Senior Portraits

I met Nick when he was 13, via his bodyguard, who happens to be a good friend of mine. Now he's going off to college (Boston College if you couldn't tell) to swim. So congrats to Nicky!



And nice haircut. Shout out to Walt Whitman and his harem of high schools around the country.

LaToya and Chris

So my sister and her fiance were in town this Memorial Day weekend to visit little brother. They're getting married in August in the Bahamas which means a nice week long vacation for me and my girlfriend.

And because little brother is a photographer (or claims to be one) big sister needed some engagement photos. And the only right thing to do while visiting Washington DC was to take them down at the monuments. We shot a lot over by the Jefferson Memorial. The columns made for some cool scenery and the lack of people at 7:30 in the morning was also a plus.

Shout out to myself for being played out and shooting at the monuments.

DC United 3 - Toronto FC 2

Let me first say that I like soccer but I'm not a huge soccer fan. My soccer participation comes in spurts. I played in high school. I played some FIFA in college. I went to a few games while doing a semester in Germany. I even skipped out of work in the summer of '06 to root on Portugal and Spain in the World Cup (shout out to Miguel and Fernando Torres).

My point is... I'm in the midst of another spurt while covering Washington DC's Major League Soccer team. DC United is still not winning enough games and the level of play in the MLS is a lot different (read: a lot worse) than in Europe.

Hey Sick, where we watching Euro 2008?

How Sick is this?

Another shoot I've done recently was of one DJ Sickboy. The producer/DJ used to spin at Cafe Japone in Dupont Circle and produces countless hits for the artists over at Heavy Syndication. Oh and one more thing, the soccer club Arsenal seems to be at the top of his list of priorities.

A stroll around U st. And Cardozo High School in Washington DC provided the background for this shoot. I rented a Canon 24mm tilt shift lens just to play around and this is what happened...

The producer and the writer.

Always a willing participant to my impromptu photo shoots...my man Arkane. The producer of some of Broadway Miller's hits and a writer of a few of his own. Working on my natural light techniques, we just kicked it around the alleys and vacant lots near his crib in Washington DC. A couple of my favorites:

The Kickoff!

No, I'm not talking about football season. It's a little too early for that. This kickoff is in reference to a photo project I'm beginning. As a freelance photographer/photo assistant, I'm not sure where my next job will come from so I have to make up stuff (like this blog) to stay busy, stay fresh and most importantly, stay creative.

I would have loved to follow and photograph the Presidential candidates around the heartland of America during their campaigning but 1) I have no media outlet backing me and b) I don't really have enough money to drop everything and country-trot through these United States. So my simple solution? Ward-trot through this District and do the exact same thing with the 2008 DC City Council elections. And everything is so much closer from my Mt. Pleasant abode. Wish me luck and visit my blog to see how the election plays out through my eyes.

Last night I was at an event at Hotel Helix put on by the Logan Circle Community Association introducing current council members Kwame Brown (At Large) and Jack Evans (Ward 2). They also introduced the newcomers: Independent Adam Clampitt looking for an At-Large bid and Cary Silverman challenging the incumbent Jack Evans. Check it out.

Flashing Lights...

So I'm at the Hotel Helix on Rhode Island Ave. shooting a DC City Council candidate event...then I looked up. Playing around with on camera flash (which I hate) and long exposures I happened upon the photo below. Shout out to Nikola Tamindzic for the inspiration. The second image just had some nice simple shapes and patterns.

Hangin' with Chad

Shout out to Todd McFarlane (creator of SPAWN among other things).

When I was younger I started a whole lot of toy collections, never really finishing any of them. He-Man, ThunderCats, Ninja Turtles, Dick Tracy...all collecting dust in a box somewhere in Katy, TX. I might have to find a few of those throwbacks to shoot one of these days.

Being a sports fan, I got hooked on McFarlane's Sports Picks series late in my teenage years. It was the perfect combination at the time because as I was too old to play with toys, these toys weren't to be played with. Yet it was another excuse to start a new collection. So I did. Then when I got into photography, I thought it would be a good idea to shoot them. So I did. You can see more examples in the toy section of my website. And if I have a slow blog day...I'll probably post some more.

Sabreezy

Meet Sabrey Smith: The rapper/lyricist from Evanston, Illinois who will probably be making a lot more appearances on this blog. Occasionally, my good friend Sabrey and I kick it on Saturday afternoons because I need someone to shoot and fortunately for me, he doesn't mind being shot. With the skully on tilt, he's in the camera section of the new Best Buy in Columbia Heights shopping for Mother's Day.

Sabrey along with Deuce make up the group Good Hood. Check 'em out.

Chicago Fire 2 - DC United 0

I've shot all of the DC United home games so far this season at RFK Stadium and Thursday night they announced a new partnership with Volkswagen. The team now sports a huge VW logo on the front of the jersey as well as ubiquitous VW reminders all over the stadium. But I'll stop hating because VW did provide free parking for the night.

Anyway...United lost again and apparently the team isn't doing that great. I'm not a huge soccer fan but being on the sideline inevitably engages me.