INT Surfboards--New Building

Got a call from Indo supercharger Dustin Campbell a few days ago, requesting some images of their new building for a press release.  After some images of the outside, it was time to hit the warehouse and get funky with some remote lighting.  

Go Red Time!

February marks "Go Red" month for the American Heart Association in their campaign to raise awareness about heart disease in women.  I spent a night last week driving around San Diego with AHA BizDev (should be "BizDIVA") superwoman, Emily Harris.  We photographed several buildings around the county, among them the newly revamped U.S. Grant Hotel.  

Padres Game! (Well, sort of...)

So this past Sunday, Jen and I got this wild hair that we'd like to take the train down to Petco Park to take Emme to her first baseball game. It was a beautiful day, so we thought we'd sit at the "Park at the Park", eat hotdogs and drink beer, and watch Emme run around.

Emme and Mommy waiting for the trolley.

Emme on her first trolley ride.

Emme and I ouside of Petco Park.

Unfortunately, there were several roadblocks along the way:

1) The Coaster doesn't run on Sundays. Go figure. No biggie, we'd just take the car down to Old Town and take the Trolley to Petco.

2) The Park at the Park was sold out. With the nice weather, Memorial Day weekend, and Jake Peavy pitching, I should have known better.

So with our baseball plans thwarted but still blessed with an afternoon of no chores, we decided to grab lunch in the Gaslamp. With our newfound love of all things UK, we headed over to The Field, an Irish pub on 5th.

Here are Emme and I chilling in the pub.

With lunch taken care of, it was time to take a leisurely stroll back to the train station to catch the trolley back to Old Town.

Emme and Mommy on the trolley tracks.

Emme in front of some art gallery.

Emme swinging across the concrete benches at a trolley stop.

Anne and Dave

I photographed Anne and Dave's engagement session just before I left for the UK and I didn't get a chance to post them to the blog until now. Spent an afternoon last weekend with Anne, Dave, and their dog "Blackie" in Coronado. It was a little windy and crisp, but the light was great. Anne and Dave were really open to cool ideas and got more of a workout than they bargained for ;)

Benedict/Gerson Girls!

Had the great pleasure of photographing Allison Benedict and her 3-month-old daughter Holly, as well as Allison's sister Katherin and her daughter Hannah. I photographed Allison's wedding early last year, so it was great to see her again and watch her family grow.

The images were shot at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, which are in FULL bloom right now. Quite the spectacle. We even managed go get kicked out of some of the flower rows while shooting in the fields, which was cool ;)

Emme and Elmo

Emme loves Elmo. Elmo loves Emme.

Studio -- Phase 1 Complete

When we were house shopping last summer, one of the big things that sold Jen and I on our home is the quaint little outbuilding on the side of the property. It's not very big (~10x10), but just big enough for a small table and chairs, maybe a shelf or two, and some nice big prints--perfect for a small gallery/showroom.


The previous owners of the home had 4 kids, one of which was born in the house the day escrow was supposed to close for us (talk about stressful). Anyway, the husband told me he used to use it as a small office, but I suspect it served as a retreat from the chaos of having 4 kids under 5 years old--in a 3-bedroom house, no less. When we bought the house, I always envisioned it as this cool little studio where I could entertain clients and prospects.

So this week (finally), I started on "Phase 1" of the remodel. Phase 1 (sounds official, doesn't it?) consisted of tearing up the existing carpet and padding, ripping out the carpet-tack, and getting rid of the cheap recessed lighting and ceiling fan. Phase 1 also involved patching the holes from where the lights were. Believe me when I say that I have this all mapped out with a project plan, blueprints, cost estimates, etc. I'd show you all the documentation, but it's not important right now... ;)

Unlike most guys, I'm not very mechanically inclined. In fact, I'd consider myself mechanically "declined". Many men are like this, they're just too chicken to admit it. So, the fact that I managed to patch these six holes, cutting drywall and whatnot, is a small miracle in the life of John Schnack. Don't believe me? Here's proof:


Here's one of my six patches. Good, huh?

Here's a pull-back shot of the inside. It's very quaint (e.g., small), but I think it'll be good.