Cade on the 4th of July

Ok, technically this was the 5th of July. We shot a wedding on the 4th, (blog post to come soon!)
For the faux 4th, we had a sweet barbeque at Jessica's parents house, and Reese, our friend brought over her little boy Cade. Natch, i had to take some pics when he was running around.

Ok, this shot took Rebecca and I about 9 tries, but we finally got it, two boxes of sparklers later. All you need is...

Hendo and Ellen

This is Hendo, Mike Henderson, and his fiance Ellen. They are great friends of mine, Ellen has been in my small group at church for over 2 years, and it was awesome to meet and get to know her boyfriend, now fiance, Hendo. I first met him at an Angel game about a year ago, and when i first saw him, i KNEW he would be fun. He is a great guy, and when we hang and have lunch together, the way that he talks about Ellen, i know he is truly in love with her! I am, however, bummed that when they get married, they are moving to Carlsbad..(whats that all about!?) ...that will give Jessica and I reasons to go South i suppose.
This shoot was a lot of fun, and STRESS. We were a bit late, AND there was a lot of haze on the beach, AND the tide almost swept us away a few times. But once we got in the groove, we got some great shots!!!
Congrats you two, can't wait for the wedding in September!

Carie and Steve's Wedding, the awesomest Angel-fan couple EVER!

If you remember from a previous blog, Steve, Carie and I, with special hook-ups cause they are rockstars, got to take their engagement photos in the Angel Stadium on the field. (check out the included pic at the bottom)
I love this couple! Usually I speak with couples before the wedding on the phone about details, but Steve and Carie came over to my studio, and we chatted, drank some Chimay, ate some cheese, and had a great time. I can't wait for them to come back from their honeymoon so we can hit up an Angel Game! (Steve is a die-hard fan...Carie, well, lets just say she prefers another team of the same colors back East...)
The wedding was SUPER fun. There was a giant tour surfer bus that drove us all around San Juan and Dana Point. We had a three hour break between the ceremony and reception, so i encouraged them to stop and Pedro's for the best Carne Asada tacos this side of the border. We got some fun pics there, and then finished up at this killer old school mansion in Fountain Valley. The best part of the day, was when we recreated a VERY sentimental shot of Carie's grandparents wedding. I let Steve borrow my hat, and took this awesome neo-retro shot. Carie cried her eyes out when she saw it, and it was truly moving to see her so happy!
Thanks you two for a sweet wedding!

Just plain striking in a Catherine Zeta-Jones Classic kinda way...


Ah Pedro's! Ole!


Mmm...






This could be my favorite shot of the day. I loved this old house. It was shaded perfectly and made a great backdrop with her vintage dress.






This is my favorite moment of the day, as we were walking through the Orange Grove.


Steve looks like a stud with the hat!


Here is the picture Carie gave me a few weeks back of her grandparents. She said she wanted a shot exactly like this.


And the new version...


The had one of the best Barry White Choreographed first dances i have ever seen! The guests loved it and it made for some truly awesome photos!




Us at the Stadium back in October.

Ellie Continued!

Look! Ellie is all grown up! Ok, not really, but she DID just have her first birthday, well, i guess second birthday...wait, i am not sure. SHE'S ONE. I got the pleasure of shooting little Ellie back in November. Check out the blog post...Look for the baby in the copper bucket...Her parents are Margie and Ryan Sullivan. Two really great friends whose wedding i shot in Arizona back in the day. These pics turned out RAD! It helps that Ellie is one of the cutest babies i have ever seen, and I am not just saying that cause they pay me. I mean, look at her hair! She's gonna be a rockstar! I applied some fun new post processing tricks i learned to make these pics really pop. Some of them look like they were shot back in the 30's.

The pre-shot make up and wardrobe...

This shot was great, until she fell through the chair cushion!!! Margie's cat like reflexes pulled her up just in time. I think it was worth it for this shot.




Riding her elephant. One of my personal favorite past times.



Look at that hair! DANG! How hip and trendy is this. I love it. LIke i said...rockstar.


This is my favorite moment shot.




This chair had some great patterns and texture. I had to use it.

Matt and Shelly at the Fess Parker Winery

This is Matt Taylor, one of my really good friends from Cal Poly. Matt and i have known each other for almost 8 years, and lived in East Asia one summer together doing some ministry work for Campus Crusade. I was SOOOO excited so see him find the girl of his dreams, Shelly Watts. My wife and I have taken some road trips with the two of them, and hung out in SLO a few times, and they are awesome together. We got to take some pictures in Solvang, the tiny Dutch town just north of Santa Barbara. It is a super fun little town. (Stay at the Hadsten Inn if you go, its RAD!!)
The wedding was at Fess Parker, a secluded winery in Los Olivos. The weather was beautiful, the vines were green and everyone was just glowing. What a great wedding, and reunion with all my college buddies! Thanks Matt and Shelly!







I loved this fun wall with the exposed structure. Shelly just POPS out of this photo!!!






We snuck into the barrel room for a quick pic here.






Probably my favorite moment from the wedding, when we snuck away at dinner to the vineyard to snap some sunset shots.