Pinball for The Seattle Weekly

I had the pleasure of working with my friend and Seattle Weekly writer Caleb Hannan on a cover story for this week's paper. The story was about pinball, with the main character being Robert Gagno, a pinball master, who happens to be autistic. It was a challenging shoot. Portraits of Robert seemed to turn out horribly awkward with him being very aware of the camera throughout the shoot, so I switched to a more journalistic approach, trying to capture him in a meaningful way while he was occupied by the pinball machine.
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Bikini Baristas for The Seattle Weekly

I recently did a quick shoot for the Seattle Weekly concerning the disappearance of the owner of the controversial "Bikini Barista" Stands located in Everett, Washington. I can't say this is the way I'd want to get my coffee in the morning, but it was an interesting shoot.
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What a wonderful weekend...

Thanks for everything baby!

Walking out the Front Door

Sometimes taking pictures is less about the final product and more about the people you meet and the glimpses of life that you are allowed to witness. Taking pictures has never been easy for me. I am not the most vocal person and talking to people, especially strangers, is something that I have definitely had to work on over the years. I actually really like this about myself. It forces me to watch and be calculated about things. This picture isn't particularly great or moving, but I like it. I like their faces and the textures. I sat and talked with these two for about a half an hour and it really made my day. I guess what I am trying to say is that I need to get out there everyday and just talk with people. I just started freelancing full time last year and somehow managed to steer clear from the full time newspaper job that offers a false sense of security. Instead I am competing with an incredibly talented group of photographers who are both intimidating and inspiring, working my ass off to diversify my client base, and working on things that I actually care about. Although frustrating at times, I am grateful to be where I am and for all of the talented editors and photographers that I have worked with over this past year. Stay tuned for an update on a couple of projects I have in the works.

2010 Purpose Prize Winners for Talking Eyes Media

Several months ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with Talking Eyes Media on a project they were working on for the 2010 Purpose Prize Winners given out by Civic Ventures. It was an exciting shoot for me because I shot both video and still photographs with the 5d Mark II, which I hadn't done a ton of, especially without doing my own editing. The shoot was 2 days in Portland and 2 days in Oakland with Julie Winokur and Marshall Leaman who were great to collaborate and work with while trying to tell these two stories. Both the subjects, Barry Childs and Margaret Gordon were a pleasure to work with and hear their stories. Check out the videos below...

Rio work featured on zReportage.com

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The Music Man of Starbucks for The New York Times

Last week I spent an hour with Timothy Jones, of Starbucks Coffee. I dragged some lights, stands, and my camera gear in there and ended up liking the one that I didn't light. Jones, along with his team of employees, are in charge of selecting the music that thousands of people hear and purchase at their stores throughout the country. I wanted to capture him in a unique way, without using obvious props such as piles of CD's and other things that he had at his desk.
Working with publications is always interesting because you never know how much space they have or which image they will want to run. In this particular instance, they only had space to run a very small picture so they chose one of the images that wasn't my favorite. You can view the story here, but I think this image that is bathed in yellow light is very telling of Jones' personality and what he does for a living.
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Ingalls Peak Attempt

Climbing Ingall's Peak by either the South Face or the East Ridge is fairly easy rock climbing, but didn't pan out yesterday. It was a late start, well, left seattle by seven, more snow than expected, and possibility of weather.


The middle peak in the image is the one that either is climbed on the left ridge (south face) or the right ridge (east ridge). Once we made it up to this point, we decided to try another day with proper snow equipment and more sunlight.


We did however get to catch a view of Mt. Stuart, which I like to describe as a damn sexy mountain and would love to climb one of these days.

Christmas Print Sale 2010

A selection of prints are available for purchase before Christmas this year. The prints are 11x17 prints, printed on a 13x19 inch archival paper. Each image sells for $115.00 and can be ordered directly through my Photoshelter Archive. If there are additional images that aren't in this gallery please contact me for availability and ordering details.

Thanks for your support!

From the Archive: Fireflies

This image has always stuck with me throughout the years. Not as something that I feel has a lot of editorial value, but serves to remind me of how important creativity is when trying to capture even the most simple things. This picture was taken while sitting on a farm in Indiana or Illinois (can't remember at the moment), and the fireflies were just going crazy. After numerous attempts of trying capture them in a single frame without much luck, I decided to just pan the camera with a low shutter speed. I really like the one or two streaks of yellow that streak across the frame. Is it art? Is it journalism? Not sure, but I like it.

Mountains before Winter

The last week has been a little crazy with researching new photo stories, starting marketing campaigns, and spending a lot of time in the mountains before the winter sets in. Earlier in the week a friend and I hiked up to Robin Lakes in a 14 mile loop and yesterday Terry and I got up before the sunrise and drove to Washington Pass to climb the South Arete of South Early Winter Spire. We made it to the top and had a beautiful day of climbing in the high peaks of Washington.

Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota-10.9.10

Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota-10.5.10

I am back on the reservation working on several projects in different formats. Driving into Pine Ridge the other day, I was struck by the starkness of the place, but instantly welcomed by the people I have come to call my friends. We are camping out at the Wilson Ranch with "Junior" and "Lil' Rich". Last night we sat around, shared some tacos and watched the football game talking about life on the reservation and some of the struggles that young people are faced with growing up here. Being in this place is always humbling, difficult, yet beautiful in it's own way.

Holga Pics from Rio

I recently developed a couple of rolls of black and white film from my trip to Brazil with Terry last year. These are a couple of images from a pile of undeveloped rolls sitting on me dresser.

Late Season Backpacking

Terry and I took a three day trip into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness with amazing views of the mountains. It was so great to get away from the hustle and bustle of Seattle and only worry about the immediate. We hiked a total of 22 miles with a pretty brutal 12 mile day in the middle that took us through the high country and a wonderful burnt out forest that was making way for new vegetation.

Grizzly Bears for the NY Times

I had the chance to go on a 15 mile hike in the beautiful Pasayten Wilderness with reporter Bill Yardley and Wildlife Biologist William Gaines. Gaines is working to verify if there is a Grizzly Bear population in the North Cascades using the DNA from hair follicles that are snagged by barbed wire.
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Grizzly Bear Multimedia for The NY Times

NY Times Tearsheet, Seattle Jazz

Seattle Jazz for The NY Times

I recently worked on a story for the NY Times on the jazz scene in Seattle. It was fun to explore some of these venues as well as try and photograph music in a creative way. My favorite part about shooting music is not actually the music, but the in between moments that portray something about the musicians and fans. Here is a link to the article and the slideshow. Be sure to check it out in this Sunday's paper.
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