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.

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.

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

Fighting Teen Obesity

So for the last two weeks I have been working on my first photo story of the new year dealing with the topic of teen obesity. I met Alfredo, a 15-year-old sophomore at a local High School, who decided that it was time to change his lifestyle. A recent doctors visit yielded troubling news that he was at a dangerous risk of developing type II diabetes and had fat tissue growing around his liver. With the help of his brother and uncle he began a pretty intense work out routine and after a month, he has lost 20 lbs off his 6'2'' 370 lbs frame. He's a big boy. His goal is to lose over 100 lbs and hopefully try out for his High School football team next fall. This project is still in its infancy stage and has a long way to go.

Eat your Veggies

New Year, New week of photos - Part Two

Well, a new year has arrived and it marks my one year anniversary of writing my Fish and Clicks blog. It is astounding to look back and see how quickly 2008 went by. It feels like just the other day I was headed out my door to catch a plane to Argentina. Needless to say 2008 was a great year and I want to thank all of you for checking in on this ongoing project, for your comments, and overall support. I have had a lot of fun with this. It is interesting for me to look back on this past years work and see how I have grown as a photographer. I still have much to learn. Now all I need to do is keep my new years resolution to make more frequent posts.

Here's my first two weeks worth of work for January.

New Year, New week of photos - Part One