pete butler. turns 50. for the third time.

I've been fortunate enough to be the official photographer for both the first- and second-annual 50th birthday parties for Pete Butler. With this crowd, you never know what you're going to get.

This year, with the Hollywood-themed crowd, I saw everything from old-town Hollywood to Hugh Heffner, to a giant penguin. An unsuspecting bartender got a surprise lap dance from the DJ, and Marilyn Monroe had a couple of clones.

The challenge to shooting an event is capturing the best moments of the night. This is precisely why I chose to go digital -- you can shoot as much as you need to in order to catch that perfect moment. Out of almost 600 images shot that evening, I came away with just under 400 that can be used as prints or as part of a custom Askua Book that I will be designing.

These types of events are fun for me because I get to be a part of something special in someone's life.

If you have an event coming up, whether it's a birthday party or a corporate event, I would love to be a part of it. Please e-mail me for rates and availability.

slice of time.

A photograph is nothing more than a permanent memory of a specific moment in time. Capturing the right ones is the biggest challenge.

As a photographer, I take hundreds of shots in hopes of ending up with a few great images. It's really more of an odds game -- the more you shoot, the better the chances that you'll end up with that prized shot. More often than not, that moment is more serendipitous than we photographers care to admit. However, knowing how to look for that opportunity is key to being a great photographer.