the ironman world championships in kona hawaii last year chris finished 2nd! he is a force to be reckoned with!

even more, chris is one of my closest friends.  in fact, a number of years ago chris saved my life while we were rock climbing… then later, at another time in life when i had to use a wheel chair for a couple of years and didn’t think i would run, bike, surf again… chris was a brother throughout that time and he played a key role in my recovery and revitalization. needless to say, chris is someone i value, admire and respect very deeply.

the shoot was epic! we had some intense rain but that didn’t stop chris cycling up gibraltar rd (one of lance armstrong’s favorite rides). while chris rode i hung out of the back of a truck snapping pics or sometimes i would jump out and run alongside him to get some shots. the photo above was captured on gibraltar by the photo editor of the magazine nils nilsen,  a top quality photographer and all around cool guy.

we also shot at the beach, up on some rocks, around town and we did some work in the studio (photo below captured by one of my assistants, i’m not sure which… either way thanks a ton mattia, miles and lara!). in sum, we had a ton of fun and i can’t wait to see what photo the editors pick to put on the cover.

in closing, it was unreal to blend many of my passions – friendship, athletics, weather, outdoors and photography. and for me photography has always been about more than the picture. it is about getting more out of life and that is definitely the case anytime i spend time with chris. for more than anyone i know, chris’ words, actions and life remind me of the truth of what he often says, “anyone can accomplish anything if you never give up.”

if you’d like to learn more about chris lieto - click here to view his website or even better click here to watch this recent trek commercial!

on this cold winter day i am sad, quiet and still.
i just got word that photographer, colleague and friend nick dekker passed away.
he was generous, honest and full of life.
time is relentless.

—————–

below is one of nick’s platino type prints. the photograph was made in
north dakota near his parent’s home. it is titled “forgotten dreams”

i am completely in love with my little sophia grace.
the photo  above was captured with a wood large format camera using discontinued & expired film.
for me, the degradation of the film makes the image more sentimental and thus more valuable.
it reminds me that photography is savoring both the passage of time and the moments in between.

maky curren is such a warm and wonderful person.  her portrait above was captured with an old hasselblad and ilford bw film. i’ve found that when i shoot with a hasselblad it slows me down. there’s something about loading film, having only 12 shots, manually advancing the film and then the profound sound of the shutter. after pressing the shutter release the what you see goes black. complete darkness and quiet.

a few weeks ago tom and maky curren had a wonderful wedding/anniversary celebration. the above image was captured with a point and shoot film camera (the yashica t4 super), loaded with tmax 400 speed film.

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!).

here’s a photo i took with an old hasselblad of jon swift. he’s an interesting guy, deeper thinker and great musician – click here to learn more.

last time i went surfing i brought along the blackbird (mentioned in the previous post) and stashed it in the bushes. i took some photos before and after surfing. it was a great way to combine two of my passions. i wasn’t too sure how they’d turn out yet when i got the film back i was pleasantly surprised. here’s one of my favorites from that day.

up in northern california visiting family and yesterday we walked to a park at dusk. there is something about fall that makes me reflect, reminisce and appreciate the gift of time. annika (my oldest daughter) climbed up the play structure and at the top i captured the portrait shown above. she is now 5 years old, yet that picture makes me imagine her many years from now.

this portrait of my beautiful wife photo above was taken by my 3 year old daughter sophia in our backyard. i set up the camera, taught sophia how to use the shutter release and walked away. she told kelly where to look, waited for a few moments and pressed the button – what a wonderful moment and shot! it makes me so thankful for my family. i hope you get to spend time with yours, have a wonderful thanksgiving!

as certain film gets older it starts to degrade and fall apart, yet i find beauty in the decay that marks the passage of time. even more, the image above is a scan of something that you are supposed to discard  - it is the flipside of the “real” image. almost like a soft reflection of a more concrete ideal. is it just me, or does this type of idea/image connect with you? i’m curious to hear your thoughts. click on the image for a larger view and enjoy!

above is a photograph from last weekend of some family friends at the coast. it was made with a large format wood and brass camera and expired/discontinued film. in a time when perfect pixels have such high value, i find myself even more drawn to the subtleties and imperfections of certain types of traditional photographic techniques. and for me its not a question of “either or” or “new versus old”… rather i take a “both and” approach and enjoy many different types of photography. to view the other photos click here – enjoy.

lynda weinman (above) is someone i greatly admire. in fact one of my life’s greatest privileges is creating training for her and her husband’s company lynda.com. today i was finishing up some new lightroom 3 beta training and  lynda stopped by to say hello. i seized the moment and snapped a few pics.

if you’re not familiar with lynda.com be sure to click here to check it out

on another note, last night at dinner lynda was showing deke (another author) and myself that the entire lynda.com training library can be accessed and viewed on the iphone – yeeehoo!

jack featured one of my pics above on his blog – epic!  click here to view the entire entry.

i just received the poster for the rob machado surf experience and green expo and i am stoked! they ended up using one of my portraits of rob and they chose an amazing surf shot taken by my good friend todd glaser (click here to check out todd’s work). the poster artwork was done by seitaku aoyama of studio aiuto. click on the image above for a larger view!

yesterday i had the privilege of stopping by shawn stussy’s creative headquarters. shawn is an amazing person who can’t be defined by conventional means. he is a creative thinker, artist, surfer, surf board maker, designer, visual savant and more. he is articulate, down-to-earth and alive. it was an unbelievably inspiring visit.

last week jacob (pictured above) and i went up into the santa barbara mountains to shoot some videos for the companion site for the book visual poetry. the site should be live in a few weeks – i’ll write a post once it’s all wrapped up.

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 closer look at the kelly slater photo published in the surfer big issue (click the image above for a larger view).