Caught on Film Photography San Diego Photographer

Balboa Park Wedding Photography

2010-01-29T20:23:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Wedding Photography.

This afternoon I met with CJ Anderson and Tricia Smith at Balboa Park for their elopement wedding. My kind of wedding - six people including the Officiant and Photographer (me of course). Quick ceremony and then ample time for some amazing wedding portraits around the park.

Weather was perfect - a moderate layer of clouds to even out the lighting, and slightly cool. I'm so happy with the photos that we got, I'm going to share more than the usual number of previews. Plus you just can't do Balboa Park justice with 3-4 pictures. ;)

First a couple of quick ceremony photos, from Alcazar's Garden:

First kiss:

CJ had to run to the car, perfect time for a few sexy bridal portraits like this one:

Then we were off to the rest of Balboa Park, starting with some shots near the Organ Pavillion:

Then over to a beautiful area behind The Prado Restaurant:

Some nice family portraits by the lily pond:

CJ & Tricia were so much fun and easy to work with, this one almost came naturally:

Classic shot with the bell tower in the background:

Final photo of the afternoon:

San Diego Wedding Photography

Balboa Park Family Portraits

2010-01-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family Portrait Photography.

Saturday morning I met with the Earl family at Balboa Park. Nothing beats a beautiful, calm morning at Balboa Park. We met at 8:30am and the park was nearly empty. It's so nice to be there in the morning before the crowds get there. Balboa Park is such a perfect backdrop for portrait photography.

Here are a few favorite photos from this family portrait session at Balboa Park:

San Diego Family Portrait Photography.

Ocean Beach Pier - Long and Short Shutter Speeds

2010-01-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

Early this morning I made the trek over to Ocean Beach Pier...No particular reason, no huge waves or anything. But I shot some pretty cool photos of the waves breaking on the rocks, and the pier. Just playing around I used the fastest and slowest shutter speeds that were possible. I also tossed in a graduated ND filter, because the sky was getting blown out on me without it.

Series 1 - fast shutter speeds....I wanted very sharp photos, so I went with Fstops of about F8 - F11. Kicked the ISO all the way up to 1000, and that gave me a shutter speed of about 1/1000 to freeze the flying water.

Here's a close in crop of the water in one of the photos:

Series 2 - tack on a pair of two stop ND filters and you can turn day into night....ISO all the way down to 50, Aperture all the way up to F22...Shutter speeds as slow as 2.5 seconds in direct sun!

And finally for fun a surfer was getting in the water right in front of me....why not?

Two Springer Spaniels Join the Family

2010-01-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

Pamela's family has always had Springer Spaniels over the years. Recently both her Mom's family and Sister's family lost a long time family member (Springer Spaniels) and this weekend both adopted new family members!

Douglas (yes, named after Dug from the movie "Up") and Burton were born September 18th, so they are about 15 weeks old. What a couple of cuties!

Never to miss an opportunity, I grabbed the camera and fired off some quick photos of both of them. Many more where these came from, but here are a few early favorites...

First, introducing Burton:

Pamela's Dad, bonding with Burton:

Brothers Burton and Douglas:

And finally, introducing Douglas:

Final shoot of 2009 - Family Photos at Coronado Beach

2009-12-30T21:09:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family & Beach Photography.

Tonight I met with the Draughorne Family at Coronado Beach for some chilly, yet fun family beach photography. It was beautifully overcast tonight, with rain in the area. Luckily we didn't have a drop.

Here are a few early favorites from the Draughorne family beach photo shoot:

San Diego Family & Beach Photography.

San Diego Maternity Photography

2009-12-29T22:16:00.001-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Maternity Photography.

Tonight I met with Eric, Angela and Jacob for some maternity photos at our studio. In 2007 I also photographed their maternity and Jacob's newborn photos. It was great seeing everyone again, especially Jacob who is just a bit bigger than he was the last time we saw him. ;)

Here are a few favorites from tonight's maternity session:

A quick solo shot of Jacob (the hat may look familiar):

And finally to end our photo shoot, Jacob got to paint mommy's belly.

San Diego Maternity Photography

San Diego Family Beach Photos at the Hotel Del Coronado

2009-12-22T21:04:00.001-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family Beach Photography.

Tonight I met with the Dall family at Coronado beach on what was one of the coldest and windiest afternoons that I can remember. Wind gusts around the county were measuring at nearly 50mph - certainly not ideal weather for outdoor portraits.

But, the Dall family was more than up to the task, and even got their feet wet (the next time I have a family complain about getting wet in July, I'm going to bring up the Dall family who did it on a cold day in December). Of course I myself was knee deep in salt water at times but hey, that's my job. ;)

Here are a few favorites from tonight's family beach session.

My personal favorite:

San Diego Family Beach Photography

San Diego Family Beach Photos at the Hotel Del Coronado

2009-12-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family and Beach Photography.

Saturday evening I had the pleasure of photographing the Cooker family at Coronado Beach. We had an amazingly warm weekend here in San Diego, a beautiful sunset and the tide was way out - you couldn't ask for better conditions for beach photos.

To mix things up, the family brought white shirts and Chargers jerseys! Very cool, I loved the Chargers jerseys.

Here are a few favorites from the Cooker family beach photo shoot..

The ladies:

Mom & Dad share a romantic moment:

The whole family (in Chargers gear) on the beach:

And finally the whole family in Chargers gear with the illuminated Hotel Del Coronado in the background:

San Diego Family and Beach Photography.

How to get a great Christmas tree photo

2009-12-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Since this article was so popular last year I am reposting for 2009.....

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!

San Diego Family Beach Photography at the Hotel Del Coronado

2009-11-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family Beach Photography.

Tonight I met with the Kosier family, vacationing in San Diego from Phoenix, AZ. This is our fourth photo shoot with the Kosiers, two in San Diego and two at their home in Phoenix.

We shot an extended session, starting at the hotel and moving out to the beach. Here are a few sneak peeks from their photo shoot:

San Diego Family Beach Photography

San Diego Children's Photography at Balboa Park

2009-11-29T21:40:00.001-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Children's Photography.

This morning we took a trip to visit the Science Museum and take a stroll around Balboa Park. Our son Gavin was overdue for a mini-photo shoot so we spent about 10-15 minutes snapping some shots of mini me. Here are a few favorites.

San Diego Children's Photography.

San Diego Family Beach Photography at the Hotel Del Coronado

2009-11-27T22:29:00.001-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family and Beach Photography.

Tonight I met with the Schwartz family visiting from Portland, Oregon. We had a breezy, overcast evening at the beach tonight. No colorful sunset unfortunately, but some beautiful, even lighting for portraits.

Here are a few favorites from tonight's family beach shoot:

San Diego Family and Beach Photography.

San Diego Beach Photography at the Hotel Del Coronado

2009-11-25T20:38:00.001-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family and Beach Photography

Tonight I met with the Barrow family at the Hotel Del Coronado for some family beach photography. What a beautiful, clear and warm evening at the beach. Perfect for photography.

Here are a few quick favorites from tonight's photo shoot:

San Diego Family and Beach Photography

The Three Brothers - Children's Beach Photos at the Hotel Del Coronado

2009-11-23T22:29:00.001-08:00

Tonight I met with Chad, Bret and Wade.....and Suzee and Pam and Carolyn at the Hotel Del Coronado. A Grandma, her two Daughters, and three Grandsons, but the boys stole the show. Boys will be boys as they say and these three certainly held up their end of the deal.

We had a blast shooting some more formal shots at the hotel and then some uber-fun photos out at the beach and in the water.

Here are several favorite photos from tonight's photo shoot:

First a formal family portrait in the garden area, with the boys looking quite stoic.

Blah diddy blah diddy blah...let's have some fun!!! Ok, quite possibly the best silhouette photograph ever.

Did someone say THREE brothers? Time for the hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil pose:

Ok, ok, ok, another more formal shot of Mom and her three boys.

More fun, let's climb the lifeguard tower!!!

Next the Artistic Photographer's version of "Dirty Feet".

Then the boys get permission to get into the water....ahhh the look of surprise.

This one is totally blurry, but this is right about the time that Wade makes his splashdown.

And this is the look that I got when he got up out of the water. My three year old saw this photo on my screen and said "Oooooh, he's got his MAD FACE on!" LOL

San Diego Children's Photography at Balboa Park

2009-11-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

Click here to see a slideshow of our San Diego Children's Photography.

This morning I met with Patti and her Daughters Amelia and Alexa at Balboa Park for some children's photos. Amelia was quite the ham, and although Alexa didn't want to stray too far from her Mommy, we still got some super cute photos of her as well.

Here are a few previews from our children's session at Balboa Park in San Diego this morning:

And finally a collage of Amelia's photos....just playin around.

San Diego Children's Photography

La Jolla Family Beach Photography San Diego

2009-11-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

Click here to see a slideshow of our San Diego Family Beach Photography.

Tonight I met with the Pascual family at La Jolla Shores Beach for some fun family beach photos. We had a beautiful sunset in La Jolla, and because it as a bit chilly the beach was practically empty. Good luck shooting here in the Summer!

Here are a few favorites from tonight's family beach session in La Jolla:

San Diego Family Beach Photography.

Coronado Beach Family Photography San Diego

2009-11-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Family Portrait Photography.

Tonight I met with the Craig/Martin family at Coronado Beach for some fun family portrait photography. We shot some silhouettes, group photos, reflection shots, jumping shots, you name it. We got a bit dirty, a little wet, and had a beautiful sunset to make it a perfect night.

Here are a few favorite beach photos from tonight's photo shoot at the Hotel Del Coronado:

San Diego Family Portrait Photography.

San Diego Newborn Photography

2009-11-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

Click here to view a slideshow of our San Diego Newborn Photography.

This morning I met with Mira and her family for some photos of their newborn baby Hanna. She was a perfect little model, barely put up much of a fuss. Her older brother was a typical 2.5 year old, but despite his best efforts we still got some cute photos of him. ;)

Here are a few favorite newborn photos from todays photo shoot:

San Diego Engagement Photos in La Jolla Shores

2009-11-14T21:12:00.001-08:00

Tonight I met with Destany and AJ at La Jolla Shores for some fun (and wet) engagement photos. We had a blast and it took just a little coaxing but they eventually got in the water...if it wasn't for that last wave, they wouldn't have gotten that wet, either.

Here are a few favorite photos from AJ & Destany's engagement photos at La Jolla Shores Beach....

The Dip:

A great silhouette with a nice little sunburst:

Strolling on the beach in La Jolla:

A nice B&W shot in the water:

And finally for my fellow photo-nerds, a post-sunset one second shutter speed, blurry water shot:

San Diego Engagement Photos La Jolla Shores

San Diego Studio Photography - Professional Studio Portraits

2009-11-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today I met with Kevin for some professional studio portraits. Guys are always so much more difficult to pose and shoot than girls. We used a variety of backdrops and lighting techniques to mix it up, and it helped that Kevin brought several different looks with him.

Here are a few early favorites from Kevin's studio session:

I'd love to tell you what the back of this shirt says....but I can't. ;)

Professional Studio Portraits San Diego

Windandsea Beach Family Photography San Diego

2009-11-08T12:48:00.001-08:00

To view a slideshow of our San Diego family and beach photography just click here:

San Diego Family Portrait Photography

Last night I met with the West family at Windandsea Beach in La Jolla for some family portraits. The tide was way in so we didn't have much of a beach to work with, but we made the best of it.

We had a nicely overcast but warm evening, and I noticed two or three other Photographer working the beach as well. Windandsea Beach is a very popular location with Photographers because of the beautiful La Jolla scenery, but it's less known to tourists.

Here is a small sample of the beach photos that we got with the West family at Windandsea Beach...

Here is the whole family with an offset crop - nice for Christmas cards, etc:

A tighter shot of the whole family:

A smaller part of the family:

And finally an individual photo:

San Diego Family Portrait Photography

Balboa Park Family Photography, San Diego California

2009-11-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

To view a slideshow of our family photography (Balboa Park, local beaches, Hotel Del Coronado, La Jolla, etc.) just click here:

Balboa Park Family Photography

This morning I met with the Rodriguez family at Balboa Park for some beautiful family portraits. This was my second time working with the Rodriguez family as we also did family beach portraits with them at Coronado in 2007.

We had a fantastic, overcast morning - perfect for shooting at Balboa Park.

Here are a few favorite photos from the Rodriguez family photo shoot at Balboa Park:

The architecture of Balboa Park always makes for some beautiful black and white photos....

Balboa Park Family Photography

Downtown Chicago Engagement Photography Part III - Fall Colors in Chicago

2009-11-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

In part III of last week's Chicago engagement photography installment we're focusing on the beautiful fall colors in the city. What a perfect time of year for family portraits...we practiaclly had the park to ourselves and the colors are just amazing.

Here are a few favorites from this engagement photo shoot with Scott & Ashley focusing on fall foliage:

There is also some nice fall foliage photos in the previous post, shot around Soldier Field.

Downtown Chicago Engagement Photography Fall Foliage Colors

Downtown Chicago Engagement Photography Part II - Outside Soldier Field

2009-10-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

In part two of our downtown Chicago engagement photography series we have the happy couple outside of Soldier Field where we were not breaking any trespassing laws. ;)

We never thought we'd get in where we could see the field, so I was pretty happy with the locations that we found outside - beautiful architecture, gorgeous fall colors and of course a beautiful young couple. Downtown Chicago is such a beautiful place in the fall - perfect for engagement photos.

So here is our next series of Scott & Ashley's engagement photos:

One of my personal favorites, in Bears jerseys with the Chicago skyline in the background just before we went to Soldier Field.

Next the Sears Tower in the background with some fall foliage....I was standing in the middle of the road shooting these. I really hope my life insurance policy is up to date...

On a grassy knoll overlooking Soldier Field, with some fall color:

Some gorgeous fall colored ivy growing on the side of Soldier Field...who said ivy was just for Wrigley Field???

Finally the couple smooching by the Soldier Field sign.

Stay tuned for one, maybe two more installments from this awesome engagement photo shoot over the weekend!

Downtown Chicago engagement photography Soldier Field

Downtown Chicago Engagement Photos Part I - Inside Soldier Field

2009-10-29T18:21:00.001-07:00

I flew back to Chicago this week to do some very brief work there and thanks to Facebook I reconnected with someone that I went to High School with. As it turns out her Daughter and Fiance were in need of some awesome engagement photos. Up to the challenge, and always excited to shoot in a new location, I jumped at the opportunity.

We shot all over downtown Chicago but the highlight of our session was getting inside of Soldier Field! How cool is that??

I'm going to post this engagement session in three or even four parts, because we got so many great photos and I know that Scott and Ashley (and Kim) are dying to see them. So without further adeu, here are Scott and Ashley's engagement photos inside Soldier Field:

Downtown Chicago Engagement Photography at Soldier Field