Friday, June 29, 2007

Woz at Valley Fair Apple Store

Here's some shots I got of the iPhone release at the Apple store in the Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara, CA. The crowd was enormous and Steve Wozniak (The Woz) was there leading the charge to get his hands on the first iPhone. Even though Steve Jobs had already given him a phone earlier in the day, he was there to support Apple and pick up some extra phones for his family...soo cool. This guy is awesome.  I can't wait till I get mine!!!

Update: My pics made it to the front page of the Apple cult website Appleinsider.  You can check out the post HERE.











Happy iPhone Day!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Great Gorilla Run 2007

A couple weeks ago I headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to witness the 1st ever Great Gorilla Run in America. This is an event sponsored by the Gorilla Organization which is a charity working to protect the survival of gorillas in their natural environment. This wacky 7K run started back in 2003 in the UK and is slowly starting to gain popularity across the world. The cost is $100 to register, but you get to keep the gorilla suit and the money goes to a good cause. Unfortunately I missed the registration deadline, but luckily I was able watch all the craziness in person. As you can see from the pictures, people really got into it. Hopefully it'll be back again next year.









Check out the slideshow for more pictures from the day.
See the full size version HERE.


Here's a quick video I got of the action.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day

Just wanted to give a shout out to my pops.
Happy Fathers Day Dad!



Saturday, June 16, 2007

San Jose Photo Shoot

Wow...it's been quite a long time since I took these pictures but I've finally gotten around to putting them up on the web. About a month ago one of my photo friends Nichanh coordinated an awesome shoot in downtown San Jose. As you can see from the pictures, Nichanh has some pretty hot friends. Stephanie and Jason & Kristi were awesome to work with and we got some incredible pictures. Thanks again Nichanh for planning everything. I can't wait to do it again.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day.











Check out more pics in the slideshow.
See the full size version HERE.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Livermore Rodeo


On Saturday I was longing for a good old fashioned country experience, I we headed out to the Livermore Rodeo. This is the first rodeo I've been to since my college days in San Luis Obispo. It made me miss being around the the cowboy hats, the boots, the wranglers, the smell of livestock, and that good ol' country boy mentality. You definitely don't get a whole lot of that working at a corporate job in the silicon valley. It was great to see such a unified group of people that had so much love and respect for this country. The highlight of the day was at the opening of the Rodeo. They flew a plane high above the arena and this guy jumped out with this massive American flag. It was incredible watching him grow from this tiny spec and maneuver his way down to the center of the arena. A bunch of military personnel and cowboys were even there to catch the flag before it touched the ground. It was one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.




Another reason I decided to head to the rodeo was because I wanted to try out my new 70-200 2.8IS lens. I tried to weasel may way into the "press pass" area, but unfortunately the security guard gave me the boot....DARN IT! Next time I may have to resort to bribery. Even though I was confined to the bleachers I still managed to get off some pretty decent shots. I think this lens is a keeper. Too bad I had to put that new car purchase on hold as a result of it. New cars are overrated anyways. Tell that to the guy who has an hour long commute each way with no A/C, no power steering, no power windows, and no power locks. She ain't pretty but at least she's paid off!


Bareback Riding




Tie Down Roping
I love the "Beef" signs in the back of these shots.



Barrel Racing


Bull Riding (Everybody's Favorite)
These guys are out of their friggin minds





Big Fat Drunk Gross Guy with a Wig (My Favorite Event)
3 hot chicks on each arm....he's gotta be doing something right!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

My Brother the Fireman

I just wanted to give a shout out to my older brother Matt who recently completed his paramedic certification with LA City Fire. LAFD happens to be one of the elite fire departments in the country, right in line with FDNY, so this is quite an accomplishment. Matt's been working his butt off for the past 6 months going through all the coursework and training to acquire his certification. In the middle of this whole process his wife Sarah gave birth to their first child Carson. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind for them, but they're enjoying their new jobs as parents.

You can rest assured that we'll be toasting over a cold beer the next time we're in LA. Congrats big bro!

Here's a couple of pics I snapped of my brother's home away from home when I had the pleasure of visiting his station a couple years ago.
I'm honored that they actually wanted to blow a couple of these up and use them to decorate Carson's room.





Here's a shot of my bro in action.

Here's a picture they sent me of these shots up in Carson's room. Now Carson can grow up admiring what his daddy does for a living. Too cool!!!