Caught on Film Photography San Diego Photographer

San Diego Family Portraits at Balboa Park

2009-01-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

This week I had the privlege of photographing a family of eleven, the McIntyre family at Balboa Park. It was a chilly morning, the sun was out, and the grass was very wet from the fog the night before, but we were able to get some great photos.

Here are some favorite photos from this family session at Balboa Park:

San Diego Family Photos at Balboa Park

Family Portrait Photography at Balboa Park San Diego

2008-12-24T14:04:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a great time photographing the McIntyre family at Balboa Park. We had a perfect morning - overcast and cool. We started at 9am, so we'd beat the rush.

We got a great variety of photos from several different locations during our one hour photo shoot. Here are some "Photographers Favorites" from todays session at Balboa Park...

The kids at the reflecting pond:

The family on the steps, with the Botanical Building in the background:

A couple of individual photos of the kids:

Mom & Dad clowning around in the Alcazar Garden:

San Diego Photographer Balboa Park Photography

San Diego Maternity Photography

2008-12-20T15:41:00.001-08:00

This afternoon I had the pleasure of working with Ashley, who is expecting her baby girl on 1/3/09 (if not sooner). This was a surprise session for Hubby (Merry Christmas, Hubby!). Ashley and Jesus are big Raider fans, and botha are in the Marines, so we tried to incorporate some things that would work well for them.

Here are a few favorite maternity photos from today's session:

Now this is just awesome!

San Diego Maternity Photographer

San Diego Newborn Photography

2008-12-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I had the pleasure of meeting Tyson and his Mommy & Daddy for some newborn photos. Tyson is three weeks old, a bit older than we would prefer, but he did much better than most three week old babies. He was perfect - awake and alert at the beginning of the session, and passed out at the end. So we got a great variety of poses, backdrops, props and facial expressions.

Here are a few favorite photos from this newborn photo shoot. Now, Dad swore to me that the name had nothing to do with Mike Tyson, but just look at that right hook!

If this one doesn't say "Christmas card" I don't know what does:

Ahhhhh, I love this one:

Check out our new baby blocks, and the mirror always looks great:

And finally, fuzzy, fuzzy blankey night night picture:

San Diego Newborn Photographer, Newborn Photography

Maternity photos in.....Washington DC?

2008-12-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

I had to travel back to the East Coast last week and had the opportunity to have dinner with a very close friend, Greg. Greg and his Wife Kathy are expecting their first child in January, so I convinced them to do an impromptu maternity session at their place. It was challenging since I only had one lens (28-135) and one flash. I fired the flash remotely, and bounced it off of walls/celinings to broaden and soften the light. Given the conditions I'd say we did ok.

Maternity Photographer Washington DC

San Diego Children's Photos - Studio Session

2008-12-08T23:16:00.001-08:00

Here are a few favorites from today's children's photo shoot, this is Aidan a happy 3 month old. We also did newborn photos with him and will see him again at six months and one year! He's changed so much already!

San Diego Children's Photographer Photos

A chistmas tree how to

2008-12-04T21:37:00.001-08:00

Here we have two beautiful christmas tree photos of our Son:

Now, here is how it is done....

First, you need to have the tree lit, and all of the other lights off in the room. Because light falls off over distance, and these lights aren't very bright, the light falls off pretty quickly. The further the tree is from the walls, the darker the walls are and the more the tree stands out from the background.

Because the room is so dark, you'll need to push your camera settings - high ISO (800 here), wide aperture (F1.4, 50mm lens) and slow shutter speed (1/20). With a slow shutter speed, you'll want your camera on a tripod for sure. In trying to maximize your light, you should also be wary of DOF. Here I focused on my Son and changed to M focus to make sure I didn't drift off of him.

This is really nothing more than a tripod mounted photo of a kid in a dark room, with one exception - the starburst on the lights. Photoshopped in? Nope.

When your aperture is set really narrow (F22 here) it creates a starburst on lights (I learned this trick shooting night time landscape photos). Try this - look at a light in your room and squint your eyes real narrow - same idea.

So the trick here is that I took two photos - a second one was taken at F22 with a six second shutter speed. I had my Son out of the picture for this shot (he'd be blurred all over the place at six seconds. So I had one photo of my Son in front of the tree with no starburst, and a second photo without him but with the starburst.

Then I layered the two photos and used a layer mask to combine them (see How To #10 here for a tutorial on using layer masks). By combining the images I get the best of both worlds.

Here is a trick to get this right...In this case I wanted to go from my widest aperture to my most narrow aperture. After I got the shot of Gavin, I switched from 1.4 to 22, but I counted the number of clicks that it took me to get there (16 I think). Then when I changed my shutter speed to compensate, all I had to do is turn it 16 clicks in the opposite direction and wa la, I have the same exposure. Only difference being the starburst and of course DOF.

Enjoy!

A Hero is Born - Baby Richard's Newborn Photos

2008-11-26T10:41:00.001-08:00

You may remember Rachelle's maternity session from a few weeks ago. Baby Richard was born last week, and Rachelle came back in last night for his newborn session. Just one week old, he needed some snack breaks and a little encouragement, but he did just great. Here are a few favorites from this newborn session:

San Diego newborn photographer - military, baby, children, flag, newborn

San Diego High School Senior Photos at the Hotel Del Coronado

2008-11-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had a great time photographing Stephanie for her senior photos at the Hotel Del Coronado. It was the absolute perfect beach setting - overcast skies early, an amazing sunset at the end, no wind and very few people on the beach. Oh how I wish they were all like this!

Here are a few favorites from this senior session...

We started in the courtyard:

Then it was out to the beach, here is probably my favorite photo from the session:

And then time for the amazing sunset - now THIS is why I wish more people did their beach photos in the fall when we actually have weather and color:

Here is Stephanie's entourage (people she brought along to carry all of her stuff):

San Diego HS Senior Photographer, Photography, Photos, Pictures

San Diego Newborn Photography

2008-11-23T21:20:00.001-08:00

This evening we had a great time photographing Lionel, Patti and their two beautiful Daughters. We did maternity and newborn photos for them a couple of years ago and they returned for newborn portraits of their newest addition.

Here are some favorites:

San Diego Newborn Photographer

Just a few of our Son at the lake this weekend

2008-11-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

Heading off to NY Monday morning (photos to follow, of course). Spent the weekend relaxing with the family, and since it was 90 degrees out here all weekend, it was a great opportunity to go to the lake, feed the ducks and of course get a few photos of the Big Guy doing his thing.

San Diego High School Senior Photos with a Twist

2008-11-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the pleasure of shooting senior photos with Elizabeth. We shot at two locations, first at the Rancho Riding Club and then at the beach in downtown Del Mar. Here are a few favorites from Elizabeth's senior session.

Elizabeth and Emma:

Then on the beach in Del Mar:

Finally this one just cracked me up:

San Diego HS Senior Portraits Rancho Riding Club Del Mar

The USS Peleliu Returns, a Family is Reunited

2008-11-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I had the pleasure of photographing the USS Peleliu returning to San Diego, and a Father returning home to his family after six months at sea.

It couldn't have been a worse morning - rain (often heavy by San Diego standards), wind, overcast skies, you name it. But with a tripod and trusty umbrella, I headed over to Coronado in an attempt to photograph the ship as it passed in front of the San Diego skyline. The bad weather made for some pretty dramatic photos. Throw in some fun Photoshopping, and we've got some pretty amazing photos:

Then I drove over to 32nd Street and met with Lara and her Son to photograph them meeting Steve as he came off of the ship. The wind and rain pounded the crowd as everyone waited anxiously for the men and women to start coming off of the ship.

Then to our delight, just as people started getting off of the ship, the rain stopped! Just a little more waiting....

And finally we saw him:

Daddy is home!!!

A very proud Papa!

And a family is reunited.

Photographing a Hero

2008-11-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

If you ask me, any man or woman who serves in our military is a hero - these people give so much, and too often give their lives as well. Overlooked are the heroes that they leave behind when they are deployed - their families. Wives go months without seeing their Husbands, raising children alone. Fathers often miss the birth of their own children and miss major milestones as their children grow up. Sacrifices are made by the whole family, for the good of our country and for the freedom that we all too often take for granted.

However, talk to someone in the military and they will often tell you that they are not heros - that the only true heros are the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for our country.

Rachelle's Husband Ricky was deployed to Iraq on his second tour of duty on March 8th, and on March 25th Rachelle found out that she was pregnant with their first child. Less than two weeks after getting this wonderful news, Ricky lost his life while serving his country, on a patrol in Iraq.

This story broke our hearts and we jumped at the chance to work with Rachelle in an effort to capture some very special photographs for her, her family and Ricky's family.

I don't know how anyone deals with such a loss, but in my book Ricky, Rachelle and baby Richard are all true heros. Here are some of the photos from a very special photo shoot.

San Diego military pregnancy photography

San Diego Family Photos at Balboa Park

2008-11-02T20:21:00.001-08:00

This morning I met the Dewell family at Balboa Park for some beautiful family portraits. We had a perfectly overcast sky, great for photos! The kids were a blast, and aptly named me "Mr. Stinky Feet" (I've been called worse). Here are a few favorite photos from this photo shoot:

Little Blue Eyes:

Lady Killer:

Family at the Balboa Park Reflecting Pond:

Family with the Botanical Garden in the background:

And finally, why is it that when I say "make a funny face", Mom is always the only one who doesn't???

Family Portraits at San Diego Balboa Park

Just some of our Son at the park

2008-10-19T22:53:00.001-07:00

Since both of our photo shoots cancelled this weekend, it was time to head out to the park for some fun. Here are a few cool shots of our Son, with some fancy Photoshopping done to them:

San Diego Children's Photography

San Diego Childrens Holiday Portraits

2008-10-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

This week we again had the privlege of photographing the Hernandez girls. We did newborn portraits with them earlier this year, and this little girl is growing up so fast! What a couple of cutie pies.

We did naked baby photos, Halloween photos (check out this pig costume) and Christmas photos. Here are some favorites from this childrens photo session.

Halloween photo:

Christmas photo:

Naked baby in a bowl picture:

Naked baby on a blanket photo:

And another naked baby on a blanket photo (love this blanket btw):

San Diego Childrens Photographer photos pictures

San Diego High School Senior Photos

2008-10-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had a great time photographing Quinn (a Senior at La Jolla Country Day) and his family at their home in Escondido. What a beautiful backdrop for photos! Here are some favorites from tonight's senior photo shoot.

La Jolla Country Day High School Senior Photos

Tucson Arizona Downtown Modeling Photos

2008-10-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Monday evening I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful young lady who is looking to get into modeling. Our backdrop was downtown Tucson, AZ. Between her outfit changes and several different settings, we were able to capture a variety of beautiful photographs of her.

Here are some of my favorites from this Tucson modeling photo session.

First we started at a park bench with some greenery around it:

Next a clothing change and up a few steps above where the park bench was (I love finding little spots like this that are great for photos):

Same location:

A nearby staircase:

One more outfit change and a quick headshot:

Tucson Arizona senior modeling photography

San Diego Maternity Portrait Photography

2008-10-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

This evening I met with the Nguyen family who are visiting from South Dakota. They are expecting their little bundle of joy next month and wanted some maternity photos while they were in town.

Here are a few samples:

San Diego maternity photography

San Diego Beach Photos at the Hotel Del Coronado

2008-10-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight I met with the Palmer family from Austin, Texas for some beach photos. What a night we had - the beach was empty, no wind, plenty of wet sand for reflections.....and by far the best sunset of 2008. This is why you do your beach photos in the fall - look at the color in some of these shots.

The silhouette shot:

The reflection photo:

Closeup beach photo:

The Boss hanging out on the rock:

Family beach portrait after sunset:

San Diego beach portrait photographer

San Diego Newborn Baby Portraits

2008-10-02T22:42:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we met with baby James and his Mommy & Daddy for some newborn photos. For being six weeks old he was a little on the small side (which is good) and was extremely well behaved and cooperative (even better!)

We got a variety of great photos using the black and baby blue backdrops. Here are a few favorites from our newborn photo shoot...

We call this one "Four Feet".

The star of the show:

Mommy and baby James:

Daddy and baby James:

Mommy, Daddy and James:

San Diego baby newborn photography photos

San Diego Family Beach Portraits

2008-09-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had the pleasure of photographing the Judd family down at the Hotel Del Coronado beach. We had a perfect evening at the beach - great weather and not a ton of people, although there did appear to be four weddings going on while we were there. We were also treated to a small school of dolphins that swam by.

Here are a few favorites from tonight's family photo shoot at Coronado Beach.

The whole family:

Grandma and Grandpa with the Grandkids:

One family walking on the beach:

The kids watching the dolphins swim by:

My favorite - this little lady kept losing her britches. ;)

San Diego family beach photos

Tucson Arizona Modeling Photography - JoAundra

2008-09-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

After seeing the photos that I got with Briana on Tuesday, I thought it would be pretty tough to match or beat them on Wednesday. But after shooting with JoAundra for a couple of hours it was pretty clear that we had gotten another series of exceptional photographs.

JoAundra was excellent to work with, and again we were able to capture quite a wide variety of clothing and scenery around Tucson. We started at Rattlesnake Bridge, here are a couple from that location:

Some Red Sox gear:

Then we headed over to downtown Tucson and started at the Fox Theater:

Then across the street for a reflection of the Fox Theater:

And finally a pretty funny photo. JoAundra changed into a black and red outfit and right after that we came across some sort of costume shop. In the window was a mannequin in - you guessed it - black and red. There was also a poster hanging of the same costume. The colors matched almost too perfectly.

Tucson Arizona modeling portrait photographer

Tucson Arizona Modeling Photography - Briana

2008-09-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of meeting Briana Genevieve, a beautiful young model from Tucson, Arizona. Downtown Tucson was our backdrop, and we found several great locations for capturing some beautiful photographs.

Briana was amazing to work with, so easy going and fun. I'd show some photos of her cracking up laughing, but she probably wouldn't care for that. ;)

Here are some photos showing a variety of Briana's looks...

We started at El Presidio Park with a park bench and some nice greenery:

Then we moved over to the Pima County Courthouse for some cool architecture (note the perfect timing of the wind blowing her hair):

One of my personal favorites, check this out:

A nice closeup portrait:

Finally one of the photos that we took at the gazebo:

Downtown Tucson modeling portrait photography