Matt + Tara {Wedding, Santa Barbara Historical Museum}

Matt + Tara had their wedding at The Santa Barbara Historical Museum. They actually found me back in November at A Day Celebrating Weddings by YWD. It was a lot of fun to return to the Museum 5 months later to photograph their gorgeous wedding!

Matts beautiful daughter, Olivia, was a flowergirl/bridesmaid and as involved as she was in the wedding she managed to not steal the show like she did for their engagement session.











Matts beautiful daughter, Olivia, was a flowergirl/bridesmaid and as involved as she was in the wedding she managed to not steal the show like she did for their engagement session.







Joshua Caine came along to be my second shooter. He is and was awesome! These are a few fun-ner shots he got while I was working with the couple.







DJ Gavin Roy from Santa Barbara DJs was a blast. When I asked him what the most overplayed wedding reception song was this was his response.


Anything ACDC turns me into a dancing fool for some reason. Here I am playing my air-guitar-camera.

Also, Joshua Caine was a hit with Taras little sister on the dancefloor. We had way too much fun celebrating Matt + Taras new life together. Thanks so much for having us!

David + Melissa {Engagement, Avila Beach}

David and Melissa are awesome for a lot of reasons. Reason #1) They recently moved to the very dirt road in Paso Robles where I spent most of my pre-grown up life. I have compassion for them in a profound way. Reason #2) They love their cowboy boots. I vote that they wear them on their wedding day. If you guys do it, so will I! Reason #3) They are getting married on one of the most popular days; October 4th 2008. When I asked Melissa why she thought it was so popular, she said {10-4 good buddy, over and out!}

We cruised down Corbett Canyon road in Avila Beach to find some magic spots. One particular apple orchard drew us in with the cherry blossom trees that lined the drive. I neglected to see the {closed} sign displayed at the entrance. The light drew us deeper and deeper into the orchard and before I knew it some lady was yelling at me about trespassing. We didnt even think about asking permission because I figured it was one of those public apple orchards where people go and buy apples. I apologized and said we would be on our way. Luckily we got the shots before we got caught!

Sorry lady, we didnt mean to offend. We were just following the light. Hope you love the pictures!

When in Vegas...

be Vegas!




This is Jeff Newsom, Joshua Caine, my lovely wife and I crashing the bludomain party at WPPI. Bludomain really knows how to throw a bash, complete with practice blackjack tables, an open bar, free airbrush tattoos, and this sweet photo booth. Anna got a little carried away with the tattoos. I was worried they wouldnt come off before our next wedding, but luckily they did!

Jason + Jessica {Wedding, Ventura}

Jessica is a Henna artist and Jason is a car-restoration artist. Its no wonder that all of the details of their wedding came together in beautiful fashion. I know I am posting 30+ images but these are already half of what I really want to share. Jason and Jessica are 100% style!

They had a sweet little ceremony at Heritage Square and then finished up the night celebrating at The Topa Tower Club. The Club is the tallest building in all of the land (the Oxnard/Ventura land) and the reception was held on the top floor. Gorgeous!

I love who they are as individuals and I love who they are as a couple. They are honest and upfront, kind and passionate. From the moment we met them for their engagement session, Anna and I loved Jason and Jessica! We just couldnt wait to shoot their wedding.

I was amazed by the sweet sugar skulls that Jessica hand-made. She also painted every one of them with their own unique pattern. She is crazy talented! Check out her business Henna Caravan and you will understand why. By the way most of those custom cars you see in the background are Jasons. He owns like 10 hundred. He had one for each of his groomsmen practically to drive from the ceremony site to the reception.































It was an honor being asked to photograph their wedding especially because they are both artists. You guys rocked it! Have an awesome life and marriage!

Tim + Mindy {Wedding, Pismo Beach}

Tim and Mindy had a beautiful Friday wedding in Pismo Beach. Fridays are the new Saturdays. I love that if people throw a Friday celebration that it is an opportunity for people to prove that they really love the couple enough to get a day off of work. It seems that a lot of people really love Tim and Mindy because not only did they have to get off work, but most of them had to travel from Hanford.

San Luis Obispo is a wedding destination hotspot for people who live inland. Ive had the pleasure of photographing many couples from Hanford already. I guess it’s a small town because most of them know (of) each other.

The ceremony was held at St. Pauls Catholic Church in Pismo Beach. The reception was in the beautiful backgarden of Giuseppes Italian Restaurant. The food was amazing, the bar was hoping, and everyone was enjoying their time together!

Directly after the ceremony we walked next door to the police station for some photographs in front of the beautiful brick walls. One officer kindly invited us behind the closed gate to shoot under the archways inside of a quiet secret courtyard. When I saw the officer approach the gate I was worried we would get asked to leave, but instead were invited in! Thanks Pismo PD!

Tim and Mindy were a lot of fun to work with! Mindy was totally beaming and relaxed; she was the perfect bride! Tim kept making me laugh. He is a character and helped make the pictures light hearted. Check out their totally rad engagement pictures as well.


























Giuseppes has the best Italian food around! If you ever come to Pismo Beach or San Luis Obispo, be sure to stop by for some lunch or dinner.

A Jose Villa Workshop {Guadalajara, Mexico}

My good friend Jose Villa just announced that registration is open for his 2008 Mexico Wedding Photography workshop. I am thrilled and honored that he asked me to be a guest speaker!

I have admired Joses fine art photography for the past few years. We have become friends over a year ago and ever since he has only become an even greater inspiration to me. He shot some Super 8 at my wedding as well as a little medium format. It was breathtaking to say the least. Jose is one of the most generous and humble photographers I know. He has created a real niche for himself as a film photographer and yet continues to be an inspiration to all types of photographers around the world.

The workshop is taking place in a 350 year old Hacienda in Guadalajara, Mexico this November. There will be two dates and a limit of 12 photographers per class. It is my goal to be responsible for booking 3 photographers personally. So if you have ever wanted to attend a Cameron Ingalls workshop now is your chance to get a little bit of the Ingalls love and a lot of Jose Villa. It will be a priceless experience for sure!

Check out the Super 8 footage Joel Serrato shot from last years workshop. Spaces will book up fast especially after this weeks photography convention in Vegas where Jose will further announce the workshop.

Plan a Destination Wedding to Mexico... Do it!

This is a blog post of mine that was just published on mywedding.com.

I recently photographed a destination wedding at the Hilton Resort in Cancun, Mexico. The wedding ceremony was set in front of the breathtaking Caribbean Sea and the reception party kept the guests rocking the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning. Most guests agreed: It was the wedding of the century!

The couple is not among the rich and famous as you might think. They are just like you and me. Which got me thinking, why doesn’t everyone plan a destination wedding? So I asked the couple, Steffan and Suzette, to tell me a bit about the pros and cons of planning a destination wedding.

CI: What made you decide to have a destination wedding?

S+S: We thought a destination wedding would be nice because it would give everyone a chance to take a vacation at the same time. We figured it would be less stressful for us and also more enjoyable. We thought it would be more intimate because everyone would have a chance to meet and mingle before the wedding day. This was definitely the case. We think everyone had a much better time at our wedding because people had the chance to get acquainted during the activities prior to the wedding.

CI: Why Cancun, Mexico?

S+S: Cancun has been a favorite vacation spot for us. Every time we have gone we have had an awesome time. We really like the beaches there. They seem to have some of the softest sand, most amazing clear blue water, and breathtaking sunsets. It is also a great place to party so we thought it would be fun for all of our family and friends. Traveling to and from Cancun is relatively easy and inexpensive. Flights are usually cheaper than flying to most other places in the states. This was important because we had family and friends traveling from all over the states and we wanted to pick an exotic place that was relatively cheaper and easier for people to travel to. We wanted to share this experience with all the important people in our lives so we wanted to make it desirable for people to come.

CI: What was the most difficult thing in planning a destination wedding?

S+S: Not being able to actually visit the ceremony and reception site and having to visualize the locations during the planning process. We had to rely on photos that our hotel wedding planner provided. We also were not able to sample any of the food or cake before hand. We had to select our dinner menu from the descriptions that the wedding planner provided and hoped that it was as delicious as it sounded on paper (which it was, luckily!).

It was also a challenge to coordinate the decorations, the DJ equipment arrangements, and the hotel accommodations for the guests. We had to do all this over email and phone. It would have been so much easier to sit down with a wedding coordinator and go through the details. Even though most of the staff were fluent in English at some times it was hard to communicate what we wanted.

We also decided to make a lot of the decorations ourselves. We made all the dinner menus and wedding programs by hand so they all matched our theme. We also wanted to provide our guests with welcome bags of goodies so we had to purchase everything beforehand. And for the favors, we found perfect little photo albums which were handed out to everyone at the reception with one of our engagement photos in each. The hardest part about these things was bringing them into Mexico! We ended up shipping all the wedding favors and packing an extra suitcase. Fortunately, everything worked out and nothing got lost during shipment or in customs.

CI: What was the best part of having your destination wedding?

S+S: Being able to relax, and enjoy time with our family and friends. We were able to do some fun things together like the Jungle Tour and the Mayan ruins.

CI: How did your invited guests respond to having to fly across the continent to attend your wedding?

S+S: One of our main concerns was the cost involved for our family and friends. However, everyone was excited to go to Cancun and make a vacation out of it. We understood beforehand that not all our guests would be able to attend, especially guests with medical conditions. Most importantly, we had the support of our immediate family with our destination decision.

We also made sure that we held the wedding at a resort that was not overly expensive. With our group discount, we had a block of rooms secured for about $150/night and flights were about $350 round trip from California so we did the best we could to make it relatively painless for our guests.

CI: Would you say your budget was larger or smaller than the average Californian wedding budget of 50K?

S+S: Our actual ceremony and reception expenses were definitely less than the average wedding. We outlined the big cost items first and based our decisions off of that. The cost of the reception itself was a lot cheaper surprisingly than most Californian weddings. The cost also included four hours of open bar and this was a big benefit. The food was excellent as well. We cut some costs on decorations and flowers by not paying for anything additional, and since our wedding package included standard white linens and tableware, we worked with that. Also, since it was a destination wedding, we expected the guest list to be a lot smaller than if it were here in the states. We had a total party size of about 80 guests in Cancun and we invited close to 200. We figured if we held our wedding in California, we would have had about 175+ people so we think destination weddings will for the most part be relatively cheaper due to the reduced size of the attendees.

So if you are even thinking about planning a destination wedding to Mexico I hope this encourages you to just do it!

Kenji + Tene {Engagement, San Luis Obispo}

Upon meeting Kenji for the first time at my gallery he pointed out that I had no African Americans pictured on my walls. I knew immediately that I was going to love this guy!

We always offer people something to drink when they come over and Kenji requested something on the stiffer side so Anna quickly mixed up some pomegranate martinis (AMAZING!). We sat in my gallery sipping away getting to know each other before venturing out for their engagement session. Not many people accept our offer for something to drink, probably because they feel shy, but Kenji made it real clear that he is a straight forward mellow guy who just likes to cruise. It meant a lot to us that they spent some time chatting and enjoying a drink with us.

We also got some shots around my house to loosen things up a bit. Kenji loved my neighbors mustang and asked to get a couple pictures with the car. I told him it was fine as long as he included Tene. He was intending on it, he told me, he wanted it to look like it was their car.

In every photo shoot I am always looking for what I like to call {The Love}. The Love is when the scenery is beautiful and the lighting is perfect and most importantly the chemistry between the couple is firing. Thats when I get my favorite photographs. They are usually the images that are serendipitous and the most original; like icing on the cake. For Kenji and Tene this happened in front of a cherry blossom tree located on the backside of Madonna Mountain. I have been in love with these trees lately because I have been seeing them blooming in the most random places up and down California. The pink and white colors just explode off the tapestry of any scenery. Something special happened when I asked them to stand in front of this most colorful tree. They forgot about me. They smiled, they laughed, exchanged a tender moment and my wife and I got the most amazing shots!

Thank you guys for sharing {The Love} with me and the world around you!

Paul + Ginny {Wedding, Carmel By-The-Sea}

Paul and Ginny had a beautiful and simply tasteful wedding in Carmel By-The-Sea. I love that Carmel isnt just Carmel; its Carmel By-The-Sea-thank-you-very-much. In the early 1900s 60 percent of Carmels houses were built by citizens who were devoting their lives to work connected to the aesthetic arts. Now it is a upscale community full of artists, galleries and quaint shops. Its no wonder that people love to get married in such a culturally rich beach town.

Paul is a real straight forward guy. He comes off pretty serious, but he really has a witty sense of humor buried behind those glasses. He told me I say awesome a lot. If I remember correctly, I think he is an English teacher. That is something an English teacher would say. Ginny just looked stunning in her dress! Everything from the red flowers to the elegant brown sash just made her glow.




Mariah Soloy Floral Design who is based out of Los Osos (15 minutes from my gallery) actually hooked me up with Paul and Ginny. She did a beautiful job creating simple bouquets that were like an explosion of red roses. I really enjoyed the curling willows that she placed into the bridesmaids bouquets. Great work Mariah and thanks for sharing the love!










Right when I shot this next image I laughed immediately because Paul pulled the same look during their engagement session. I dont know why he rolls his eyes when his most beautiful bride kisses his face, but he will get used to PDA I am sure.





Paul and Ginny met at grad school and now work together at the same high school. Since many of their guests are also faculty members it was a lot of fun to watch them work it on the dance floor. This one guy wins the award for best dancer. He was ripping it up the whole night! He must chaperone a lot of the school dances because he had some pretty sweet moves. I enjoyed watching him so much Im dedicating the next two images to him.




To read more about them check out their engagement post.

One Year Anniversary!

A whole year ago today I got married! I can remember the excited nervous feeling as I woke up. A sort of wonderfully fearful knowledge that after March 3, 2007 day my life would never be the same. Reflecting on the past year we realize that time flies when you are having fun! We are both excited and proud that we are passing the first year mark.

Its amazing how many people say that the first year is the hardest. On your wedding day {That Guy} loves to tell you this fun fact with a hearty slap on the back and the old couple you meet on your honeymoon in the Caribbean will tell you as if warning you of impending doom. Why is that?! What is up with this first year of haunting hard times?

We feel like this first year has been awesome! I cant imagine life not spent every day with my lovely wife; my best friend in the whole world. I dont miss my single days one bit. Life is way better with Anna on my side as my compliment, balancing and challenging me.

Its true that adjusting to living with a woman has been hard at times. But not hard-lets-get-an-annulment-hard. Hard more like hard-to-understand why there are (decorative) towels in the bathroom that I am not allowed to use. And hard in the sense that everything I do or dont do now affects (positive or negative) this person that I have promised to share the rest of my life with.

My single guy friends ask me if marriage is hard. I tell them marriage is not the hard thing; my selfishness is. The hardest part of marriage is hurting the heart of the woman I love and looking into her sad face as if into a mirror and being confronted with how unkind and careless I can be. I remember standing at the alter just a year ago vowing to love and serve my new bride. Promising to lay down my rights and consider her above myself. Discovering my selfishness is what I signed up for. Everyday I have countless opportunities to demonstrate love and humility. Everyday I must choose to apologize and forgive and allow Love to cover a multitude of selfishness. If that is what is considered hard than I am grateful for the hardness which refines us into much better lovers and friends.

We are venturing out to Napa for a sweet little getaway. We are excited to spend a lot of quality alone time together. We will do our best to relax while getting massages, taste as much wine as possible and even try out a game of (non-virtual) tennis.

Cheers to all who have loved and supported us during this amazing first year in our journey. Thanks so much for being here with us in person or spirit. We look forward to celebrating many more years to come!

Rolando + Megan {Engagement, Capitola}

Before meeting Rolando and Meg I never knew that Capitola even existed! It is this colorful and cozy little beach town hiding near Santa Cruz. Anna and I thoroughly enjoyed our time hanging with and photographing Rolando and Meg. We met at Shadowbrook Restaurant where they both worked and met. It is this beautiful restaurant surrounded by a botanical garden right on the Soquel Creek. We got a few shots at the restaurant for old times sake and then walked to the beach. We finished off the evening having dinner at Shadowbrook. It was refreshing talking about life, love and marriage as they prepare for a wedding just weeks away.

They shared with us how amazing it has been for their relationship to have pre-marital counseling with their pastor. I always get excited when couples put as much preparation if not more into their marriage as they do their wedding. The wedding is supposed to be a one day event. Marriage is supposed to be a lifetime. Rolando and Megan have been examining their backgrounds, cultural differences and preconceptions about marriage. It has helped them discover the various strengths and weaknesses each person brings to the relationship. They are learning how their past affects their current relationship and how to change so as not to negatively affect their future together. A good book they are reading is Saving your marriage before it starts. They even began reading this before they were engaged. They read the book together, then do the workbook exercises separately and then discuss the answers with each other. It has brought up issues that they would have not foreseen otherwise. It will give them so many tools to face the challenges of love and compromise in the years ahead.

I challenge any couples out there who are engaged or close to it to take this on-line Couple Quiz. It is a sample from the curriculum that they are going through to prepare for one of the most amazing and challenging journeys that they will ever take.

We look forward to the big day!