Yosemite Wedding

A couple weekends ago I headed up to Yosemite to help my friend John Griffin shoot Emily and Will's wedding. I arrived Friday evening after dark and checked into our cabin. After a bit of confusion because of some odd bugs in our beds (yikes!) we switched rooms into the bug free cabin you see in the pictures. We headed over to the Ahwahnee Lodge to meet with the couple, who were incredibly nice people, and to get a bite to eat. When you are out in the woods you don't really think about dressing nicely so we actually weren't allowed into the dinning room because we didn't have collared shirts! The bar suited us just fine however :)
When you arrive in Yosemite at night then wake up in daylight you are so awestruck by the cliffs, it is stunning. The next morning I did the standard, "walk-out-the-door-look-up-stand-with-jaw-hanging" that every tourist does. My intention was to run 4 or 5 miles but I got caught up in the beauty of the place so ended up running more like 10 miles. I can see my friend TJ Cameron shaking his head at that after our extended run in New York City a couple months ago! But it was gorgeous and the weather was perfect, what was I supposed to do!?
What a great place for a beautiful destination wedding! We started off shooting the ladies at the Ahwahnee then headed over to the Yosemite Lodge to shoot the guys. The ceremony itself was by the Ahwahnee with the reception inside one of the dinning rooms. The surroundings at the ceremony was breathtaking. I had a great time and have to thank John again for inviting me along. Thanks to Emily and Will and their families for being such gracious hosts as well.


Front of our cabin


Here is what my run was like, can you blame me for staying out too long!?


Will is 6'5" so it seemed appropriate to frame him with Half Dome!


The view over the head table


The details were perfect


Just a fun portrait


I always get a variety of portraits so parents have something they like too


John posing while I check the lighting setup


The results of the lighting

Bowling and Halloween

It must be in the gene's because Caiden loves bowling! Not that either Steph or I are avid bowlers but back in college we both took bowling for PE credits and used to play whenever it was a rainy day. The only problem was that Caiden doesn't want to wait his turn for his frame so we had to get him his own lane! He played 3 games in the time we played only one!
The other pic is from Halloween night when the downtown merchants in Paso Robles hand out candy for kids. We found Eli and Calista (and their parents of course!) while we were walking around and they all had to stop to try some candy.

Rob and Elisa's Sacramento Wedding

One of the great things about shooting weddings at destinations away from home is finding great new locations to explore, even better when they are not all that far away! Sacramento is overlooked by many on the coast as most people think of LA and San Francisco as being the centers for excitement and urban life in California. Well, I can now add Sacramento to the list of great California cities with nightlife filled downtowns, beautiful and historic neighborhoods and plenty to do.
I headed up to San Francisco the night before Rob and Elisa's wedding and stayed with my long time friend Jen and her husband Rodger (thanks guys!). The next morning I headed out from their place for a quick run down to Baker Beach and then headed out to meet Elisa at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel which is just down from the State Capitol Building. Elisa is part of a large and extremely fun Portuguese family so there were tons of fun moments and everyone had a great time. Elisa is probably one of the funniest people I know and she is so well balanced with Rob, they are perfect for each other.
The ceremony was at a beautiful church in Mid-town, Sacrad Heart Parish. Rob's choir performed all the songs, I wish I would have gotten an recording because they are truly amazing! After the ceremony when headed back to the Capitol Park for some pictures then the party began at the reception.
I had a great time and have to thank Rob and Elisa for having me as well as Chris and Danielle for helping out. I can't wait to head back up there to hang out with everyone again!

Email Issues

I love where I live but the one problem is that my internet is a bit unreliable! Unfortunately, my ISP has been having issues so much of my outgoing email has not been getting through. If you have tried to contact me in the last couple of weeks and are waiting for a response please let me know as I have no way of knowing what is getting through and what isn't.
Know that I am doing everything I can to resolve this and should have everything back to normal next week.