Caught In the Moment

Frank & Patty at the Mission Inn, Riverside

2010-03-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

Frank & Patty decided to have their special day celebrated at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, CA. From beginning to end they were full of laughs and truly savored every moment with friends and family. This venue is a wonderful location with it's grandeur estate of 4 wings. It's Spanish colonial inspired courtyards, corridors and fountains make exquisite backdrops for dramatic shots. My favorite being the one of them standing next to the St. Francis of Assissi chapel with the 20ft distressed wooden doors.

Melissa & Taylor at Gainey Winery

2009-10-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

My good friend Carly Daniel asked me to assist her on a wedding up in Santa Barbara county. It's always exciting to shoot at new venues especially on the central coast. Held at Gainey Vineyard (located in the Santa Ynez valley) it turned out to be a cool 80 degrees with deep blue skies contrasting against fertile green vines and great Oak trees.

Is it me or is this just reminiscent of the Garden of Eden???

Taylor and the boys looking stellar

I love these 3 series of images taken while walking along the back roads of the vineyard

A special moment of Melissa's father praying over them before kicking off the festivities

Taylor & Melissa wanted to capture a few shots in the wine tasting room which had dim lighting perfect for these dramatic poses

Salsa Performance - Guaguanco con Rumberos

2009-09-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had my big salsa debut with Frank Restrepo's first salsa performance class. Believe me when I say there was lots of hard work, many hours and long nights practicing, but definitely lots of fun. It was everyone's first time performing and considering we only had about 2 months to piece this together everyone did a great job! Many thanks to the many friends & family who showed up to support us with your cheers, smiles, and applauds.

Congrats to Los Rumberos!

A beginner lesson before the evenings festivities

Our fearless leader Frank Restrepo

Geo & Julie: look for them on the next Dancing w/ the Stars ; )

Christian called this Blue Steel

Roberto & Yvette showing how it's done

I told Grace to give me some attitude. It came pretty natural

Justina getting beautified as if she needs it!

Platon and his accented frosty spikes

El Rumberos serios

El Rumberos no serios!

Jer & Danielle's Orange County Wedding

2009-06-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! I had such a great time shooting Jer & Danielle's wedding for so many different reasons! Jer was one of the first closest friends I met upon first moving down here to Orange County. We've been in bible study together, men's group, and roommates so you can imagine my delight when he and Danielle asked me to photograph their wedding. Both of them are so easy going it just set the pace for the day and allowed me to shoot them in their element of just laughing and and enjoying their special day. There were so many fun moments captured through out the day which hopefully you'll get a glimpse from the shots below.

Just before their first meet

Loved these series of shots with Danielle's bridesmaids and the marble corridor

Unfortunately Barney Fife and his side-kick limited our time here but not before getting some beautiful shots

Who says "White man can't jump"???

I think this was the 'lucky' shot of the day... caught garter mid-air!

Mr. Jared Ruth had several moments with his true colors which kept the evening very lively!

Sarah & Luke in Irvine

2009-05-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

A proud father-of-the-bride

Luke was all smiles as his beautiful bride strolled down the isle

Don't know what these kids were doing but they were cracking each other up!

I met Sarah and Luke the day of their wedding but quickly had them laughing and warmed up for a full day of some great shots. They had a small and intimate wedding which took place underneath the gazebo over the lake in Woodbridge of Irvine. We were fortunate enough to avoid the forecasted showers and ended up with perfect SoCal weather. Their reception was at The Waters restaurant sitting adjacent to the lake. Enjoy.

Field of Flowers (Huntington Beach)

2009-05-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Liz letting some scholastic steam!

She brought some props along for fun and this red frame turned out great against the surrounding brilliant yellow flowers

My lovely friend Liz Pham after much sweat, blood, and tears is graduating this semester from Long Beach State. Anyone who's endured a four year university knows the excitement & elation that finally comes upon receiving your diploma. So we went out and shot some 'grad' pics for her graduation invitations. We found a beautiful field of golden wild flowers as the backdrop and had a perfect day in Huntington Beach with 70deg weather. Congrats Liz!

The Hand of God

2008-12-17T22:58:00.001-08:00

I recently moved out Huntington Beach and last weekend raced my beach cruiser out to catch the sunset with a stratocumulus cloud covering stretching out over the horizon. I'm constantly in awe at the hand of God and His creation. My art is only possible b/c of His handiwork.

I happen to catch this surfer and the reflection off the water at the perfect moment!

A Father & Son moment...

Marriott at Newport

2008-10-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

Brian & Jill celebrated their special day at the Marriott in Fashion Island, Newport Beach.

I absolutely love this shot! The contrasting slate to the couple simply draws your eyes directly to the bride's eyes.

Love how 'BIG' sister is helping out 'little' brother

Just the boys in a candid moment.

Jack n Coke Please!

For some reason I'm always drawn to at least one dramatic pose during the day.

Having a wedding is a lot of fun but also exhausting. Caught this moment of rest just before their Grand Entrance.

The Furious Photography Workshop!

2008-07-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

When you have a beautiful model like Megan it's hard to get a bad shot!

Has the look & feel of Daisy Duke

I like this shot. It has a controlled & intimate feel separate from the feeding frenzy of the other Paparazzi gaming for the perfect shot. Mine won!

I love how some shots can represent people even w/o revealing their faces.

I call this the 'Abercrombie-Fitch' shot. It looks like 100% fashion photography as if we had fans blowing their hair back and a spray-on tan. They were backlit by the sun and I just blew a bunch of flash into them.

Even though they were both amateur models they took directions well and were naturals.

One of my favorite shots the whole day! How can you not get excited about a 40ft Fro??? This picture is getting framed and going up in my office at work!

Last Sunday several photogs got together for an all day workshop hosted in LA by the infamous Lawrence & Doug Chan (AKA Furious Photographers). It was a great day of making new friends and seeing some familiar faces (Gavin w/ Gavin Photography) in the industry. The day was perfectly scheduled hitting on all subjects from fundamentals of shooting, to posing your subjects, to running your business. Events like these are perfect to try out new styles, interesting angles, or risky poses. The day offered a collaborative effort to push our creative minds with the pay-off of gaining some spectacular shots! We found ourselves shooting in Downtown LA off the 101. The old dilapidated & graffitied buildings provided the perfect backdrop for lots of our shots. Many thanks to the hard work of the Make-up Artists, the models (Megan & Andrew), and of course the fury of Furious Photographers.

Jon & Lydia's Wedding

2008-06-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

So i'm finally getting around to posting some of Jon & Lydia's wedding up! Here are a few of the amazing pics that came out of the beautiful day celebrated with them. From beginning to end everything went off without a hitch which is what every bride hopes for so I don't think they could have asked for anything more! The day in Laguna was perfect as it always is in the summertime with wonderful weather, a great venue (Aliso Creek Golf Course), and a full celebration of the couple's marriage. One of the other things that made it enjoyable was having my good friend Steve Hoffmann as my 2nd shooter. He's been instrumental in shaping my style and technique so it was fun to have him shooting beside me. Hope you enjoy!

Jon & Lydia's Engagement

2008-05-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

The other week I met up with Jon & Lydia in downtown Laguna for their engagement shoot. They're a younger vivacious couple with plenty of energy making the shoot so much fun.

Found this cool urban background so I had them flaunt their best 'Vogue' pose!

La Viva De Mazatlan

2008-05-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I accompanied my good friend and mentor Steve Hoffmann http://www.hoffmannphotographer.com/ on a destination wedding to Mazatlan, Mexico as his 2nd shooter. We had an amazing time and extended our trip a few extra days to enjoy the wonderful people, local cuisine, and beautiful weather. The couple Aracely & Hector were both from Indiana and had family from Mazatlan so the wedding was very festive with lots of family & friends from Mazatlan, Sinaloa as well as the states. This was my second destination wedding and they're always lots of fun and always unpredictable!

I love this shot with the vibrant thematic Mazatlan background!

Kids like Colton always help create fun moods and settings.

Aracely & Hector with an amazing Mazatlan sunset.

And what would a traditional Mexican wedding be without the traditional Banda music playing all night long?! Those guys played banda and a little merengue, one of my personal favorites to dance to! They could be heard several miles away!

Reason #232 'Why I love Destination Weddings'... a vista from our hotel.

Ok funny story that must be shared. First off notice the largest Mexican flag ever made! It was gi-normous! It honestly must have been 50yds by 75yrds long! If you look to the left of the flag pole you'll see a small concrete stairway just overlooking the sheer rocks below. Well I happen to be hanging out on top of the little 'look-out' when a local man came by and started stretching and lying on the ground practicing his swan dive formation. In this area the Clavadistas (Cliff Divers) put on a show & dive off the rocks into the water. Well I thought this man was one of them... turns out he wasn't. He just ended up walking away without performing and grandiose dive into the high surf below. Too bad because I had camera in-hand ready to capture the feat! Disappointed I walked back down the stairway to head back on the boardwalk. At that time two car police officers came up on their bikes and stopped myself & the local clavadista. They started firing off several questions to me in spanish and I immediately went into 'Ignorant American' mode (when in doubt in a foreign country... play dumb! It's gotten me out of several incidents). I told them I didn't speak any spanish so they slowly asked me questions in spanish. They proceeded to interrogate me about whether I had drugs, sold drugs, or bought any drugs from this local man!!! After a full pat-down, literally, and search thru my backpack I was able to convince them that I was a photographer in town for a wedding. Fortunately they were kind enough to let me on my way without demanding any compensation. I did press my luck a bit and asked if i could take their picture but unamused at my offer, they declined.

One Day Old

2008-05-05T14:51:00.001-07:00

Sunday after noon I met up with Ryan & Jenny Somers at the Women's Saddleback Hospital in Laguna Hills who were still recovering from a very long delivery experience over 12hrs of labor! Another reason I'm very thankful to be a man : ) Well after many hours of labor they finally delivered their first beautiful new born baby Ethan Ryan Somers. I was able to sneak in and capture a few shots of Ethan after only being 1 day old! How awesome is that?!

One proud Papa!

Makes you want to reach out and tickle 'em huh???

A Day In The Park

2008-05-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I met up with Vern & Becky for an intimate ceremony at Crescent Bay Park overlooking the deep blues of Laguna Beach. What a beautiful day to celebrate their wedding vows and life-long commitment to one another. They were fun & playful to work with making my job easy to capture their moment in time. Enjoy the pics!

Little Zachary being bashful...