Tuesday

I'm definitely one of those people who believe in energies and during this point I could feel Michelle's energy from her beach house in La Jolla to my condo in Chicago, and she definitely needed her sister. Some photographers I admire take their camera to their dark moments, their difficult places, I always have trouble doing that. During our drive to Chicago a few weeks later I didn't even take it out of it's case. I just knew that neither one of us wanted documentation of that drive. We were there, we know how it went, and we made it in plenty of time. Here are images from the last time I hung out with Michelle and her puppy Millhouse in La Jolla. The man with the smile is Vahik, the sweet man who makes the best coffee ever!

Temecula

After letting off a ton of steam in the LA area, a little Hermosa, a little Manhattan, a little Hollywood, I headed down the I-5 to visit Michelle and see her amazing new restaurant. We spent an entire day drinking our tushies off in Temecula, a great little wine area just outside of La Jolla. The first winery we went to was disappointing from the start, but the second winery we went to was so amazing we were tittering to the 3rd. Of course we had to fill out stomach's with food in order to get back to the house. I just loved the way the colors hit my sister as she held the glasses of red wine and let her take a few pics of me testing it out. Enjoy the pics!!

Manhattan Beach, CA

My very good girlfriend Julie won a trip for 2 to Manhattan Beach and was begging me to come along. Knowing how low my cash flow was I didn't think I could do it, but we made a deal and all I had to pay was for my plane ticket and incidentals. Lodging was free and with the right crowd, drinks were free too! We had a wonderful time shopping, I introduced Julie to fish tacos, we ate a huge thing of cotton candy and watched the sunset off the peer. Plus, I was only 2 hours away from my sister in San Diego so I was going to head there next. At Wahoo's I got a little obsessed with the decor but also with the different people coming in and out. In workout gear, in no gear, on their cell phones, in bikinis, without most of their clothing...go to love the West Coast! Enjoy!

VFish-Februay 2009

I had a regular gig going for while shooting for this fun husband and wife clothing company called "V-fish". This time the head designer, Mandy, came in armed with ideas for the editorial looks that they would use at the marketing events and on the website. It was a rough day, I didn't sit down for a second, but it was worth it for these fantastic shots. Enjoy!!