We kept waiting for the perfect day for our photoshoot… and it came.. on a random  Tuesday months ago.  We missed it, and I swear it’s been raining since then. Well Jackie and Andy said to heck with it, lets make lemonade out of lemons, and do our shoot in the rain! Well not entirely in the rain, but it was rainy=)  We walked around Old Sacramento and found some awesome directional lighting to put this fun loving couple into… Even though they’re both two big kids at heart, they turned up the heat a couple of times, and nearly dried me off from the hotness!!

Thanks for being so much fun, walking in uncomfortable shoes on cobblestone streets,  trespassing, and for not making fun of me when I got that parking ticket… hey it’s good luck right?

Much<3,

Dave

It isn’t every day that I watch something on television that directly impacts the way my day begins and ends.

I watched Food, Inc. after being recommended by Jasmine Star on her Wedding Photography Blog.  She mentioned how watching this documentary about where our food comes from shaped her food choices, and after watching it myself, I understood why.  I don’t want to list out every awesome point that the movie made, just watch it, but at the end of the day my family and I decided to make a stronger effort to know where our food comes from, support local growers who grow their food naturally, and find a more responsible choice for our meat purchases.  Today we headed to a local Farmers Market behind Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights to check out what local growers had to offer during the winter season,  and we came home with a bag full of goodies! Everything we ate was delicious and the cost was not prohibitive to doing this every week, so it has instantly become house law.  Jenny is headed to the Farmers Market downtown under the freeway to see if they will have any locally raised meats that weren’t corn fed and raised in their own excrement ( seriously, watch this documentary) and I look forward getting pictures on my phone of these delicious treats!  For you photo-nerds and the generally curious, here’s a setup shot for the delectable fruit display above:

NERD ALERT!!!!
Two SB-800’s both fired with CLS on manual at 1/80th power. The flash at camera left is snooted with a piece of tin foil, and the flash at camera right is diffused through an extended roll of paper towels help up by a flashlight. D300, 85mm@f8, ISO 200, 1/250th sec

P.S.  We all tried the Asian pear on the right for the first time this evening . It was so freakin delicious. We’ll be getting more next time!

Much <3,

Dave

A rare moment of child-free leisure led us to Midtown for Crepes and coffee, and I didn’t dare be without my camera!

Bellies comfortable but not stuffed, we strolled around midtown for a few and enjoyed the solace of the New Year. Jenny is super patient when I’m shooting random eye-catchers on the street, and she holds stuff for me, models, and points out cool stuff of her own.

Jenny commented on how quiet it was in Midtown today, and I concurred. It was peaceful, strangers seemed to stride optimistically towards their destinations, and birds were dancing around from tree to tree.


Maybe everyone is excited about the possibilities of 2010, and they are starting their year on a peaceful note, setting the tone for the rest of the year.



I picked up a fashion magazine from the UK that is as thick as my thumb, and it spurred photo-shoot ideas which I’m looking forward to embarking on. Anyone want to model? Comments are welcome!

Happy New Years to my friends and blog stalkers!

Much <3,

Dave

I was talking to one of my couples from 2008,  Nelson and Linda, and they mentioned that Nelsons sister Amy was getting married soon…Of course I was super excited to meet them!  Amy, John, and I talked about life, love, pictures, and how much we wanted to rock out some fun youthful photos for them.  I was super stoked off of their engagement session at the Davis arboretum, and after that shoot I knew that the wedding was going to be just as fun!  We did the tradtional tea ceremonies, and after a fantastic lunch ( one of the perks of shooting a chinese wedding… yummy food!),  we went to midtown to shoot some fun portraits.  My friend Jessica Moores came to hang out in midtown for the portraits and do some no-pressure shooting with me, which was rad. While we were out shooting, John got a call that the ENTIRE reception had to be moved  from the King Palace restaurant to Happy Garden Restaurant  due to a plumbing issue… and he was as cool as a cucumber! Amazing… Amy, he’s a keeper =)

Happy Garden Restaurant is a popular banquet hall for Chinese Weddings in Sacramento, and my last four have been here:

To see more, check out this slideshow

Amy and John, It was wonderful being a part of your day!

Much <3,

Dave