The Nydam Family

Great family + cute kids + roly poly bugs = awesome photos. Shot the Nydam family a few weeks back and the photo above is amongst my favorite ever taken. She just pops. What a doll! Little brother was quite the ham as well. You guys are an awesome family.

On a side note, this is the VERY park I was attacked by my unnamed tick friend. I'm gathering from over 50 names I've had come in from my various internet habitations. You'll see a vote poll to the right here in a few days with my favorite 5-10 listed. THANKS EVERYONE! Enjoy the shots.

~Sam

I love how resolute his expression is here.

The hunt is on.....





the end.....

The Tick.

It can officially be said that I will go to great lengths and even chance death to get the best shot for my clients. No kidding. So I was bit by a tick. In short, it sucks (pun intended). Honestly, one of the more frightening things to ever happen to me. Of all the diseases that they carry, Lyme is the most lethal. Scary, scary.

It happened while shooting a super duper senior session, (Steph, I took one for you sweetie). As some might have guessed, I got it while in grassy/wooded area not far from my base. If you've been on a shoot with me then you know I spend more time on my back and stomach than on my feet. Funny thing is, I didn't notice the pinch or bite right there when it happened. It was about an hour AFTER the session in my kitchen while making some tea that I became ridiculously itchy. Everything itched! My face, legs, body. Itch-o-rama! It was just above my hip that I felt the tick clinging on. Immediate panic! Though I've never been bit by a tick before, I knew that when they are on you are NOT supposed to just yank them off. The proper way to remove a tick from humans or animals is with tweezers at the very base of the where the head is entering the skin. You can also "burn" it off with a extinguished hot match. The heat causes them to slowly unclinch. So what did I do........ I freaked out. The fact a bug was on me caused me to react immediately and I just yanked it off. Bad.

The last few days have been quite miserable. Flu like symptoms, fever, weakness. I had to cancel three other shoots during the week due to sickness. All this happened on Wednesday of last week, and I had a wedding I had to drive to 5 hours from me that Saturday. I never even mentioned it to the couple. They'll read this here for the first time. Relax guys, the pictures are awesome. :)

That said I took some pictures of the critter below. To think that worried me the most is whether the head was still in or not. I Googled some pictures of fully membered ticks and was relieved to see MY tick was still intact. Dead, but intact. Lucky for me as it is not common to yank one off and the head be intact.

I decided to keep him and make this blog post. I am also buying a bug case for him and leaving the dude on my desk as a memento of the danger of being a photographer. **chuckles to himself** Help me name this guy. Post any name you feel fitting in the comment bar below. Curious to see what you guys come up with. Cheers folks.

~Sam

Shot of an INTACT tick I found on Google.

My Tick. Help me name him. Best name gets to pet him during our next photo shoot together.
I had my wife shoot this of me just before removing the tick.You can CLEARLY see the tick to the left of my 6 pack. The redness irritation shows minutes after a tick bite.

Luma & Jim :: Engagement

Don't think I've laughed as hard during an engagement session as I did with Luma & Jim. I'll spare you the details specific details but but while posing them on the grass for a sunset shot, Jim planted his hand in some right in a pile of some.........well.........stuff. Was it disgusting? Yes. Was it Hilarious? Double yes. Do I have pictures? SEVERAL!! Believe it or not, I actually have other shots from this HILARIOUS session I won't be posting either. All rated PG, well PG-13 anyway. Thanks for bringing the awesome guys.

I can only imagine the fun your wedding is going to be next month in Napa guys. Really looking forward to it. Enjoy the show my friends.

~Sam
I don't know too many that could pull off this one as well as you did Luma. So good!









THIS was the shot where poor Jim's hand was desecrated.

Brittney & Stephen :: Wedding

Shot this one in Texas. First time there to. Nice place. Good weather. Clear skies. Pretty landscapes. Tall buildings annnnnnnnnd........people carry guns. I made sure not to cut anyone off while I was there ;) The southern accent thing just kills me. I love it. I found myself saying "y'all" my last day there evan.

Brittney and Stephen tied the knot back in February. Fun wedding and a great group of people. The wedding ceremony was at very pretty place. Not too much like it here in Cali. It was a breath of fresh air from the modern themed architecture we have in the Bay Area.

We also went out to downtown Fort Worth for our night shots. The wonders that can be done in a parking garage. What to say a big thanks to Philip Joseph for helping as second on this one. Your a rock star bud. Thank you. Check out his take on the day with the guys here.

Look for about a halve a dozen more posts in the next few days. I have LOTS of new stuff on the horizon. I'm CRAZY busy. Fun and challenging at the same time. Its Fanlenging. (another one of my made up words)

Friends and family of Brittney & Stephen, feel free to say a congrats to the newlyweds in the comments bar.





















During my time Texas I actually stayed at the grooms house. While I was there alone the evening before the wedding, I did this Easter egg hunt with my business cards. It was purely for my own amusement and realized later it would be great blog fodder. I hid about 20. The couple STILL calls me to tell me they found another. I'm so silly :P