Oyvind Hjelman

Oyvind Hjelman is a Norwegian photographer whose emphasis is on homes that were once lived in. His style of photography is very rare and different as compared to traditional styles that we are used to seeing. His photos are very quiet and definitely bring a sense of remembrance and loss but he has a nice way of capturing an empty house in a beautiful way.

Saul Leiter

Saul Leiter started shooting photography in New York in the 1940's. Apparently, he had no formal training in photography but was soon discovered. New York is a crazy city that is incredibly rich with various cultures and lifestyles and I really like the way that Saul Leiter captures certain elements of New York. After New York, he spread out and began shooting everywhere... I think his photos are really cool and I love the way he captures people.

Michael "Nick" Nichols

I
really like the way that this photographer captures his subjects. He is a photographer for National Geographic who I think has a really good eye. I like that he is not just an animal photographer and that he takes into account the societies that surround animals and he documents them. I think that it is kind of a cool twist on a form of photography that is hard to expand upon, and probably hard enough as it is.

Smallz and Raskind

Smallz and Raskind are a photography team. Jared Raskind is actually one of my good friends from high school but it just so happens that I really like his photography and I think that he is a really talented artist. They do a lot of celebrity photography in L.A. where they both live and... judging by some of their clients, they are doing pretty well. You can see some more of their work at www.smallzandraskind.com

Pechanga

I liked Pechanga but did not like the drive. I thought the most interesting aspect was to see all of the work that people are putting in to restore some of the native plants in the area. Here are some of the pictures that I got

Quail Botanical

The trip to Quail Botanical was one of my most favorite trips. It was nice to just walk around and be surrounded by plants that are all native and labeled. It makes the whole experience really relaxed and is a good way to learn about any kind of plant that you are interested in. I went to the native area and walked around for an hour or so and took a bunch of pictures of various plant types... all native of course. I enjoyed Quail a lot, I would recommend it to anybody.

Del Dios

I went to visit the poppy fields on Del Dios highway although most of the poppy's were gone... very sad. However, the long and strenuous walk up the hill was not a total failure. Once I got to the top, I suddenly realized that I was the only one there and I was in the middle of nowhere, but I still got some good shots of some wildflowers. The view from the top is really pretty and I managed to get a nice pano of the lake and the surrounding hills. It was cool to see some of the remaining damage to the area from the wildfires of last year and the combination of dead, burnt plants next to beautiful, colorful plants was something kind of interesting. Here are some of the pictures that I got from the top of Del Dios: