James "Whitey" Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica on June 22, 2011. (David Zentz/AP)

The call box at the Santa Monica apartment where James "Whitey" Bulger and Catherine Greig were arrested. (David Zentz/AP)

If crime is an indication of summer, then summer is getting started with a bang. Yesterday I spent much of my day at crime scenes, two while shooting for the AP and at one that just happened to be around the corner from my apartment. The first assignment for the AP came in the afternoon following a shooting on at a baseball field at the Penmar Recreation Center in Venice. There three victims were shot as a game was getting underway in what was believed to be a gang-related incident. One died on the scene, a second at the hospital and a third was expected to survive after a gunshot wound to the leg. The suspect is still at large after hopping into his car and speeding away. Sad news, but it’s also a typical local story with little interest outside of the neighborhood.

The second story was much, much bigger. Later that night I got a call to head over to the 1000 block of 3rd Street in Santa Monica. It was believed, and soon confirmed, that the FBI had arrested longtime fugitive crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger and his companion Catherine Greig at home in an apartment building just a couple blocks away from the bustling outdoor mall that is the 3rd Street Promenade. I didn’t realize at the time the magnitude of the arrest, but headed over to photograph the scene. Bulger was the number 2 most wanted person by the FBI, second only to Osama Bin Laden. He was wanted for the murders of 19 people during his reign in Boston in the 70s and 80s. He’s the basis for Jack Nicholson’s character in Scorcese’s “The Departed.” Bad dude. Right down the street in sunny Santa Monica!

The couple had been arrested earlier that evening, so all we could get were shots of the scene outside, with police guarding the exterior of the building as the Feds worked inside gathering evidence. Neighbors and looky-loos joined the press and police outside, many of them on their cell phones telling their friends “You wouldn’t believe it!” I didn’t have a problem with it until one lady kept asking me why that one camera’s lights kept flashing in the distance. I informed her it was a squad car. The call box at the front door was of particular interest to the media, as we wondered which name was the alias for the infamous gangster, who had apparently resided there for 15 years. It wasn’t officially confirmed, but later that night I was told it was Rozenzweig/Fein. (Just saw on Nightly News that they were going by Gasko. I was misinformed!). Neighbors spoke to the press about their brief encounters with the couple over the years. One guy had shaken his hand. Nothing out of the ordinary.

As the evening progressed the press and crowds dwindled. I hung out until I was released at two in the morning on the off chance that the Feds would soon exit with armfuls of evidence, but when a police officer delivered them food at 1:45 I knew the chances were slim that anything would happen anytime soon. I had worked an 18 hour day at this point and was ready to call it a night. Fortunately, it looks like they waited until daybreak to emerge with the evidence. The front page of LATimes.com has the photo we were hoping for.

After checking today, I can see my photos ran everywhere from the New York Times and Washington Post to the Wirtualna Polska, somewhere in Poland. Probably the biggest story I’ve shot here since Rachel Uchitel.

I still don’t know what the incident was in my own backyard, but I’ll look into. It had died down by the time I came upon the scene. Hopefully, as far as crime goes, the summer will not keep up at this pace!

Follow up: The local event was a bomb scare caused by an unattended package. Not a bomb. http://www.yovenice.com/2011/06/23/suspicious-package-brings-heavy-lapd-turnout/

Opening night for Jay Mark Johnson's SPACETIME opening at Animal West in Venice, Calif.

An awesome view of Abbot Kinney from atop Animal West in Venice, California

Last week I photographed the opening of special exhibit of Jay Mark Johnson’s SPACETIME photographs at Animal West, a post production house in a beautiful modern space on Abbot Kinney in Venice. I have been to previous exhibits by Jay and, as always, his panoramics never fail to impress and bend the mind a bit. His unique use of a digital panoramic slit camera is too difficult to explain here, but I’ll just say the results are stunning and unique. Check out more about him and his work on his site. The event was a sneak preview for a special exhibit that was part of the Venice Art Walk, an annual fundraiser for the Venice Family Clinic that features thousands of pieces by local artists and raises big bucks for the clinic, which offers free and reduced cost medical care to families in need. This was also my first time taking part in the Art Walk. I donated (and sold!) a framed print from the Venice Graffiti Walls that I shot two years ago. Glad I could be a part and help raise some money for a worthy cause!

One of many sunken canoes on the Venice Canals after many, many days of rain. Bad weather can make slow times seem even slower.

Anyone who’s a freelancer is probably all too familiar with the deadening silence coming from your telephone during the month of December. Or maybe it’s just me? Between the extended weekends following Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Years, there’s not a lot of time where any new business actually gets done in the twelfth month of the year. One thing that’s easy to do is to sit around waiting for phone to ring, growing increasingly depressed as the month drags on and your bank account goes down. Another is to whore yourself out (so to speak) for a quick buck so you at least feel like you’re working. This year’s unusual rainy season has made the first option the easy one this slow season. The second is a bad idea for numerous reasons, including that you’d be undercutting your industry and your time could be better spent. I’ve tried both approaches and neither does much good. A worthwhile alternative is to use your head and try to make the most of your so called “free” time. With that in mind, I decided to put together a “Top Ten” list of useful ways to help your business and yourself when things get slow around the holidays. Other than enjoy yourself and the time you get to spend with friends and family that is! I also realize December’s almost over, but rather than wait until next year I thought I’d put this out there while it’s fresh in my mind. Something to put away for next year perhaps. So, in no particular order, here are the…

Top Ten (or Twelve) Things To Do When Your Photography (or Other Creative) Business is Slow

1. Read and/or watch movies – Books, magazines and films are great places to find inspiration and activate your imagination. We just checked out Daren Aronofsky’s Black Swan the other day. He’s someone I enjoy for both his storytelling and cinematography. I’m also reading The Complete Joy of Home Brewing and rereading The Catcher in the Rye, which I picked up on vacation early this month. Perhaps the latter in honor of J.D. Salinger’s passing earlier this year. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it! Highly recommended, just don’t start collecting copies. I’ve heard that’s a bad sign.

2. Street photography – Get out and shoot! Even if it’s raining! Forget trying to find a subject ahead of time. Just grab your gear and go shoot what you see.

3. Update website or design and print a book – Go through your images from the last several months and see what you can bring into your portfolio (and, while you’re at it, take out!). Or print a portfolio book or a book focusing on a recent project. Blurb books have become particularly popular or print your own and put it in a Pina Zangaro or Lost Luggage binding. Both are more expensive, but look great as long as your prints are good. Blurb and others often have proprietary design software you can download for free. I prefer to use Aperture, which allows you to work from within your archive and can output in formats acceptable to most printers. In preparation for a trip to New York next month I’m printing one on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl and binding it in a frost style Pina Zangaro jacket. Looking good so far!

Keep reading after the jump!

4. Set up personal project shoots – If you already have ideas you’ve been sitting on, now’s the time to either shoot them or at least recruit subjects so you can hit the ground running in January.

5. Balance Books – I’m constantly putting this off, though my accountant says I’m not as bad as others. Not gonna lie, doing your bookkeeping sucks. But now’s as good a time as any. Better, actually, as you can catch and hopefully resolve any problems before the end of the tax year, which could save you a lot of time come tax season. Like homework, the hardest part about this for me is actually sitting down and doing it. Once started, I guess it’s not that bad. For something that fundamentally sucks eggs, that is.

6. Work on SEO – Do something (like writing a really wordy blog post related to your industry) to improve your Search Engine Optimization and hopefully drive more traffic to your website or blog. Updating your site, creating new content, getting other sites to link to yours and going through old posts to see what can be improved are great ways to improve your SEO and one of the cheapest ways to bring in new traffic and, hopefully, new clients.

7. Exercise outdoors – I try to work this into my regular schedule, but there are times when I put it off for awhile. I’ve always found that going out for a run is a great way to get your mind off things, which in turn often leads to daydreaming, which leads to new (hopefully good) ideas. If nothing else it just feels good to get out and get some fresh air and can stave off feelings of depression. It just dawned on me that not everyone lives in Southern California or Florida and running in mid-December might not be quite as easy as it is here. Still though, as long as there’s not ice on the road or temperatures so cold that your face’ll fall off, a winter’s run can be quite nice. So dress accordingly and get out there!

8. Spend an afternoon perusing photo books at a book store – This would have been an especially good thing to do here in LA this past week, as it’s been raining for the past 6 days! Barnes & Noble and Border’s both have decent selections of photo books by some very accomplished photographers in various genres. Local bookstores (if they still exist) – such as Arcana Books in Santa Monica, which specializes in books on art, design, architecture and photography – can be even better, though they might not have a coffee shop. Either way, photo books are one of my favorite ways to get inspiration and favorite things to collect. My most recent addition is Sam Abell’s The Life of a Photograph, which he signed when I met him after a presentation he put on with the ASMP earlier this month. A most cherished addition to my collection, as he’s one of my all time favorites.

National Geographic legend and Canon Explorer of Light Sam Abell! Fun guy to have a drink with.

(Here’s an iPhone photo I took while joining him, the other ASMP board members and the great folks from Julia Dean Workshops at Finn McCool’s in Santa Monica!)

Moving on…

9. Send out a creative holiday greeting – I’m bad about this, but maybe I’ll give it a try this year (I didn’t). Sending out a creative card that uses your own photographs is a great way to keep in touch with friends, families and clients. A friend of mine just sent out a great one featuring a studio shot he recently did of his son doing a jump kick in the air, around which he photoshopped in a Christmas tree and a Merry Christmas message. Simple, but memorable. Another I recall was by a coworker at the St. Petersburg Times, that showed himself and his girlfriend in the clutches of King Kong donning a Santa hat. Memory might be a little fuzzy on that one, but it was something like that. His cards were always a hit around the office.

10. Organize office or workspace – I tend to get organized and unorganized in waves. I typically start out with things in order. Then, over a few weeks, my surroundings slowly devolve into a space more resembling a pig pen than an office. At some point I just can’t take it anymore and spend a whole afternoon frantically putting everything back in order, thus starting the cycle over again. What with Christmas shopping and the onslaught of holidays this time of year I find myself nearing the tipping point yet again. Getting everything in order now though will be a great way to kick off the new year.

11. Go to the post office – If you’re just looking to kill time, go to the post office! The Venice post office is notoriously slow and with the holidays here and no apparent attempt to increase, if only temporarily, the already cut staff, the lines are absolutely snaking. Whether you’ve got presents to send or just need stamps for your holiday cards you can easily kill an hour or two waiting in line. While you’re there you can play fun games like trying to guess which frazzled person carrying boxes up to their eyeballs is going to blow first. Assuming it’s not you. That would be cheating.

12. Cook – Cooking a meal you don’t normally have time for is a great way to spend a day. Between finding a recipe, going out to the grocery store jam packed with holiday shoppers, cooking, eating and doing dishes you’ve pretty much spent your whole day. And your Whole Paycheck, if that’s where you like to shop. But cooking’s fun and eating is better, so why not? OR, brew beer! Erinn and I spent all of yesterday doing just that. It’s a great hobby that fits perfectly with my other hobby, drinking beer. Also a great time killer, though I won’t give it a spot on the Top 10 or 12 list. Trying to provide only productive tips here.

So there you have it. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section. Bring on 2011!

Hanging art on Market St.

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

The inaugural Venice Art Crawl launched with a bang last night with a solid crowd showing up to check out the numerous local artists who were showing at pop-up galleries mostly located between the Boardwalk and Pacific Ave. I was showing my own work at Nikki’s alongside artist Scott Simon (check out his work here) and was also working the event as a volunteer, so I didn’t have much time to get out to all the venues, but I did manage a quick lap and took a few photos along the way. It was great seeing so many artists participating in the first event. A good sign that the event will continue to grow in the coming months. After the crawl wrapped up we made our way over to the official afterparty at Video Army, a new production company located on Pacific Ave. It was a fun environment with lots of people dancing and great light for shooting. After the party wound down we hit up a nearby taco truck and made our way home. Really a successful night if you ask me. Looking forward to next month!

Art on display at the 73 Market St. rooftop

Checking out photography by Martin Linss at the Hotel Erwin during the Venice Art Crawl

Live Painting by John Park at the C.A.V.E. Gallery exhibition at James' Beach

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Venice Art Crawl After Party at Video Army

Bicyclists and beach goers, Venice Beach

A young man is detained after a large brawl on Venice Beach

This Memorial Day weekend was marked by various activities, ranging from laying out on a crowded Venice Beach to a crowd-stopping brawl and arrest Sunday evening on Windward Avenue and capped off with a huge feast and ping-pong tournament at the home of the very talented chef of the Fraiche restaurant in Culver City. Taking photos all the while of course.

Most notable and unusual of course was the brawl. I had just stepped out onto the boardwalk looking for some evening photos of Memorial Day visitors when suddenly the police started flashing their lights and bleeping their sirens from the direction of the beach patrol station, which is right at the end of Windward Avenue, marked by its classic arcade architecture and suspended trademark Venice sign. The majority of them went straight up Windward, while some of them drove across the grassy park area, evidently to head off anyone trying to get away by heading north. I decided to follow them up Windward to check it out and was there as a handful of young men started sprinting. The police were already blocking off the street by that point and quickly ran and tackled them, at least three that I saw, onto the sidewalk, before lining them up against the high red wall that borders the adjoining compounds owned by notable neighbor Anjelica Huston. I was able to get a few shots off from close proximity before the police gained control of the situation and kicked everyone off the entire first block of the street. They held the boys there up against the wall for a solid hour as I and numerous others watched from adjacent corners on the other side of Pacific Avenue. I hung out watching for awhile and then got bored and headed home. On the way, I came across another two that had been detained next door to my place on Market St. I took a couple photos and watched as the police stood them up one at a time and took pictures of their tattoos with their cell phones.

I later read that the brawl was thought to include up to 70 young men, ages 14-17. Twenty were detained and only one arrested. They still don’t know what the cause of the fight was, but are investigating it as possibly gang-related. More here.

The rest of the weekend was pretty typical and enjoyable. A fun night Saturday was had at our neighbors, who hosted a party around the much-hyped UFC fight between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans. I know nothing about this sport, and find it pretty brutal, but had a fun time cleaning up in a pool with a lucky wager on Evans it the third. He won by decision, but I was closest! Sunday was spent walking around photo hunting along Venice  Beach, mixed in with a little bit of laying out in the sand with Erinn. Then Monday at the home of the chef and wife’s house near Beverly Hills. We were treated to a feast of curried chicken and fish, lemon-stuffed, roasted chicken, mixed greens and strawberry shortcake, among much, much more. Not traditional BBQ material, just some great food the chef grew up eating and wanted to share. No complaints here. Now it’s Tuesday and back to work I go.

A boy runs from his older brother after stepping on his back as he lay in the sand.

Memorial Day weekend basketball, Venice Beach, Calif.

A boy plays on the rings at Muscle Beach, Venice, Calif.

Young men arrested on Windward Ave., Venice Beach, Calif., 2010

Police push back onlookers while arresting brawlers on Windward Ave.

Onlookers stay behind police tape after a brawl in Venice, Calif.

Onlookers stay behind police tape after a brawl in Venice, Calif.

Young men arrested on Market St., Venice Beach, Calif., 2010

Hostess picking grapefruit for cocktails, Los Angeles, Calif.

Billiards and Budweiser, Los Angeles, Calif.

Ping pong!

Beer and poker chips, Los Angeles, Calif.

I recently folded my old wedding photography site and blog in favor of my new wedding photography site , which better features my work and integrates more features for clients, such as private online proofing galleries and direct, online print ordering. At the same time I decided that rather than maintaining a blog for each site I would consolidate the wedding blog into this one. So, in order to preserve some of the content from my previous blog, I’m posting some of the favorites here before moving forward with new work.

Fashion shoot in front of The Brig, Venice, Calif.

I’ve been doing a few portfolio shoots lately, teaming up with models, stylists and makeup artists and just seeing what we can come up with. This is from a recent collaboration with model Keira Kitagawa and makeup artist Dee (last name to follow). After doing a number of shots in the studio we went out around Venice to find interesting locations. We ended in the parking lot of The Brig, a popular bar and landmark along Abbot Kinney Blvd. I had noticed the lights before while scouting for locations and thought this would make a great place to shoot. Our timing wasn’t great though. We finally made our way to this location just as the attendant was starting to charge for parking and cars were starting to pull in. He tried to charge us to park, but I told him we were looking for places to shoot my friend and asked if we could quickly take a shot and move on. He agreed, but was probably surprised when I pulled a big light out of the trunk. Dee helped Keira get ready in the car and we literally shot for less than 5 minutes, popping frames between crossing cars and pedestrians. Hard to get a clean shot! Finally it all came together and as an added bonus, a car that was turning in to park provided a nice edge light on her legs, giving it something the other frames were lacking. Overall it turned out pretty well I think. Nothing like working on the fly and under the gun! Thanks Keira and Dee for a successful collaboration!

I think I’ve taken that first seagull photo before. Nothing much here but a few pretty shots I took on a sunset stroll a couple weeks back.

Good Hurt bar, Venice, California

This is something I shot at a Venice bar called Good Hurt while there to see some friends play with their band, The Squid. It has an interesting bar/club atmosphere and is a pretty good small music venue.

On Thursday I did some work as an event photographer at the opening of an art exhibit by Venice artist Jay Mark Johnson at the Ace Gallery in Beverly Hills. He’s doing some very cool digital photography using a jerry-rigged slit camera, which has been traditionally used for taking photos to determine the winners of too-close-to-call horse races. Depending on the way it’s used, the results are either these incredible images of expanded and compressed objects, depending on their speed, set against colorful backgrounds of horizontal streaks or, as in the top photo, flattened 360-degree views, similar to the way a globe is flattened into an atlas. That particular image is taken from the center of a ferris wheel. I enjoyed seeing the work, and as a photographer, watching the way others interacted with it. Despite the size of the prints – some were more than 10 feet wide – people were constantly coming up within inches to examine them and try to figure out what they were seeing. If you’re anywhere near Beverly Hills in the next 6 weeks I definitely recommend swinging by the Ace to check them out.