Patricia + Jim - Maderas Golf Club 12.29.07

what a way to close out '07. this couple, their friends and the whole wedding was just so much fun! i'm not sure i've experienced a wedding with so much laughter. this truly was a celebration. if there were nerves, i didn't sense them once. everyone was there to kick back, have a great time and celebrate this super special couple. jim and patricia love to laugh, and this day was an obvious extension of their personalities. and what a lovely place and day to do it.

Location: Maderas Golf Club
Catering: Maderas (and thanks to Susan Khania for the lovely veggies and her day-of coordinating)
Wedding Coordinator: the whole family (and special shout-out to the best man for keeping this puppy on track- huge help!)
Cake: (need to find her card! coming soon)
DJ: Kris with Positive Energy Productions

they arranged a first-sight meeting out on the course. they were so excited. one of my favorite quotes from patricia "tell me if i smile too big!" are you kidding?? she has one of the greatest smiles and she was very liberal with it.

they did this alot. i loved it.

a little private time before the action

maderas is really scenic. it was gorgeous. and the music was provided by friends- really cool and personal.

not hard to see where patricia got her smile. look at her happy dad!

did i mention that they laugh alot? so my favorite quote was delivered by the officiant. apparently our couple got a little slap happy the night before and came up with some funny vows and forwarded them on. they weren't supposed to be used. but, the officiant decided to keep them. when asked to repeat "I promise to make the bed because i get up later than you" came out, I thought patricia was going to laugh herself off the side of the ceremony site. it was hillarious.

told you they did this alot :)

a little mood-lighting experiment under the lamp post

one more example of their sense of humor. every plate came equipped with star viewers. even flat guest got one.

i think i also see where she got her sweetness from

Patricia and Jim, thanks so much for having me be part of your day! have a great time on your honeymoon. i have no doubt the laughter will ever run out between you two.

Photo Workshops!

with the wedding season suddenly slowing down, i am bored in anticipation of no or few weddings for awhile. all i do is talk about photography (and bore most of my friends), so i thought, hey, why not talk to people who actually want to KNOW about it?

so.. introducing, photo workshops for the new DSLR user!

if you don't know your aperture from your.. um.. shutter speed, this workshop may be for you! it's geared towards the new DLSR user with little experience.

this is my first try at a workshop. i've done plenty of one-on-one tutoring, but it's never been cost effective for anyone and there's so much information that it's hard to get through it and then actually have it stick. plus, with a group, i think it'll be more dynamic and i think more questions will get raised as everyone tries things out together.

here's my plan:

i'm looking at December 8th right now, from about 1 to 4 or so. we'll start off inside, go over some basics, like giving you a tour of your camera, discussing gear in general and then going over the essentials of proper exposure. then we'll head outside and practice what we've learned.

topics to be covered:
-those mysterious buttons on your camera
-focusing and focal points
-shooting modes: aperture priority, shutter priority, that little running guy, etc.
-the definition and relationship of aperture, shutter speed and ISO
-ISO settings
-why you want to know about depth of field and how to control it

because this is my first workshop and there may be a few hiccups, i'll be starting the first one off with an introductory price of $75 per person. the group will be limited to 5.

i've already had a number of people contact me, so if you're interested, let me know soon! i'll hopefully be offering more after the New Year and holiday craziness passes.

in the meantime, happy thanksgiving everyone!

Meet Ruby!

little ruby is one month old! these are portraits of one happy baby. she's tiny, but she already has quite the funny personality. normally she doesn't take too kindly to being out of mom's arms, but once she woke up in that leaf pile she just giggled away.

Heather + Chris - Estancia Hotel and Spa

this amazing wedding was a joint jen lacey/kim seidl production, invented specially for this ocassion. i met jen via cell phone a few months ago. she was calling from the food poisoning wing of a DC hospital. she needed someone to take her wedding that day and had been given my number by the fabulous Mary Kate McKenna. ironically (coincidentally?) i was in her home base, san diego, checking the city out. i sadly couldn't help her out that day, but here i am now in san diego ready to heed the call. fortunately this time the call was a happy call, prompted by the need for help with her good friend's wedding.

in a story told by jen, she was with the future groom Chris, the night he met Heather. i don't remember jen using the word 'electric' or anything similar, but apparently there were drinks to be had that particular night and i do remember her saying the words "drunkeness", "drool" and, "that's the girl i'm going to marry".

sometimes when you know, you just know.

Woodend, you've been replaced by Estancia Hotel and Spa as my new favorite place to shoot. it was reeeally hard to take a bad shot in the place. it was just gorgeous. of course it doesn't hurt Heather and Chris are as well!

thanks to Heather, Chris and Jen for inviting me to participate in this amazing day!

i loooooved this dress. she looked amazing in it.

there were flowers EVERYWHERE

my favorite quote of the day. "I, Heather Smith, take you, Chris Frazier, to be my lawfully wedded wife."

heather, originally i was going to provide you with all of the "cake incident" photos for legal purposes, but on further review.. the only clear-cut victim here was the cake.

what can i say?

Brook and Matt - Mt. Woodson Castle, Ramona

My newest friends in San Diego, Erin and David, also shoot wedidngs (I'd link to their site if they actually had one.. ahem, Erin!). I was excited when they asked if i wanted to join shooting the wedding of some really good friends of thiers, Brook and Matt. The fact that they said the word "castle" sealed the deal. I'm so happy they invited me! It was a gorgeous day and an even more perfect night (but it's California.. I'm beginning to realize I say this alot). Brook and Matt and the whole crew were a ton of fun and I'm really happy I was included in the invent.

The super cool dynamic duo, Erin and David

Brook's dress was perhaps the greatest dress ever. It belonged to her grandmother. It was over 100 years old! The fabric was so delicate, intricate and just lovely.

i could've kept myself occupied with just the kids. there were so many and they were all edible.

chaos in the aisle. brook and matt's son wasn't too excited about his debut. but the ring bearer couldn't wait, taking all the steps in one leap. one of my favorite quotes of the day: (Brook) "I knew we sewed the rings on the pillow for a reason"

my favorite quote of the day. one of brook's little blond neices walked up to her in the middle of the vows, tugged on her dress and asked her, "What are you doing?".

Brook looked so amazing in that dress.


erin and david were sent a photo from brook's parents' wedding with the couple in a VW and a sign reading "Honk if U Can Dig It". the wedding party was enlisted to make an identical sign to recreate the photo and surprise her parents. granted, the car was a bit updated, but it was a really cool, fun idea.

"don't stop kissing 'til i say so!". it was a long exposure. there were several of them. i think their lips got sore, but they were super troopers.

Tracy and Craig - Engagement Session on Coronado

Tracy and Craig's big day will be next September '08. I got a chance to meet the lovely couple on Coronado. We hit a few grassy knolls and the beach!

As far as modeling goes, I have to say they were naturals. They didn't need any prompting to smooch or giggle. I get the feeling they do that alot anyway!

Congrats you two!