Ralph Nader at SFSU

I was coming out of a class today when a promoter told me that presidential hopeful, Ralph Nader, was going to be speaking at SFSU in an hour. I went because I have been really interested in the upcoming election. I have not been stoked about either Obama or McCain, and it was nice to hear what Nader had to say. Regardless of whether there are good options or not, it is responsible to look into the issues and make an informed choice about electing leadership. Among the speakers were Matt Gonzalez, Cindy Sheehan and Ralph Nader. 

VP nominee Matt Gonzalez did a good job of describing Nader's role in the election, as well as explaining how voting for Nader is not about wasting your.

Sheehan was an interesting character. She wants to avenge her son's death in Iraq by being elected to Congress. I wasn't sold. 


Nader said something to the tune of -youth need to be more involved in politics than they are with updating their facebook profile. 

It was a good experience to see a Nader speak live, and I think that it is worth spending the time if any politician is coming to your area. I'm curious to see the next round of debates too. I thought that the last round between McCain and Obama were kinda weak.

L Yeah!

Christmas came early this year :) Santa dropped of a new 16-35mm f2.8L and a 85mm f1.2L today. These lenses are SO sweet! What I mean is, I got a couple of new tools for work ;) Raising the bar, right? My collection of L lenses is looking goooood! In case you are wondering what L means; it is the best quality lens made by Canon. Below is a self portrait in front of my house. I took it last night with the new 85mm.

Friends

This was a really fun weekend hanging out with my friends Aaron and Brandon who came up to SF to visit me. I love these guys. Aaron had been up in Alaska fishing all summer so it was nice to see him with all of his fingers still :)

My roommate Kris and his girlfriend, Alicia. Kris, Brandon, Aaron and I all go way back and it was cool hanging with everyone this weekend. 
Cute, Yeah?

Thanks for coming up!

Frida Kahlo

I got to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the SF MoMA today. It's been there all summer, but I hadn't had any time to go check it out. It was really good. I think that hearing more information about her history and the anguish that went into many of her paintings made me appreciate her work a lot more. I would recommend checking it out if you're in the area. I got a membership there too, so if you are in town we can all go to the MoMA for free- hit me up :)

Happy Birthday Mark!

I met up with my friend Mark and some of his friends for his 30th birthday. Happy Birthday man!

Jason and Tamara

Things started getting crazy last night when I left Carmel to come back to SF at 11:00PM. I was so tired from shooting and doing stuff all day that I though that I might fall asleep while driving. Somehow I made it home safe, unloaded memory cards and charged batteries. By the time my head hit the pillow, it was after 2:00 AM. Jason and Tamara's wedding today in Berkeley was supposed to be starting at 9:00 AM. I was up again at 7 to make it to Berkeley in time. It was INSANE!

Jason and Tamara's wedding was at Tilden Park, and it was another beautiful day! You can see their SLIDESHOW HERE.

I got to the park at 8:30, and nothing was set up yet. There was a snag with the park rangers opening the gate, but nobody was really worried about it. I helped set some things up with everyone who was there, and it all worked out fine. Jason and Tamara are so laid back.





Signing the Ketuba:






I was not really allowed to take any photos after this point (the beginning of the ceremony). I just couldn't help myself though, and I had to sneak some with the telephoto lens.






Haha. they told me about how they had been practicing for this shot. Cute!

I get a little break and I am looking forward to being able to breathe and edit everyone's photos in the next couple of weeks. Take care!

Germán and Sarah Bistué

I started this weekend by shooting Sarah and Germán's wedding in Carmel, CA. It was a beautiful day filled with tons of smiles :) I think that I'm forming a habit of doing monster posts  for weddings, but I figure the more the  merrier, no? You can see even more photos in the SLIDESHOW too. I met Sarah and Germán at Kevin and Tammy's wedding two years ago. 

The girls were having lunch and telling stories that had me totally laughing. Sarah's mom had the funniest story though :) 

Here is the, "Did my mom really just say that?" expression:

The girls were so worried that I was taking photos of every awkward moment. Someone bends  over to pick something  up - I bet Josh got a photo of it... like I have a secret stash of blackmail photos that I'm collecting! Haha. This one is pretty good ;)





There ceremony was at a park right by the beach in Carmel. It was really cool! Someone  would have to try hard to get a bad photo at this spot.






All of the portrait shots that we took turned out sweet!








Every morsel of food was amazing. They were also serving  two h'orderves that I have said that I'm having at my wedding (whenever that is): Quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches!
They had a backyard reception at a relative's house in Carmel. 
I was on a candid only photo mission that I think worked out well.






A combination of all of the speeches, and Germán saying, "this is my dream wedding," had even me tearing up. I felt honored to be there.  

You might remember seeing Kevin and Tammy earlier this year in some photos on my blog, and here they are again :)  
The Bistué family imports different wines from their home country of Argentina, and they were serving some of their wines at the reception. There was lots of good stuff. My favorite was the Malbec.





What a fun day! I realized two things that I want to be able to do way better: salsa dancing and speaking spanish. Thanks for reading :)