My recent trip to New York was based around shooting a wedding as a second for my good friend Christina of Forever In Focus on Saturday. It was supposed to be grossly humid and hot, but stayed cool most of the day due to a rain shower in the early afternoon. While it made portraits more difficult, we rose to the occasion.

Venue: Kittle House

I hung with the guys in the morning while Chrissy went on with Nora.

and had some fun playing with the matching, custom-designed rings

Mark and Nora decided to see each other before the ceremony so we could get some fun portraits, and this is the first meeting


We stopped at the Reader’s Digest building for some portraits, but it was pretty wet and still sprinkling after the rainstorm… so we moved on to Ben & Jerry’s!



Next, the ceremony in Pontico Hills (I think that’s the town).



It was one of the strictest churches I’ve been to in a while, but we did manage to get a few portraits of Mark and Nora in front of Marc Chagall’s famous stained glass windows.

Then, on to the Kittle House. They had very yummy food.







Love this shot!

Alison Riback and Jason McKinstry, wedding clients of mine from 2005, have been nominated for their project, Materials Matter, to air on PBS. If enough people vote for them they’ll receive a huge increase in awareness for their great projects, so please check out the contest!

Project Enterprise Contest – Vote . Enterprising Ideas . NOW | PBS

This is an image from their wedding at Tivoli Too

Right before I left for New York, I met up with Peter Brandon, rising country singer, to expand his portfolio of promotional photos. We went down to one of my favorite shooting spots and played with lighting– so fun!

It’s tough to post while away, but I just couldn’t wait to post the Jhawar’s portrait session from last Sunday!

I will be gone for a week in New York, returning Wednesday evening the 26th. Have a great week everyone!

“I just got Robbed in a Starbucks.”

I was happy to second shoot for Greg Bumatay again this past Saturday at The Standard and Greystone Mansion. Rich and Jenny ooze class and put together a great wedding with the help of Linda Ly.

Venue: Greystone Mansion
Prep: The Standard
Catering: Jay’s Catering

Ona did a wonderful job with Jenny’s hair

I fully admit this isn’t the greatest photo. It’s on here simply because it’s ridiculous.

It’s a new concept: portraits by the light of an escalator!

I really enjoyed the natural, organic feel of the flowers.

Rich waiting for Jenny before the ceremony





Helly, Mr. Yummy French Wedding Cake

When I took this photo, I immediately remembered a portrait I had taken of Rich and Jenny less than 1/2 an hour earlier



First dance

Airplane dancing?

the mansion courtyard in late twilight

And the grand exit, with the happy couple off to the after party on the rooftop lounge of The Standard.

Stay tuned for a future post about what happened AFTER they left… :)

For the record, I could probably post about 100 photos on the blog alone from this wedding, and it still wouldn’t fully explain the day. And words will never express how full of life Shellee and Nick are, and how that carried over into their wedding this past Friday. I’ll later have links to more of the vendors… all 17 of them! Shellee planned an event at Rancho Las Lomas that was meant to truly entertain and delight her 300 guests, all without the help of a coordinator. This all stemmed from a very special engagement: Nick proposed to Shellee via the cover of OC Squeeze last year!

Venue: Rancho Las Lomas
Florist: Commerce Flowers
Kegs: Rock Bottom Brewery
Makeup: Nolan, Jaret, Roger, and Boo, MAC
Catering: Sally Ann Catering

So, what’s a girl to do when everyone is fighting over her?

Shellee and her flower girls




The ceremony



A couple portraits of Nick and Shellee


The colors of the day were centered around birds of paradise




They hired plenty of entertainment for the evening, including both Tahitian dancers and a gambling crew.

Life has a way of throwing things at you… I planned to try and sleep in after my 15-hour day Saturday (12 shooting, 3 driving). However, late Saturday evening I received a call from a friend whose son is in the hospital, so I filled in as a second shooter for Jen Rau on Sunday. So, driving up to Los Olivos it was!

Dress: Maggie Sottero
Venue: Firestone Estate
Band: Iron Mountain Boys
Event Designer: Nico Designs

Since my fulfillment of this day ended when Jen downloaded my cards, I felt free to process the blog images as I felt the day… it was actually quite freeing!

The theme of the day was lanterns, certainly… and I have an affinity for metal lanterns!


Rachel and Scott decided on seeing each other beforehand, and Jen organized a first sight moment for them.

The winery backdrop was carried through to the lounge area they set up just outside the barn, with wine barrels and cork.

It was rather windy out in the meadow before the ceremony!




The meadow/vineyard setting was just calling out for a few infrared portraits!



The best looking barn I’ve ever seen!



The Iron Mountain Boys were such a great addition! The bluegrass and the barbecued catering all added to the day.


I took about a bazillion dancing shots, and Rachel and Scott were featured in many. Oh, can they dance!

I have a long sequence of images all taken during an interesting song, but chose the next 2 as my favorite. The song? Cher’s “Believe” — I swear!


And a sparkler exit!

Saturday was the start of a very long weekend for me, having to arrive at Pechanga in Temecula at 8am to start photographing the getting ready time. (Here’s where I can give three cheers for gps navigation, for getting us to the wedding on time when the 15 Freeway closed completely!)


Then it was off to St. Martha’s in Murrieta for the 10am ceremony, and after that a lunch break.

Though we got a rather late start after the break, we still had a little time to grab a couple portraits of Dennis and Ina in Old Town Temecula,

then stopped at a random vineyard on the side of the road for a few more,

and then onto Oak Meadows for the reception.

Here we may have taken a few portraits in a very different style than Ina’s mother expected, but all in good fun!

They grandly entered on a horse-drawn carriage






Ina and her cousins have a tradition of presenting the groom with a traditional Hawaiian love dance at their weddings!

Carole and Steve have been eagerly awaiting Natalia’s arrival into this world, and I was so excited to head out to their place to photograph their newest addition at 10 days old. She’s so alert and active already, and I’m sure they’ll have their hands full.

For a few, Leo decided to see what all the fuss was about!




I caught a couple of Natalia sticking her tongue out– so adorable!

I spent the afternoon testing my newest setup… but I could only scrounge up two models since I don’t really trust Fez around the new lighting equipment. Any willing models out there?