Deanne Fitzmaurice at PPGBA Meeting

Started off the day assisting Don Feria on a fun shoot of Sister William Eileen Dunn at Seton Medical Center. If you google her you'll see the recognition she's received for her selfless and dedicated contributions to the community. If you meet her, you'll find she is a humble, humorous and spunky sports fan who is a big Cal Women's Basketball fan! Go Bears!

Then I stayed on the peninsula for a Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area event in South San Francisco. My photo buddy Alexis Cuarezma is on the board and invited me to come see Deanne Fitzmaurice speak. Deanne is a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist (story here) from the SF Chronicle who now is a fulltime freelancer and businesswoman as cofounder (along with her husband photographer Kurt Rogers) of thinkTANKphoto a camera bag company which I LOVE and use almost exclusively - rain gear, rolling bag, belt pack and card holder ALL thinkTANKphoto products that have saved my life - and gear...and back. As I seek out inspiration, idols and mentors, she definitely stands out as one to aspire to model myself after.

Deanne Fitzmaurice and I... my smile is way too excited looking. haha

It was inspiring to hear her speak and learn how many of her projects were small projects that she self assigned into larger projects because they had meaning to her and she knew there was a story to be told. Chatting with her afterwards it was so refreshing how willing she was to answer my questions thoroughly and honestly. I really appreciated her transparency and a lack of "all-knowing" attitude. If you pick up her book "Freak Season" the behind the scenes of Giant's pitcher, Tim Lincecum 2010 season from spring training to winning the world series, you can see her honest personality being reflected not only in the access Timmy allowed her, but in the photographs themselves. AMAZING.

Sorry this blog is so wordy and not all fun photos, just wanted to share the other side of my experience as a young photographer, so I can be transparent as well =) Big thanks to Alexis Cuarezma and a shout out to my photography buddy Terrell Lloyd, also at the meeting, who I had a great time catching up with!

Alexis and I... taken on Alexis's cell phone by Deanne Fitzmaurice =)

Promise tomorrow will have photos... Giants vs Braves =)