Ryan and Sarah Los Altos Wedding

I got the opportunity to shoot Ryan and Sarah's wedding this past weekend up in Los Altos, California, it was a really fun time! The wedding was a the Los Altos History Museum which has many aerial photographs of the Silicon Valley over the years, it is really interesting to see how it has so dramatically changed. It is also a really nice place for a wedding!
It had rained all morning but cleared up in time for a beautiful outdoor ceremony. Thankfully the ceremony was on the bricks so there was no soggy lawns to worry about! I drove up from San Luis Obispo early in the morning and shot the guys getting ready then moved over to the museum for the ceremony and reception. It is so much fun to switch things up and shoot the guys. Normally I cover both but there were two of us and as Ryan and Sarah were getting ready at two different locations we decided to pick sides and have fun. It is such a different vibe shooting the guys, where the women are busy getting ready for hours, the guys show up about 1/2 hour before it is time to leave, throw on their suits and it is all good! Too funny!
Anyways, enjoy some images...

Marrianne Lanting Couture Wedding Gown Shoot

My friend TJ Cameron asked me to come down to Orange County to assist for a shoot of wedding dress designer Marianne Lanting Couture bridal gowns this past week. While I am based in San Luis Obispo, I travel for destination weddings quite regularly so it was great to get down to the sunny OC and hang out with TJ as my wedding season is just getting started. I also really enjoy getting back to my roots of big production shooting so it was really nice to be asked to help.
Marrianne's gowns are simply stunning.
The lighting setup was quite involved. As you can see from the first image below we had to use many lights to illuminate the scene, generally 5-6 were used throughout the shoot (there are 3 more lights that you can't see in this shot, one to the right, one behind the black softbox on the left and one behind the model). We did this so that the bright background would become darker and create the surreal look the designer wanted. I actually didn't shoot during this portion of the day as we were rushing to fit in all the shots so I applogize for the lack of final images.



Melissa smiles for the camera. She had amazing blue eyes that the ring light really lit up. Her pupils look so small because the reflection of the light is nearly as bright as her iris's.


Here is TJ shooting with a "ring light" attached to his camera


Marianne and husband Josh's dog Bella had a great time too!


Beca enjoys some downtime while Marianne arranges the table.


We also shot for jewelry designer Michelle Miller. We shot some images in a similar surreal style but just as sun was setting we grabbed one of our models and grabbed some available light images as well.

More from Vegas

Every time I bring a full sized camera to Vegas I never even take it out of my room as carrying around a professional SLR is not all that convenient. I knew this trip would have very little down time so I figured I would make it easy on myself and just leave it at home. Jason Groupp called me up a few days before I left and convinced me that I better bring it so I brought just 1 camera body, a single 85mm lens and an off camera flash.
This is a VERY minimal kit for how I normally shoot so I was even more happy with the results given the limitations of the equipment. The light is a bit more harsh than what I normally do but with all the lights of Vegas I think it works out fine.
A couple people have asked to see more of the images from the Vegas shoot...though I am not sure if their motivation is to see my work or to see more of Kasia :) Anyways, here you go.

Funny WPPI Video

As I mentioned before, I was at the WPPI conference in Vegas most of last week (yes, I'm still trying to catch up on sleep). While there, I met Zack Arias while I was leading a small group of photographers on the Las Vegas strip. Zack is a great photographer and a dyed in the wool Nikon user. Seeing as we have a fairly similar style and that we both love moody and darker imagery as well as loving to use one off camera flash, I thought that it would be irresponsible of me not to make Zack try out my Canon 5D ;) haha, I think I just cost him $10K!
Another huge thanks to Chris plus Lynn, TJ Cameron and Jason Groupp for setting up the shoot! Everyone had a great time and the models were fantastic.

Check out this video Zack did from his trip. About half of the way through you will see lots of footage from the above shoot as well as Zack's first experience with my Canon 5D camera. It was a bit of a madhouse shooting on the strip as tons of extra photographers jumped in so it looks a bit paparazzi, but it was still really fun! I got a chance to show some other photographers how I create different and more dramatic images by using off camera flash and we all got a chance to have a great time! I'm really looking forward to next year!

Completely honored and humbled

I was so honored this past week to have had five of my images chosen for Accolades of Excellence by the Wedding and Portrait Photographer International association. Nearly 2700 images were submitted by some of the best photographers in the world so it was very exciting to see my work hung at the convention in Las Vegas along side such well respected artists. The really amazing thing was that I only submitted 7 images in total and both of the images that were not picked by the WPPI judges were selected by top wedding photographer David Beckstead to go on his Admired by Beckstead site. Honestly, I am blown away by all this and totally humbled that my work has been chosen for these honors. I want to thank my wonderful wife Stephanie without who's support and love none of this would be possible and also to the rest of my family and friends who have supported me along the way.

2007 has already been an amazingly blessed year. I have had the opportunity to become personal friends with top photographers like Chris and Lynn Jaska, Jason Groupp, and TJ Cameron. These are some of my most admired photographers and people who's opinions and work I greatly respect. I have to thank all of you for taking the time to help me along and push me to become a better artist.

Those of you who know me well know that I am really not very good at bragging about myself...though I probably could have fooled you with that first paragraph! Honestly, I am really not even very good at taking a compliment! Don't get me wrong, everyone likes validation that their work is solid but it just is strange to have my peers compliment me, especially when it is someone I really look up to. I just say "thank you" and try to change the subject! I think it is kind of immature of me actually and I am resolving to get better about it....not that I will ever be a person who's ego needs to hear it, my head just isn't that big :) What is most important to me is that I love what I do and I am glad my clients love it as well. I am very excited to see what the rest of 2007 will bring!

7/7/07

This is such a funny date! A friend of mine from New York, Jason Groupp, recently brought up this date with me and how funny it was that he isn't booked. "Hmm" I said, "I didn't ever even consider it!" I hadn't even thought about it being a special date before but I learned that in many other parts of the country this is an extremely popular day to be married; can't get better than 777 right?! Too funny. So anyways, my point is that I am not booked for 7/7/07 so if you are planning to be married that day give me a call, I'm open :)

I Love Bikes

Many of you already know that I love riding bicycles and if you have been reading my blog for very long you know that I do some work for my friend Jim Kish who is a custom mountain and road bike builder based in Pismo Beach. Jim does some amazing work which was recently showcased at the Handmade Bicyle Show up in San Jose. As a side note, an image I did for him a few months ago was on the cover of the show's brochure which was kind of cool.
Jim wanted the paint on his bikes to be as good as his workmanship so he called up the talented folks at Spectrum Powderworks and told them to go wild. This was the result; I call it a bike tattoo! The look is actually achieved by masking off the sections of the bike with a type of tape that covers the areas you don't want to have the pattern then doing a type of bead-blasting to rough up the areas where you do want the pattern. It is an amazing bike to look at because it is so detailed but not over-the-top like so many bikes in the $5K+ price range. Did I mention that this 60cm bike weighs just a hair over 16lbs with parts sturdy enough for a 200lb rider? I also included 2 images of a new retro mountain bike design Jim created that has a very cool look.
Speaking of bikes, I have been working hard on a new trail behind my house that is almost finished. I have put over 20 hours of shoveling, pick-axing sawing and poison oak removal to get it in good shape; if you ride and you are passing through Paso Robles give me a call so I can show off all my hard work. I will post some images of it soon, it has been a real labor of love and I am pretty happy with how it has turned out. I am very blessed to live in a location that allows me to do stuff like this!

Becky

I owed a favor to a great makeup artist I know, Sonya Borton, so I wanted to do a shoot that showed off her skills. My model fell through at the last moment so we used her engaged roommate Becky instead. Turns out that Becky is not only engaged and getting married in May, but she is also a model and a very good one at that!
It is always so fun to shoot in public areas because of the reactions of people passing by. For the shot of Becky crossing the street I was using 2 assistants each holding lights so we ended up causing a commotion and had a bit of an audience, it was pretty funny. I caught several people looking over my shoulder trying to see the image on the back of my camera then ohhh and awwwws at what they saw. It was quite possibly the best audience I have ever had! One guy even wanted to get into the picture but I had to turn him down... :)
If you are in need of a makeup artist for your wedding you should call Sonya at 661.703.7596. I have worked with her a few times now and am very impressed at how adaptable she is and how well she meets client expectations. Plus she is really laid back and that is so important on your wedding day!

Gina and Joe Engagement

Last weekend I went up to Sacramento to shoot Gina and Joe's engagement shots. I have to say that this shoot was really a blast! I arrived around 2pm and got to know them for a bit before we went out to Capital Park for the first series of shots. Joe and Gina have these really cool beach cruisers from Electra that they like to ride around so it was a perfect photo op.
After we finished up at the park we headed over to a nice place for dinner and some cocktails before begining the night segment of our shoot. Joe lives in this great neighborhood in Midtown Sacramento with many cool places to shoot right outside his door. We found the chainlink fence and I got the first image you see above. I have to say that it is one of my favorite engagement images I have ever done. I love how gritty it is and it speaks to the passion Gina and Joe have for each other. I am really looking forward to shooting their wedding in a couple of months, I know it is going to be a great time!

Thanks to my good friend Cassandra and to Chris Stewart for helping out. Also a big congratulations to Chris and his wife on their soon to be 4th child!

Snow!

This weekend I am doing an engagement shoot for Gina and Joe in Sacramento so I decided to stay with my good friends Ian and Casey who just moved to the small town of Camino. Camino is just up highway 50 from Placerville, about 50 miles from South Tahoe. Normally there isn't all that much snow but a cold storm just passed by so there is still about a foot left.
When I arrived yesterday I walked into their yard and saw Casey making sledding runs for Elliot and Nia to slide down, how cool is that!? Elliot was running up the hill, sliding down and repeating for a solid hour! He was so exhausted by the time we came in, it was really funny.
We all later went up to my friend and fellow photographer Lisa Richmond's home for a wonderful dinner with her family in Pollock Pines. We had a great time and all the kids got to play dress up and dance party. The best part was when the kids turned on a strobe light and were dancing to the Red Hot Chile Peppers while dressed as fairy's and hula dancers. It was like a club party for 3 year olds! Too funny!
I will be headed back down the hill to midtown Sacramento to hang out with my good friend Cassandra and to shoot with Joe and Gina later today. If you are trying to get in touch with me my cell has been pretty shady up here but I will be able to return your calls later today.