Scott and Paige San Francisco Engagement Photo Session

Last week I headed up to San Francisco to meet Scott and Paige for their engagement photo session in the city. They invited me into Scott's amazing loft near the AT&T Park for their planning session and to hang out a bit. I knew on my way there that I was in for an amazing time as that area has more incredible locations for photo's than I know what to do with plus I could tell in our conversations that we would all get along famously!
Scott and Paige are such nice people; very genuine and tons of fun! Both are very appreciative of the arts so it was totally flattering that they hired me as I see that a such a great compliment! One of the most important things in getting great photos is the connection between the subjects and Scott and Paige definitely have an awesome connection! We all had a great time cruising around the neighborhood and I was like a kid in a candy shop with all the great locations. We ended up shooting for quite awhile, this is just a small sample of the shots we got. I had to warn them that I might be back as their neighborhood is like a giant studio!
The wedding is coming up really soon, it is going to be a blast. I love weddings in the city!

Josh and Brenna in Avila Beach

Last week I headed down to Avila Beach for Josh and Brenna's engagement photos. One of the things I like best about being a wedding photographer is getting the opportunity to meet so many different people. Brenna is studying to become an archeologist and is already doing digs out in the desert quite regularly. Josh is studying to become a writer and, from what I have heard so far, he has some amazing concepts and story-lines he is working on. They are high-school sweethearts who will be getting married this December in Pismo Beach, which is fitting because Brenna's family has come to Pismo for many years on vacation! How cool is it to get married where you spent your vacations growing up!
Both were a bit shy getting started but really warmed up after a few minutes and had a great time. A big part of being a good photography is getting people to open up to me so I can capture who they truly are and get a glimpse of what their relationship is like. I'm really happy with these images as I think they tell a great story of a great relationship!

New Lens test

I received a new lens (the Canon 85 1.2L for all you camera nerds out there) and was testing it out during dinner last night. Steph glanced up just as Caiden was throwing his food and I got this shot. What a beauty, I'm a lucky guy!

Revolution: NYC

You can probably tell by my lack of recent posts that I have been really busy! I had 2 weekends off of weddings after shooting 16 of the last 18 Saturdays and really expected to have a bit of a break. Funny how that never works out! Senior portraits, commercial work and some exciting new personal projects that I will be announcing soon all ate away my time! I have some really exciting weddings in the comming weeks (8 of the next 10 Saturday's) in some really exciting locations; Avila Beach, Vancouver, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Paso Wine Country, Carmel...I'm really looking forward to each one!

I know a lot of other photographers read my blog so I wanted to let everyone know about a pretty exciting workshop happening this October. Those who know me know that I rarely get excited about workshops but my good friends, and amazing photographers, Jason Groupp, TJ Cameron, and Chris+Lynn have been working very hard to put on a unique and exciting workshop in New York City October 15th-17th. Check out the website at Revolution Workshop. It is really rare to have this level of talent all get together and offer to educate other photographers in small groups. If you are thinking about going to a workshop to boost your creativity, learn new skills and develop your business, be sure to check it out!

Haha, I had to post this hilarious shot I got of John Griffin from a wedding I shot with him in Mendocino County last weekend! Don't worry, all saftey measures were taken and we were very safe but still, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
I will post a few more from this beautiful wedding when I get a chance.

Amanda's Senior un-portraits

Last Friday I shot a great senior portrait session in San Luis Obispo. Amanda is an ideal client; she told me to just do my thing and was totally comfortable in front of the camera, I really can't ask for more than that! She is very warm and fun to be around, I think that her great attitude really comes through in her images. We mainly shot around the Cal Poly campus, utilizing some of the interesting colors and architecture that is available. Amanda really wanted to do something non-traditional, which is exactly what I love to to, and I think we really collaborated well! Don't worry, I did get some for her mom too!
Those of you who know me well might be asking what I am doing shooting senior portraits!? Well, I had a great time and have decided that I will accept a limited amount of senior sessions with select clients this year. So if you are looking to have your senior portraits done, are looking for something different and are ready to have a good time then give me a call or visit me on Myspace. Sorry, I have the security on my myspace page but I will add you :)

I love this wood wall


I don't think we could get any less traditional of a senior portrait than this!






Yeah, the 80's are back! Amanda had this sweater with her and I found this cool blue light so I thought I would go full 80's with this one.

Richard and Meghan in Paso Robles

Meghan and Richard are a great local couple who's wedding I will be shooting in October out in the vineyards of Paso Robles. It looks like we will get a chance to shoot at the beautiful Villa Toscana before the ceremony so that should be a lot of fun! For their engagement session we actually just cruised around near my house as the light was beautiful and they both enjoy the outdoors. As you can see, they have great chemistry together and were a lot of fun to hang out with, I can't wait for their wedding!

Brian & Angie's Engagement Party

Stephanie and I were honored to be invited to Brian and Angie's engagement party last Saturday. You may remember Brian and Angie's engagement pictures from back in May. They are an awesome couple and just generally fun people to be around so I knew this wasn't a party to miss!
At first I was worried about making it because I had a wedding up in Livermore but as luck would have it, it was a day time wedding so I was able to race home (hope none of my CHP clients just read that!) and just be fashionably late :) Because I had to be in Livermore at 10am I had to leave home by 6am so it was a really long day!
The party was themed around the Rat Pack (you know, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra) so we got all dressed up as Frank Sinatra was known to kick people out of bars and parties he was at if they weren't dressed nicely! Haha, thankfully that wasn't the case. The party was a ton of fun, and The Damon Castillo Band was perfect for the mood. Brian and Angie have a great (and very large!) group of friends, I'm really looking forward to their wedding in August.

The house was in this really cool develpment that looked like a Mediterranean village. There were even pathways that weaved through the houses and cobblestone streets. Every once in awhile I get the urge to do some more architecture work...


This picture cracks me up, what the heck is that guy doing in the background?!


Angie's good friends. Sarah, on the right, helped out with Angie's bridal shots, she was great!


Stephanie looking glamourous! The decorations around the house and even outside were amazing!

On 7.7.07 I was on my way back from Arkansas and stopped in Los Angeles for Whitney and Daniel's wedding. I rented a car and headed up to the Four Seasons in Westlake Village where Whitney was getting ready. Well, I actually came up the night before and stayed at the Hilton which was quite a nice place in its own right. While I was killing some time in the gym on Saturday morning there was this huge guy working out with his wife who I started talking to (it was a very small gym). Turns out he was there for a wedding and he is a player for the New Orleans Saints NFL team, kind of cool! On my way back to my room I was in the elevator with some people going to a wedding. I went to a coffee shop and the girl in front of me was a wedding coordinator and the people behind me were talking about the wedding they are going to. Haha, I guess 777 really was a popular date to get married, everywhere I went there were people going to weddings!
Anyways, we started with the ladies getting ready at the Four Seasons before heading over to the ceremony and reception at the Westlake Village YachtClub. It was a beautiful day and luckily there was a good breeze as it was about 90 degrees.
Of course as soon as we started the group shots the wind died and we all started sweating like crazy but it was kind of fun because we were all in such a hurry to get to the AC that we powered through it and had more time for the shots of Whitney and Daniel together. Plus, we still managed to get some great shots like the bridal party shots below.
Whitney and Daniel are a great couple and were very gracious hosts. Whitney told me that it was actually an coincidence that they were getting married on 777 because they didn't even think about the implications of the date, they just wanted to get married the first week of July! After getting to know them I can honestly say that they really don't need any extra luck because there are an awesome couple and obviously already very lucky to have found each other.

Family Vacation to Arkansas

Steph's family is from North West Arkansas near Fayetteville (University of Arkansas Razorbacks, go SEC!) so every couple of years we head out there to visit. The Ozark mountains are absolutely beautiful, it seems like you are in the tropics! The heat and humidity really help with that illusion :)
Stephanie's mother rented a house on Beaver Lake which is just a few miles north of Fayetteville. The lake is huge! I forget exactly how big but it is something like 50 miles from one end to the other.
We had a great time visiting with family and relaxing. It was our first time on a commercial airplane with Caiden and he did really well (better on the plane than in the airport actually) so all went pretty well. He loved the boat! As you can see in the pictures he got "boat head" from all the wind! He really liked it when we hit bumps and would tell me to steer over to where any bumps were from other boats, it was pretty funny.
Arkansas gets so much rain that they can have some really great fireworks without the worry of starting a fire. The are almost like the stuff you see at a professional show. Steph's uncle Rick is a pyrotechnician so we had our own show with up to 6 inch shells, it was wild! I didn't bring a tripod with me so I don't have very good pictures of the show but I have to say that it was absolutely amazing! The entire sky was lit up, neighbors came from all around to watch.
On the way back home I stopped in LA for a 777 wedding while Steph and Caiden went back home. The wedding was up in Westlake Village just north of Los Angeles starting at the Four Seasons then on to the Westlake Village Yacht Club. I will put up some photos from Daniel and Whitney's beautiful wedding as soon as I get the chance but right now I am trying to make up for being gone for a week! Isn't it funny how you go on vacation but you have to work twice as hard to make up for it?!

Boat head!


Trampoline





What are you looking at!?


It was the slowest tube ride in the history or tubing...


These are the tubes the fireworks launch out of. I told you we weren't messing around!



Caiden loves riding the tractor mower. In Arkansas, it rains so much you don't have to water your lawn so everyone has to mow their entire yard every week.


It was more impressive in person :)

What a week!

I have been on a family vacation out in Arkansas (yes, Arkansas) for the past week and am now in Westlake Village for tomorrow's wedding. We had a great time out at Beaver Lake hanging out with my wife's family and everyones significant others. I will definitely be posting some images soon but I'm trying to catch up with the 100+ emails I missed this week! Everyone is going to get a big kick out of the crazy fireworks show we had at Uncle Rick's place! Did I mention he is a pyrotechnician?!

Even better New Best Friend!

Okay, so here is my real new best friend, my new bike! I got it today and took it for a ride on my trails and will get up real early tomorrow for a real ride. I will be traveling for some family vacation and then off to Whitney and Daniel's amazing wedding at the Four Seasons Westlake Village over the next couple of weeks so I won't have much time to ride. I'm going to have a ton of fun but I will be ready to get home and put in some miles on this guy!

I have to give photo credit to Stephanie for the above shot. We skipped the lesson on focusing and went straight to artistic flare usage! :) And please no comments about my cool outfit, it was first thing I could find, I just wanted to ride!

My new best friend (for the moment)

Meet my new best friend, the Samsung SCH-u740... catchy name right!? It is the same size at the Motorola Razr but can fold out sideways and has a complete QWERTY keyboard for quick typing of text and email. The keyboard looks really small but it is actually easy to use even with my big hands because the keys stick up pretty well. Ok, I admit I haven't figured out the email bit yet but I'm getting there! Steph and I were both due for new phones and Verizon had a promotion going so we got both this one and a new LG 5300 for free, can't beat that price! Now I just hope the weird hinge that allows the screen to fold out like it does can handle two years of my abuse!
I have been crazy busy lately. I had a super fun wedding up at Cline Cellars in Sonoma a week ago. Check out my portfolio for Bridgetta and Mike's beautiful winery wedding. This past weekend I shot a wedding for another photographer who was unable to make it. Clients often ask what happens if I have an emergency and can't make it to their wedding and I tell them that I have a great network of talented photographers I work with who all cover for each other. This was my turn to help out someone else, hopefully I never need the favor returned!
I also have another bit of very exciting (to me) news...my new Santa Cruz Nomad mountain bike will be here Friday!!! I have been waiting for almost a month and it looks like it will finally be delivered. I built a couple new jumps, berms and drops on my trails behind my house in preparation for this day! Too bad I will be gone so much in the next month that I will hardly get to ride it :( I will post up some video as soon as I have some, hopefully there won't be any crash sequences!
I will be traveling all over the country over the next few weeks so I will try to get that phone email working in case some of the remote areas I am headed to don't have WiFi!