November 8, 2008
Perhaps one of the best things about being a San Diego wedding photographer is that within about 30 minutes of my house are a number of the best wedding venues in the world. Not least among them is the Four Seasons Resort Aviara, which happens to be less than 10 minutes from my house. Aviara is elegant, but intimate, and it affords some of the best views of the ocean anywhere in Southern California. My bride and groom this week fit in the Aviara’s aesthetic seamlessly. Actually, some of the coolest shots we did were of Lindsay and Ken interacting with some of the stunning sculptures in Aviara’s Palm Courtyard.
Emotions were not far from the surface on Saturday, as Linsday’s father passed away just a few months ago. He was remembered often by all in attendance and was no doubt watching over with a very happy heart as his daughter married the man of her dreams. Thankfully everything went off without a hitch thanks largely to the stellar organization and artistic touch of wedding planner Rebecca Gaffney of Red Letter Days Events and Aviara’s catering manager, Kelly Smorzewski. Red and amber rose petals that adorned the aisle leading up to the large fireplace on the Laviana Terrace where the ceremony took place, were provided by florist Sharrie Woods. Sharrie’s designs are always stunning and appropriate to the season. This wedding was no exception as the fall accent colors set the perfect stylistic tone.
If there’s one thing I learned from this wedding its that you don’t have to have 300 guests and a 20 piece band to have a memorable, meaningful wedding. Family and friends are what it’s all about. Lindsay and Ken clearly understand that. Their wedding was the perfect way for me to end my 10th year in business as a wedding photographer. I hope you enjoy their images…
October 25, 2008
The second leg of my triple header weekend included a scenic drive up the coast from San Diego to Santa Barbara (well, almost to SB) and the Rincon Beach Club. I hadn’t met with Brie and Bobby before their wedding day, although about seven years earlier I had photographed Bobby’s brother’s wedding up at Firestone Vineyard in Santa Ynez. I even shot it on f*lm! Yikes! Imagine my delight in finding that the bride was drop dead gorgeous and the groom had dreadlocks and bright red painted toenails!!! Does it get any better. Talk about keeping it interesting, my groom from the day before was the Marine helicopter pilot for the President of the United States! Both were SUPER cool and about as different as they come.
The ceremony took place right on the beach in Carpenteria amidst a curtain of fog that gradually dissipated throughout the ceremony. Brie and Bobby chose the location and placement of the wedding arch very specifically such that, had the conditions been right, you could have seen an oil rig in the distance directly in line with the arch. This rig was the same rig that Bobby’s brother, who passed away six years earlier, had worked on. Sadly, even once the fog had lifted, the atmospheric conditions just weren’t right and we couldn’t see the rig. Still, it was a spectacular sunset with gorgeous golden California light bathing the beach for our portraits. It was very hard to pull ourselves away.
After a short hop on the vintage trolley car shuttle, we made our way into the reception at the Rincon Beach Club. I must say that at night, the venue really transforms into a magical place. The chinese lanterns give a warm soft glow to the whole outdoor seating area. The hedge covered walls were laden with twinkle lights that made for exceptional backgrounds especially when combined with the uber-yummy bokeh (sorry, geeky technical term for the out of focus area of an image) of my 85 F1.2 lens. Yup, this is what gets true photographers all fired up. He, he.
In the “small world” department, I was TOTALLY shocked when as the groomsmen walked up I found myself staring at an old friend from our Valencia days named Matt Pearson. If you look at the wedding galleries of all the images on my website, he’s the one who, along with his beautiful wife, Mary, was making all the dorky faces in the background of otherwise very nice shots. Matt and I used to play golf together at the TPC at Valencia. Small, small world.
Once again, as I manage to bring the story back to me, I’m sure you’d rather see pretty pictures. Well, here they are…
Gotta love the Choo…
And the choo-choo! Don’t worry, the tracks here were straight for miles…
The Hotel Del Coronado
October 24, 2008
Few wedding venues say San Diego quite like the Immaculata church at the University of San Diego and the Hotel Del Coronado. Both are San Diego classics to say the least. My wedding on Friday was the first of a triple header weekend for me so if nothing else, I was fresh for this one! It’s a good thing, too, as this was a long day with several location changes. Nonetheless, this was one of those weddings that pretty much shoots itself. I mean, when you’ve got a bride as beautiful and expressive as Katie and a groom in full Marine dress uniform as Chris was, combined with floral arrangements by Kathy Wright and wedding planning by in incomparable Mary Noble (who just so happened to plan my own wedding just over 10 years ago), you can pretty much aim your camera in the general vicinity of the action and get a good shot. Okay, maybe that’s oversimplifying, but you get the idea.
In addition to having the same wedding planner as did yours truly, Monsignor Dan Dillabough performed the mass at Immaculata, just like he did at my own wedding 10 years ago (although ours took place at the Founder’s Chapel at USD about a three wood away from Immaculata). Oh yeah, Kathy Wright did our flowers too!!! Almost forgot! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that in addition to Katie, THREE more of my brides were guests at the wedding, two of whom were in the bridal party! Okay enough about me. Let’s look at some photos!!! Enjoy…
Here I am having my pic taken with Katie and three of my past brides…
October 26, 2008
What’s the expression, “last in, first out”? Well, last weekend was a first for me, three weddings in a row. Ouch! Siobhan and James’s wedding on Sunday was the last of the three. Yes, it was grueling but in the end it only served to re-affirm why I love being a wedding photographer. First, I loved that it was morning wedding. The light is just different in the morning – not necessarily better, but different is always welcome. It keeps things fresh. I also REALLY enjoyed the “Irish element”. Many of the guests on Siobhan’s side flew to San Diego all the way from the Emerald Isle to be part of the wedding. They couldn’t have been nicer people and I LOVED listening to their accents.
The wedding itself was a simple affair at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club with the ceremony taking place right next to the Duck Pond on the par-3 golf course. After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails on the sand and then a reception brunch inside a small reception room that looks out onto the ocean. It was a beautiful, understated event with much love and plenty of great photo opportunities. I hope you enjoy this small sneak peek…
Check out the little guy in PJ’s watching in the background…
October 18, 2008
As I mentioned in my post below, one of the great things about being a wedding photographer is that, invariably, no two weddings are the same. I think I can safely say that Becky and Bryce’s wedding this weekend in San Francisco will never be duplicated. First, there’s the locations. I’ve never shot at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco before and if I ever do again, chances are I WON’T have access to the Penthouse like we did this weekend. Holy cr@p that is the coolest place ever. Rumor is that every president in the modern era except “W” has stayed there. I could swear I saw “BC -n- ML forever” carved into the cigar box. The temple where the ceremony took place was also unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The lighting fixtures were SOOOO cool, including some actual gas powered candeliers. The place seemed like a cross between an old theatre, and a circus tent, but in a good way. The last thing that HOPEFULLY guarantees that this wedding will never be duplicated is that I remember only one other wedding where I was this sick while shooting. I’m now a few days into anti-biotics and feeling much better, but MAN o’ MAN did I feel like I was going to die at the wedding. Sunday when I got home I went to bed at 4:30pm and woke up at 8:30am
The funny thing about shooting sick is that both times I’ve done it, the other was at Bocara Resort in Santa Barbara, I ended up with some of the best wedding images I think I’ve ever made. Both times it didn’t hurt that I had a LOT to work with (Becky and Bryce were both VERY photogenic), but I think when I’m sick I force myself to work harder and probably overshoot to cover my butt. Either way, I’m really happy with the results of my work. I hope you enjoy them as well. Here’s a sneak peak…
The Marriott Marina Del Rey
October 4, 2008
Aside from my family, my two passions in life are golf and wedding photography. What’s interesting is that if you think about it, a couple of big reasons I love golf and wedding photography are VERY similar. In golf (unlike most other sports), every course is different and most are set upon a gorgeous piece of land (see my post below about Pebble Beach). And even if you play the same course frequently, it never plays the same. Weddings are the same in that they are all SOOOO different and most venues that I get to photograph are also incredibly beautiful. And even if you shoot at a similar wedding venue frequently (ie. the Hotel Del Coronado), it changes each time you’re there… from the lighting, to the flowers, to the people. No two weddings are alike.
This week I shot at two venues that I’ve photographed before and I guarantee you, the photos look NOTHING alike. St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church is a spectacular cathedral-like church that is so ornate and laden with gold that it kind of takes your breath away. Greek orthodox services are also one of my favorites to photograph. First, because there’s so much going on. More importantly, though, I love them because everything happens THREE times!!! You get three shots at everything. Not only is this a nice safety net, but allows you to try different lenses and angles on the same event. Sweet! Oh, and one last thing I love about St. Sophia’s is the church coordinator. He looks JUST like Joe Pesci! And if you try to take out a strobe for the formals, there’s a good chance he’ll show you his Pesci in the movie Casino imitation. Yikes!
The reception took place at the Marriott in Marina Del Rey. I shot here probably five or six years ago and boy has this place changed. The lobby and lobby bar (Glow Lounge) are totally new and made a great place to shoot Julie and Matt’s “formals” and the bridal party as well. The ballroom is on the very top of the hotel and provides unbelievable views of all of LA. The helipad up there made a great location for Julie and Matt’s first look and the family formals.
I almost forgot to mention the band… THE BAND!!! DANG, they ROCKED!!! I don’t think I’ve ever worked with Rembrandt before, but they were so freakin’ good! They had like 12 or 14 members on stage and at least six of them sang lead at one point or another. I can’t remember hearing a band that sounds SOOOO much like the songs they’re covering. Their website could stand some updating, but trust me, their music is phenomenal. The best part is, they’re CHEAP! Okay, maybe not cheap, but relative to some other bands out there, they really are a great value.
Last, I just want to say what a pleasure Julie and Matt were to work with. Man, they were just up for anything. We had a fantastic time and I think it shines through in the images. Enjoy…
I have to say, Becky Riedy went to TOWN on this one. There were no bouncy houses, no face painters, no magicians… nothing but good homegrown fun. The smartest thing she did was to hire three of our neighborhood teenage girls to help run the various activities (and, oh baby, were there activities!). We started with general pandemonium. You’ve gotta let them burn off a little steam before trying to corral them. Next was bobbing for apples. Cole was first and went after it like the Zilla going after Biollante, Destroyah, MechaGodzilla, and King Ghidorah… all at once! Jack, on the other hand, took a slightly less aggressive (and drier) approach. Cheeky monkey! Once they had procured their apples from the tub, it was on to the Candy Apple Decoration Station. Oh, did this part get MESSY! Next, they all decorated their very own party bags. After that was “Pin the Tail on Godzilla”. Cole was first and NAILED it!
The CAKE… OMG, the cake. This thing was a labor of love and a work of art. You HAVE to look at it below. Becky made the most amazing Godzilla cake. It’s Godzilla’s foot stomping on a road, cars, trees, people, etc. Classic. The interior was red velvet cake, so it was delicious as it was bloody looking. Yummmmmm. I swear Becky could go into business doing this. She worked SOOO hard on Cole’s party, I can’t even describe it.
After the cake we had a cake walk, only instead of giving the kids cakes, they got to pick out a book. How freakin’ cool is that??? They LOVED it. Last, we had an egg hunt. No, not some namby pamby Easter egg hunt. These were GODZILLA EGGS!!! Becky actually made (with a little help from yours truly) Godzilla eggs out of paper mache wrapped balloons and filled them with a bit of candy and then spray painted them green. The kids had SOOOO much fun tearing into these. It was kind of hard to watch when you knew that those took about 8 hours to make. Ugh. All in all it was a fantastic party. I hope I keep this blog going so that Cole can look back on it someday and remember how much fun it was. Enjoy the photos…
]]>For those of you who have stalked my blog for a while now, you might remember my post from last summer about my trip with my dad to “Mecca”, otherwise known as St. Andrew’s Scotland. Last week we experienced the round two of our golfing journey as we played Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach Golf Links, and the Links at Spanish Bay. That puts us as having played seven of the top 100 golf courses in the world according to golf.com. Woohoo! We stayed at the Lodge at Pebble Beach, where I’ve shot two weddings in the past. I must say it’s WAAAAY more fun being there as a guest than as a wedding photographer. Still, I’d shoot there again in a heartbeat. Even as a guest I found myself walking around the property looking for good portrait locations. I need to get a life.
I guess it goes without saying that the golf was spectacular (the courses, that is, not the golf being played). Many people told me that Spyglass should be my favorite, but I have to say that, for me, it didn’t come close to Pebble. There’s just something about Pebble that you can’t understand until you play it. Like St. Andrews, it’s just special. I’d played Spanish Bay before and while it’s certainly a very good golf course, it just isn’t on the same level as the other two. More than anything, I enjoyed the time with my dad. That’s really what these trips are all about. I hope someday I can do the same with my boys. Thanks again, dad.
I hope you enjoy some of the photos from our trip…
There were deer everywhere you looked. This was the driving range at Spyglass Hill…
Me and dad on the first tee at Spyglass Hill…
The approach to the first green at Spyglass Hill. It’s a long downhill par 5 dogleg left out to the ocean. My second shot ALMOST cleared the bunker and made the green. Almost. I made par, which was a very nice way to start the trip.
The third hole at Spyglass is a short par three that heads directly to the Pacific…
This is the approach to the par four fourth at Spyglass. I’m sorry, but this green is just kind of silly. I’ve never seen anything quite like it…
Here’s a closeup of the “green”…
A sweet little par three at Spyglass. After the first five holes, Spyglass turns inland through the Del Monte forest…
The Lodge at Pebble Beach has a cool program for guests where you can borrow a Lexus SC 300 convertible for two hours for free. We took ours and drove around 17 Mile Drive. At the beach next to Spanish Bay we found a beach with some very “Blair Witch Project” rock formations. None of these were there the day before and they were all gone the next day!
No “human” could stack rocks like this…
The light kind of sucked, but I still had to give the Lone Cypress shot a shot. I tried to spice it up a bit with the foreground framing…
Here we are on the first tee at Pebble Beach. Yes, I was nervous, but it was NOTHING like the first tee at St. Andrews where my legs were a gelatinous mass of nerves…
Here we are on the tee box of what may be the most famous par three in the world (okay, after number 12 at Augusta)…the seventh. Jack Nicklaus once said he’d hit everything from lob wedge to a one iron on this 100 yard hole. I hit sand wedge to about 8 feet. Sadly, it then spun back toward the front of the green to about 35 feet where I promptly three jacked. DOH!
The seventh hole from the tee box….
This is the approach shot view on the 8th hole at Pebble Beach. Nicklaus called this his favorites approach shot in golf. I can see why. What you can’t see in this photo is that you’re hitting completely over the Pacific Ocean.
This is the approach shot to the par four ninth. It’s a LONG 450+ yard hole. I bombed my drive to about 150 out. I then striped my second shot…right into the face of that huge bunker. Next, I hit a gorgeous little bunker shot that almost holed out and stopped about 7 feet past the hole. I sank the putt for a par. Hands down, those were the four best shots I hit the whole trip (yes, even the second shot in the bunker… it was two feet from perfection)…
Here’s dad teeing off on the famous 17th hole at Pebble Beach. This is the one where Watson holed out greenside for birdie against Nicklaus in 1982 and went on to win the US Open by two. I made a MESS of this hole…
These two are sort of self explanitory.
Here I am teeing off on the most famous finishing hole in the world (sorry for the camera shake…dad!)…
Dad on the same…
Our last morning at Pebble Beach we got up early to play Spanish Bay. It was a glorious day and I couldn’t pass up the chance to get some postcard shots of the 18th hole. Nothing Ansel-worthy here, but not awful either…
Oooh… moody!
One more for good measure…
Our final round, for now, at Spanish Bay Golf Links…
Did I mention it was a beautiful day! This was one of my two birdies at Spanish. Yeah, baby!
Here I am teeing off on 17 at Spanish Bay. You can’t quite believe how close you actually get to the water here…
Well, that’s about it. I hope you enjoyed my journey to Mecca Part II as much as I did (though I doubt that’s possible). Until Part III…
]]>La Jolla Country Club
September 20, 2008
I feel sorry for other wedding photographers throughout the country. I really do. I honestly can’t think of any other city where you have SUCH an amazing array of wedding venues. I mean, you’ve got the Hotel Del Coronado, Estancia, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, The El Cortez, La Costa, L’Auberge Del Mar, and soooo many more. This week was yet another perfect example of why being a San Diego wedding photographer rocks.
My day started at the bride’s parent’s house in La Jolla. It was a beautiful single story home with great light inside and beautiful landscaping outside. We did bridal portraits both inside and outside. It was a beautiful 70 degrees outside due to the cloud cover, but the light was a little flat so I popped in a little studio strobe to give the light some shape. Other things I noticed at Melissa’s parent’s house were that she had REALLY cool shoes with red bottoms that the bridesmaids all signed and that there were EIGHT bridesmaids! I thought that was a lot. Wait until I get to the groomsmen!
From her house it was on to the La Jolla Presbyterian Church where I found the groom and THIRTEEN groomsmen waiting for me! Yikes! We banged through the formals pretty quickly with the guys and Justin’s family, which gave us some much needed down time before the ceremony. The ceremony itself was beautiful, although, as I’m finding more and more these days, the photo policies of churches are becoming EXTREMELY restrictive. It’s sad, because you just can’t capture the emotion from 150 feet away. Still, I did my best and managed to get some nice shots.
After the ceremony is when it got fun. We popped off a few quick altar formals and then it was me, my assistant, and all 21 members of the bridal party plus the bride and groom heading to the beach in La Jolla for some portraits. The women of the bridal party were VERY brave and despite their less than practical (but oh so sexy) footwear didn’t complain at all when I begged them to pose on the sandstone cliffs. The sun was nowhere to be found still, but thanks to a little strobe action, we again created great light.
Next it was off to the La Jolla Country Club where wedding planner, Trena Lozano, and florist, Adrianne Smith had transformed the already beautiful ballroom and dining room. I also have to give huge credit to Trena for putting together a timeline that I wasn’t sure could be achieved, but she managed to pull off with amazing accuracy. The wedding band was NRG. They ROCK. Plain and simple. The long and short was that it was a fantastic party that flowed extremely well and was capped off by a great sparkler send off. I also want to say a big thanks to Melissa and Justin for making my job so easy and also to Melissa’s mom, Sally. I’ve met her SO many times at other weddings, it was a pleasure to finally have her as a client. She was awesome. Enjoy the photos!
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