May in Review

And I'm back. I took a little break from the blog this month. So much has been going on in my neck of the woods. Here are some of the images I made this month that stood out to me. I felt pretty good about the images I made. I've been doing a lot of soul searching in my photography this year. The year started out pretty rough for me with beginning it with being in a car accident and then getting some heavy portfolio reviews from my mentor Alex Garcia and legendary photo editor Mike Davis. The result of these encounters is that the first half of this year has been a big period for growth and reflection both mentally and photographically. I feel like I am finally regaining my rhythm and have started making some nicer images. I've been working really hard at getting my Greener Visuals Wedding Photography business off of the ground and it is starting to bare fruit. I've got five weddings lined up this year and am working on securing a couple more. Things are good just incredibly busy. Always a good thing. Thanks for looking. -M

Memorial Day Weekend in Solano County

I was one of the few people actually working on Memorial Day but it allowed me to really focus on the day's festivities.

Newspaper Photos from April

Amber Snider, right, is performing at the Mother's Day Artisan Festival on the Suisun City waterfront and has invited her parents Steve and Diana Wallis, left, of the duet musical group Pine Dogz to play the event along with her.

Solano County Sheriff Deputy Randy Pratt prepares to reward Hondo, his K-9 unit dog, with a tennis ball after he successfully located a bomb in the fuselage of a plane during a training excercise at the Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville Wednesday afternoon.

Eric Shih, of Lazy Q Fish Ranch in Dixon dumps a mix of around 500 bass and catfish into the civic center pond behind the Fairfield City Hall in anticipation for this Saturday's Kid's Fishing Derby.

Sheila Lewis helps lay out table cloths while work crews setup tables and chairs during the preparation for the Wine and Food Jubilee Thursday afternoon at the Nut Tree in Vacaville.

Vanden High School number one Boys tennis player Greg Deleon returns a serve from Rodriguez High School's Eduardo Lupi during their Monday afternoon match at Rodriguez High School.

Medeival Fantasy Festival volunteer Deborah Furlow makes adjustments to some of the 39 costumed plush rats from local businesses that are being displayed this week in the Ray's Cycles storefront in downtown Vacaville.

Volunteer Matthew Pryor was recently named Vacaville Police Department volunteer of the year for his efforts to help combat graffiti throughout Vacaville. "I do the job because I like to learn more about this community and try to make it a better place by helping to clean it up," said Pryor.

Solano Land Trust volunteer outreach coordinator Natalie DuMont, left, and Bob Colby, center, get directions for plant placement from Sue Wickham, right, during their restoration science Friday event at Lynch Canyon open space.

Armijo High School baserunner Robin Roxas gets tagged out while trying to steal home plate by Vintage High School pitcher Robby Rivera during their Friday afternoon game at Laurel Creek Park.

Mikayla Wilson, 3, left, helps her mom Rebecca bottle feed four Cat Tales foster kittens in their Suisun City home Friday afternoon. These next four cat images are from a brief story I did on a local cat rescue organization has helped over 600 cats find new homes.

Tanisha Champion cuddles with Phoenix, a foster cat with feline AIDS and feline leukemia as Josiah Green, 8, of Oakland looks on Tursday morning in her Fairfield home.

Cat Tales co-founder Kris Cushing, left, holds Meeka, 1, a silver and black tabby cat at the Petco in Fairfield. Over the past two years, the local cat rescue organization has helped over 600 cats find new homes.

Rebecca Wilson, of Suisun City, bottle feeds a young foster kitten Friday afternoon in her home. She is helping to raise four foster kittens for the Cat Tales adoption program.

Howdy guys. Well, it was a pretty slow April around the newspaper. But I wanted to share some of my favorite shots from this past month. Thanks for looking. Cheers to warm weather. -M

Marching into Spring

March was been a busy month for me. In addition to working at my staff position at the Daily Republic newspaper in Fairfield, I have also been developing my wedding photography business on the side. Between meeting other wedding vendors in the area, getting a new wedding photography logo and building up a new wedding website, I have had little time for anything else. It is a strange notion to me that I have to now plan out my weekends with friends often three weeks in advance. I guess this is what it's like being an adult.

Well despite the workload, I've been enjoying myself at my staffer position. March lent itself to a lot of great photo opportunities. The weather here in California has been gorgeous and with it, people are coming out of their winter shells and are being active again. I'm looking forward to what April will bring. Here are some of my favorite images I made this past month. Thanks for looking. -M

March Musician Madness

Madness not in the basketball sense but in how busy I was for the entirety of this past March. It seemed that this past month was a big one for the community arts around Solano County. I had a great time photographing the Vacaville Singer/Songwriter competition finals in downtown Vacaville. I've been working in the area for three years now and Solano County constantly is surprising me with it's growing culture of the arts. The lighting was awesome and it was really cool to see such talented performers for a packed audience. I hope it becomes a regular event. After it was finished, I was assigned to photograph Rio Vista musician Jason Cale who won the 18 and older category at the competition. Cale is a member of the Travis Air Force Base rock band Mobility and has traveled extensively performing his music. This guy has some talent. Check out his music here. Congrats to all of the winners and finalists.