Yesterday, Krystyl Baldwin set out on an interesting adventure to capture the essence of LOVE in photos. What she aimed to do was to photograph people holding a LOVE sign and then mash them together into a short video that would be posted on YouTube to really share people’s feelings a week before Valentine’s Day.  As a point of order, the camera that was used to capture the moment was one that I loaned to Ms. Baldwin.  I took a moment out of my afternoon to join her and several of our friends at Union Square in San Francisco yesterday to participate in the moment. Some of the first photos included moments featuring this incredible acrobatic group coincidentally called Team LOVE who performed for the camera. Kids, adults, couples and individuals stopped by to show their LOVE and the video below is the finished product:

You can view this on YouTube by clicking here or follow Krystyl Baldwin (@krystyl) on Twitter here.

We’re starting to count it down until the 2011 edition of the South by Southwest Interactive conference takes a hold of Austin, TX and thousands of technology geeks and aficionados converge for some parties, networking and learning. This is my third year and each year, I’ve done a great deal of photography to capture the moments (see 2009 and 2010 photo sets here). From capturing photographs from many of the top parties at SXSW from the past couple of years, I’ve always wanted to  find a way to continue to offer my services at the conference and parties. Last year, I was fortunate enough to be a photographer at SXSW and caught many sessions, keynotes and other outside activities. This year, I’d like to help you out and be a photographer to help capture your SXSW memories.

Do you have an event at SXSW?

If you plan on having an event at SXSW and you don’t have a hired photographer, I strongly suggest that you get one, even if it’s not me. Sure, there will be plenty of people with cameras – some who are professionals and others who aren’t and maybe even some from the media. The problem is that these people are not there to snap for you. But I’ll be there to do that for you…dedicated to helping out your event and posting them to the Interweb in a timely manner.

Photos taken by me will be posted on a social network of your choice and also on my Flickr account for everyone to see and tag as they choose. I’ll work with you to make sure photos of your sponsors, guests and surprises are all captured and shared with the world.

AllHat Tweetup 2009

Social Media Club’s Pool 2.0 Tournament 2009

Sessions at SXSW 2009

SXSW TechSet & Windows Phone Blogger Lounge 2010

Brian Solis & Gary Vaynerchuk

What to do if you need a photographer?

We should definitely chat. Aside from having experience shooting SXSW in the past (officially and unofficially), I know a lot of the movers and shakers in the tech industry and can easily approach people to ask for their photos. My photos have appeared on Mashable, TechCrunch and many other publications. In addition, I’ve been commissioned to work with Mashable, TechSet, TechCrunch, DEMO, BlogWorld and many other conferences and tech events in the past and understand how to really put together some solid photos for your event. I encourage you to check out my work on Flickr and elsewhere on this blog to see the work that I’ve done.

If you would like to chat with me some more about being a photographer at SXSW, please do contact me and let me know. I can be reached at ken[at]snapfoc[dot]us or by filling out my contact form. I’m available to shoot private events and also sessions and book signings in Austin Convention Center or even keynote addresses if you want.

Imagine my surprise when I find out that one of the photos that I took at VentureBeat’s DiscoveryBeat conference in San Francisco last year made it onto this CNN Money article showcasing Peter Farago, VP of Marketing from Flurry. This photo was put in context with an article on the Apple iOS and was published on December 1, 2010.

Last Thursday, the social influencer measurement service Klout, invited select influencers to their new office here in San Francisco for a small gathering that offered them a chance to test drive the new Audi A8 with an opportunity to drive it around for a whole weekend by yourself! Fresh off of snagging an $8.5 million round of funding, Klout is set to move away from its current office in the same building that Twitter operates out of and move one block away to a larger office. To help celebrate this move, dozens of “influencers” were brought in to check out the new space (still largely being cleaned up and built without any semblance of furniture) and hang out.

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

One of the cool things that I got to do a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas was to tour the newly opened hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. Located right next to the Bellagio Hotel and across the street from the Paris Hotel along the proverbial “50 yard line” of the famous road, the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino is one spectacular resort that seems to cater to more of a younger, luxurious and hipster clientele.  For me, I happened to stumble upon it while attending a tweetup at boutique store called Droog. After leaving the store, I inquired with my friend Miiko Mentz who worked for the Cosmopolitan’s agency Katalyst (which was started by celebrity Ashton Kutcher) whether it was possible to get set up with a tour of the hotel. Now, I wasn’t expecting anything fancy or anything and actually not at all since it was just around 7:00pm when I asked. Nevertheless, the Cosmopolitan Hotel (@cosmopolitan_lv) did set up the tour for me. To top it off, it was given by their community manager.

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

My first impression when you walk into the Cosmopolitan Hotel is that it’s very art deco and not as conservative as you would encounter in some of the more luxury hotels. While located on the Las Vegas Strip, the Cosmo does exude some sense of luxury and sophistication, but less than just shopping, Gucci, Armani and Rodeo Drive-type attractions. Instead, there’s more about style and culture that I noticed while walking around in the hotel. It hits you as soon as you walk right into the hotel…the lobby contains several huge pillars that practically take over the concierge area, but as you look closer, you’ll see that these pillars are in fact, digital. The lines can change at any given time and display different images like plants or coy or anything else. It was quite remarkable and artistic!

As we walked throughout the main floors of the hotel, I was amazed by the artistry that was installed into various areas of the building. Did you know that the Cosmopolitan Hotel also has an artist in residence located in the hotel? The one that they have right now, and I believe this position rotates among various artists, is “Fab 5″ Freddy (aka Fred Brathwaite) and there is a studio dedicated to his artwork located in one of the main floors of the hotel. Besides Freddy, the hotel works with several amateur artists to display their work and also rotates them out periodically as well. On the floor where all the meeting rooms are located, there’s quite a selection of great art. In fact, just getting there, you’re greeted by some cool art displays that you’d only find in a museum.

Dogs on display in the hallway of the hotel

A ray gun that points to another one down the hallway that people can interact with

Cool artwork next to the meeting rooms

As you navigate through the common areas of the hotel, you’ll notice that it’s much more of a laid-back mingle approach. Normally you’ll see people moving to and from place to place without really congregating in a central place in a hallway. Well in the Cosmopolitan Hotel, there’s quite a bit of entertaining places for you to hang out at, not just at restaurants. In fact, when was the last time you noticed a pool table right in the middle of an open area that you can just shoot pool and sit around and relax?

The food selection at the hotel was pretty remarkable as well, including some great fine-dining, but also something else notable – a classic pizza kitchen that you walk down a hallway that almost looks like something taken from Bucca di Beppo and then you walk into a nice pizza bodega straight out of New York City. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to try the cuisine at the hotel, but if the looks are any indication, then it’s probably worth trying. Other perks at the hotel that would be beneficial to you would be that it’s completely wireless AND free. Yes, that’s right…the hotel is fully connected to the Internet and available for all. This is totally impressive for those who always want to remain in touch and still looking to relax and have fun. And if you have a car in Las Vegas, then you’ll be happy to know that their garages have sensors in each stall that tell you when it’s free or taken – you just have to look for a green light overhead of the stall and there you can park, otherwise just keep looking.

So speaking about garages, another appeal of the Cosmopolitan Hotel is that there is artwork commissioned for the garage walls too. And it’s not just a standard painting or whitewash. Three floors of the parking garage have different graffiti art and other cool looks to them that gives the hotel some very good flair to it.

The hotel is truly a great place to go hang out at and while it’s a bit costly per night, I’d like to think that it might be a cool place to check out and get a truly classy experience while in Las Vegas. Oh, and I don’t want to forget that it’s home to the world’s largest chandelier as well – yup, that’s right! The hotel is home to a large chandelier that encompasses three floors that house a bar that people can sit around and enjoy their drink. Truly it’s a marvelous place that will make people feel like they are royalty and definitely living the high-life.

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

What a way to kick off the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas than by celebrating a big part of its promotion: the web. On Thursday, January 6, 2011, the tech publication, Mashable, brought the web and all its celebrities, influencers and participants under one roof at the New York, New York Hotel & Casino for a rather lengthy evening of festivities and frivolities.

The Mashable Awards is meant to be a celebration of some of the top innovations that happened on the Internet over the past year. A few months ago, the community nominated their favorites and the top vote-getters would then go off to the finals where once again the community would voice their opinion and lobby for who they thought would win. The categories were pretty wide-spread too, ranging from Best Social Media Management Tool to Most Creative Social Media Campaign, Best Internet Meme and Must-Follow Personality. More of the categories and their winners are on the Mashable site here.

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

It all started out at the ROX nightclub in the hotel where Influxis sponsored a fabulous VIP party where Magellan 18 whiskey was being served along with stir fry risotto in addition to a multitude of appetizers. VIPs from the corporate world and from the Internet collided together to mingle at this pre-party. Only here would you see people eager to have their photos taken with the Double Rainbow guy and turn around and want to meet the head of LG Electronics or any other great individuals hanging around.

Christina Warren, Amanda Coolong, Ben Parr & Jess Berlin

Rohit Bhargava & LG Electronic’s Ken Hong

iStrategyLabs’ Peter Corbett (@corbett3000)

From the VIP party, the crowd headed to the Zumanity theater at the New York, New York Hotel to attend the Fourth Annual Mashable Awards. By then, the general admission process had begun. The VIPs filed upstairs to the mezzanine to enjoy the festivities while continuing to snack on some appetizers and Magellan 18 while the rest of the crowd mingled down right near the stage. I was fortunate enough to run into some great people like Whrrl’s Heather Meeker (@heathermeeker), Sony Electronic’s community manager Sukhjit Ghag (@sukhjit), TechZulu’s Amanda Coolong (@acoolong) and Efran Toscano (@efran), plus even world-famous rapper and tech-enthusiast Chamillionaire (@chamillionaire) and Teeth Malloy (@beatbullies).

Pete Cashmore comes out to talk to Baratunde Thurston in the opening act

The show got started with the master of ceremonies, The Onion’s Director of Digital, Baratunde Thurston (@baratunde) coming out below the stage as a spoof of Tron: Legacy and gave a rousing opening – complete with a joke saying that he was acquiring Mashable & becoming its editor-in-chief. Well, founder Pete Cashmore would have none of that & in a well-timed sequence (okay, almost well-timed), he rose from below the stage behind Mr. Thurston and, while the plan was to walk up to him, Mr. Cashmore accidentally “stumbled” on the stage to the slight amusement of the crowd. Aside from that little slip-up, the rest of the show went off quite well and included some great surprises, like introductions by technology geek, Chris Pirillo (@chrispirillo) and CBSNews.com reporter Shira Lazar (@shiralazar).

Perhaps the biggest entertainment draw at the Mashable Awards was the performance by two great acts: Eclectic Method and Cirque du Soliel. The night’s audio performance was provided by Eclectic Method and they even contributed to DJ’ing the after-party later that night right back at Rox nightclub. But during the Mashable Awards, a brief intermission performance was provided by the great act of Cirque du Soliel – after all, we were in the Zumanity theater! One of the best moments of the evening was when Cirque performed the act “Hoops” that featured Yulia Kolosova swinging around in the air over the crowd. It was quite breathtaking!

Of course I could post a bunch of photos from the Mashable Awards, but to save you time, I’ve posted them all on my Flickr photostream that you can find here.

Overall the Mashable Awards was pretty good and a lot of people did show up which made the after-party that much better. Sponsored and hosted by Research In Motion/Blackberry, the ROX nightclub was once again packed to capacity – at least 800 strong!

What a good night and definitely awesome to celebrate the movers and shakers of the Internet. I’m definitely looking forward to the next Mashable Awards!

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

Disclosure: I was hired as a photographer by Mashable to work at the Mashable Awards. My writing here was not influenced by this assignment and I was not instructed on what to write nor asked to write about this event. These words are my own.

One of the great things about attending a large conference like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is going to great parties. CES is no exception and one of the parties for social media professionals and for those in the tech scene is the Tweet House, run by the Parnassus Group. This is the same company that brings you 140 the Twitter conference each year and has held several Tweet House events and sessions over the past couple of years – including at Comic-Con and also at South by Southwest.

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

At the helm of the Parnassus Group is Steve Broback (@sbroback) and alongside him Jason Preston (@jasonp) and Brett Schulte (@brettschulte). This year’s Tweet House was held at the Atomic Testing Museum, about less than a mile away from the famous Las Vegas Strip and Las Vegas Convention Center. What was pretty cool was that with the long waits at the cab lines just to get to the Atomic Testing Museum (I waited about an hour just for a cab), OnStar sponsored some cool rides that would shuttle you to the museum and back throughout the evening. And as soon as you got to the museum, you knew it was going to be an exclusive event. Monster Cable hosted a recharging station because (let’s face it), after a day on your phone/laptop/device, you’re gonna need some juice, am I right? Sony was also a big sponsor here when they had a whole room devoted to gaming, video technology and 3D televisions. All around, it was good fun and definitely some celebrities came out in attendance.

In past Tweet Houses, the party was graced by folks like LeVar Burton, Brent Spinner, William Shatner and many others. This year it was Andy Dick and even Malcolm Jamal Warner (although I didn’t personally see him there). It was really cool seeing Andy Dick there and he took the time to pose for many photos and mingle with the crowd. I think I even saw him being interviewed by some of the Internet outlets at the show.

Here’s another shot of celebrity Andy Dick hanging out with CBSNews.com’s very own Shira Lazar (@shiralazar) at the Tweet House along with Brett Schulte.

When the Tweet House says that it’s an “exclusive” event, it definitely was one…any of the social media professionals that came out to CES were most likely at this event. Folks like Robert Scoble (@scobleizer), Ben Parr (@benparr), Sony Electronic’s community manager Sukhjit Ghag (@sukhjit), TechZulu’s Amanda Coolong (@acoolong), Stefanie Michaels (@adventuregirl), Cathy Brooks (@cathybrooks), Edelman’s Michael Brito (@britopian), Ogilvy’s Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava), Marsha Collier (@marshacollier) and Nimble’s Maria Ogneva (@themaria) were all in attendance.

Some group shots you can see below:

Jim Alden (@techfrog), Marsha Collier (@marshacollier), Heather Meeker (@heathermeeker), Maria Ogneva (@themaria) and Khayyam Wakil (@iamkhayyam)

Michael Brito (@britopian), Rynda Laurel (@rynda) and Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava)

Khayyam Wakil, Ryan Holmes (@invoker) and Sukhjit Ghag (@sukhjit)

As if one night of partying wasn’t enough, kudos to the folks at the Tweet House for carrying it over to the Wynn Las Vegas the following night. On Saturday evening, we gathered once again at Blush Nightclub where the Parnassus Group held a #WynnTweetup. Folks from all around CES came to hang out and grab a drink – it was really special since Blush Nightclub offered up a champagne open bar for the first hour to their patrons that evening. We were graced with the presence of people representing various companies, including the Wynn’s very own community manager Jade Bailey-Assam (@jadeemily), Mashable’s Adam Ostrow (@adamostrow), Brian Zisk (@zisk), AdRant’s Steve Hall (@stevehall), Stage Two’s Meghan Murphy (@megmurph) and Jennifer Steele (@jjjenn4), Social Reward’s Joseph Morin (@josephmorin) and Zappos’ Thomas Knoll (@thomasknoll).

Parnassus Group’s Jason Preston chatting at Blush in the VIP section

Mashable’s Adam Ostrow and Kendall Aliment

It’s Joseph Morin & Steve Hall!

Nimble’s Maria Ogneva and The Mix Agency’s Vanessa Camones

Good music, good people and a great time. Always a winner.

Check out more of my photos on my Flickr photostream by clicking here.

Disclosure: I was hired as a photographer by the Parnassus Group to work at the Tweet House and the #WynnTweetup. My writing here was not influenced by this assignment and I was not instructed on what to write nor asked to write about this event. These words are my own.

To give a proper send-off to 2010, on the eve of New Year’s Eve, I decided to take my camera around through downtown San Francisco and capture some interesting natural and scenic photos. It all started along Powell Street at Union Square where an ice skating rink was set up next to the giant Christmas tree. From there, the journey took me through the nearby Westfield Mall and over to Yerba Buena gardens before ultimately walking along the Embarcadero from AT&T Park (home of the World Series San Francisco Giants) to the Ferry Building.

It’s been quite a bit of time since I last was able to go out on these photowalks and it’s really refreshing to snap something other than tech events or parties where all you see are people. Going out on these photowalks gives you a chance to take a look at other things and be creative in how you shoot.

Photos from my trip are on my Flickr photostream and you can view them by clicking here.

Well 2010 is officially over and what a year it has been. It’s also the end of yet another decade and moves us closer to meeting deadlines, having special events, and having more fun. I’ve done quite a bit of photography in the past year going to conferences, events and even capturing special moments. I thought I’d take a bit of time to reflect at some of the work that I’ve done and highlight 20 photos from the tech scene that I think really helped shape 2010 for me and what I’m hoping to do in the next 365 days. You might say that this is a bit of a reflection and a resolution-type post, and you might be right…but I’d like to think about this more as a post where we can all re-live the fun that was had last year.

In chronological order, here are 20 photos that really defined 2010 for me:

1. Consumer Electronics Show 2010
2. SXSW: TechSet & Windows Phone Party
3. SXSW: Mashable’s MashBash Party
4. SXSW: Live Taping of Wine Library TV with Gary Vaynerchuk and Brian Solis
5. Time4Wine
6. Twestival SF 2010
7. The Chirp Conference After-Party, featuring Will-I-Am
8. Dale & Laura Larson’s Wedding
9. Virgin America & Klout Take A Trip To Toronto
10. Mashable’s SummerMash Tour Comes To San Francisco
11. TechCrunch’s Social Currency CrunchUp
12. TechCrunch’s Annual August Capital Party
13. Gnomedex 10: The Last Ever
14. Plate by Plate Charity Event
15. BlogWorld: TechSet Party
16. BlogWorld: Mashable MashBash Party
17. BlogWorld 2010
18. This Week in Tech LIVE!
19. GDGT in San Francisco
20. Greg & Maria’s Wedding

You can view all these photos and many other related ones on Flickr in my photostream by clicking here.

Photo credit: ilco / sxc.hu

#1. Consumer Electronics Show 2010

The year wouldn’t really start off right without the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. More commonly referred to as CES, in 2010, this was my first time and I had a blast being there. While I was there as a representative of my job at Stage Two, I took the time to photograph many events, including the Lenovo nightly parties, the Parnassus Group’s It Won’t Stay in Vegas party and others, but the big one that I’ll be thankful for attending was the Monster party that was a concert for their retailers and team. It also happened to be a concert which featured John Legend and Stevie Wonder! Luckily I had a decent lens with me and could snap some of these photos, including the one above. It was definitely good times by all.

#2. SXSW: TechSet & Windows Phone Party

South by Southwest: Interactive each year would not be the same without a TechSet party and in 2010, it was no different. The TechSet & Windows Phone party kicked off the five-day conference in flashing style. I was lucky enough to be the official photographer at this event and loved every minute of it, capturing the moment of hundreds of people who walked through the door (just like above) and were crowded into multiple rooms and even on the rooftop.

#3. SXSW: Mashable’s MashBash Party

Still at SXSW, the tail-end of the conference is probably one of the biggest official parties each year and it’s thrown by one of the biggest blogs on the Internet today…the Mashable MashBash. Now while I wasn’t the official photographer here, I did manage to capture quite a bit of photos and even got a mention on Mashable.com. It was really great seeing a lot of my friends and shooting some new people as well. Definitely a lot of fun and seeing moments like the one above with Khayyam Wakil (@iamkhayyam), Drew Olanoff (@thatdrew) and Brett Petersel (@brett) is priceless.

#4. SXSW: Live Taping of Wine Library TV with Gary Vaynerchuk and Brian Solis

A unique moment presented itself at this past year’s SXSW conference…wine connoisseur and social media professional, Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee), held a special recording of his hit podcast show Wine Library TV from the offices of PGi in Austin, Texas. His special guest was going to be friend and author of Engage, Brian Solis (@briansolis) and they talked about his book, social media and, of course, champagne (since it is Mr. Solis’s drink of choice).

#5. Time4Wine

A great little outing hosted by Karen Hartline (@khartline) and Julie Crabill (@julzie) in early 2010, this group of about 80 geeks, developers, entrepreneurs, friends and family decided to take an excursion to wine country in California where we perused through several wineries including St. Supery, Alpha Omega and others just to have fun, drink some wine, and occasionally do some networking. This happened to be the second Time4Wine event and doesn’t look likely to be the last – and it wasn’t. There was another one in the last part of the year.

#6. Twestival SF 2010

The second year of this charity event leveraging Twitter wound itself in San Francisco at Horizon Lounge thanks to some great volunteer work and organization by hostess Krystyl Baldwin (@krystyl). With TV crews on scene and a slew of technology geeks and ce-web-rities like Ben Parr (@benparr), Brian Solis (@briansolis), Robert Scoble (@scobleizer) and hundreds of very enthusiastic friends and strangers coming in to support Charity:Water, it was fun by all. Oh, and we even got to listen to Stroke 9 perform as well!

#7. The Chirp Conference After-Party, featuring Will-I-Am

After Twitter’s inaugural developer’s conference, there was an after-party at 1015 Folsom where an incredible musician performed. The night opened up with BT spinning an incredible set and then the rest of the night (and into early morning), world-famous singer and DJ, Will-I-Am from the Black Eyed Peas arrived to take care of the DJ’ing!

#8. Dale & Laura Larson’s Wedding

While not necessarily tech-focused, it is related. These two friends are very invested in startups and technology and their lives are, coincidentally, focused in the social networks. In fact, Dale (@dalelarson) had proposed to Laura (@laurala) at a Technologizer party when he sent a tweet to his then-girlfriend and she soon responded with a “yes” and the rest is history. Important to note that at their ceremony at the Supperclub in San Francisco, they made their marriage official by…of all things, changing their relationship status on Facebook using iPads.

#9. Virgin America & Klout Take A Trip To Toronto

In 2010, social media-measurement tool, Klout, offered a perk to influential people to take a free ride on Virgin America to help celebrate their new routes from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Toronto, Canada. I accompanied the team from Klout on one of the first flights to attend a KloutUp in addition to the grand party held in downtown Toronto which featured a slew of guests and good times. You can read my follow-up post here.

#10. Mashable’s SummerMash Tour Comes To San Francisco

As the official photographer on their San Francisco leg of the SummerMash tour, I was fortunate enough to capture the moment at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco that featured many friends and new people eager to meet and pitch the Mashable team.

#11. TechCrunch’s Social Currency CrunchUp

The Social Currency CrunchUp was a great way to hear more about the tech startups that were delving into social gaming and currency and how the technology was going to shape the way we used social media in the next few years. I attended this as a member of the press and it was definitely entertaining and interesting. Apparently the photo above is having a caption contest – you can drop in your thoughts into what’s happening above on Flickr by clicking here.

#12. TechCrunch’s Annual August Capital Party

Each year, TechCrunch has held an event at the offices of August Capital and it’s known to bring out all the great people that everyone wants to meet. This year, I attended and had a lot of fun photographing everyone and even capturing this moment above with Google’s Don Dodge (@dondodge) with famous rapper, Chamillionaire (@chamillionaire) and “Digi” Jeff Lange (@digijeff)

#13. Gnomedex 10: The Last Ever

For the past two years, I’ve gone up to Seattle to attend one of the best conferences in technology: Gnomedex. In 2010, we bid adieu to the tenth edition of the conference that was run by tech geek Chris Pirillo. From speakers like Shauna Causey (@shaunacausey) to Violet Blue (@violetblue) and Brian Solis (@briansolis), the content was non-stop entertaining and informative. It’s a sad thing to think about – that Gnomedex is no longer around.

#14. Plate By Plate Charity Event

This annual charity event hosted by Project by Project (an Asian-American non-profit organization) was held in San Francisco in 2010 and featured free food cooked by many of the area’s top restaurants and even a silent auction. The highlight of the evening was when celebrity sous chefs came to the venue to help established chefs cook the appetizers. These celebrities include well-known bloggers, tech publication editors and other media representatives.

#15. BlogWorld: TechSet Party

I was the official photographer at this pool-side edition of the TechSet party at the Aria Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas during BlogWorld and it had it all, fun photobooth, drinks and even a special performance by Cirque du Soliel’s Elvis cast.

#16. BlogWorld: Mashable MashBash Party

I didn’t really notice a photographer at the Mashable MashBash party in the Aria Hotel & Casino during BlogWorld so I took it upon myself to capture the event and I think people had fun! The DJ was spinning out tunes and people were having fun dancing. Unfortunately after a few hours, the club opened up to the public and cameras were no longer allowed to be used.

#17. BlogWorld 2010

During the BlogWorld & New Media Expo conference, I was able to secure a pass to navigate my way through the conference, attend any session and even show up at the keynotes. This year, I was able to sneak backstage and photograph the keynote speakers including the ones above, Cali Lewis, Penn & Teller, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Adam Corolla and many others!

#18. This Week in Tech LIVE!

As a technology-aficionado, I like to keep track of great publications and podcasts that are happening and one of the biggest things that possibly happened to me was on Halloween in 2010 when I was able to accompany famed-photographer Lisa Bettany (@mostlylisa) to the TWiT cottage in Petaluma and sit in on a show with Leo Laporte (@leolaporte), John C. Dvorak and Seesmic founder, Loic Le Meur (@loic).

#19. GDGT in San Francisco

The technology and gadget site, GDGT, is back in San Francisco and held their second gathering at The Galleria in the SoMa district late in 2010. Two floors of gadgets for people to check out and I was there to photograph the entire thing.

#20. Greg & Maria’s Wedding

Okay, while yet again, not tech-focused, these are geeks and tech people who gathered once again for another wonderful wedding – this time in Costa Rica and I photographed the entire ceremony/reception/event.

On July 14, 2010, Mashable came to San Francisco as part of their five city tour to meet their readers and tech companies. I was hired as their party photographer for the evening and photos were featured on Mashable’s website.

After this blog post, photos have been retweeted over 640 times and shared on Facebook a dozen times.