Sixpeeps Has Moved!

Check out the new blog! It even has it's own web address! www.sixpeeps.com

Going Postal!

I've never understood what people mean when they say they are "going postal" on this or that, but I am pretty sure I've heard more than one person say that.

I'm going postal too, I guess. Check out my new stamps! I just ordered them, but they should be in next week! Yes, they are legitimate US Postal Stamps. How vain is that? But very cool! I'll be sending surprises to my peeps every month in the mail and they will always have a new stamp design. Here's my first, for July! :)

Pretty soon I'll be sending a surprise gift to all of my peeps, so if you are one of my peeps and want a surprise in the mail, you better send me your mailing address! I'll be using my cool new stamps, but as edible as they look, you probably ought not to try to eat it.

The cake featured in this month's stamp is from Marie's wedding, Troon Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ.

Jill and Jose, Arizona

Last weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a wedding for the daughter of one of my dad's close family friends in AZ. They got married at Our Lady of Carmel, which just happens to be the same church that my dad's family went to as kids! Small world!

The bride, Jill was in a great mood on Saturday. I think it was probably because she was GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!

...in fact she was so psyched, that she started spinning around with joy!

Suddenly a gust of wind came and things took a turn for the worse...

Tune in to FOX for their shocking collection of "WHEN VEILS ATTACK"

...now the veil proceeds to choke the bride, much like a python! Onlookers laugh and refrain from helping!

This is our family friend, Bob! Bob has known me since I was just a sparkle in my mom's eye. I have seen him on occasion throughout my life and he is one of the nicest guys ever! Totally genuine. I love his mustache, he's had it for as long as I can remember and his eyes are always happy. I don't know if that makes sense. I guess you'd have to meet him...

Jose is a sharp looking guy with an incredible Hispanic family full of tradition and culture!

Jose's sister is way too serious.


Butterflys.


Father Daughter Dance


The band was a really cool Salsa band. Jose's family is really in to Salsa dancing and this band totally wore every one of them out. They were AMAZING. They are called Orquesta Salsabor! They had drums, bongos, trumpets, saxophones, a keyboard, and two singers who also played tambourines and morraccas!
The singer had a great voice, was totally energetic and SAUCY!

Featured Peep: Nonnie!

This whole week's posts are from my weekend in AZ! It was a great weekend and I got to spend some good time with the Cafiero Family, mostly my Uncle Sal and my Nonnie!

We scooped Nonnie out of her old-folk's home that reminds me of the one from Happy Gillmore! "Meesta! Meesta!", or (Gillmore's granny at her first day in the old folk's home to Ben Stiller, who played the Nurse):

Grandma to Ben Stiller: "Could I trouble you for a warm glass of milk? It helps put me to sleep".
Ben Stiller to Grandma: "You could trouble me for a WARM GLASS OF SHUT THE HELL UP! You will go to sleep, or I will PUT you to sleep! Look at the name tag... you're in MY world now".
Grandma: "ohh dear".

OK, where was I... Oh yeah we grabbed Nonnie and got her makin some meatballs!

Here's the Italian Mamma Mia doing what she does best:

Nonnie was so happy to roll some meat balls, that she did her hair and put on lipstick!

...and off she goes!

She can roll like 80 meatballs per minute!

Nonnie doesn't like being photographed while she's rollin meatballs, so here she is taking a cheap shot and throwing a meat ball at my expensive L Series Lens.

Sadly I had to leave and I didn't get to eat any. Oh well it wasn't splurge day anyway. But apparently it was the dog's splurge day.

Joe's Mandolin

One thing I wanted to do while I was in Arizona last weekend was to get some shots of my grandfather's Mandolin.

To hear the story of my new logo that was designed by Jenny, and the story behind it, click here and scroll down a bit! New Logo

My Grandfather (or Crampa, as we call him) bought this Gibson back in his 20's I think and played at his father's Pizzeria in New York. He played and played and played until he died, which was about 12 or thirten years ago now. We still listen to his music at family reunions, parties (we had it on at my 30th bday party!) and over the holidays. His music has a real classic Italian Jazz sound, with quick melodies like the Tarentella and sumptuous slow Italian ballads. Maybe when I get my iBlog going, I can get some sound clips on the blog. But here's the mandolin he left behind. It's been all over the place and my grandfather's hands have worn through the varnish. My dad and my uncle take turns keeping the mandolin at their homes. Every year or so they make the exchange. My dad played Ave Maria at my little sister's wedding with this mandolin. There's just so much history behind it, I want to keep yackin about it, but I'll spare ya, so here it is!

I love the case. It's totally aged, rivots are missing, old stickers, scratches and scuffs, give it immediate character!

I left the pick in the strings intentionally because it's one thing I always remembered about the mandolin. My grandfather made his own picks.

...And some detail shots

Guadalupe Water Fiesta!

Last weekend while I was in AZ, I had a really fun day with my Uncle Sal. We started the day at 6:00 AM... (the morning AFTER my wedding which went till midnight!) and ran up the tallest mountain in a hiking/mtn biking area called South Mountain. Then we visit Nonnie, I got to hang with my cousin Nick, and the day was just action packed. On our way back, my uncle drove us through a short-cut through a town called Guadalupe. It's not a resort town. The people there are pretty poor and I think the majority of the population is hispanic. We saw a sign...



...and saw water flooding the following street. When we drove by, we saw this:

So basically the water festival of Guadalupe is a firetruck, hosing down the residents. There's no way I wasn't interested in stopping for photos! It was so hot and these people were having the times of their lives! It looked painful to me, so I didn't join them, but I did get some cool shots!

In my own little fantasy world, this shot reminds me of something you'd see by legend photographer, Henry Cartier Bresson. I'll never be the next Bresson, but I feel like sometimes I relate to his style. His style, by the way is just totally random. Images that sort of tell a story. SORT OF... :)

Getting hosed is also a spectator sport. I feel kind of ashamed of myself, actually because my first reaction to this scene was me laughing at these people. But when I got up close, I was overcome by all these people just having a great time. To some people, getting hosed by a firetruck on a hot Arizona summer day is like a simple pleasure. I'm an advocate for simple pleasures... although I don't count being hosed by a truck as one of them, but potayto, potahto...

Here is one spectator. He looks like he's been out working construction all day. Now he's just chillin, watching his neighbors, and maybe even his own kids, having fun in the water fiesta...

I love this shot of my Uncle Sal. Just like the guy above, he's not worrying about work, or money, or getting old, or whatever. He's just enjoying the moment. It doesn't get any better than that!

Birthday Boy Part II, and Belated Fathers Day!

So, where was I... last week I celebrated my 30th and Fathers Day (since I was working in AZ that weekend) in Monument with my Dad and a whole bunch of friends.

Meet my dad, Mario Cafiero! He's a hard working optimist. Someday I'll post about my own three categories of people. There are pessimists, optimists, and optimist achievers. That's my dad, an optimist achiever and the inventor of the Schmop. It's a shoe/mop. He can mop your floors with his feet. He made millions off that invention. OK, not really. But his floor is totally clean!

Here he is with the pasta machine, my sisters and I got him for Father's Day. I'm posting an extra shot of his gift so my sisters can see what they got him for Father's Day! ;)

Thank-you hug to one another. That's my dad! I love that guy!!! Photo by Jenny!

We also got him som gourmet extra virgin olive oil, a parmesan cheese knife and a sweet black leather and steel peppermill!


He whipped up an AMAZING spread that included Eggplant Parmesan (of course), Lasagna, Roasted Leg of Lamb, Penne with meatballs and snausage, Antipasti, olives, good bread and cocktails! Oh and dessert, what else but a nice cannoli!

Nothing beats a Manhattan and Olives! The Manhattan is an old-timers drink, but it's a special cocktail in the Cafiero family. My Dad used to drink Man-attans (my grandfather didn't pronounce his "h's") with his dad, and now I can't go home without having one with my dad, too!


The Antipasti!

More photos by the talented Jenny you all know about...

No, it's not a human heart. Get your mind out of the gutter! Those are delicious roasted peppers, waiting to be cut up and arranged beautifully! There goes my dad, he's a cook-a-holic!

Thanks to all my peeps who made it to the party. It was a gggggggggggreat time!

Here's Jenny and Terence, holding a big honkin piece of bread. I'm heading off on another outdoor adventure soon with T. Lookin forward to it!

The grand finale of the event was a surprise that Jenny made for me. Bless her heart, she just is the sweetest thing! She went to my parent's places and dug up all these photos of me from baby-sized to the more large size, and put them all together in an awesome DVD slideshow to music. It was so cool because I have been working my glutes off these days and it's like my childhood was starting to disappear in my mind, but these photos really brought me back to some really special times in my life! It was strange, seeing me as a little shaver, even though I was a complete angel. :) I loved it though, and as my Uncle says, "everyone had sand in their eyes" after watching it. Thank You Jenny!!!

Birthday Boy (Part 1)

Welp, yesterday was my 30th Bday and I decided that I wanted to start it off right, so I woke up at 6 AM and drowe out to Boulder and ran Mt. Sanitas, which is a short 3 mile loop, but with about a 1600 vertical gain. I just wanted to run the whole thing without bonking out and I did! I used to run that trail when I was living in Boulder a few years ago, and training for the Pikes Peak Marathon. It's a quick run to excersize your lungs! Here are some shots taken with my little point and shoot camera. The best part of my birthday was the Italian dinner party I had at my dad's home. I'll post those later because I have to catch another flight to AZ for the Erickson wedding!

Self-portrait, about to head off for the summit. My old P.R. was 26:52 to the top, when I used to run it weekly. I surprised myself and ran it in just over 27 minutes today.


Shot at the summit of Mt. Sanitas. You can't see the start of the trail, but it's all the way down there. It's a really beautiful jaunt!

Alethea and Nema

Last weekend I shot another beautiful wedding, this time at the Villa Siena in Scottsdale, AZ! Alethea and Nema are Persian and I am loving these multi-cultural weddings! I feel like I have been travelling the world, seeing all the cool food, tradition and dancing! I photographed my first Persian Wedding last season, also in Arizona, the Boojum Tree, Scottsdale. That's how I got this wedding, through word of mouth, which is how I am getting most of my jobs these days.

The Villa Siena is a really cool spot for a wedding. It's a photographer's playground! I had so much fun! Never got bored!

Rose petals in the fountains. I love rose petals. Does that make me "metro"?


Meet the bride, Alethea!


There's creepy photographer guy! Hey it's a tradition!


Tears smear mascara. I don't know from personal experience. Here a bridesmaide drys tears of anticipation!


The couple! Alethea and Nema!


Nema's dad is awesome. He reminds me of my dad. Just always smiling and I LOVED photographing him!

Anyone who knows me, knows I live in my flip flops. These are too pretty for my feet.


These flower girls were very cute. Here they are getting primped up before their big walk down the aisle!


The guy on the right is the brother of the bride from the Persian wedding I shot last season. Super nice guy!


Here are the flower girls doing their thing!

I knew when I caught the couple making out in the halls, it would be a keeper!


Aletha, looking just RAVISHING...


OK, I have blogged about how the Koreans and Indian people dance. Now the Persians love dancing more than any culture I've seen so far!



This is Nema who interesting enough had a complete choreographed dance to "BYE BYE BYE", from the Backstreet Boys.

Old School!

Nowadays I don't get to watch TV. My life is consumed with photography, editing, editing, more editing, making albums, DVDs, photo cds, consultations, marketing, branding (blog fits in there), etc... I do commit 15-30 minues of each day to stop what I'm doing and watch Conan O'Brian. He's the best.

So I have decided to pay tribute to the great TV shows of my time, since television has influenced me so much in my life.

Oh Thundercats. You taught me to respect my feline friends. Our family cat, Penny was a Thundercat. I think the Thundercats should market their own Kitty Litter. The most powerful Kitty Litter EVER! If it can deodorize a Thundercat's litter box...

Who needs science class when McGyver is on TV? Now I know how to build a bomb with duct tape, a chocolate bar, hair dryer, and a snorkle. Thanks McGyver! Nice hair!

I Pity the FOO! Mr. T. You have taught me so many things.

You put up a mean fight, and call people fools, but you ended each episode of the A-Team with a positive message, like "Stay in School" (which I did), and "Drink yo milk!" (which I do). Thanks for all your positive Jibba-Jabba. Nice hair!

Jack Tripper. I loved the scenes where he and Janet would be installing a shower curtain, while Mr. Roper is evesdropping on their conversation, which doesn't sound like they are installing a shower curtain.

The whole reason I am doing Body for Life is so that I can compete in American Gladiators. Well no one ever told me that it's no longer airing! NOW WHAT! I miss you, Lace! I'll get you, TURBO!One of my favorite TV shows of all time, "The Broncos". Usually it aired on Sundays and the main actor, John Elway was amazing. I believe it was filmed with a live studio audience.

Doberman Body for Life

I've been travelling to Arizona once again, and I got to spend some time with my Aunt Peggy and Co. It was quite nice! We played golf and didn't keep score at the Scottsdale TPC. It was actually really comfortable, we started in the evening, like 6. I played like crap (what's new), but it was a blast. Hit some good ones, and some bad ones.

Then I got to hang with her mutts, Shelby and Bart! I think it was about a year ago that I met Bartholomew for the first time. He was a little shaver. Shelby could pick on him, but see how the tables have turned!

This is Bart, before he took the Bill Phillips Body for Life Challenge:


Who's the boss now? Bart is like, twice the size as Shelby! I LOVE these dogs.
Bart's "after" photos from the BFL 12 week Challenge. Bart put on 60 pounds of lean muscle and body fat percentage DROPPED to just 9%! Now THAT is a success!

That's Shelby, Bart's "big" in the background... kind of!

Seoul Train! India Style! Robert and Mina

This weekend I had another great wedding! This was so cool, I had two very strong cultures coming together to celebrate the wedding of Mina, whose family comes from India, and Robert, from Korea! I loved every second of working with the two of them and their families. I even got the chance to photograph two wedding ceremonies from one couple, in two days.

Here's an artsy shot from the rehearsal dinner at the Wynkoop Brewery.


Something that was really interesting was comparing the dance moves between the two families. Mina's Indian family danced the night away, pointing their index fingers in the air. I almost got my eye poked out a few times as I tried to get some nice dance shots. Robert's Korean family danced with flat hands extended, kind of karate chop movements. Let me just tell you that the dance floor was dangerous that night!

Anyway, here are some shots from their very cool wedding!

Mina's Indian Wedding Ceremony. I ws hoping she'd have the traditional hand painting (sorry I know there's a name for it), but she is a doctor and says that paint takes a good couple of weeks to get off. Robert is also a doctor!

Her hands still look pretty, even without ink!



Here, they hung a sheet between the two of them before they got to see each other.

I got a ton more great shots from the India ceremony, but I have limited # of shots I can post here, so we'll move on. Here's Mina and Robert after the ceremony and their doggie, Sadie. Isn't Sadie, just the sweetest, most adorable, little furry creature EVER???


THINK AGAIN!!!


Not so cute anymore, eh? That dog was VICIOUS! (Just kidding. I was photographing her as she was yawning!)

Saturday soon came and the weather was beautiful! Their wedding was at the beautiful Sanctuary Golf Club. I LOVE working there!


I met Mina on Saturday at the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek. Check out the gift baskets that the other guests got when they checked into their hotel! This is one of their engagement photos that I took of them in Downtown Denver!

Antoine du Chez, getting hair done.

Here's Mina, about to surprise Robert. She can see him, he can't see her!!! SNEAKY!

Robert's reaction... he's PSYCHED!

Mina's mother is a beautiful Indian Princess!

The aisle. Rose petals!

Mina was worried that I wouldn't get a good shot of her and her father walking down the aisle because her friend recently got married and the photographer totally missed that shot. That's crazy. Not THIS photographer, Mina! :)

Reflections are cool!

One of my favorite parts of being at weddings is hearing the toasts. This is Robert's brother. His toast was HILAREOUS! I wanted to press rewind to hear it again. Probably one of the funniest toasts I've heard. I was impressed.

Groomsman, getting a little fancy on the dancefloor. Be careful man!

Again, a sweet Rolls to pick up the bride and groom.

Back in my hippie daze.

I was going through some old stuff and found this old press pass from college. I was the photo editor at the campus news paper, the UNC Mirror! So being the top dogg (that's right, with two g's... the double-g, ya see), I got to go to DIA before it was open to the public. Check out my fro! That was in the early stages of my fro. It got really huge, to the point where it would bounce when I walked.


Anyway, that was a day to remember. It was the big press day. I got to DIA and found myself amongst some of the top journalists in the country. CNN was there MSNBC, FOX News, New York Times, some big shot AP journalists etc... then little ol' me from the local campus paper. Everyone had the nicest equipment and I had a 35mm Canon EOS Elan and a cheapo 28-80mm lens.

It was so fun being at DIA before it was open to the public. I remember being blown away because it was so much more contemporary than that old Stapleton Airport. Anyway, that's what I looked like in college.

My darkroom was so cool. It was in the main campus building, in the Mirror office. I had a fridge that was always stocked with Mickey's 40s and a stereo that I would play snoop doggy dogg on. I was such a wierdo. But I loved that darkroom. It was my life! My hands always smelled like fixer, and I took pride in my ability to roll film onto a spool. We had two kinds of spools. I was so cool I preferred the old school metal spools, opposed to the new plastic ones with the fancy winding mechanism.

I don't really listen to rap anymore and I haven't had a "40" in years. But I'd like to! For old times sake! :)

John and Jennifer!

Yesterday I met up with John and Jennifer of TEXAS for some engagement photos. We hooked up at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, which is the perfect place for some engagement photos. I can't wait to photograph their wedding next month in Breckenridge!

Egg-a-plant-a Parmegianna!

Oh man oh man... what a splurge day I had this weekend! Here's a rundown of how my splurgeday went:

8:30 AM (Slept in!) - Started the day off with Oreo Cookies and Milk! OHHHH YEAH.
8:55 AM - Costco brand Asian Snack mix.
9:00 AM - Cheetos (while checking email)
9:30 AM - Jenny and I went to the Denver Diner. I had eggs, hash browns, bacon, snausage, coke (two refills), pancakes and bizcuits.
11:00: Bugle corn schnacks and Gatorade
2:00: QUESO! Jenny made some fab queso. Accompanied with fritos and corn scoopz.
3:00 - 8:00 Constant Schnacking. (More oreos, chips, etc.)
8:00 - Eggplant Parmesan!

Before I continue, I am going to teach you how to make Eggplant Parmesan. I tried a new sauce recipe from a photographer friend of mine, Randy Kepple, from Washington! Thanks Randy! Surprisingly it was almost an exact match to my family recipe. WIERD. Oh and Randy is an AMAZING photographer and I am glad he is in Washington, and not CO or AZ.

1. Get some fresh parsley and garlic, and about a half of a large sweet Walla Walla onion. Chop it up!

2. Sautee it up in EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL!!! Don't get cheap olive oil, people, you're killin me! The garlic is tricky. If your olive oil is too hot, your garlic will burn, producing a strong, bitter, NASTY flavor. Dont do that.



3. My sauce for eggplant never has meat, but I was dying to try Randy's recipe, so I added ground lamb and italian snausage. It was soooooo good! But, I think I'll use that sauce for pasta and lasagna only for now on. The meat kind of covered up the delicate flavors of the eggplant. It was great, but I think the sauce is more intended for lasagna and pasta. Add a good glass of Cabernet. Then add some sugar (or like they call it in Mexico, "Choogargh") to sweeten it up a little and reduce the acidity from the tomatos, some sweet basil, large dash of salt and I add a dash of red wine vinegar, too. Add a small can of Contadina tomato paste, and 1-2 cans full of aqua. Randy and I agree that Hunts makes the best sauce. Add a large can of that. Stir, and turn to LOW.



4. The fun part... bring out tha EGGPLANT! Slice it about 1 cm thick. Too thick, and it will be too firm after it's been fried up. Better too thin than too thick. Dredge in this order: 1. Flour; 2. Eggs and a little milk (to make em fluffier); 3. Bread Crumbs.


I always thought this was a wierd order to do it, because the flour makes it hard for the egg to stick to the eggplant, but that's how Nonnie does it, so I don't ask any questions.


5. Fry em up! Again, in good, extra virgin olive oil! BE CAREFUL. I cook em up at less than "medium-high". Just between Medium and Med-High. Too hot and your eggplant will brown too fast and they will be too firm. Too low and it will take forever and your eggplant will taste more like oil, than eggplant. BE CAREFUL.

In a casserole dish, layer the eggplant and a tiny bit of sauce, a good layer of mozzerella cheese. Do this until you're done and then dump as much sauce as you can on the top and add more cheese.
Toss it in the oven, preheated at 350 for about 15 minutes, or however long it takes to make a side dish of Penne.



7. Remove from the oven, serve, garnishing with fresh basil and parley and grated parmesan cheese. Bon Appetito! ...or BAM! ...or "Dinner's Ready" ...or "come and get it!".


8. Jenny was hard at work in front of her computer while I was slaving away. So I made her close her eyes and stand behind the table. I put the eggplant right on the table, under her nose and made her smell it for a while. I could tell she was getting excited!


9. OK! OPEN YOUR EYES!!! Let's EAT!




Check out what I did to our water! Added fresh rasberries and some canteloupe and mint leaves. It was pretty and refreshing!

The end result:

10:05 PM - Jenny and I went to see the movie "Cars". LOVED IT. And even better, Jenny (ahem, I mean, the "Splurge-Fairy") surprised me with a Cars Pez Dispenser! We had popcorn and sody-pop and those mint cream things that are covered with chocolate (I forgot what they are called) and Sour Patch Kids!!! WEW!
11:59 PM - more oreos and milk. Splurge day was officially over. :(