Two months ago, I got my bmx bike re-finished after it had been stolen for 2 weeks and ghetto'ed out in Santa Barbara. I guess I should have expected it, being made by Stolen Bike Co.

"Thirty-seven'ish hours later, I arrived in Santa Barbara. My friend Adrian picked me up and we went to get some Chinese food at a really good hole-in-the-wall place. He waited in the truck while I was waiting for the food. Then, he come over to me and said he found my bmx bike that had been stolen right before I left for Whistler. It was across the street, under the stairs at a small apartment/triplex. He said a sketchy gangster kid rode up on it. I didn't want to get my ass kicked by some 15 year old gangsters, so I ended up calling the cops. One car came, then another (3 or 4 cops)."
Full Post - The Trip Home

Check out the gallery for bigger pictures: Stolen Heater

I was at the skatepark a few days ago and saw a friend hitting the hip in the bowl. I saw how he was airing over the wall, with the fog coming in over the ocean in the background and knew it would make for a cool shot. I was lucky he was wearing a red shirt. I mis-timed the first shot, but got it on the second try. I took this with my phone, so shutter lag is an issue. Four weeks ago, I upgraded from a Samsung Juke to a Droid Incredible. It's an incredible phone. It's really nice being able to take mobile photos without expecting the quality to be horrible.

Two posts back, I said was going to shoot some surfing after class with my new 70-200 f/2.8. I went to the beach and the conditions weren't so good. By the time I went to one spot, the only person was done surfing. I walked to the end of Ledbetter beach and the waves were pretty small (surprise), with just a few people surfing and the light fading... I didn't get anything worth mentioning. A few days later I was at the skatepark and had my camera with me. I shot some people riding the park. Here's some better shots with my new lens: http://gallery.pbmedia.us/p272837734

Last Friday, I went up to San Luis Obispo for a weekend of shooting and riding. I had been planning on coming up to shoot a local race Saturday. It happened to be the same weekend that Brian (the guy who's wedding I shot in September) was coming down to ride there. I met up with Evan and Heather in the afternoon and soon, his dad driving us up the hill to go ride (thanks!!). We rode a trail that I hadn't ridden before. I was having so much fun on it. After we rode back to his house, his mom dropped me off at a coffee shop where I did schoolwork for a few hours.

After the coffee shop closed, I soon met up with Brian and the others. We stayed at his friend, Chad's parent's house. In the morning, Brian and I went into town and went to a little locals race. I've shot that spot before and ended up with a bunch of poison oak, so I was trying to not have a repeat. Brian told me when I was in poison oak, each time, because apparently I still don't know what it looks like or realize i'm in it when it's too late.. :D. I saw a bunch of friends and got some cool shots of the race. After the race, we met up with the others and went on a ride. I guess the others had some mechanicals on their morning XC ride... We convinced them to shuttle with us and ride something a bit more fun. We had lots of fun, until the long ride down the train tracks, a few miles across town (of course it was much quicker than riding all the way down and taking the streets). When we got back to my friend's friend's parent's house I immediately took a technu shower, hoping I wouldn't get the rash of the plant from hell, knowing I had had the poison oak oils on me for half the day at least. It's now 5 days, later and luckily only a few small rashes have started appearing.

The next morning, Brian dropped me off with another friend, Dan. I was at his house for most of the day until we rode with Alex. Dan had to leave for a few hours and left me at his place. I got bored and had to shoot something. I saw his bmx bike. Soon, I was across the street with it against a wall, setting a flash up. Later, that afternoon, we went up the hill with Alex to get some shots on a jump on a trail and ride. By the time we finished shooting, it was getting dark and they decided it was too dark to get down the trail in time. I was annoyed it happened, but happy with the shots I got at the same time. The next day, I went back up the hill with Alex to get a shot lower down the trail, in the morning. After we got it and walked back up (for so long), we rushed to the train station to catch my bus back to Santa Barbara. I was already late and ran in to get my ticket. Of course, my credit card didn't feel like working and I missed it so I had to take the next train home. Thanks to everyone for the fun times!

Check out my shots of the weekend:

• Locals DH race
• Alex and Dan
• Dan's bmx bike

I took some dirt jump photos with Zac and Kyle Wednesday. Thursday, I met up with Zach at a spot under a bridge. Here's the gallery: http://gallery.pbmedia.us/p95312210