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50-Year Vow Renewal… WOW!

admin — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:08:32 +0000

A few months back, Anne, whose wedding to Matt I photographed back in October 2008, contacted me about photographing a very special event for their family: Anne’s parents, Bill and Jeanne, were celebrating their 50-year wedding anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony. I was honored to be thought of on such a special occasion for their family, and luckily I was available. So this morning I headed down to the Pt. Loma Submarine Base and captured some images of an incredible event for a truly special family.

Any marriage that lasts 50 years is very special. It’s quite another thing when that marriage includes raising 13 children. Between their children and spouses, and their children and grandchildren, they pretty much filled the room!

Erin and Scott’s Wedding at the Admiral Kidd Club

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:52:36 +0000

Erin and Scott were married this past Saturday at the North Chapel at Liberty Station, with the reception held at the Admiral Kidd Club. Erin and Scott are super-cool, totally down to earth, and were such a pleasure to work with. I’ve been looking forward to this wedding for a while, not only because Erin and Scott are so great, but I got a chance to work with good buddy Dan Boswell of dvArtistry, along with his second-shooter, Wes. Dan’s same-day edit was spectacular as usual!

Special thanks to my old friend, Lindsey Byrnes, for being a fantastic second-shooter. Also thanks to Haydee from Haydee’s Flowers, Kelly for doing a great job assisting and running a flawless photobooth, and Melissa Barrad from I Do… Weddings for ensuring everything ran smoothly.

Anne and Matt’s Wedding at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:09:17 +0000

Anne and Matt were married on Saturday at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. Anne and Matt were really great to work with and their friends and family made the evening so much fun.

Special thanks to Nely for a great job second-shooting, and kudos to coordinator Lynn from Pure Planning for keeping the events of the evening running smoothly.

Gabrielle and Jeff’s Wedding in La Jolla

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:03:19 +0000

Gabrielle and Jeff were married a week ago at the home of Gabrielle’s mother in La Jolla. It was an Indian Summer afternoon filled with friends and family, some of whom traveled a pretty darn good distance to be there–a testament to how special Gabrielle and Jeff are.

In small-world news, Gabrielle and my wife went to the same high school, and they have a lot of mutual friends. So much of the day for me was spent being introduced as “Jenny’s husband”, which was great.

Special thanks to Michael for doing a great job second-shooting. Michael’s work has come a long way in the year-plus he’s been working with me.

Claudia and Creighton–Breaker’s Beach Wedding

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Claudia and Creighton had their wedding this past Saturday at Breaker’s Beach in Coronado. Claudia and Creighton are two of the most photogenic people I’ve ever had the chance to work with, and their wonderful, down-to-earth personalities made my job really easy.

The ceremony was performed by Pato Banton–yes, THAT Pato Banton. Back in high school I was really into reggae and ska, and I loved Pato’s work with The English Beat. It was so cool to meet him. Pato also performed a few songs with the band, which had every guest on their feet and dancing.

Christi and Tim’s Wedding at Paradise Point

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:49:00 +0000

Christi and Tim celebrated their wedding this past Friday at Paradise Point in San Diego. Christi and Tim were great and rocked the night away with their family and friends.

Special thanks to Kristi Peterson of Blush Weddings and Events for doing a fantastic job with coordination. Also thanks to Andy Hagenagh of DiscGoRound DJ for keeping the dance floor busy, and to Bill Williams from Diamond Video Productions.

Melissa and Patrick’s Wedding at Paradise Point

admin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:21:00 +0000

Melissa and Patrick were married on April 12 at Paradise Point. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a wedding; Melissa and Patrick’s unique style made the day an unforgettable one.

Special thanks to Nely Fok for being such a kick-ass second shooter! Also thanks to Ann Strobel for doing such a great job coordinating things, which isn’t easy to do at a huge place like Paradise Point. Kudos as well to Lois Mathews for the gorgeous floral arrangements!

David Oates–PR Trailblazer

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Got a call a few weeks back from my old pal David Oates, who runs the PR firm Stalwart Communications. Dave needed some portraits/headshots done for some promotional purposes. He wanted something solid, but different from the traditional headshot everyone uses.

I really admire the portrait work of Martin Schoeller, and I tried to add my own flair to his “Close Up” technique on a few with Dave.

The lighting was a bit different from Martin’s setup. Instead of Martin’s Kino-Flo hot light, I lit Dave with two Nikon SB-800s on a Brewer Bracket (thankfully, this setup has now been replaced by a single Dynalite UniJR 400 w/s strobe), shot through a translucent umbrella. Using a boom, the strobes were centered and right on top of Dave. I added another SB-800 camera left and below him to light his jacket a bit and fill in the area below his chin.

We shot this at about 11 AM at a park near Dave’s home, so I knew I’d have a built-in rim light if I just positioned him with his back to the sun. I put him in front of a small grouping of trees to minimize background distractions, but also give the sense that we weren’t in a studio.

Wedding of Rebecca and Jason

admin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:27:00 +0000

Rebecca and Jason were married on March 22, on the beach in Leucadia, CA. The reception was held at the Martin Johnson House in La Jolla, CA.

Rebecca was referred to me by Sara and Phil, whose wedding I photographed back in November 2006. As Rebecca and I were making plans to meet in person, the directions I gave her for my home studio seemed oddly familiar. It turns out that Rebecca and Jason are good friends with my neighbors from across the street, Scott and Anne. Small world.

Thanks to Michele Ehlers for doing a great job second shooting! You rock! Also thanks to Erin, florist and bridesmaid extraordinaire, for creating such beautiful bouquets and centerpieces.!

Wedding of Shandra and Mike

admin — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:10:00 +0000

Shandra and Mike were married on 3/15 at the La Jolla Woman’s Club. We were worried about the possibility of rain, but the skies opened up and made an awesome day even better. Shandra and Mike were such great subjects–Shandra is a total ham and was great in front of the camera.

Special thanks to Mandilee Comstock of JMC Events for the awesome coordination and to The Flower Girls for the beautiful floral arrangements. Also, kudos to Michael Andrews for coming down from LA in a pinch and being a great second shooter.

While Michael was shooting Mike and the groomsmen on the beach, a woman staying in one of the ocean-front hotels flashed the guys. Here’s the reaction shot. You can see Mike’s brother pointing back to Mike, as if to say, “One more time! My brother’s getting married today!”

One of my favorite moments from the wedding. Shandra and Mike’s flower girl, Shane, HATES to wear dresses and threw a total tantrum as her mother tried to put it on her. They tried bribing her with candy and toys, but she wouldn’t budge. Here she is running away from her mother as they tried to get the dress on her.

For some reason I love this image. Shandra’s veil wouldn’t stay put with the wind, so we wrapped it around the lightstand. This picture was taken shortly after my D2X nearly drowned in the rising tide.