Santa Barbara Mission

Santa Barbara Mission

Santa Barbara Wedding Cassie and Chase

This beautiful August Santa Barbara wedding took place at Skofield Park in the hills of Mission Canyon. The day was spectacular and I couldn't have been more excited to photograph Cassie and Chase, who are fun and adventurous, on their special day.

I always love taking photos in a natural setting. The Santa Barbara Mountains, gnarled oak trees, and beautiful boulders made a perfect backdrop for wedding photography. The bridal party was so natural and it was a joy working with them.

Carpinteria Wedding Sezina and Steve

On August 9th, my dear friends Sezina and Steve committed their lives to one another. I had the honor of being their wedding photographer. The Carpinteria weddingwas held at Carpinteria's Lion's Park, located in the beautiful Carpinteria Valley. This venue featured outdoor and indoor spaces that provided many opportunities for striking wedding photographs .

Sezina wore an elegant wedding gown and veil that provided interesting contrast for the bridal shots. The wedding party looked striking and wore vibrant colors that I was able to catch on camera.

After the moving wedding ceremony, the bride and groom ushered in the celebration. Everybody, young and old, joined in the fantastic banquet and wild dance party that ensued. The garter toss was a particular favorite as each eligible bachelor scrambled to get hold of the fated fabric with more gusto than I'd ever seen. I'm glad I had my camera handy. Capturing Seza dancing with her five Brazilian brothers was a riot! What fun. The best part is, this stellar event made for equally stellar wedding photographs.

Bradly and Ceanna

I had the pleasure of working with Ceanna and Bradly on July 26th at Alice Keck Park, located in the heart of Santa Barbara. I love taking wedding photographs outdoors, and the day was perfect: sunny and warm.

The warmth of the day was matched only by the warmth of the wedding couple. They were glowing with love and joy, and this always makes for great wedding photography.

The bride looked gorgeous in her dress, and I enjoyed capturing her tenderness with the children in the bridal party. The bride and groom stole away in a classic antique car to a hacienda in the hills where they dined with their friends and family and shared a memorable first dance. What a beautiful venue for a Santa Barbara wedding!

Nicki and Eric

 Nicki and Eric were married on July 26th near an old ranch outside of San Luis Obispo. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful setting for an event, and the joyful couple made wedding photography a breeze. The historic property where they tied the knot boasted a beautiful barn, antique cars, a trampoline, and rolling hills with views to the ocean, all of which make for stunning wedding photographs. Not only was the setting picturesque, but both the bride and groom are beautiful, easygoing subjects.

Nicki looked absolutely stunning in her elegant and unique gown, and it was really special documenting her and her bridal party as she prepared to walk down the aisle. I was able to capture those special moments through photographs.

The groomsmen were equally entertaining to photograph. They were casual and laid-back, sporting retro converse shoes for the occasion. I got a few great shots of them relaxing with the antique cars in the barn, and I was struck again by how lucky I was to be participating in the wedding as the photographer.

A Rustic Ranch Wedding

I had the opportunity to photography Chelsea and Brian's wedding and June 7th. It took place at Rancho Chahuchu in Lompoc, home of the exquisite Peruvian Paso horse. 

The bride and groom chose this special spot because of the picturesque setting and their love for horses. It tuned out to be an amazing venue for event photography.

The rolling hills of Rancho Chahuchu were dotted with yellow flowers that provided a gorgeous background for the bride and groom. Chelsea's natural beauty, along with her and Brian's obvious love for each other, made my job as wedding photographer easy! I really enjoyed working with them and their guests during this rustic ranch wedding.

Brooks Institute Photo Session

Last month I participated in Jason Madara's fashion photography & lighting seminars two day event put together by Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara CA. I did this event for two reasons, one I wanted to see what Jason was doing professionally and I also wanted to see if I wanted to start incorporating lighting into my photography bag of tricks with wedding photography.

Photography is painting with light. Without light you got nothing.

The class was held at the historical Montecito Campus, which is a beautiful estate that was built in the early 1920’s. It has breathtaking vistas overlooking the Santa Barbara Harbor and the Channel Islands. I just heard recently that its being sold because of the cost of upkeep. Beautiful but expensive.

The first day Jason told about himself and his photography experience. This really opened my eyes to the different world of photography. Jason Madara's work is described as startlingly raw and real or ephemerally beautiful, often at the same time. He finds inspiration from his subjects and the locations where he shoots. Earlier in his career, Madera spent a few years working in Europe and South Africa shooting fashion for magazines, catalogs and ad campaigns. He moved to San Francisco in 2001, where he continued to fulfill his creative ambitions by producing images for editorial and advertising clients, including Pac West Telecommunications, Bosch, Fanta, Interview, Entertainment Weekly, Business 2.0 and Fortune Small Business.

The workshop focused on lighting techniques used in contemporary fashion, beauty, and portraiture photography. We explored lighting techniques the studio using different types of studio lighting: soft box, hard light, and umbrella. We also used flash on location, open shade, backlight and direct light.

We had different models and different stations. We broke up in groups, and then went to each station, Jason showed what he would do, he was photography tethered to a computer with a new Hasselblad H3D-22 with a resolution of 22 megapixels. Sicko. But there is a price to be paid when using this type of camara. He is tethered to a computer. Teathered or leashed, meaning you can only go as far as your leash. I wasn’t teathered, but with all this lighting stuff your model has about a 4 foot radius of where she can move, and the job in fashion photography is directing. Who are you directing, well, the make up artist, the people helping you set up lighting, the model what to do, how to turn, what to think, how to feel. Professional models know how to do this. There is real value in knowing how to do this with non professionals.

For wedding photography what I don’t want to do is take over the day and make a wedding day a fashion shoot. My objective is to relax the bride and groom so they feel comfortable in front of a camera. Being the subject with all this gear set up pointed at you, you really need to be a pro not to feel intimidated. And for me you really lose the spontaneous with all that gear.



Over all I was turned off by the amount of stuff you need to offer this type of lighting, its really amazing how much batteries, cords, lights, bags, sandbags, etc that is needed for this style of photography. I prefer the the camera with a plain vanilla mounted flash in a pinch, hopefully you don’t have to use because natural light is by far the most beautiful light. When all the elements come together, when you see that perfect content, with the perfect mood and the light is just perfect and click….


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