One of my Princess Nieces . . .

I was in the process of shooting my Sister's family holiday pictures for their Christmas cards and of course my sister wanted my niece to model for the camera. I just recently bought a relatively cheap background stand from Savage and some black muslin cotton sheet from Joann's Fabrics and here's a couple of the results. I might have a Gap ad in the making! Wanna pay me Gap? ;)

Both of these were taken with the black muslin with two strobes fired through two shoot through white umbrellas. One camera right and one camera left. Camera left was in a little closer.

My niece in her "Gap ad." [ ISO 200 - f/4.5 @ 43mm - 1/200s ]


The princess dress. [ ISO 200 - f/4.5 @ 28mm - 1/200s ]

Jimmy's Place . . .

Food to die for. I took some photos of food to be used for printing on the back of the business cards for Jimmy's Place, a cozy Mom & Pop diner style restaurant that is open for breakfast & lunch. Check it out sometime if you're ever in Union City, CA. The Mom & Pop (my Mom & Pop to be exact) would love to serve you some delicious home cooking!

Broke out the Cactus wireless triggers, light stands and umbrellas to help out with the lighting during the photo session.

A unique breakfast experience, Jimmy's skillet. Linguica, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions served on top of potatoes or rice with three eggs and yummy goodness.



No point avoiding it, you know you want a side of Beignets with you breakfast. A southern style doughnut topped with powdered sugar and a sweet vanilla sauce.



If you love burgers, try the Deluxe Burger. It's a double patty cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles & a secret sauce. Best burger you'll have, promise.



For all your kids, try the homemade Fish and Chips, battered and fried to order.



What are you waiting for? Go try it out!

Back from the photo posting hiatus . . .

My time has been filled with travel, work and general laziness. ;) I've been slacking on the photo posts and taking pictures in general (oh no!), but on my travels to Paris & Amsterdam for a half-vacation/half-work trip, I did manage to take a few shots that I ended up liking.

Paris is gorgeous. I love the laid back atmosphere. The food....to die for. I swear the secret is in France's butter.

The Paris skyline from the top of Notre Dame. Holy cow, why couldn't elevators been invented in the year 1100? So many steps on a hot day in a narrow and windy passageway, not good! Still, it was worth it for the views. [ ISO 100 - f/9.0 @ 40mm - 1/250s ]


There were a couple of non-working fountains that made great for getting reflections of the Eiffel Tower. [ ISO 200 - f/2.8 @ 33mm - 6s ]


Another picture with the reflection with the full Eiffel Tower in the image [ ISO 250 - f/2.8 @ 24mm - 0.6s ] and a shot from a corridor leading to the entrance of the Louvre [ ISO 200 - f/4.0 @ 55mm - 1/250s ]

      

I don't know why I love this picture. Maybe it just says a little something about Paris life on the weekend. So many people come out and walk, run, play tennis, float there remote control boats or just to soak up the sun during the summer at the Jardin du Luxembourg, it's just a great place to people watch and take in a few candid photos. [ ISO 200 - f/2.8 @ 17mm - 1/4000s ]


I didn't get as much time to visit the sites in Amsterdam, unfortunately. Something they call work got in the way of that. I did manage to see a few things. Went to the Van Gogh Museum, the Heineken Brewery tour, some little thing they call the Red Light District and some of the most amazing graffiti I have ever seen.

I'm telling you, a photographer could spend days just taking pictures of the graffiti in Amsterdam. So colorful and artistic and just prime for the picking for awesomely color saturated photos. [ ISO 640 - f/3.5 @ 20mm - 1/40s ]


Old spigots that were used for testing beer during the brewing process in the olden days at the Heineken brewery tour. I was only supposed to be allowed 2 ice cold Heinekens on the tour, but somehow I managed to drink 5. Oops. [ ISO 1000 - f/2.8 @ 35 mm - 1/40s ]