Vacation

Bay and Cayse with Santa "Would you like a cast

Oh my gosh! It has been so crazy around here with Christmas cards, shoots, print orders, etc. We need to take well deserved break from it all..... so we are.

We will be out of the office from December 23rd until January 2nd, 2007 (wow, it's here!).

The trip is going to be to El Dorado Hills (between Sacramento and Tahoe) where my uncle lives on a huge property with a few houses all the family gets to stay in- It's going to be great!

This will be the first time I will be with my other two brothers since we have all become photographers. My older brother Jeremy has been a hobbiest for 15 years or so (he's the one that got me interested way back.... now he's asking me for advice!) and my younger brother, Jonathan, has recently gotten in to it for his news site: www.bikeportland.org (the biggest bicycle site on the planet!). Jon has been getting some killer photos lately as you will see on his site. And Jer gets some great stuff too. I can't wait to have a little shoot out with them- there is so much to shoot there- lots of good nature and some cool old towns like Placerville.

The kids love it up there too! All the Maus cousins will be together to go nuts! They also love the horses and the wildlife.

I hope you all have a great holiday too!! Fun and Safe!

Cheers!
joel

Art Gallery

So I've got all these images from different trips just sitting on my hard drives.... I thought I would share some with the masses.

I've got photos from our trip to Italy in June '06, Yosemite in May '05, Nevis, West Indies in February '05, images from my first serious photo trip- solo drive to Alaska in '99, and some other random shots.

I will be updating the gallery as I get more images- like from Guadalaraja in January '07 (we are going there for a wedding but are staying 5 days to check it out and photo).

Click here then enter Artofemp and let me know what you think of them.

Cheers!

The New Guy

Ryan and Nikki got married in 2003- the early days! They were great to work with and I also shot Nikki's brother's wedding in 2004.

Sydney was Nikki and Ryan's first child- I got to shoot her just days after her birth... and now she's a big sister!!

Sydney:
With her new bro:


Who says you need a studio for shots like these?? This was on the couch in front of a window with reflectors bouncing some light back...
Sid is the best big sis!!
This shoot was so fun! It was nice to see them all again and I was honored that they call me for every important event in their lives- love you guys!

Funny story: Nikki's dad took up photography after her wedding and has been totally into it ever since. He makes some great photos- I saw a few at their house during the shoot. They have to sneak the shoots with me so as to not make him feel bad.

I love it: when Dad gets a good shot and shows the familly, they say "Great shot, Dad, but it's not a 'Joel' shot!"

Mandy and Dave

The news last week said it may rain this past Saturday so my engagement shoot with Mandy and Dave was up-in-the-air. What a crazy thing: the weatherman was wrong! The skies were blue and the temp was perfect! Jeni (my wife) was my assistant so Bay and Cayse just played on the rocks- they love any chance they get to go to the beach.

We shot in an undisclosed (top secret) beach in Laguna- Dave proposed there!! I love it when we shoot in a place with some meaning. They were so great to shoot- they were up for anything! Even standing on a rock in front of the waves! They got a little soaked once but they were troopers so we continued...

Straight from the camera as they walked:

I love the long shadows of afternoons in winter:
This cool light is from a reflector- they are a pain in the neck but you can't get this light any other way!!
These rocks were very cool with the diagonal lines- I usually have to tip the camera to get a dynamic image with diagonal lines. This was Photoshopped a little- dodging with the history brush in 'Multipy' mode and I used two curve adjustment layers as well- one for the subject and one for the rock.
They were cracking up because I couldn't stop shooting! I get a little excited sometimes as you know, if you have ever been in front of my camera. This shot was on the stairs on our way back to the cars- I just loved the lines of the stairs and the backlight. They were such pros- we shot about six frames here in about 15 seconds and got this great moment.

Christmas Cards

I have been doing many family shoots for the past month or two for Christmas cards and photo gifts. People still call to ask if there is time enough to do a shoot and get prints by Christmas.... With digital technology we can do a shoot, upload to the online gallery that night for customers to order and have prints the in the next day or two..... I love it!

Here is a card I just finished working on- I have been shooting this great family for the last three years and enjoy seeing the kids get older and older. They are great to work with too!!


Let me know what you think of this layout, it will be on the cover of a 5x7 folded greating card (I am doing so many of these this year but they all get a custom layout).

Give me a call if you would like to do a shoot!!