Meet Mr. Avalos

I shot a family baby shower this past weekend and had a little fun with my wife's Grandfather.  He's such a great subject I had to share.  Here's a series of shots of him.

This is the "are you done yet" look.

Happy St. Patricks Day! (a little history for you)

I didn't know who St. Patrick was so I had to Google it.  For those of you who are interested in a little history lesson or wonder why we have a dedicated day of drunkness read on.

Saint Patrick (circa AD 387–461),was a patron saint of Ireland. It began as a purely Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland's culture.

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish, and indeed he was successful at this, focusing on converting royalty and aristocracy as well as the poor.  After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's Word he died on 17 March, 461 AD.

Wearing of green

Originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue. However, over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. Then in the 1798 rebellion in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name.

History in Ireland

It is believed that Saint Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland since before the 1600s. It was also believed to have served as a one-day break during Lent, the forty day period of fasting. This would involve drinking alcohol; something which became a tradition. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland.

 Here's my green for the day... don't pinch me!

Some good laundry and dishwashing tips

I didn't realize how ignorant I was lol...  Check out this article about Laundry and dish washing tips.

Published!

I had forgotten to post this originally but this is my first publishing in a magazine from last year.  The June/July issue of Complex Magazine.  The shot of Long Beach is mine (not Katy Perry lol).

Hopefully there's many more to come!

The alphabet game

So earlier in the week I was in Vegas for the WPPI convention where I attended one of Kevin Kubota's classes.  He said one of his favorite things to do to keep in a creative state is to shoot the alphabet.  Kevin challenged everyone in the room to try it while in Vegas.  So here is the alphabet through my eyes...

 

 

One of my favorites - the lions at MGM

 

This was a crack in the sidewalk on the strip.  My wife said everyone was looking at me going "what in the hell is this guy taking a picture of"...

 

Maybe Miller's will give me a freebee for marketing for them!

 

 And my favorite...thanks to my wife the Q is her drink in the casino!

 

Another one of the lion's for the R

 

Funny story behind this one...  I went through the camera to tally up the letters and was one short..."U".  It seemed like all of a sudden I couldn't find a letter I needed.  I looked around the convention center but to no avail.  Finally it just popped in my head to shoot a toilet.  So I found a men's restroom ambitious to shoot my U.  At first I though the urinal was a good candidate but when guys kept walking into the restroom when I had my camera up to my eye I though it might not be the best idea lol.  So of course I found some privacy in a stall to finally get my U.  I could only image what the guy in the next stall was thinking when he could hear me snapping away behind a closed door in the restroom!  Hopefully he reads this lol...

 

I pass the torch on to you now and challenge you to shoot the alphabet!

Videographer

Nathan Prince is a friend of mine who does awesome video.  Check out his work!  Prince Productions.

WPPI 2010

I just got back yesterday from Las Vegas (woo hoo) and the WPPI convention.  It was my first year there and let me tell you what an incredible experience it was.

First off for those of you who don't know what it is it's a convention for wedding and portrait photographers.  They have all the big names in the field there hosting classes and a huge trade show and a million other photographers thirsty for knowledge (ok maybe not a million but a lot!).

There are some incredible people (who happen to be photographers) that me and my wife got to see speak -  Kevin Kubota, Jasmine Star, Marcus Bell, Joe Buissink and others.  I was truly inspired and learned a lot, all because they decided to pay it forward.  I got to hang out with my mentor Tara Sieling .  I bought more gear than my wife wanted me too.  And I got to meet a bunch of other photographers.  It was a great experience. 

Hopefully I'll get some photos up soon!