Vegas WPPI

WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) was such an awesome event! It was held in Las Vegas this last weekend and it was jammed pack full of speakers with talks from how to run your business to getting inspired and creative about your photography to help you stand out. We took a lot of notes and really tried to look at ourselves to see where we need improvement and how we can make ourselves better and a customers even happier!

   On the way back from Vegas while driving through the desert we stopped at an abandoned gas station and did a little mini shoot. It was such a blast and we were pumped from WPPI so we had to pull out our cameras and start shooting.

  

Knapp's Castle Star Trail

     I've never taken pictures of the stars before so I thought I would take a night trip up to Knapp's Castle. I wanted to have star trail photos with an interesting background and I thought where better than Knapp's Castle on a clear half moon night. It was so beautiful this night and great for pictures (not for staying warm however). It took 35 minutes for this exposure and in total I only took 4 photos despite being there for almost three hours. This photo shows how the earth rotates around the sun and, when the shutter is open for long enough, the stars start to trail giving that motion blur. It was a lot of fun enjoying the view and sitting in the great wide open at midnight looking at all the beautiful stars. If you haven't been there, Knapp's Castle is definitely worth a trip and is really not that far off the beaten path.

     Interestingly enough, there has been some construction up there for the first time in 70 years. For more info about that and Knapp's Castle, click this link to a recent story done by the Santa Barbara Independent.

Sunsets

Sunsets are great for photos and we love adding a new bride and groom to the mix too. This was shot this last weekend in Morgan Hill. The bride and groom were great and their wedding was a hit. Hopefully they'll love this shot of them at sunset on the most important day of their relationship.

WPPI 2011

We are getting fired up about WPPI 2011 which is Feb 17-24. In case you don't know what that is it stands for Wedding and Portrait Professionals International. It is a great convention lasting up to a week with different seminars and trade shows to keep photographers up to date with the latest news, tips, and tricks to keep your business running smoothly. But if that doesn't convince you to go think about this: IT'S IN VEGAS! We'll try to post some pictures of our time there afterwards and hopefully we'll see some of you there!

Weddings are so much fun!

We love shooting weddings! They are always so much fun and filled with such energy that almost no other day compares. We feel very happy that we get to go to work and photograph such fun events!

Beautiful Bride and Groom

 Took some fill in photographs for my father-in-law, who is also a photographer in Santa Barbara (Baron Spafford http://www.baronspafford.com/ ), at a wedding reception for him. Had a great time at the Cabrillo Art House in Santa Barbara. The bride and groom were great and the reception was beautiful. I love weddings and they always have me leaving pumped up and excited!

Surfing

Went to the beach with my cousin's husband the other day and took some surf shots. It was a beautiful, but very cold, morning at Sand's beach in Goleta. Anyways, here's one shot from that morning. I love to take surf shots so if anyone's really good and wants some shots let me know! Thanks!