Happy Birthday Alexis!

My awesome girlfriend, Alexis, had her Birthday today! She had a party on Saturday with all sorts of friends. We went out to Dinner at Saha, and then had some drinks at the Tonga Room. This shot was taken by her friend Amanda, and it shows the kind of umbrella drinks we were having at the Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel. Happy Birthday B!

Mike and Betsy

Mike and Betsy are a great couple! I met them at Dolores Park Church, and I'm glad that I get to be a part of their wedding. You can see more photos from this shoot in the SLIDESHOW too.
We met up at Betsy's house and took photos around San Francisco. Some of the spots are familiar, and some new ones. These first shots were taken on the roof of Betsy's place.



This was funny. They were walking down the sidewalk while I was taking photos, but they paused to meet a neighbor and the neighbor's cute little dog. I don't think it was in the script, but it made me laugh :)


Big smiles, all the time :) I think that people who smile often are having more fun in life than those who are not. These guys are obviously having fun!

This was in an interesting shot that we took at the school that Mike and Betsy go to. I think that the lights are cool looking.


MUNI photos! I've been wanting to do this for a while now. It is an everyday activity in SF to ride MUNI, but most people never take any photos on the train. Here they are:


These were shot in the financial district, right on Market street.





I love this shot!!
Good times!

Charlie and Chrisy

I went down to Santa Barbara to do engagement photos with Charlie and Chrissy. I had a great time getting to know them better, and we took some sweet photos. You can see more in the SLIDESHOW.
We started out at Hendry's Beach. It was really windy, and I realized that even though I've shot in many conditions, including rain and snow, wind might be the worst. It's hard to feel like you're looking your best when the wind is blowing your hair all over the place. Chrissy was a good spot, and we worked it out:)
You can see the wind moving all of the sand on the beach.

We found some wind shelter in the canyon, off the beach.

Next, we went to the top of the bluffs above Hendry's, the Douglas Preserve.


Even with the wind, it was still a beautiful day in Snata Barbara (it was raining in San Fransisco when I was driving down).






We went downtown too.


Aawww!


This was a cool spot for a photo (it was Charlie's idea).

Charlie and Chrissy have a really cute story about how they got together. They both work for the SB police, Charlie is an officer, and Chrissy does disbatch. Basically, after some inter-office flirting they made it on a date, and thei wedding is this sumer :)



We chatted over coffee while we waited for it to get a little darker. I love getting to know the couples that I work with better before the weding. It was really nice to hang out with Charlie and Chrissy for a bit (not taking photos) just to talk about life, work, kids, and all sorts of other things.
Nighttime State Street.

Even though I've taken tons of photos in Santa Barbara over the years, it's cool to bring some of my new ideas about photos and find ways to use the familiar spots. We had a good afternon hanging out, and it was also nice to have an excuse to come down and visit everyone.

Wicked

Alexis took me to see Wicked. It was AMAZING! It was the first time that I have see a Broadway play, and I loved every minute of it. The story was so well written and the actors were very talented. It made me think about how many different shots and all of the editing that is involved in a movie or tv show, but how Broadway actors have to provide the same level of performance, only live. We liked the special effects that they were able to use on the stage too. If you get a chance to see it, you should go! Oh yeah, I love the graphic design of the poster too :)

Warriors Game

I went to a Golden State Warriors game at the Oracle Arena in Oakland with Alexis, Adam, and one of their coworkers. The game was exciting, but the highlight was these cute kids who were on the screen dancing during half time. Also, they did a promotion for Little Caesar's pizza, where they had some people delivering free pizza's to the crowd. It was funny that people got more excited for the pizza dude than they ever did for the players.

Alpha Pregnancy Center

You might remember seeing some of the photos of a cute baby and diapers that I took a while back for the Alpha Pregnancy Center. I am in my last semester of college finally, and as part of my final class I will be working on designing a consistent way for them to communicate with their donors. I was at the Alpha Pregnancy Center for a few hours the other day, and I was able to get a feel for the interaction that they have with the women that come in. One of the people who came in was a young girl, she was maybe 17ish, for a pregnancy test. They go into a private room for the test and consultations, so I am unaware of how that went. I felt bad for her though because she came with some friends (one girl and one guy), who were waiting in the car for her. They both came in a few times to check to see how much longer that she might be getting her consultation. I was moved by how much pressure this girl must have been under. I could already see that her friends did not understand the weight of a decision like having an abortion or having a child. These are big life altering decisions that should never be rushed. Parents, friends, and others can be very opinionated about decisions like these that ultimately are not theirs to make. I am glad that there are places like Alpha Pregnancy Center where people can get free counseling about pregnancy. I can't imagine how difficult and complex some of these situations must be.

Here are a couple of the photos that I took for Chastidy to use for their newsletter. This is a pile of loot that came in from a recent diaper drive that they did.

They are helping these women on the left

Matt and Jordan

Matt and Jordan are awesome people. Here are some of the engagement photos that I took of them. You can see more in the slideshow by clicking HERE. We started out at Baker Beach, which is one of my favorite beaches in the world! It was a beautiful day too! 

Jordan and Matt met at school in Virginia, and they were out visiting Jordan's parents for spring break. I though it would be co to throw some sightseeing in the mix, so we went to the Legion of Honor which is home to Rodin's sculpture, "The Thinker."

These guys are super cute together! I had a lot of fun cruising around with them. We were chatting about the challenges being a christian in a big city. This reminded me of a podcast that I listened to today by Jimmy Quach that was really good. You can listen to it HERE if you like.


Nothing but blue skies :)


Good times. Thanks guys!

Rob and Mandy

Here are some of Rob and Mandy's engagement photos. You can see more if the slideshow HERE if you want.

We started out in the presidio, close to the Golden Gate Bridge. Rob had spotted this tree patch and thought that it was a cool spot, so we went there. I like how the sun looked shining through the trees in this shot.  

These guys really know how to turn on the PDA (public display of affection)!! On a scale from 1 to 10, they got up to 11. I think that they must have been practicing :) For engagement photos this is especially good because there are so many cute interactions that made their way into the photos that we took.








We found a lot of characters when we were in Chinatown. I like how the sky in the back makes it easy for you to see their faces in this shot.





If you are curious how people always look like they are smiling or laughing in photos that I take, well this might help you see why... Someone makes a funny face, and next thing you know, everyone (myself included) is laughing :)



Speaking of characters, we were about to cross the street when this random guy comes over and starts hooting and hollering about peace or something. Only in San Francisco!