The Way I See --- Alex Grey at 1015 Folsom, San Francisco

I've always thought one of the kindest things someone could say to a photographer wasn't just, "I love your pictures," but instead, "I love the way you see," because that also means "I love your pictures, and I will love the pictures you have yet to shoot." By posting some more personal work -things I shoot in my free time, photos of events I attended and such, and things not related to weddings and stuff, I can let people see the way I see around me.

And hopefully, those people fall in love with the way I see, which is most important to me as the big picture.

On Thursday I had an interesting experience attending an event that I would never have attended on my own. Tyler and I and a couple of his friends went to Alex Grey's book release and live painting. We were actually hesitant to bring cameras because we thought we might not be allowed to or that it might disturb the event. Boy were we wrong! I brought my handy X100 just in case. It was very loud and incredibly crowded. We waited in line to have Alex Grey sign the poster our friend just bought for about two hours, and then just as we got to the front of the line, Alex Grey left the table and disappeared for another hour until it was time for the live painting session. Oof! Boy, there was a lot of waiting. Being at the very front of the stage, it was so interesting to see how much it resembled a concert, except that the performance was three artists painting (Damon Soule, Alex & Allyson Grey, and Roman Villagrana). Watching them paint reminded me of the raw, unfinished work that photographers also go through to create a final image. Initially, what they were working with didn't seem to be my cup of tea - Allyson Grey was tracing over symbols with pink acrylics and Alex Grey was thoughtfully painting marijuana leaves - but I figured the end product would look pretty amazing. Most importantly, it was really interesting to see everyone there and the Greys being celebrated for how they saw the world.

What I particularly enjoyed was to take out my camera and shoot a few photos.

This is how I saw the night. Please enjoy.