prism.

While most people were watching the Super Bowl, a small group of folks were gathering for the annual anti-super-bowl punk show in Stockton. This year it was held at the Plea for Peace Center, and ran from the afternoon and into the evening.

I managed to make it out for the first time in a couple of years, and was stoked to see my friends' band, Hard Girls, was playing. So, I shot their set, but I tried something a little goofy, just for fun. I bought a toy, one of those little plastic prisms you look through that makes everything look like a bunch of tiny little versions of the scene. It cost me a 25-cent donation to Relay for Life, and was bright, lime green. Not sure how successful the shots are, but it was fun to mix things up a little. So here are a few shots I liked from the set, some with the toy and some without.

farming.

I was really excited to spend an entire day photographing at Full Belly Farm in Guinda, CA, on Monday for the Wall Street Journal. The folks there were amazingly open, and let me wander around the farm to shoot anything I wanted. The weather was sunny for once, and all the animals had babies in the last few weeks, which is definitely a plus for my sappy, fuzzy-animal-loving side.

The article is live online here, so check it out!

And here are a few outtakes that I liked. Definitely one of my favorite assignments in a long time.

nyc: make-do

Spent two days in NYC to support friends and fellow photographers in the opening night gallery show for Luceo & MJR titled "Make-Do." The show was amazing, the turnout was huge, and more than anything else it was great to see old, familiar faces. But there's nothing more lonely than going home after being around so much love. One of the hardest parts of this career path I've had to come to terms with is balancing the unsettling yet necessary solitude with the most tight-knit family of vagabonds I've ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with. The difference day-to-day is stark, but I can't say I'd trade it for anything in the world.

storm.

nothing like howling winds in the middle of the night to make you feel alone and alive.

goodbye 2009.

2009 was a year of introspection i think. one year ago i was just getting re-settled into california, starting on a new foot in sacramento. i was insecure, completely startled by how uncertain life could be and frightened by the prospect of an unclear future.

i'm not one to make resolutions. but if i were to go that way this year, i'd say this time around, it's time to get out of my head a little. it's time to live life a little more. it's time to put my heart full-force into my photographs and my relationships, because at the end of the year i want to look back and remember just how good it was, not how good it could have been.

so here's a slideshow of my favorite photos from 2009. some are from assignments, most are from life in general, but they are all special to me in their own way. so here's to the end of a good year, and the beginning of a better one.