Above is a photo of Hillman Curtis and his son Jasper. After battling cancer for 3 years, Hillman passed away. I wrote up some of my reflections for a post on the lynda.com blog. The post begins:

Silence is the sound of finality. And that was all I heard when I received the news that Hillman Curtis was gone. Hillman was a huge inspiration to me and  you may know him from his films, books, or conference talks. He had a stunning visual sensibility, thoughtful eyes, and a kind and creative heart. I like how one of my good friends put it, “Hillman had a gentle and quiet side to him in which he allowed his work to pass through to become much bigger.”

It would be meaningful to me if you read the rest of the post. To do so click here.

last week i had the privilege of meeting up with acclaimed painter and print maker garrett speirs. his studios are located in a stunning 100 year old barn. the portrait above was captured above his lithographie print studio – i’d love to hear your thoughts. below are a few of his paintings and to see more of his work click here.

this is a sign that i pass everyday. it points toward the beach making me want to go there myself. the other day, i had my leica m6 in my truck and i pulled over to snap this frame.

this last weekend it was a huge honor to have a few good friends shaun and skyla celebrate their wedding at our home – it was a wonderful event! (the sign they are holding was thoughtfully made by another friend jill dixon – click here to check out her etsy shop!) i’ll post some more photos from the wedding when i get the chance.

i’m really excited to announce my latest lynda.com lightroom 4 essentials courses - click here to learn more! so far there are 5 courses that have gone live and there’s still more lightroom courses to come (not to mention the courses i’m finishing up for photoshop cs6 that will be here before you know it). if you want to learn lightroom from scratch or if you want to sharpen your skills – click here  to check them out!

i’m always interested in becoming a better teacher so…. if you’ve watched any of the courses and have any ideas/feedback or have any requests for other courses that you’d like to see, let me know by leaving a comment – thanks!

a little while ago, i had the privilege of photographing the actress isabel lucas at a beach north of santa barbara (click on the images for a larger view). i was using my old wood and brass large format camera with expired film. i just scanned these and feel like they have a wonderful mood, tone and feel. i’d love to hear your thoughts – which of the two pictures do you like best?

when i was a kid, i loved rummaging through my parents attic. one of my favorite finds was two boxes full of over 100 glass plate negatives. these boxes have since been passed on to me. as far as i can tell the images were captured in the very early 1900′s and they are amazing! i finally got around to scanning one of them and wanted to share it with you.

world renowned architect barry berkus photographed at his home in santa barbara.

pat curren in his backyard in santa barbara. if you’re a surfer you know that pat is part of one of the surf community’s greatest families. yet what’s inspiring about pat, is that he shines in his own way – you can see it in his eyes. (click the image above for a larger view)

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angus and his sister julia create some of my all time favorite music. if you aren’t familiar with it – click here(youtube) or here (the artist’s website).  angus is a really thoughtful, soulful, humble and authentic person. it was a great honor to have the privilege of capturing a few portraits of him. i hope you like them.

this is a photograph that was featured in my most recent book, people pictures. its a portrait of a man who has been a mentor and who has had a lasting impact on my life. in many ways, this is one of the most important pictures i have made. i decided to post this picture today as a way to remind you to take photographs of the people that matter most to you.

i usually don’t post other people’s pictures on my blog, but i thought this was great exception! my good friend todd glaser (an amazing person and photographer) just sent me this photo he captured of me while i was shooting photos for the cover of my book visual poetry a few years ago. how interesting to have that perspective  - thanks todd! to learn more about the book or to view the cover – click here.

one of the things that i like about being a part of brooks institute is that it is an environment that encourages people to take risks,  experiment and to try out new ideas.  the other day i decided to try working with kino flo lights. they  provide a interesting continuous light source. i simply asked some of the student walking by to step in front of the camera and this is what i came up with. click on the image for a larger view and let me know what you think?  do any of these work for you? my favorite is the “guy in the green shirt.”