model rockets

My assistant Matt enjoying some down time on a recent shoot.

Yes that is a 16 foot model rocket on top of the jeep. It weighs 35 pounds empty and launches up to 25,000 feet. For an example check out this YouTube clip.

I loved model rockets when I was a kid. Loved them! Not the big ones of course but the small ones that take an hour to put together and even longer to paint if you care about the final design work. The Big Bertha was my favorite. In 7th grade my school had a model rocketry class that you could take as an elective. So for 50 minutes every day at 9:40 I would sit in my model rocket class and build. We learned about real rockets of course. We learned about the space program, we learned about aerodynamics and the atmosphere. But in the end all I cared about was launching my rockets; seeing them go high, sometimes exploding, sometimes flying sideways. We always had a ton of fun-

salt flats

Shooting at the Salt Flats. I love this place. It's so barren, so big and open.

iphone image in san diego

I was in San Diego for a shoot last week. Shot this with my iphone the first evening.

During high school I basically spent the summers at Huntington Beach even though I lived about 40 miles inland. I had a 1986 Toyota Tercel two door hatchback. The car was faded red and had a mismatched orange hood. It didn't have a radio or air conditioning. I bought it for $200, it got 40 mpg.

One July morning my friends and I were driving down the 55 when all of a sudden the engine revved to 8000 rpm -my clutch had gone out. We pulled over, pissed that we were going to miss a sweet beach day. I had it towed back to my house. The clutch was going to be $300 to fix, so I sold it to my neighbor. After that we started using my friends car and my main mode of transportation around town became a mtn. bike.

award

The ED site was awarded Communication Arts web pick of the day for 6.18.08. Once again I have to give props to the phenomenally talented Eric Kass over at Funnel.

summer as a kid

When I was a kid I spent a lot of summers in Northern Cal on my grandparents ranch. I learned to chase rabbits, build things with scrap wood, shoot a 22 rifle and fish for trout using a tree branch and worms. It was great fun...some of the best memories of my childhood. I'll be going back in a few weeks to shoot the spots and places where my memories are the strongest. Can't wait!