HO HO HO

I did some family portraits for repeat clients on Monday. We also took a photograph of their son - Deacon, in his special Christmas outfit. He was a great baby to photograph - happy all the time.

Birthday Girl 2

On Sunday we took a few formal 1st birthday portraits of my Granddaughter - Lorelai. Here are two of my favorites.

Birthday Girl

My beautiful granddaughter, Lorelai, had her 1st birthday today. We had all the family over and had a small dinner with birthday cake. It reminded me of my own kids going crazy with the birthday cake. (See below).

My granddaughter is the love of my life. My son and his wife are expecting another daughter this coming February. My wife and I will then have two little girls to spoil.

Colleen and Bill

Last Saturday I photographed the wedding of Colleen and Bill at Robinson Ranch Country Club. The Bride's family are all from Michigan and her Uncle flew in to give her away. It was an awesome wedding - I actually felt like I was part of the family. (Since I lived in Michigan for six years and my favorite football team is Michigan)

We gathered all the Michigan People up and took a group shot with everyone singing "Hail to the Victor" - the University of Michigan's fight song.

Proud to be my Father's Son

I am in Canada to honor my Father today. My Father served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. He served in the North Atlantic on a Destroyer. Next Saturday, November 11th is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the USA. It is a time to remember all those who served to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today.

The Canadian Veteran's Memorial was dedicated today in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is dedicated to all Canadian Veterans who have served in all wars, including my Father from WWII to personal serving today.

My Father served his county over 60 years ago, joining the Navy at 17 years of age. Today I was very proud to be my Father's Son.

Below are some images of my Father, the sculptor of the memorial and some images of a color guard

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Another Day at the Beach

The weather in Southern California has continued to be awesome! We could not have asked for more perfect beach weather than last Friday as Amy Lynn and Chris has some engagement images taken. Unfortunately they were late arriving due to L.A.'s famous traffic. We had to work quick, but still captured fun images, beautiful portraits and of course - some edgy shots.

I am off to Canada this week to visit my family and take a course in Niagara Falls. I will definitely post some images from my trip next week.

A Day at the Beach

The weather this last weekend was awesome here in Southern California. Perfect beach weather. Luckily I had the opportunity to take engagement photographs of Sharon and Nolan. Sharon had not been to the beach this year so she was ready to have some fun. Even the cold water temperature did not deter Sharon and Nolan from getting wet.

I always enjoy the beach. My favorite is El Matador on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Lucky me - I get to visit the beach again this week for another engagement shoot.

Gone Fishing!

My oldest son is an avid fisherman. One of these days I will get off the computer and go with him. I have a new fishing rod I purchased in August and still do not have the reel on it. My son took a few hours off his job today and just dropped by to show me his dinner.

Teresa and Andy

We spent last week with Teresa and Andy at their wedding in Thousand Oaks. We then headed to Westlake Village for the reception. After having the Weatherman threatening us with rain all week - the day turned out to be a beautiful Autumn day.

Go Blue

The only difficult thing about shooting weddings in the Fall - is college football. College football games are usually played on Saturdays, when most weddings take place. We breath maize and blue in our family. Michigan rules in our house while the rest of the neighborhood worships USC and UCLA. I am shooting a wedding in November and the Bride's family are all Michigan fans! (Maybe we can get some shots of the bride watching the game)?

My Michigan team is undefeated this year and tomorrow they meet Michigan State. All I can say is "GO BLUE".

Dark Side Tonight

Tonight my three sons and I are going to the Hollywood Bowl to catch Rogers Water (from Pink Floyd fame) perform Dark Side of the Moon in it's entirety. In my household - Pink Floyd is one of the few musical groups than spans many generations of musical tastes. We all love Pink Floyd - even our dog - Ozzy (named after Ozzy Osbourne).







Speaking of dark, I am still working on images from last weekend's wedding shoot. This image of Joanne standing by a window called out for some dark rich Rembrandt treatment.

Joanne and Jerry

Our wedding on Saturday was at the beautiful Calamigos Ranch in Malibu. We had a blast with Joanne and Jerry. They and their friends and family were a lot of fun to photograph. Joanne actual got on a merry-go-round to have some images taken. Here are a few from Saturday.

Maria and Rafael

On Saturday we had the pleasure of shooting Maria and Rafael's wedding. The service took place at the beautiful St. Dennis Community Catholic Church in Diamond Bar. We had a great day with Maria and Rafael including hanging out in the limo for a few hours including a stop at McDonalds! We took some photographs, but the manager informed us we could not photograph the McDonalds logo - hence no images posted here. (But I have them for the album).

Getting Ready

People would not believe the amount of preparation that goes into getting ready for a wedding shoot. I have a check list that I use every Friday. I am a Nikon shooter, so I check and pack two Nikon D200's and a Nikon D70 (for back-up). I format over over 40 GB of cards, pack seven lens, charge batteries, check camera settings, etc... (Don't forget the ladder).

Now that it is all done and the equipment is ready to be loaded, I am getting excited about tomorrows wedding.

Girl's Night

I know it's hard to believe when you look at my picture in the upper right corner, but I am a grandfather. The image below is my 10 month old granddaughter - Lorelai. My son and his wife are expecting again and tonight we went out for a family dinner and ripped open the results from today's ultrasound test - and what do you know - Lorelai is going to have a sister this coming February. My wife and I have three boys, so girls are a welcome addition to our family. I am sure Lorelai's sister will be just as cute as she is.

Robin and Nuri

On Saturday we had so much fun shooting Robin and Nuri's wedding. It was an outdoor ceremony and reception. The set up was first class all the way. Robin's dress was so awesome that the girls from Cruz's Bridal showed up at the wedding to help! The flowers from Flower Finesse were breath-taking.

What really made the day for Lisa (my second photographer) and me were the Bride and Groom's families. They were so nice - I actually felt like I was a guest at the wedding. There were so many friends and family from out of town, that Robin hosted a family reunion the day after her wedding. (Talk about packing a lot into one weekend)! It was so cool that I went back on Sunday and took family photos. I'll post some later this week.