Over the christmas holidays myself and some friends took a hike out to one of the Los Angeles’s hidden treasures….. Deep Creek natural hot springs. It’s really quite a remarkable find, and quite a long uphill hike back. But make sure you leave the springs before the sun goes down, or you’ll be sleeping rough out there in the California desert.

I recently heard the sad news that installation artist & experimental musician Mike Kelley died earlier this week from an apparent suicide. He was a true creative spirit, whom I had the pleasure of working with for The Wire magazine a good few years ago, and i have to say it produced one of my favorite environmental portraits to date (above left). Mike was a fascinating guy to spend the afternoon with, his home choc-a-bloc with a massive vinyl collection amongst other things. Something you just don’t see anymore. I know he is missed by his family and i send my deepest condolences.

Not much of a gun- afficianado as such, but it is a fun and unusual thing to do when the parents are in town from UK. So off we went to shoot some Guns Yee-ha! Those things are surprisingly accurate…. or i’m extraordinarily good at it ( i think it’s the former). We shot a Beretta 9mm, and an AM-15, which is basically an M-16. It’s makes you think, you don’t have to be an amazing talent to hit the target with these machines in your hands. Scary thought really.

Thanks to my friend Michele, i got invited this week to the premiere of Dennis Quaid’s new movie ‘Beneath the Darkness’. Kind of a fun movie, a teenager high- school horror flick, similar in vain to the ‘Scream’ movies. I gotta admit though, Quaid is good as the bad guy. He’s got a good crazy eyes look, and plays the psycho killer pretty well. But even more fun was the after party at the House of Blues. That dude got some talent.

oh dear! i think she survived, so that’s good. Photographed at a house party in Hollywood, Ca.

A nice little promo piece today from the good peeps over at Dripbook. Thanks guys.
Click the image below to see the full promo online.

It’s time to do some stretching, then sit back and watch the mad rush for the playoffs begin. I love me some NFL football! Photographed during Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals for TIME magazine.

An homage to my own local surf spot. The grey skies, cold, grey water. I immediately feel like i’m bobbing up and down, eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to get a head- start on the next decent set. What a great way to spend a couple of hours amongst dolphins, seals and pelicans taking a nose dive just feet from where you sit.

I recently had an interesting assignment for The Times of London saturday magazine, to enter a world unlike any other; where seemingly normal people played out there fantasies….as fantasy characters, and danced in a dance- off…..yes, a fantasy dance-off. Blizzcon is the annual ‘festival’ of Blizzard Entertainment, creators of the video game ‘world of warcraft’ and it’s like Vegas meets toysrus on steroids. Vegas because the three huge conference arenas are dark, packed and endlessly huge, lit only by the glow of thousands of computer screens reflected off expressionless faces staring into oblivion.

But this is the kind of assignment i do enjoy. Where you can literally slip un-noticed into someone else’s world. Observe, capture, document. And with the subjects being so immersed in their own goings on, you can simply shoot and think creatively, without anyone bothering you, or asking questions. I love just being able to roam unfettered. But i have to say, the costumes some of these people created…..quite unbelieveable, they literally shoot themselves. So thank you, made my life easier!

(above) The ‘Grassy Knoll’, Dallas, Texas.

view from the sixth floor museum, The Texas Schoolbook Depository.