Happy 7 Year Anniversary -Jessie, Darren + Ingalls Photography!

Today, 7 years ago, Jessie and Darren got married! It was an outdoor garden wedding not unlike many others, except for one thing; it was the wedding that started my photography career.

This journey of life is a wonderfully chaotic swirl of happenstance, coincidence, and the divine. Most days we do our best to survive and to find fleeting pleasures in our activities and relationships. Every so often there are those moments, hidden in the midst of the mundane, that confirm there is something eternal written in our hearts.

7 Years ago I photographed Jessie and Darren’s wedding, going about life as usual, happy to help out some lovely friends… Well before the ceremony was underway I started to realize I was having one of those moments. Rush of adrenaline. Deep Breath. Thankful prayer. And then I hear it. A small whisper in my heart that I can only believe was God’s voice, "I want you to do this."

Short story goes: 7 years later Jessie and Darren are still married, a little older, a lot wiser, still-in-love and proud parents! Rueben was born into their world about 5 months ago. My lovely wife photographed him the day after his birth. To tie everything together I felt like a 7-year-celebratory-family-photo-shoot was in order. So early this morning we hiked a small hill on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo. I wanted to thank them for choosing me, long before I was Cameron Ingalls, Inc. Long before I was anybody in this crazy world of wedding photography. I also wanted to finally shoot them with something better than my film Canon Rebel; complete with stock lens and pop-up flash. {Long, long, very long story}

Happy anniversary my friends! Thanks for loving me and believing in me all of these years. Thanks for trusting me to photograph your love story again and again. Anna and I are both proud and excited to share the rest of life’s journey as your American family and friends.

Sisters

Believe it or not, Jessie and Sophie are sisters. Sophie came over on boxing day (what the english call the day after Christmas) to visit Darren and Jessie for a week or so. Darren and Jessie are the couple that caused me to realize I wanted to be a real professional all-the-time-wedding-photographer. Because of that they will always hold a special place in my heart. It was 4 years ago last September 16th, I think. I shot their wedding with one of my first film cameras a 35mm Canon Rebel G. It was a real inspiring wedding, which thrust me into a world of photography that I didn't even notice before. I am really amazed where God has taken me in these short 4 years and I am so blessed to do something I love. It makes me want to see everyone I meet doing their 'thing that they love'. Darren and Jessie's 'thing' is actually Music Lab, a guitar school here in San Luis. It is a rockin' school and Darren is an amazing teacher. I've learned a few hot licks from him myself. The pictures of Jessie were a birthday present and also potential cover material for a solo album.

Sophie on the other hand is an incredible Jazz singer and needs some shots for a portfolio to perform as a session backup vocalist. Check out a couple of her songs on her myspace. We didn't have much time to plan the shoot so I shot most of these in my backyard and in front of my blue garage. The red doors are only a couple blocks away. I've been excited to shoot in my new neighborhood and this was the perfect opportunity. Hope you enjoy!






And then Jessie took the camera away from me and snapped up this juicy image!

Merry Christmas!

These are my friends Brandi & Elisha. I don't typically d0 family photos because they can be so stale and awkwardly contrived. But my arm was twisted and I agreed to help Brandi out for her Christmas cards. I photographed Elisha when he was a just born. He is the sweetest kid and I'm sure someday will pull off a pretty amazing afro. Can't wait for the day. Pictures to come. I loved making the Christmas card all yellow-saturated. It is just a real contrast from Christmas greens and reds.

The Rule of 3rds and a Little Backlighting…

So, I did a shoot for my girlfriend’s family last week and it went really well. I don’t do a lot of family shoots because I am so busy working on weddings during the week. After hanging out with Anna’s family I was reminded just how important pictures are for a few reasons. This past week it was Oma’s birthday. The whole family came in….all 18 of them! It’s not often that the whole family gets together and so Anna’s mother felt it important to seize the moment by getting a few group photos. After we got back to the house I put some of the images on my laptop and ran a slideshow. Opa started to cry a bit and said to his granddaughter as he gave her a warm embrace, “The only thing I ever wanted was to make lots of them and I’ve done it!” It’s hard to understand Opa because he has Alzheimers disease but I think he meant that all he ever wanted was to have a large family, to leave a legacy of sorts. For Opa seeing everyone together in a photograph was like viewing an accomplishment that he spent his life achieving. It has been a life well lived.


Another reason I was reminded why photographs are so amazing was Joel & Morgan; Anna’s brother and sister-in-law. After I met them last summer I got the all too familiar comment, “We wish we knew you when we were getting married!” They never had really good pictures taken of them and unfortunately they now regret not hiring a professional to shoot their wedding. After I did the group family pictures I offered them a little after-marriage engagement session. They were blown away! Morgan couldn’t stop saying “Thanks so much, you don’t know how much this means to us!” It was such a pleasure taking a few minutes to capture their still new marriage just before they venture into making babies.


Of course my girlfriend, Anna, wanted a few shots taken of us. The problem is whenever I hand my camera to random friends or clients the shots are always out of focus or bad compositions. Since I felt like I could trust Joel to follow instruction, I gave him a brief photo lesson. I quickly explained to him the law of thirds and back lighting. I showed him the pictures I had just taken of him and Morgan, leaned him against a tree and showed him exactly where to point the big 70-200 lens. The shots came out amazing! I was proud that Joel pulled off the Cameron Ingalls look even with me in front of the lens.


People and time with people are all any of us really have. Everything else is Styrofoam . We really need to value every moment together. Taking pictures is like freezing time and the people we love. I am so honored and blessed to have such a rewarding passion and career. I can’t wait to look back on the legacy I have left one day. Not just having a van-load of kids, but the homes and hallways around America filled with images of loved ones and memories that I had the privilege of preserving.