Hybrid Photography - San Diego Wedding Photography

Its official - New Blog!

2009-06-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

I am SUPER stoked to announce that my new blog is finally ready! After days of tweaking and re-tweaking, its finally done! You can now find my blog at:

www.hybridphotographyblog.com

Please make sure to update your bookmarks and RSS to the new address.

See you on the other side! :)

Coming Soon: New Blog!

2009-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update: I've been working hard behind the scenes on a brand new blog! I'm really excited, and its looking great so far. Should be up for release in just a few days.

Hope everyone's having a great week!

Trevor and Darcy - La Valencia Wedding

2009-06-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

Classic.

If I had to choose one word to describe Trevor and Darcy's wedding. classic would be it. The beautiful La Valencia, Darcy's pearls, the 50's music during the reception....all classic and beautiful.

Trevor and Darcy have known each other since second grade. Their wedding day was a perfect culmination of a long road to realizing they were perfect for each other. From the first sight, to the ceremony, to stealing themselves away after the ceremony and being in their own world, they couldn't keep their eyes off each other. You can just feel how deeply they love one another when you see them together.

I had a very, very hard time narrowing down images for this blog post, so it's going to be another really long post, plus a slideshow. :)

(I love pink shoes!)

I just love this first sight sequence...we went up to the top of the hotel to the Sky Lounge and had Darcy sort of sneak up on Trevor. I adore the way he looks at her when he sees her!

I can't possibly begin to tell you how excited I was when I saw this room:

We even ventured into the Whaling Bar for some fun shots!

These next two were what I was talking about when I said they stole themselves away after the ceremony. After 3 minutes or so of being lost in their own world, Trevor looks up and says "oh! I had no idea you were there!" lol :)

I totally love this shot my bother grabbed of the ceiling....he forgot it was a mirror and it ended up having a table reflection in it!

I don't know why I love this random dancing shot so much...

Believe it or not, there's TONS more in the slideshow below!

Dan and Emily's Wedding - El Cajon

2009-06-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Dan and Emily finally tied the knot at Saint John's Lutheran Church in El Cajon....and by finally, I mean that they've been together 9+ years. It was a beautiful wedding celebration of a couple who has been together so long-and always known they were right for each other. Emily is my dad's cousin's daughter (follow that?) so it was extra special for me to be able to capture their special day and get to be behind the scenes with her.

Fair warning: I had a really hard time choosing images for this blog post, so it's kind of a monster post!

Lots of favorites from the wedding day:

Maddy takes the award for cutest flower girl...she's a total ham for the camera as you'll see later...

This was one of the getaway cars....my great uncle Howard's Studebaker. Sooooo awesome.

Emily's dad passed away 10 years ago so both her sisters walked her down the aisle. It was a really sweet moment!

I just love the look of anticipation on her face here as she's ready to kiss her husband for the first time!

Toldja Maddy was a ham ;)

Gorgeous much??

How cute is this shot of Emily and her mom?

This was the other getaway car

Emily got her girls customized flasks..how cool!

If you couldn't tell, Dan's sort of a cowboy, and Emily is actually a rodeo queen, so when I saw the horseshoe, I knew exactly where I was going to do the ring shot!

Congratulations Dan and Emily! Thank you for letting me share your day!

Victoria's Senior Portraits - San Diego

2009-05-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when I first met Victoria...she's one of those totally gorgeous girls that makes my job soooooo easy. We met up last week at Balboa Park to shoot her senior portraits, and as soon as I saw she'd brought TWO guitars, I was quite excited for the possibilities. I love props!

Here are a few favorites:

How pretty is she?!?!

FAVORITE!!! :)

Soooo cute!

This one totally reminds me of my warm film I used to use back in the day...delicious grainy warmth!

Thanks for being such fun Victoria, and congrats on your graduation! :)

Things I've learned from being on crutches

2009-05-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm on crutches right now, and it really sucks! I've got a really bad case of patello-femoral pain syndrome, which is a fancy phrase for runner's knee, which basically means that my kneecap is tracking diagonally when I walk and run, instead of straight up and down. This rubs my knee's cartilage raw and in my case I think it's even bone rubbing on bone when I bend my knee. OUCH!

So I went to the doctor on Monday and have been on crutches ever since. My knee's feeling much better than it was, so I'm hopeful I can be off crutches tomorrow or Saturday. Good thing I don't have any weddings! :) (Not that that would stop me...I'd rather be dying of pain than miss a wedding!)

I've learned some things while being on crutches though, and I thought I'd share:

- Crutches are exhausting! I've been sleeping better these past few nights than I have in awhile, thanks to lugging my body weight around with my arms all day.

- To tie in with the above, crutches are an EXCELLENT arm workout! My triceps especially are feelin' the burn, but my whole upper arm's muscles are firm all day because I keep using them. I feel buff. haha

- It's okay to ask for help! After almost spilling several cups of water and tearing the towel bar from the wall trying to catch myself from falling, I've learned that its totally cool to ask for help carrying something when you're on crutches, and people don't mind helping you because they realize that crutches suck!

- You make lots of friends. Seriously, random people will come up to you and ask what happened, or tell you they totally sympathize with your knee injury (I got a brace from the doc so people can tell it's my knee) or just agree with you that crutches are lame.

- You learn to think if really creative ways to do things, like sitting on your butt and pulling yourself up or down stairs. Or carrying things in your mouth when there's no one around to help you. Or having all your bathroom stuff brought to the downstairs bathroom so you don't have to kill yourself going up to yours.

- Showering is infinitely harder!!! We have 2 types of showers in the house-one that's also a tub, and one that's strictly a shower, and I can't decide which one's better. The shower-only one has that handle in it that I can grab to steady myself once I'm in the shower, but it's REALLY hard to get over the little ledge to doors are one because it's wet and I can't jump in. The tub shower is easier to get in because I can sit and just swing my legs in, but there's nothing to grab onto once I'm in. Conundrum!

So, as I said, hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I will be off of crutches, though I'll still have to wear the brace for awhile all the time, and then just when I'm running. In the meantime I guess I'm relegated to the bike and the elliptical!

Biggest lesson learned: lift weights when you run otherwise your quads won't be as strong as they need to be when you run and your kneecap will track out of place.

Rachael's Senior Portraits - San Diego

2009-05-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I had a great time photographing Rachael for her senior portraits. Cutting it kinda close ;) but we had fun!

And some buddy pics :)

Trevor and Darcy - Naples, CA

2009-04-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the e-session I've been promising!

Trevor and Darcy both grew up in Naples, CA (in Long Beach), which is probably the cutest little community I've ever seen in my life. There's little canals everywhere (like Venice!) and the houses are adorable and it's right on the water. So great! Trevor and Darcy are moving away after the wedding for Trevor's residency, so we really tried to make this session about capturing the neighborhood they both grew up in, as well as their relationship.

Darcy tried to tell me they weren't very photogenic, but in reality they needed almost no direction from me and just look at how cute they are!!!

Here's a few of my favorites:

This next one is my absolute favorite!!

Not photogenic my butt! ;) Can't wait for your wedding you guys!!

Miss Now Mrs.

2009-04-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I know it's been awhile since my last blog post. I'll give myself a little slap on the wrist. *slap* There, all better, right? :)

This past weekend I had a really really awesome engagement session with on of my June couples, Trevor and Darcy. (Pictures coming soon!)

Darcy mentioned this fabulous site, missnowmrs.com and I knew I just had to pass it along because it looks so helpful. Having never been married myself, I can only guess at the huge amount of paperwork changing your name can amass, and Miss Now Mrs. is all about helping you out with that. You fill in all your information once, and it auto fills in all the forms you need in whichever state you're in, PLUS gives you instructions and addresses for each form. You can even order gift certificates if you know someone getting married that could use this service. (It's $29.95) According to the site, it saves the average bride over 13 hours of research and form filling. Pretty good deal, right?

Just thought I'd pass along a helpful tip. :)

Photography as a career

2009-03-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

I've got a confession to make: I've had a Live Journal for EIGHT YEARS. No seriously, I really have. I got it senior year in high school (well now that just makes me feel old) back when you still had to get an invite code to get one. Kinda like Gmail in the beginning. It was mainly to vent the frustrations of a high school senior, but I've actually mostly kept up with it through the years and now it's really fun to go back and venture into my past. I do it often when I'm feeling nostalgic. Or bored.

Today I was perusing in April of 2004 and I've pinpointed the exact day I decided to be a photographer.

April 29, 2004:

"On another note, we had our critique in photo today and everyone loved my pictures I put up. ^__^ It made me feel really good about my photography skills. I think I might want to explore this a little more. I don't know how viable it is for the future, but I really really love it, and I'm doing pretty well on my own without help from the teacher."

How neat to be able to go back and see the very day I decided to do what I do! It's been a long process, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

And because blog posts are no fun without pictures, here's MY senior picture; how I looked when I first made that journal. :) (apologies for the bad scan, I scanned it when I was like 19 lol)

Lake Bed Shoot - Nevada Part 4

2009-03-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

This girl....WOW. I adored Ashely's style from the minute I saw her. A modern pinup girl after my own heart!! So gorgeous!!

Lake Bed Shoot - Nevada Part 3

2009-03-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

This is Rylee....she is SUPER adorable! This was also her first time modeling and she was so great! Here are a couple of my favorite shots of her!

Lake Bed Shoot - Nevada Part 2

2009-02-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

Umm...how GORGEOUS is this girl? There were so many models there though and I got so distracted and only worked with her for a tiny bit. :(

But anywho, here are a few shots of her!

Lake Bed Shoot - Nevada

2009-02-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

One of the models from the lake bed shoot last week near Primm just SCREAMED high fashion to me. Her clothes, her makeup, her shoes and her personality just begged for some super high contrast, edgy post processing. It was fun deviating from the normal for her images. She was super fun to shoot too.

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from her:

I Won! =D

2009-02-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

I must have been extra lucky in Vegas or something, because I won all kinds of neat stuff! No, I didn't win any jackpots or anything, but I did win some cool stuff some great vendors were giving away!

Colorati was giving away t-shirts at a party I was at. These were to be worn around on the tradeshow floor Tuesday and if we were spotted, we got an iTunes gift card plus an entry into a drawing for other stuff. I didn't win the other stuff, but I got some free music and a rad shirt out of it! =D Plus, I learned that Colorati is local (well, as local as Carlsbad is to El Cajon lol)

I attended a talk by JB & DeEtte Sallee and they were giving away some I Shoot People Tour shirts. They say "I Shoot People" with a little camera clip art at the bottom and are too cute! They were throwing them out into the crowd and I actually caught 2 (well, one hit me in the face when I wasn't looking) but I gave away the second one to the girl sitting next to me. :)

Wednesday night I attended a dinner for members of Modern Photographers, a really amazing organization I'm involved with that promotes modern and ultra creative photography by well-respected and qualified photographers. As soon as the senior photography section launches, I'll be running that section of the site, and I'm super excited about it! Mark Eric, the genius behind Modern Photographers, had a bunch of shirts for everyone, so while I didn't "win" so to speak, I AM really really excited to be working with him and Modern Photographers, so I thought I'd give it a mention. Plus, you seriously can never get enough free shirts!

Edit Team threw a fabulous party Monday night at the Peppermill Lounge. It was really retro styled, so of course I loved it. I dropped my business card in the drawing pile, seriously not expecting anything (I NEVER win anything, after all!) and I won a full wedding edit!!! I wasn't even paying attention when they were calling names, because like I said, I never win anything, so they had to yell it like 4 or 5 times before I even noticed. lol In fact, I think someone I was with noticed before I did! lol

Studio Cloud is really really cool studio management software that helps photographers get super organized and together. I've been thinking about it since last year, when I saw them at WPPI for the first time. I stopped by their booth again this year and they were having a cool drawing for either an iPhone or a lifetime membership to Studio Cloud. Your entry was determined by spinning either an even or odd number on their prize wheel, and I spun an entry in the lifetime membership box. Well I got an email today and.....I WON A LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP! I'm seriously telling you I never ever ever win anything, and to win all these awesome things in the span of a week is totally mind blowing and such a blessing!! I'm really excited to start with Studio Cloud and moving forward all invoicing and such will be done through that.

Thank you so much to all of the above awesome vendors for having drawings for free stuff. :) You all rock!

Shoes shoes shoes! - Nevada

2009-02-22T22:28:00.001-08:00

I'm a girl. I love shoes. A lot.

I went on a shoot this past week while I was in Vegas at a dry lake bed in Primm, NV where a bunch of models were wearing some fabulous shoes. Following is like a little mini shoe catalog...

WPPI 2009

2009-02-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week! I had a totally fantastic time in Vegas catching up with friends, learning and getting inspired!

I think that hanging out and networking is almost, or just as, important as the things I learned while in Vegas. In the spirit of networking, here are some pictures from some of the parties and places I went to during WPPI.

Me and my SD photog buddy Melissa McClure

Me and my buddy Tim who technically lives in Orlando but shoots so many cool places he really doesn't stay there much. I'm jealous. lol

Okay funny story here...Mark Eric and I have been working together on various iterations of cool senior photography sites for quite some time, and have been trying to meet each other for like 2 years. Last year at WPPI we were both there and it just didn't work out. Also, he was here in San Diego last year and I had to work so again, it didn't work out. But finally! This year in Vegas, we caught up with each other (twice, even). Hooray!

Gretchen and I are meant to be bffs, I think. We're so similar, it's craaaaaazy. I think she should seriously reconsider living in AZ and come back to San Diego!

WPPI 2009!

2009-02-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it's that time again? That's right, I'm headed off to Vegas on Sunday for this year's WPPI conference in Las Vegas!

If you remember from last year, WPPI is the one time of year us wedding and portrait photographers from around the world meet up in Las Vegas for a week of learning, shooting and partying it up with each other.

I'll be gone from Sunday through Thursday, so I'll have limited email time, but I will be checking in for anything pressing. And I'll probably blog some stuff too. :)

I hope everyone has a fabulous week, and if you're at WPPI and see me, please come say hello! I just dyed my hair red last night so I'm easy to spot! See?

:)

Proposing on Valentine's Day in San Diego?

2009-02-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

One of my dreams is to secretly photograph a wedding proposal the bride has no idea about. And with Valentine's Day coming soon, what better time than that?

So I've decided to run a contest. (hooray!) If you're planning on proposing to your girlfriend in San Diego this Valentine's Day, I would love to sit in some bushes, hide behind a light post, or crouch behind a bench and secretly capture your proposal and her reaction.

Send me an email (alyssa@hybrid-photography.com) with "Proposal" as the subject, and tell me the story of you and your girlfriend, and your plans for the proposal. One guy will be chosen to have his proposal photographed, and will receive all images on a disk, just for letting me indulge my romantic girly side.

Be sure to pass this around to anyone you might know who is getting engaged this Valentine's! :)

Dan and Emily - El Monte Park

2009-01-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I looked out the window when I got up and saw all the clouds, and I was nervous! I saw it had rained just a bit overnight and was praying that it would hold off till late morning. Why? Because I was going to shoot Dan and Emily's engagement photos! Emily is the daughter of my dad's cousin. Got that? lol I'm not sure what that makes her to me as far as relatives, but the point is, she is family an I couldn't be happier that her and Dan chose me to shoot their engagements and wedding!

The rain did indeed hold off till late morning, in fact, as I was driving away from El Monte Park it started sprinkling a little bit. Here are a couple of my favorites!

Are you kidding me with those eyes?!?!? Gorgeous!!

Handsome Dan! (Inadvertent Wayne's World reference...lol Points if you no what I'm talking about!)

I'm so excited for the wedding in June!

Things I Love Thursdays

2009-01-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

The Chargers loss has put me in no mood to do a happy cheery video this week. (Really, I just don't want you all to see my tear-stained, makeup smeared face. hahaha) I'm just so let down!

- Cardinals

Okay, I am now rooting for the Cardinals...really anyone but the Steelers, but the Cards are as big of an underdog team as the Chargers were, and I always love an underdog story. Plus Kurt Warner's a pretty cool dude. Go Cards!!

- 85 degree weather

Okay, I'm sorry to brag about this to everyone back east where apparently it's literally freezing all day long, but we've been having some awesome weather this week and I'll just add that to the list of reason why San Diego RULES.

- WPPI!

If you were around the blog last year in March, you'll remember that I spent a week in Vegas at the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention in Las Vegas. Well this year it's in February and I can't begin to express how excited I am to see all my cross-country photographer friends again, and meet new ones! Besides being one big giant party, there's all kinds of amazing speakers, get togethers and shooting opportunities to be had, and I've been looking forward to this since I went home from last year's. Super super super excited!!

If you are reading this right now, and going to WPPI, then we must get together! Send me an email (alyssa@hybrid-photography.com) with your cell # and we will make sure to hook up! I can't wait to see everyone! :)

Things I Love Thursdays

2009-01-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry everyone, no totally hyper video this week. :) I have been quite busy with my website launch, and the subsequent email problems it caused, so no time to record a video, just this short text. Pretty boring, huh? (The correct answer is "oh no, not boring at all!" haha)

-I LOVE MY CHARGERS!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!

I love my boys and all, but I wasn't so sure we could beat the Colts. I knew there was a chance, but especially with LT and Gates hurt I wasn't totally convinced. hah Well I'd just like to say how amazing that game was! What a way to win!! I really really hope there is some sort of tiny chance that we can win this weekend against the Steelers; that would be FABULOUS. We will see. But serious props to Darren Sproles for kicking some serious butt out there. I love my Philip but Sproles was the main reason we won that game.

- Will Forte

This video is the funniest thing I've seen in a really long time.

Okay, that's really it for this week, toldja it;d be short! :) Hopefully I will be talking about the Chargers beating the Steelers next time!

Email is back!

2009-01-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to throw it out there that my email is back online, and I can now receive messages again. If you emailed me in the last 3 or 4 days, please note that I have not received it, and send another email if you'd be so kind.

And thank you to everyone for your kind comments on the new website! If you haven't checked it out, please do so at www.hybrid-photography.com

Things I Love Thursday - Delayed edition

2009-01-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

So this video was supposed to air on Thursday, as well as my website launching, but there were some serious technical difficulties with it, and it's finally just been resolved. Needless to say I am less than pleased but all is well now and here is the video that was supposed to air on Thursday, so just pretend it's still then. lol

And GO CHARGERS!!!

And I'm really very excited about my new website launch....please go have a look-see around and lemme know what ya think! :) www.hybrid-photography.com

Email is being a little sketchy still, so if I don't respond within 24 hours, please send another one! :)

Stereo Summer - Soma main stage

2008-12-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

Anyone who's followed my blog for a bit has seen this band before....my friend Sean is the singer and always lets me come play around and shoot their shows. Well, as they're a relatively new band, they've usually been on the side stage of Soma or a small Epicentre stage, but not this time! I was so excited when Sean told me they'd be playing on the main stage! Super awesome, right? Not to mention the lighting is MUCH better on the main stage AND I got the nice barrier between me and the crowd, so I had a ton of fun playing around with these images. And hooray for Stereo Summer on the main stage! Go listen to them now, they rule.

On to the images from the show! (Yeah, you can tell they had fun up there too! lol)

Things I Love Thursday - Christmas edition

2008-12-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

Top 10 of 2008 - Weddings

2008-12-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

In continuation of my top 10 of 2008 series, here's the big show! That's right, weddings! Can I just throw in again how much I love what I do? Going through all the weddings from this year and remembering how much fun each one has been makes me so grateful that I do what I love most in the world: take pictures of people in love. What could be better than that, right?

These images are all very different....I love them for many different reasons, whether is be a technically great shot, a cool detail or a rad composition, but mostly I love the moments captured here. Catching things most people don't even remember or realize happened probably is one of my favorite things!

Here are my 10 favorite wedding images of 2008:

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Top 10 of 2008 - Seniors

2008-12-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

I seriously can not believe the year is almost over! Can it really be time for another best of 2008 series? It honestly seems like just yesterday I was writing my best of 2007 post. Crazy!

I thought I'd start off with my top 10 favorite senior portraits from 2008. Enjoy!

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

So there you have it! My top 10 favorite senior images from this past year. Next up-weddings! :)

Things I Love Thursdays - Video Edition

2008-12-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

It's video time! :)

Things I Love Thursdays

2008-11-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

I'm back from my Things I Love Thursdays hiatus. I don't really have a good excuse, so "I'm sorry" will have to do! Next Thursday might or might not have a post, since it IS Thanksgiving and all...we will see how things go.

Here are this week's things I love!

- Draw My Thing

I know, I know, it sounds really nasty, but I promise it's not. It's really quite fun and addicting! It's basically an online version of Pictionary that you can play with either strangers or set up a private room and play with friends. A few nights ago I was playing with a bunch of fellow photographer friends and I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. For the most part I think photographers are not the greatest drawers (is that a word?) so some things were rather ambiguous to say the least. Try it! It's fun!

- Charger game on Sunday!

No, I'm not loving the Chargers' most recent performance (grrrrrr!!!!) BUT I am going to the game this Sunday night against the Colts! Hooray! The last time I went to a game I was in 4th grade I think and it was a pre-season one at that. So I've never been to a real, regular season game before and I am excited! It's the Sunday Night Football game this week so look for me in the stands...I'll be sitting to the left of the jumbotron as you face it, about mid-way down, decked out in my Philip Rivers jersey. :) GO CHARGERS!!

- True Bride Confessions

I totally can't remember where I saw this site but now that I've found it, I admit that I'm hooked! I check it every day to see things that real brides are saying when they say it anonymously. Some make me sad, some make me laugh, but they are always entertaining.

Cemeteries are awesome!

2008-11-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

So I kind of have a personal love for really old cemeteries. I just think they're awesome and tell some really neat stories. A couple weeks ago, my mom and I went to go visit her grandparents' graves at Holy Cross Cemetery and we wandered over to the really old section from when it first opened and I took some pretty neat images.

Also we went up to Julian and randomly came across the cemetery up there and there were some really old graves! Some were so old they were only marked with cement blocks with a last name and a death date etched into it.

Here are some images from both places.

Ryan and Zandra - Quail Botanical Gardens

2008-10-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I got to second shoot once again for my buddies and favorite people, the Baxters. Ryan and Zandra were married at the Quail Botanical Gardens up in Encinitas...a totally rad venue! Here are a few of my favorite images from Ryan and Zandra's special day!

Thanks Dave, Kimi and April for having me out to shoot! I love shooting with you guys!

Things I Love Thirsdays - Help Me! edition

2008-10-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I come to you in my time of contest voting need once again. See that little widget to the right of this blog entry that says "Vote for Me"? Well I would be ever so grateful if you'd go ahead and click on that once today and once tomorrow....you can vote for me once a day till the end of October I believe.

What are you voting for me for, you may ask? It is for a competition for home-based businesses, in the category of "most glamorous" home based business. I think wedding photography totally qualifies, don't you? :)

So thank you thank you in advance!

Things I Love Thursday

2008-10-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Time to announce the winner of my contest for Seth Godin's new book, "Tribes". And the winner is......*drumroll*

Greg Coats of Tres Bebe! Congrats Greg! Send me your address so I can get your prize in the mail. :) (alyssa@hybrid-photography.com)

- This Nike Commercial

How awesome is this commercial? Okay, maybe I'm slightly biased because I love LT, but really, it's very well-done and I really enjoy it every time it comes on. And man oh man, that hit almost hurts every time I see it. lol

- The Tampa Bay Rays

Okay so really I don't care one little bit about baseball, but I DO love an underdog, and really who is more of an underdog than the Rays? The Rays in the world series? Really? I think it's fantastic and just goes to show that you don't always have to be the biggest or most successful to win. The little guys really do have a chance. :)

Things I Love Thursdays - Contest Edition!

2008-10-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! For this week's Things I Love Thursday I will be sharing with you all something I love, and read every day, and that is Seth Godin's blog. If you're in business for yourself...and even if you're not, I highly recommend reading he blog daily. It's absolutely a wealth of marketing information.

And now for the contest! A few months ago, Seth announced his new book "Tribes" was going on presale and I ordered one right away.

Well Seth was so kind as to send a free early bird copy out last week to the early adopters in addition to the one we ordered. Yup, a free book to give to someone. Isn't Seth the coolest? So here's where the contest comes in.

Leave a comment below saying why you think you should get a free copy of Seth's book and I will draw from everyone who responds. (No family allowed this time lol) I will announce the winner on next week's Things I Love Thursdays, so make sure you get your comment in by midnight next Wednesday!

Things I Love Thursdays

2008-10-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

- Ryan Longwell

I would like to thank the Viking's kicker Ryan Longwell for helping me win in my fantasy football league this week. I was 7.5 points behind going into Monday night's game and I honestly wasn't sure he could pull it off for me. But lo and behold, the Saints played REALLY badly and Longwell kicked me a 52 yarder that all but secured the victory for me. So thank you Ryan Longwell. You're now my second favorite kicker behind Nate Kaeding. lol

- Wordle

This incredibly cool site called Wordle lets you input words or link to your blog or any website and it will make you some sweet word art. I made a really cool one by linking it to my blog the other day but I forgot to save it...I did print it out though and it's hanging on my wall. Here's another example from my blog verbiage:

title="Wordle: sample"> src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/235593/sample"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

- Pro Photo Thursdays

Pro Photo Thursdays (PPT) is a group I belong to of local photographers that gets together once a month (on Thursdays, obviously :) ) to talk shop, network, hang out, eat and share. Tonight's time again for PPT and I'm very excited! I love this bunch of photographers and have a blast every time we all hang out. If you're in the San Diego/So Cal area and not a member of PPT, contact me for the info and I'll get it to you. It's really been an invaluable resource for creative ideas and new relationships in photography. As Tim Sanders says in "Love is the Killer App", "Your network is your net worth."

Things I Love Thursdays

2008-10-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

- Chargers beating the Raiders

This is ALWAYS a good thing...I can't even begin to describe my disdain for the Raiders. Phil had me worried for a bit there....but he got his game face back on and the 4th quarter ruled. Nate gave me quite a scare too....the best kicker (IMO) in the league missing two in one game? Totally ridiculous. I guess everyone has their off days though! :)

- My friends the Baxters of Ohana Photography

Really I love all of my photographer friends but the Baxters have been so kind to me letting me second shoot with them (really I like to just watch them do what they do!) so much this year so they get a super great awesome friends award. Every time I go shoot with them I'm in hysterics and have vast amounts of fun. Not to mention they are AMAZING at what they do. Really. Go look at their blog. Go ahead, I'll wait.......see? What'd I tell you? So thank you dudes very much for being so rad to me. I love you guys!

- Sigur Ros - in concert!

Yeah! The day has finally come! Last night I got to see one of my all-time favorite bands live and in person. I can not even begin to describe how amazing they are. Seeing them live was probably the best experience of my life thus far. No kidding! There's no way I can get across to you how amazing they were and the total experience of it all. In fact I was so enamored by them, I only took this one photo from my iPhone. lol

And I was only 5 rows back. WOW. If they ever come back, you KNOW I am so there, and I advise you to be also! :) Here's a tiny sampling of what they are like live, but it totally doesn't do them justice...

Things I Love Thursdays

2008-09-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

I guess by now y'all are probably used to the Things I Love Thursdays and don't really need an intro anymore. hah So...on to this weeks things I love!

- Philip Rivers

Yes, I admit it, I've got a little school girl crush on the guy...but this week I'd like to thank Mr. Rivers for helping me win in both my fantasy leagues. heh I'd also like to thank LT, Buster Davis and Chris Chambers for helping his passes end in touchdowns so I could get more points. Thanks guys. But really...it's about time the Chargers won again and played like the team I know they are, even without Merriman.

- Writing Letters

I've re-discovered the lost art of letter writing this past week in a big way. Once I got my "adopted" soldier from AAUSS I wrote him a short snail mail letter straight away, and have decided to do so once a week. I went out and bought some actual stationary yesterday before I wrote my second letter so at least I'm not sending them on lined notebook paper. lol But really, once I got into it, it was fun! Except for my hand cramping at the end. I've got to build these hands muscles back up for writing! lol Once again, I highly encourage going to adopt a soldier at the link above...it's very addicting!

- The new Canon 5d Mark II

Goodness gracious this new camera body is going to rock! Among other techy things, it shoots HD VIDEO. Holy cow! The samples I've seen from it so far are quite amazing and I think it's going to play a big part in the future of this industry. (Slideshows with moving video clips in them anyone?)

- This man:

Okay that's all I've got this week...coming soon are some images from a cool wedding I second shot for the Baxters last weekend at the Quail Botanical Gardens.

John and Rachel - Hilton Mission Bay Resort

2008-09-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

I got to shoot an awesome wedding last month for John and Rachel. They said their vows at the Hilton Mission Bay Resort and it was just a gorgeous day. It was REALLY windy though and John and Rachel had to switch side during the ceremony so Rachel's veil wouldn't blow in her face. lol :)

After the ceremony we headed over to the poolside reception area for a totally rockin' time as the sun set and made a gorgeous backdrop.

As the night ended, we headed down to the water to catch some shots with the Sea World fireworks in the background. John's uncle works for the pyro team over there and threw in some heart-shaped fireworks for them! How cool is that??

Anywho, here are a few of my favorite shots (so hard to nail it down) and the slideshow. :) Enjoy!

Pink shoes...are you kidding me? =D

Ahhh how cute is Rachel's face here? I dunno what Johnsaid, but sweet picture, huh?

Love the cake!

Slideshow! :)

Things I Love Thursdays

2008-09-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I like these little Thursday postings so I can pass on neat things I find to you, my loyal (or maybe not? lol) blog readers. Word of mouth is, after all, the best form of advertising. :) Here's this week's list:

- Adopt a Soldier

This is the coolest. You (individually or as a group) sign up to Adopt a Soldier and send him or her care packages, letters, etc. Give them a little boost in morale and let them know we are thinking about them. Reading through the letters on the site it's so sad to see how many soldiers feel forgotten and unloved because of people's opinions on the war. Remember, this is the soldier's job...they have no option when they get sent to Iraq, so please, even if you don't support the war, support the soldiers. They certainly deserve it. Think about signing up for this...what a great way to do something cool for them!

- Fat Cookie

Oh my gosh. You MUST go to this website and see the delicious things they have to offer. They let you make your own cookie and they'll bake, wrap and ship them for you. Need a present for your grandma who lives out of town for her birthday? Send her some cookies from Fat Cookie. You can order a pre-made recipe or create your very own, using a dough of your choice and any number of flavors. Kind of like Coldstone for cookies. Yummy!

- This neat hue differentiation test

This thing is neat! You have to do your best to put these slightly different hues in their correct order. How precise is your color differentiation? I got a perfect score. (Must be good for editing, that's for sure!)

2009 Pricing

2008-09-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned in the past how I am in the process of building a new website, getting new branding, and also raising my prices. That time is almost here my friends and I just wanted to throw a little reminder out about it. If you've been waiting to send in an inquiry, now is the time! Pricing will be going up in about a month, so if you'd like to get the current pricing for your wedding, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Just a friendly little reminder. :)

Isaiah's Senior Pictures - La Jolla Cove

2008-09-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I went out with the third of my senior reps, Isaiah, to shoot his senior pictures.

Isaiah's the kind of person who makes you laugh so hard you almost forget what you were doing. I can't count the number of times I asked him to do something, and he'd make a funny comment, and then I'd laugh and forget what he asked me to do. This was probably one of the most entertaining sessions I've ever done!

Here are some images from his session:

Things I Love Thursdays - September 11th Edition

2008-09-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

Good morning folks! I'm sure I don't have to remind you, but today is the anniversary of September 11th. And so today my love post will be dedicated to only one thing I love - America.

I can't believe it's been SEVEN years already. I feel like unless you were directly impacted, that people have forgotten, especially out here in San Diego, the opposite side of the country. I don't know about you but I could NEVER forget that morning.

I was a senior in high school getting up in the morning for school. As I stepped out of the shower and started to dry myself off, I heard my mom gasp downstairs and say "OH MY GOD". She had just watched the second plane hit. I got dressed as fast as I could and ran downstairs to see what had happened. Of course the replays of the second plane hitting were non-stop, and as one of the anchors said "Now we know for sure. This is an act of terrorism on the United States" it really sunk in.

I got to school and immediately went into a favorite teacher's room to watch more coverage as many other kids had already done. We watched in horror as the anchors talked of a plane heading towards the Pentagon and another towards the White House but it was in PA right then and what was it going to do? The bell rang and classes started and no one did anything all morning except turn on the tvs and watch the coverage.

We cried when we saw the people jumping and when the towers fell. The thought of all those lives being lost just devastated me.

The worst part was going back to school the next day and feeling like everyone had forgotten what had happened the day before. I've always been pretty emotional but I still was shocked that no one seemed to care anymore, and I still feel that way today.

Maybe it's different the closer you get to Ground Zero, I don't know. But the general idea to me seems to be that no one is remembering the thousands of people who died for no good reason that day. I bet the families of the victims don't feel that way.

So as you make your way throughout the day today, take a minute and remember how lucky you are to be here right now, and think of those who were killed that day and their families. Whatever your opinion of Bush, remember that we haven't been attacked on home soil since that day...he must be doing something right.

We are protected. We are free. We are so blessed.

Just don't forget that.

Things I Love Thursday

2008-09-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Dang I can't believe it's Thursday again already!

Here's some thing I love this week!

-Fantasy Football

I've joined a league that my buddy Matt Sloan started for a bunch of his Twitter buddies. This is my first year of playing FF, so I'm really super excited to see how this goes.

-Twitter

Speaking of Twitter, if you're not using it by now, you really should be! It's totally addicting and I just had my 1000th update yesterday. I haven't even been on it that long. lol Really, though, join!

-Firefox

With all the buzz about Google's new browser Chrome, I thought I should once again profess my love for Firefox. It just doesn't get any better. Chrome may be snappy but I don't see anything really special about it. (yet.) And that's saying a lot because I love Google too. I just love Firefox more. :)

Briana's Senior Session - Green Valley Falls

2008-08-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

This is Briana. She's one of my reps for this year. She's beautiful! We drove up to Green Valley Falls a couple weeks ago for her senior session and we totally had a blast! I was excited to see there was actually water in the falls still, even at the end of summer. I LOVE this location and I can't wait to shoot there again. :) Here are some of my favorite images of Briana:

Things I Love Thursday

2008-08-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Time for another Things I Love Thursday! :)

~ Michael Phelps will be hosting Saturday Night Live on the 13th of September for the season premier. Yes, I certainly will be watching. haha This should actually prove fairly entertaining!

~ Regular season football is back next week! Hooray! I looooove football, the Chargers in particular, and LT specifically. I just bought myself a second LT jersey a few days ago because I only had a white away jersey. Now I have a home one. ^_^

~ Lately I've totally been loving the Photoshop Disasters blog. As a fairly well-versed photoshop user myself, I find these PS faux pas by big companies totally hilarious. Like this one from Kona bikes:

That's all for this week, stay tuned for more of my favorite things *cue cheesy favorite things song*

Things I Love Thursday Friday

2008-08-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

Oops....forgot my Thursday blog post. *sheepish grin* To my defense I have a lot going on right now. lol Here's this week's things I love:

~ Bristol Motor Speedway!

Yes, I secretly love NASCAR (okay, maybe not so secretly!) and this week they are at Bristol! It just doesn't get any better than this super short track, beatin' and bangin' into each other...I just hope Kyle Busch doesn't win. I can't STAND that guy!

~ Perez Hilton

Yes, I admit it. I'm addicted to the self-proclaimed "Queen of all media"'s blog. I just can't stop myself. lol If you're bored and looking for some juicy celeb gossip, then definitely head on over to Perez's blog. I've been especially fond of all the Michael Phelps coverage lately. ;)

~ My logo designer, Joan at Bitsy Creations

I've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes the last few months updating my branding, website, blog and pricing, and Joan has been SUCH a huge help in the process. You'll get to see her work when I unveil my new look in a few weeks, but in the meantime I'd just like to give a public shoutout to Joan and say THANK YOU for all your help! If you need a logo or business card design, or actually I think she does greeting cards too, then head over to her website and take a little look-see. :)

That's it for this week! Stay tuned next week because I have a couple senior sessions to blog and I'm shooting a rockin' wedding tomorrow so I'll have some good stuff for y'all!

Andrea's Senior Session - Downtown San Diego

2008-08-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went downtown with Andrea to shoot her senior portraits, and let me tell you, I had an absolute blast! We were laughing pretty much the entire time...this girl is hilarious! And I lover her edgy style...so I rolled with it on my processing and used some more textures and stuff. I looooveeee how they turned out! Here are a few favorites:

That last one is my total favorite from the session. Andrea totally rocked it!

Ashley's senior portraits in Ocean Beach

2008-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went down to Ocean Beach with Ashley, who is one of my senior reps this year, to do her senior session. I've actually never shot down in OB before but I've always loved the character and grungy beach feeling of the area. After we cruised around the pier and down Newport, we headed over to Sunset Cliffs to try and catch a sunset, but it was totally overcast, so we made do. :) I had a total blast with Ashley! She's so much fun!

Here are a few of my favorite images:

Things I Love Thursday

2008-08-14T10:40:00.001-07:00

Oops, it's been exactly a week since my last post. I have lots of things to post, I promise! I've just been moving this whole week. It takes up soooo much time. :( I'm all settled in now, so hopefully I should have something up tomorrow!

Here are the things I'm loving this week:

~The Olympics!

I love watching the Olympics every time it's on (in the summer anyways!) Gymnastics, swimming, diving, volleyball....all good stuff!

~As an addition to the above, I LOVE MICHAEL PHELPS! haha

I mean really, how could you not? The guy is amazing. It's absolutely indescribable. Watching him blow by everyone else is so much fun. Oh and the 4x100 freestyle relay? WOW. Best moment in the Olympics so far I think.

~My iPhone.

I've had the iPhone for a little over a month now, and with a few tiny exceptions, it's flawless and I absolutely adore it. I highly HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for a new phone, and especially to women looking to lighten their purse! My on little iPhone replaces my old cell phone, my iPod, my appointment book and my mileage log notebook in my purse. When I first took those things out it felt like I was just missing everything! My shoulder has definitely thanked me though!

That's it for this week's Thursday loves, I'll have some more fun things next week. :)

Things I love Thursdays

2008-08-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start a new little feature on my blog called "Things I Love Thursdays" where, you guessed it, I will be featuring some things I love that week in a random, list-ordered fashion.

Things I love this week:

~Tickets for the pre-season Chargers game against the Seahawks can be had for $10 on stubhub.com and I definitely plans on attending. My goal is to make it to two Charger games this season (preseason counts!). Definitely won't be going to the Jetts game...tickets jumped to a minimum of $100 a pop after the Brett Farve announcement today.

~Fashion blog You Look Fab has a great post about this season's best and worst trends and I have to say I totally agree with Angie's perception. I read this blog daily and highly recommend it.

~Seniors! This Saturday will kick off a 5 weekend in a row span of senior portrait sessions and I couldn't be more excited. I looooove shooting seniors and I can't wait for all of my appointments in the next month!

~All of my photographer friends! My birthday was on Tuesday and I got the most birthday wishes I've ever gotten. You all made my day so good, and it's so appreciated. I love all of you! <3

That's it for this week's Things I Love Thursday, I'll have some more cool stuff up next week. :) Toodles!

Ch ch changes

2008-08-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let everyone know that there are going to be some really cool branding and website changes coming in the near future! I'm very close to getting everything finalized, and as soon as it's ready you'll be the first to know. :) So stay tuned for all kinds of new website and branding hotness, and a contest too!

Tony and Shannon - Thursday Club

2008-07-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the total privilege of second shooting for my awesome amazing super-talented friends the Baxters at Tony and Shannon's wedding. The ceremony took place at St. Agnes Catholic Church, a totally gorgeous place, and the reception was at the super cool Thursday Club! This wedding was all kinds of crazy fun, so be prepared for a loooong post. :)

I know. How gorgeous is she, right?

Shannon's dad was so fun!

Here she was reading him a passage out of her grandmother's old prayer book that she was carrying down the aisle. So sweet!

I love the look on Tony's face here. Like "OMG I'm married!"

Again with the gorgeousness!

Shannon's sister's toast was so sweet. :)

Congratulations Tony and Shannon! And thanks again to the Baxters for having me out!

ad the winner is.....

2008-07-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Lucky commenter number 6! Who, oddly enough, happens to be my brother. lol! I even did the random thing twice because I forgot to screen shot it the first time and it came up with 6 both times. I guess it was meant to be him!

Congrats little brother :) and thanks to all who played along.

I'd also like to mention that I'm working on a brand new website complete with a new logo and images, so expect that launch sometime within the next few weeks! I'll probably have another contest then too to celebrate so be sure to come back and take a little look-see.

Post number 100!!!! (and a contest)

2008-07-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe this is my 100th blog post! It seems like a lot, but in comparison to people like Becker or David Jay it's really nothing at all.

In any case, I'm proud of my little blogosphere I've created here so I'd like to thank my loyal readers with a little contest. Leave a comment on this entry about anything. Tell me a story, post a picture or just say hi by noon this Friday the 25th. One lucky random commenter will win a $15 Amazon gift card. So start commenting! :) (This means you, my lovely blog stalkers!)

The real reason I came here to post though was to share some absolutely hilarious sites I've come across the last few weeks that struck my fancy. The first is about really really bad cake decorating complete with pictures. SO funny. See Cake Wreck for some silly cakes.

The other one is especially suited to my humor. I'm a self-proclaimed grammar nazi so I looooove sites like this that poke fun at bad grammar use. The "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks is a riot for lovers of correct grammar. I had tears rolling down my face while reading the commentary.

Go check 'em out!

Chaz and Cori's wedding - Ramona, CA

2008-07-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Chaz and Cori were married last month at Cori's parents' absolutely beautiful home in Ramona. It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony and I was honored to be able to capture it. Coordination for the event was provided by my cousin Laura Klindt of Personal Touch Weddings and Events, a fabulous wedding planner!

Here are a few images from the day:

Erics graduation from Granite Hills High School

2008-07-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it. My little brother graduated from high school last month! High school! That means he's starting college in the fall! Ahhh! Where did the time go?

I'm so proud of Eric, he graduated with honors and some crazy good gpa. He was like 28th in a class of 600+! I took a couple of pictures during graduation from our vantage point up in the nosebleeds.

While they were walking in. I think the second one kind of looks like a bigfoot sighting. lol

That's a lot of teenagers in one place!

Getting his diploma *sniffle*

Ummm..I think he was a little excited. ;)

With our parents and me.

I know I said it already, but I'm just so dang proud of my brother! He worked really hard in high school and I really couldn't be happier with the man he's become. He's my best friend really, and I love him. :)

Okay, sappy moment over. Back to your regularly scheduled blog reading. :)

Ryan's Senior Portraits - La Jolla Cove

2008-06-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I've been a terrible blogger!! I am sorry blogosphere of mine! I have some lame excuses like being really busy and some medical issues, but you don't want to hear about those, right? You came here for some pictures!

This is Ryan, another late class of 2008'er who needed pictures taken for his graduation announcements (which I also designed!). Here's a couple of my favorites.

As for my absence, I certainly haven't been resting on my laurels! (wait, what?) I shot my brother's prom group pictures, a rockin' party up in north county with David Baxter and a wedding in Ramona, not to mention coping with the fact that my baby brother is now a high school graduate! *tear* I'll be posting a few pictures from his graduation as well, but in the meantime enjoy these and I promise I'll be back soon!

On a side note, my 100th blog post is coming up here veeeeerrrrrryyyy shortly so be aon the lookout for a little contest to celebrate!

Natalie's Senior Portraits- La Jolla Cove

2008-05-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I headed up to La Jolla Cove to shoot Natalie's Senior portraits. Natalie went to grade school with my brother and I haven't seen her in 4 years since they graduated from 8th grade. She has grown up into such a beautiful young woman!

Here are some of my favorite images.

(On a side note-I almost fell off a cliff getting the above image. I'm glad I didn't because it's one of my very favorites from the session!)

Natalie-thanks for hanging out with me for a bit and being so fun! Good luck next year up north in college, I know you'll do amazingly!

Erica's Senior Portraits

2008-05-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

I love seniors!!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let me explain myself.

I never had cool pictures when I was in high school and I totally felt robbed because all I had were the standard studio shots. Don't get me wrong, they were beautifully lit and posed. But they were....boring. They were not me.

That's why I love shooting senior portraits. I get to create something that's truly them. Something that they can look back on when they're older and say, "yeah, that's EXACTLY who I was in high school."

With that said, I loved working with Erica this past weekend. She is naturally pretty. So laid back and easy going. She was such a breeze to photograph and I love her images! Here are a couple favorites.

I love that last shot. Seriously, how gorgeous are her eyes???

Thank you Erica for being such a doll! :)

Eric's Senior Pictures

2008-04-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Eric and I braved the crowds of Balboa Park's Earth Fair to make some awesome images for his senior portraits.

Ok, that's a lie. We actually had no idea the Earth Fair was going on, so it was a huge surprise to us to find the park so crowded! Eric was totally a trooper though, and we managed to make it seem like we were the only ones around. Not that he's shy around the camera..I've actually done promotional pictures for him before. He's a budding rapper, and quite good!

Here are some of my favorite images from his session:

Nathan and Samantha

2008-04-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to second shoot for some of my favorite people in the world, the Baxters of Ohana Photography at a beautiful home in Escondido.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

How adorable is the look on Nathan's face when he saw Samantha coming down the aisle?!?

LOVE this little boy. He got a little bored during the ceremony. ;)

A little fun during formals. lol

I love the serene look on Samantha's face here...like she is just taking in the scene before her and reflecting on the day.

To the Baxters: I had an absolute blast hanging with you guys...thanks for the opportunity!

Coronado Home

2008-04-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about this house! This was from just this past weekend...I went over to Coronado to shoot the interior of an absolutely gorgeous home for my uncles. It was just stunning inside. I've never seen such a beautiful home in person before. And it's on the market! Some lucky duck gets to live in this place! Here are some of my favorite images of the home:

I loved this sign above the bathroom vanity....how sweet is that?

I took my brother along to help me carry all my lighting equipment and was able to grab this really cool headshot of him, in one of the bathrooms nonetheless!

Coming up this week is a fun wedding I second shot and a rockin' senior session! Stay tuned!

Kitchens kitchens kitchens!

2008-04-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently by my uncles who own and operate a cabinet shop here in San Diego to start photographing some home interiors for their soon-to-be website. Here are some shots from a few kitchens I shot last weekend.

Jacor Construction staff

2008-04-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a chance to update some of the headshots used on my day job's website, jacorconstruction.com. These are some of the fun and friendly smiling faces I get to spend my weekdays with!

WPPI Part 3

2008-03-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Here is the final (for now) batch of Vegas pictures!

I got to meet the beautiful and talented Jasmine Star and Jessica Claire!

Not to mention the always fabulous David Jay, without whose forum I would have never met any of these wonderful people.

Bobbi (of Bobbi+Mike fame) had started a WPPI weight loss challenge on her blog that I participated in...so good to meet you Bobbi!

Also got to meet MA5EN, a super cool local photographer everyone keeps talking about. With good reason. He's a pretty cool dude!

We caught up with Chris Stewart late Wednesday for lunch at Outback.

Us girls had some fun and silly times while we were in Vegas for sure. I'll leave you with our last hurrah of the trip, taken with Melissa's camera set on the dresser.

WPPI part 2

2008-03-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Monday night after we had been walking around the awesome tradeshow all day the Melissa, Rowena, Jeanette and I headed over to the Rio's I-Bar for a party hosted by Photolovecat and Pay It Forward. I had so much fun!!! I was so busy talking and having fun I forgot to take a lot of photos but here are just a few I grabbed with my point and shoot and from others' point and shoots!

WPPI 2008

2008-03-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe WPPI is over! I had an amazing time in Vegas learning from the best wedding photographers, scouting out the newest gadgets and meeting some amazing people. There will probably be a lot of pictures coming in the next few days, but until then, here are just a few from my point and shoot.

More later, I promise! :)

WPPI!

2008-03-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

Goodness gracious I hadn't realized that it's been almost a month since I last posted! Apologies. :)

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be out of the office this week, as I am attending WPPI in Vegas. WPPI is the largest photography tradeshow and 10,000+ photographers show up every year. I'll be answering phone calls and emails when I return Friday.

Have a great week everyone!

Rest in Peace Patsy

2008-02-18T19:47:00.001-08:00

Last week a former client of mine lost her battle with cancer. My prayers are with the Earley family.

Vote!

2008-02-05T13:14:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! Time to get your vote on today if you live in one of the 24 states who's primaries are today! This is one of the most critical elections ever, so make sure your vote is counted. Today's election will drastically affect the country we live in in the future, so no excuses about not caring. ;)

Rock Band!!

2008-02-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I headed over to the Baxter's house for a Rock Band party! A bunch of photographers came over and it was a blast! I surprised myself by being pretty decent at guitar, vocals AND drums. Woohoo!

David snapped a couple pictures of me that are pretty funny...

That's my little buddy Rain in the background. She rules. :)

We certainly couldn't have gotten as far as we did without Samantha's awesome vocals!

Thanks for having me over guys, I had tons o' fun!

Steve and Melissa's Anniversary Pictures

2008-01-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

I had a busy weekend last week! After Saturday's Trash the Dress bash, Sunday I drove up to Carlsbad to take some portraits for Steve and Melissa. They didn't have any engagement pictures taken when they got married a year ago so they decided to come to me for some one year anniversary portraits. :)

This beach is very special for them because it is where Steve proposed to Melissa. They also got married at a church a few blocks down the road from the beach.

Here are a few of my favorites...enjoy!

That's all for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend. And GO CHARGERS!!!

Images from the Salton Sea TTD

2008-01-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

I finally got a chance to sit down and edit a few of the images from this weekend! I'm really excited about some of the shots I got, and I had a lot of fun playing around with editing these. Enjoy! :)

Salton Sea Trash the Dress

2008-01-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

Boy did I ever have fun this weekend! The Trash the Dress shoot at Salton Sea was AMAZING! I met a lot of photographers I've "known" online for awhile and also hung out with some I've already met. It was SO much fun! I'm starting to make edits as we speak, but I wanted to post some of my friend David that I took that cracked me up.

The first proves that he can levitate over water:

And the second I call "crouching tiger hidden photographer" lol:

I promise I will have more up soon but enjoy these in the meantime. :)

Foothills Networking Meeting

2008-01-11T14:38:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to make a quick post and say hello to all the wonderful women I met last night at the Foothills Women in Kingdom Business meeting! It was awesome talking with you all and I look forward to all of our next meetings!

And for everyone else, this will be a fun weekend: a group Trash the Dress shoot in Salton City on Saturday and a portrait session in Carlsbad on Sunday makes for fun posts for all of you! :)

Have a lovely weekend all!

the surprise Christmas present

2008-01-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Goodness I didn't realize it'd been so long since I posted until David bugged me to post. ;) I've been out of commission for a little bit; I got my wisdom teeth yanked out last week! Yikes! I have to say I lucked out though because I've had a pretty easy go of things.

Anywho, remember before Christmas I said I had a surprise session to post after presents were opened? Well the session was for my roommate's brother, of her nephew! Five month old Nathan is the cutest little thing...I just adore him! Maybe I'm biased though. :) Here are a few of the shots we used to make a collage for Nathan's parents for their Christmas present:

Seriously how adorable is that little boy?

Coming up soon will be a cool one year anniversary shoot I'll be doing up in Carlsbad.

Have a great night everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas morning, one of my favorite holidays of the year. (Next to Halloween!) I adore Christmas. Decorations, lights, shopping for presents, getting a tree...it's all so wonderful and fun. But the real meaning of Christmas is even better.

Last night I left the family Christmas party to attend the candlelight Christmas service at my church and it was wonderful! The pastors read the Christmas story from the bible, we sang Christmas songs (my favorite!) and it was a great evening.

But whether or not you believe, Christmas is a time to share with family and friends, and to enjoy the spirit of giving, while having fun receiving too. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and leave you with a few of my favorite decoration photos from the family Christmas party last night.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Looking back on 2007

2007-12-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

Later next week I will be able to post a super secret Christmas session I did, but I have to wait till they open their presents on Christmas so I don't ruin the surprise. :)

In the meantime, some friends of mine on a photography forum I frequent have been posting their top 10 favorite images from 2007, and I thought I would do the same on my blog. It's a fun way to remember things that happened earlier in the year and all the fun I've had.

Without further ado, here are my top 10 of 2007:

10.

This image I took of Aaron during Granite Hills' mens volleyball season is one of my favorites. that kid can spike for sure! And his vertical jump is amazing!

9.

This image of Aaron from The Stranger's Six is from the first show I shot this year, and is still one of my favorites. He's really fun to watch sing. :)

8.

Ahh, my good friend Meg and her ~~fiance~~ now husband David. They had an out of town wedding in Lake Tahoe that I attended as a guest but they had me do their engagement session while they were home visiting because they wanted it at the Hotel Del on Coronado. They are so cute!

7.

I love love LOVE this image I took of my brother for during his senior photoshoot. Sun flare is one of my favorite things to work with and I love how this image turned out. It's one of my brother's favorites too.

6.

This image was shot up north at a winery during OSPWest, a photo conference for the same forum I mentioned earlier. I met so many fantastic people that I converse with on a daily basis, and learned so much! This shot was my favorite from that whole weekend.

5.

Let's ride bikes! This is from Adam and Chelsea's engagement session. they brought a two-seater bike and it fit perfectly, because Adam has a cd out called "Let's Ride Bikes". They rode it around Balboa Park for a little bit and this was my favorite from that set.

4.

Trashing the Dress! Okay, so this dress isn't trashed yet, but it was on it's way. This is from the San Diego Trash the Dress I coordinated with 30 other photographers and about 10 models. It was so much fun! We'll be having another one in January at the Salton Sea that I'm very very excited for!

3.

Here's David and Meg again! Just because I wasn't shooting the wedding didn't mean I didn't take any photos. :) And I just adore this one. Meg looks so radiant!

2.

My number 2 image is from Adam and Chelsea's wedding. They had such a remarkable wedding and it was so emotional and beautiful. This is from their first dance.

And the number one image of the year......

Another from Adam and Chelsea's wedding! This one is Chelsea dancing with her dad during the father/daughter dance. Chelsea and her dad have a close relationship and it was so touching to see their bond while they were out on the dance floor. This one gives me goosebumps every time I look at it. :)

So there it is! My top 10 images from 2007. Next week I will have that secret Christmas session plus a few photos from a benefit show that Stereo Summer played last week for Richard Varshock, who was burned in the October wildfires.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Granite Hills Winter Formal 2007

2007-12-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my brother went to his high school's winter formal so of course I took everyone's formal images. :)

Look at how handsome my brother is! ;)

Here's Evan, who is one of my senior portrait reps, and his date:

Here are a few others:

Had to get a group shot! Can you believe all of these people fit into one limo?!?

Stereo Summer...Take 2!

2007-11-26T20:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Sean asked me to photograph another of his band's show last night down at Soma and I was more than happy to oblige! I love shooting shows, they're a totally fast paced and energetic experience.

Here are a few (ok more than a few..I couldn't decide!) favorites:

Adam and Chelsea's wedding

2007-11-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

I am SO glad Adam and Chelsea asked me to be their photographer....I've known them both for a few years, since before they even met, and it's been a blessing to be able to watch their relationship grow and then to finally document their special day.

Here are just a few images and their slideshow. It was hard to narrow it down because their wedding was such a blast!

And the slideshow is here:

Click for the slideshow!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Eric round 2

2007-11-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my brother and I drove out to La Jolla Cove for round 2 of his senior pictures. His first setting was urban downtown San Diego, so we thought we'd go for some beachy images this time around. Here are some of my favorites!

And stay tuned in the next week, I have a fun wedding coming up this Saturday, plus more senior portrait clients. :)

Jacky's headshot

2007-11-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

I spent a few minutes today with a co-worker of mine to create a new headshot for her to use one her website and on her email signature. We actually took quite a few but here was the winner!

Thanks for letting me try something a little different for headshots Jacky. :)

Time to vote!

2007-11-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ok guys, voting has begun for San Diego's best wedding photographer!
GO HERE and click on "vote now". I'm in the wedding photographer's section at the bottom. I would be forever grateful. :)

Disneyland!

2007-11-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, by popular request (Mr. Baxter!) I thought I'd share some of our...less crazy images from Disneyland on Monday. I have to say, we picked an excellent day to go, there were almost no lines. The longest we waited was 25 minutes, and that's without a fastpass! We ended up getting the annual passes too, so we will be back plenty more times in the next year. Maybe we'll see some of you there! :)

Here are some of our pictures from the ol' point and shoot!

Apparently they sell healthy food at Disneyland now! Who knew?

We got hungry so we nibbled on the giant candy corns. :)

They have the cutest great pumpkin shaped like Mickey!

This guy just cracked me up. :)

You HAVE to go in the Mad Hatter shop and try on hats! The Alice in Wonderland ride was closed though. :(

My friends were mad about it being closed so they tried breaking and entering. It didn't work too well.

We went on the teacups instead :)

I love the product names in Minnie's house in Toontown!

I wanted to bring this big hose back to San Diego to help put out the fires!

And of course, I found the perfect place to stock up on my photography supplies! Good ol' Disneyland...good for just about everything. :)

So there you have it, the Disneyland trip in a nutshell! If any of you out there have passes or would just like to go, we should organize a big group trip!

Safe!

2007-10-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we are safe and sound from the fires here in San Diego. We had to evacuate during the Cedar fire so we were hoping to avoid it this time and so far we have. The only time we'd need to be worried is if the flames in Jamul continued into Harbison Canyon and Crest, as our house backs up against Crest's side.

Everyone continue to stay safe out there, and I'm praying that all of your houses are safe!

Happy Anniversary Adam and Jennie!

2007-10-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Happy anniversary to one of my favorite couples of last year...Adam and Jennie. Hope you've had a great year and here's to many more!

Keith Michael

2007-10-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

I've been such a bad blogger lately! I'm sorry everyone. :( I'll have some new stuff by early next week for you all to look at!

In the meantime I wanted to dedicate a post of one of my high school teachers who lost his battle with cancer last week and who's memorial service was today.

Keith Michael was an amazing man. Everyone who knew him or had him as their teacher loved him and respected him. He was the kind of teacher who inspired you just by being around him. He was always everyone's favorite teacher and he truly loved what he did. He was active as an elder at Community Bible Church on Miramar and was such an amazing Christian.

RIP Keith Michael

(from Brandy and Jesse's wedding last year)

Contact form

2007-10-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

It's come to my attention that my conact form on my website hasn't been working for about a week. I apologize and I will get my webhost directly on it!

In the meantime please feel free to send an email directly to alyssa@hybrid-photography.com or give me a call at 619-368-3824.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Happy October!

2007-10-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's October already! You know what October means? Time to think about those family Christmas cards. :)

Please be aware that around Christmas/holiday time, product production times increase, so I will need to have any orders for Christmas cards in by mid-November at the latest. Which means, October is the time to schedule your holiday family session!

I'll be sending out the first issue of my monthly newsletter in a few days, and there will be a special promotion in it pertaining to those family Christmas cards...so make sure you sign up in the box over to the right------>
before I send it out. :)

New email newsletter!

2007-09-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I've decided to create a monthly client email newsletter, and I'd love for you to sign up. It will have product descriptions, featured sessions, tips and tricks you can use in your own photography, updates on Hybrid Photography and special offers for subscribers only.

Don't worry, I totally hate spam, I promise I will only send one a month. :)

Sign up in the box on the top right of the blog. :)

Ali's Senior Portraits

2007-09-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last week I drove to Oceanside up by the pier to take some senior portraits for Ali. I've never been up to the pier before and I have to say, it's absolutely gorgeous up there! The water is so pretty and unpolluted, unlike some of our other beaches. ;)

Here are a few images from her session:

Senior portraits are some of my favorite things to shoot...mine didn't come out so well so I love creating great images for seniors to remember the best year in their high school life by. :)

Stereo Summer and The Stranger's Six

2007-09-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday night my friend Sean asked me to shoot his band's first show. It was a blast! I found out The Stranger's Six was also playing and they were really fun to shoot.

Here's some of Stereo Summer:

And here's some of The Stranger's Six:

Check out Stereo Summer's music here and The Stranger's Six's music here!

San Diego's Best

2007-09-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Awwww, someone was kind enough to nominate me for Channel 10's Best of San Diego contest in the wedding photography category! I am so honored and very humbled! I am definitely in great company in that category!! Voting doesn't start till the 10th but you can check it out by clicking here.

Thank you to whoever nominated me!!! <333

Foothills Staff

2007-09-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

I've been such a bad blogger lately! I'm sorry everyone. :)

Earlier this week I was asked by my church to do some very quick portraits for our new pastors directory. I came in for about 15 minutes and made these images that everyone was really happy with.

These are our pastors, our two senior pastors Dave and Mark in the front center.

And this is our support staff....my good friend Danita is in the front left. :)

They stuck me up in a scissor lift and took me almost up to the ceiling in the foyer! It was a little scary, but kind of fun too! I love my church. :)

Check out Foothills' website at www.foothillschristianchurch.org

Best friend's nephew

2007-09-04T21:56:00.001-07:00

I got to hang out with my best friend and her new nephew today...he's the cutest little guy. :) Here's a quick imaged I made while she was feeding him. :)

Tagged!

2007-08-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by my buddy Scott who helps me run letsgettrashed.com for a blog game that I'm sure you've seen if you've been to many other photographer's blogs.

The premise is that you share 8 things people might not know about you and then tag 8 other people to do the same. Fun, right? :) Here's 8 things about me you might not have known:

1)I am a grammar geek. I can't stand typos (even though I make them all the time!) and I want to scream when people tYpE lYkE dIs.

2) I am really really really picky when it comes to food. Really. And I try things too, I don't make a decision until I've tried it because sometimes I've been pleasantly surprised. But I'm so hard to take out to eat that no one ever goes out to get food with me. :)

3) I can't stand having things on my desk at work. My room is pretty messy and disorganized but having things on my desk drives me absolutely crazy!

4)Sometimes I think I'm borderline OCD. Like when I'm walking and I hit my arm on something, I have to turn around and ht my other arm too or I feel off balance. Or if I turn one way I have to turn the other to even myself out". It's silly I realize and I don't do it all the time but I can't help it when I do. :)

5) I almost became a public relations rep until I took a PR class in college and realized I hated it.

6) I LOVE NASCAR. Love it! I watch races every weekend. Kyle Petty and Kevin Harvick are my favorite, but I've got a secret crush on Carl Edwards. ;)

7) I really like old movies. I watch them almost every day on TCM when I get home from work. I think I may have been born in the wrong era and should be living in the 50s.

8) I used to be a real emo kid. I went to 3 or 4 shows a week and wre black band shirts and had an explosion haircut. lol But I didn't do it because everyone else was, I did it because I liked it.

Okay, there's my 8 facts, now I tag:

Matt Antonino
Carole Foret
Mark Eric
Dustin Izatt
Hannah Suh
Dawn Malone
Emily James
Eddie Bojorquez

Your turn guys! :)

Big Bear

2007-08-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my trip! Two of my friends and I went to Big Bear this weekend for a little time away. Big Bear is like my home away from home...I've been there so many times I know all the roads by heart.

We stayed in the cutest cabin!

We stopped by the Discovery Center to check out some of the cool nature displays there and HAD to take photos in front of the bear. :)

There was also a really awesome vintage car show in the Village all weekend long. I have a secret love for old cars so this was a special treat!

I was sad to come back; leaving Big Bear is never fun. But it was a great mini vacation!

Out of town (again)

2007-08-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be out of town again until Monday morning. I'm leaving here in about an hour, so I will answer emails and calls when I return.

Have a great weekend everyone!