D-Town Fullerton - Take 2

Here are some more of my favorites from the Sunday session with Roxy and Jasmine. The more I look at these photos the more I realize that I do need to take some more time and pose sometimes. Not so much pose for every shot, but take the time to help the model get into a flattering position. Some of the photos I am going through just show me that I rushed when I should have guided.

With that said, I still had a blast with these two. Open to anything and fun, fun, fun.

One Hot Photoshoot In Downtown Fullerton

Sunday. Hot. Blazing hot. What could make it hotter? How about a photo session with Roxy and Jasmine! That's what. We had to reschedule a few times, but this time we locked it in. Both of these girls love to let loose, rock the glamour look and made the camera blush. Kymberli and I had so much fun with this shoot and we hope the two girls did, too!!

I have lots to choose from, but so far here are my favorites. Most are straight out of the camera, buuuuttttttt... I did have to play around with some of them. You'll see which ones. When you hear the story of the 'Redemption Dress' you'll know why I edited the photos the way I did.

Any thoughts?

The Beauty of Hawai'i

Here it is, as promised. A collection of my recent photographs on the island of Kaua'i. I will have a few from Oah'u in the next few days, but I have to say I had more fun wandering around Kaua'i.

As I type this blog, I am sitting here coughing and wheezing with what I believe is bad bronchitis. I had it for a couple weeks and it seemed to go away, but when I got to Honolulu the 'smog' as they call it kicked up and so did my sickness. The volcanoes are very active right now and the gases can make you sick. Or, in my case, it makes the sick that much sicker. I spent most of today in bed sleeping because I just didn't have the energy to deal with traffic. I am just so thankful to have had 3 good days on Kaua'i!!

I hope you all enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Aloha Everyone

So work sent me on assignment and I am writing this from Kaua'i, Hawai'i! I have many photos to go through (1200+) that I have taken over the past couple days. I will post a bunch of them tomorrow when I have a better internet connection in Honolulu. Thanks to everyone for your comments on my photos. I love hearing what you think, good or bad. I figure it can only make me better.

I went out and took some shots on the beach last night with my Sigma 10-20mm wide angle. 2am and got some fun shots. There was a meteor shower last night, too. I caught one in one of my images.

Ok, I am off to bed now. I'll post some tomorrow!!

Photowalk With The Wife In Long Beach

Yesterday was hot around here. 98 degrees (not the band) and most of the day was spent enjoying the A/C and shade. By afternoon, around 3, we decided to go to Long Beach and take some photos. You know, just walk around and see what we see. We got there at perfect shooting light and saw some cool stuff. Here are a few images of what I saw through my looking glass.









And one of my favorites from our walk around a baseball field...

Losing 140,000+ calories

About 3 months ago, my wife and I found ourselves complaining because we were so full from dinner. Now, I am talking FULL to the point where our stomachs hurt, we were tired & grumpy and our clothes refused to fit. Let's face it, we needed to lose some weight.

We talked for a few minutes and decided to do Weight Watchers. I thought in my head, "Yeah right, I'll do it because YOU want to do it, but I doubt it'll work well." Ok, so I am a skeptic on some things. I love my wife dearly, but I was unsure about showing my weaknesses in front of others.

So we joined WW and it was great. We went to every meeting, learned better ways to cook and we still got to eat anything we wanted. The great thing is it's not a diet. It truly is a lifestyle change. One of the great things was everyone there is in the same boat. We were all overweight and needed help.

Want to know what my average Sunday lunch was? A double cheeseburger from Paul's (awesome burger joint by us), large fries, deep-fried zucchini sticks with ranch dressing shared with the wife and a peanut butter cup shake. Hmmm, lemme think... why did you feel like crap again, Al? Yeah, I was bad. I wasn't a very good influence either.

One of the worst things about being overweight was my back hurting and being out of breath. We walk dogs every Saturday and I would literally walk 100 feet and start complaining about how bad my back hurt. It really did hurt bad, but I was a whiner, too. (Just ask my wife). The dogs could feel how grumpy I was and I knew I needed to do something about it. Plus, I would walk the 13 or 14 steps up to our apt. door and I was out of breath. It was obvious that I was not only out of shape, but that my health was being affected.

We started going to WW meetings, hitting the gym 4-5 times a week and the lbs. started coming off. Slow and true. If you have been following my wife's blog you will know that she is looking so sexy from her loss. 19.2 lbs so far! That is an awesome feat. She really, really looks good. ;)

I started out at 254.5 lbs. The most I have ever weighed. My goal was to lose 30 lbs and see where I went after that. It was tough at times, but easy when you feel how amazing it really does feel. We ate better, too. I crave veggies now. I need to buy stock in Subway and Baja Fresh. Good stuff!!

The results so far, you ask? I have lost 6+ inches on my waist going from a 42 to less than a 36. I have no pants below that so I don't really know where it is. I have lost a total of 40+ lbs, too!!! I fluctuate a bit, but I am right around 214 lbs. My wife has never seen me this thin!! I am so excited and I feel fantastic! I fit into smaller clothes, I can exercise for long periods of time, I am not out of breath and I cut my standing heart rate in half. IN HALF!

Here are the before and after pictures. 254.5 to 214 in 3 months. Weight Watchers works, but I couldn't have done it without the support of my wife, too. Thanks babe!!

I am shooting for under 200 lbs. right now. Just to clean up, get healthy and be able to do things I haven't done before. Maybe run a 5K, bike to the mountains or just get my 6-pack back!