Fire in the Sky

California is my favorite place to live, but we just don't get sunsets like they do in Bend, Oregon. With the ever-changing weather that blows over the Cascades (or summer wildfires in the forests), you never know what you might see any given night.

One summer we were treated to an incredible display of nature.  This image has no enhancements from Photoshop.  This was exactly as we saw it that night.  An all-time favorite sunset and photograph.

Why I Love Photographs

Many, many years ago I was in my hometown to visit my parents and drove the familiar route through the parking lot to get to their neighborhood.  We cut through this parking lot all the time, behind the Saratoga Lanes Bowling Alley.

Back then, the camera I always had with me was my Canon Elph APS - the smallest camera I could find back then, which was still pre-digital. It took APS or cartridge film, smaller than a standard 35mm roll.  Like I always have my G9 or a camera phone with me now, back then I was never without my Elph.

On this day, as I cut through the parking lot for the thousandth time I saw the fences going up around the bowling alley - it was soon to be torn down to make room for - you guessed it - condos.  I got out of the car & shot this through the fence.  

It might be one of the last photographs ever made of an old neighborhood landmark we all still remember.  Many of my friends have vivid memories of hanging out there.  For the record, the condos are gawd-awful ugly.

Always On

Even when I'm dog tired and would love a vacation from looking through a viewfinder, that never seems to happen. There's always something that catches my eye that I want to capture forever. This was a digital test using a Canon G9 (point & shoot, with manual functions). Manual, long exposure on a tiny tripod on a table outside Starbucks on Park Street, in Alameda. That was a fun night.

Beautiful SF Kitchen

This photograph is from a job I shot many years ago but it remains one of my all-time favorites. The entire three-story house was gorgeous, but I'd have been perfectly happy living in this breakfast "nook."

Anyone can take quick snapshots of a listing to get it on the market, but if you really want to impress potential buyers, wow-em from the very start with amazing images that motivate them to pick up the phone to see your listing.