Tahir & Sarah

I had the pleasure of shooting Tahir and Sarah's wedding in Berkeley this past weekend, it was an amazing experience! We started off at Sarah's parents beautiful home in the Berkeley hills where Sarah and her friends were getting ready. Sarah is so nice and has a great group of friends and a wonderful and warm family, I was so happy to be welcomed and brought in to be a part of the experience. Unlike Western tradition, Indian wedding celebrations typically run for several days, and this was the fourth, so Sarah and Tahir are allowed to see each other before the ceremony. Tahir came over and, according to tradition, had to pay the family of Sarah and drink a special kind of milk before he was allowed to enter. It was really fun and everyone was laughing and having a great time!
I have to admit that I this was my first Muslim ceremony in a Mosque and it was very different from a typical Western ceremony. It started off with a public civil ceremony in the outer hall of the Mosque then moved into the private inner chambers where the religious part of the ceremony took place. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was very grateful to be allowed to witness and document it. After the ceremony things are very different from what I normally see as the bride and groom are pretty much mobbed by their friends and family who wish them well and congratulate them! It was a very exciting and happy time and was truly beautiful!
We then headed back up to the beautiful and historic Claremont Resort for the reception. We took lots of family photos and some fun photos of Tahir and Sarah that you see here. At the reception they performed several Indian traditions and moved on to a great meal and some pretty hot dancing!


Outside the Claremont...I always find the strangest places to shoot :)


Some haute Calvin Klein shoes


Beautiful (and tasty!) cake


Outside Tahir and Sarah's room on the way to the reception


Heading out for some air



Thank you so much Tahir and Sarah and your wonderful families for having me, I had a great time and loved the new experience! I wish you a lifetime of happiness and joy!

Brian & Angie, Caliente!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting Brian and Angie's engagement shoot. They are such an awesome couple and a ton of fun, it is so great to hang out with people that are so in love with each other.
We started out in a secret location near San Luis Obispo and then went up to a beautiful building I recently discovered in Atascadero. Angie had told me to just do my thing and make it dramatic so we started at dusk and shot into the night. There is nothing more exciting to me professionally than to have clients trust me and put total creative control in my hands. That creative affirmation is the highest compliment I can get! I am very pleased with the results as I think they show the amazing and passionate connection between Brian and Angie. They were totally laid back, completely in love, and worked really hard to get great shots, we had a great time!
I am so excited for their wedding, which will be near Avila Beach later this summer, I know it will be an amazing day. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you both again soon!

Trains!!!! (aka "choo-choo's")

In the mind of the 2 year old there is nothing more exciting than "choo-choo's!" A few months ago we were driving down the freeway and saw a Amtrak train going by, now everytime we pass that spot we hear Caiden yelling "CHOO-CHOO! CHOO-CHOO!" for several mintues. We have been appeasing him through small doses of Thomas the Train toys and weekly episodes of the Thomas show. If you have kids you know how important this stuff is!
Every year the Santa Margarita Ranch opens it's narrow gauge railroad to the public for the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum Pacific Coast Railroad Roundup, we knew we had to go. Hehe, if you aren't familiar with where we live, or are one of my clients from out of state, you really must be wondering where in the boonies I live! Yes, I do live out in the country!
We took Caiden and my parents down for what was surely the most exciting day of Caiden's life to ride the trains. The engines themselves were originally built for Disneyland and were retired in the 1960's. At some point they ended up at Santa Margarita Ranch as someone there is obviously a railroad aficionado. There were several trains running on the track including one owned by the president of Pixar Animation who has people take his train to events like this all over the country.
When the first train pulled up and blew its very loud whistle we thought Caiden would freak out but he stood there with his mouth hanging open in total awe. We got on the train and went for the first leg of the ride, Caiden didn't move...which is highly unusual for him, I think that he was in his own personal heaven! It was a great afternoon and we even managed to avoid the highly dreaded "Time-to-go-freak-out" that every parent dreads because the road out went right by the tracks and we timed it so a train was next to us the entire time.
It was a good day...but now there is another spot where Caiden yeals "CHOO-CHOO!" everytime we pass by :)

Joe and Gina Slideshow

First off, Happy Mothers Day to all the mom's out there! A huge thanks and I love you to my wonderful wife who is my biggest supporter and fan! Also to my mother, I couldn't do this without your help, thanks!

I put together a quick slideshow from Joe and Gina's wedding, take a look! The show can also be seen, in "full" size, here



If you like the song, it is by Coldplay...go get it at iTunes!

Gina and Joe

Last weekend I headed out to Lodi for Gina and Joe's wedding. You might recall all the fun we had together a few months ago when I headed up to Sacramento for their engagement session. This trip was just as fun!
I went up Friday to visit my grandparents in Murphy's, it was really nice to see them. We had a great dinner in the very cute downtown area and then spent time visiting and relaxing. The next day I drove back down the hill to Lodi to Micke Grove park where the wedding was held at the Japanese Gardens. I was unfortunate enough to be stuck behind a motorcycle rally going 35 mph about 1/2 of the way there...it was great :) There must have been at least a couple of hundred motorcycles!
I finally made it down to Lodi, had lunch, and headed over to where Gina was getting ready. Gina is such an awesome and fun person to be around! She has such a great attitude about everything and has the most infectious laugh you have ever heard! I shot her getting ready then drove over with her to get her makeup done at Perfect Balance Day Spa. Gina's nerves were starting to get the best of her so I drove her sweet Volkswagen Touareg back to Micke Grove, it was such a nice ride!
I was lucky enough to have both Chris Stewart and Manus Chau to help me shoot which was great because it was a large wedding. I normally only work with one assistant but with at a large wedding I like to have three as it is so hard to cover everything that is going on with just two of us. Besides, it gives each of us a chance to take a breather every four hours or so as shooting for ten hours solid is exhausting! After the ceremony we took some pictures in the gardens then headed over to the reception hall.
Gina and Joe had their own signature mixed drink...I don't know exactly what was in it but I know that it was high octane! We all had an very fun time in the reception dancing celebrating a great couple's new life together.
Keep an eye on my website as I plan on featuring this beautiful wedding in the next couple of weeks.

I know, I know...

Yep, only 1 post in 2 weeks? Pitiful on my part, sorry about that!
What have I been doing? Driving! I have only been home 2 weekends since February and have put 7K miles on my car in the last 8 weeks, crazy! I can tell you one thing...I need some new tunes on my iPod!!!
I was just up in Lodi for Gina and Joe's wedding this past weekend, it was a blast. I will put up some of my favorites tomorrow, today I am just trying to catch up around the house, my lawn doesn't look so good :)
I have some more exciting shoots over the next couple months and promise to be quicker in my updates, stay tuned!

Sabrina and Greg

Last weekend I traveled up to the San Francisco Bay Area for Sabrina and Greg's wedding in the small town of Crockett which is just north of Oakland. It was a beautiful and warm day that I thoroughly welcomed after having a bad cold all week! Seriously, having a 2 year old is like having a germ magnet around!
Sabrina and Greg are a great couple who love each other very much and are hilarious together. The looks they give each other tell entire stories that are just between the two of them. Sometimes I would be looking through my camera and start cracking up when I saw the those knowing looks pass between them. I wish you both many years of happiness together!
I have to thank Sara Heinrichs for driving all the way up from the Central Coast to help me out (check out the last image below) and also Mark Edginton for assisting. Very cool of you guys, thanks!

Children's photo session

Last weekend, while I was up in Sonoma for a wedding consultation, my friend Krista asked me to take some shots of her son with her niece and nephew so we ran down to a local church and borrowed their lawn. Shooting kids is so funny because of how they react to new situations; at one moment they will be totally natural and relaxed, the next they will be shy and the next they will be laughing uncontrollably! The hard part is getting them comfortable enough to have a naturally happy look that isn't too "posed." That and sitting still!
I love when you look at a photograph of someone when they are a child and you can see how their personality has always been there. That's why I am sure to always get the smiles that Grandma likes to see but I also capture the essence of the child's personality so the parents can look at the picture and really see their child as they know them.
I haven't been doing many child sessions as I have been so busy with weddings and commercial work but after this one I think I will start doing more. Kids are all so unique and uninhibited, it really makes for a fun time shooting them!

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.