I’m totally a life long learner and my favorite subject is photography! Why go to workshops, when I teach photography myself? There are so many aspects of photography, from composition to business and we can’t forget about the technical. And to run a successful business, you need all three. While in art school, I never learned how to use strobes and fancy lighting equipment, so with the desire to take my photography to a whole new level and to teach my photo students some cool lighting, a day with the Gray’s was essential!

Our first model was Keary Dee and she is actually a photographer herself down in San Diego. Isn’t she gorgeous?! And of course I love her jacket and those super cute shoes. She was a joy to photograph. But after using a strobe as I photograped her, I was giddy with excitement!And one of the other photographers, Shelli, brought her gorgeous daughter to model for us. Breanne was a trooper for sure! Having acted in a major high school play the night before, she drove all the way down with her mom from Bakersfield, to help us photogs out by modeling. And I am so glad she did, because she is stunning!!!One of the most magnificent things that I loved about working with artificial light is that you can make your model practically jump off the screen, as if they are 3D. So cool!And then we saw a rainbow. How cool is that?! Love it!And then we were graced with a rockin sunset and then BAM, got some pretty sweet shots!Ok, supermodel! Thanks so much for giving me your gorgeous eyes to photograph. And those cheekbones, ugh, I love! I hope you enjoy the rest of your senior year. Love every second of it!

A HUGE shout out to Zach & Jody Gray! You have been blessed with not only mad photo skills, but a special ability to teach super complicated stuff in the simplest of ways.  Thank you for opening a whole new world of lighting to me. I can now say, both figuratively and metaphorically…I have seen the light! Ha!

Today I lectured on the importance of remembering, to 180 high schoolers, who were 5-7 years old in 2001. Us adults remember the event differently. For me it was tragic, tear jerking and heart wrenching. For these kids, they were so young that they didn’t understand what was happening. Since then, they have grown up in a post 9/11 world. They have grown up during a time of war most of their life. For them it’s normal for a plane to go thru a building. That was NOT normal for me.

Photography is what allowed the world to see this event and what allows us to remember. As firemen saved people’s lives, heroic photojournalists told this story with their lens and thus became historians.

After watching that video, I was so encouraged that I teach, what I think to be, one of the most important subjects that one can ever learn. Photography is not only important for documenting fun aspects of our lives, but it can also show us humanity at it’s worst and it’s best. As a photographer and a photo teacher, I get to photograph and train my students to photograph history as it unfolds.

We then listened to an incredible story I heard on NPR this morning as I drove into work. I sat in my car chocking back tears and knew that I had to share it with my kids. One of the iconic images from 9/11 is of Father Mychal Judge, who was the first to be found dead out in the rubble.  After he heard that the first tower was attacked, this Jesuit priest went into the building to minister to people, but never came out alive. But he did save the lives of the 5 men who carry him, who otherwise would have been in the building as it collapsed and hopefully the souls of many more. God bless him.

And after lots of heaviness, I ended the lecture with a cool 24 hour time-lapse photo project that John Makely made of the construction of the memorial site. 10,000 photos put into a stop motion video…uber cool!

The main takeaway I wanted the kids to walk away with, is that they have to learn photography as if their life depended on it. You have no idea how life might unfold and what history is being made right in front of your lens. Aris Economopoulos, said that “We have to remember this. We can’t forget,” and I hope we never forget or have to live thru it again.

John is officially a full time professor at Biola this year. As the Writing Director of the Torrey program, he has to instruct 500 kids to become better writers, as well as lead discussions on the “Great Books” and mentor a bunch of students. He has an exciting, yet very difficult year ahead of him. This is a big answer to prayer for us, so I am excited to see how God will use him there. I’m proud of you honey.

I was privileged to learn from some of the best in the industry, like children’s photographer Tamara Lackey and marketing experts Jules & Joy Bianchi. The sexy Australian accent of Jerry Ghionis was intoxticating while impressing all of us with his incredible imagery. And it was great to see Bambi Cantrell who knows everything about posing and how to make a woman look beautiful.  Wedding photographer, Roberto Valenzuela was hysterical with his crass humor and really encouraged me to practice my craft everyday with the simplist of things, like a banana. These guys were truly inspirational!

After lots of lecture, the next day focused on a more hands-on/show-and-tell approach to teaching. Bobbi Lane was an incredible instructor and taught me tons about studio lighting, which will help me a lot in my classroom. The celebrity photographer, Matthew Jordan Smith was truly inpsirational and encouraged me to dream big and even volunteered to come speak to my students! Woo hoo!

Skip Cohen and Scott Bourne ended the four day conference with all sorts of great advice on marketing and social media.  But I was truly wowed by what Vincent Laforet does with video on the Canon 5D Mark II and the new Red Epic Camera. Truly remarkable stuff!

But one of my favorite parts of the conference was when I went on a shoot out with Clay Blackmore in the Mirage Hotel and on the Las Vegas strip. It was awesome! I have been involved in lots of shoots with other photographers before, but never one that involved such magnificent backdrops. We had a blast!

Here is our first model, Dannika Renée, which we placed against a bright neon Beatles sign. Super fun!This is Clay Blackmore in action. He is the real deal and such a nice and humble guy. It was an honor to be lead by such a talented photographer.And this beautiful girl is actually one of the photographers, Ashley Zimmer, who just happened to be gorgeous.
So this was my FAVORITE part of the whole four days, right here. I felt like I was on the set of America’s Next Top Model. Imagine loud tribal music in the background and huge flames coming out of a volcano with a smoking hot model in front. For a photographer, this moment was pretty epic!
And this is what a shoot out looks like, a bunch of photographers playing together to get the perfect shot! So much fun!

And some things I want to leave you with, said by the great Gerry Ghionis,

“Photograph your subject through the eyes of their loved one.”  and “If you want to be a better photographer, you have to be a better person.” Truly good stuff kids!

We went on a thursday, where the museum allows free admission after 5:00 pm, so naturally the museum was packed. I have been going here for years, and I was delighted at how many people were there and how many people were taking pictures cause they wanted to remember what they saw. We wandered thru all sorts of eye-catching installation pieces, learned that the timeline of graffiti art is not much older than I, and often had our jaw dropped at how cool, smart or well done something was. And I can just imagine how cool this show was to put together as compared to simply hanging painted works on a white wall. This show is hip, cool and totally daring for MOCA to do; a show that not a lot of other museums could get away with! If you liked the conversation that Exit Through the Gift Shop started, then you will LOVE this exhibition.

The show closes August 8, so RUN to get there before it closes!

For years, I have always been nervous to ask a total stranger for a picture, in fear that they would be offended that I was seeking out a photo cause they looked different than me. But since the Chinese people frequently asked us to pose for their cameras or would secretly snap photos of us, I thought it would be fine to do the same of them.

We took a Tai Chi class after we explored the Forbidden City. This dude was our Tai chi Master and he was seriously legit. I’m not sure what this guy was checking out, but there was something about him that I thought was intriguing. We went to a temple and looked at some ancient artifacts, but I love how bored the guard looked. One of my students got a shot of his partner guard texting. And these two shots were seriously my favorite. I love his eyes and sincerity in the first shot and then the missing teeth in the second just kill me. He is so freaking adorable! As we walked around the Muslim Market, I had fun taking pics of some of the workers. These two guys were cooking up some delicious Chinese food in an open air kitchen. I love the joy I can see in this face. I just imagine all the interesting stories this police officer hears from those in his community. And I know this picture is totally out of focus, but I LOVE it. We went to a retirement home and got to talk to some of inhabitants about the cultural revolution. As this lady opened the door, her face was priceless. I literally only had enough time to pump up my ISO as I heard the door opening and lifted my camera and fired.

Right from the plane, we headed towards the famous Bullet Train. This guys goes super fast and now I can say that I have been on the fastest train in the world. Woot!

China is the king of big cities, but as far as my eye could see, were sky scraper after sky scraper. And the ever present building cranes can be seen in the distance.
One night while John and I waited for the others to come down to the bus, we stood outside our hotel and just watched people go by. This view provided the perfect view of China’s development. In the background you can see examples of the recently developed China, with it’s new found wealth and growth. Yet, juxtaposed in the right corner is a man carrying his own tow, something you would never see in a first world nation. I thought this image perfectly illustrates the stretch-marks of how China is not as advanced as we think it is and still has a lot of room to grow. While we were here, we also got to visit an older section of Shanghai, where the buildings are only 5 stories high. We talked to a family about the Cultural Revolution and the prolific amount of abortions women must do to stay in compliance with China’s one-child policy. The use of contraception didn’t come up. And interestingly enough, these humble abodes were only one bedroom, yet 3 people comfortably lived in this very small place. Humbling. A highlight was going to see a Chinese Acrobatic Show. I have never seen Cirque du Soleil so I imagine it was very similar and that most of their performers are plucked out of Shanghai. We also went to a Silk Factory. Actually everyday we went to some sort of factory/gift shop, as a stipulation that the Communist government forces all tours to do. Nevertheless, the educational bits that were shared with us were pretty cool. Here we got to learn all about silk worms and how factory ladies are able to exploit these little guys to make beautiful garments.Then we went to the Jade Buddha Temple, where China’s largest hand crafted Buddha is. This temple actually brought me much saddness. You don’t see it in the pictures, but despite the beauty of the temple and the faith that can be found there, in every room there was a gift shop. I was reminded of how Jesus came into the Jewish temples and in John 2:13 accused them of turning the temple into a den of thieves and said “Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” This was a blatant example of how capitalism is alive and well in China for sure.
We then headed to a cool pagoda garden area that provided some quiet and pretty views.On the last night of our tour, we decided to take a night cruise along the river that divided the city. The views were spectacular and we had a blast taking pictures. This was the perfect way to end out trip!

We also went to a factory that showed all of us the way the terracotta warriors were made. Super cool! We also had a fun time at our Chinese Tea Ceremony. We got to try five different teas and they were delicious!Another cool thing we did in this town was visit an art museum that highlighted some of the greatest calligraphy in China. And we got to have a little calligraphy lesson! This brought me back to when I studied Chinese Brush Painting back in high school. Another highlight of the tour was visiting the Muslim Market, where there were all sorts of foods I had never seen before. We all had fun tasting unfamiliar treats and taking photos. I am going to do a special post on the people of China, because I got lots of great shots here.And with every China post I have to show the ever present crane. There is construction EVERYWHERE in China! They are seriously preparing for greatness. 

I took so many photos that I absolutely love that they will be divided up into five posts, spread out throughout the next couple of weeks. The first post is dedicated to our first city, Beijing.

There is a building boom in China. Cranes adorn the skyline. The national bird of China is a crane, which I thought was so apropos.Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square. We were the only white people. People gave money like sacrifices to the statues.
If our door-knocker in Fullerton looked like this, we’d probably get fewer girl scout cookie sellers.
Ancient bathrooms perched a couple of kilometers up on the Great Wall of China (and there was a guy sleeping inside!)
I love the color contrasts here, but I also think it represents metaphorically what’s happening with China, how these bricks are the basic building blocks for their construction frenzy.Not umbrellas . . . parasols! For keeping the sun off. And to make you look beautiful.We got diagnosed by Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors, and they prescribed herbal remedies, all of which were kept in these tiny bank vault boxes. If you want evidence that China is growing so quickly it can’t maintain its infrastructure, look no farther.At the Bird’s Nest and Aquatics Center in Beijing, which held the last Olympics, vendors sold these multi-stage kites. You don’t just buy one string and one kite, you buy DOZENS of kites on a string. If Benjamin Franklin had strapped a key to every one of these, he would have been fried to smithereens.

Our adventure was motivated by visiting our foreign exchange student friend who was from Vienna we met while studying at a UCSB for the summer. At 16 I met this awesome,  H & M clad European and fell in love with her European carefree attitude. So after spending a summer gettting to know this cool girl, I had the opportunity to get my license or save up money to go backpacking and visit my new friend. I chose the latter.

We went to London, Paris, Cap Ferret, Venice, Florence, Rome, Vienna, Salzburg and Amsterdam. It was a whirlwind, but one that I was happy to get swept up into. Since that summer, I have traveled EVERY summer since and have been to a lot of other wonderful destinations in Europe, South & Central America and South East Asia. But this was the trip that allowed me to fall in love with traveling! At that point, it was the best summer of my life.

And by the way, I didn’t end up getting my license till I was 22, but I visited Europe 4 more times since that first trip before having to pay for a car and insurance. I think that is money well spent! So kids the lesson of this story, is travel the world and prioritize how you spend your money to allow you to do what is really important.

This summer I am going to China with 10 students and infecting them with the travel bug!