First off, happy holidays to all who may read this little page. I hope everyone stays safe and gets lots of wonderful presents this year!

I've finally managed to settle down, get the tree up at the girlfriend's house, and all is finally slowing down for the end of the year. With all of the extra time, I've been busy trying to get my photography out and about. The most recent endeavor was getting my free dA Portfolio page up and running. After a little work, it's finally ready and can be viewed here, the WEStudios Portfolio page. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. There's no way it will replace an honest, built-from-scratch website, but that's a beast I'll tackle in the future.

I'll be doing some more headshots this weekend, if all goes well. The model will again be the lovely Jules, who you saw in the Dorothy photos in my gallery. These will be a little more simple, nothing more than basic headshots though we may get creative. If the shoot goes really well, and if I get my car fixed, I'll be investing in a couple of flash umbrellas within the next couple of weeks. They'll be my first real light set (I've always used natural light/household lamps until now), so I'll hopefully have a lot coming up. granted, I always say that, but I'm sure a real, professional light set will be cause for breaking out the Canon a little more often.

Work at the studio has been good and steady. We just finished with Ellen's 12 Days of Giveaways, so I'll be happy not unpacking 1200 giant books for awhile. Have a couple big features coming onto the lot for at least pickup shots, "Nightmare on Elm Street" being the big one. Nothing really new to report. Still looking for another job on the lot, but at least I'm here at all!

Again, I hope everyone has a good holiday season. Take care!

So, nothing much to report in the photography department. I think I will have to miss out on National Geographic's International Photo Contest this year due to a lack of photos I feel would be worth submitting. There's always next year, I suppose.

I did add an account on Model Mayhem, however. It seems like quite a few people I know have had luck getting in touch with potential clients and portfolio work through the site, so i figured why the Hell not? My link can be found at Modelmayhem.com/westudios, for those interested in adding me. I'll also keep the link in with those in every journal footnote. I pretty much friend anyone who requests, so feel free!

WB is going well. Inception is officially filming on the lot, so it was cool to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt walking around. No Leonardo sightings yet, though. He's here, just mysterious.

Hope all is well!

For those unaware, there is a rather large fire afflicting my area at the moment. The "Station Fire," as it is known, has covered well over 100,000 acres of the LA National Forest, causing a great deal of ash, smoke, and general discomfort to the residents of the greater Los Angeles area. Being that I am located right next to a set of "buffer mountains" on the Eastern side of Burbank, I am luckily not in direct contact with the fires, though I tend to be first up when the smoke vacuums into the San Fernando Valley.

The fire itself has presented an odd set of circumstances in my life and career in general. After over a year at Warner Bros. Tours, I am quite ready to start looking elsewhere. While I would prefer to find a position somewhere on the lot or in a casting office (I recently nabbed a ton of numbers from our directory of production companies to apply with), I have grown an increased interest in my photography as a viable option. As some readers may have noticed, this tends to happen a lot and often comes in waves like the salty sea, but previously I never saw my photography to be anything more than a hobby or pipe-dream at best. Then came this blaze out of nowhere and, like the trees and homes afflicted, my interest was lit again. And, so I went, out to capture photos of the event.

I suppose this makes sense in the overall look of things. I'm sure at least of a few of my scant crowd of followers have noticed leanings toward street photography or photojournalism lately. Aside from the Dorothy set with Jules, I haven't really done a whole lot of "studio" work in awhile. A large contributor to that problem is simply a lack of space and equipment. I do not have a work-area or studio, nor do I have any lighting rig to speak of. I have my camera and a 28-135mm lens. If I need headshots, I can break out a remote shutter. Beyond that, I'm extremely limited in capacity. While I still want to offer studio services (gotta pay the bills, after all), photojournalism does not require the greatest deal of equipment and can actually be hampered by anything more than a couple of mobile bags. When I first started getting into this art over 5 years ago, it was simply a medium so I could capture life around me. I seem to have returned to that mindset after a long hiatus of carefully planned photography with results few and far between. I'm actually enjoying going to Venice Beach or Hollywood and just snapping away without having to spend an hour on setup.

Really, the idea that a forest fire could reignite my love of natural photography is almost prophetic. The entire reason I wanted a camera in the first place was actually a field fire back in my time in Missouri. I was coming home late after a party. The road back was encroached by darkness on either side, and the sky overhead was clear with shadows of clouds dotting about. I took a turn and came upon a giant field dotted with bonfires. It was rather common for farmers to burn off their fields to make way for new crops, as well as replenish nutrients into the ground, but I had never seen it done in person, especially that close. With all of the bonfires out and about surrounded by nothing but night sky, it looked very much like something you'd see outside the City of Dis within Hell itself. And the only thing I could think was "I really wish I could take a photo of this." I bought a camera the next week, on July 1st, 2004.

Now, the fires are larger, and I've had to upgrade to a larger camera to keep pace. I have no idea how to get into the business of Photojournalism, however, what with having never taken a single class on photography. The Station Fire has been a good test on getting onto the scene of big events (although, as you may have noticed, I'm failing that test, hence the lack of photos on dA of the fires). I'm going to start keeping an eye out for openings in local newspapers and magazines because I honestly think that after 5 years, photography is a viable career option. Or, at the very least, it's a flexible option that I can handle on my own that would also allow me to make it to auditions.

If anyone has need of some photos for press, keep an ear out for me! It's good to be excited about art again! I'll be working on a few projects that will hopefully be submitted to National Geographic's International Photo Contest 2009, so I should have a decent influx of new devs in upcoming months. Make sure and check out my "MyShot" page on Nat. Geo's website. The link is here. I've also added it and redone the links at the bottom of every journal!

So, some of my regular visitors may have noticed that I am uploading a lot of photos lately. Or, at the very least, more photos of cars lately. I am sure many may be wondering if this is going to become a common occurrence or not. To that I will say no. I do not pride myself on being a car guy. In fact, my little Grand Am has been shutting off in the middle of driving and all I can figure is that there are little fairies that do not like my engine. My left blinker hasn't blinked for roughly 4 months now. I do not know anything about cars. I do, however, know quite about picture cars and other vehicles used throughout films both past and present.

I'm working on a couple of projects right now, one of which involves our new Transportation museum on the WB lot. I've uploaded most of what would be viable online, but I have been lucky enough to get out and about on the studio lot with my camera lately. I, as a huge nerd, absolutely love the cars of Hollywood and will chronicle them as I can. If all goes well, I may be posting pictures of other aspects of Hollywood, whether it's studio life, actors, whatever. The automotive pictures are just the beginning and the aspect of the studio I have the best opportunity to showcase my photography with. So, don't expect me to become an automotive photographer anytime soon. I'm just posting recognizable film vehicles.

As for other parts of life, things are busy. Summer is tourist season, and the lot has been picking up production once again. Many of us eagerly await the return of "Chuck" next week, among other things. I haven't had the opportunity to take new headshots, but I may do that relatively soon as well. I am also opening myself up for commissions and other items, so if you or anyone you know in the Los Angeles needs a photographer that shoots on-location, please pass the word along!

Aside from that, all is well. Take care, friends!

With Summer around the bend, I'm going to be relatively busy back at Warner Bros. Tourist season is picking up and after giving myself 4-day work weeks for the past two months without seeing any results on the acting front, I need to pick up the extra cash. As such, you may noticed fewer critiques or uploads from me for a little bit. I'm hoping the extra cash I'll be making can be spent towards acting and photography investments, but I need to see about that whole "rent" thing first. Luckily, we have some pretty big projects coming onto the lot over the Summer, including some scenes from both "Entourage" and "True Blood" for their next seasons, as well as (according to rumors anyway) the next Christopher Nolan film, "Inception." We're pretty excited, and if all those do come true, it'll be worth the extra work day every week. Still no word on Iron Man 2, however...

I also have a wonderful girlfriend now. That's pretty exciting, at least to me! Unfortunately, her father is also a photographer and, as such, she is too sick of cameras to allow me many pictures of her. But, that's just another thing she'll just have to get used to, isn't it? It's ok, though, since she can make me listen to Country music as punishment. Ick.

Nothing else very new. I will hopefully be down at Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood on May 19th for the WB employee screening of Terminator: Salvation if anyone wishes to say hi. I don't think details are solidified yet, but the usual start time is 7-7:30PM. We're pretty excited about the film (it had some pick-up shots earlier this year on the lot and, yes, Christian Bale is one intense dude), and I've never been to an employee event at Grauman's. It should be really fun, though I will miss our lot's Steven J. Ross Theater (and, more specifically, its amazing sound system). Also, before anyone asks, no, I cannot get you in. I just like meeting fellow deviants.

That's about it for now. Nothing else new on the photo front. Go see Star Trek. Pepsi Throwback is amazing. Kilroy was here.