Stars and Milky Way over the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

    Stars and Milky Way over the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

    The world’s oldest-living trees sit in California’s Inyo National Forest in an area of the White Mountains known as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Core samples taken from some of the Bristlecone Pines in this area have determined some trees are more than 5,000 years old despite a relatively small size for their age. Enduring […]

    Continue Reading

    2014 Porsche World Roadshow - For Porsche

    2014 Porsche World Roadshow – For Porsche

    A few months ago, I was hired by Porsche to shoot their traveling experiential marketing tour known as the Porsche World Roadshow. Participants in this event get to take some of Porsche’s best vehicles out on a professional track at speeds you would normally never be able to hit on normal roads (at least legally). […]

    Continue Reading

    Bee Theft in Bakersfield - For The Weather Channel

    Bee Theft in Bakersfield – For The Weather Channel

    This past spring, I was lucky enough to get an assignment from The Weather Channel to shoot a story about the rise in bee theft up in Bakersfield, California (approximately 2 hours north of Los Angeles). Unbeknownst to me, each spring, one of the largest honeybee pollination events in the entire world occurs in Bakersfield […]

    Continue Reading

    48 Hours in the Southern California Desert

    48 Hours in the Southern California Desert

    During a few free days that I had between my old and new job, I headed out to the desert around Palm Springs, Calif. with friend and fellow photographer Stuart Palley. Our only goal was to get out of Los Angeles, have a bit of an adventure and take lots of photos. We spent the […]

    Continue Reading

    Bubble Man Attempts Run to Catalina Island

    Bubble Man Attempts Run to Catalina Island

    Reza Baluchi attempted to be the first person in history to “run” the 28 miles from the California mainland to Catalina Island… As in run across water inside a giant bubble he custom designed. To train, he lived in Death Valley for two years and ran an average of 30 miles per day in the […]

    Continue Reading

    2013 Long Beach Grand Prix

    2013 Long Beach Grand Prix

    Last Sunday was the first time I have ever shot any sort of serious motorsport race and I quickly realized that motorsports photography is a whole different beast. I spent the day shooting the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is one of the stops on the IndyCar circuit. It takes place on a […]

    Continue Reading

    BLOG

    Stars and Milky Way over the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

    The world’s oldest-living trees sit in California’s Inyo National Forest in an area of the White Mountains known as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Core samples taken from some of the Bristlecone Pines in this area have determined some trees are more than 5,000 years old despite a relatively small size for their age. Enduring thousands of years of high-altitude harsh winters and other adverse growing conditions, these trees grow just millimeters per year. Because of this, their wood is extremely dense and resistant to things like insects, wood rot, erosion and fire that kill other trees.

    The other bonus is that these trees sit at high elevation with one of the darkest night skies in California.

    This past weekend, I took the trek up to the forest with fellow photographer Stuart Palley to get shots of the trees (both dead and alive) under a bright Milky Way night sky. I was amazed at how clear the night sky was and just how well the Milky Way showed up on the camera. With the help of an LED flashlight to light the trees and some advance scouting work during the day, we were able to get some pretty neat shots of the trees and surrounding area.

    Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Milky Way Stars

    Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Milky Way Stars Patriarch Grove

    Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Milky Way Stars Patriarch Grove

    Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Milky Way Stars

     

     

    2014 Porsche World Roadshow – For Porsche

    A few months ago, I was hired by Porsche to shoot their traveling experiential marketing tour known as the Porsche World Roadshow.

    Participants in this event get to take some of Porsche’s best vehicles out on a professional track at speeds you would normally never be able to hit on normal roads (at least legally). That included getting to drive the 911 Targa 4s, Cayman GTS (my personal favorite), and a Boxster GTS at 120mph around the track. The event was topped off by taking hot laps in a Porsche 911 Turbo with a professional driver at speeds of around 140mph.

    My assignment was to simply capture “the excitement, scale and access that you can only get at the Porsche World Roadshow.”

    Needless to say, it was a fun experience and should Porsche ever decide to leave a Cayman GTS in my driveway, I wouldn’t complain.

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Porsche World Roadshow Los Angeles

    Bee Theft in Bakersfield – For The Weather Channel

    This past spring, I was lucky enough to get an assignment from The Weather Channel to shoot a story about the rise in bee theft up in Bakersfield, California (approximately 2 hours north of Los Angeles).

    Unbeknownst to me, each spring, one of the largest honeybee pollination events in the entire world occurs in Bakersfield as millions of bees are used to pollinate the thousands upon thousands of acres of almond trees in the Central Valley. If a bloom on an almond tree does not get pollinated, you don’t get an almond. To make that pollination more efficient and effective, farmers rent beehives to place in their groves.

    I’ll let a quote from the accompanying article on Weather.com sum it up better:

    “In the California Central Valley, farmers have planted 800,000 acres of almond orchards. Every year, beekeepers bring millions of beehives from across the country to pollinate the almond trees. But with the bees come bee thieves…

    It may be a surprise to some, but most of the money in commercial beekeeping doesn’t come from honey production – it comes from pollination rental fees. The bees collect pollen and nectar, the plants become pollinated, the farmers get better yields and the beekeepers get paid. While different crops rely on bees for pollination in different ways, one plant requires lots of bees: the almond tree. Together, expanding almond orchards and a lack of bees have helped make beekeeping a profitable profession – and attracted thieves.”

    Having transitioned into a full-time video job, it was refreshing for me to get back to still photography and have the entire day to work on a photo story. The writer and I focused on one beekeeper — Joe Romance — and his business of providing bees to the almond farmers in Bakersfield. We watched as they branded their bee boxes (the only real way to mark the hives as yours) and followed Romance into the fields where his employees worked with the hives.

    With healthy fear of angry swarms of bees, I was definitely a bit nervous at first about shooting this assignment. However, I was surprised when I drove home that evening without a single sting on me.

    Now that the embargo/exclusivity period is over for these photos, I wanted to share a few here on the blog:

    Bee boxes at night in Bakersfield

    BeeKeeping_BeePollination_Bakersfield_0002

    Branding a bee box in Bakersfield

    Joe Romance beekeeper with beehive

    Beehive bee box

    beekeepers and beehives

    Beekeepers and beehives

    Beekeepers and beehives

    Bees on honeycomb

    beekeepers and beehives in bakersfield

    honeybee on almond tree

    Almond orchard in bloom in bakersfield

     

    48 Hours in the Southern California Desert

    During a few free days that I had between my old and new job, I headed out to the desert around Palm Springs, Calif. with friend and fellow photographer Stuart Palley. Our only goal was to get out of Los Angeles, have a bit of an adventure and take lots of photos. We spent the better part of two days exploring the desert around Joshua Tree National Park north of Palm Springs as well as the Salton Sea south of Palm Springs.

    The following photos are just some of the people, places and random desert findings that we encountered along the way:

    Upside down Joshua Tree art in the desert of Yucca Valley California

    Art in the desert in Yucca Valley California

    Interior of Salvation Mountain near Slab City California

    Salvation Mountain with stars at night, Slab City California

    Moon and stars above truck at Salvation Mountain Slab City California

    Pool tables at Pappy and Harriets bar in Yucca Valley California.

    Bombay Beach, Salton Sea resident Deno

    Bombay Beach, Salton Sea resident Deno

    Bombay Beach, Salton Sea resident Deno“People think there is no life in the desert,” said longtime Bombay Beach resident Deno, who lives next to the Salton Sea. “There is plenty of life in the desert.”

    Winding road highway 74 above Palm Desert California

    Bubble Man Attempts Run to Catalina Island

    Reza Baluchi attempted to be the first person in history to “run” the 28 miles from the California mainland to Catalina Island… As in run across water inside a giant bubble he custom designed. To train, he lived in Death Valley for two years and ran an average of 30 miles per day in the heat. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it this time, but will attempt it again in a few weeks. Here are some of my images from his first attempt and you can read my full article here.

    Reza Baluchi Bubbleman Catalina Run

    Reza Baluchi Bubbleman Catalina Run

    Reza Baluchi Bubbleman Catalina Run

    bubbleman-119

    bubbleman-120

    Reza Baluchi Bubbleman Catalina Run

    bubbleman-121

     

    2013 Long Beach Grand Prix

    Last Sunday was the first time I have ever shot any sort of serious motorsport race and I quickly realized that motorsports photography is a whole different beast. I spent the day shooting the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is one of the stops on the IndyCar circuit. It takes place on a track that weaves through the city streets of Long Beach which makes it even more interesting.

    I found the hardest part of shooting motorsports is getting different angles and not getting stuck in one place on the track. That means running all around the 2-mile circuit spanning multiple city blocks, pushing through crowds, getting lost and finding ways to cross the track,  jousting with the 200 other photographers and learning the sometimes crazy restrictions placed on the photographers. I found myself shooting at one far end of the track and then rushing back to the complete opposite end to shoot celebrations.

    The other challenge was somehow showing that these cars were going 200 mph and not just cruising by. I liked what I got, but hope the tricks I learned Sunday will help shoot next year’s race.

    Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2013

    Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2013

    LBGrandPrix--151

    LBGrandPrix-186

    Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2013

    Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2013

    LBGrandPrix--150

    Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2013