Getting my Wings – HYDRA Training Exercise United States Air Force







Yesterday I had an opportunity to spend the day riding along on a C-17 Globemaster cargo jet for a media day with the United States Air Force. The event was all part of a military training operation called HYDRA created to give contingency response units such as the 615th Contingency Response Wing of Travis Air Force Base the chance to train with other Air Force units and services on quickly setting up and coordinating operations between multiple small airfields. This training would simulate how well the participants would respond to getting humanitarian supplies into an isolated region struck by an earthquake. It was also a chance for the military to show off it’s capabilities to the working press.

I had only previously been in these planes during airshows growing up. Now the opportunity to fly in one while being in the cockpit (especially when they would be doing an in flight refueling) was too cool to pass up. We spent the whole day flying around to different dirt landing fields and dry lake beds throughout southern California. My job was to document it. A long but entertaining day.

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The Classes of 2009









It has been a very busy week running around shooting all of the local high school graduations here in Fairfield.

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Sport Season Enders





After these last couple of weeks shooting high school sport playoffs, my arms have developed a tan line that a farmer would be proud of. The job has been keeping me busy. Here’s a long overdue update.

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Light Pollution – How Solano County uses Light at Night









Here is a recent documentry project I finished up here at work. I have included the page layout from how it ran in the paper too. Best, -M

Artificial light allows Solano County residents to continue doing the tasks of daily life long after the sun sets. But the luxury of light comes at a cost – it dims the starry grandeur of the night sky and, when used improperly, wastes energy. Light pollution foes advocate using only the amount of light that is needed and focusing it on the areas where it’s needed. As Solano County continues to grow, communities must decide how much light is needed for safety, advertising and other hallmarks of modern life. They must decide how much is too much.

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Enjoying the Weather







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Row your Boat








One of the nice things about working at a newspaper is that the assignments tend to be very random. This past couple of days definately fit into that mantra. It started off with a story on a women’s whale boat rowing team. These women were training in the Bay for an upcoming race paddling 80-year-old whaling boats with massive oars. They were pretty intense and a lot of fun to shoot. Grunts and all. From there I ended up shooting some portraits of retiring teachers/coaches and a preview picture for the upcoming Wizard of Oz musical opening up this weekend in Fairfield. Baseball season is in full swing. Top off the list with a wine ‘n’ dine, an airforce spouse home makeover and a kids fishing derby. Never a dull moment in the news biz. Things are going well. -M

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The last week or so in Pictures









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The Cousin Alarm Clocks


I realize just how absent I’ve been from my blog postings. I’ve been telling myself that I will try to be better. With all the beautiful spring weather that has befallen upon Davis, I have been distracted and have spent most of my free time outside. So to bring it up to speed, I want to show you what I have been up to. For the last week I have been down in Los Angeles attending a sports photography workshop called The Sportsshooter Academy. It was a week long hands on workshop where not only did I get to work with some of the leading sports photographers in the country but I was able to ask questions, get my work critiqued by them and overall try to grow as a photographer. I found it to be a worthwhile experience and left it feeling inspired. During my week there, I was lucky enough to be able to stay at my cousins home with his family in Irvine. His kids, Tucker, 8, and Piper, 4, I had only previously known when they were infants and through the family grapevine. It was a lot of fun getting to know them now that they could have a conversations. I was quick to learn that these conversations would usually happen early in the mornings when at 6 am sharp they both would spring from there beds and go wake up their cousin Mike. I didn’t get much sleep last week between the long hours at the workshop and the interupted rest at my cousins home. Still, they were a lot of fun. I learned how to lose at handball from Tucker and was re introduced to drawing with crayons in the early morning hours with Piper.

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March in Review






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Recent Work






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Samplings of Summer

This shot is from an assignment the other day about the arrival of the carnival at a local mall. Growing up in the Midwest, most people don’t even mutter the word carnival until at least the beginning of May. You can imagine how much of a surprise it was to learn that in California most traveling carnival shows have been going at full speed since mid January. Just like that, summertime is almost upon us here in California.

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Banking on the Bottle


Every once in a while at my job, an assignment comes up where all the elements fall into place and I get to make a really creative portrait. Such was the case with this photograph. This was for a story on 17-year-old Danielle Burmudez who was recently awarded membership to the National Society of High School Scholars. To earn such an award a student needs to not only have good grades but also to be involved with their school activities and community. Burmudez was on the swim team and also created her own non profit program with two school mates to raise money for the Foundation for African Medicine and Education. She collects plastic bottles and then cashes them in for money that is then sent off to children in need. Already she has raised almost $300 through bottle donation.

She showed me her mountainous collection of bottles in her garage. I think one of the elements that go into making a good picture is getting your subject to hop on board your idea. This can be achieved many different ways but mainly through your enthusiasm, attitude and convincing argument for its purpose. The quicker you can establish trust with your subject the better your photos will be.

So for this shot I saw the bagged, plastic bottles all bundled up nicely and told her that I wanted to bury her in them. Swimming in the success of her achievement. After promising to help her clean up she agreed and we got started. I think that really made all the difference. Here is another version of the picture showing how I lit the image. I had a strobe on the upper left side of the image balanced on stacked boxes about 4 ft tall and another strobe in the lower right corner illuminating her feet. The top strobe was bounced off the poster board at right to give a little fill light to the right side of her face. I was pleased with the results.

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In Training










Well the weather here in Northern California is finally clearing up. We have had a ton of rain and it has forced a lot of my photo sessions indoors. Over the last week or so many of my assignments have revolved around individuals learning something new. The first two images were taken of a local grade school gym teacher who was gearing up for his first MMA fight. I spent some time out at a local wildlife refuge where I photographed docents in training for a biology tour. The winter sport seasons are winding down with the state basketball tournament happening this weekend. I look forward to changing things up. The basketball photo here is of these grade schoolers who went undefeated in their winter league season. The last two images are from a story on the increased use of cell phones in grade schools. It was crazy to witness all these little kids pouring out of school with a phone up to their ear talking with friends or calling for rides home. It was one of my first “old” moments where I remembered back when I was their age we used payphones and usually had to just hope the rides would come. So much has changed since that time. Crazy.

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The Weekday Update





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Mixing up something Good






Another daily work update.

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Portrait Day


These last two days have been pretty slow assignmentwise except for portrait assignments. I really been enjoying these and took it as an opportunity to experiment with my lights. I like how these turned out.

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The Heroine and some Humor


Fairfield resident Christina Hartley, 29, was shot in the legs after she intervened in defense of a family friend being beaten and robbed outside her Union Ave. apartment.

Vacaville Christian High School varsity basketball teammates Christina Southern and Lyndsey Elm, in red, react to the missed shot of one of their teammates during their game against Forest Lake Christian High School Tuesday night. Despite any game mishaps, the Falcons went on to win the game and maintain a tie for first place in their conference.

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Wrestling, Who knew?




As the token late shift sports photographer here at my paper, I must say I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have enjoyed photographing the wrestling season. Normally I could care less for the sport but as a sports photographer (who is always looking for those peak action moments) it has been a lot of fun. I am finding a lot of success with my off camera lighting set ups and have been adamant in practicing with them. Other sports like football or basketball you may only get two or three opportunities a game to shoot those epic moments but with wrestling, it much more constant. This allows me more time to practice. It is continuous battle. You see the aggression, the pain, the victory and the defeat.

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Laughter in the Night – An Evening at Pepperbelly’s Comedy Club








The other night I got an assignment to document a local comedy club here in town for a vacant/emergency opening story slot in the paper. Here is the little piece I wrote with the photos.

As the final half-light of the day bleeds into night and Fairfield transitions from work to play, a billboard beacon glows golden in the sleepy downtown sky. In the midst of the awakening night life stands Pepperbellys Comedy and Variety Club. Six days a week the big glass doors open, welcoming the young and old into one of the premier comedy clubs in the Bay Area where the stand-up routines of traveling comedians, variety acts and karoake entertain throughout the evening. As the night ripens, the club smoothly transitions from a single comedian in a golden spotlight to a packed dance floor bathed a dynamic multicolor. And as the night wanes, customers leave with music rhythms pounding in their memories, phone numbers written on napkins and smiles on their faces. Until the next time.

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Fresh off the Press!!!


Hi everybody. Well after many long weeks of organizing and designing, I have finally finished making my first photography book comprised from photos and journal entries from my travels with my brother last year to South America. This book is geared towards the travel side of the trip complete with stories and adventures throughout our five-month journey. It’s a thick book and I think you will all get a kick out of it. I hope to have a fly fishing based book out in the coming months as well. You can preview and purchase it from the link on the side menu of my blog. Hope you all like it. Best, -M

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