As a music lover, I was a big fan of a band called The Format.  They were talented, energetic, poppy and new.  They made music you could feel, yet sing along to.  One day in San Diego, September 1, 2006 to be exact, The Format had a band called Anathallo open for them.  I sweet talked a dude named Andrew (keys for Anathallo) into getting me into the show to photo. I inconvenienced him quite a bit, and I had shot very few concerts at that point. But somehow I got in. I enjoyed myself, shot some horrible photos (trust me on this one), and left.  Never did a thing with the photos because they were so bad.  Fast forward to November 15, 2009.  Nate from The Format had formed a band with this dude named Andrew (from Anathallo) and a guy named Jack (from Steel Train) and the rest is history.

Or is it.

I somehow got a photo pass for this show as well, except nobody knew who they were.  I brought my wife, then girlfriend (for 6 more days at that point) with me and we rocked out.  However, with very few people attending the show, I decided to sit on the stage and enjoy from there while snapping photos.  The lighting was horrible, but they were great.  Energetic. Excited. Thankful.  It was nice to see Nate with a microphone again.  These are my photos from that night.  Now Fun. is coming back to San Diego and I’ll do my best to photo this show, but you just never know these days. Their following is quite large.  I have many connections to the band, so we’ll see.  Here are my photos, and turn on the radio, you’re bound to hear them in the next 5 minutes. (ps. did I mention that the lighting was awful?)

I had the chance to tag along with We Shot The Moon to a show where they opened for Relient K in Los Angeles.  I had never seen Relient K perform, but was excited because I heard they put on a good show.  I was definitely impressed.  Here are a few of my shots from the evening.

Here are some of my travel photos from Christmas day.  The wife and I enjoyed a beautiful part of California that often looked over.  Love these images.  Click on any of them to purchase a print or canvas!

Sweet Home California: Part I.

I had the honor of shooting with a friend from high school.  She was the dorky girl in high school (she said it, not me).  Now 10 years out, she is getting her feet wet with some modeling.

Side note:  Don’t tease people, you don’t know what they’ll grow up to be like someday.

So here ya go, I present to you … my dorky friend, Amber!

Let me set the stage. I’m asked to shoot an abandoned restaurant, for insurance purposes, destroyed by the previous tenants.  I walk down a tiny, sketchy hallway to a bathroom with a single light dangling and flickering overhead. I look to my left and see a hole where the toilet once was.  I look to my right, and that’s where I saw the image that would become the cover art for the new EP of b-sides from We Shot The Moon titled We Are All Odd.

Next, I came here. To you. And convinced you that $5 for 6 songs was a STEAL of a deal. And you went and bought it.  Right?  Let me know what you think, I happen to love it!

BUY:  http://weshotthemoon.bandcamp.com/

Go ahead, look at the blog Hot Nerd Girl just posted today for HER birthday. That’s right, she gives away gifts to her fans (more than 5,300 of them on facebook) … so go on, take a look at her nerdalicious blog post and enjoy. She’s a blogger who doesn’t fake her nerdiness. Trust me on that one. Now get outta here! You’ve wasted too much time here already!

The other day I was filming my buddy Jonathan Jones for this thing I’m not going to get into just yet … and he happened to be wearing a bunch of clothes from a company called Peter Says Denim.  I liked it and so we ran outside to shoot a few photos before the day was over.

While you’re here, LIKE my page on Facebook and follow me on Instagram:  JonnyUps and Twitter: @JonnyUps123

BOOM! Kings Of Leon!  Shot these guys the day after I shot Green Day, only to learn that they sold MORE seats for MORE money than Green Day did the night before.  That fact alone, shows the popularity of this band.

Lighting was difficult, and I got some pretty great looks from Caleb (lead singer) and am pleased to share them with you here.  Please enjoy these photos!

Here is a set of portraits I did for professional drummer, Jordan Zacharias. He has taught over 5,000 drum lessons, numerous tours, countless shows, and tons of studio experience.  One thing he wasn’t used to was modeling.  That’s what made my job fun!  Enjoy, and hire this guy.

Jordan Zacharias  -  760.807.6963  -  or find him on Facebook … you already know how to do that.

When starting a business, or even just revamping an existing one, a great portrait is a MUST HAVE. Heather from All Things Sweet And Wonderful needed portraits for her website, competitions, facebook, etc.  Here’s what we ended up with:

What I love about Heather is that she understands that she has to be herself to her valued customers.  We couldn’t schedule a photoshoot until her bright pink chef’s coat was delivered!  That’s just who she is, and that’s perfectly awesome!  The day of our shoot, she was also in the process of making a cake for a mother of twins, who had just found out she was expecting a 2nd set of twins!  So in the rush of the day, I snapped a few shots of the creation process.

Though I didn’t get to stay for the final product, I did see some pictures of it.  And it looked amazing!  She has gained attention for making cakes for local celebrities, baby showers, weddings, birthdays, and everything else you can think of.  She makes cake pops, cookies, cupcakes, and would probably deliver some pretty amazing brownies if that’s what you were looking for.

Visit her facebook page or her website for more information!  Thanks Heather!