Blacktop Basketball

You've heard the term "blacktop" before. It generally refers to any outdoor basketball court in an urban environment and it includes this one. Roosevelt Park located at 10th and P St. is my home court here in Sacramento. But this "blacktop" has an actual blacktop surface that absorbs and retains a lot of heat during the summer days. It will also destroy the palms of your hands if you put them down catch yourself or break a fall. My advice? Maintain your balance.

I shot these back in July of some guys that I regularly play with, but they probably got lost in the shuffle of summer weddings and honeymoon travels. I could go on and on about how much I looooooooove this game, but I'll keep it short and just post some pictures. Shout out to outdoor basketball...there's nothing like it.

Dave Eismeier

Dave Eismeier is a senior at Bishop O'Connell high school out in Arlington, VA. During my travels around the city, visiting different gyms, photographing different basketball games, I sometimes crossed paths with and photographed Dave and the O'Connell varsity basketball team. Dave's mom saw the pictures, bought a few prints and that is how I came to shoot Dave's senior portraits.

We met up last Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial and the weather was the best it had been in a long time. 60 and sunny. And DC took advantadge. There were tons of people walking around messing up the backgrounds of my pictures. We made it work anyway. Dave and his family were great to kick it with during that hour and a half but it was clear that his little brother was not amused.

Ummm...60 and sunny, where you at?

Guess Who's Bizack

Yeah it's your boy Sabrey Smith who was previously made famous by yours truly. For the most part, I've been shooting sports, sports and more sports and have been totally slacking on shooting portraits. Well here's to trying to get back in the groove. Yep, definitely behind on my portrait work, definitely.

Sab and I headed over to Fort Stevens park in NW Washington DC where we found shattered 40 bottles, condom wrappers, a couch cushion, dirty clothes and my favorite...dog shit. The park closes at dark, allegedly, but it seems like it's a home for nightly parties...invite only of course.

Shout out to Sab for being the designated guinea pig. Check out his music here. He and his fellow Good Hood mate also have a blog. Check it out.

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.

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: