Speaking at Pictage Partner Conference 06

I just found out that I'll be speaking at the Pictage Partner Conference this September.

Here's a quick shot of the part of the schedule that shows my talk.


Make sure to signup for the conference if you are a Pictage photographer. It's an amazing time to review your business and to be inspired by those who are doing amazing new things in the industry.

I hope to also have a new surprise for all of you iPoders at the conference.

Conference Registration

Another cool thing I'll be doing is mentoring small groups of people. We'll have more information on that in the coming months, but I did some mentoring sessions at the WPPI conference and received an amazing response, so I'm excited to participate again. Plus we're doing it all to help raise support for Thirst Relief International.

San Ynez Wine Tour

Today I headed to the San Ynez valley wineries with my friends. We had a great time tasting wines from a few places and taking a few pictures. I had a great time just taking a day to goof off and have a blast with friends.

This first picture is probably my favorite from the day.














A fun shot from outside the window while driving









The wine tour crew (me, Tim, Cheryl, Bruce and Steven)

Friends in SB

I've been having a great time on my well needed break from Phoenix. It's been in the mid-70's here in Santa Barbara and I'm not looking forward to the 100+ degree weather back home.

Last night I was able to join the Santa Barbara Pictage User Group. We had a great time sharing about our businesses and discussing all of the album and proofing options that Pictage offers. The fearless leader David Jay was out of town, but we fought through all of our tears to have a good time.
Here's a shot of those of us who stayed til the end of the night.
(Back-left around to front left, Kara Singleton, Damian Langere, Chris Humphreys, Bruce Steffine, Amy Nave, Anna Costa, Mary Jane, me, Steve Bélinge)

I'm so glad that I had the chance to join all of you for another meeting.

Today we met up for lunch. Here's a wonderful picture of Chris Humphreys that he didn't want me posting, so of course I'm posting it for him to enjoy!

(Amy Nave, me, Kristen Shaparenko, Bruce Steffine and Chris Humphreys)


Tomorrow is Wine Tour Day, we're hitting up a number of the Santa Barbara County Wineries for some wine tasting and photographs. I'll be sure to post some of those when we get back.

Sarah + Jon Engagement Session

I had a blast this weekend shooting Sarah and Jon's pre-wedding session. We shot in Santa Barbara, CA at the beach and a park during the day and then met up in the evening for a night session on State Street.

I've known Jon for a few years now and I was really excited when they asked me to shoot their wedding. It's in just a few months down in Orange County and I can't wait!

Here's some favorites from their session, but make sure to check out the slideshow.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Sarah + Jon Engagement Session

Santa Barbara

Well as some of you know I've been busy with shooting a lot of weddings during the spring months. I finally decided that I needed a break from the work, so I planned a trip to Santa Barbara with my friend Bruce. I also scheduled an engagement session with one of my California couples who will be having their wedding in Orange County.

We left Phoenix at 4am in the morning on Saturday. The sunrise that morning was beautiful!



When we arrived we were a little surprised by the Summer Solstice parade going on downtown. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It's just weird! Have a look at some of it yourself.




Here's Bruce's confused look after watching the bull charge by.


I'll be shooting the engagement session on Sunday and will be posting some of those pictures. Come back soon!

Sherry + Steve

I received a call this week from an out of town couple who had just found a home in the Phoenix area and had decided that it was time to tie the knot. This was my first time shooting such an intimate wedding. It was strange not having the usual schedule of a ceremony and reception, but turned into an amazing time.

Sherry and Steve were a really cute couple and a lot of fun. We held the ceremony in the morning at the Royal Palms Resort with just the two of them and the minister. Then we spent the next hour taking pictures around the resort.

Check out the slideshow below.

Check out the slideshow here ---> Sherry + Steve

Email Problem

I just found out that I was having an email problem that has probably been going on for a month now. If you have tried emailing me by clicking the link on my contact page, please try again. It was apparently set to email to an older email address that was discontinued a month ago.
Please don't think I was ignoring you. Just shoot me another email. The link should be fixed now.

JT

Andrea + Nick

Last week I shot Andrea and Nick's reception. It was held at the Arizona Botanical Gardens on an extremely hot day. Thank goodness the reception was indoors, but we wanted to get some portraits in the gardens. We did a nice quick session while their guests arrived and then ran back indoors as soon as we could. I think it was 105 degrees outside that day.



They were married in Canada last month after having to delay the original wedding date because of immigration troubles. But, we're so glad to have Andrea here in the states. She's an amazing girl and is just perfect for Nick.

Darren is 15

My brother Darren turned 15 on June 6th. We had a birthday party at my mother's house and he had all of his friends over. Happy Birthday Darren!





This crazy dust storm rolled in over Phoenix on his birthday. I've never seen one this large before. It engulfed the entire city in a mile high wall of dust. Here are some pics I found on the web.

iPod Vending Machine?

I never thought I would see the day...but, YES this is a vending machine for iPods. And it definitely proves the fact that we are now an iPod-generation. I spotted this in a Vons grocery store in La Jolla, CA. Crazy isn't it!

Amanda and Ryan

I got to shoot a wedding in San Diego with a good friend of mine Sara France a few weeks ago. These are just some of my favorites. Thanks Sara!(there were too many to choose from)





(I think this is one of my new all time favorites)

Shooting with Friends

I really enjoy shooting weddings with friends. It makes the day even more enjoyable and we always learn so much from each other. While I was in Cali for Memorial Day weekend I had the chance to shoot with my friends Pepper and Sara. We had a blast as usual.



Here are a few of my favs from the day

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was busy for me. I drove out to San Diego to spend some time with my friend Sara and help her shoot a wedding that Sunday. We also ended up driving to Newport to shoot a wedding on Friday with another friend of ours, Pepper Nix. We were pretty worn out from the weekend, but somehow managed to get ourselves out of bed early enough on Monday to head down to La Jolla cove for some kayaking.

I love kayaking in the ocean. It's such a different experience from the lakes and rivers of Arizona. We paddled out towards the kelp forrest away from the beach and ended up seeing some dolphins. The sight of which created so much excitement in Sara that she threw herself out of the boat! It's was hilarious! I had a couple of them jump above the water 10 feet in front of me. It was amazing.
We also paddled over the the La Jolla sea caves at the cliff area of La Jolla. The swells were coming in a direction that didn't allow us to enter the caves this time because of the rough waters, but I'm excited to go back another time. It would be so much fun to enter the caves. They are big enough to take your entire kayak inside and some of the the caves connect. It sounds like so much fun.

After spending a couple hours on the water we headed back to Sara's home to meet up with her friend Erwin. He was gracious enough to use his mad grilling skills to cook us some amazing food. Thanks so much Erwin!

Friends get married

In the midst of shooting a bunch of wedding this spring I also attended two of my friend's weddings.

Brina and Tim were married on May 6th. I've known Brina and her family since 5th grade and we always joked about her never falling in love. But as love seems to do, it just happened! Tim was a frequent customer at the Starbucks that Brina was managing and they hit it off from the start.




Alisa and Derek were married on May 20th in the middle of the summer sun. It was hot, but we all had a great time celebrating with them. And it was about time. They had been dating for 6 years I believe. I snapped a bunch of pics with my new point and shoot.












It was great to be able to celebrate with all of you. May God bless you and your marriages.

Heather and Ryan

Here's a fun picture I snapped a while ago of my sister and brother-in-law. We were busy waiting to be seated at Oregano's for dinner and I made them snap a few fun photos.