A Guest Photographer

Have you seen the movie called "Smoke"? Augustus "Auggie" Wren (the smoke shop owner played by Harvey Keitel) takes the same picture, at the same time everyday... And he has an album of those pictures...

My brother lives in a nice neighborhood in Istanbul, with a breathtaking view of a part of the city and the mighty Bosphorus.

He recently took practically the same picture at different times of the day (I doubt it was the same day) and I really liked these pictures.

His balcony, the sleepless nights filled with fascinating conversations, tons of fruits, a remarkable amount of liquor are what these pictures reminded me off and I wanted to share them with you.

Next week on Tuesday, I will be heading to Costa Rica for two weeks.
Obviously I will be taking tons of pictures and believe it or not, I will try to post a few teaser if I can. Nothing is promised, but I wouldn't like to deprive you from my photography (!)

:o)

If I cannot post during the time I am away, I promise you that the few weeks following my return will be reserved for the pictures of this Central American country.

Until then, as usual, thank you for visiting!

It's all about the Flowers

This week, I would like to share the pictures of the beauiful Flowers family.  We got together on an early Saturday morning and had some fun... Me, behind the camera and them in front.  The real star of the show was evidently David, who partied all night long for his 8th month celebration and who was still game in the morning!

Thank you David, and thank you the Flowers family!

A Lovely Day in January

On a beautiful California day, following a work schedule that kept me busy for 15 consecutive days, I had an incredibly light work load... So I decided to drive towards the beach and see where I would end up. Well, I ended up in Ventura County, a little north of Malibu and decided to hike to the highest point of the Santa Monica mountains, The Sandstone Peak, also known as Mt. Allen.

After a 1.5 mile up-hill hike, I reached the highest point at 3111ft (948m). It was incredibly windy and very cold. But the view was great. I have been in this spot before, years ago and I was happy to be back on such a clear day.

The below picture: Yes, it is reading the true North and by North-East, you see a frozen photographer.

After the hike, I drove down on the same windy road (Yerba Buena) to PCH. On the corner of Yerba Buena and PCH, there is a lovely spot called Neptune's Net. They serve great seafood and ice-cold beer.... So, I got me-self a nice 1554 by the New Belgium brewing company who also brews Fat Tire.  I love to try new beers and i was happy to find this one.  1554 was great, a dark, dry and crisp taste with a heavier finish.

I took PCH all the way south to Santa Monica and stopped there for a few night pictures including the gorgeous Georgian Hotel.

If you were in or around Los Angeles, I hope you enjoyed the weather as much as I did today!

See you next week.

Natural Favorites

This week, As I'm gearing up for an upcoming Costa Rica trip, I felt like revisiting my "natural" favorites. When you are shooting in the nature, and especially, when you are photographing wild animals, there are a few things you would need... Patience, determination and luck are some of them :o)

I have a few interesting shoots scheduled before I live so I will make sure I give you something fresh before I take that much-needed 2-week break!

A true beauty to watch and hard to photograph without a fast lens (which I did not have), but as I mentioned, when I saw this little hummingbird, I was determined to take a good picture and I in fact managed to get a few...

I could watch an ant or a colony of ants for hours... Is that weird?

I could also watch this little guy for hours, but I think that is more understandable :o)

When we were in Sequoia, we waited for days for an opportunity to catch a glimpse of a bear, we heard them but if this guy didn't show up the last day, I would have to wait for another time to photograph a bear.

In Big Sur's Kirk Creek camping ground, you can access a very rocky beach by following the creek and we did. After hanging out at this beach, we started hiking up and this blue dragonfly started flying in front of me, laying down and literally posing for me every once in a while. Thank you buddy :o)

I shot a mansion in Beverly Hills... Meet my assistant.

This last one is from Ventura county. I did not need neither patience, nor determination nor luck for this one :D

Catch you next week!

Blue Moon Over City Of Angels - Happy New Year!

Well, once in a blue moon, the Blue Moon happens at the end of the year... Sorry, I couldn't resist.

However, I was excited about the blue moon, and I went up to the Mulholland drive with a friend I work with and took a few pictures until the Patrol officer came and chased everybody out of the little park. These are the selected pics.

Happy New Year eveyone. I hope 2010 will be a happy, healthy successful year for all of you. Thank you for your ongoing interest!