Your Wedding Day Magazine

YWD Magazine was released last night at an industry exclusive party in Santa Barbara. It was a lovely evening with hors d'oeurvres and champagne hosted by The Wedding Gallery and Savvy Catering. I have been very excited about this magazine since it caught my eye early this year. YWD has been making strides since it's inception in 2003 to be fresh, relevant and to bring the top wedding artists of California together into one beautifully woven publication.

I actually had the privilege of contributing an article called 'Making the Most of Engagement Pictures'. After a couple of years shooting weddings and engagement pictures through the seasons I have found that the couples that I have done engagement sessions with are always warmed up and ready to go on the day of the wedding more than the others. The initial 'some-strange-guy-is-pointing-a-big-metal-object-in-my-face-anxiety' has faded and they begin acting like more like themselves and sometimes more like models. What I have more importantly observed from the couples I have had the engagement session with is that we are friends by the time the wedding kicks off and I turn from some-strange-guy-with-a-camera to 'our good photographer friend, Cameron.' that's what I really love about this job!!! I get to get into the lives of people by getting in touch with their hearts and love for one another. It really is a beautiful thing. Well, that really isn't all the article entails. I guess you will have to read it yourself to learn the importance of having the engagement session.

I am so excited about how awesome this magazine is that I bought a double-page ad to make a bold statement about my passion to photograph different styles of people in a story board. Both of these couples are my friends and former clients. David and Vanessa's engagement picture on the left seems to have more of a band-shot feel than the typical romantic playing on the beach at sunset engagement pictures. I actually tried to get them all kissy and cute, but soon realized what they were all about. Bestfriends who love each other deeply and who are just stinking cool. We got so many great artistic images of them just as they are! Jason and Hannah on the right hand side of the ad are actually old friends. Jason was my roommate years ago and invited me to go backpacking across Europe one summer where we met the lovely Hannah Paul. The moment Jason laid eyes on her his heart declared, 'I have met my wife'. A bit of emails and some long phone conversations months later led them into a relationship of sorts that landed Hannah here in the states to see if things would work out. Well, things most certainly did!


If you get the chance please go pick up a copy of Your Wedding Day as soon as you can. It should be released to bookstores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble in the next month or so. I am really excited about this magazine! Did I say that already?

The Perfect Cup of Tea!

I know this has nothing to do with shooting weddings, but I thought it would be fun to share a little behind the scenes daily living tips from the people that support what I am doing and where I am going. I would like to introduce Mr. Simon Jones. Simon is my faithful friend and assistant. This is the guy that shows up with me to all of my weddings and takes a portion of the amazing pictures that we produce. He is often overlooked and underappreciated being my assistant and second shooter. I am really blessed to have him by my side and in my corner. He is so much fun to hang and work with. His creativity and eye for design are crucial during the wedding day and well afterwards which is why Simon will be designing all of my Queensberry albums. He has his own graphic/web design business called 7 and 8 Design which is successfully serving several small businesses around the Central Coast.

Perhaps you've been wondering the trick to brewing the perfect cup of English Tea... Well, Mr. Simon Jones will demonstrate the true and undefiled method to making a genuine English cup of tea in the comfort of your own home. Simon is from England (not Australia) so I guess this makes him the expert. It's true that his tea always tastes better than mine. Just in case you were wondering about the British way... Now you know!

The story of Daniel & Halle

Daniel and Halle actually got married a whole year ago. Why they just had a ceremony last Sunday? Let me explain. Well, they started dating a couple of years ago and then they broke up. They didn't hang out for a long time and Halle was rather heart broken. Daniel moves to Hawaii for a year where he came to his senses and realized that he was missing out on the bestest most amazing girl he had ever been with. Daniel moved home and begins the quest of winning back his beloved's heart. One random afternoon the ex-couple bumped into each other downtown. Awkward as it was, Daniel dropped to one knee and asked Halle to forgive him and allow him to date her again. She says 'yes' and before any of us know it they are in Hawaii a couple weeks later with Halle's family getting married on some tropically romantic beach!

So that basically left a lot of us confused hearing stories that Daniel and Halle are not only 'back together' but that they eloped in Hawaii! Last Sunday we celebrated their one year anniversary. They exchanged their personal vows for the first time and Daniel played a love song he wrote for Halle. It was really awesome to share in celebrating their love and commitment for one another.

Here are a couple from the ceremony...




So here's a fun fact! One of the couples who were in the wedding party, Darren & Jessie Clark are good friends of mine. Today is their anniversary and I shot their wedding 4 years ago. Their wedding was THE wedding that made me decide to become a photographer! So, I guess it's my anniversary too! Amazing to think about where I've come in 4 years... I remember the excitement of the day and a voice inside me saying 'I made you to do this!'
(Darren is the guy with hair in the band picture below. Darren and his wife now own and run their very own guitar school here in SLO called Music Lab)







Lastly, the coolest wedding shoes I have ever seen!

Encouraging Audrey

Man, I've been busy! I counted the other day and I've shot 25 weddings so far just since mid-may! For some reason all of this years work decided to compact itself into just 6 months. During the months of May through October I have one, if not two weddings every weekend. I feel a bit stressed to be honest. Mostly because I have so much processing to do on my computer and a lineup of weddings yet ahead. In the midst of it I know that I need to take personal time to relax and unwind so that I don't hurt my creative spirit. Life is really a balancing act of hard work and good rest.

And in the midst of the pressure I feel to work every hour of every day... I find comfort from these ancient song lyrics that never grow tired or weary.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour foth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

I was stressed yesterday... a lot; yet I was still gifted with these gorgeous images of my friend Audrey. To me these images declare the glory of God. The beauty of His most prized creation standing among the leaves and branches and sunlight of His beautiful creation. Heavens declaring his glory... skies proclaiming the amazing work of his hands some thousands of years ago and the passing glory of this 17 year old girl like a flower in full bloom.

Thanks Audrey for being used by God to remind me of His glory that is and His glory to come. I am encouraged in the midst of my toil to rest and remember how good God is and to try to comprehend just how much love He has for me.


By the way... Audrey got voted as 'Model Material' for Arroyo Grande's class of 2006! Feel free to comment if you agree with Audrey's classmates.

Bryce & Harmony

I just had the opportunity to shoot some good friends engagement pictures! Bryce was a roommate of mine about 4 years back. He was one of the best roommates ever! He was always friendly and fun to hang out with... He was consistently respectful and always shared whatever he had. He would also randomly tackle cleaning up the moldy grapefruit that constantly covered our backyard. Thanks again Bryce! Harmony has been a great friend for even longer than Bryce. I met her when we went to church together in college. She is now part owner of the best salon in San Luis, Reveal Salon!

It's always exciting to see two people you love get together. Both Bryce and Harmony have such refreshing personalities and dispositions that I really believe their friendship-marriage will be a delight well into grey hair and wrinkles. I am looking forward to shooting their wedding here in just 4 short weeks in Arroyo Grande!

Wahl Boards

My good friend Karen Wahl called the other day to ask me to shoot a picture of her dad, PJ, in the shaping room. I was really excited because I have wanted to photograph a shaper ever since I saw Aaron Lloyd shape a board at Channel Islands a few years back. I've suggested it to PJ and Karen before, but there was never any need. Recently PJ has been shaping a lot more boards and opening up new accounts with some local surf shops. As any business owner knows there is a desperate need to stand out among the competition. What PJ offers is a personal touch, an experienced hand and a love for the art and joy of surfing. His daughter Karen designed this little history flyer that will be posted on all outgoing boards. It will offer the consumer the opportunity to get to know the man behind Wahl Boards and a chance to support a local shaper who has really done so much to inspire and support this community for over 25 years.

THE WAHLBOARDS DIFFERENCE
Born and raised on the Central coast, PJ Wahl began surfing at the age of 12. When his treasured ten foot Yater Spoon was finally damaged beyond repair, he stripped the glass and reshaped the board into an 8'6". That ignited a passion for shaping that has now lasted for over 38 years and resulted in the shaping of over 7,000 boards. His boards have been surfed by pros, a national champion and hard-core soul surfers around the globe. Not only is PJ among the first shapers on the northern Central Coast, he is also a surfing pioneer as well. Graduating early from high school, PJ left for Kauai in the spring of 1971 where he learned to ride Hawaiian Juice. Later that year and before surf travel was in vogue, he started exploring waves from Canada, through the Panama Canal and Central America regions. His travels have resulted in a broad knowledge base for making surfboards that work in all wave conditions. PJ Wahl is an authentic surfer and shaper whose pioneering spirit is reflected in every board he makes. In a day driven by robotics and molds, each Wahlboard is hand crafted by PJ himself and glassed by craftsmen that surf.


So, if you are looking for a new surfboard, go to CCS or Esteem to pick up a genuine hand crafted Wahl Board. You will be stoked for sure!

I also got a couple shots of Karen's son, Gideon, who I LOVE and who I had the privilege of photographing his very first week of life. He is the baby currently featured in my webgallery. It is crazy how quickly they grow and develop personalities and learn to walk. Gideon has always been a heavy drooler. That's why I had to post the picture of him picking up the hose with a stream of goo falling from his wet bottom lip. Ahh..... The life of a 1 year old!

Kelly Shaw

Wow! I can't believe the summer has ended! I feel like I sneezed, shot a million weddings and all of sudden fall is peeking it's head out like groundhog day and kids are off to school... Even though the summer has come to an end, my busyness hasn't. Weddings are still happening every weekend for me well into November. (Just a couple more months and I can breathe!) I think I might deserve a month's vacation soon. ;)

Well, with school back in session high schoolers have been hitting me up for senior portraits. Early on when I began my business, I thought I would step in on the senior portrait market and clean up with my original 'Ingalls' style and get a lot of clientele that were looking for something different, more real, more artistic. After a couple years of doing everything from weddings to kids.... I decided to call off advertising senior and family portraits and really specialize in what I feel that I am primarily called to; weddings. Well, somehow, I keep getting calls for senior pictures. I think I have only like 5 this season which is manageable amidst my busy wedding schedule.

Here are a couple that I took of the sweetest girl ever, Kelly Shaw. We hit up an old book store downtown that caught my eye a few days previous. I scoped it out and asked the owners if it would be cool for me to take some senior photos in there. They were cooperative and agreed it would be cool. When I shyly suggested to Kelly we shoot in the old bookstore she was excited, 'I love books!' she exclaimed. Perfect... This idea was just for her.