Sometimes, when I get to thinking about my life, I see connections that only make sense in hindsight. I thought it might be interesting to share some of these, so here goes... 

One might wonder what massage therapy has to do with my current skills as a photographer. Well, when it gets down to it, it has a lot to do with how I got to where I am today. When I was in college, something told me to go through massage school at the same time (crazy, I know... all that extra work). I couldn't figure out why, but at the time it just felt like something I needed to do. So I got my massage therapist certification and graduated from photography school and like many other graduates, wondered, what's next? And, like most graduates, figured I could go live with mom and dad, or go "take a break" somewhere and focus on living life. I chose the latter. I moved to my family's cabin in Lake Tahoe, where, upon realizing I needed a job, massage therapy was the clear answer. I started working as a massage therapist, accepting photography jobs on the side and traveling during Tahoe's down season. While working with massage clients, I was learning how to make photography clients feel comfortable and trusting of my skills. I guess that's inevitable when you ask a total stranger to strip down and spend an hour with you in a dark room with the door closed!

Photography by:  MARCUS BELL

As a photographer, I look to other photographers for inspiration. When I need a little inspiration for weddings, I often turn to Marcus Bell.  I admire Marcus's work because of its purist nature and the way his love of photography shines through. He has an amazing ability to capture both the beauty of his subjects and the scope of their environment.

I'll never forget the first time I met Marcus. I was very new to photography and a bit star-struck by some of the leading photographers.  We were at WPPI and he introduced himself and I had to pause a minute--"THE Marcus Bell?"  I was surprised by his down-to-earth nature and humble attitude.  He has a wonderful spirit and does amazing work.

You may view Marcus's work at www.marcusbell.com.

You can find images from one of my favorite 2007 weddings (Melissa & Gim) on theweddingchannel.com.  The destination wedding was held at the Highlands Inn in Carmel and was coordinated by Kristie Hogue (she is amazing!).  Please visit weddingchannel.com to view photographs and see other creative ideas in their wedding galleries.  Enjoy!

I was looking through the 2008 BRIDES & WPJA contest winners for inspiration and realized that I got 2nd Place in the Parents Category.  I wonder how many times I have won an award or been published without knowing it???  I guess I should probably pay closer attention!

All winners are published on the WPJA website and in BRIDES magazine.

This last weekend I photographed Ci Ci & Bob in the most fun wedding at Squaw Valley, USA.  See the below map to see our starting and ending location.  After we skiied down their was an amazing reception at PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn.  Stay tuned too see the amazing images!

  

One of my images was selected for the cover 

of the prestigious annual Here Comes the Guide.

As an artist, I seek out inspiration everywhere. But I never it find it more than in the faces of the people who surround me.  I'm fascinated by finding the beauty and wonder in everyone who crosses my path, and have decided to use this blog series, Surrounded by Muse, to recognize those special people whose lives have lit a spark of inspiration in my soul.


It seems most fitting to start the series by featuring the most inspirational woman in my life, my mother, Linda Hall.

My mother is the most caring, free-spirited, kind woman I have ever met. Whether she is creating art, designing interiors of the rich and famous (such as NFL player Jeff George), or growing the yummiest tomatoes in our home garden, she never ceases to inspire me. In addition to being a phenomenal mother, wife, and daughter, at 66 she can shake her booty on the dance floor better than my friends less than half her age! She lives an honest and moral life, founded on integrity, and loves her family unconditionally. I could go on and on about what I admire, but perhaps the greatest lesson my mother has taught me is how to relate to others and earn their trust.

As I told Rangefinder Magazine, when mom "walks into a room, it just lights up. She seems to be able to do this with everyone, whether it's a famous person or someone who's homeless. She's...very open, and people respond by directly opening up to her. They not only like her, they trust her."

My mother also taught me that energy is contagious-- a lesson that's been indispensable as a professional who relies on good relationships with people. When I'm shooting, my positive attitude carries over to the subjects. Soon they get excited too. They see that I want to create art in a positive way and we end up with an amazing experience.

For this, and all the other ways she has so profoundly touched my life, I thank her. I love you mom!

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CHS_Feature.pdf

I was recently selected as an "Adobe Influencer" and have been playing with CS4.  There are a lot of amazing changes in the updated version and below is one of my favorites:

Check out the "Content Aware Scale" Tool.  Here is an image of my cousin with its original aspect ratio:

I am usually a full frame shooter and have significant content from edge to edge.  I always hate having to crop a photo to fit standard frames (ex - 8 x 10 crop when a full frame image is 8 x 12 - bye, bye 2 inches of my image!). The brilliant technicians at Adobe came up with a tool  that will intelligently crop your images analyzing which data can afford to be lost without effecting or stretching the important aspects of the image.

It took me about 1 minute to scale the image below to a frame proportioned 8 x 10.  I just duplicated layer, went file - content aware square and made the crop.  Powerful stuff!