Southern California Wedding Photographer - John Riedy

This is the second family portrait I’ve shot for the Peacock family, but the first with their newest addition, Kyle. Talk about a happy little kid! And then there’s Dylan… oh boy are the ladies gonna go nuts for this little guy. Check out his golden locks! We had a fantastic time and I think the images reflect that. Here are a few of my favorites…

Okay, okay, so maybe I’m not the best wedding photographer…EVER…but possibly in your experience.  Hmmm?  Maybe?  If you maybe, kinda, sorta agree with that statement and want to tell it to the world (or at least those tens of thousa… okay, tens of people who plan their weddings using the KGTV website), then follow this link and show your support! What’s in it for you?  Well, you can impress all your friends - if I win, of course - with the fact that your wedding photographer (or portrait photographer, or friend, or all of the above) was voted best in San Diego.  How cool would that be???  Okay, still, go vote…

Emily and James
September 22, 2007

Well, it certainly seemed to be for Emily and James! For days they were glued to the weather channel wondering if the predictions of rain on Saturday would dampen their big day. Not only did it rain, but there were TORNADOES!!! Okay, maybe not tornadoes, but some really cool looking water spouts somewhere off the coast of Del Mar. By the time I arrived at the Lodge at Torrey Pines, however, not only had the rain (and funnel clouds) stopped, but it turned into a glorious day. Frankly, once Emily and James saw each other for the first time that day, I really don’t think anything could have wiped the smile off of their faces. Trying to get the two of them to do any photos without a big ol’ grin on their faces was pretty much an exercise in futility. Fortunately, they both had toothpaste commercial quality smiles.

After a beautiful ceremony at La Jolla Presbyterian Church, it was back to the Lodge for cocktails on the main lawn. The sunset was pretty spectacular and we took full advantage of it. From there it was on to the reception in the fully decked out ballroom of the Lodge with gorgeous flowers by Joyce La Vigne of J Design. The Heroes got the party started and was still rockin’ by the time I left. In fact, Rachel Peniche, wedding planner extrodinaire, texted (is that a word?) me on the way home to tell me that they had just busted out “Dancing Queen”, which, if you read my blog post about my 8 things you don’t know about me, you’d know that I was seriously bummed to have missed it. Oh well. All-in-all it was a picture perfect wedding day with a couple who were so CLEARLY mad about each other, gorgeous to look at, and completely sweet and genuine. Have I mentioned before that I love my job!

This is what happened when I asked Emily and James not to smile…

So beautiful…

Emily’s mom asked if I could recreate this photo of her then, soon-to-be husband, Dan desperately trying to escape from the church before the ceremony. Alas, to no avail…

Here’s what we came up with…pretty fun actually!

We some fun playing with the sunset sky (and, by the way, that’s the 18th green of the South Course at Torrey Pines, which is about to host the 2008 U.S. Open Championship… sweet!)…

Wanna see more??? Look down…

Labor Day 2007

Have I mentioned that I love my job?!?! This Labor Day I had the good fortune to have clients fly me to Aspen (Snowmass really) to photograph their party at the Aspen Jazz Festival. The party was amazing and the music was even better. In addition to Joss Stone, I also got to watch and photograph John Legend, Michael Franti, The Allman Brothers, and many more. It’s hard to believe the a 20 year old can sound the way Joss does. She’s got some serious soul in her…

I think she had a headache…

John Legend is seriously talented…

Michael Franti was actually REALLY great.

The Allman Brothers, not my cup o’ tea, but for a couple of septuagenarians they kind of rocked…

and it feels SO good!

Thanks to the lovely and talented Heather Whiting and the talented and lovely Kristine Che, both very talented wedding and portrait photographers, you are about to find out 8 things about me that you may not know (or want to know)…

1. I’ve had two holes in one in my life… one left-handed and one right-handed. About seven years ago I switched my irons over from right-handed to left-handed. Just my irons. I still drive the ball right-handed. Yup, I’m a freak! Freak or not, my handicap is a 6, which isn’t too shabby for an ambi-golfer.
2. U2 is my all time favorite band. My first concert of theirs that I saw was on the Joshua Tree tour back in 1987 in Hampton Virginia. My good college buddy, Brian Burke, and I were 9th row center. My ears have, literally, been ringing ever since.
3. I sort of credit U2 with my current career. Up til that concert I was on a track to major in Econ and someday become and investment banker (HA!). The concert was on the Saturday before my Monday calculus final during my first semester at Duke University, where I graduated cum laude in 1991, and, suffice it to say, I did NOT do very well on that final due to a severe studying deficiency (not to mention a lack of mathematical aptitude). All in all, failing that final may have been the best thing that happened to me in college.
4. Okay, it may sound like I’m living in the past, but back at Duke, I had an “Upside Down Margarita Machine” built into our dorm ceiling. My roommate and I thought it would be cool to take a bottle of tequila and a bottle of margarita mix, connect surgical tubing to the opening and put shutoff valves at the end of the tubing. Voila! Instant upside-down margaritas!!! Believe it or not, the line “wanna come up to my room to check out my upside-down margarita machine” actually WORKED (sometimes…okay, maybe once)! The downside was, we often woke up to the soothing sound of tequila pouring down on our couch as the tubing had a tendency to fall off. DOH!
5. My first kiss in second grade was with a litte known supermodel named Christy Turlington. I’m quite sure she pines for me to this day!
6. My top five movies are (in no particular order)… Caddyshack, The Godfather, Raising Arizona, Napolean Dynamite, and Spinal Tap (Borat is BARELY outside of the top five. Oh yeah, Stripes, too.)
7. My current favorite TV shows are… Family Guy, The Office, Arrested Development, Entourage, Big Love, Weeds (filmed in our old neighborhood in Valencia), and Flight of the Conchords (you’ve GOT to watch this show). And, yes, I do watch waaaay too much TV.
8. I’m a major closet Abba fan (and, no, I’m not gay - not that there’s anything wrong with that). Every time Dancing Queen comes on during the reception it takes everything I have not to throw my cameras aside and rock out!

I’d tag some other people, but I don’t know who has a blog!