Family Photos

One of my projects for this wedding "off-season" is to shoot much more commercial work so I had to clean up my studio to get it ready for some larger set shots. I finished cleaning it out on Thanksgiving morning so Steph started bugging me about doing some studio shots of the family. I was trained in the studio at Brooks Institute of Photography some years ago and while I apply my lighting knowledge to all my work, I generally stay away from standard studio family shots. But I have to admit, there is a certain appeal to shooting like this! Don't worry though, I'm not giving up my fashion/photojournalism anytime soon! Here were a few of my favorites.

Desiree and Chris' Carmel Wedding

I've been so lucky with rain...I guess my streak had to end some time! I've had it rain just after we finished shooting and I've had it pouring while everyone was getting ready but this time my luck ran out! Not to fear, Desiree and Chris were so awesome and it hardly even bothered them! Luckily, we made it through the ceremony and had just started the family photo's when it started really coming down. Of course I was prepared with umbrellas and all my lighting equipment so we jumped back into a hallway (there weren't a whole lot of covered areas at Rancho Canada Golf Course!) and went to work. Of course as soon as we finished the rain stopped! lol At least it let me get some use from the umbrella's that normally just sit in my trunk!
Thanks Desiree and Chris, you guys totally kept your cool and were so great to work with! Can't wait to do our "Day After" shoot next week!

Sophie and Brian's Carmel Wedding Photo's

This was just good times!
At the beginning of November I traveled up to Carmel Valley to the beautiful Gardiner's Resort for Brian and Sophie's wedding. November is such an odd time in California because you never know if it will be warm, cold, sunny or raining! Oddly enough, we got warm and rain! The other thing about this time of year is that plants and gardens tend to be out of their prime. However, I was amazed at how beautiful the staff at Gardiner's keep the grounds! I'm not normally a flower picture kind of guy but it was just beautiful and amazing to see at this time of year.
Now, for those that remember from their engagement session, Brian and Sophie are biologists from the Monterey area and Brian is a great bird photographer. Sophie's actually originally from Belgium by way of Mississippi (I knew that rhyme I learned in 3rd grade to spell Mississippi would come in handy sometime!). Brian is originally from New Jersey so pretty much everyone traveled quite a distance for their wedding! Both their families and all their friends were so much fun, great people all around. We had a great time and the rain held off (mostly) until the reception started so that was perfect!.I went out in the rain at night to get some night shots of the venue that I think are kind of cool. Besides, I need to give my tripod a workout every now and then!
Thanks Brian, Sophie and your families for making me feel so welcomed! And thanks to David Lee who did a great job helping me shoot!

Stephanie and Blake's Santa Cruz Mountain Wedding

This past August I was on my way up to some meetings and a commercial shoot in San Francisco when my friend Sara called me up to see if I could help her out with Stephanie and Blake's wedding in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Having grown up just a few miles from the venue I just couldn't say no! It was a beautiful and very warm day up on the summit. I do find that I'd much rather be the primary than the secondary photographer but I do think it's fun to try to emulate the other photographer's style so the client gets images that really work together.
Stephanie and Blake are a great couple and very gracious, I especially enjoyed that blue shot that is in the picture below, that was delicious! lol

New York City Wedding Photography Seminar

A couple weeks ago I flew out to New York City to help my friends Jason Groupp and Gene Higa with their East Meets West Photography workshop. Ah, who am I kidding, I just went out for Jason's pre-PhotoPlus party! lol. You can see in the last pic that I was having a good time!
Jason and Gene totally rocked the workshop and I got a chance to meet a lot of great people and see more of New York. The workshop was all about teaching photographers to get even more creative and to push themselves to be even better by both thinking differently and doing practice shoots. It's too easy to get stuck in a rut so practice shoots are a great way to give yourself a chance to not just take the safe shot but also get angles and lighting you wouldn't normally use. I even got the chance to work with some others on their lighting setups and explain how I light like I do on location. I love getting to share knowledge especially when it's a collaborative effort where I can learn too.
Oddly enough, while we were shooting in Times Square, I ran into my buddy Mike Larson who was shooting an engagement session for one of his clients. Too funny! We live 20 miles apart in California but I only ever see him out of state! Last time was in Vegas!
I love walking to get to know a city, I estimated that I walked about 15 miles in 2 days (not in comfortable shoes!) while exploring, it was great! Don't get me wrong, San Francisco is still my first love with London a close second but there is just no place on earth like New York! Even better, I get to go back in just a couple weeks to hang out with Angelica!

















Thanks Corey for this pic of me double fisting! lol