Monday, April 24, 2006

Scottsdale Wedding!

I just returned last night from Arizona, where I photographed Brooke and Lanny's wedding in Scottsdale. The weather was nice and in the 80's, and I absolutely loved working with Brooke and Lanny. Brooke really reminds me of Cameron Diaz. Very elegant, and a really fun boisterous laugh. She was all smiles which I love. Lanny is awesome too - he's really animated which made him fun to photograph. I have all sorts of hilareous shots of him. Anyway, it was a great wedding...

Had to add one shot of myself. That one's a quick shot I took for my own enjoyment. :)


Scottsdale Wedding (Cont...)

I met the bride at her parent's place in Scottsdale, which was VERY nice. It's called The Wellness Ranch, and I assume that's her mother's business. Kind of a progressive medical type of business. Anyway, it was really neat and decorated extremely well...

Also Lanny claims to be non-photogenic. I think he looks pretty dapper here, myself!

Scottsdale Wedding (Cont...)

The reception was held at the very nice Terravita Golf Course, Scottsdale. It was a great venue, and I hope to shoot there again soon. The golf course looks really nice. I bet I could really hack it up over there.

Scottsdale Wedding! (cont...)

This old dawg belonged to the bride's family. He's old enough to get a driver's license in the state of Colorado, and judging by Colorado's driving requirements, I don't think his impaired vision or hearing would be a hinderance to his qualifications! So... stay off the sidewalk!

Friday, April 14, 2006

VEGAS!

I just got back from Vegas, where I was asked to give a 2 hour Master Class presentation (see below) at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention at The Paris Hotel/Casino. It was an honor and I had a great time. A very special THANK YOU to Bill Hurter, who's the big man of that organization, and editor of RANGEFINDER magazine. He has trusted me to give my first presentation at the event and I don't think I let him down at all. I got some really nice reviews and I hope to be back next year with my part deux! Thanks Bill!

Also a huge THANK YOU to Becker Photographer of the O.C. who invited me to his party at THEhotel near Mandalay Bay. Some of the photographers I respect in the business including Jim Kennedy, Mike Colon, Cliff Mautner and many many others were there. I was honored to be in their company and not to mention a really fun party! Becker served Peeps, which happen to be my favorite marshmallow Easter treat! Also I had plenty of cocktails and left feeling pretty good! Becker is extremely talented - see his BLOG at http://www.beckersblog.com. Becker is the man responsible for me getting my own blog going, among so many other things. Thanks [b], you are absolutely one of my greatest inspirations in this business!

Here's a shot from my hotel room - nice view of the Eiffel Tower!



I LOVE the Bellagio water show. I mostly like watching other people, watching the show! You should see the looks of amazement you get from the other people! It's awesome.


Finally, here's just a pretty shot of a tree with pretty flowers. :)

VEGAS! (cont...)

I thought I'd buy a vacation home in Vegas, since I like it there so much. Here's a humble snapshot of my patio.


VEGAS! (cont...)

YEAH!!!! This year I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International convention at Bally's / The Paris Hotel/Casino. It was the absolute highlite of my career! I gave a two hour presentation, speaking of the business side of being a pro photographer, and then more on the photography side, "Capturing the Candid Moment". My first half was called "Pilot or Passenger". Everyone really loved it and I had a ton of great feed back. I'm already sketching my new presentation for next year because there were a lot of subjects that I didn't quite have time to make, so we'll look forward to Pilot or Passenger, Part II. I kept seeing these posters with my name on them in the casino. It was a lot of fun!

Oh and thanks to Jenny for making my photo slideshow that was put to music. It was a real hit!

VEGAS! (cont...)

Well, everybody knows that in Vegas you should expect to have a few cocktails. I love cocktail hour, and we had a few of them in Vegas. We went to see Mama Mia, which was awesome, and we had some really stiff ZOMBIEs... which are basically a whole bunch of different kinds of rum with a splash of juice. My kind of cocktail! We also had some martinis at the Stone Crab Restaurant













...and my favorite wine, LaFonda, just like the girl from Napolean Dynomite! (OK, I penned in the "a" at the end. Couldn't help myself!)