A Girl's Best Friend

I was out in Citrus Heights for a shoot with Nancy and her dog. He’s been getting up there in age and she wanted to make sure she got some high quality photos with him. They were both really sweet and we were able to capture some great images that I think Nancy will cherish for years to come.

Animal photography can be tricky as they often want to do their own thing. Nancy’s dog Rocky was perfect though. He happily posed for the camera so that I could get some nice portraits of him. He was such a great dog!

I loved seeing Nancy interact with Rocky. Some of my favorite shots came when I just asked them to interact with each other. The natural happiness that was between the two of them was a lot of fun to shoot.

As with all my shoots, I try to capture many different angles and situations when it comes to portraiture. We went walking, we hung out on a nice bench, and we posed in a beautiful grove of trees. All the locations were beautiful for image capturing.

I had a blast with Nancy and Rocky. In the end I provided Nancy with over 50 hand edited images of our time together as well as every single shot taken as a photographic proof. If you’re looking to get any kind of photography done, let me know! I’d love to help you get some photos that you’ll treasure!

Taylor & Justin's Engagement Photos

Taylor, Justin, and I went out to take some engagement photos in Davis late last month. It was a beautiful day with some gorgeous lighting conditions for us to get some awesome shots. This fun-loving couple wanted to take a variety of fun photos and more traditional ones. We had a great time shooting, and I’m really excited to capture them again when they tie the knot later on next year!

Taylor and Justin were very easy to work with. They told me that they don’t take pictures that often, but I found that they were great at taking suggestions from me. They easy going nature helped the shoot go really smoothly and both of them looked very natural in front of the lens. Often I’m I’d just say it’s time to kiss again and they would just naturally give me some really nice photo moments.

Although it may be fun to take only fun pictures, you always have to keep in mind that it’s the traditional ones that will be printed and used most often at the wedding or as a large display piece at home. I always make sure that we take plenty of standard poses so that the couples have a great selection to choose from. I often get asked how many photos are included in my packages. Well… the honest answer is that I take lots and lots of photos - usually more than any set amount usually is.

Although the proposal happened already, Taylor and Justin wanted to re-enact the moment and get some pictures of it. Often times there isn’t a professional photographer out there when the actual proposal happens so this is a great alternative to commemorate that moment. I think Taylor did a wonderful job showing her surprised face in the photos.

As with all my photos, I like to included multiple levels of depth in the frame. It’s awesome to have something in the foreground, mid, and back to create a nice sense of dimension.

The camera is always ready. Often time the most fun moments are the ones that happen between snaps. Well, I make sure to get those whenever funny or sweet things happen. Here’s a moment that was unexpected but turned out great as a photo!

I had a blast working with Taylor and Justin. I wish them the best as they plan for their big day next year. I’ll be back photographing their wedding when the time comes! If you’re looking for wedding photography, please let me know, I’d love to help you out!

Family Photos in Old Sac

I had done a cosplay shoot with Jackie a while back and had no idea she’d get in contact with me to photograph her family! Her four kids were visiting and got all dressed up for the occasion - they looked great! I selected Old Sacramento as our photoshoot location because I thought the rustic backdrops would work well with what they had on. I was right. Their style was a perfect match for the scenery.

Children can be very difficult to work with. My own son is notoriously hard to get in some sort of structure. One of Jackie’s kids started off with some reluctance in the shoot, but as we took a few pictures they totally warmed up. In fact, I saw the family later and this particular child came up to me and wanted to show me their ice-cream cone. I’m glad I was able to win them over!

Our little session lasted only about twenty minutes, but that was definitely enough time for the kids. They wanted to go and get some candy! Thankfully I was able to work quickly and get the shots I wanted with out much fuss or time setting up. If you’re looking to get beautiful, natural photography of your kids or family let me know! I’d love to help you out.

Catherine and Geo's Wedding Videography

Catherine and Geo were married on July 13th and I was honored to be their wedding videographer. I was the sole videographer at this event - which is often the case (though I HIGHLY recommend hiring my second shooter Brian GG as he is fabulous and only $300 more). Even though it was just me that day, I always make it a point to cover as many angels that I can. My standard is a three camera set-up. I typically position two cameras on tripods and then carry around a third to cover everything else. This usually works out pretty well and gives me a lot of footage to work with when the job is finished. The video above is a longer highlight video that I delivered to Catherine and Geo. It’s a great way to re-live the entire wedding day. This video, along with the short 60-second highlight, full-ceremony recording, and all reception events are all delivered to my clients when they are completed.

If you’re interested in wedding videography, please message me through this site! I’d be happy to check and see if the day you want is available!

Ron's Headshots

I’ve been doing a few portrait specials recently and Ron took advantage of the offer! We were out in downtown Sacramento getting some portraits done. He’s a nurse so we went around the Kaiser across from the Golden1 Center to take a few photos. It was a fabulous day and I think we were able to capture some really nice pictures that he could use on social media.

Being at a location that is relevant to the subject is so important to me. Being able to take some photos as Kaiser really made this little session come together. This Kaiser location being one of the newest and best looking was pretty helpful too! Because putting up lights wouldn’t be something I could do here, I chose to shoot my really wide aperture 35mm 1.4 Zeiss lens to really get a lot of light on Ron. This lens also did a fabulous job of creating some really creamy background blur!

Our session only took about 30-minutes and I delivered about 15 high resolution images to him. We could have shot more if desired, but we got what he wanted in a quick time frame. If you need some quick photos done that have that professional feel, come talk to me ASAP!

Sal & Jackie's Wedding

Jackie and Sal asked me to capture their special day. I tag teamed with Brian of Brian GG Photography to cover both photography and videography. I always have a blast with Brian as he is talented image maker and keeps the process of wedding photo and video running smoothly. As typical of wedding shoots, we arrived on the scene and began taking photos of the bride and groom getting ready. Brian went to work with the groom’s side while I went to the bridal suite to photograph Jackie and her bridal party. I got to the bridal suite as Jackie was finishing up her time there. I quickly set up some posed shots since time was of the essence - as it usually always is during a wedding day!

It wasn’t too long after covering the getting ready photos that Jackie was on her way down the aisle to meet Sal. Both Jackie and Sal looked amazing at the alter. I did the usual running around like a ninja to get all the different angles. Brian took care of the angles that I wasn’t at and we were able to capture a lot of great photos of the ceremony. Both Brian and I use the latest in Sony high-end mirrorless cameras so that our work matches up perfectly.

Always be ready to capture the first kiss! Sometimes it’s hard to tell when the first kiss is coming because the pastor will often just spring it on you all of the sudden during the ceremony. I think I have a pretty good feel for when the first kiss is coming and am ready to get this important moment - maybe the most important moment of the day. I shot a closer view of the first kiss while Brian was able to get a wider angle.

The venue we were at had a two-story building so that I could capture a shot from above of all the wedding guests. Sal and Jackie really wanted a photo like this one and I was glad we were able to make it happen. Shooting from above is always a special angle that give a different look to the images. I had all the folks in the picture look at me for a few and then had Sal and Jackie kiss for another. I like this one the best.

After the ceremony is the time for bridal party photos. It’s typical to have the bride with the bridesmaids and the grooms with the groomsmen. I like mixing it up a little sometimes by having the bride with the groomsmen and the groom with the bridesmaids. It makes for some fun photos that you don’t get too often. Jackie and Sal had some really great poses with their bridal party.

The venue had a private garden with fountains and beautiful foliage for Sal and Jackie to take some really epic looking photos. I was like a kid in a candy store at this location as there were so many gorgeous backdrops to shoot around. Many of the locations that I go to for weddings don’t have scenery as nice as this. In those cases I have to be really creative in my shots. Here we could be creative, but have a great location to boot!

As it got dark Sal and Jackie left the reception to sneak in some sunset photos. The entire day was really amazing and Brian and I had a great time shooting this one. If you are looking for wedding photography here in the Sacramento area please let me know!

Kim & Ari's Laotion Wedding

Kim contacted me a while back asking if I could shoot her traditional Lao wedding. She was attracted to my photojournalistic style and I was happy to do it! I had never shot a Lao wedding before and was excited to do this one. Kim was awesome in letting me know all the ins and outs of the day and was very organized with her planning. I really couldn’t have asked for a better client as she was simply amazing to work with.

The day started out at a park in their neighborhood. Ari was there with a gathering of people. The wedding started with a celebratory procession from the park to Kim’s house. Ari was dressed in a traditional Lao gown adorned with beautiful colors. One of my favorite things about this wedding as the vast array of colors on display. From Ari to the guests to the ceremonial items, everything popped!

I spent time throughout the wedding not only photographing the people in attendance, but also the items that were a part of the ceremony. Aside from being decorative, many items at the wedding held significance in other ways. I definitely did not want to miss capturing something that was special for the day. With me, photographing an item doesn’t mean having it in front of me and just snapping a quick shot of it. The image has to stand out with some artistic quality to it.

The arrival at Kim’s house was quite an event. Ari couldn’t enter until after he made it through some of Kim’s family ‘guarding’ the door. Ari had to share in some drinks with the family as well as offer some lucky money before being allowed in. It was really fun to see the interactions Ari had with the family members. The biggest challenge here was navigating through all the people that were around. I had to find my space and make sure I had a good view of what was going on. I love this shot of Ari and Kim’s sister meeting on the sidewalk. They have so much expression on their faces!

When we got inside everyone packed into the living room for the ceremony. Again, this provided a challenge for me as the space was tight and hard to navigate. Thankfully, I had a pretty wide angle lens in order to capture the entire room. I couldn’t get the variety of shots that I was able to nab without having my entire battery of lenses. Going to a wedding with just a 35mm and an 85mm may work for some, but I find it too restrictive and the variety of images that you can capture is vastly cut down.

The ceremony involved a litany of different rituals to be performed. The presider guided the couple through the entire process. Thankfully I didn’t interrupt him with annoying shutter sounds. The living room was small and if I didn’t have a silent shutter, I think I would have stood out like a sore thumb. With my mirrorless camera, I didn’t have to worry about any of that.

The ceremony was quite long which gave me the chance to really find angles that I liked. I always try and provide unique looks for my clients. Overall I was able to deliver over 200 hand-edited photos for Kim and Ari of their special day.

If you’re looking for top notch photography or videography in the Sacramento area (or even beyond!) please let me know! I’d love to work with you in getting the best and most unique images possible!

Daisy's Family Shoot

Daisy had a photoshoot scheduled with me yesterday to photograph her family. She wanted a nature setting for the shoot. We had a few locations to select from, but ultimately she chose the arboretum as it was close for her and a location that’s hard to beat in this area. Her goal was to get a nice group family photo as well as segments of her family in different photos. Because of the diversity of landscapes at the arboretum, we were able to get gorgeous nature backdrops with variations in the way they look by simply walking a few steps!

It’s always my goal to get as many photos as I can for my clients. So many times I see ads stating that by the end of the photo session the client may receive 1-5 finished photos. To me that is waaaaaay too few! I like to shoot a variety of ways and then let the client have everything that looks good - no matter the number. The photo shown above was taken with a vertical orientation, but Daisy also received a version of this pose shot horizontally. I hope my clients appreciate the choice they get when the go with me!

As always, kids are the most challenging subjects to work with. While one child may behave like an angel, another may be the complete opposite. When this happens it’s time to really crank the frame rate up and fire off a ton of shots. During this session I literally was holding down the shutter for 5-8 seconds at a time in order to get a useable expression. My clients could hear my shutter firing off like crazy! But that just tells them that getting the best shot is important, and shooting more will give us better options in the end.

I brought two camera bodies and a slew of lenses… but I ended up shooting with just the 85mm 1.4 for the entire shoot. That lens has the ability to just obliterate the background… which I love doing! The only tricky thing is getting subjects in good focus at such a wide aperture. It’s a huge challenge, but if done right the photos look really, really good!

Never let a moment go to waste! Even when we were going from one place to another I’d try to keep my eye on situations when a nice moment may occur. Make sure you’re always ready to shoot!

The Album is Here!

A while back I mentioned that I had shot an album cover for the band According to Bazooka… Well… the album is out! The band was playing at Blue Note Brewery in Woodland today and had an album set aside for me. It was a thrill to arrive and see the album with my photos on the front, middle, and back! The album looks sweet and sounds amazing. If you haven’t seen or heard According to Bazooka yet… you’ve got to give them a listen. They are unlike anything you’ve heard before!

I couldn’t stay long because I had a Father’s Day dinner to get to, but I did manage to take a few snaps of According to Bazooka in action at Blue Note. They were sounding great and I wished I could have stayed for more of the set. The Hot Dogger food truck out of Davis was on-site as well. Oh man, it would have been awesome to just sit back, enjoy a dog, and listen to some good music.

The pics of According to Bazooka also look better to me when they are in black and white. Here’s a couple of photos of them with the black and white treatment. Whenever I do photos in black and white, I don’t just desaturate the image. I also increase the contrast and adjust the levels of the photo so that it has a bit of punch to it.

Check out According to Bazooka on their site here: https://www.accordingtobazookamusic.com/home

Barbering Workshop

I was at Black Black hair salon in Sacramento working with Tarus as he held a barbering workshop. Tarus wanted to get some coverage in both photo and video, so I brought the necessary equipment and got to work! When I arrived on scene Tarus was already doing his thing so I set up quietly in the back and began filming and taking photographs.

I used the Sony a7iii for video and the a9 for photographs. The a7iii is definitely my go-to when it comes to video. It has built in picture profiles and does the job flawlessly. I know that many people use the a7iii for filming purposes. It’s just a great camera for that. The crop sensor a6400 was also used as a b-cam during this shoot. That camera is also an amazing video camera as it features an unlimited record time. I just set it up on a tripod, got my framing, and let it rip!

The a9 was my main image camera as it is for just about everything I do. The a9 is special in that it shoots completely silently. I am very aware of how much sound I make at events. It’s my goal to be completely silent and out of the way. The a9 helps me do this. The class Tarus was holding didn’t have a lot of ambient sound, so a camera’s shutter would be really annoying as it was clicking away. I didn’t have this problem. The a9 is perfect for situations like this or the weddings that I shoot.

Though I prefer to shoot close-ups, whenever an event is captured I am always trying to get the mid and wide shots to show more of what is happening. And the same goes for video. Getting a huge variety of different angles and looks helps with the overall package when I deliver to a client.

It’s funny, I have actually shot at Black Black before maybe a couple years back on an assignment from Main Street Hub. It was pretty awesome to be back in the salon doing some more work!

Krystle and Rich's Engagement Shoot

Krystle contacted me to do an engagement shoot for her and her fiance Rich. They are from the Bay Area but decided to come up here to the Sacramento region in hopes of capturing a location that has a different look than what they have in the Bay Area. They ended up booking time at the Grand Island Mansion located about 40 minutes outside of Sacramento. It was a beautiful location to shoot at, and we had the entire place (inside and out) to ourselves!

The first thing I did was to scout out the location. As Krystle and Rich were getting ready, I went to every room in the mansion looking for places to take our photos. We had two hours of time, but two hours can evaporate pretty fast during these types of sessions. The mansion was vast with 3 levels. Each level had multiple places that we could shoot at. Figuring out the order in which to shoot so that we could maximize our time together was crucial for me.

One of our first locations to shoot was the grand staircase. The mansion had an elegant staircase with a classic vibe. We just had to get a few shots on it. I was shooting both natural light and flash at different times to see what worked best in a given area. I thought using the flash really gave the photos taken here a richer tone. The photo above was taken with a flash, however, we did do a few using natural lighting as well in this area. I think it’s good to have both done so in the end we can pick the ones we prefer.

The main ballroom was a must-shoot location as it provided us with a gorgeous, elegant backdrop. I had to pull out my ultra-wide lens to capture the entire room. Having a multitude of lenses at your disposal is really key in getting a huge variety of different looking shots. Many of my favorite photos from my photo sessions come from ultra-wides as they create an image that very no other lenses can accomplish. I understand that some photographers like to go light and use maybe just a 35mm and an 85mm on a shoot… but I find that I can’t do that! It’s just too limiting!

Krystle came with a number of poses that she liked via google searches of engagement poses. I LOVE that she did that as it really helped me pose them in ways that they wanted to be posed in. I, of course, have ways of posing people, but I know that clients have expectations of their photos. Getting a client the look that they want is really a key to the photo sessions that I do. I made sure to get the poses they wanted in as well as give them some looks that I had - then they get the best of both worlds!

As if the inside of the mansion wasn’t big enough, there were many gorgeous locations outside as well. We had fountains, pillars, gazebos, statues, not to mention the actual mansion itself. It was a beautiful, but hot, day when we shot. Thankfully we did have some clouds in the sky to make it have some nice texture. It was extremely bright during our session time, but I thought we were able to make it work. I typically recommend shooting outdoors during the golden hour, but if we can’t then I do my best to make the best of it!

Krystle and Rich were amazing to work with and I’m so glad they found me! Overall we shot hundreds of photos during our session. As always, I provide every single shot that we did as an unedited proof. They also received a large number of hand edited photos in high resolution so they can use them in prints.

I absolutely love shooting engagements. If you or anyone you know is looking for an engagement or wedding photographer, please let me know! I’d love to help out!

Zenia's Grad Photoshoot

Zenia and I were on campus Memorial Day weekend for her graduation shoot. It was the perfect time to shoot as many students were off campus at the time. There were a few other graduation shoots going on, but not nearly the number that I usually see during this time of the year. We started at Zenia’s old dorm building, Bixby at the Segundo Complex. I thought it was a great idea to get some photos where she stared her college career. It’s not often we go back to where it all began!

The dorms aren’t a place that I typically shoot at, but there were some very picturesque backdrops available there so we decided to take a few of our photos just around the area. I enjoyed this as I was able to shoot in a brand new location that I hadn’t done so at before. It’s always exciting for me to discover new locations as it adds to the bank of places I can take graduates to for their photos.

We were actually all over the UC Davis campus for this shoot. Zenia really loves redwoods so we headed to the arboretum where these beautiful trees are. All the colors that she was wearing for the shoot went well with the greens of the redwoods. Zenia wasn’t wearing the traditional graduation gown, but she did have a sweet looking stole with a gorgeous dress.

Some people like the egg heads on campus and some absolutely do not. Zenia wanted to get at least a few photos with the egg heads since they are such an iconic part of the UC Davis campus. It’s always fun to shoot with the egg heads because they lend themselves to some sillier photos.

For this shoot I used only two lenses - the Zeiss 35mm 1.4 and the Sony G-Master 85mm 1.4. These optics are the best you can get on the system and they produce amazingly sharp images. I only pull out the best on every shoot that I do. The equipment used really does make a big difference in terms of the quality you get.

And of course we had to shoot at the UC Davis sign. Today there was only one group shooting there when we arrived so we didn’t have to wait long at all. Man, it is a drag when you have to sit there for 45 minutes in line for this location!

Graduation season is coming to an end, but if you are still looking for graduation photography, I’m ready to provide you with a great photo session! Let’s talk!

Artistic Awards Ceremony Event Coverage

I got a phone call a while back asking if I could cover a special event put on by the California Lawyers for the Arts. Apparently, I was highly recommended by by someone they knew! That was awesome to hear as I’ve been working hard to get my name and business out there more and more. The event organizers needed both photographic and video coverage. Since I do both I was more than happy to answer the call to cover their ceremony.

The Artistic Awards is an annual event. I had not heard of it before, but I found it that it is quite an honor to be selected for one. A select group of people from around California were selected to receive one of the Artistic Awards. Shown above are the nominees as well as their presenters. It was a tight an enclosed area with a large group, so thankfully I had a wide enough angle lens to get everyone in frame.

Though I shot photos for the event, I primarily did video. I called upon Brian GG Photography to second shoot this event. I’ve worked with Brian on a couple events now and enjoy his work. He’s reliable and gets the shots that are needed. Though he was to cover the entire ceremony, he was tasked to get the award winners as they exited the stage in a posed shot. These photos are very important as the awards winners will most likely be using these photos for prints and their own social sharing. Brian was able to get these photos without a hitch.

I actually snuck a photo of Brian doing his thing during the awards ceremony. We’ve got a couple more gigs lined up coming later on in the summer and I’m very much looking forward to seeing his work!

When I did take photos, I was mostly at longer focal lengths. The above photo was taken by me without the use of flash. I love the way it turned out, but I had to do quite a bit of adjusting to get the image the way I wanted it to look. Much of the work involved changing the color balance. Many events take place in an environment with yellow/orange lighting. I could use a white balance card to get it right during the event, but I’m also fine with doing those adjustments in post.

We were contracted to only deliver about 30 photos from the event, but being someone who loves to deliver more, we were actually able to give the event organizers over 100 edited photos along with all the unedited proofs to use as they please.

Not only did the event organizers get photos of the participants of the event, but detail shots showing all aspects of what went on - from the food being served to the items being sold for fund raising purposes. We didn’t want to miss a thing in our coverage.

In the end I also delivered 3 videos. The one above is a 60-second highlight video for use on social media. I had a blast covering this event and am always available to cover yours! Let me know if you have something coming up and we’ll get it booked!

Four Generations Together

I’ve done a few of these now over the years, but they never get old! I love doing photoshoots when multiple generations come together from far distances to reunite. Julie contacted me to see if I was available Saturday for a photo session. I was booked for later on in the day, but had enough time to make this shoot happen. Getting everyone together at the same time was challenging. Family members were all in different vehicles meeting at a place that they weren’t familiar with. We ended up beginning the shoot a little late, but thankfully we were able to get the photos that Julie really wanted.

Grandma was the main star of the show as everyone was coming to see her. Besides getting the large group shot, everyone wanted to get their own personal photos with her. With such a large group and a limited time, it was important to just find a great spot and have people in and out for photos. I shot all the photos with a 70-200 f2.8 telephoto lens and stood as far as I could to get the best background blur I could. I think the subject separation looks good with the main subjects isolated well.

I’m always a bit hesitant to play too much with the final colors of the photos in post processing, but I wanted to give Julie the option to select the style of photo she wanted. I ended up doing a standard edit of the photos that look pretty natural from the day as well as giving her a more stylized look. The photos in this post are from the stylized edits I did.

Our time together was short, but I really enjoyed working with Julie’s family. I’m glad I was able to provide photos that will have significance for the entire family. If you’re looking for high quality photos, please contact me ASAP! I’d love to book a session with you soon!

Colin & Elizabeth's Wedding

Colin and Elizabeth got in contact with me last year regarding their wedding this past May. Booking me early is pretty important because shooting days can fill up pretty quickly. Weekends especially are in demand. So they made a great choice to lock down their wedding photography as quickly as they could. I was really looking forward to their wedding and was excited when the day came up!

I was the only photographer on site (and no videographer was was hired) so everything fell on me to make sure I had complete coverage of everything that went on during the event. It can be a lot of pressure to be the sole person handling the documenting of a wedding, but I enjoy the pressure! It really brings out my “A” game. So for this wedding I made sure to have my cameras ready to go. Both my main shooters have 2 card slots so that the 2 files are produced with every shot. This redundancy is critical if a memory card fails or becomes corrupted at the end of the day - at least there would be the other card to rely on. I always shoot with dual memory cards per camera as I am so afraid of any information loss!

I was ready to go right when I go out of my car. I ran into the flower girl as she was waiting with the bridal party. This actually was my favorite shot from the entire day. I love her smile and big, bright eyes. Her joy I feel is captured so well in this frame. If I wasn’t ready with my cameras ready to go, I would have missed this shot. It’s times like this that remind me to be ready at all times. Things happen in a split second and any little thing can cause you to miss a shot. I try to minimize this as much as I can.

The entire wedding - ceremony, reception, and dinner - took place at the same location. It was a beautiful location in Sutter Creek. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous. The only thing I had to worry about was making sure that I took the photos at a good angle as to not have shadows or highlights getting in the way too much. Many of the photos had to be adjusted for the lighting in post though. It was freeing shooting with my Sony cameras knowing that they have a ton of dynamic range to work with so I could recover anything blown out or too dark in shadow.

Capturing the emotions and the expressions of the bride, groom, and guests is the most important thing to me. A bad look from the subject of the photo will ruin the entire thing. I’m constantly snapping away and taking burst shots so that I have multiple frames to select from. More shots means a better chance of getting just the right moment and having the ability to pick the best photo from a nice burst selection. Since everything is digital now, I am free of feeling like I am wasting film by shooting multiple frames. So I guess my advice is: Never feel bad about shooting high speed! It’s for a purpose!

I always try to shoot with the shallowest depth of field as possible. The isolation that some of my lenses give me is incredible. My main bread and butter lens is the Sony G-Master 70-200 2.8. It has a great reach, and the longer I shoot it, the more compression I get in my image. It’s just a look that I really love. That particular lens is also very sharp. It’s a MUST HAVE lens if you are doing any sort of event shooting. I couldn’t imagine myself with out it!

It’s so sweet to see all the love and emotion at a wedding. And it’s an honor to be the one out there trying to put it in a still image. I really appreciate Colin and Elizabeth putting their trust in me to get the job done right.

Tying the knot is something at you (hopefully) only do once. The event needs to be captured in the best way possible. And I really believe you get what you pay for when it comes to photography. Make sure you do your due diligence when looking for a wedding photographer… or just go with me!

I had an amazing time at Colin and Elizabeth’s wedding. I wish them the absolute best going forward. As for me, I can’t wait for the next wedding to capture via photographs or in video!

According to Bazooka Band Photoshoot

According to Bazooka is an eclectic band out of Davis, Ca. Their wacky Americana meets pop sound is an interesting mix that works well to keep their tunes in your head. I’ve worked with AtB a few times now, and each time has been an absolute pleasure. This time around the band was looking to shoot a cover for their new album. We went off to the backroads between Davis and Woodland to try to get our perfect shot.

Rene and Richard (front two band members pictured above) have been my main contacts with the band. I’ve known them for years now and have seen them play out all around the Davis/Sacramento area. In fact, Richard was my guitar teacher for a few years back when I lived in Davis. We always have a good time talking about guitars whenever we cross paths.

Rene had the idea of having a long road in the photograph and scouted a few locations before our shoot. We ended up driving out to a location a bit off the main highway where there would be little traffic. The location worked out nicely as we had pretty much had the freedom to get out onto the middle of the road safely. Oncoming cars could be see coming from a very far distance off. Safety first is a must!

With the idea in mind I tried to shoot as many different angles as possible with many different post production looks so that the band would have plenty of images to select from. I was very pleased with many of the photos taken and wonder which one they will eventually go with. My goal was to give them so many good shots that they’d have a very difficult time choosing one for the eventual cover.

In order to really capture a lot of the background I went with an ultra-wide lens. This is a risky lens to use because of the distortion it can cause, but I love challenging myself with it. Ultra-wides have the ability to really get a lot of the background into the shot. You just have to be careful where the subject of the photo is placed.

I enjoyed this photoshoot with AtB quite a bit and it is always great to see the band. I’m looking forward to hearing their new tunes and checking out their new album really soon! Check out their website here: https://www.accordingtobazookamusic.com/.

Alyssa's Grad Photoshoot

This weekend Alyssa and I were on the campus of Sacramento State University for a graduation photo session. We met up early on a Friday morning in front of the main Sac State sign and then proceeded to shoot around this particular area of the campus. I love this part of Sac State because there are many picturesque locations to take photos at. I’ve shot here many times before and have never run out of great scenery!

Our shoot time today was at 7am. Yes, that’s early! But shooting at seven meant that we would have idea lighting conditions as well as cool weather. Shooting at any other time besides when the sun is rising or setting is not ideal because of the harsh lighting that the sun provides when it is directly overhead. Not that good pictures can’t be shot, but the places chosen to shoot at will be limited. Thankfully, at this early morning time we were able to shoot virtually anywhere and get amazing natural lighting.

It’s always a goal of mine to find a way to get my clients unique angles in their photographs. The picture above was taken using an extremely wide angle lens. Without this lens in my kit, I would have never gotten this photo. An ultra wide lens (this was taken at 12mm on a full frame body) allows for a lot of the background to be included in the frame. You have to be very careful using an ultra wide lens such as this to shoot a portrait because of the distortion it can cause, but when it’s done right you can get a photo that is quite unique.

Of course I can’t be shooting from specialized angles all the time - though I love it! It’s my job to make sure my clients have a variety of angles to enjoy from my final product delivery. Getting traditional looking photos is always an integral part of a session because these are the photos that you’ll want to frame and give to your parents. I never shy away from traditional looks because they are important - very important, in fact!

My style of shooting a portrait session is a bit unpredictable. Because of ever changing lighting conditions, I am always on the lookout for the perfect place to shoot at a particular time. It’s less planned out, but I think the ability to locate places to shoot on the spot is an important skill to have. If it’s the perfect time to shoot, you just have to stop and shoot!

As for just about all of my recent professional shoots I used Sony camera bodies to get the images. The Sony cameras are work horses that simply get the job done quickly and efficiently. I don’t find much glamor in them, but their rock solid ability to get what I want in focus is exactly what a professional shoot calls for.

A huge thanks goes out to Alyssa for hiring me for her graduation photo session. She was a blast to work with and a trooper for having such an early call time. I wish her the best as she continues on her post college journey in life!

Star Wars Cosplay for a Cause

Every year I have the privilege of helping out an animal shelter in the Sacramento area with photography. Cosplayers come out in full costume and shoot photographs with animals that need adopting. The hope is to show these animals off in a fun way through social media and find them a home. The shoot today took place in Auburn, Ca’s Animal Services Center. I was with an entire troop of Star Wars themed cosplayers who donated their time for this endeavor.

We had a pretty awesome mix of Star Wars characters on hand, from the dark side to the light. Everyone brought their A-game to this shoot and looked stunning in their Star Wars attire. Special thanks goes out to Talya (the Imperial officer between the two Rey’s) for organizing the entire thing. She has actually been the person who makes this all happen every year. Her commitment to these shoots has been most impressive.

Our main photography area was this patio right outside the animal center. It was clean and clear with plenty of space to employ a longer focal length lens like my 85mm Sony G-Master. That particular lens is stunningly sharp and can produce spectacular images. It’s a focal length that I’ve been shooting more recently so I thought it’d be fun to give a go today. The large aperture of the lens made it so that the backgrounds had a beautiful blur to them. They aren’t totally gone since they are so close to the subjects, but even at a close distance there is some separation that I found pleasing.

Taking photos of animals is quite challenging. Some of the animals were very cooperative and posed nicely for a photo. Others were much harder to calm down. I found myself having to shoot very fast with a high frame rate in order to get the best moment from the time we had with a particular animal. Thankfully, the Sony cameras that I use are more than up to the task of getting every frame I need with very sharp results.

For the rabbits and cats we went indoors and used a white backdrop that Talya provided. For these shots I had to bring in an external flash to capture the images as the room lighting was too yellow. Often times shooting indoors will create photos with too much of a yellow tint. Thankfully, flashes blast out white light that gives you a much better color rendering.

I did want to mention that I was overjoyed to see my friend Cassie (pictured above) at this shoot. She had moved away to the South Bay for a few years and I did not expect her to be in Auburn for this session. Cassie is an amazing person and great cosplayer. Her Rey is really on-point!

I had a great day shooting at the Animal Services Center in Auborn. A huge thanks goes out to the volunteers who helped get all the animals out and ready for the shoot - you can see them pictured in blue above. It’s my hope that the photographs we took today helped some of these animals find a home!

Kimera's Grad Photoshoot

This past Saturday I was on site at Sac State University to photograph Kimera’s graduation photos. I am very familiar with the campus, and it is a gorgeous place to get some great images. Kimera and I were all over the campus snapping pics of her different graduation outfits. I had a ton of fun on this shoot and I think we were able to capture many memorable images.

Kimera went with my standard graduation package, which gave her plenty of time to go to a huge variety of locations and have outfit changes as well. I tend to shoot quickly, so we didn’t waste any time getting right to the picture taking right away.

Kimera came prepared not only with a change of outfit, but also her own homemade signs that reflected her journey to graduation. These extra items always make the photos look unique - so if you have something you’d like to include, do so!

I love it when my clients have ideas that they want to try. Kimera already had some locations in mind as well as some things she wanted to pull off in the photos we took. I’m always game to try something out as well as add in my own input on how to best capture something. Together we can come up with a great looking picture.

Our shoot was during the mid afternoon - not the best time of day for photos - but we were able to make it work. Much of my post processing was focused on getting the photos to be free of distractions from the background or unpleasant shadows. Though there is quite a bit of post work done on these images, hopefully they don’t look that way!

I’m so glad Kimera contacted me for this graduation photoshoot. I loved working with her on the Sacramento State campus. As graduation time is coming up soon, I’m looking forward to shooting some more graduation photoshoots!

Joe & Bee Tie the Knot!

I had just recently shot Joe and Bee’s engagement session… and now it’s time for their big day already! The wedding was held at a beautiful church in Sacramento and I was excited to capture every moment of this day for the beautiful couple. It was a bit cloudy, so all the photos taken outside had a nice soft and diffused look to them. Sometimes it’s nice to be cloudy!

Joe is a fun guy to be around so I definitely wanted to capture a bit of fun in the photos I took of him and his groomsmen. They boys were up for anything, and since I know they love playing basketball together, I thought a jumping shot would be appropriate. They all did a marvelous job getting some good air!

For the girls, I wanted to capture the sweetness of the moment, so I had them talking and laughing as much as possible. Their natural beauty when they smiled really gave me some great shots of them together enjoying their time together this day.

The ceremony has held in the sanctuary of the church. The interior had a rustic feel to it that lent itself to a classic vibe. It made for some impressive interior photos. This picture was taken in the upper level of the sanctuary by my second shooter Brian.

Although the sanctuary was gorgeous, it was very dark for group photos. I had to bring in my own lighting system to make sure the group photos were well lit. It is vital to have good lighting on hand when it is needed. The light really brought out the detail of everyone in the photograph.

The reception took place at Hong Kong Islander, a Chinese restaurant with a large area for banquets. The cake was set up very close to where I was seated so I was easily able to get some nice shots of it. The detail of the flowers was something I really wanted to capture before it was cut and shared with the guests.

The reception was full of special moments - from speeches, to the first dance, to the flower toss. Everything was documented in still imagery as well as videography. This is a day that I would love Joe and Bee to look back on and remember how fun and awesome their wedding was.

If you’re looking for wedding photography or videography, please contact me ASAP! Dates are filling up quickly, so please let me know if you want to get great coverage of your wedding!