Erika & Alex's unforgettable celebration

We met Erika and Alex through my friend Shirley, who also shoots with Dad from time to time. Erika and Shirley have been best friends since grade school and because of their close friendship, Erika was able to take full advantage of all of Shirley's suggestions and hook-ups with respect to some of our favorite vendors.

These two are so much fun and so obviously in love. Not only that, they really know how to put on a fantastic event! Every detail of their day was carefully thought-out and as you can see from the photos, it all came together beautifully. They were assisted by our good friend and coordinator extraordinaire, Julie Scrivener of The Best Wedding for You.

Erika got ready for the big event at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.


The multi-talented Shirley also happens to be a trained MAC makeup artist. Erika has the sweetest smile. She's so excited.Erika's bridal party carried flowers by one of my favorite local florists, Natasha of Classic Creations. I loved the fact that each of the bridesmaids carried a different white bouquet.The ceremony was held at the lovely Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church. And again, look at all of those beautiful floral arrangements! They smelled beautiful too.
The kiss. Such sweet smiles!The party stops at Harbor Island for photos on the way to the reception. Dad took most of the shots here but I was able to snap a few. I love the colors that Erika and Alex chose for their attendants - like ocean and sand, perfect for a San Diego wedding.Erika and Alex surprised their attendants with a pre-reception party on the Newport Hornblower... and party they did!
So romantic
The guests, who had been enjoying cocktail hour at the Bali Hai Restaurant, were amazed to see the gang pulling up on a chartered yacht. Talk about 'grand entrance'!A stunning sunset... and a great party, DJ'd by the one and only Mick Scrivener of Elite British DJ. The dance floor was packed to the very end of the evening.

Kristin & Brian's perfect San Diego day

Gorgeous couple. Elegant details. Beautiful venues.

Preparation | Hard Rock Hotel

The Hard Rock Hotel has a huge LED display behind the registration desk. We thought it made for a cool, modern backdrop for Kristin.
Ceremony | Marston House Garden

The garden at the Marston House has some great rustic backdrops for photos. And the garden area itself, where the ceremony was held, is also amazing. A wedding photographer's dream really.

Speaking of a wedding photographer's dream...
These ladies were too much fun.
Adorable floral pieces, but not as adorable as the kids...

... "hey! your shoes match my bow!"

Love birds

Reception | The Don Room at the historic El Cortez

Rebecca & Charley's "wild" wedding

Both actors, Rebecca and Charley really know how to put on a great show! We had a fantastic time shooting their wedding and reception at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Guests weren't just entertained by cake-cutting and bouquet tosses, but also with visits from several Wild Animal Park residents, including the cheetah and eagle below.





It was SO COOL to be able to get so close to this big cat. I think he looks just like my boy cat.
Charley and Rebecca have such a great big group of friends - in fact too many to be able to invite to the ceremony. So Charley promised to continue tweeting throughout the day for those who couldn't be there in person.

Dave & Kathy

Dad's cousin Dave and his beautiful bride Kathy were married at the site of their future home in Tacoma, WA. Dave asked Dad if he could shoot the wedding, but because he was tied up with the Bridal Bazaar that weekend, Dick and I went instead. We were honored to be able to be part of their day.

What a gorgeous couple and amazing setting! Here are just a few teasers. Thanks to Dave and Kathy for being so patient.

Usually I limit my blog photos to only shots I took myself, but I loved this shot of Kathy through the french doors so much that I couldn't resist sharing it, even though it's Dick's. Nice capture!
I added some antiquing to both of these first two - I just really like the warmth.

LOVE the shoes!!

Here they are in front of their new home.


The Greek Goddess! She's just lovely isn't she.

Washington DC Promotion and Reunion

My brother Jim and I went to Washington DC to witness the promotion of our good friend Rich to Lt Colonel at the Pentagon. The trip turned into an a amazing reunion and sight-seeing trip that I'll never forget. Here are a few of my favorite shots of our day walking around DC.

WWII Memorial






a WWII veteran, making sure all visiting veterans are registered



Jim and the Washington Monument



Cormac and the Lincoln Memorial

Thanks Caren for taking this shot of Jim and me



Ellie and Caren at the Korean War Veterans Memorial

Taking a break in front of the Jefferson Memorial



Next we visited the Marine Corps Warm Memorial (a.k.a. Iwo Jima Memorial). I had no idea how large it was - so I made sure to include Doug and Jim in the shot for scale.





What a beautiful sight to see as the sun sets. It reminds me that I really am proud to be an American.


I don't know how else to put it. If you have never visited Washington DC, make it a point to go!

thrift store find

Saturday Dick and I visited the thrift shops on Poway road. Neither of us really had any particular purchases in mind. We were considering the possibility of finding possible furniture projects - maybe something mid-century that we could fix up, but no luck there. So instead we fell into our regular thrift store routine.

Usually, Dick can't help but peruse the electronics - finding old film cameras, slide projectors, kitchen accessories, etc. There was a time when he collected film cameras and accessories. But now I think he enjoys just looking at them for the most part.

I, on the other hand, can't resist going through the coffee mugs. There's something that intrigues me about the kinds of things that people throw away. Of course there are the obvious discards that have company names and logos. While those don't ordinarily appeal to me, Dick recently found a mug with the original rainbow Apple logo. Being the Mac fan that he is, he uses that one at work. I'm always surprised to find the mugs that say "Worlds Best Dad" or the ones with sentimental poems on them. You have to wonder - did someone struggle with the decision to donate it? Was the original recipient of the mug even aware of the fact that it was given away? Was there a tragedy where everything in an estate was donated?

We once found one with fun, colorful cartoon graphics saying "Friendship is a rainbow between two people." The sweetness of it was just too much to resist. We do our best to make our manliest male friends drink out of that one whenever possible. And perhaps the best find ever was the pink mug filled with drawings of bunnies. It is only on close inspection that one can see that all of these bunnies are doing unspeakable acts (the kinds of things we expect from bunnies). I think the thing that made that find the most surprising was that we found it in a thrift shop run by a Christian church.

Saturday I found this one. I love it's simplicity and even I like the fact that the design isn't completely straight. It makes me wonder where it came from. Who used it before? Why did they trash it? While I'll never know the answers to these questions, I will enjoy drinking my tea and coffee out of it for years to come.


To take the photo above, I placed the mug on the tall armoire in my bedroom because I liked the light there. However, I'm just barely too short to get the angle I wanted. And standing on my toes was a little too shaky for the available light photo I wanted to take. So I grabbed the closest pair of high heels I could find and slipped them on to get the shot. It was only afterward that I glanced down and realized how silly my feet looked. Grungy pants, two very different shoes, and my not-so-impressive self pedicure. I don't really know why I'm sharing the image. I guess I just thought it was amusing.

For those of you who don't know me well, don't worry about the red mark on my right toe. It's just a birth mark. :-)

Have a great week. Try seeing the beauty and amusement in ordinary things around you.