The flowers behind my place are in full bloom right now – so I am thrilled to have a few photo sessions lined up to take advantage. These nasturtiums grow under a beautiful canopy of mulberries creating a magical lighting scenario for photography. I was lucky enough to photograph Melissa and her adorable dogs once before… and they behaved very well for me once again today.
Today I was out at Camp Pendleton for my third mud run of the season. The races are a ton of fun to spectate but they are a little rough on me and my gear. Take today for example… in that first picture it would not immediately come to mind – but every drop of dirt and sweat that might come off the athletes on this obstacle is going to land directly on me and my camera (yuck!!). At location #2 it might not be hard to imagine how I might end up a bit messy :). But in any case – when you are hard at work, you soon forget about the little things (like someone else’s sweat dripping on your face) and it is not hard at all to get caught up in the excitement of a fun event like this. For now… I have a while before I need to consider whether I want to subject myself to something like this again next year!!
I almost always get to do some location scouting – even if it is just a google search for other photographs or a street view. But heading into this engagement photo session I was flying completely blind. We were meeting in the middle of an upscale neighborhood in La Jolla near a small trail that accessed the ocean (at low tide). The funny thing about last Saturday is that the tide was high and so was the surf. We ended up on just a small cliff about 30 feet above the water, and with the high surf I still managed to got soaked in the first 10 minutes of being on location. Still, the conditions were great for taking pictures and these guys were super photogenic. And not only did the beach location work out well… I may have discovered my favorite stair case in San Diego only about 200 yards from our beach trail.
I first visited the historic Ranch House at Pensasquitos 4 years ago. And although I brought my camera and got some fun photos… I had never been back with PEOPLE to take pictures. So I was stoked when Kristine suggested this location for their engagement pictures.
When Fallyn first called me to tell me she wanted me to be her wedding photographer… and that the wedding was “out in the desert” I knew I was in for a treat. Of course – what inspired me to leave my SUV at home in favor of the hybrid sedan is another matter all together (but I still managed to show up early). This wedding fulfilled all expectations with an absolutely stunning location and a beautiful wedding with good friends and family. Not even the 95 degree heat could put a damper on this spectacular celebration.
I am lucky to have a great job that I love to do and I’m pretty good at it. But sometimes I am reminded how important it can be to people as well. I know that I am not saving lives or curing cancer… but preserving memories in creative/artistic captures can be incredibly important in the most unexpected ways on occasion. I was reminded of that again this morning when I received an email from a very recent wedding client (in the past few months) that their mother had passed away – and that I may have some of the last photos ever taken of her. I am currently looking through my original batch of files for anything that I can share to help create a memorial book for the family.
My friends at Exquisite Wedding Magazine asked me to come out to The Not Wedding hosted at The New Children’s Museum downtown 2 nights ago. This event hosted a “mock wedding” combined with a small bridal show offering a chance for engaged couples to get a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at a wedding – and also a chance to meet some wonderful vendors. My duties at this event were a bit more relaxed than most of the other people involved – I simply had a chance to photograph the guests as they arrived.
Winter is an absolutely wonderful time to do engagement photos in San Diego. We met at San Dieguito Park after some slightly more ambitious plans involving mountain bikes fell apart – and although I was disappointed the original plans do not happen… I was super happy with “Plan B”. Wedding to come in August !!
Winter Weddings are awesome in San Diego (especially in Del Mar) – Congratulations Miles and Chelsea. You guys looked amazing!!
North Island Air Station on Coronado is a spectacular location for a wedding. The beach is enormous and the new hotel is comfortable and elegant. On top of that Freya and Justin are an amazing couple who can’t seem to take a bad photo if they tried. Both Jon and Chris of SD Photo Studio were very excited to be a part of this amazing day.
