Lori and Bobby in Santa Barbara

I love shooting engagement sessions in locations that have real meaning for the couple, Lori and Bobby have tons of history together at UCSB so what better location to shoot? You don't have to twist my arm to get me down to the beautiful town of Santa Barbara! In the middle of a January heat wave with a hot couple? Even Better! I went to Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara for photography school so it's always nice to get back there.
Stephanie (my wife for those that don't know) decided to join me to assist. It was her birthday so we figured we'd go out after the shoot (at Los Olivos Cafe). We met up in Isla Vista and headed right into campus. There must have been 20 new building on campus, it was pretty crazy. Sure would be nice to sit in class and look down the beautiful Santa Barbara coast line!
Lori and Bobby were super nice people and a ton of fun to get to know. We went all over campus and even shot in the library where Bobby worked for several years. Next we went to a couple different beaches (that were packed because of the gorgeous weather) then back to campus for some night shooting.
I can't wait to shoot the wedding this summer at Gainey Vineyards in Santa Ynez, it's going to be amazing!




Gotta love night shoots!


Lori looking gorgeous




super wide angles sometimes are fun!


Out in the fields...well, actually not but it looks like it :)




Making out in the library... If only all studying was this fun!








Gotta love sunset in California!


I love this shot, so much fun shooting at night!


This is a totally funky building with all these fluorescent lights that cast some very interesting colors.

We had a blast hanging with you guys and can't wait for the wedding!

Desiree and Chris Day After Shoot in Carmel

After all the rain at their wedding in November, Desiree thought it would be a great time to do a nice sunny day after shoot back in Carmel. We scheduled and guess what? It rained! So we rescheduled for mid January and, as my West Coast clients know (and my East Coast clients are very jealous of!) it was just about 80 degrees every day!
We met up in Monterey and shot at Fisherman's Wharf before heading over to Carmel Beach then around Carmel. Desiree and Chris are always a pleasure to work with and we had a ton of fun!

Not bad for 3!

Caiden has been riding a bike with training wheels since he was 2 1/2 so about 2 months ago we decided to go for no training wheels (he's 3 years old now). He loves riding his bike with me and tries things (like going down big hills) that really surprise me! I got him real excited about trying no training wheels as on a previous attempt he got frustrated because he is used to riding all over with no effort but without the training wheels he didn't have that mobility. We went over to a nice slight downhill lawn and we tried for a few minutes. I put my hand on the small of his back and he gave it a shot. The key is for me to keep him moving but not to hold him up or else he doesn't learn balance. The lawn was too hard to roll on so we went to a quiet parking lot and he picked it up in no time! Pretty impressive I think :)
This bike is his reward for the hard work. I'm in the process of building a BMX track for both of us along with jumps (big for me, small for him). He's jumping off curbs and (as long as he's wearing pads) doesn't mind crashing too much lol
Oh, and 80's fans just got to love the glasses in this pic!


Getting back to actual photography for a second, look for a bunch of posts in the next week as I've had some awesome shoots in Texas, Carmel, San Francisco and Santa Barbara. Also, I will be in Las Vegas for a week in February so if you want to do your engagement session or day after session out there let me know, it's an amazing city to shoot in!