Finally, the icy cold of winter (okay, it’s more like the mild chill here in San Diego, but it feels cold to me) has moved on. Now we’ve got some sun and warmth - which means it’s time to hit the beaches and the bay. I’m usually on the water with my itty-bitty outrigger canoe so drinking beers on a 40 foot sailboat was a welcome, and relaxing change.

The coolest part was seeing the big-ass (that’s a technical term BTW) Navy ships head out to sea. The escort security boats kept a close eye on us subversive beer drinking potential terrorists. The coolest was witnessing the USS Carl Vincent sail out of the harbor. That’s a huge aircraft carrier that takes half a dozen tugboats to unhitch from its moorings. Security kept us far away from that one - but it’s still an awe-insprining sight.

John

For Los Angeles Magazine’s article on the 20th year anniversary of the LA Riots, they asked me to photograph former Angelino Titus Murphy. He was sitting at home in South Central LA watching the TV on the afternoon the riots began. As he sat comfortably at home, he caught the news reports of a white truck drive getting pulled out of his truck and being beaten by a vindictive mob.

Once he realized that the mob was around the corner from his house, he ran out the door and helped rescue the poor guy from certain death. Titus was one of the heros of the riots and reminded us that there’s still a lot of good people amidst us who are willing to help when the time comes.

More articles and photos on the LA Riots can be found on the Los Angeles Magazine website.

John

Had 40 minutes to kill while waiting for my camper van to get smogged so I walked about a bit and shot some pretty pictures. It’s fun being a tourist in my own backyard.

John

It’s been one year since the mean Green Truck has been serving awesome food out on the streets of San Diego. Nothing like using an anniversary as a good excuse for a party. I came out with my camera to help celebrate the night with owner David Holtse. Fun times, and good food. The bank rocked it. I jammed on guitar with a couple of the guys a few weeks ago. If I’d known how good they were, I’d probably have been too intimidated.

John

One of the great things about life in San Diego is that it can be 80 degrees at the beach - in February. In fact, we have some of our best beach weather of the year in winter. Crystal clear and warm without being hot. The living is good…

That said, the unheated pool water was cold. The talent for this beach fashion editorial was relieved when I told him he didn’t have to keep jumping in the pool.

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For those of you who don’t know what a velodrome is, it’s a track for cycling. Basically, it’s a banked oval track for bike rides to go really fast around. As it happens, there’s one in Balboa Park near my home. Tuesday is race night. It’s great to go sit in the stand, watch some fun racing, drink beer and have an evening picnic.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve also brought my camera for some portraits of the riders. I especially love photographing the kids. They’ve got such great personalities.

John

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be offering my Overpowering Sunlight class again this summer. This time it will be over three days in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada just north of Yosemite at the Bear Valley resort. You’ll learn about lighting, work with models and be pushed creatively to break out of the old mold and do your best work ever. This isn’t a workshop where you’ll be shooting over my shoulder. Instead, I’ll be coaching you over youra as you’re creating killer work that you can call your own.

Here’s the link to the website: Overpowering Sunlight Workshop. If you have any questions, you can email me. Hopefully, I’ll see you there!

John

In April, I did a fun swimwear shoot with the then Miss California in Pacific Beach for Pacific Magazine. Well, I just got word that Alyssa was just awarded the Miss USA title last night. First, congratulations to her! Alyssa is beautiful girl, a hard worker and a lot of fun to work with. So, in celebration of her victory, here’s my blog post of the photos.

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And the actual cover. We like covers!

Here’s a link to the actual magazine if you want to see the layout and the shots that ran: http://issuu.com/pacificsandiegomagazine/docs/low_res_may

John

My cell phone buzzed as it does whenever a text comes through. It was my friend and client Samantha from a local magazine. “Did I want to go to intervention?” was the text. So I’m thinking that either we were going to try and intervene with a friend or that maybe she thought my bad habits had reached the point of requiring outside help.

Fortunately, it was neither. Instead, it was an invite to an outdoor pool party that the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp throws most Sundays throughout the summer. Far be it from me to say no to a party so off I went.

Now, it’s been brought to my attention that some people think that my images are “upskirt” shots. In the broadest sense maybe they are, but the people in my photos are generally aware that I’m taking their photo. They know what they’re doing and often play it up as willing participants in the making of the photograph. Some of my photos may be extreme, but this is an extreme environment. I’m just documenting it (which I thoroughly enjoy by the way).

I’d also like to add that creating these types of images is not easy. The second most people see a camera, they immediately turn to it, stick out their tongue or make a peace sign, grab a friend and pose for the camera. Ugh. It’s thoroughly uninteresting to me. Yes, I take the picture because that’s the routine, yet I’m always looking for more. One reason why I resorted to taking shots from the ground or close to it is because a) it’s an interesting angle and b) they can’t smile at the camera once it’s on the ground.

My goal is to capture the energy and feeling of what’s like to be there so I do what it takes.

John