Audrey and Gabe’s wedding ceremony was held at Sea Coast Community Church in Encinitas and the reception was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. Both Audrey and Gabe are doctors and just recently finished school so their wedding was a nice reward for all of their hard work and perseverance. I had such a great time working with them. Audrey had such an adventurous attitude and Gabe was more than willing to follow his new bride anywhere she wanted so we were able to get some pretty amazing shots. This first one is my favorite…
When I saw this cliff I knew immediately where I wanted to position them for the shot, but it was kind of difficult to get to as you can see from the photo below. But Audrey and Gabe were more than willing to do whatever it took to get killer photos and it payed off. 
There is this massive rock wall in La Jolla that drops from street level all the way to the cliffs that line the beach. And although I doubt it was ever intended to be used for rock climbing…it is. Haha! Crazy huh!? Hence the photo below. 
Eventually we made our way down to the beach where Audrey and Gabe both took off their shoes and ran into the water. 
And some more of my favorites…there are so many good ones it’s tough to choose which ones to blog about!
Special thanks to Gabriel Ryan for being my backup photographer for the day. I really appreciated the extra help and creativity man! Check out his blog if you haven’t already to see some of his shots from the wedding. In the meantime here are some fun shots I took of him… 
Audrey and Gabe
Jackie and Mark
Jackie and Mark had a beautiful wedding and I was grateful to be a part of it. They had such warm spirits and a love for family and friends that made the whole experience really intimate and special. I wish them all the best as they begin their lives together. 
I love the look of curiosity in this little boy’s face.
Mia
I had the pleasure of photographing this little cutie just recently at Aliso Creek Beach. Her name is Mia and her mother Keisha needed some pictures of her for her first birthday. I’m so happy with how they turned out. She was so adorable!
I don’t do baby photography very often. I’ll be honest it makes me a little nervous. You never know what to expect. Every baby is different. They all have such unique little personalities, and their moods can change in an instant. It forces me to stay on my toes! I really lucked out with Mia. She was so easy going and loved being at the beach. She liked the sand a little too much though, judging by the way she kept trying to shovel it into her mouth! And she just kept crawling and crawling…and crawling! Without a care in the world she would just pick a direction and crawl as fast as she could until we would grab her and turn her around! It was hilarious!
Jackie and Mark
Jackie and Mark have a lot going on right now. Not only are they getting married, but they’re also moving all the way down here from Washington. So when Jackie asked me to shoot her engagement photos I was so excited because I knew it would be fun to show them around sunny Orange County.
Jackie said she wanted some photos that had an edgy, urban look to them, but at the same time she wanted me to capture some romantic photos at the beach.
For the urban shots I decided to bring them to Old Town Orange right around the corner from where I live. I love doing portrait sessions there because the old architecture provides a variety of backgrounds with different colors and textures to work with. We had a nice and relaxing time casually walking around sipping our Starbucks and snapping off shots. It was fun!
After about an hour we all got in my truck and I took them to Laguna Beach to finish our photo session on the sand as the sun was setting.
I’m going to be shooting Jackie and Mark’s wedding in August and I can’t wait!
Carrie and Daniel in Cancun, Mexico
When my friends Carrie and Daniel asked me to photograph their wedding I was so excited because I knew they were planning a destination wedding at the beautiful Dreams Resort in Cancun! Carrie has been good friends with my girlfriend Barbara since highschool so I knew the trip would be relaxing and a lot of fun too! I very rarely shoot a wedding without hiring another photographer to work with me because I want to make sure that there’s enough coverage during the ceremony etc. So I decided to bring my best friend Lan to shoot with me. There’s no one I’d rather have work with me. We both discovered our passion for photography at around the same time and have been friends for about 12 years now. It’s always nice to work with him because we have similar photography styles and crazy personalities.
I’ve been at the Dreams Resort now for five days, and it is stunning to say the least! The water is turquoise blue and the sand is super soft and white. It’s breathtaking.
Carrie and Daniel’s wedding was yesterday. We started taking pictures at around 3:30pm and didn’t stop until long after sunset. The whole time I was in awe of how perfect everything was. The weather was sunny with scattered clouds and the views all around the resort were amazing. Carrie and Daniel are every photographer’s dream! They’re good looking and so down to earth. They had easygoing attitudes and were just as excited about their photography as I was. I’m so excited with how the photos turned out!
Zach and Sandy
I had a wonderful time shooting Zach and Sandy’s wedding this weekend in San Diego with Ma5en. Ma5en is a really talented photographer, a true professional and a great friend. It’s good to work with other photographers in the industry because you can pick up little tips here and there that can really help you improve your work. Every photographer has their own way of doing things when it comes to their business, whether its how they compose their shots, or how they pose their subjects or how they manage large groups of people or how they change their lenses quickly without dropping their camera! There isn’t just one way of doing things, and sometimes when you think your way is the best you’ll come across an even better way. I definitely walked away from this weekend with a few valuable tips and tricks that will improve the way I work. Thanks Ma5en! You can check out some of Ma5en’s photos on his BLOG.
Now onto the photography! The ceremony was held at Blessed Sacrament Church, and the reception was at the beautiful Rancho Bernardo Courtyard. Zach and Sandy were such an amazing couple to work with. They had such an incredibly easy going, positive way about them that made photographing them a lot of fun. They both have really big hearts and their love for each other really shines through their photos.
Esencia Flamenca Dance Company
This past weekend I had the honor of photographing a performance in Long Beach by the Esencia Flamenca Dance Company. This wasn’t my first encounter with Flamenco and I’m sure it won’t be my last. It is such a beautiful form of dance and always a pleasure to photograph.
For those of you interested in seeing more of my Flamenco portraits click HERE.
Paul Dateh and Ken Belcher
Last night Paul Dateh and Ken Belcher held an exclusive and intimate performance in Marina Del Rey. Bonny and I had the honor of photographing the event while Lan and Vu Bui of thebuibrothers.com live-streamed the whole thing online! It was an awesome performance. I’ve seen Paul perform a couple of times now and I’m always completely captivated the entire time. I’m not very good at describing music in words but Paul Dateh’s sound is kind of soulful, funky and jazzy with a whole lot of violin…it’s awesome! The first time I heard him I bought his CD. You should too. Check him out at: PaulDateh.com
You can see the rest of the photos from last night on my Flickr.com page.
Lunch with Michael Norwood
I went to lunch today with Michael Norwood. We’ve known eachother for several months now but never got around to hanging out until today. It was a lot of fun! We ate at Cheesecake Factory and talked shop. It’s always nice to talk with other photographers about the industry. Michael is a really successful wedding photographer and is definitely a source of inspiration for me. If you haven’t already seen his blog CHECK IT OUT. He just recently started a workshop with Fred Egan and Amy Coffey called The Lab. They had their first one last month in Texas and it was a huge success!
Check out the sandwich Norwood got, it was HUGE! I love Cheesecake Factory!
Julie and Luke
Julie and Luke decided to have a traditional Chinese ceremony and banquet here with there friends and family because they’re going to Alaska soon to get married on a glacier! How cool is that!? Very! I would go if I could but the helicopter ride to the glacier can only hold 3 people so the pilot will also take the role of photographer.
The banquet was intimate and beautiful and the food was fantastic! As promised they had all sorts of traditional chinese dishes including shark fin soup, abalone and lobster! MMMmmm!
Julie.
Luke.
A little bit of spontaneous dancing is always fun!
They played this really fun game where they blind-folded Luke and then had girls and guys including Julie line up in front of him. Then he had to touch all of their hands and see if he could find his bride’s hands! He played it like a pro and picked out Julie’s hands right away! I was impressed!
Julie’s sister Mimi gave a speech.
Julie and Luke complimented each other perfectly and they were so fun to work with. I hope they have a wonderful time in Alaska!