Trip to Huntington Library

I have a few things that need to be blogged! Maybe this is called blog backup? I haven't necessarily meant to stockpile these things, it's just that life has been busy with many things, which is never a good excuse, but I shall use it nonetheless.



In August, I had the pleasure of accompanying a professor of mine (he is the head of photography at Mount San Antonio College), Neil Chapman, to the Huntington Library in San Marino. We had a great time despite the poor light (direct sun in the middle of the day is not the greatest for flora/fauna shooting). Here is one of the many beautiful bonzai trees they had displayed in an area of the grounds.




There was a photography exhibit that we had both wanted to check out as well. It was called "This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs". I appreciated his thoughts and critiques on many of the images as well as his insight about the various photographers represented which he personally knew. We did manage to get a few good images in the buildings where they have sculptures and art displayed. I call this one "Take aim".

My friend the carpet

Today I got a chance to see my friend play the magic carpet in the Aladdin show at Disney's California Adventure. I have a couple friends in the show, but this is the first time seeing Megan play carpet. So, as I have in the past, I took pictures of the show, mainly of Megan. Here are some of my favorites:

Summer at the Center 2008

These are images from this year's Summer at the Center show, held every year at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. It's an amazing show with kids who have had it rough in life. The Young American's Director and Choreographer, Bill & Robyn Brawley, teach these kids confidence, performance, compassion, peace, teamwork, discipline, and above all, love. It is an incredible show to take in!

Flash Slideshow

Fireworks

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! I certainly did. It started off with the La Verne 4th of July parade, then off to my father-in-law's birthday party, then back for the La Verne Fireworks show, then friends came over. Quite a day! Here is an image of the fireworks we watched.



Things have been really busy for me lately. I have many blogs to post on recent photography activities so stay tuned!

-B

Mike & Dalisa

What a beautiful wedding and couple! They are great friends and we had a great time that day! Here is a slideshow of some of the images from that special day.

Enjoy!

A new day

After a pretty tough week and a half (personally), I decided I wanted to go out and watch and photograph the sunrise. Using beauty that God created to inspire me and put things in perspective.

Some people would go to a local park or trail for a nice view, but I decided I needed to see it from a really spectacular place. So, last night I decided I would wake up at 2:45 and make the 2+ hour drive to Joshua Tree National Park to watch the sunrise. Might as well go all out, right?

So it took a little longer than I anticipated and I ended up in a different spot than I had originally thought. I hadn't been to the park for maybe 14 years, so I did not know where a good spot might be. Maybe I should just call this a scouting trip for next time.

By the time I got up to a decent spot, the sun was just about to come over the top of the rock formations on the horizon. I was able to get a few shots that I am currently working on in photoshop.

I then drove on to another part of the park and got some other early sunlight shots.

Here are a few of the images I captured. Joshua Tree National Park is truly a spectacular landscape. If you haven't ever been, I encourage you to go there. I think a camping trip is in the future. Then I can have another go at the sunrise.

It sure was beautiful.

Recent Shoot

Here are some photos from a recent shoot I did with a friend of mine who was in town from New York city. She and I used to sing together in the Young Americans. You can check out her music at her myspace music page here: Marnie Buckner.

We had a great time shooting these in downtown Orange around the circle (a great place to shoot).

Some of these will definitely be making it onto the Brian Black Photography website.