Sebastian and Gentry

Sebastian and Gentry had their commitment ceremony at the always fun to shoot Muckenthaler in Fullerton- Love this place!

This was my first ever commitment ceremony and I had a blast. These two and their friends had so much fun; the decor was amazing thanks to Urban Gardner in Newport Coast and Colette's Catering from right here in Fullerton; and the sun was on our side for spectacular light!
Great ceremony!
Being a 'plant guy' I loved the centerpieces: they were all living plants in cool urns!
So many cool textures at 'The Muck'.
Like I said: They had a blast!
I like the effect I got with the rings. I shot this on top of a glass display case in the gallery using the brightly colored mosaics in the background for the cool blurry color.

Studio Progress- March

Well, I sure am ready to be done with all this construction stress! It's actually going very smoothly I just don't realize how long everything takes and how many pieces there are in this crazy puzzle! The front is all done now, we may add some text in paint to tie in 'eckman maus photography' somehow.

The inside is going well too. We're on to the trim and built-ins (one piece is a 12' tall by 12' wide bookshelf/display case- crazy!) then we can paint it and start installing the fun stuff: computers, theater, stereo system:)

Jeremy, my amazing brother is doing most of the design and all the work on it.. and Jeni's been painting walls, trim, ceiling, etc. and scraping some of the old pieces that need cleaning/ refinishing. They are both kickin' some butt! Yes, I'm staying clean for the most part... someone's got to keep the biz goin'!

If you in the area feel free to swing by, we're just West and a little South of the intersection of Harbor and Commonwealth- right in the SOCO district in Downtown Fullerton.

Las Vegas (and a P&S photo tip)

As some of you may know, one of the largest photo conventions in the world happened last week (or so) in Las Vegas. I went for a few days: I hit a couple parties to see long lost friends, checked out a few seminars (Jared Bauman with Bronson was the best), volunteered a few hours in the Special Kids Photography booth (a non-profit that trains and educates photographers about kids with special needs- awesome group!), and of course checked out all the coolest, latest, and most expensive gear at the tradeshow.

I always start feeling pretty poopy after a few days of not seeing the sun and breathing poorly filtered second-hand casino smoke so this year I brought my bike to check out the riding- it's been a few years since I rode on the convention trip.

The closest riding to "the strip" is at a little town called Blue Diamond- very fun stuff!

A few shots: (please bear with me as these are from my point and shoot again:)
Looking back at Blue Diamond after a quick climb.
And the goofy tourist shot of me- there's actually a little sign just out of the frame that says "Kodak Photo Op." like at D-Land. Just kidding:) Off in the distance to the right is Red Rock Canyon- never been? GO- it's so amazing!
The terrain changed quite a bit- this hard-packed red clay was a welcome sight after riding lots of sandy, rocky trails.
People think of the desert as some barren wasteland like Mars- but it is so beautiful- especially in the Spring.

So, here's a big tip:
I realized at one point that landscape photos in the daytime were always over exposed with my point-and-shoot camera so I used the exposure compensation to under expose every shot by 1 full stop- makes for so much richer colors! If you're not familiar with this on yours have a look at the manual... find out how to set this in the menu, set it to '-1.0' and you'll be all set. Don't forget to set it back when you're done with the landscapes!!

Mountain Biking

I've been riding mountain bikes for over 15 years now (never broken a bone, I'd like to add:) . My excitement for riding comes and goes over the years but I have been super excited about riding for the last few months. This is due partly to the fact that I got a new- SWEET - bike and also to the fact I found some killer new trails (to me) not far from home!

This new area is in the Eastern part of Chino Hills State Park. I've ridden every trail in the Western half for the last 10 years or so but rarely got into the other half- Such fun stuff!

I have been taking my point-and-shoot every now and then- I'm so used to the quality of my real cameras that I end up using the poor quality to add to the feel of the image.

This is on East Fence Line Trail in December- now the plants are over 6' tall and it's pretty much not ridable. I can't wait for it to open up again- there's lots of this type of riding then it drops pretty good for some cool downhill and up again for a killer climb!Powerlines in the early morning fog-
This was sunrise- about seven shots stitched together in Photoshop.

So cool to see horses hanging out right by the trail!



Take a minute to critique- Thanks!

Laura and Scott- Engagement La Jolla

We had great fun at this shoot- Laura and Scott were wonderful. They were a little reserved and uncomfortable at first but they realized they were allowed to have fun right away!

We shot from La Jolla Cove to the seal hangout and everywhere in between! The light was amazing- perfect timing!
The stairs to the lifegaurd station- I just moved the 'Do Not Enter' sign a little and we were all set!

Gotta love the flare in the Cypress trees:
The wildflowers were in full bloom- love the yellow contrasting the blue sky.
And with the handy dandy D3 (Nikon) we were able to continue shooting after the sun was down when the light is so nice!

Mike and Courtney- So Fun!

Saturday, believe it or not, was my first wedding of the year- I went into it totally psyched to do some damage (make killer images:) and was stoked to work with the coolest couple and the coolest decor!

The wedding was at the Jones Estate in Orange and the florist was Flower Allie- always cool to shoot. I had a blast looking for great light in new (to me) locations and we made some great stuff as a result!

Check the slideshow: www.emausphoto.com/slideshows, choose Mike and Courtney.

Sabastian and Gentry: Pre-Ceremony Session

I did a shoot last week with Sebastian and Gentry- they were so cool! We'll be shooting their commitment ceremony later this month and it's sounding like the party of the year!

We had fun at the shoot- we did it where they're having their big celebration: The Muckenthaler in Fullerton.

They said they loved the images and were very excited to get prints... just wait 'till the ceremony guys!