when the storm parts

cleaned house.
ran errands.
Nico to the dog park.
detour on the way home.
cause the light was just epic.

on the floor

Nico dog is so black it hard to get any detail when you photograph him. This is probably the best picture that I have to of him so far. I used a gold reflector to bounce the window light back into him, seemed to work pretty well.

black friday

had the pleasure of shooting black friday for work which i meant i got to crawl outta bed at 2:45 a.m. to bare witness to rampant consumerism. it was kinda amazing, but at the same time all i could think is, "what hell is wrong with these people and why do they need like 2 t.v.'s, a blender, several dvd's, and a tom-tom gps device at 4 a.m.
Here is the story.

thankful

being that this is thanksgiving week and this time of year always makes me reflect on where the past year has gone, it also marks my one-year anniversary working for the Appeal-Democrat. So I thought I would post some pics that I feel thankful for not because they are the best pictures i've taken but because I feel lucky to have met these people.
The first frame is of Dolores Huerta. A remarkable women and inspirational speaker. In 1962, she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chávez. We need those who look out for those are less fortunate than ourselves.
the second frame is of a young man's Mike McCullah's guitar,who drowned in a near by lake. I met this young man at his sister's funeral about six months prior. His family was so welcoming even though they were suffering such tragic loss. I'm am thankful for this.
the third frame is of a young women Meagan Bridgefarmer, 15, with her mother Cynthia by her side, makes an emotional plea to members of the Marysville City Council to help the homeless like herself who are living at the former Hollywood Trailer Park in the riverbottoms. This brave little girl broke my heart with her raw honesty as she pleaded with the city of Marysville to not abandon the homeless. i am thankful to have been witness to her selflessness when her family had nothing.

it's fall

got sent out to look for fall pics here is my contribution.

30th Annual Sikh Parade

This past Sunday I got the chance to witness and shoot the biggest Sikh religious procession in the western hemisphere. Basically about 75,000 Sikhs descend on Yuba City for the 3 days of reading their sacred text the Guru Granth Sahib, the book is then put on a giant float and paraded around town and than back to the Sikh Temple Gurdwara. It was pretty awesome. You can read about it here with video(forgive the curry remark in the lede) and a photo gallery.

Maryville Metal!

After shooting ridiculously cute children dressed up as princesses and such for work, I spent the rest of Halloween night the way it should be spent with a bunch of black eye-make-up wearing freaks, at a really awesome metal show. It made me wanna be a rebellious punk rock teenager again, ya know minus the acne and perpetual teasing from peers. It was a great event put on by a local business owner, Ruth Soto for youth. Read about it here.

haunted houses

With Halloween on its way i've been shooting several haunted houses in the area The one of the kid moving the coffin in the last frame is probably my fav. which never made the paper. Oh and i did scream like a child when i had to traverse the haunted house with the freaky clowns, not cool. you can read the story here.

the zeppster

i like working in teams. last week i worked with fellow AD reporter Ryan Klocke on a great story about a young man,Tyler Zepp, quarterback for wheatland high. A humble 18 year-old suffering from a congenital heart defect that put him on the sidelines in his senior year, the year he was to lead his team to victory. Anyway, so the kid gets cleared for 2 plays by his doctor and scores 2 touchdowns. It's kinda amazing! Read Ryan's story , Oh and there is video too. also check out Ryan's blog. and many thanks to the Zepp family for letting me invade their son's live with my camera.

marysville house fire

shot a house fire on the way back from volleyball tournament earlier this month. it always amazes me how fast fire can just rip through a building. no one was injured in the house but two families were left without a home. You can read the story here by Ashley Gebb .

my brother's dogs

i bought a new scanner and have been loving it. here's some old film i found with pics my brother's dogs, robby & chris. labradors are such wonderful dogs. oh and film rules!!!

bugs are cool

While watering the garden this evening I discovered a fairly large praying mantis in the bell peppers. Seeing that I lived in the city for so long I had no idea that these things existed outside of the pet store. So it was a bit of a surprise, but a pretty cool find I think none the less.

Large popcorns for lap dances.

I dug these up from about a month ago when I went back to Sf to see my former colleagues at the Bridge Theatre. They put on a midnight movies series during the summer called Midnight Mass . This summer the 12 yr long series retired and this was probably the last time for awhile that they were to be screening the cult classic Showgirls and dolling out free lap dances if ya buy a large popcorn. Now tell me how anyone can pass that up? Here's the trailer if ya have never seen this classic. Photos of the debauchery are below.

Not a swear word

found this on the way home in the sunsweet parking lot. gotta love it! too bad the truck driver wasn't around. would've liked to um.

lake francis

Went to the foothills and took dip in lake francis to escape the valley heat.