Lehrhaus Judaica Head Shots

Headed over to Berkeley to take head shots of two of the staff at Lehrhaus Judaica, a non-denominational center for Jewish studies open to the public regardless of age, religion, or ethnicity.

We set up two shoots one with solid gray background, very head shot style. And another, with the books of the library. When I first set up this shot, Rabbi Wolf-Prusan pointed out, unnoticed by me, the books behind him were all about the Holocaust, and perhaps we should move to another area of the library, which we promptly did! This is why it's critical that photo shoots (especially when more than standard head shots) are a collaborative process!!

Both Rabbi Wolf-Prusan and Dawn Kepler were great and easy to work with, and a big thanks to Debbie Rosenfeld-Caparaz, previously Cal women's basketball and soccer SID who now works as Director of Communications for Lehrhaus Judaica for arranging the shoot!

Just to share with you some of the knowledge that can be learned through Lehrhaus Judaica, here's an audio clip by Dawn, I found very interesting, how to find a rabbi for an interfaith wedding. Listen here: http://www.lehrhaus.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/7MS-Dawn-Final.mp3 Into today's world of mixed cultures, religions, races, and viewpoints it's important to be able to embrace and learn about our differences!

Deloitte Office Move

Today I had an exciting photo shoot, covering Deloitte's move to 555 Mission Street, San Francisco.

The move to 555 Mission has been years in the works, and sees Deloitte having a smaller, more collaborative workspace.

Though I've elected a cubicle-free career (but probably spend just as much time sitting on my desk editing and writing blogs) this incredible workspace had me slightly envious.

Thanks to the chain of Phil Carter --> Kyle Terada who passed my name along for this assignment!

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Toyota/Save Mart 350

Left Emeryville at 5am for Infineon Raceway to shoot the NASCAR Spring Cup Series: Toyota/Save Mart 350.

I had to be there by 9am for the course safety meeting for photographers, to let us know where we can and cannot shoot from, and hand out orange flags to wear to identify us as approved media. Thankfully my new long sleeve UVB protection shirt was white, because a man in a red shirt was told he needed to change, because it was a flag race, and the drivers might mistake him along the course as a red flag!

I finished a can of coke before 8am and was ready to go. Also trying out my new camelback backpack, which was a lifesaver! I roamed around the course which was exciting because Infineon is a road course not a circular course which allows more interesting photos. Turns out I move a lot slower than the cars and was struggling making the rounds up the hills. But what a beautiful setting!

I was SUPER thankful to have Jason Watson and Shannon Thoke give me some pointers. Jason had been shooting Friday, Saturday AND Sunday, and provided me with useful tips, IPTC info and code replacements for all the drivers! Also met some other regular auto racing photographers who were kind and helpful to a newbie like me. I had been to Infineon as a fan, but never as a photographer.

I was excited to see Jeff Gordon. 707 local childhood hero I remember being on all the soda machine's as a kid.

And also the king of NASCAR Richard Petty.

Super happy for Kurt Busch #22 who picked up the win, both his first of the season and his first road course win!

I tried to have fun panning, with some success.

I also got a chuckle, during a caution lap, when Marcos Ambrose, kept his hand out the window, like he's just chillin.

Being in this setting, and seeing this lil friendly fellow along the course, just made me feel like I was in an un-animated Cars movie... and now I can't wait to watch Disney Pixar Cars again and see Cars 2!! I also want to see Talladega Nights again. Haha =)

San Jose Earthquakes tie LA Galaxy 0-0

Headed over to Buck Shaw Stadium for the Earthquakes vs the Galaxy. Galaxy is famously the team of Beckham and Donovan who were both absent from the game. Beckham with back spasms and Donovan with the US National Team in the Gold Cup. Quakes were missing Wondolowski to the Gold Cup as well, but still thought the Quakes had a good chance of winning.

First half saw Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts collide with Khari Stephenson.

Ricketts was replaced with backup keeper Josh Saunders, which I thought would really increase the odds of a Quakes win.

Saunders protected the goal, battling against an attacking Steven Lenhart.

But then Saunders threw an elbow on Lenhart. Lenhart picked up a yellow card for instigating the play, but Saunders was shown a red card and ejected from the game.

This left the Galaxy down a man and without a goal keeper, so Mike Magee put on Saunders jersey and gloves and came into the goal.

Second half I moved to shooting backlit, just to be on the Quakes side, knowing they were going to score.

Quakes battled it out and had some close chances.

But the game ended 0-0.

All things considered, Galaxy felt like it was a win.

Hopefully Quakes can pick up a win next week vs Thiery Henry and the Red Bulls at Stanford Stadium.

KC Fox, MBA Student - Headshots

First off big congratulations to KC Fox for being accepted into UCLA's Anderson School of Business. KC will be enrolling in their MBA program this fall. Though you've seen previous posts of her headshot for her blog, she now needed a new/professional headshot for her Anderson student directory. I figured since my lights were set up, it was a good time to retake my own headshot, I've been using this one for a year.

I almost never wear my hair straight and I should have my headshot actually look like me on a regular basis. So, here I am =)

San Francisco Giants defeat the Cleveland Indians 4-3

Headed back to AT&T Park for the San Francisco Giants vs the Cleveland Indians.

I tried to get a shot similar to the Budweiser ad in downtown SF that reads "Grab some Buds" as the players went running out... if you have seen it, think this is close?

And hey, Indians have a player named Carlos Santana... I was a little disappointed when he didn't sing Oye Como Va ;-)

This game was really fun because I sat next to the people who are working on the documentary about Andres Torres and how he manages his ADHD. "Gigante, the Andres Torres story" by Plan A films.

It was so cool to chat with the filmmaker and his performance coach, and I can't wait to see it!! Also cool to see they use the same Rode video mic as I've been using with my 7D. Since the filmaker, Chusy Jardine is a documentary guy, he was using a 100m lens. I let him borrow my 70-200m, so hopefully I can spot some of the clips made with my lens!

Also, MLB was there again for the Showtime show, and turns out the producer Jason is friends with Cal Women's Basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb. What a small world!! =)

Coach G's Campus Favorites

Worked on another multimedia project for Cal Women's Basketball Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb. This one had us roaming around campus visiting some of her favorite spots. It reminded me of my days as a Cal student. Berkeley is such a beautiful and fun campus and I feel very proud to be an alum!

Check out the video on the women's basketball YouTube page here: http://youtu.be/yoxD1d1UThk

San Francisco Giants defeat the Minnesota Twins 2-1

Headed over to AT&T Park for an afternoon Giants vs Twins game.

Giants picked up a nice win with a 2-1 victory over the twins.

Some people question why I almost always sit along the third baseline near the Giants dugout. Usually it's to catch the start of double plays at second, tight slides into third, right handed pitchers, but even on games where I don't get the action I'm looking for, it's a great place to capture feature photos of players in the dugout, like this one of Cody Ross.

I was excited to see Buster Posey in the dugout, dressed in Giants uniform despite still wearing a cast. Wishing him a speedy and full recovery!