I have been to Julian several times and it wasn’t until this last trip that I realized that Julian still has a standing holding cell for suspicious people back in the day. It’s a small building and only holds two people, one in each cell. It was very interesting to check out. It was cool to be able to enter the building and walk around. I did want to enter a cell, but they keep them locked for security purposes. I was tempted to head back to our cabin and get the keys that looked like they would fit the cell doors and try them out. Julian’s Holding Cell:

One of the nights, I did go out in the freezing wind to take some sunset shots. I did pick the perfect night as there was some amazing colors in the sky that I could not pass up. The following image was the last image that I shot that night and it so happened that I went out just in time to capture an amazing array of colors in the sky. The colors you see in this image is what my camera captured. Truly stunning!

This next image is the same image as above, but I took it a step further and turned it into an artistic piece. This image is quite popular on my facebook page, but I am having a hard time duplicating the results in the full size image. I will play with the full size image of these and see if I can match the results as this would make for a great canvas print.

While up there I decided to practice some natural light portraiture photography. This is one area that I am greatly trying to improve in. I have shot most of my portraiture work in studio or using studio strobes, so natural light portraiture photography is a new area for me. I have concluded that I need to learn how to see light and how it relates, because it is different for landscape and wildlife photography.

Lastly just random images. I will eventually add more to this section as I edit more.

The Details:

Mentor/Assisting Photographer: Kris Hinh

Model: Kristy Taylor

Makeup & Hair: Gladys Trujillo

Location: Murrieta, CA

This next picture I was told to take. Well I was told “go take a picture of that swing.” I took the picture of the swing and I became really fascinated about it. I took several different pictures of this swing at various angles and depth of fields to produce different results and feels. I personally chose this shot because I like the angles and the shadows. The swing was probably about 4ft high and you can tell that this swing was made and not one of those prebuilt/premade swings you can buy at the stores. I was tempted to give this swing a shot, but was too worried that I would break it and figured it would make a better eye catcher as a single piece.

The house that we rented has a view that over looks the Volcan Mountains and it provided great sunset and sunrise images. This image is a sunset image and yes it has been modified. The original colors of the sky look just like that of the sunrise images, so I had to make them more entertaining and the reds just make this image happen. This image has a warm, peaceful vibe to it and looks amazing with the red sky. I took various compositional shots of the sunset and out of the images I still prefer the red night sky.

5:30AM: I was woken up at 5:30 in the morning to take a picture of the sunrise and this is what I got. The sunrise has some amazing colors to it and the silhouette gives the whole image a relaxing feel to it. I don’t know what to say here, except that the sunrise was amazing.

Lastly we visited Smith Ranch and took their Train Ride and Mine Tour.

Additional Images:

Following the rehearsal the invitees went to Journey’s End at Pechanga Resort and Casino for the rehearsal dinner. Unfortunately I was not an invitee. The following information was provided by one of the bridesmaid, Tonya. The dinner started with happy hour where everyone was talking, drinking, winding down, and having a great time. The dinner was self served and the food consisted of lasagna, pasta and garlic bread.

June 12th, 2010 Kristy Younker and Nik Taylor were officially Married at 3:01PM. The wedding was beautiful and the colors were fabulous, but it wouldn’t make for a special day without any mishaps. The flower girl ended up having a tough task and she handled it very well. First the ring bearer threw the rings so she had to go back, pick them up and carry them down the isle, second she had to make sure the ring bearer got down the isle, third she had to give the rings back to the bearer and lastly finally got to throw her flowers. Following the ceremony people began to get seated, get their drinks and appetizers while food was being prepared by the catering service. Everyone who stayed got their choice of carne asada or chicken tacos for dinner. I can’t further comment of the rest of the day, since I left immediately following the ceremony.

I was not one of the official photographers. This was a family wedding. Some of the information was provided by Tonya.

Escalate Live 2010 had eight inspiring speakers all bringing their personal experiences to the table and sharing them with everyone.These eight speakers are: Dane Sanders, Becker, Jasmine Star, Julieanne Kost, Jerry Ghionis, Jessica Claire, David Jay and Jeremy Cowart. Each and everyone had something to offer to help you become a better person at running your photography business.

Dane Sanders: Kicked the whole event off with a speech on collaboration. When Dane talks about collaboration what he is referring to is that fact that photographers “should be for each other” or “being for each other”. Another key note in Dane presentation is that there are many benefits to photographers coming together in a community and sharing their ideas, techniques, and collaborating with one another.

Becker: Talked about the ABC’s of Success: Attitude, Branding, and Connecting. Becker motivated people to have a better attitude and shared a bit on power of a positive attitude. One of Becker’s keynotes is that a photographers attitude can make or break a client. If you go into a shoot with a positive attitude that client is more likely to refer you and remember you. Becker also explains all the hype around “branding” and what branding really is about. Branding is all about feelings. Good, bad or indifferent. Becker’s goal for everyone is to connect with your clients and other vendors and provide a positive experience for everyone.

Jasmine Star: Talked about the power of social media and how she uses it to her advantage. She also shared examples of how other companies are using social media to gain presence. An example she used was “Pink” by Victoria Secrets facebook page and how the two girls who maintain that page are real. One of J* most important points in her presentation is to be yourself. She stressed this over and over again.

Julieanne Kost: closed day one talking about Adobe Photoshop CS5. She talked about how there are two versions of bridge which she called “little bridge” and “big bridge”. She also noted that Bridge is now part of Photoshop again instead of being its own application like is was back in CS3/4. She also talked about the new content aware fill, which is absolutely amazing and she talked about the new Adobe Camera Raw 2010 and compared it with the older 2009 version. When she was talking about Lightroom 3 and how CS5 uses the same Raw Engine, I was hoping she would have dropped a release date, but teased us all and said “it will be out soon”.

Jerry Ghionis: Kicked off day two. (I missed most of Jerry’s speech because I had an important final project that I needed to get completed. From the last bits that I got, Jerry is a great speaker, and has the ability to inspire others.) Jerry flew all the way from Australia to partake in Escalate Live.

Jessica Claire: She laid it all out on the line and was real. She was direct, honest and even went beyond and shared some of her not so great images to prove a point. It doesn’t matter what you as the photographer wants, what matters is what the client wants. It’s okay to shoot some images for yourself, but ask the client what they want and connect with them.

David Jay: What an amazing speech. DJ brought everything together and put it in simple terms for everyone. Collaboration and Attitude will get you everywhere.

Jemery Cowart: Ended Escalate Live. Jeremy told some stories, shared some techniques and shared the importants of Vision. He also shared that photography is always a learning experience and that a photographer must always be willing to learn. He was honest and authentic in his speech. He’s a commercial photographer from Nashville and his work is amazing. You have to check out his Voice of Haiti project and his Help Portrait project this coming December. I have been following Jeremy and Help Portrait months before he really pushed the concept, and last December Help Portrait was a huge success.

Sorry if day two sounded a little bland. I was only listening to Escalate Live this day while I worked on finals.

If you missed the conference and would like to watch it, it will be available through a video on demand service in just a couple of weeks. The low resolution rough cut will be available June 7th and the HD fully edited version will be available June 7th. Sign up here: http://escalatelive.com/vod/

About March Field Air Museum:
March Field Air Museum, and the P-38 National Museum are adjacent to the March Air Reserve Base, Riverside, California. March Field Air Museum serves as home to over 70 historic aircraft and many inside displays relating to the history of March Field, now known as March Air Reserve Base. The main building was erected in 1993. Its style reflects the traditional hangars of earlier aviation days. The distinctive checkerboard roof can be readily seen from the Interstate 215 freeway. At the museum visitors can watch modern military aircraft as they land and take off daily. Inside the museum the visitor will find thousands of artifacts on display covering the years from 1918 to the present. Also displayed in the hangar are some rare and unusual aircraft, including a P-59 fighter, the first operational jet adopted by the U.S. Air Force over 50 years ago. The building also contains a theater in which visitors may view films about the history of March Field and U.S. military aviation, the General Curtis E. LeMay Library, a well-stocked Museum Store, a G-force Flight Simulator, and the museum offices.

Admission:
$8 Adults $5 children (5-11) children under 5 are free
For tour group rates, call 951-902-5949
Hours of Operation:
Open daily 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Tuesdays thru Sundays)
Closed Mondays and most holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter)
Location:
Open daily 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Tuesdays thru Sundays)
Closed Mondays and most holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter)