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Rooftop Wedding at Canary Hotel Santa Barbara

2009-11-02T13:44:00.001-08:00

Last weekend's wedding is what weddings are all about! The wedding was on the rooftop of the Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara. And I must say that it was probably the cutest setup for a wedding that I've ever seen up there! Ryan and Claudia tied the knot , thousands of miles from their home, on a warm night near the ocean and the mountains with all of their closest family there to witness the exchange of vows. Including the bride and the groom, there was a total of 16 people at the wedding. This is my kind of wedding! Although everything was absolutely gorgeous, it was a great reminder that the significance of a wedding isn't in the production but in the people; the people promising their lives to one another, and the people there to witness, support and celebrate with them! Congratulations Ryan and Claudia!

St. Sophia's

2009-10-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

There's no wedding like a Greek Wedding, and no better place in the LA area for a Greek wedding than at St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church in Santa Monica. There's none like it! It had been awhile since my last traditional Greek wedding so Jimmy and Tina's wedding was all the fix I need. One of my favorite aspects of the wedding festivities is the Greek dancing when just about anyone with a heart beat is out on the dance floor, people jumping and swinging by the end of a napkin, dancing around their next drink and throwing money! If you have never been to a Greek wedding, I highly recommend crashing one :)

Cambria's Most Memorable Victorian Wedding

2009-10-22T15:04:00.001-07:00

John and Heather's wedding in Cambria, CA a few weeks ago was one of my favorites of the season! Everything was so unique, so them, different, fun, alive! And how could it not be? Just driving through Cambria makes me smile :) Their wedding was held in the backyard of a beautiful Victorian house down a country road in Cambria. And the Reception was just down the road in a very rustic/ rural looking barn called Fog's End. John and Heather are both in the Culinary Industry and you could have guessed it. I can't even describe how good the food was, which was announced by the head chef as it came out to the food stations. Everything from the outdoor fire pit, to outdoor first dance, to the sticky balls made this wedding amazingly fun and unique!

Firestone Vineyard Santa Barbara

2009-10-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

Thank heavens that Firestone Vineyard has two different wedding locations! Earlier this year the county shut down weddings at the Crossroads estate, so all weddings are now at the main winery! Which is awesome! I never really shot much at the main winery until Crossroads closed. But they have a barrel room that is to DIE for! Craig and Erica had their dinner in the barrel room at ONE LONG TABLE (another first for me) that ran the entire length of the room. It was a really cool alternative to having a bunch of smaller tables! Plus the mood of the barrel room is so romantic!

Crystal Cathedral Wedding

2009-10-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

I knew Jason and Annie's wedding was going to be a ton of fun from the first time we met. They are the first couple that makes me actually believe that what our mother's told us about our faces staying if we kept making the same face. They both have the most infectious smiles plastered on their face ALL the time. You can't help but smile and be happy around them!

Not to mention that I love 'FIRSTS' and this was the first time that I've ever shot at the Crystal Cathedral. It truly is an amazing building and an amazing thing that they have got going down there. Jason's Grandpa is the pastor, so I got a lot of background on the church and the building's history.

The wedding was gorgeous! It's one thing to have an outdoor wedding at sunset, but it was REALLY cool to be able to have a sunset wedding INDOORS, and be able to see the sun setting :) Check out some of the pictures.

Brandon and Melissa

2009-10-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! It has been AWHILE since I've gotten to update the blog! A lot has happened that has kept me busy including a full wedding schedule and a trip to Taiwan, which was awesome! But it's a lot of fun sitting down to update the blog and getting to look at all of the past few weddings and remember what a good time they were.

Brandon and Melissa got married at beautiful Gainey Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley. The day started out raining but cleared up to be a perfectly gorgeous day from the ceremony on!

Cambria Engagement Shoot

2009-08-06T15:24:00.001-07:00

Shooting in the "Spookey Forest" was definitely a highlight of my Saturday last week when I got to head up to Cambria to shoot engagement pictures with John and Heather. It is SUCH a cool town! But mainly because of the amazing people! I can't wait to get back up there again next month to shoot John and Heather's wedding! Here's some of the pics from the shoot!

The Latest

2009-07-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well, wedding season is in full swing! And in the middle of it, I've managed to move as well. You really don't realize how much stuff you have until you try to pack it all up and put it in another space.

I also don't realize how much I love what I do, until I'm not doing it. With everything in the move being all packed up, I realized that I started getting antsy to get back behind the computer and play with pictures :)

In the midst of all the craziness, last week's wedding was amazing! I'd never shot a wedding at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum before, and it couldn't have been better. It's really an amazing location! The old Spanish Style buildings make for some amazing backdrops in the middle of downtown Santa Barbara! Check out a couple of the pics:

And I can't wait until this September to shoot again with Annie and Jason, who are getting married at the Crystal Cathedral! We went and checked it out when doing our engagement shoot this last week. I tried to get these two not to smile, but it was impossible! Just Kidding :) But they are probably the happiest couple in the world right now... literally!

Crossroads Wedding, Santa Ynez

2009-06-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday was AWESOME! Jim and Jess have been great clients AND great Friends! It's so fun when that happens, and I was so blessed to be able to share one of the biggest days of their life with them on Saturday, and at one of my favorite places to shoot as well: The Crossroads Estate (Now owned by Foley). The day was gorgeous, and you couldn't have asked for better temperature. I think one of my favorite times of the day was just before sunset, Jim and Jess had put a few couches out on the grass and as the sun went down, almost everyone came out after dinner to hang out, socialize, and have fun for a bit. It felt like one big family party! Love it! Here's a few pics from the day!

Eucalyptus Lane Wedding

2009-05-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Wedding! I actually didn't even realize that this weekend was Memorial Day Weekend until the wedding on Saturday. Is that bad? And is it worse that I'm working from home on Memorial day? I don't know, but I had to get some pics up from Saturday's wedding. This was the first and last time I'll ever shoot at Eucalyptus Lane in Ventura, Ca. It was an amazing venue with an incredibly cool barn in which the reception was. But if what I hear was correct, Saturday's wedding was the last wedding that they will be having at the venue! So I feel blessed to have been able to shoot there before their run was done!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and Lindsay and Steve are such a cool, relaxed couple, it was so easy to shoot with them! But one of my favorite moments of the wedding, I wasn't even there for. It was when my assistant came up to me and told me about a woman who had such a big smile when he asked to take her picture, that, just jokingly he told her it looks fake. So she smiled and posed again for another one, so he took one. He mentioned to her that she looked like Bette Midler, to which the gentleman with her leaned over and whispered, "She is Bette Midler"! I wish I could have been there to see my assistant tell Bette Midler that her smile looked fake :) hahah! I love it!

Check out some of the pics:

Peanut's First Birthday Party

2009-05-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

This was actually Cheyenne's First Ever, Second First Birthday! It was a pink party and my girlfriend Amanda came up with all the good ideas! Pink punch with cups dipped in pink sugar so it looks like a pink margarita, strawberry's and watermelon, homemade carrot cake with pink frosting! We had streamers, banners, flamingos, pink glasses, pink leis, pink bubbles, and everyone had to wear pink! Here's some of the pics:

Cheyenne calling all her friends...

Check out Cake (Fire) Time...

Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse Wedding

2009-05-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

This week was a crazy one! The Jesusita Fire has been raging in Santa Barbara. My parents and several friends were evacuated. My good friend lost a few homes on his ranch. And in the middle of it all, we had an absolutely stunning wedding with some of the best people in Santa Barbara, hands down! Many of them had to evacuate their homes the night before the wedding, including the brides parents. But the day was beautiful at the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, the bride glowing, and Nick and Cindy's first EVER kiss at the altar was priceless!!!! Check out some of the pics:

Day out with the Girls

2009-04-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend Amanda and I took her daughter Cheyenne, and my dog Corona out for a little fun the other day. Of course I couldn't leave the camera at home!

Morro Bay Engagement Shoot

2009-04-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

The weather on the coast has been UNBELIEVABLE the last couple of weeks! Summer is definitely getting closer! This is definitely my favorite time of year, when everything is green, healthy, warm, chilly at night!

Last weekend I got to head up to Morro Bay to shoot with Lindsay and Steve around some of their local spots which was definitely a treat. Half the fun was just getting there. The drive up North is SO beautiful right now! Check out some of the pics:

Four Seasons Biltmore Wedding

2009-03-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I woke up to the rain outside my window. I have shot in the rain several times before and actually love it very much. It's more of a challenge, and you're always crossing your fingers, hoping that all of your camera gear survives to shoot another day. But by the time that Robin and Francesca's wedding rolled around in the afternoon at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, you couldn't have asked for a better lighting scenario! And I like it chilly, so the temperature was perfect! The wedding was beautiful, and I ended up being there with my friends Gavin Roy from SB DJ's and Russell Fowler from Stellar Films who are some of the best in their respective industries. So it was a great night on top of a great night! So excited to have been part of this big day! Here's some of the pics:

Spring is Here!

2009-03-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I updated the blog: shame on me :) This winter has been a blast! And now the wedding season is starting to shift back into gear, though we won't be in full swing until May.

In the last couple of weeks I got to do two great engagement shoots for two amazing couples! The first was out on Hollister Ranch north of Santa Barbara! We kept hopping in and out of the fog, chasing the sun as we went, which made for some great lighting, as well as some fun shots! There were cows everywhere, and at one point, I really did think we were going to have to hide from a bull behind a tree! It was pretty crazy/ fun! I had my cattle dog Corona with me, and desperately wanted to let her out to run and chase cows, but she's only 5 months old, and if she was good at it, then I would feel bad that she's biting someone else's cows! Maybe another time.

Then, last weekend, I headed up to San Francisco to do a little tour of the city with Jim and Jessica in their neck of the woods. It was great because I've never really shot up in SF too much, only visited. So it was great to go there with that being the purpose! One of my favorite spots was this really great graffiti wall that my buddy told me about. It was definitely great for pictures, and I'm sure that there are photographers there ALL the time, but there were a couple times when I felt a little odd about having almost 10K worth of camera gear just slung around my neck. Suddenly my neck doesn't seem worth that much :) Only kidding, it was totally safe :)

thirty FIRST of the Year!

2009-02-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

I've been looking forward to the FIRST 31st of 2009, because not only was it my FIRST wedding of the year, it was the last of the Unander weddings; a family I love and grew up with! I had the pleasure of shooting Clint and his wife Corrinne's wedding about a year and a half ago, but this time Clint's sister Tiffany took her turn with her husband Brandon!

I was reminded why I love Santa Barbara so much... we are in the dead of winter, and I was actually glad that the wedding was inside because it would have been really hot if we were all out in the sun during the ceremony. I also love getting to work and live in the same town I grew up in because every time a friend takes the plunge, it's like a mini reunion. People you haven't seen in years show up! And as my wedding business is based almost entirely upon word-of-mouth referrals, it's pretty often that I'm shooting a wedding with one or more past brides in the bridal party.

Such was the case this last Saturday as Brandon and Tiffany tied the knot at the beautiful Montecito Country Club! The club has this amazing window inside that you can see all of downtown east of State, but I love it because it frames a bride and a groom so nicely and provides some really awesome light to shoot by! Here's some of the pics from the wedding:

Last but not Least

2008-12-11T20:19:00.001-08:00

Everyone has been shocked this week as I tell them I've shot my last wedding of the year. I think that they're thinking I shot the last wedding of my life :) By all means NO! I love what I do, and love that I get to do what I love... and I loved the last wedding of the 2008 SEASON last weekend with Adrian and Karina! They did their wedding planning right! Noon wedding, 4 hours for pictures, and then cocktail hour. There was no rushing, there were several locations, there was time to chill out, no stressing... and even time to hit up the McDonalds drive through in full wedding attire :) Check it out:

Corona: Imported from Phoenix

2008-11-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

The last thing I wanted to do was drive to Phoenix and back in the same day, especially with an 8 week old puppy on the way back. But last weekend my buddy Sky who works for the regional airlines told me that actually, the last thing I wanted to do would be to have her shipped on a plane. He sees the 'behind the scenes' so I just took his word and decided to bite the bullet and do the drive.

Corona is awesome. She's a really good puppy. She doesn't chew on anything unless she's playing, and right now she plays hard for about 20-30 minutes, and then takes a 2-3 hour nap at my feet while I work. Maybe I should have named her 'Awesome' instead?? She's hasn't even been here for 2 days, so she doesn't know her name yet, but she knows how to go fetch anything that you throw for her. Here's some pics:

Who's your favorite celebrity?

2008-11-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

In "The 4-Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss, he recommends several things you can do to get out of your comfort zone and develop yourself as a person. One of those is contacting Celebrities. So, that's what I'm going to do.

I have:
No clue where to start.
No clue how hard it is
No idea who I should talk to

But I want to talk with one celebrity or sports figure or CEO or leader in their respective industry every week in order to challenge myself, get me used to talking to people that the majority of society looks up to, and trying to glean some wisdom from each of them.

So who should I talk to? Who's your favorite sports icon, celebrity, philanthropist, business guru? Give me some ideas, and I'll give you the goods on what happens.

The 2nd to Lasts

2008-10-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Wedding season is coming to a close, opening a little bit more white space on my calendar, giving me some time to catch up on wedding albums that have backed up during the last few months, and a little extra time to pursue some side projects. Maybe I'll get a dog this winter :)

This last week I shot my second to last engagement session of the year, as well as my second to last wedding of the year, and just for fun, we threw an anniversary shoot into the mix too!

Spending the afternoon with Adrian and Karina totally psyched me up for their wedding next month! The shoot started with 'I don't know what to do with my hands' and ended with 'That was fun! Let's do it again' :) Check out some of the pics:

Jeff and Amber were out from Colorado last week and wanted to go take some vineyard pics. So they got all dressed up again: hair, makeup, flowers, the whole shebang! Even Jeff's parents came and hung out. We headed out to Gainey Vineyard toward closing time to get the last hour of sunlight that we were allowed to get from the vineyards, which turned out as Gainey always turns out... AAAHHHHmazing! I love shooting there!

And Daniel and Brittany tied the knot this weekend at the Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara this last Friday! Congratulations you guys!

Formal Education will get you a job, Personal Education will get you wealthy

2008-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

I've started reading more... and in some cases RE-reading more. I've made it a goal to try to read a book a week. I think that everything you can learn, you can learn through purposeful, self-motivated education; and not necessarily in school. I guess this would be evidenced by my dropping out of high school, not transferring to a 4 year University when I got accepted, barely finishing college (if you would even call it finished), and never attending any type of photo school to aid me in my choice of career. But, with that being said, Education is the biggest asset a person can have in my opinion... but the right kind of education.

As our economy and the world around us is changing so fast and so frequently, I hear a lot of people getting scared, or complaining about their situation, or the effects of inflation and all that jazz. But I get excited. Volatility means that money is moving. And I want to educate myself as much as possible. I want to understand the way money works, so that I can speak fondly of stock market crashes, hyper-inflation, and a ever changing economy. When you look at history, some of the wealthiest people in our history came out of economic catastrophes... because of the right type of education.

So I've started reading, developing myself, exercising my brain muscles, and challenging the way that I've thought about life, work, money, retirement, etc... In the last two weeks or so, I've read three books I would definitely recommend. The first took me only 40 minutes or so to read. It's called "Who moved my Cheese"

"Who Moved My Cheese?" is a very simple, childish story, about 4 different personality types and how they deal with change. Unfortunately, most people don't cope with change very well, they stick with the old system, and so they set themselves up for disaster.

The second book I just blew through is "The Richest Man in Babylon" which discusses some of the different rules, or laws that money abides by. If you understand the laws of gold, you will be able to control the flow of gold in and out of your wallet. Again, Highly recommended, and a quick, easy read.

And lastly, in the last three days, I've almost completely RE-read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. It's amazing, challenging, insightful, and there's no wonder it has become the 21st best selling book in the history of American Literature.

Here's some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"The reason positive thinking alone does not work is because most people went to school and never learned how money works, so they spend their lives working for money."

"you'd best change your point of view. Stop blaming me, thinking I'm the problem. If you think I'm the problem, then you have to change me. If you realize that you're the problem, then you can change yourself, learn something and grow wiser."

"It's not how much money you make, it's how much money you keep."

"When we were told to follow set procedures and not deviate from the rules, we could see how this schooling process actually discouraged creativity.... Schools were designed to produce good employees instead of employers."

"Old ideas are their biggest liability. It is a liability simply because they fail to realize that while that idea or way of doing something was an asset yesterday, yesterday is gone."

"most people never win because they're more afraid of losing... In school we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes... Unfortunately the main reason most people are not rich is because they are terrified of losing. Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success."

CA, Texas, New Orleans, and Back again

2008-10-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

I met Travis and Brittany at their sister's wedding in Santa Monica last summer, but headed out for the weekend to Texas to shoot engagement pictures, prior to the absolutely stellar wedding in New Orleans! This was the first time that I had been in New Orleans, so it was definitely sensory overload to begin with. I think my good friend and photographer, Tim Halberg of HalbergPhotographers.com, who came out with me for the wedding, only got about 8 hours worth of sleep the entire weekend. The last night we were there, we didn't sleep a wink, even after an all day wedding in the New Orleans French Quarter, by far the biggest bridal party I've ever seen in my entire life, and a walking parade with Police Escorts, and a live band that marched from the church to the reception hall at the Hotel Monteleone. Tim kept saying about the bridal party, "How does Travis have so many friends?" :) And I think it's true... I don't think I even have as many friends as were on the grooms side of the bridal party. Absolutely amazing! Thanks so much for an awesome weekend guys. Sorry Susan that you don't have another wedding to plan all year to make it three in a row :)

A Very Special Engagement Shoot

2008-10-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I got a call from Nick's sister, because she wanted to gift her brother and his fiance, Ashlee, with an engagement session. An awesome gift in my opinion... but it wasn't until I began chatting over the phone with Nick and Ashlee and ended up meeting them that I realized what an amazing pair these two were. I can honestly say that they are probably the most honest, genuine, and giving people I've met in a long time! I felt like we had somehow been friends our whole life and I was just catching up on the latest. I ended up heading home after three hours of hanging out after our shoot, showered with gifts that Nick and Ashlee thought I should have :) I had to literally stop them from giving me ANOTHER bag of goodies. You can't help but want to give back to someone like that... Which has put my mind on a fun principle the last week: You can't out-give. The more you give, the more people are going to give to you. The more others-centered you are, the more people will be looking to hook YOU up!!! So stoked that I met these two, and so fun to shoot all day with them :)

San Diego Wedding

2008-10-08T16:26:00.001-07:00

Can you say WOW! Gorgeous people, Gorgeous places, Amazing personalities! I can't believe it's already been over a week since Jay and Michelle's wedding at the Santa Luz Country Club in San Diego! I'm still buzzing from the day. My good friend and photogrpher, Regis Chen of RegisPhotography came out to shoot the day with me. I love late afternoon weddings, when the light is just perfect, and especially ones when you have to RUN to jump on a golf cart to zoom up the driving range to catch the last glimmer of a beautiful sunset to grab just a few more shots! Check out some of the images: