The Key

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Albert Schweitzer 

Charles Dickens

Never break four things in our life- trust, relation, Promise and Heart because when they break, they don't make noise but pains a lot.

-Charles Dickens 

Pencil Sharpener

This old sharpener sat gathering dust in an abandon school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The window light struck this old rusting sharpener in such a way to strike my interest as I explored the abandon and trashed school rooms. Its amazing how fast a place can decay when it is no longer inhabited. The walls were covered with graffiti and dirt. Books, chairs and desks were just left to sit and rot away. 

Umbrella

I photographed this umbrella one day as it sat in my house collecting dust. Its unique beautiful design and antique asian style caught my attention and I felt the need to photograph it.  I photographed it several differnt ways; however this was my favorite since I added movement to give the umbrella a more dramatic and realistic feel. 

Rust

The weathered and warn metal oil tank shows its age as it sits in ruins among many other abandon oil tanks. The rust color overwhelms the photograph only allowing hints of blue and white graffiti to shine through. The paint cracked and faded with time falls off as gust of wind blow past.

Shattered Windows

I cant help but shoot through broken windows; they can create an interesting affect in a photograph. Having the shards of glass in focus and the background fall off can be visually impacting. Also using a shattered window as a frame is very effective. This creates depth in the Photograph and highlights the key aspects you want to make prominent to the viewer. 

Fisherman

These fisherman passed by as I was photographing my sister and her friend surfing; I just felt the need to capture the boat while I had the chance. The swarm of seagulls following the boat intrigued me, as they implied the fisherman must have had a good day out at sea. Looking back at this image, I can still hear the calling birds in the distance and the waves crashing right before my feet. 

Nails

The finer details are often over looked either in are daily lives or in the grand scheme of things. Taking a step back to look at the big picture can make you realize some of the smaller things in life that matter just as much as the big things. I photographed this old pier, beaten and weathered from years of abuse; it stood in ruins with waves crashing around the beams. I took several photos of the over all structure, but after looking at it I found that there was a even smaller interesting subject matter within it. The old rusted nails and rough beams stood out to me as I got closer. Where boards use to lay, now only stand rows and rows of strong and sturdy nails. The beams, well worn, had scares of fire and rot apparent on them. 

Pet Portrait

Pet portraits are becoming more popular in the photography field since pets are family members too. This pet portrait is of my cat, Sally. I got her for my 5th birthday present, she is now 17 years old and still full of energy. Sometimes I think she believes she is a dog, constantly beging for food or some how taking up my whole bed.  

Old

I created this image by shooting through the hole in a burnt piece of newspaper. I liked the affect since it framed the subject matter and gave more depth to the image. The idea behind this photo is that the viewer is peering in to the past. The subject matter in this images is an old weathered typewriter, globe, books, leather suit case, and some crumbled up old paper.  

“Celebrity”

These photos were taken for a photo assignment where we had to create a celebrity persona. I choose to create the persona of a country singer. Since Santa Barbara does not scream country to me I headed up to Solvang, CA to do this photo shoot. Searching for interesting locations I came across this old building which had the perfect feel with the old signs, an old gas pump and a tractor out front. The building had its own personality and told a story of the past.