Thirst Relief Mentor Benefit Auction -Win Me!

I’m excited to participate in this year’s WPPI Thirst Relief Mentor Benefit Auction. Thirst relief is an organization that works to provide clean water to millions around the globe. It’s amazing how much can we take tap water for granted. -And that is why I am joining my photographer friends who raise money each year to benefit those who are less fortunate. In three years time they have provided 100,000 people long term sustainable clean water solutions for an average of $3.85 a person! I’m amazed to think that we can buy a water bottle at a gas station for something close to $3.85.

Basically, it works like this. I am auctioning off a 90 minute photography mentoring session. I get so many people who ask me for business start up advice each year because I love to see people live their dreams. So this will be a fun way for someone to learn some photography wisdom over dinner while supporting a noble cause and saving lives.

Anyone can bid! All you’ve got to do is cruise over to Thirst Relief’s website where you will be directed to a gallery of photographers auctioning off their time. There are so many amazingly talented photographers participating that I won’t be offended if you bid on someone other than me! This is all to benefit people who need clean water -not my ego or bank account. You don’t even have to be a photographer or go to WPPI to bid, you just have to be an amazingly loving and caring person. 100% of all donations will go directly to Thirst Relief.

What I am auctioning off:
• Portfolio and website review/critique
• Lunch or dinner in Las Vegas during the WPPI tradeshow (or elsewhere if not attending)
• Heart-to-heart about your journey towards living your dreams
• A seat at an upcoming one day Cameron Ingalls {Fall in Love Workshop} coming up this spring! (soon to be announced)

Auctions close on February 1st so hurry up and get your bid on!

Laurel White of Adornments {The Wedding Standard}

Adornments has made such an impression on the wedding industry in San Luis Obispo that it was just an honor to interview Laurel! We have done so many weddings together and I am consistently amazed at the elegance, artistry and sheer genius that is evident in every arrangement and bouquet. Check out my latest interview on The Wedding Standard!

Alyssa + Adam {San Luis Obispo}

Alyssa and Adam are the sweetest and most excited couple to get married in probably forever! We just had so much fun driving around the backcountry of San Luis Obispo looking for weeds and orange groves. They have that feel about them that just reminds me of what it was like to be young and in love. ;) Not that I’m not young and in love anymore… but it’s always so exciting and scary to be engaged and I forget what’s that’s like sometimes because I hang around lots of pre-married people.

I noticed how Alyssa holds Adam’s arm; it’s like she is wrapping herself up in him. When I asked her about it she said that she always did so. That she used to hold her daddy’s arm like that and it would make her feel all safe and protected. Makes me think about how amazing it will be to see her wrapped up in her father’s arm one last time as he walks her down the aisle in just a few months time.









Thanks for reminding me. ;)

Vintage Roids

Jered Martin came over today and taught me how to load my vintage Polaroid camera that I inherited from my wife’s grandmother. I tried using it awhile back and got frustrated when I ruined a pack of film. Jered’s dad gave him one just like mine complete with a film loading lesson, which Jered kindly passed on to me today! We took some test shots in my backyard and then in Baywood Park where we ate the best Thai food in all of the Americas. It has been such an inspiring week I think I just might ooze!

P.S. Jered is an awesome band photographer! Check out his website.

LaBarbera Sound {The Wedding Standard}

Check out my latest interview with Joe LaBarbera of LaBarbera Sound on The Wedding Standard! Joe is a seasoned wedding DJ who has served on the Central Coast for over 17 years. There is so much that most people don’t know about Joe; so go find out for yourself what make Joe so amazing!

Zoe + Peter {San Luis Obispo}

Zoe and Peter are getting married oh…. TOMORROW! Which is perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in all of tomorrow! So we basically had to do an emergency engagement session. They have been busy finalizing all of the week-of-the-wedding-details but I managed to steal them away for just one hour the other day. We ran around like kids on a scavenger hunt finding just a few locations to shoot before the sun went down. It happened to be one of the warmest days (83 degrees!) so the feeling of summer only added to our excitement. I’ve known Peter for years, since he was a young Cal Poly student, so it’s going to be super fun to watch him take this huge step into the rest of his life!

The Love Dare

My dear sweet mother in law gave me The Love Dare as a Christmas present this year. She actually gave one to each of her sons. This is an excerpt from her included letter to me:

“First I want to tell you how proud I am of you. It is evident that you have made it a goal to be a good husband. Like it or not, with that comes great sacrifice. You are learning that in your home, the buck stops with you. That seat can be a difficult and sometimes painful one to occupy.

“At the end of the day, the atmosphere in your home is largely your responsibility. It is because of that reality, and because of all the obstacles that daily bombard your marriage that I am giving you this little tool.”

If anyone is concerned with the way I love and lead Anna it would have to be her parents. It is in their best interest to see that I am well equipped and protected so that when the difficulties come we will have a solid marriage that cannot be shaken. I sincerely appreciate Anna’s folks taking a vested interest in our marriage. For that I am deeply thankful because it means I’m not alone and that while I’m not perfect, I get to grow.

I am thankful for this little challenge because sadly enough the person I can be most impatient with is my wife. It seems that we hurt the ones we love the most… And why is that?! Is it because we allow our true selves to come out with our family? Is it because we take our spouses for granted? It is because we don’t discipline ourselves to continue to pursue deeper levels of love after the wedding day? It may be varying degrees of all of the above. But regardless of reasons there is no excuse for me to treat strangers nicer than my wife. I have often prayed, “God help me to love Anna better; more like the way you love her.”

Having been to hundreds of weddings I would say that one of the most common texts read during wedding ceremonies is the definition of love as found in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

I hear it week after week after week. I have wanted for some time to explore each facet, each attribute, each characteristic of love to drive myself deeper into it’s discipline. I really believe that I need to get my heart in gear and practice true love now if I am going to keep true to my marriage vows that I made almost 2 years ago in a beautiful meadow before my friends and family on that lovely spring day.

So this book is awesome because is does just that! It breaks down love into a 40 day journey. During this journey the reader is challenged to understand a unique aspect of love and then is given a specific dare to do for the spouse. Finally there is space to journal about what the reader is learning and doing and how the spouse is responding. It’s fantastic!

I have decided to take the challenge. I have been working on the first dare for about a week now; I’m a slow learner so I think I need to take my time. ;) It’s been an amazing exercise and is really giving me the tools I need to love Anna better. I think I will randomly post what I am learning from each little dare so that hopefully you “newly marrieds“ out there can be encouraged and challenged as well. It is my heart not just to be an amazing photographer of love and marriage but to be an amazing supporter of love and marriage. I want my couples to get married and stay married! I want them to grow deeper in love during the years to come, not out of love. If you can learn the way of love with me, that’s even better. If any of my couples want a copy, I would be more than happy to give you one; just let me know.

The Love Dare actually came from a movie called Fireproof. Check out this interview with Kirk Cameron on the Today Show.

Tara + Mitch {Arroyo Grande}

Tara and Mitch wanted to combine an engagement and pregnancy shoot all into one so we trekked through the woods outside of their house in the Arroyo Grande hills. It was a sweet time to watch the way they are in eager anticipation of a new baby as well as a marriage! The baby should be here any day now, but the wedding isn't due until the spring.

Ice Cream + Bath = Sam

Being an uncle is the greatest! All of our nephews and our niece take turns spending the night. This is Sam. He has been asking, “Uncle Cameron, When can I spend the night?” since Christmas! And ever since he has been telling me of all the wonderful things that he wants to do when it becomes his turn; “Play Lego Batman, go on scooter rides, climb ‘Bish-shicks’ Peak, watch cartoons, and eat ice-cream… in the bath!”

Marty + Sarah {Super 8 Wedding Film}

Marty and Sarah had their wedding at an outdoor art gallery in the small town of Port Angeles, WA. I’m especially fond of this couple because they are my long lost 2nd cousins and I was able to meet them for the first time ever through photographing and filming their wedding! This Super 8 film is a little Christmas present that we put together for them just because we love them. When Anna and I hung out with Marty and Sarah for their engagement session back in April they introduced us to one of their new favorite bands, The Good The Bad and The Queen. The song ‘Nature Springs’ works perfect for this moody footage! The movie takes a bit of a creepy turn with melodic whistling during a romantic walk through a dark green forest. It’s very unique and very lovely!

While the movie is loading view their wedding images, day after shoot, and even their engagement pictures!

*Simon Jones of 7&8 Design partners with me to produce Vintage Super 8 Wedding Films.

Featured Celebrity Wedding! {Instyle Weddings Magazine}

Thrilled to Have Ali Hillis and Matt Schwarz featured in the Celebrity Weddings section of Instyle Weddings Magazine. Instyle is a nationally distributed magazine that is sold in all major bookstores as well as super markets and airports. It is an exciting opportunity to have my pictures out there for more of the world to enjoy. Stop by anywhere that sells magazines and look up Matt and Ali on page 312 and if you are a bride don’t just look, buy a copy!

To view more of the love story click away!
Matt + Ali {photographs}
Matt + Ali {super 8 film}

MerryChristmasHappyNewYear!

What an amazingly restful holiday! I took the past two weeks off from work and stayed home; which is more of a challenge than you might think. Anna and I spent lots of time with our family and friends. Most vacations take us away from home and while we love to travel sometimes we feel like we miss out on the pure and undefiled awesomeness of San Luis Obispo.

Even though it has been good for me to take these couple of weeks off I found myself getting rather restless thinking of all the wonderful things I want to do for my business. I would sneak into my office to catch up on emails and then I would want to blog and then I would hear that voice. The one telling me to rest… and play. To enjoy all of the wonderful people that make up my family and friends. Because, what else is life but an journey and an adventure to share with the ones we love? Word.

I just had to post these goofy elf pictures to ceremoniously end the Holiday season. We had fun renting these costumes and dressing up for our Christmas Card. Our Photographer, Jeff Newsom (well, his wife) gave birth to the most beautiful baby on Christmas day. I would probably want to steal it if I didn’t have a chance of having my own. Now…I’m a creep. ;) I gotta get back to work; too much fresh air is making me crazy!