On (Secret) Location Senior Portraits

Kelly & I recently had the pleasure of doing senior portraits for a couple of fine young men. We took each of them out to a hidden water ski lake on the outskirts of Brentwood.













The lake offers turquoise blue water, sandy beaches, palm trees, and ample shade. A perfect location for natural looking portraits. We hope to shoot a "Trash the wedding dress" session there soon.

Colby was a bit shy to start with, but warmed up quickly.

He likes wake boarding and was voted Homecoming King at Liberty High School.

Jordan, a basketball star at Heritage High School, was a natural in front of the camera.

He says he's now thinking of giving up his hoops dream and going into modeling full time! (kidding)

Kelly & I had a blast with the kids and look forward to helping more students who are looking for something different other than the stale inside studio shots.

You can view Colby's photos and video here
You can view Jordan's photos and video here

Wedding at Montalvo Art Center in Saratoga

Maria & Joe are a very handsome couple who recently had their wedding at the beautiful Montalvo Arts Center.

The architecture and grounds are a stunning backdrop for wedding photos.

The manager of corporate & private events, Kathleen Kirkpatrick, was a fantastic help with making the wedding happen despite the challenging weather conditions that afternoon.

After the ceremony and photo shoot the couple was whisked away by Jerome in a Hummer Limo by Expresso Limousine.

The reception was held at Freedom Hall in Santa Clara. Imperial Video was on hand with three videographers to cover the wedding. They did an amazing job! This is one wedding video company that has raised the bar. And DJ Ross Hartman of Elite Entertainment made the atmosphere pleasant with a fine mix of music.

Kelly and I enjoyed getting to know Maria & Joe's family and friends. We had a great time photographing the day and wish them well.

To view their music video montage CLICK HERE
To view their online wedding photo gallery CLICK HERE

Discovery Bay Studios in the Newspaper

The local paper ran a story about our trash the dress photo shoot with Danie & Ron. You can see it here on page 9A

http://issuu.com/brentwoodpress/docs/discoverybaypress_03.13.09?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml

Thusa & Jack's Wedding Celebration

Last Saturday night we shot Thusa and Jack’s wedding celebration. Right from the beginning everyone made us feel like part of the family. Thusa and Jack are a smart, handsome, charismatic and loving couple who will be successful in life.

The food was amazing and the five level cake was adorned with a topper which included the bride and groom as well as two small dogs (they have two pet dachshunds).

Jamie Tibbetts (510-326-2075) was the DJ and did a great job keeping just the right kind of music going. Connie, Thusa's sister, made the wonderful flower arrangements.

We had parked in a nearby underground garage which, unbeknown to us, locked up tight for the night! We wandered around lugging our camera gear until finding a Marriott Hotel to stay the night until we could get our car out of the garage in the morning. (I gotta start paying attention to parking garage warning signs!)

By the end of the night we started getting very creative with the cameras. By bouncing the external flash off the ceiling, dragging the shutter at a slow speed, and rotating the camera we got some great shots of the dancing. The background lighting was perfect and with the flash freezing the foreground subjects the photographs really captured the mood on the dance floor! (Everything always seems a bit blurry after a long night of fun and drinks!)

We had a great time and enjoyed being part of a wonderful family celebration. Thank you Thusa and Jack!

We've already finished processing the photos. To view photos and videos CLICK HERE

What is "Trash the Wedding Dress"?

From Wikipedia: "Trash the dress, drown the gown, fearless bridal, and rock the frock refers to photography that contrasts elegant clothing with an environment in which it is completely out of place."

As a declaration that the wedding is done and the dress will not be used again, trashing the dress is mostly about creating images not normally possible. And the possibilities are only limited by imagination.

It's a chance for the bride, who is often joined by the groom, to express individuality, playfulness, and passion to the extreme. It can be a mind blowing and liberating experience allowing you to get stunning once-in-a-lifetime photographs.

As a trend which started only a few years ago, popularity of this edgy form of portraiture is exploding. So if you want to push the envelope in modern pop culture photography, why not sacrifice that beautiful dress and lets get down and dirty!

The Heavens Help Trash the Dress!

We asked if Danie & Ron could come out Saturday instead of Sunday because a big storm was moving in. They had been married about three years ago in Utah and now live in the SF Bay Area. Like many brides, Danie was just letting her dress collect dust in the closet until she heard about the "Trash the Wedding Dress" phenomenon.

They showed up at 1 pm and both got changed into their wedding attire. They wanted to get a few photos of Ron as well. We headed out to our first location, a small and beautiful chapel.


Soon it started raining and we thought our day was done. But after a few shots while hiding from the rain under an archway the sun began to peek through. It didn't take long to figure out that rain plus sun equals RAINBOW! There is a God!

After the rainbow faded we visited a number of other locations including an old train, an orchard, rustic buildings, railroad tracks and a sandy beach. Danie and Ron were great sports and lots of fun.

We've finished going through their images and created a nice DVD montage with some of the spectacular shots from the day. To view the photos and video CLICK HERE

Thank you Danie & Ron!

Wedding Photo Contest

We loved the photos we got with Fred & Amy so much we decided to enter one in an online wedding photo contest. The photo won the Daily award plus the Signature award!