Lowriders and Tattoos

Friday night I went to the Mesa Arts Center for the Lowriders and Tattoos Show.

Some of these cars are true pieces of art.


There were also tattoo-inspired art pieces, as well as tattoo artists inking people up.


I was amazed at how powerful the hydraulics are on these things...Awesome.

Product Shots

You may notice that I usually have significant lapses in my posts. It's not that I'm not shooting everyday; it's more that I often feel that what I'm shooting isn't necessarily post-worthy. I've decided to look past that notion and show you some of my day-to-day work load.

Here are some examples of the product shots I regularly do for our style pages. I used to use a white cloth backdrop draped over a chair, but found that the opaque glass desktops in the office make for a much better backdrop since I can light through them.

ASU vs. Stanford

Saturday night I was on the sidelines for the Sun Devils' 41-17 victory over Stanford. It was a warm one. I think it was 113 degrees on Saturday, and being down on the grass was disgustingly humid and sticky. As uncomfortable as it was, I really enjoyed this assignment.

Border Wars

Today took me to Collins College 14th Street Studios in Tempe (among other places) to get a photo of a crew headed by Collins College instructor Ryan Noble (front and center) who locally produced a feature-length immigration drama called "Border Wars."

They gave me full range of the studio and the building in general to shoot and when I picked the supply closet I thought it would illustrate things best because of all of the cool studio gadgets on the shelves, but as soon as my subjects stepped into frame they blocked all of the supplies, but I was pressed for time and came away with this "band shot."

Scandalesque at Wrigley Mansion

I was very moved by Deanna's and Courtney's respective posts about casualties of war and rebuilding after the floods. I feel somewhat meek and superficial in the world of photojournalism when our task is capturing the human condition and I get an assignment like this one... I guess I feel that I have a larger responsibility as a photojournalist than what my current role allows.

Now that I got that off my chest...

Saturday I made it out to the Wrigley Mansion hidden away in the hills north of the Phoenix Biltmore for the latest performance of the burlesque/cabaret troop Scandalesque. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this assignment ; ) ...I'm just saying that there are more important things happening in the world... If you get a chance, catch one of these shows. They're a lot of fun.

Alltel Ice Den

We're putting together our annual "Guide to Everything" over at the College Times and that means having to drive all over the Valley getting shots of different businesses that we think might interest college students. Yesterday I shot a number of different places, but only one I thought enough to post. I had just finished taking photos of people ice skating and was on my way out when I noticed this guy sharpening ice skates in the corner.

Professional Bull Riding

Saturday night I made it out to Jobing.com Arena in Glendale for PBR. It was my first time going to a bull riding event and I had a great time. It was really pretty exciting. I guess it doesn't hurt getting to shoot from atop the bull pen. It's a unique perspective...Especially when you get to experience the smell.