Ohana Photographers, San Diego Wedding Photographers, Orange County Wedding Photographers

we've changed... new kids on the blog

2010-03-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

as awesome as it would be if i could permanently have glowing starburst fingertips and plastic-perfect skin, that is not what i've changed (yet) :)

i never thought i would say this, but this will be our final post...
on this blogspot blog.
it might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie, baby. bye, bye, bye.

FEAR NOT!
thanks to my better judgement i still look the same, and thanks to my brother from another mother, ross, and his ass-kicking team at flosites, we have a shiny NEW BLOG at
**********************************************************************WWW.OHANABLOG.COM**********************************************************************
surf on over there and check out papa's new shoes.

one final note before we make like a tree and get outta here...
if you're reading this you better bring it in for a big virtual hug from our whole ohana. we can't thank you enough for supporting us 3 years running now. like mama, you are appreciated.
hope to see you on our new blog!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

the standard los angeles wedding - awesome

2010-03-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

what's better than a fashion shoot?
a wedding with a bride and groom that look like models.
chris was looking sharp and traci looked simply stunning for their wedding at brunswick studio in los angeles.
traci and her beautiful bridesmaids had super sweet button bouquets. traci added sleek black stuart weitzman's and topped off her look with an awesome feather piece, with a big white button, for her hair. all the guys tied in perfectly with their button boutonnières.
the standard hotel in downtown l.a. was the perfect swanky place for everyone to get ready. very cool hotel. we would have taken more shots at the standard but they don't allow photos there. security was on us like white on a wedding dress. while waiting for everyone to put on their finishing touches i was told that one of chris' groomsmen is currently living in hawaii. that's all it took for us to start talking about the best places for ono food on oahu. rainbow drive-in plate lunch, pancakes with macadamia nut sauce at boots and kimos, stortos sandwiches, kua aina burger, the north shore shrimp trucks, hot malasadas at leonard's bakery, huli huli chicken, and shave ice at tropical rush. stopping now. i'm getting hungry again.
once everyone was ready we hit the streets of l.a. for some awesome urbanity, then we were off to the brunswick studio for chris and traci's intimate wedding and reception. the decor was kitchy cool. the ceremony backdrop was by flowers on mars. traci did an amazing job making the centerpieces and she put a a paper fish or lamb on every place setting to let the caterers at just chic events know what the guest chose for dinner. some of the lambs got into the wine and ended up in some interesting places. see below.
thanks to chris austin for having me come out on this amazing wedding. his lovely wife erinn sat this one out at home on prego break. glad i could help. congrats you two!

i LOVE when brides and grooms do their "first look" before the ceremony. we always get great emotions to capture and the couple gets a few minutes to enjoy each other alone on their wedding day. win win ftw!

check traci, kickin some serious sass.

we need to hear what you think about this shot (number 19). kim and i have a tiny difference of opinion.

good thing this old service elevator didn't have a smoke detector. chris and traci were en fuego.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

nobody can be uncheered with a balloon

2010-03-01T00:36:00.000-08:00

coming soon...
chris and traci's wedding at brunswick studio in los angeles. don't fly away!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

make-a-wish... come true

2010-02-26T13:27:00.000-08:00

back in december i volunteered to shoot a christmas party for the make-a-wish foundation in san diego. i was so inspired by the wish kids that i immediately offered my services to make-a-wish for some upcoming events where they might be able to use my abilities. i was thrilled to get a call back less than a week later with a request to help with a wish.
this wish was for brandy.
brandy was born with a congenital heart defect and has seen a lifetime of medical challenges by the age of 15, but still has a smile brighter than the las vegas strip. her wish was to celebrate (a little early) her 16th birthday with all of her friends and family, a la my super sweet 16, at the fabulous hotel del coronado. lindsay (brandy's wish coordinator) said that at the heart of brandy's wish, she wanted to have the time of her life, thank her family and friends for being so supportive, and feel pampered. all three of those things were achieved. this party was incredible!
kim and i were just two small niblets on this huge event corn cob. along with brandy and her family, we send out a massive mahalo to everyone that helped make brandy's wish come true. i hope i got everyone here:
wish fulfilling angels - make-a-wish
venue - hotel del coronado
hair and makeup - marinello schools of beauty
brandy's dress - betsey johnson
planning/coordination - the bridal bar
dj / izzy - wayne foster entertainment
videographer - eagle lion video
lounge rentals - kool party rentals
layout/design - wedding elegance by nahid
floral/decor - embellishments floral & event design studio
candy station - candee by sandee
invitations - dolldine designs
linens/lighting - indulge contemporary catering
floral/lighting - crown weddings
floral/decor - hartworks floral designs
photography - ohana photographers (hey, that's us!)
if i missed anyone that helped, please let me know. i don't want to leave anyone out. thanks everyone!
happy super sweet 16 brandy... and many more!

brandy looked absolutely beautiful for her party, but then again, doesn't she always.

brandy's mom gave everyone a huge surprise when she grabbed the mic and sang a song to brandy. it was a pretty sweet moment.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

on a scale of one to bono, i'm...

2010-02-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

on a scale of one to bono, i'm somewhere between a door greeter and a girl scout, but it feels good to give.
this is our thirst relief international - auction update.
wow. we did it!
together, we broke a record. all the mentors combined raised a record-breaking total $41,635.88!
after an epic bidding war kerri mcconnell won our auction by graciously donating $397 for thirst relief! kerri will be getting a bear hug and a big bag o sponsored goodies when we meet up with her to do our mentor session/ photo shoot.
the money raised from this auction will help thirst relief international save 8,327 lives by providing access to safe, clean drinking water.
whether you volunteered to be a mentor, bid on a mentor, sponsored a mentor, tweeted, facebooked, blogged, or simply told a friend about the auction, this would not have been possible without YOU. thank you all. we are so stoked to have been a part of this amazing experience. since this was our first time being a mentor for the thirst relief auction we had a bit of a learning curve, so i want to send a special thank you to our sponsors that stepped up HUGE for us with next to no time.
our sponsors are THE BEST!
flosites
flipside album designs
vision art
pixel 2 canvas
white house custom color
just because the auction is over don't feel like you have to wait until next year to help thirst relief. they need your support year-round. if you'd like to help click on over to the thirst relief international website and see what you can do to make a world of difference. there are far too many people on this planet that don't have the luxury of taking clean drinking water for granted.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

thirst relief mentor auction is ON NOW!!

2010-02-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

give me a break
give me a break
break me off a piece of that...
...fan-cy feast? no
...foot-ball cream? no
...claude-van-damme? no, it's gotta rhyme with piece.
...thirst re-lief! :)
it's about saving lives. nailed it! the thirst relief mentor auction is going on right now! February 16th & 17th only! there are a grip of awesome photographers to bid on, so what are you waiting for ;)

what's it all about you ask?

it's about you growing as a photographer while saving lives!

i am so stoked to have been nominated to be a mentor for the 2010 Thirst Relief Mentor Auction! what an honor.

Thirst Relief International is responding to the worldwide water crisis by helping thousands of families each year gain access to safe water through simple, low-cost means. A locally manufactured biosand filter or a well repaired by nationals has the power to radically improve the health and well-being of an individual, a family, a community.
more than 1.1 billion people in our world lack access to safe drinking water. (UNICEF) living without this precious resource results in a host of preventable illnesses and even death. each year 2.5 million people die from diarrheal diseases, many of them caused by contaminated water. ninety percent of those deaths are children under age five. (World Health Organization)

Thirst Relief’s vision is simple yet profound—to save lives and change the world.

help me help you help them :)
bid on a mentoring session with your favorite photographer.

100% of the proceeds directly benefit Thirst Relief. add to that the incredible wisdom and talent that is being shared in the one-on-one mentor sessions and you have better and more successful photographers! it's truly a win win for everyone involved!

click the link here to go see all the mentors that are up for grabs.
************THIRST RELIEF MENTOR AUCTION****************
my head is spinning after looking at the company i'm keeping on the mentor list this year. so many insanely good photographers to choose from. help us all make a positive difference in the world.

along with getting that warm feeling inside that lets you know you did something good,
you'll get a 90 minute one-on-one mentor session with me, but wait, there's more!
just to sweeten the pot a little, the winning bidder of my auction also gets a tiny huge bonus pack of goodies.
for starters, if you are able to meet up with me in las vegas during wppi, i can arrange your mentor session to be a photo shoot in vegas with an uber fun and hot couple as our models.
if you like that sort of thing :)
and that's not all!
you'll also get the following insanely sweet swag from my awesome sponsors...
GRATIS! yep, FREE!
chris and jen at flipside album designs are hookin you up with a set of album design templates!
those will work perfectly to help you fill the 15 spreads in your
very own 10x10 or 9x12 album from vision art!
when you're done with all that fun send your favorite image to roxy at pixel 2 canvas and she'll send you a beautiful 20x24 canvas to hang on your wall!
there was one other thing. let me see. what was it? oh yeah...
you get 1/2 off the price of a crazy rad customized blog, HALF OFF! from ross at flosites!!
CRIPES!!
what are you waiting for people?!
get out your schrute bucks and...
GO!
BID!
NOW!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

when unicorns and narwhals collide...

2010-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

SHAMELESS PLUGS HAPPEN! hello everyone! april needs a little support from anyone that will give it. this is her latest bit of artwork. she entered it into a contest and if it receives the most votes it will be made into a t-shirt or print that will be sold online at threadless t-shirts. maybe then she can start repaying some of those student loans :)
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if you'd like to help her out, please click the little picture below this one to jump over to their voting screen and slap a big ol number 5 on this. please also check if you'd like it as a shirt or print.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
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CLICK THIS LITTLE GUY AND SAY "I GOT 5 ON IT!"<

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thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

honor, courage, commitment, and fashion

2010-02-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

honor.
courage.
commitment.
these are the core values that define every member of the united states marine corps.
these are the words i look to for guidance, inspiration and hope in my own life.
one of these words has come to the forefront for our family over the past weeks.
courage.
the usmc website says that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to face fear and overcome it.
we have much to be fearful of right now, but it is courage that will see us through these challenges.
it is the courage of all of you, our family and friends, that will steady us in these times of stress.
we can not thank you all enough for the love, support, and all the prayers you hands can make for our family.
just so you know, kim's dad is home again and we will be thankful for every moment we share with him from now until God calls him home.

life will go on, and does so at quite a swift pace.

as this year's wedding season lies in wait, we can not. we need distraction, if only for moments at a time, from the greater trials of life. commitment to our chosen profession works well in this capacity.
looking for something to help me recharge, i once again turned to the fashion industry for a bowl of inspiration soup.
i love that soup.
this san diego fashion photo session was for a dear friend of ours, tatiana zaykovskaya. she is an incredibly talented fashion designer that just graduated from the art institute of san diego and will soon be a huge name in the fashion industry. we wish you all the luck in the world tatiana! did you hear that? new york, london, paris, munich, and milan are calling you. :)
before i get to the images, i want to thank a few people for making this shoot awesome.
tatiana, of course, for being such a wonderful person and for making some of the most beautiful dresses i've ever seen but will never wear :) if anyone ever needs an awesome custom wedding dress, a custom bridesmaid dress, or any kind of dress at all, give tatiana a call. she really does amazing things with material.
the models, for making my "work" easy. i can't believe i just called it work.
the mom, for supporting her daughter, who i believe will be america's next top model by the way.
natalie dixon, for doing makeup that put the finishing touch on the girls and made them look even more beautiful than they already were.
alana d, for being super cool and for styling hair like no other.
the united states marine corps, for their honor, courage, commitment, and for letting us take photos next to some of the vintage aircraft that have served them.

now, on with the show. this first shot is of a custom wedding gown by tatiana zaykovskaya. it would look absolutely stunning even if it were on a rusty old coat hanger, but i'm glad we had kiersten to show it off. she looked incredible in this dress and had a crowd of cub scouts that were walking by trying not to trip over their own jaws.
this is my favorite shot of the day.

kim was out there shooting with me (shocker, right). this shot and the next one are my two favorites from her. good job lover :)

i can't talk about the marines without posting a scene from one of our favorite movies with marines. enjoy.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

pops

2010-01-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

early this morning, as we were sleeping, the phone rang.
it's a sound we've heard all our lives, but over the past month or so it's tone has changed. the feelings of joy and eager anticipation it once stirred have been replaced with anxiety and worry, especially when the ring comes at a time when most people are safely, soundly, asleep in their beds.
early this morning, as we were sleeping, the phone rang.
for all the years i've known him, pops has gotten up at 0-dark-thirty every morning, drank a cup of some black tar-like substance that he calls coffee, and ridden his bike around miramar lake a few times. from day one of april's tryouts to rain's last game of winterball, he has been out on the field at every practice and every softball game that april and rain have. pops has always been very active and generally healthy.
early this morning, as we were sleeping, the phone rang.
just as we feared, the news was not good. it was kim's mom telling us dad was having trouble breathing and they were taking him to the hospital, again.
in the past 60 days he has taken more "bus" rides than anyone should in their entire lifetime.
i am scared for him. we all are. his body has already gone through trials that have taken the life right out of others.
when he was young, hollywood made smoking look cool. movie stars, celebrities, and all the "in" people were doing it. wanting to be one of the cool kids, he started smoking, at age 15. for decades he smoked the strongest cigarette available, camel brand unfiltered. when she was a little girl, kim would sneak into his room and throw packs of his cigarettes away. he would just buy more. incredibly, his 3 pack a day habit ended the day april was born. he just quit, cold turkey, and never touched another cigarette. good thing kim was so young when she had april :)
he is one of the 1-2 people out of every 100,000 that have contracted guillain–barré syndrome. it knocked him down, but not out.
he has previously survived 2 heart attacks, and now lives with an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD).
all of this, and he was still leading a pretty normal life. resiliency is his middle name.
life has changed drastically for pops in the past 60 days.
as 2009 wound down so did his health. in all the years i had known him i never once saw him in pain. he is one tough hombre. his threshold for pain exceeds that of anyone else i know, which is why i began to worry when i noticed him staying at home almost every day and having difficulty walking. i'm not sure if it was our pleas, the memory of his mom whose own stubbornness prevented her from doing it and ultimately was the reason she had a fatal fall, or maybe it was simply the immense pain he was in, but he put his pride up on the shelf and began using a walker to help him get around. there's no shame in accepting help, only in sinful pride.
that was november.
in mid december he received a diagnosis that would test the strongest of spirits, stage 4 prostate cancer.
those words came off the doctor's tongue like a garrote.
pops said very little.
we visited him at his home later. tiny orange plastic bottles filled with life-sustaining chemical coctail littered his nightstand. they were a vibrant vision into a baneful future many of us will share.
2009 could not end fast enough, but as we waited for the ball to drop on new year's eve our phone rang. on the other end of the line was kim's mom. her frantic scattered thoughts barely permitted her to speak. a broken sentence advised us that dad was having another heart attack.
his third.
we rushed to their home and arrived just as the ambulance was preparing to take dad to the hospital. we followed, and waited.
our family rang in the new year together, near dad, in the icu lobby at ucsd medical center.
God allowed him to make it through that night. nearly a week would pass before the doctors allowed me to bring him home.
minutes after i dropped him off my phone rang. it was dad asking me to take him back to the hospital.
he had an echocardiogram done just before he was released that morning. a doctor read the results after we left the hospital and immediately called to request he come right back. we hurried back to the hospital, a blood clot in dad's heart and the fear of God in mine. again they kept him a couple days.
the reasons are many, why i woke this morning fearful to answer my ringing phone.

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we just returned home tonight, sunday, to hear that dad needs surgery tomorrow.
it's a catch 22 roll of the dice. if he doesn't have it, he may not survive much longer.
however, if he has the surgery, his weakened heart and body may give up under the strain.
he's fought through so much already, but i know there is plenty more fight left in him.
i wish his heart could just be as strong as it once was.
i wish he could leave the hospital.
i wish this was all just a bad dream.
i wish.
we pray that he is still strong enough to make it through this.
we are all not ready to lose him.
we never will be.
get well and come home soon pops.

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tomorrow and, God willing, the days that follow, we will be by dad's side. it is the least we can do for him. during this trying time our blog may be silent for a while. we appreciate the support you have all given us. i know many of you will be praying for pops with us, so i will try to keep you posted.
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due to the h1n1 virus the hospital is not allowing anyone under 14 to go in. that means rain is unable to see grandpa. she wrote this note to him:

dear grandpa, you should know that i loved when you would play war with me and you would always win. mostly. it was fun when i would sit with you on your bed and watch ncis and csi new york and cover my eyes in your shoulder when it was scary. i liked especially when you would watch me play softball and i would tell you about when i hit the ball really good. now you have to sit and look out a hospital window. i wish i could see you. curse the stupid h1n1! i should be able to see my favorite grandpa. get well soon grandpa. i love you! - rain

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april is away right now and may not be able to come home, so she wrote this:

Steadfast, hardworking, ridiculously intelligent, and one of the funniest people I know, my grandpa has always been someone that I greatly admire and strive to be like. I have always been in awe of him. Many a day in my childhood I would sit with him in his squeaky old pink rocking recliner playing with his earlobe as he would rock back and forth. The small grandfather clock above the television would tick tock in the backround along with the gentle squeak of the rocker and my grandpa would answer the question on Jeopardy before Alex even finished the question. He was always right too. I knew I wanted to learn everything I could just so I could be half as smart, or even smarter, (Still not smarter. Slowly working on it.) He had a large collection of animal encyclopedias, huge binders with slick fold out pages on snow leopards, lizards, bears, you name it animal, fish or insect it was probably in there. I would sit and thumb through them reading all animal facts and oogling all the amazing pictures. He would read them with me sometimes and throw in his own two cents on what he heard about the animals. My grandpa also had a set of dinosaur books which I loved. I read and memorized all the scientific names for the dinosaurs, drew pictures of them, and played in the backyard digging up dinosaur bones. I wanted very much to become a paleontologist and he fed my interests in the sweetest ways. My grandpa would take me to the museums in balboa park when they had dinosaur exhibits and he would always take me to the Wild Animal Park when they had dino mountain, which was a trail where they placed animatronics of all the different dinosaurs, they moved, roared, and hatched baby eggs. He would read the signs to me and talk to me about the dinosaurs as we walked hand in hand around the park. He always supports me and my interests no matter what they are, driving me to school and practice for soccer and softball. Both of which I hardly ever missed, my track record good, though not nearly as amazing as my grandpas who has never taken a sick day, and has never missed a day of work in his entire life. Though he never finished High School, (Joining the Navy after the first semester of his senior year) He still got his GED passing the test with flying colors without study and went about his Navy business fixing planes and radios. He was always handy with anything mechanical. He would work on cars and garage doors and just about anything that needed fixing, his large hands were always covered in some form of grease or another when he was in the garage. I was always with him, playing with my action figures or trying to be like him by building something with wood, or rather not so much building as hammering a nail into a scrap of pine and calling it a successful display of carpentry. I distinctly remember the creamy orange smelling goo that he would squirt out of an industrial sized tub which did an amazing job at cleaning the gunk from his hands. Though really the thing I loved most and most treasured moments of my childhood is just sitting on his lap in that squishy rocking chair while grandma quietly flitted about the kitchen. It was always warm and toasty in my grandpas house, the clock monotonously ticking and the television a soft buzz in the backround. Sometimes he even had a large popcorn tin and we ate carmelized and cheesy popcorn the crumbs getting all over us. Then he would put me to bed, tucking me in and playing a mix cd he made of slow ballads of his favorite old country songs. While I don't necessarily enjoy country whenever I hear a song from that cd it strangely brings me right back to my childhood and my grandpa's warm house and even warmer hands as he tucked me in with a "Goodnight Sweetheart" and I smile and feel at home.
i love you papa.

*************************

kim is having difficulty finding words right now. she quietly said "i love you dad. you are my hero."

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check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

CONTEST TIME for jane, garie, and the chargers!

2010-01-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

with the nfl playoffs in our backyard this weekend we thought it would be the perfect time to have a fun little contest involving our san diego chargers and two san diego superfans, jane and garie.
jane and garie will be getting married later this year, so we recently did an engagement session at san diego state university and qualcomm stadium with them.
here's where the fun contest comes in. you already know that we love our chargers and think they are overdue for a championship (just give us ONE! PLEASE!).
we want to know what team you love.
all you need to do is leave a comment and tell us who's your team. easy peasy no head of cheesy :)
you have until midnight on wednesday jan 20th to leave your comment. after that we'll tally up all the votes. if the chargers get the most votes then jane and garie will get one free enlargement from their engagement session.
if some other team gets the most votes then jane and garie will join raider nation...
gulp...
fo life.
c'mon chargers fans! don't let jane and garie be taken over by the dark side.
GO BOLTS!

YAY! thanks to all of you, jane and garie get to stay super chargers fans, and they get a free enlargement from their awesome san diego engagement session!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

phenomenal, that's what she said

2010-01-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

the word phenomenal.
something i did.
i have proof that multiple women have used these two things in the same sentence.
ok, maybe just three. :)
we are stoked to be featured on junebug weddings! christy, blair, and kim (not mine) were kind enough to include my shot from janell and rj's santa barbara wedding at elings park amongst shots from a handful of insanely talented photographers.
here's the capper, the posting is called "phenomenal photography."
thanks for making our day junebuglets! :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

chris and diana's paso robles wedding at justin winery

2010-01-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

people used to say you'll never find your soulmate in a bar.
kim and i didn't believe them. we met in a bar on restaurant row in waikiki,
but diana and chris didn't meet there.
they went to the same small university in washington d.c.,
but they didn't meet there.
they attended some of the same college parties,
but they didn't meet there.
they both went out to bars in huntington beach california,
but they didn't meet there.
diana's friend got kicked out of a bar, so they went home and sat on her porch.
chris stumbled out of a bar and stopped when he heard cat-calls from diana's friend.
that's when diana and chris finally met.
add 6 years, a surprise weekend at justin winery, some snoogling, and turn off the lights teddy pendergrass, it's time to say "i do!"

since it was where chris proposed to diana, it was perfect for them to have their wedding reception at justin winery in paso robles.
one of the first things we saw as we entered diana's suite at justin winery was her exquisite vera wang wedding dress. as good as it looked all on it's own, diana made it even more beautiful.

diana finished off her wedding attire with an amazing pair of stuart weitzman cranberry heels.

hmmm, what to do at a winery while you're waiting? what to do?

chris and diana had a traditional wedding at st james episcopal church in paso robles

now this is one good looking couple!

mmmm, grapes.

gotta love that warm california sun!

i absolutely love chris and diana's expressions in this shot.

the cave at justin winery holds many barrels of fine justin wine, the isosceles library, and memories. this is where chris proposed to diana.

congratulations chris and diana! you picked the best day ever to have your wedding. i'll always remember it, and you.
we wish you both a very happy new-lywed year :)

JUST married :)

special thanks go out to alyssa for coming along with us on our paso robles wedding / santa barbara wedding weekend double-header. we heart alyssa! too bad we couldn't fit a hawaii wedding in there that weekend too :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

Merry Christmas from our ohana to yours

2009-12-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

to all those celebrating with us today,
Merry Christmas!
for everyone else,
Happy Festivus!

this year april drew us in our own little christmas scene combining some of our favorite christmas movies. can you tell what movies were our inspiration?

this is my all time favorite christmas scene.

if you are by yourself today please know that you are in our thoughts, so you are not totally alone. :)
have a wonderful day and a happy new year everyone!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

christmas surprise - the twilight saga continues

2009-12-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

last month we were at the magic kingdom wading through the massive crowds, looking at all the beautiful disneyland christmas decorations, and thinking how cool it would be to see a disneyland wedding with fireworks. btw, it would be awesome! (hint hint for all you couples still thinking of which venue to choose for your wedding.)
anywho, we really wanted to go in the haunted mansion because they had just converted it over to the jack skellington haunted mansion holiday. as we approached the mansion we saw that the line to get in was INSANE so we let out a collective sigh of despair and lost all hope to go in. just then there was a flash of light and ashley and allison floated down in front of us like magical disneyland fairies. they asked if we would like to go in with them. we paused, did a double-take at the line, and wondered just what kind of pixie dust these girls were carrying. moments later we were compelled to squeek out an overjoyed yes as they exclaimed "in our hands we wield the power of walt disney himself, and an extra set of fast passes." :)
after going through the haunted mansion holiday we thanked ashley and allison with gusto, but their tank of kindness was nowhere near empty. they asked us to join them on kim's favorite ride at disneyland, the indiana jones adventure. i pinched myself, kim looked at her watch to see if it was already christmas, and rain nearly stepped on her own jaw. are there seriously still people on this planet that are this nice? YES! and their names are ashley and allison.
fast forward a week or so. we receive an email from ashley. she had been on our website and loved our work. as it turns out, ashley and allison's mom had told them that all she wants for christmas this year are some photos of the two of them. ashley and allison told her ok and had planned to take their point-and-shoot out and take pictures of each other. then they met us.
are you seeing the big ol' slice of fate pie here?
rather than going with their previous plan, ashley and allison drove down to san diego and met up with us to make a little christmas surprise for their mom.

my name is in the bible. does that count? :)

as we were shooting, ashley and allison let us know that they are big fans of new moon and the twilight saga.
i, however, am still undecided on whether i would like to be on team edward or team jacob. :)

allison loves to read. ashley loves her iPod. it's a good mix.

we decided to have a little fun with the whole twilight concept. even Rain threw us a couple ideas.

bella has nothing on ashley

thank you so much ashley and allison. we had a lot of fun with you both at disneyland and during your photo session. we wish you and your ohana a very merry christmas. hope your mom loves these.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

ohana beginnings and xmas blessings

2009-12-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

as another year comes to an end we are re-visiting our beginnings, our first clients to be exact. we, like most other small business owners, started out with a dream and zero clients. it took a little luck and a chance encounter to get us off the ground.
enter the xanthopoulos family.
after meeting them for the first time, the xanthopoulos' became our first clients and the first members of our extended ohana. since that day we have been asked to share and capture some of their most important family moments. the work they have given us aside, having this family come into our lives has been a HUGE blessing. they are some of the most wonderful people we could have ever hoped to meet in life. i am inspired to be better at everything i do because of them. they will always hold a special place in our hearts and in our ohana.
in what has become a tradition we look forward to every year, we joined the xanthopoulos family for a day at the la jolla beach and tennis club to take some fun photos for their family christmas cards. we didn't have snow, but we had plenty of sun, sand, and smiles. i couldn't ask for anything more.
these first two shots are fun little sample christmas cards. have you already sent yours out? :)

i LOVE taking photos of this couple!
they are the most in-love couple i know. their love reminds me of the love my grandparents shared for over 72 years. it is true and it makes my heart smile.

thank you both for believing in us and continuing to bless our family.
may all your days be merry and bright.
merry christmas and a very happy new year!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

have you made your cards yet?

2009-12-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

we are getting down to the wire, but there is still a little time left to get your portraits done for this year's cards. call us asap to schedule your session like the awesome valley family did.
for those of you that aren't sure what to do, there are also a couple card samples below. i do want to point out that photos are non-denominational, so you can make any kind of holiday card you wish.
speaking of the word "holiday" i've decided to come up with a phrase that's not so generic. this year i'll be wishing everyone a Meppy Kwastmakah! that just about covers everyone i know. :)

Here are all the details for our holiday portrait special:

1 hour portrait session
one set of custom designed christmas cards [25 cards per set]
two 8x10 prints of your choice
three digital images for you to print as you wish
price: $400.00 + tax

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

wedding fiesta with maria and jose

2009-11-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

everyone has a story.
every life has a path.
sometimes the stories and paths intertwine and amazing things happen.
jose and maria's paths crossed while they were both attending california western school of law in san diego, but jose's amazing story started well before that. when maria told me about it i was so inspired that i had to share it with everyone. please take a moment to read about jose in this link to the san diego union tribune. here's an excerpt – The journey to law school for Jose Orozco began at a Jack in the Box when he was plotting his promotion from cashier to shift leader.

If he worked hard, he could make the move in six months, he was told. And why not? His job kept him off the streets of Logan Heights, where he was teetering on being “jumped into” one of the gangs that controlled the neighborhood.

The fast-food joint is also where he met Kevin LaChapelle, a former police officer who frequented the restaurant. LaChapelle, a youth mentor, saw in Orozco what he didn't and helped him turn his life around.

“I had that strong, strong feeling that this guy wanted to change,” LaChapelle said. “When I worked with gang members, we would have to beg them to change. Jose was different.”

Today the high school dropout is incoming president of the Student Bar Association at California Western School of Law in San Diego and is planning a career as an employment lawyer.

Law school wasn't always an option for Orozco.

He had already been beaten into a tagging crew. Joining a gang was the natural next step – if he could only make time.

Fortunately for Orozco, 27, the fast-food restaurant consumed his time, and his buddies began to disappear.

“Every time I went back to hang out, they were locked up,” he said.

That shift-leader job was looking better all the time.

Orozco was orphaned early in life. He was 8 when his mother died of skin cancer. Five years later, his father died of prostate cancer. For a year he bounced around between his grandmother's home in Nayarit, Mexico, and his stepsister's place in National City. Eventually, Orozco settled with his aunt in Sherman Heights, where he grew up. .
jose and maria graduated from california western school of law, got married, and will soon be taking their bar exam. they don't like sleep. :) maria once told me that they don't have a life, but i think they have a wonderful life that is only going to get better.

maria had so many incredible details that i have to share them with you.
her beautiful wedding dress was by Rosa Clara,
shoes by alfani,
and the pretty pretty flowers were done by manuel chavez in chula vista,

isn't maria THE most stunning bride you have ever seen? muy bonita!

maria and jose had a beautiful wedding at our lady of angels catholic church in san diego.

jose and maria looked amazing! what a beautiful couple.

after their ceremony, jose and maria emerged from the church and were greeted by their family, friends, and the ice cream guy. mmmm, ice cream.

after the ceremony we made a stop for some wedding portraits at balboa park.

the only thing better than the san diego skyline is maria and jose in front of the san diego skyline.

with the delicioso cake by sumi's oven in place, it was time to get the reception at the san diego hilton harbor island going.

two bands turned the reception into a fiesta: kanari and vientos del sur.
the corona played a minor supporting role.

congratulations maria and jose! we are so happy for you. good luck on your upcoming california bar exam. we know after you clear that last hurdle you are both going to do great things.

L.T. and the chargers are working toward getting a super bowl ring, but i don't think it will be as amazing as maria's beautiful ring.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

nice cans!

2009-11-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

***COMMENT ON THIS POST TO HELP FEED THE NEEDY***

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!
today is all about sharing with the ones you love, and maybe even a few people that annoy you.
it's a time for reflecting on all that is good in your life and being thankful for the blessings bestowed upon you.
this year, as we reflect on our blessings, we want to continue the tradition started last year by our friends and neighbors to the north, chris + lynn.
a wiser person than i once said that no matter how bad you think you have it, there's always someone out there that's worse off than you are.
truer words were never spoken.
with that in mind, here's what thanksgiving is all about charlie brown.
for every comment we receive on this post between now and midnight on thursday December 3rd (extended to the 10th! woo hoo!) we will donate one can to the San Diego Food Bank.
that's it.
one for one people. how's that for an exchange rate?
help us rename our city this week to can diego.

sure you've heard of turkey stuffing, you'll probably even enjoy some today, but have you ever heard of david's short-stuffing cans? delicious, and hilarious.
as awesome as they are, these are definitely NOT the kind of cans we are talking about :) we mean canned food items. yummy canned food items. sorry, they will ALL be david-free.
(sidebar: we love halloween!)

chris + lynn already put the can in canada,
so be sure to drop by their blog to give them some love and see what we mean when we paraphrase from bob costas and say...
as photographers they are one of a kind,
as people they are one of the kindest.
on a side note, we'd be extra stoked if all of our san diego wedding photographer friends also jumped on the can-wagon and did the same thing on their blogs. for that matter, anyone with a blog can do this. together we can all put a big dent in hunger this holiday season.
if you prefer not to do your own blog post but still want to help us put hunger in the hurt locker, feel free to donate to your own local food bank. no matter where you are in the world there is someone nearby that needs your help.
thank you everyone. of all the things you could be doing right now, we are thankful that you chose to stop by and share some time with us.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
please also take a look at our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

hannah and cadman put mo fun in the MOPA

2009-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

rather than sitting in line for New Moon i decided to do something that wouldn't suck my will to live, like post some shots of hannah and cadman's wedding in san diego. if you missed their engagement session at USC you can get up to speed by clicking here.
i have to say that hannah and cadman make us smile every time we see or think of them. they pack more fun than a weekend in las vegas. after seeing these shots you'll know what i mean. it's easy to see how much they love life and each other.
the day began and ended at the pearl hotel in san diego. hannah and cadman had the whole place to themselves, their friends, and their family.

the laughs were flying before we even got there.

i love hannah's smile here. this is what true love looks like. isn't she gorgeous? that was a rhetorical question.

hannah was servin up more than just laughs at the beauty bar.

this table is amazing. just look into it and you'll see absolutely beautiful girls.

hannah and cadman had a sweet traditional wedding ceremony at our lady of mt carmel in san diego. they both looked amazing.

this is why we love them so much. hannah and cadman had us laughing the whole day.

cadman and the boys were looking sharp.

why am i hearing fergie all of a sudden? :)

hannah and cadman had their reception at the san diego museum of photographic arts or MOPA. it was so cool being able to see amazing photos while taking photos of an amazing party. if you haven't been to the MOPA you should go check it out. you will be inspired.

i LOVE this shot kim took. so cute!

you are now looking at the most delicious cupcakes on the planet. hannah and cadman treated everyone to cupcakes from the frosted cupcakery. soooo good.

their wedding slideshow was awesome with a big A

time to get loose. who's next?
yes, this is a perfect indication of how fun the whole day was. thank you so much hannah and cadman for bringing us along for the ride. we love you guys!

since cadman is a big fan of photos like we are, we thought we'd do the ring shots with a little old school film noir theme.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
please also take a look at our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

Thank You Veterans!

2009-11-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

today i just want to thank all the veterans from america and our allies. you have all given us so much to be thankful for. we appreciate your courage, commitment, and honor.
here's a picture of my veteran after he came back from a training mission. i love men in uniform! especially this one :) if i could have him walk around in his flight suit every day i would. just sayin.
both our dads were in the military too. i am so proud of all of you. if you get a chance today, please thank a veteran. our freedom is not free.

this post brought to you by kimi :)

please also read this post about our veterans called the 11th hour from hotair.com

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
please also take a look at our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

kickin the can in coronado

2009-11-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

i was wrong.
huh, i guess i can say it. :)
for years now i've been walking around thinking my family had the coolest names on the planet.
along comes sylvia's family and... boom goes the dynamite :)
sylvia and her husband david brought their two awesome boys, diego and joaquin, out for a full tilt fun family portrait session on coronado island.
it was a good thing we brought our smiles. we were gonna need 'em.

this is the only known photograph of david, sylvia, diego, and joaquin's fun being contained. shortly after this photo was taken the cage turned to butterflies and their fun was unleashed on coronado.

how far we goin back? way back.
back to when there was no such thing as a playstation 3, xbox 360, wii, psp, gameboy, sega, atari, or pong.
back to when all kids had for fun was an empty alley and a game of kick the can.
diego and joaquin are bringin it back.

mmmm, burger lounge.

one way... the fun way :)

here we have two families. let's call them family A and family B.
today's experiment is to see which family is more fun.
family A, on the left, wasn't much fun at all. they had to be vapoorized.
family B is SUPER FUN! yay family B!
thank you david, sylvia, diego, and joaquin for making us smile every time we look at you :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
please also take a look at our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

janell and rj's argyle wedding at elings park in santa barbara ca, act 1

2009-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

interior, El Monte Sagrado Resort and Spa, taos, NM, june 2008, sunday night
following a couple's spa treatment after a nice dinner the couple retire to their room. the beautiful young female opens the room door to find a trail of rose petals and candles leading to a table. atop the table is a bouquet of the woman's favorite flowers next to some champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. a michael buble song plays in the background. the handsome man begins dancing slowly with the beautiful woman. as they dance he holds her close and whispers in her ear repeatedly.

rj - i love you. will you always love me? (repeats approx. 30 times.)

the handsome man then slowly steps back from the beautiful young woman and kneels before her on one knee. quietly, he asks a question.

rj - will you marry me?

the beautiful young woman responds aprehensively.

janell - are you serious?

rj - yes, i am.

the woman begins to cry. she then smiles and shrieks.

janell - YES!

aaaaaaaaaaaand scene. :)
it was that scene in taos nm that brought us to this scene, rj and janell's awesome argyle wedding at elings park in santa barbara!
well, there was one other short scene that involved a bubblegum alley, a couple dumpsters, and few dozen buckets of cold water from the pacific, but we're here now. :)
(if you missed janell and rj's super fun engagement session in san luis obispo check it out here.)
for all scenes the leading roles were played by janell and rj (obviously). no stunt doubles were used.
their supporting cast included (but was not limited to):
janell and rj's family and friends
ohana photographers
luna bella makeup art
creative services catering
lani b production services

then the bartender says...
that's no moon :)

tanner was practicing for the next season of america's next top model. she already has the whole smeyesing thing down and i think her patented bouquet holder bridesmaid dress will definitely put her over the top of all the other girls trying to get on the show.

janell and rj have surrounded themselves with friends that are just as awesome as they are. for example...

three words, hot, sexy, fun. i think i just found my new marketing. :)

this shot was a request from rj... and they did it! bonus points all around.
pulling ... it ... off. :) these girls were not only smoking hot, they were so funny that more than once i couldn't see if i was focused or not because i was crying laughing behind my camera. i'm glad i got these in focus, because they are pure wedding photo gold.

kim caught janell making one of her super cute faces.

i caught rj and the girls making some pretty cute faces of their own. :)

everyone was loving the cigar bar that janell's dad set up.

aside from showing rj's beautiful bride, this shot has a very important symbol in it.
the hat janell is wearing belonged to her mother who was sadly taken far too early by multiple sclerosis. even though her mom wasn't physically with us, i know she was laughing and smiling down on everyone there.
i also want everyone reading this to know that janell volunteered for the 2009 MS Southern California Ride on oct 3rd and 4th. even though this year's ride is over, the research to fight MS is not. it would be awesome if everyone could go over to janell's rider site and help out through donations and/or volunteering. there will be another ride coming up and volunteers, sponsors, and riders will be needed.

janell and rj are so fun...
how fun are they?

janell and rj are so fun that even their rings are fun.

seriously, janell and rj, from day one you made us smile bigger and laugh harder than anyone ever has. we've witnessed it not only amongst our family, but you two are so full of life and happiness that everyone around you can't help but smile, can't help but be filled with happiness. if you ever visited sesame street, oscar the grouch would have to change his name. you do that to people, and we love you for it. we love you big time! we will be forever thankful that out of the 42 bazillion photographers out there, you chose us. thank you from the bottom of our bucket, i mean hearts. :) we wish you every joy this world has to offer. you deserve them. we can't wait to document all the major, and most minor, events in your lives. i have some great baby names that kim wouldn't let me use, but you might love em. :) see you soon!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
please also take a look at our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

this is halloween, this is halloween, everybody make a scene

2009-10-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

to get everyone ready for halloween tonight i thought i'd post up some of our shots from last year. if you want the full halloween effect press play on this video and listen while you scroll.

*cue scariest movie theme song ever*

does this qualify as an awkward family photo?

as you can see i was dressed as the michael myers, april was batgirl, rain was the best joker ever, and noah was a skeleton scarecrow

rain really got into her role. she kinda creeped us out :)

ka-boooom!!
no actual park was blown up in the making of this photo.

kim was my favorite martian.

jake kept complaining that there were a bunch of other kids wearing costumes like his.
ummm... hello, you're a clone!

have a safe and fun halloween everyone. hopefully you don't end up with a bag full of rocks.
we'll post up some shots from this year's madness soon, sans april. sadly, she will not be trick or treating with us this year. boo. BOOOOO APRIL!! this will be our first halloween without her :(
she'll be dressing as a blockhead and staying in her cal arts great-pumpkin patch. :)

hurrryyy baaaaack. hurrryyyyy baaaaaack.

OOGIE BOOGIE!!

april's first solo destination wedding in san francisco

2009-10-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

we always get mixed reactions when we tell people that our daughter is our associate photographer. some people think she's too young, some people think she's inexperienced. some people think her hair smells like cinnamon :)
we like to let april's photos speak for her.
ALL the images in this slideshow were shot by april on her very first solo destination wedding. that's right, she shot the whole wedding by herself in the beautiful city of san francisco. april also designed all the layouts in this slideshow.
most of these images tell the story of gerlie and joe's san francisco wedding as april saw it. of course, she also got some shots that were requested by the beautiful couple. for those of you who have seen our previous posts you'll now be able to recognize all the shots that april took. ok, that was a lie. we sometimes shoot a lot alike, but you will be able to tell some of her shots. if in doubt, the best ones are always mine :)
all kidding aside, april is a great visual storyteller. she almost always comes back from a session with shots that blow us away and inspire us.
unfortunately, april is currently off at the California Institute of the Arts refining her "arty side" so we don't get to work with her as much as we used to :( it's only a matter of time before disney or pixar or some other big studio sees her talent and snaps her up. until then, we'll keep begging her to come home on the weekends to work with us :)

on a side note for all you photographers out there, here is the capper. kim and i had all of our best gear with us because we were shooting kamran and leila's persian wedding at the Fairbanks Ranch Clubhouse in Rancho Santa Fe on the same day. april shot this entire wedding with our old canon 10d and rain's digital rebel with the following lenses, tamron 17-35mm 2.8-4.0, tamron 28-300mm 3.5-6.3, canon 50mm 1.8, and a canon 24-70mm 2.8. i think april did an amazing job composing and capturing these frames considering the gear she had, the unfamiliar location, and the fact that she was by herself! i guess it really is more about the artist than the equipment :)
great job april! we will never get sick of saying, WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!
now come home :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

a pint of cardiff, a swig of swami's, a pitcher of encinitas, and one drunk guy

2009-10-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

kimberly and cory's engagement session was going to be ALL business, so we planned to meet at the office in cardiff.
following are the minutes from our meeting.

first item on the agenda... sexy business.

next, we opened it up to a round table discussion.

things became heated when kimberly and cory began biting at each other.

common ground was reached and we got down to a little fun business...

which led back to some more sexy business. seeing a pattern here? :)

in the middle of our meeting cory pulled kimberly aside for a private conference. whatever he said was met with great enthusiasm and...

a binding arrangement between the two was made.

as with nearly every business meeting there is always someone that feels left out. someone who just wants their voice to be heard. in this attendee's case, he just wanted us to see the wet spot on his shirt that came from an undisclosed liquidy source of wetness. don't ask, don't tell bro :)

sidebar, i wish this blog had smell-o-vision. i hope this dude made it home safely. his walking skills at the time looked questionable at best.

but, uh, back to the session at hand. perfection is perfected, so i'm 'a let 'em understand.

our minutes come to a close
with a shot of kimberly and cory's toes,
the sun setting in the west
our time spent, the best.

thank you kimberly and cory for sharing some of your favorite san diego spots with us. one of our favorite things about going to places that mean something to our couples is the chance to see where our couples met, fell in love, and spent so many fun days together. the local flavor is always a sweet added bonus too :) we love that stuff! seriously.
can't wait for your wedding at the inn at rancho santa fe in san diego!

cop cars make the best backdrops

2009-10-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

mad love.
two words in a long list of english expressions that could have multiple meanings, yet in this context has but one. it is a description of colleen and john's love for each other. in their eyes and through their acts it is visible to all. every moment shared between them that we witnessed was filled with happiness, smiles, lover's glances, and long embraces. colleen and john are madly in love with each other...
and we love them for it!
we had perma-grins on our faces the entire time we were doing colleen and john's engagement session in balboa park. we see people in-love all the time, but colleen and john took it to a whole new level.
we got mad love fo ya colleen and john!

Gangstaaaaaaaaaaas... chicka chicka yah. what's up guys?

thank you colleen and john for not being afraid of a little pda. you two are smokin hot all on your own, but when you're together you're like lava. we can't wait for your wedding at orfila vineyard!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

colleen, john, kimberly, cory, october, tomorrow, and all that you can't leave behind

2009-10-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

we're about to turn this blue monday into a beautiful day so fast it will give two lucky people vertigo. kim and i were sitting here, stuck in a moment you can't get out of, and we began talking about all the awesome people that drop in on our blog. it's all because of you, we are. you always leave such awesome comments about our photos and make us feel like rock stars, but if you ever heard us sing you would quickly realize that we are by far no stars of rock.
that statement of non-fiction brings us to 11 o'clock tick tock.
you're probably saying that i must be an acrobat to talk like this and act like that, but i'm not. i'm just a simple photographer who just so happens to have 2 general admission floor tickets to see real rock stars, U2 at the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale AZ tomorrow night, oct 20th 2009 at 7pm.
oh, did i mention that i'm giving them away?
YOU HEARD RIGHT! 2 FREE FLOOR TICKETS TO SEE U2!
this contest is open to everyone, so get a move on! millions will enter, two will win. all you need to do is check out the two sneak peak photos from our awesome couples, colleen and john's engagement session at balboa park and kimberly and cory's engagement session in encinitas, then just leave a comment telling one or both couples how much you love them. please do not hold back on the schmoozing people, this is for 2 floor tickets to see U2!
now we realize not everyone can make it to arizona tomorrow, but our couples still love to hear from you. if you are able to make it to the concert tomorrow please include the words "i will follow!" in your comment.
at precisely 11:59pm pst tonight (oct 19th) we will take all the people that said something nice about our couples and included the words "i will follow!", put their names in a hat and pick one. we'll announce the winner here and on twitter tonight. if you don't already follow us, our twitter name is ohanaphoto. for those new to twitter, just click "follow" once you get to our page by clicking here.
good luck every one! see you in az!
you can't see all of them in these shots, but that's the point of having a teaser. :)
first up, kimberly and cory.

and now a peek at colleen and john.
more to come from these two smokin hot couples soon!

***************************************************************
TIME'S UP! PENCIL'S DOWN.
drumroll please.
and the winner of our two floor tickets to see U2 in Glendale AZ is..........
RACHAEL EARL!!!
rachael, please email us asap to let us know if you can or can not make it to the show. if you are unable to make it we'll draw another name after 7am.
thanks for commenting everyone. please don't stop now. our couples still love to hear what nice things you have to say about them.
***************************************************************

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

did you see today today?

2009-10-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

all around good guy, friend, and photographic genious john michael cooper was on the today show this morning talking about doing some awesomely non-tradional photos of brides in their wedding dress.
if you missed it you should definitely check out the video here.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

as an added bonus to go along with the story, the today show website posted images from a handful of talented photographers,
and two of ours :)

this type of portrait session was created by john michael cooper to be different from the mainstream. some of us saw what john was doing and were so inspired that we gave it a try, putting our own talents to the test. eventually it was dubbed "trash the dress." the media caught on and sent that buzzword flying around the globe. i think it was right about that time when john's original vision was muddied. (pun intended)
these sessions are not just about rebelling and going out to trash a wedding dress.
they are about being creative, having fun, and not worrying if your clothes get a little wet or dirty in the process.
whatever level of dirt you are comfortable with, have fun brides and grooms! you only live once.
in our experience, most of today's modern brides don't want to wear their mom's old wedding dress, as beautiful as it may be. they want to be unique and wear something that shows their own style. i'm not nostradamus, but i don't see this trend changing in the future. with this revelation in mind, we offer three suggestions for your wedding dress after you have said "i do" and placed it into wedding dress purgatory.
one, call us to do a super fun photo session. dirt and/or water are optional.
two, donate your dress to brides against breast cancer.
three, call us to do a super fun photo session, get your dress professionally cleaned, then donate it to brides against breast cancer :)

janell and rj's santa barbara wedding teaser

2009-10-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

there are times in our lives when we all have to make the right choice.
will rj make the right one?
will he be punched in the gizzard for making a wrong decision?
will his head explode from seeing too many beautiful versions of janell?
tune in soon to see. same bat time. same bat channel :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

and the winner is...

2009-10-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

hannah and cadman! i knew your friends wouldn't let you down. special thanks to all the ucla fans that crossed over to help hannah and cadman. one love everybody :)

hannah and cadman"s engagement session in los angeles

2009-09-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

being from san diego, of course we love all things southern california.
hannah and cadman also love so-cal, as in the university of southern california.
since we had never done a session there, we decided to cruise up to hannah's alma mater to do their engagement photos. i have to say usc has an amazing campus. hannah decided to attend usc the very first time she walked on campus. she said "it's what i always pictured college to look like." after seeing it for myself, i know what she's talking about. my shutter finger got itchy just looking at all the cool places on campus.
it was a good thing we brought our backpacks because hannah and cadman took us to school :)
hotness 101 is now in session.

have you ever been sitting in some class, bored out of your mind, daydreaming out the window, and see something like this? the class behind me knows what i'm talkin about. we had our hall passes and an utter disregard for higher learning. commencing the hilarity... now. check hannah's face as cadman goes by :)

cadman gettin aggro

i think the majority of us agree with cadman's shirt. it says "anyone but boston."
sorry shy :)

***************************************************************************************************************
apparently there's some sort of rivalry between usc and ucla. anyone out there know anything about that?
let us know who you think is best.
whichever school gets the most people to leave a comment by midnight on Sept 30th 2009 wins.
we'll tally up all the comments on Oct 1st and post the winning school's logo on a special blog post.
to make it interesting, if usc wins our little contest we'll give hannah and cadman a free enlargement from their engagement session.
if ucla wins we'll think of some way to get a picture of hannah and cadman with a bruin.
let the comments begin!
***************************************************************************************************************

hannah had us all laughing so hard we were crying with her impression of grover.

as we walked around campus a challenge was thrown out to leap-frog some posts. hannah said "heck ya" she could do it, followed by cadman. let's see how it turned out.
it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys, the awkwardly feminine from the possibly canadian.
in 23 years of broadcasting i thought i'd seen it all, folks, but it looks like cadman has actually blindfolded himself.
he will not be able to see very well, cotton.

and cadman beats hannah in a shocking upset.
i feel shocked.

looks like it's gonna be a two-on-one, a menage a trois of pain.
usually you pay double for that kind of action, cotton. :)

oh! right in the testicles!
ouchtown, population you bro! :)

after cadman got his breath back we headed over to the los angeles memorial coliseum, home of the usc trojans, to see if we could get lucky.

i had to step back to capture hannah and cadman's excitement as we walked onto the freshly painted field.

having the whole coliseum to ourselves, hannah and cadman shared a little field of dreams moment.

as the marine layer headed in, we headed out.

i don't care where you're from, it was pretty sweet being in the empty coliseum. thinking about the olympics and all the other awesome moments that have happened there.
add to them this day, when hannah and cadman stood at mid-field and shared a few quiet minutes together, then walked through the tunnel toward a bright future together as husband and wife.
we can't wait for your wedding and your reception at the san diego museum of photographic arts (mopa)!

san diego style party at la casa de valle

2009-09-24T20:04:00.001-07:00

there are some things that neither time nor distance affect. things that we hold dear. things that have a special vip room in our heart reserved for them. i am talking about friendships. the kind of friendships that are forged in youth and tempered through commonality. by enduring the same trials and reaching a shared goal we become bonded in a way that life, with it's many twists and turns, cannot undo. my closest friends from childhood no longer live on my street. we don't ride our bikes together every morning or meet up for lunch every afternoon, yet i think of them every day. the times we share today, rare and fleeting as they may be, are special to me.
elizabeth, jeff, and all their friends must feel the same way because every year they put everything aside and meet at la casa de valle for an amazing party. it's one of those rare times when everyone gets to catch up and have a little fun, or a lot :)
every time i walk into their home i feel like i am stepping into a platinum wedding reception. this party was no exception. last year's party was awesome, but elizabeth and jeff outdid themselves this time. it was so nice that one of elizabeth and jeff's friends came up to me and said the decorations were nicer than some weddings she has been to. another friend told kim that, since the home looked so nice and we were there with our cameras, he wanted to bring his daughter and her fiance' to have their reception there.
to sum it up, this party RULES ALL PARTIES!
i'll let jeff and elizabeth show you around :)

this party was made even more special when they brought out a surprise birthday cake for elizabeth! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

a party wouldn't be a party without a super sweet candy bar. these are always a big hit every time we see them at a party. for more ideas on setting up a candy station of your own check out some of the work by amy atlas events. (she didn't do this party, but she does some beautiful work.)

tangerine mango blow pops... check :)

mini sirloin burgers :)

literally every person at the party was beautiful except for one, but i was hiding behind a camera :) seriously, everyone looked sooooo good.

how do you know when your party is a success?
everyone is smiling at the end of the night :)
thank you for having us over again elizabeth and jeff. we had more fun than a dancing queen :) can't wait for your next party!
also, i have to send a huge mahalo to Justin at Authentic Flavors Catering for putting everything together so beautifully, making delicious food all night long, and giving us so many incredible details to shoot.
fyi potential clients, everything Justin touches turns to AWESOME. if you ever need an event to be perfect give him a call.
now that you've seen the beautiful details, make sure you watch the slideshow below to see the beautiful people.

allison and jason's san diego wedding at the bernardo winery

2009-09-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

it all started with a simple wink. two actually.
jason winked at allison and she winked back.
that's all it took for two strangers to become friends.
those two friends then exchanged emails and, after a few weeks, phone numbers.
jason called allison and a date was arranged.
a date that would take them to see the harlem globetrotters at the honda center, starbucks in playa del rey, and finally to dinner in fullerton, making one quick stop along the way to fall in a puddle :)
it was a wonderful date where two friends would first see the face of true love.
i love allison and jason's story because they didn't grow up together, they didn't go to school together, they didn't work at the same job, and they didn't see each other pass by on an elevator going the opposite direction and then randomly meet up at a kegger.
allison and jason met on match.com
who knew just winking at a pretty girl in cyberspace would do the trick?
memo to all the single people, drop the sad pick-up lines and start winking! ;)
ok, so now you know how jason and allison got together, now i'll show you how they got married and who helped make their day amazing.
annie at the bernardo winery provided the great venue.
ashley from ac make-up somehow made all the ladies look even hotter than they already are with her make-up mastery.
leanne stroman had the script and made everything official.
brittany at in the now weddings helped get everyone on the same page with her coordinating skills.
joyce at j and l pots and posies brought some incredible floral arrangements.
cafe merlot provided the delicious meal.
david patrone kept everyone's toes tappin.
the scrum-diddily-umptious cake was baked at bon bon bakery.
and on hand to cover all the action were top san diego wedding photographers, ohana photographers.
psst. that's us :)
ok, enough of the shameless plugs. on with the photos!

allison looked absolutely stunning! i love the way she lights up a room.

it's all about tha shooz! we loved allison's yellow wedding shoes from calvin klein. super sweet!

as allison was getting ready to put on her shoes i noticed something different. something cool.
if you look closely you can see what i'm talking about. allison and all her bridesmaids had something on their heels called Solemates. they are little rubber footies that slip onto heels to keep them from sinking in the grass or dirt. they totally work!

now, i've seen allison's smile before, but i think she smiled a little brighter on her wedding day. all she had to do was think of jason and...

ta-daaa! beautiful.

we all had a laugh when allison and her sister jennifer did a little tribute to our favorite trio, the three stooges. we love the three stooges, and these two lovely ladies!

the rancho bernardo inn was such a wonderful host to all of us. they let us temporarily take over their lobby so we could get these shots of allison and her posse (aka jane, felicia, and jennifer). we heart everyone at the rancho bernardo inn!

if you mix sunlight with allison you get awesome. and that is a scientific fact!

checking in with the boys side of the camp i found jason looking like a page out of gq.

grooms usually have a special bond with the guys they ask to be their groomsmen...

jason has that kind of bond with joe, jeremiah, and brandon.
a really special bond :)

after having a little fun with the guys it was time to get jason and allison married. everyone took their places and allison's father walked his beautiful little girl down the aisle.

jason was absolutely busting with happiness. if it were socially acceptable i think he would have done a backflip.

one of the first things jason ever told us was that he loves allison's big smiles. so do we jason :)

these two are the definition of "the happy couple."

after their ceremony we snuck off with allison and jason so they could have a little "alone-time" and we could practice our paparazzo skills :)

apparently a brittish tagger got one of the wine barrels at the bernardo winery. allison is definitely a "happy" gal.

this shot is a depiction of something allison once told us. she said jason makes her feel safe and that he is her home.

we absolutely love all the details that allison and jason had "perched" around their wedding and reception, like all these amazing little birdies.

speaking of birds, these two lovebirds landed on a wire during the reception and had a bird's-eye view of all the festivities.

meanwhile, these two lovebirds were getting cozy to the mating sound of glasses tinking in the background.

i am not afraid to admit that i love the whole birdie theme. they're so cute!

the bride and groom birds were my favorite.

here's one of our favorite shots from the album / guest book of allison and jason's engagement session in laguna beach.

i could take pictures all day long of allison's smile :)

allison's dad gave a very touching speech that had everyone crying and smiling at the same time.

as the evening was winding down we rustled-up the wedding party for one last night time portrait at the bernardo winery.
we brought the light. they brought the awesome.
well, jason and allison, what can we say. we've been looking forward to your wedding for quite a while and now it zipped past us like a lamborghini gallardo. we truly enjoyed doing your engagement session and your wedding. you are such an awesome couple. we are so thankful for the time and friendship you have shared with us. hope your honeymoon in canada was fun and relaxing! congratulations you two! we wish you a lifetime full of fun and happy memories together. we love you guys!!

and of course, a wedding at a winery needs some ice...

and grapes.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

the Ahn family portrait session in San Diego

2009-09-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

recently our golden state was made a little bit more beautiful when the Ahn family paid us a visit from the empire state. they flew out here in their private jet (false) just to see us (false). we headed out to some rolling hills in vista ca (true) to do a little family portrait session with them (true). it was a sweet spot for a super sweet family (true).
from left to right they are warren, zachary, johanna, nichole, felice, sunday, sang, sophia, and grandma!?! donna. wait, that can't be right. there's no such thing as a woman over 30. i thought these beautiful ladies were all sisters. maybe that's why i got fired as the guess-your-age guy at the carnival. :) can you believe donna is a grandma? i can't.
warren, you and donna started one beautiful family. nichole, felice, and sang just kept your labor of love going. :) you all look amazing.

doesn't johanna have the cutest face on the planet?

zachary busted out his gq look. ouch! his eyes just pierced me. :)

sophia, well... sophia was not havin it. :)
i know a lot of people would probably throw this kind of photo out, but we think they're keepers because it shows the child's personality, how they really were on that day, not just how they said cheese.
this photo is on our blog to show that we are not some kind of magical beings. we work with real kids, not mannequins. one of the things we love about doing family sessions is that we never know what we are going to get. sometimes the kids just aren't having a stellar day. we're ok with that. the kids definitely run the show. we have all the patience in the world. besides, we love the challenge of catching the little moments in between the sad faces, or in this case, capturing a sad face or two. they make for some good laughs down the road. :)

delicious ritz crackers make everything better.

baby Sunday was all smiles. isn't she precious?

april caught johanna sharing a quiet moment with grandpa warren.

here's one of those quick in-between moments of sophia. she's so beautiful.

some of our favorite photos are of moms with their children. for the next few we got Felice in to have a little mother - daughter fun in the field.

babies love to fly air mom :)

sophia of the ninja sisterhood.

her secret identity has been revealed :)

there's sophia's smile. yes! no child can beat me! :) or kim in this case.

baby Sunday wanted to hop on pop so we got Sang in the frame along with Felice and Sophia. now that is one beautiful ohana. felice and sang, thank you for sharing a day with us. we absolutely love your family! hopefully we can meet up again soon to do a family portrait session in new york city.

there's no better place than in the arms of someone who loves you. sleep tight Sunday.

David and Danielle's San Diego Wedding at the Rancho Guajome Adobe in Vista, CA

2009-09-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

a dusty drive, a simple dirt lot, just look around at this incredible spot.
a clay tile roof atop white washed walls, a flower-filled courtyard filled with birds calls.
a 19th century wagon with rusty metal wheels, this place is a gold mine of textures and feels.
weathered adobe brick walls, old wooden floors that creak and crack, someone yells "david and danielle are getting married today!" behind my back.
i smile to myself, knowing that this day is going to be awesome.
the rancho guajome adobe is a snapshot. a living picture of old california. in the mid 1800's the rancho was given to a couple as a wedding gift. they held lots of extravagant fiestas and many of southern california's early residents came to visit.
with a history like that, it was the perfect place for david and danielle to have an amazing southern california wedding.
from our very first meeting, on through their engagement session and wedding in san diego, we have seen how much david and danielle love each other. it is very clear that they are IN love. they are so happy together that just being around them makes us happy. we love people in love!
david and danielle's wedding was pure awesomeness! it was like being at a wedding with our own relatives. in fact, they reserved seats for us at a regular table right alongside their own family members (who were awesome and totally funny btw! see taffy picture below). among the billion other things they did for us, that alone speaks volumes as to how much david and danielle care about people. they didn't have to bring us in their inner circle and treat us like family, but they did, and we love them for it. they're sweeter than twinkies wrapped in cotton candy and dipped in syrup with sprinkles on top. yummo :)

danielle enjoying a quiet moment with her dad just before walking down the aisle.

exhibit b: showing how much david and danielle care more than a care bear, it was pretty warm the day of their wedding, but david and danielle had already done their homework (something they do a lot). they knew all the guests would be sitting under the warm california sun during their ceremony, so they bought a barrel of parasols to keep everyone cool. yes, even the dudes.
rule# 183 of the dude handbook states: it is fully acceptable to hold a parasol during a wedding that is held in direct sunlight. it goes on to award chivalry bonus points if the parasol you are holding is deployed over a female or elder that is accompanying you at the wedding.

i couldn't quite see from my angle, but apparently something very sharp, possibly a dagger, blew into david's eye during the ceremony and caused some sort of salty liquid to discharge from it. i would have totally helped him out, but a dagger-like object had also blown into my eye and i didn't want to cause a scene removing it :)

david's question was...
where is the chase, and how do we cut to it? :)

pastor carlton harris of the college avenue baptist churchin san diego did an awesome job officiating david and danielle's wedding ceremony. before we could blink three times david and danielle were married and running back down the aisle on their way out.

if sexy and fierce had kids together this is what they would look like.

nobody rocks a parasol like david. nobody.

madonna's "like a prayer" video, meet david and danielle's wedding photo.
is it just me, or is it getting hot in here? guys? :)

david and danielle had some absolutely amazing details at their wedding. the flowers were beautiful, the poof balls were poofy, the food from romano's macaroni grill catering was insanely good, and the cake from howard's bakery in el cajon ca was suh-weet! speaking of the cake...

danielle was kind enough to offer the first piece to david.
hey, um, david. you got a little something right there on your face. :)

david, being the gentleman that he is, kindly shared the 2nd piece with danielle. how sweet.
revenge is a dish best served with cake.
nice extension david :)

the fun with cake was far from over. it was their friend freya's birthday, so david and danielle called her to come up front with them.
not wanting to take one on the chin from david or danielle, freya smashed the cake in her own face.
kidding. actually, david and danielle led everyone in singing happy birthday to freya. how cool is that for a couple to do on their own wedding day?
we thought it was pretty awesome.

this is what happens when you mix photographers with saltwater taffy and awesomely fun people.
gold. pure photographic gold. :)

i don't think there was a dry eye in the whole reception, except mine, when danielle and her dad danced. :)
as the wedding was winding down, danielle's dad stopped by our table and we got to talk shop with him for a bit. as it turns out, he loves cameras too. yep, he's pretty much awesome.

there's something i love about this photo. oh yeah, it's david and danielle.

danielle took david out behind the woodshed and...

made shadow puppets :)

when thinking up ideas for david and danielle's ring shot we wanted to do something that was as fun as they are. we came up with two ideas.
the first idea involved a couple of our friends from yo gabba gabba. looking good foofa and brobee!
the 2nd shot is for david. for this one we...

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! it's a dinosaur!!!!!!!!! run!!!!!!
wait. false alarm everybody. it's only a toy dino. phew! :)
this is our ode to david's dinosaur shirt that he got from the san diego natural history museum when he was 13 and still wears on special occasions, like today.

david and danielle, we all want to thank you so much for making us laugh every time we speak with you, for making us cry when we see you cry, and for letting us show everyone what true love looks like. you two are amazing together. you have the most caring hearts of anyone we know. we're ecstatic that you are part of our extended ohana now, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. one thing is for sure, everything is going to be good as long as you are together.
since we can't get enough of you, here's a little slideshow with a fun song that kim said reminds her of you. love you guys!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

jane and garie's engagement session in san diego

2009-09-03T01:41:00.000-07:00

i am absolutely loving the fact that we are on an insane streak of working with hot couples that are super fun. jane and garie are the latest couple to help our streak stay hot. we have not proven it yet, but they may love san diego as much as we do. some things they have going for them are the following, they went to san diego state university, they love the san diego chargers, garie and his groomsmen are going to be wearing custom made chargers shoes at the wedding, and jane and garie are getting married in san diego. i think all that qualifies them as associate ambassadors of our fine city. you can see how in love they are in these pictures, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. that's the way we like it! uh huh, uh huh. yah, i know. :)
we had an awesome afternoon following them around some of the most beautiful scenery in san diego for their engagement photos. we can't wait for their wedding next year! now, on with the hotness.

this is what it takes to get featured on ESPN Sports Nation

2009-08-31T01:22:00.000-07:00

april and rain's brother from another mother (and father) has been perfecting his shots from "a little outside the paint" and someone at ESPN noticed him and decided to feature him on espn sports nation. here's a short clip of the awesomeness.

and here's a shot of connor getting our bucket of victory during our last visit to the hottest place on earth, phoenix.
congratulations con-man! when do you sign up for the NBA draft? we love you!

kamran and leila's persian wedding at the fairbanks ranch clubhouse in rancho santa fe

2009-08-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

kamran and leila's persian wedding at the Fairbanks Ranch Clubhouse in Rancho Santa Fe was both a beautiful ceremony and a learning experience for us. it was our first persian wedding, so we had a lot to learn. kamran and leila, in their grace, answered all of our questions with a smile and walked us through everything. we also had help from kamran and leila's wonderful wedding coordinator Nahid at Wedding Elegance. it was an incredible experience that we will always remember. we feel so blessed and honored that kamran and leila chose us to record their amazing day.
it began with us going to meet leila. when we arrived at the residence where she was getting ready the door opened just a crack. once our identity was confirmed not to be kamran the door slowly swung open...

on the other side stood leila in her jaw-droppingly beautiful wedding dress by Pronovias of Spain and super cute shoes by Alfani. makeup artist Itzel Ceballos (itzel_ceballos@msn.com) did amazing work once again.
to sum up, leila looked absolutely stunning. kamran was definitely going to be in for a treat when he arrived.

as we were taking photos of leila and her dear friends, a classic white 1969 rolls royce silver shadow limousine from Rolls Livery arrived and a very handsome and striking gentleman in a tuxedo appeared with a gift of flowers in his hand.
hint, it was kamran.
when he walked into the courtyard where leila was standing he paused and covered his mouth with his hand. seeing his bride-to-be took his breath away.

after regaining his breath, kamran walked up to leila, grasped her hands, and gently kissed her.
i LOVE when couples do a "first look" on their wedding day before they walk down the aisle. without a crowd of people watching, the emotions and expressions the couple feel comfortable enough to show are amazing. as an added bonus the bride and groom get some time, if only a few minutes, to just enjoy each others company without all the distractions of the day.

moments later kamran escorted leila to the car and the couple was whisked away to the Fairbanks Ranch Clubhouse in Rancho Santa Fe where they would be united in marriage in front of their families and friends.

before the ceremony began leila and kamran went behind the clubhouse for a little fun. no, not that kind of fun. remember, this was before the ceremony :)

hey, uh, kamran. leila. you probably can't hear us right now but the, um, ceremony, it's going to be starting soon. guys? ok then. we'll just leave you two alone and head on over to the ceremony site. see you in a bit. :)

as leila took her seat next to kamran under a beautiful silk they saw before them on their Sofreh-ye Aghd, that was made by leila's aunt sarvy, a multitude of symbols to help them in their new life together.
the mirror of fate, or Aayeneh-ye Bakht, and two candelabras (representing leila and kamran and brightness in their future), one on either side of the mirror. these are symbols of light and fire, two very important elements.
as the ceremony began, leila removed her veil. the first thing kamran saw in the mirror was the reflection of his beautiful wife-to-be.

family members and friends rubbed sugar cones, or Kalleh Ghand, together above leila and kamran and showered them with sweetness as they sat beneath the beautiful silk during their ceremony.

also on leila and kamrans Sofreh-ye Aghd were:
a copy of the Holy Qur'an, representing the blessing of Allah (God) for the couple.
a Jaa-Namaaz, spread in the middle of the Sofreh-ye Aghd to remind the couple of the importance of prayer, both at blissful times and times of hardship. it includes a small rug, or Sajjaadeh, a small cube of molded clay with prayers written on it, Mohr, and a strand of prayer beads, or Tasbih.
a Sini-ye Aatel-O-Baatel, or tray of multi-colored herbs and spices, to guard the couple and their life together against evil.
Esphand, wild rue, to keep the evil eye away and bring plenty of health.
a specially baked and decorated flatbread, noon-e sangak, held a blessing of Mobaarak-Baad for the couple.
Gol-e Mohammadi, rosewater, to perfume the air.
decorated eggs, along with almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts in the shell, to symbolize fertility.
gold coins, representing wealth and prosperity.
silk bags containing sweets such as sugar coated almonds, Noghl, for the guests.

leila's aunt sarvy did an awesome job molding the esphand into flowers and painting them.

leila and kamran dipped their fingers in honey and fed it to each other, to sweeten life.

rings and kisses to seal the deal. CONGRATULATIONS KAMRAN AND LEILA!

i don't know who makes these shoes, but they are RAD!
i snapped this while everyone was enjoying some of the awesome food from Amir's Catering.

the floral arrangements by Ana at Floral Works and Decor Inc. were simply gorgeous. Their classic elegance brightened up the whole reception area.

and now is the time on sprocket's when we dance. heeeerrrrre's kamran and leila!

leila has one of the most amazing smiles i have ever seen. love it times infinity!

leila's cousin Kamiar, and his band KamyR, were incredible! they kept the dancefloor PACKED all night long. i didn't even know what they were singing and i still loved it! if you want your party to be awesome, hire these guys.

during a brief pause in the festivities kamran grabbed the microphone and said some very touching words to leila. it was such an amazing moment.

everyone at kamran and leila's wedding was beautiful. true story.

when it came time to cut the delicious cake, from The French Gourmet in La Jolla, we were in for another treat.

just as kamran was ready to cut a slice of cake for his bride someone snatched the knife away and began the Raghseh Chagoo, or knife dance. it was passed to several members of the crowd, excluding kamran and leila of course.
everyone, and i mean everyone, did an amazing job dancing. it was so much fun to watch.
this beautiful woman had some seriously hot knife dancing skills. i don't think this was her first time dancing with a sharp object :)

several benjamin bribes by kamran later, the knife was finally given back and the cake was enjoyed.
kamran and leila, thank you so so much. we had such an amazing time at your wedding. it was Fun with a capital F!
everyone at your wedding was awesome, especially you two. we are so grateful that you gave us the opportunity to be your photographers, and entrusted us to photograph our first Persian wedding. if every Persian wedding is even half as good as yours I hope we get to do many many more.
have a sweet life together with endless years of happiness.

just in case you missed kamran and leila's engagement session at balboa park and harbor island click here to go back in time and see the spot on harbor island overlooking the beautiful san diego skyline where kamran proposed to leila. at this point we all know how that turned out for him. it's kind of like watching a dvr recording of the last game your favorite team played after you've already heard that they won :)

on a side note, we'd also like to thank alyssa and simeon for lending a hand.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

danielle and david's hot and steamy poolside engagement session in san diego

2009-08-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

i knew that title would catch your eye. :) well, danielle and david are more than just eye candy pal! :)
i'm going to do something a little different for this post. i want to share who this couple is, through some of their own words. of course, there will still be images of them from there engagement session in san diego, but i also want everyone reading this to feel a little of what we get to feel when we talk with our couples. as new friends, we try to get a better understanding of who our couples are, how they fell in love, and how we can capture images of them that show both their individuality and their love for each other.
we look forward to meeting new couples like kids look forward to hearing the recess bell. we totally geek out when we hear their knock on the door.
from the moment i opened said door and saw danielle's sweet smile and david in his dinosaur shirt from the san diego natural history museum (that he said he got when he was 13) i knew we had just won fun-couple bingo. we were instantly in L-O-V-E with this couple.
by the end of our first meeting we felt like david and danielle had been our friends for years. they are both just wonderful people. i am so glad our paths crossed and that we were given the opportunity to be david and danielle's friends with big cameras.
one of our favorite things to ask our couples is how they met.
this is how david remembers it:
"Let me start off by saying Danielle doesn't remember the day we met (how sad.... but then again she was like 12 or something). Anywhoo she was in a speedo, I was in a speedo... it was pure magic (lol) or something like that. She had just started swimming on the same swim team I was on, and I had been away for a while, and when I came back, there she was... and I was like, cool! Here's a girl who is crazy, has fun, and doesn't care what other people think. There wasn't love at first sight or anything like that, I just remember thinking “what a cool person!” The love came a couple of years later."

when we asked danielle and david to tell us about a date they went on that they will always remember they both said prom. how often does that happen?

david said: "Prom was our first real date, other than just hanging out together at the mall and such. It was a pretty crazy day. We both just competed in high school CIF swimming championships that morning and had to run home, get dressed, and go! We had a nice dinner followed by a rather forgettable dance, but all the while there was a look on her face that let me know this was more than just a high school fling."

danielle said: "Our first date was pretty memorable. It was David’s prom and the day of CIF. We went to the 94th Aero Squadron for dinner and I remember having French onion soup (don’t ask why I remember). We just had a good time talking to each other about the excitement of the day and getting to know each other better. One drunk restaurant-goer thought we had just gotten married and yelled from across the room “are you a bride? Contrats!” or something to that effect, which was really awkward/funny as a 15-year-old on her first date. We got to the dance when it was almost over, because CIF/prom prep took so long. Afterward we took a walk downtown by the Star of India and I just remember how cute David looked under the moonlight."

the question with the most anticipated answer for us is about the proposal. this is how danielle remembers that day:
"It was last summer and I was getting particularly annoyed being at home, so I asked David on a Friday if we could go to the mountains that weekend to walk around Julian. I had this really horrible cough that had lasted for over a month, so I wasn’t feeling that well, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to do anything athletic. David, of course, suggested that we go on a hike, and I said yes because I can sometimes be a little too hard core/competitive about all things athletic…even with my cough. We went up to Mount Cuyamaca and started getting ready when I realized I had misplaced my camera and so I grabbed the backpack (with the ring hidden inside) and started rummaging through it to find the camera. David about freaked out and immediately gave me his keys and told me to look in the car. He thought I had seen the box, because I had jostled it out of its hiding place, but I still had no clue. Even when David offered to carry the backpack the entire way up (we normally switch off) I thought he was just being sweet because of my cough. About half way up the mountain a light thunderstorm rained on us, which actually felt really good because it was very humid that day. Oh, I was also paranoid that a mountain lion was going to jump out at us because my mom told me that a hiker was attacked on Mount Cuyamacca the year before. I carried a huge stick/saber with me the entire way up. The elevation change was so dramatic that I really didn’t think I would make it to the top. I even told David that I wanted to turn around at one point, but he was persistent we should get to the top “for the view.” When we got up there, it was hot and there were a bunch of people around. I proceeded to suck on about 3 cough drops and find the only little bit of shade there, which everyone else was under too. David finally got me to move away from the crowd and then he started talking about our relationship and how much he loved me and somehow I still didn’t get it until he started to cry as he got down on one knee. Of course, then I started crying, and he proposed. I was so overcome with emotion that I was laughing and crying and coughing and he didn’t hear me answer him, but trust me, I definitely clarified that! We sat up there for awhile and talked and hugged each other and when we finally went back down the trail it felt so much easier than it did going up! Afterward, we went to my house, and then to his, and then out to our favorite Thai restaurant."

i asked both danielle and david "what about your fiance do you love?" their answers made me have to tell kim that my eye was having an adverse reaction to a sand particle that was dangerously lodged in it, aka NOT CRYING.

danielle: "I love HIM!!! David is cute, he loves God, he’s funny, and so much more. I love that he has the ability to loosen me up and teach me how to love life the way that he does. I love his integrity and his good character. I love his goofiness. I love talking to him about everything and nothing and how he knows what I need/feel sometimes even before I do. I love that he loves knowledge and learning new things. I love the half smile he makes when he tries to be romantic and his “thinking man” pose that he does when he’s concentrating. I love that he doesn’t care about what others think, but strives to live a good, fulfilling, honorable life. He is wonderful."

david: "I love her nose, eyes, lips, hair, smile, voice, hugs, kisses, laugh... and that's just the physical stuff. I also love the way she makes me feel (kinda like that michael jackson song (lol) RIP. I love how much she cares about other people, I love how much she loves me! I love how she always makes me smile. And most of all I love that no matter where I go with her I always feel like I am home."

danielle and david, thank you. thank you for sharing your feelings, your memories, and your words with all of us. my words could not have expressed your love for one another any better than your own. we feel blessed to know you and to have shared this awesome time in your lives.
check back soon to see images from danielle and david's beautiful wedding at the Rancho Guajome Adobe in vista california.

have a wonderfuliria honeymoon on the big island of Hawaii danielle and david. don't worry, that was not said with an ounce of jealous sarcasm. :) seriously, have fun! see you when you get back to San Diego. we love you two!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

continuing kamran and leila's san diego engagement session in balboa park and harbor island

2009-08-16T00:54:00.000-07:00

and now, the rest of the story. kamran and leila's engagement photo session in san diego story that is. i can't tell you how thrilled we were to work with kamran and leila. it was during our very first meeting with kamran and leila that they asked us if we had ever shot a persian wedding before. knowing this might be a very short meeting after my response, i said no, we had not. i then added confidently, "we would love to."
i do not know why, but whatever the blessed reason, kamran and leila looked beyond our lack of experience with persian weddings and hired us to shoot their persian wedding in san diego. it would be our first, and it would be an amazing experience.
more on that soon. i'm puting the horse before the cart.
before we could do their wedding, we wanted to do a sweet engagement session for them, so bang, we hit the city baby, dead on! with the awesomeness of san diego at our disposal, our first stop was the aprapos House of Iran in Balboa Park.
kamran and leila, everyone. everyone, kamran and leila.

for fear of leila's smoking hotness burning down the house, we didn't stay by the house of iran too long.
moving on. cut. print. check the gate.

as much as i'd like to, i can't take credit for kamran and leila's fashions. when scheduling a photo session we tell all of our couples to simply wear something that's you. then we remind them that they are not hannah montana or one of the power rangers :)
we love kamran and leila's outfits. they go together without looking like they're wearing uniforms, and the colors are awesome! project runway contestants, take note :)

anyone know what time it is?
oh yeah...
it's sexytime!

don't. cover this up. it's not sexy. it's ani-mal. :)

kamran picked the prettiest flower in the garden.

double-fierce bonus points for this one. they are... HOT! (said with emphasis on the T to drive home our point.)

for this part of the session we tried out our new telepathy recorder that we've been developing. it's still in the r and d stages, but here's what we were able to record from kamran's mind during this sequence.
get out of my dreams...

and into...

my car. :)

as the moon was tucking mr sun in to bed we stopped at a bench on shelter island, the place where kamran asked leila to be his bride.

it was a beautiful ending to an awesome session.

the man in the moon is smiling, cause they're in love.
thank you kamran and leila. we really enjoyed walking around some of our favorite spots in san diego with you and talking about your big day.
speaking of which...
check back soon for pictures of kamran and leila's persian wedding in san diego california. it was amazing!

also, before i go, i want to thank Leila's makep artist Itzel Ceballos for doing such a wonderful job. She is a pleasure to work with. Please contact her if you ever need an awesome makeup artist. Her email is: itzel_ceballos@msn.com and her cell is: 619-250-5448

kamran and leila's san diego engagement session peek

2009-08-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

i'm short on time tonight, but i wanted to throw out a sneak peak of the uber hot kamran and leila's san diego engagement photo session in balboa park and harbor island. can you handle the hotness? check back soon to see more.

something super is about to happen

2009-08-06T02:01:00.000-07:00

the larsen ohana - a san diego portrait session

2009-08-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

when we are not shooting a wedding in san diego, we are often shooting a family portrait session in san diego. sometimes we do a portrait session in balboa park. other times we go where the turf meets the surf for fun family photos on the beach. this session however, was different for us on many levels. sure, it was a family, and it was in san diego, but it was so much more than that. it was shot in a quiet home. a home with a lot of family memories, old and new.
these are the very first professional photos of our good friends masen and jen with their freshly hatched first child elliott (that were not taken by masen himself). they were taken in the home masen grew up in. the same home elliott will grow up in. being there, i couldn't help but to think of all the family history this home holds, and is still to witness. i'm just corny like that. i guess it just stirred up happy memories of my grandparents house. but i digress :)
to this day we are still completely humbled when awesome wedding photographers, like ma5en, hire us to do portrait sessions for them. we are even more blown away when they ask us to take photos of their family. this... this was just a whole new kind of honor. being asked to take masen and jen's first family photos with baby elliott was just awesome. we are so happy for them, and so proud to have been a part of this.
please join us in congratulating masen and jen as we introduce you to their ohana.
on a side note masen and jen, i hope you don't ever plan on trying to say "NO" to these big beautiful puppy-dog eyes. we wish you the best of luck.
she is going to play you like mario bros :)

haaaave you met elliott?

masen and jen, we can not possibly thank you enough for hiring us to do this for you. it was a HUGE honor.
elliott is a beautiful beginning to your ohana. that's right, i said beginning. not end. i believe i speak for everyone that loves you when i say...
get crackin on making more beautiful children like elliott! :)
we are going to love watching her grow with you, and seeing lots more pictures!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

yadira and brian's sunny san diego wedding at cuvier park in la jolla

2009-07-31T02:51:00.000-07:00

yadira and brian took full advantage of america's finest city (aka san diego) and had their wedding at cuvier park in la jolla ca with friends and family enjoying the view from the lawn atop the sandstone cliffs overlooking the big blue pacific ocean. it could not have been a more perfect place for brian and yadira to say their i do's. here's how it all went down.

although their ceremony for beautiful, some guests were already thinking about the reception :)

feeling hot, hot, hot, hot!

looking goodfellas

if 3 super hot bridesmaids and 1 smokin hot bride...

find 5 coronas on a railing and promptly drink 1 corona each...

how many coronas are left for 4 manly men with 4 powerful thirsts?
the answer...

who does math at a reception? it's ladies night and the feelin's right!

yadira and her dad almost made me cry when they shared a dance. i said almost :)

brian and yadira then had their first dance as husband and wife.

and then... the dj opened up the dance floor. literally.

the kids were... intrigued.

don't forget to tip your bartenders.

yadira looked absolutely stunning. i had to put her in the spotlight.

and now, the main event.
in the corner of the room, hailing from san diego california and wearing the white frosting...
CAAAAAAAAAAAKE!
let's get ready to rumble!!!!

brian leads with a left swipe!
yadira counters with a right open-hand smash!
it's too close to call!
judges?

it's a draw! we'll have to crown two champions. brian and yadira, you are both amazing! we had so much fun at your wedding. this picture is just a sample. you had frosting on your faces, and we all had smiles on ours. congratulations you two!

domo arigato for choosing us to share your day yadira and brian!

karmina and jeff's ultimate skybox wedding in san diego

2009-07-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

let's say you're at disneyland in the middle of summer and you want to go on the indiana jones and the temple of the forbidden eye ride, really bad. the ride is so awesome that the two hour wait doesn't phase you. you wait with a smile on your face as you inch your way to the temple. you finally reach your vehicle and take your seat. then, before you can blink twice, the ride is over,
and you want to go again.
karmina and jeff's wedding was our indiana jones.
right from the start we knew karmina and jeff were super fun, but it was during their engagement session in la jolla that we learned just how awesome this couple is. we don't just take anyone into a grocery store for a portrait session :)
in the months leading up to their wedding we were counting down like nasa. and now,
karmina and jeff's ultimate skybox wedding in san diego starts in t-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

sure, karmina looked great on her engagement session, but she was absolutely stunning in her wedding dress. one thing is constant though, she has the same beautiful smile.

sexy. it was gone, and karmina brought it back.

karmina finished off her wedding attire with an exquisite pair of shoes from Badgley Mischka. gotta love the shooz!

are you starting to see why jeff (and everyone else) loves karmina so much? she's more fun than a day at the beach.

while karmina was getting ready at home, jeff and the guys were suiting up at hotel solamar.

no clip-on for jeff. he keeps it real. lookin good my man.

isn't karmina's flower girl precious? (hint = yes)
with everyone in the limo we were off the the ceremony at our lady of mount carmel church in san ysidro.

even when she disobeys a direct order not to drop another flower petal during the ceremony she's adorable. if my grandmother was there she would have been all over those cheeks :)

i love this shot of karmina!

what God has bound together...

three cheers, and tears, for jeff and karmina!

hey, everybody! i got some awesome news. we have a new crew member today, karmina. so i thought it would be fun if we all went around and said our name and a little something about ourselves. i'll start. my name is jeff, and I like to party. all right, dave, you're up.
uh, hi. uh, my name is dave, and uh... i... like to party.
uh, no, dave. i just said that i party, so maybe you could do something different from me.
my name is dave, and i... am the stuntman.
you know what? let's move on.

warning: look at these ladies quickly and scroll on. having this much hotness on your screen for longer than a minute could cause your monitor to spontaneously combust.

i consider myself blessed to have a family full of beautiful girls. clearly, i'm not the only one. karmina's parents are super blessed! karmina and her sisters couldn't help but to have fun whether they were in front of the camera or not. i didn't see them without a smile on their face all day.

jeremy, you're up.
uh, hello! i'm jeremy, and i like to party.
yeah, uh, jeremy, what did i just say to dave?
who?
dave!
i like to party. i'm jeff.
no! you're regan!
right, regan. i party.
no, no, you don't. okay, nobody parties but me.
yes, and we party.
no!
yeah, just jeff...
yes!
...and me!
no! i'm the only one who parties!
i'm pretty sure i've partied before.
no, regan, i know for a fact you don't party. okay? you do not party!
you're right. dave's the party guy.
haha, sweet!
oh, my God, shut up! :)

sexytime, this way.

as self-proclaimed ambassadors of san diego, we think that karmina and jeff picked THE most incredible spot for their reception. it was at The Ultimate Skybox at Diamond View Tower in San Diego, and it was LEGEN...wait for it...
DARY!
the reception had it all. an AWESOME wedding coordinator, amanda from Creative Affairs by Amanda, great food from Continental Catering, beautiful flowers from Eric Renteriah, mariachis, yummy cake from Pasteleria Kary, bumpin music from Sonido Disco E Illuminacion, and one SWEET view of Petco Park, home of our San Diego Padres, what up :)

Lord, beer me strength.

along with loving jeff, karmina loves to dance.
hey, that picture up on the tv in the background looks familiar :)

in a room full of family, friends, and photographers, karmina and jeff found themselves alone in each others arms on their wedding day. this is what true love looks like.

karmina's parents = the best!
they clapped every time i took a photo. ok, maybe not every time. come to think of it, karmina and jeff were always near me when i saw her parents smiling and cheering. huh. they may not have been clapping for me at all. :)

now we come to my favorite time of jeff and karmina's day. what do you get when you mix san diego's hottest newlywed couple with one AMAZING sunset and an incredible view of the downtown san diego skyline?
these images.

karmina and jeff, i request the highest of fives.
you look amazing.
you should know that our favorite thing about you two is that you are smokin hot...

and your heads still fit through standard doorways.
we love that you laugh with each other, a lot.
we also love that you make each other, and everyone around you, smile.
i'm so glad kim caught this moment. it is the picture i think of whenever i think of you.

sweet cake and sweet lights. all around yumminess.

reason number 83,954,527,169 to love san diego. this view.
i seriously could have stood on that patio all night long.

no, karmina and jeff didn't hand out headbands at their reception. he brought it with him, and we love him for it.
this is the guy they call in when super fun just isn't fun enough.
he is the next level, of fun.
insert your own caption for this shot in the comment section below.

karmina wasn't the only one that liked to dance.
is that jeff's dad twirling his coat around?
yes :)
this whole crowd was rad. the room was filled to capacity with awesome.

karmina and jeff, what can we say that we haven't already said? you are such an Awesome couple. yes, i capitalized the A.
we love you both so much.
although your wedding day has come and gone like a ride through the temple of the forbidden eye, the happy memories will keep us smiling for many years to come. we sincerely thank you for choosing us to share and document this awesome time in your lives.
speaking of awesome times, remember when you both got behind the bar and started serving everyone drinks at your own wedding? :)
before we go i'd like to request 2 more shots, on the rocks :)

how many of you have had this question come up at about 2am after a long night of partying? don't lie :)

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

san diego fashion shoot for tatiana

2009-07-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

after being hired to do the art institute of san diego's very first fashion show, liquid runway, we were hooked. now, whenever we aren't shooting weddings we LOVE doing fashion shoots.
we met tatiana at that fashion show and, after wading through massive crowds, had the wonderful opportunity to speak with her. fyi, her designs were selected best in the show. tatiana is an incredible designer that has a passion for designing that is nothing short of inspiring. she lives fashion. after speaking with her i knew she was someone i would love to work with. just as i was thinking that she asked if i would be the photographer for her semester finale. i jumped at the opportunity.
for this project, tatiana had to do it all. from coming up with a concept, to designing, to sewing, to finding a location, to getting a photographer (me), a make-up artist (kristi), and some beautiful models (nadia, alex, riley, and kelly), and finally, putting it all together for a mock magazine ad.
with everything and everyone in place, we set out to bring tatiana's vision to life.

in case you were wondering, tatiana got an "A" for this project. congratulations tatiana! glad we could help.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

janell and rj's engagement session in san luis obispo

2009-07-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

imagine, if you will...
tiffany blue skies with cottony clouds of white.
the salty mist of the mighty pacific ocean.
the warmth of the afternoon sun on your face.
rolling hills with vineyards bearing fruit on the vine.
friendly faces.
are you in a happy place? is this heaven? close.
i'm speaking, not of san diego for once, but of another beautiful san city in california called san luis obispo. (yes they're related. they share the same mother) it is the golden state, as it should be. the wonderful sights and senses from our drive north made me realize why the missionaries, like father serra, thought this land to be a gift from God when they first laid eyes on it.
our trip was not to build a mission, but to meet up with one of our awesomest couples ever, janell and rj. we arrived in SLO like a car-load of kids going to gamestop. janell and rj guided us on a tour of the places they met, studied, laughed, took a shortcut, sipped warm drinks, shared conversations, and fell in love.
SLO holds lots of great memories for janell and rj,
including a new one of us taking them to the beach and dumping cold water on them just for fun :)
we had a perfect day walking around SLO taking pictures, laughing (out loud), and sharing stories about the game shows we have been on (and won).
first up is the spot where they took a shortcut. it's a SLO landmark, although you could easily walk right by it without noticing. it's bubblegum alley, and yes, it's disgustingly awesome! janell and rj hooked us all up with some appropriately colored slime-green gum so we could all add our mark to the alley.

the hearts and the P are for janell and rj.
life IS beautiful, so sayeth the gum! :)

next is the place rj caught his first glimpse of janell and uttered, "she's cute", cal poly.

this is how rj felt inside after seeing janelle for the first time. how's that for a reenactment? :)

janell and rj are so rad that they have to carry around an umbrella at all times because rainbow colored clouds follow them around and rain confetti on them wherever they go.
true story.

ok, actually the rainbow colored clouds are called kim and (aptly enough) rain. the "clouds" decided to crank it up a notch, so they stepped closer to janell and rj and took the storm from a light summer sprinkle to...

a category 5 hurricane of confetti!!

how did rj and janell first hookup you ask?
rj dropped that zero and got with the hero.
i guess that line does actually work sometimes :)

after walking around with rj and janell for a while kim told me that she thought janell looked a lot like lindsay lohan.
i agreed and added, ya, but janell is hotter and not cracked out :)
can i get a witness?!!

btw, it's not just a shirt. janell really does wail on guitar hero. she's pretty much like the edge, b.b. king, eddie van halen, and slash all rolled into one.
rj is her biggest stalker, err, umm, fan.

janell and rj sittin in a street.
k-i-s-s-i-n-g :)

here's the spot where rj and janell had their first date. it's a sweet little cafe in downtown SLO named Linnaea's.

seeing janell and rj look at each other with smiles on their faces let me know that this place holds many many warm memories for the two of them.

it also holds many warm drinks :)

will you still need me,
will you still feed me,
when i'm
sixty
four

as the sun was dipping lower on the horizon we headed west for a little sexytime on the beach.

shield your eyes kids :)

if all the previous images haven't proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt that rj and janell are among the raddest people on the planet may i submit this.
they did not even question us when we walked up to them, with large bucket in hand, and handed them a large umbrella.
beach sessions are so much more fun when you mix hot with a little hot mess.
they took it like champs...

again...

and again.
we can not even say how much we LOVE you rj and janell!
you definitely get the triple dragon bonus high score for playing this round of what can david, kim, april, and rain think up next. thanks for playing you two!
on a scale of 1 to 10, you have a fun factor of 11.

you know it's a good session when the sun goes down and you don't want to stop shooting. we enjoyed every minute with you rj and janell. if not for fear of you catching pneumonia we could have spent the rest of the night taking pictures of you. thank you both for being up for anything and for taking us out for a hot meal before the drive home.
we are so stoked to be shooting your wedding. we can not wait!! if your wedding isn't the most fun wedding we've ever been to then i will eventually grow old and die. no pressure :)

i know this is early, but we had to share a preview of janell's beautiful ring.

now it's time to sit down and hold on to something.

rj and janell are about to face off in a battle of who can make us pee our pants laughing first. did i mention that both janell and rj were on the cal poly improv team?

buckle up. the wait is over.

who's ready to laugh?! press play. hope you're wearing your plastic chonies.

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photoshoot for three, on a beach!

2009-07-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

now who should i take?

janell aaaaaand....

t-pain (aka r.j.)

oh snap!
get your towels ready, it's about to go down.

this dolphins splashing,
getting everybody all wet,
but this ain't sea world,
this is real as it gets.

this post brought to you by kim, and her flippy floppys.

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check out our portfolio.
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michele's san diego family photos

2009-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

with a company name like ohana, it's pretty obvious that we love family, especially big families.
by the end of our first conversation with michelle we knew that we would love michele's family as if they were our own. one of the things she mentioned in her first call was that she wanted us to take photos of 18 of her family members in their chargers jerseys. right then i said to myself, this family is awesome, they have loads of fun together, AND they are HUGE fans of our san diego chargers... we are going to go together like PB and J. when we actually met them their awesome factor went right off the charts. everyone was so nice and so easy to get along with that we almost forgot we were there to work. it felt like we were just part of a sweet family reunion. a sweet family reunion of CHARGERS FANS!!!

did i say they are a fun family? i meant they are a SUPER FUN family.

in a family of chargers fans you might think it's hard to stand out. not this little guy. he put a huge smile on all of our faces when he took center stage and...

showed us his version of shawne merriman's lights-out dance.

every family has it's wisest elder. in michele's family all the kids call him grandalf. we call him awesome. no matter what you call him he's seriously one of the coolest grandpas of all time.

babies, bolts, battlestar galactica :)

i am so happy that we met you michele and all of your awesome family members. we loved hanging out for the afternoon and talking about how much we ALL can't wait for football to start again. hopefully we'll all have something to cheer about this year. GO CHARGERS!!!

angel, paul, and 12 blue luftballons in santa monica

2009-06-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

we knew going into this session that angel and paul were super fun, smokin hot, and down for just about anything we could dream up.
dear diary, jackpot!
with a couple like this we had to find a place that could handle the kind of fun we were about to roll out. we hopped in the ohana-mobile and drove from san diego to santa monica to find just the right spot.
angel and paul, meet the santa monica pier.

dear ad wizards at hollister, angel and paul are available to model and are waiting by their phone.
ring, ring. who's there? destiny? i've been expecting your call.

if you think angel and paul are hot put your hands up

this is why so many people come to southern california. it's, as fergie says, glamorous.
this is also one of my favorite shots of the day that kim took.

another favorite that kim took... ON A BIKE!

hi, pushing daisies, we stole your color.

kim's better at pitching. i'll let her take it from here.
kimmy's got the spotlight!
wait for it.
pigeons.
oh snap!
audiences love pigeons.
holler back!

paul is sad. he can't smoke upside down.

angel and paul are doing:
a. the cha cha slide
b. the humpty dance
c. da butt

you spin me right round

angel straight up pwned that pier.

not to be outdone, paul followed up angel's hotness with a bit of his own.

the best part about angel and paul is that they balance their excessive hotness with an awesome sense of humor. we LOVE couples that can laugh at themselves, and couples that make us laugh. angel and paul are most definitely in that category.

lock it up :)

as seen on their teaser post, angel and paul went all the way (into the water).
thank you angel and paul for being absolutely down for anything. we could not think of a better day than the one we had with you.

playtime with angel and paul in santa monica

2009-06-14T00:09:00.001-07:00

we are insanely busy this weekend, but i had to post up this teaser for the uber hot angel and paul's super rad session by the santa monica pier.

we LOVE when couples are willing to do anything we ask. even if it means jumping in the pacific fully clothed for a little sexytime in the surf. thank you angel and paul for trusting us and being the ultimate gamers.
there will be more shots posted soon. promise :)

btw, today is angel's birthday, so please join us in wishing her the happiest of birthdays! much love to you on your day angel!

kimberly and wesley - take 2

2009-06-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

here's a story brought to you by kim. "It was a dark and stormy night...the end"

brittany and zach's engagement session in coranado ca

2009-05-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

errrrrrrttt! that's the sound of kim's little posting joy ride coming to a screetching halt. i turn my back for 2 seconds and she drops a couple posts faster than a crack fiend drops evidence in a footrace from the cops.
kim fans can just skip to the photos now if you like. i understand. (turning to wipe away my tears)
here's my version of brittany and zach. please forgive the crudity of this post. i didn't have time to draw up flow charts or timeline graphs to go along with the images :)
brittany and zach, let me begin by saying congratulations on your engagement, and thank you so much for asking us to shoot engagement photos for you. considering who will be shooting your wedding, receiving your request to photograph this fun and exciting moment in your lives really humbled us.
for everyone that's not a wedding photographer in southern california, i'll let you know why we feel the way we do about shooting for brittany and zach. brittany has been photographed by about 10 bizillion photographers from all over the planet, each of them awesome in their own way, many of them experts in the industry. zach has also been in some of those shoots, but i think his number is closer to 5 bizillion. basically what i'm saying is they could have asked any one of those photographers to do this session for them and they would have been thrilled to do it, but they asked us. a one in 10 bizillion opportunity. so we got that goin for us, which is nice. :)
and now, a quick history lesson.
i met brittany a couple years ago when i was at a photography workshop. brittany was one of the models (aka guinnea pigs for our newfound skills) at that workshop. we didn't get to talk much, but when it came time to shoot i really enjoyed working with brittany. she had a smile that could light up the whole oc, and a heart to match. when the workshop ended several of us agreed to "keep in touch" like every group does at the end of a journey together. i headed back home to be an average everyday normal guy and brittany continued being her awesome self. as agreed, many of us have kept in touch, even if only through email and twitter. life has a way of keeping everyone busy.
prior to doing this session, i had not seen brittany in-person for about two years. much has happened in those two years, including (but not limited to) two very awesome things. one: brittany cut off a huge lock of her silky long hair and gave it to LOCKS OF LOVE, and a very obvious two: her engagement to zach. going into our shoot i knew next to nothing about zach, but within minutes of meeting him i knew that he had a good heart. he had a kind way about him and a smile that let me know he was blessed in life. it wasn't until near the end of our session that i learned zach is the pastor of the youth group at his church. it suddenly all made sense. these two are perfect together. i am so happy that God brought them together. they are both wonderful people that deserve every bit of happiness life has to offer. if you'd like to know more about their love story just take a look at what brittany wrote about her noah (aka zach) on her blog.
that's all i have to say about that. now i'll show you all what i'm talkin about when i say that brittany and zach are awesome! here are a handful of shots from our fun afternoon in coronado.

see what i mean about her smile. that's love right there.

today's top story in zach's world :)

if you can dream it, you can do it!

dear diary, jackpot.

check that shopping cart rockin the blue steel

i absolutely love this series with brittany's beach cruiser and the schweet longboard skateboard that her grandpa made for her.
these shots prove that brittany and zach are as fun as they are hot.

mmmmm, burger lounge. what? where am i? sorry guys, that place smelled soooo good.
back to you britt and zach :)

**sizzle**

i love how happy these two are together. i could literally take pictures of them all day long. sharing and shooting moments like this are the reasons why i love what i do so much.

hey... guys... you're fogging up my lens :)

remember that scene in wayne's world when garth's dream girl walks in and looks him in the eye and he gets knocked back against the jukebox. that's the look zach was going for.
nailed it.

as a general rule, you should never mess with a guy on a powder blue beach cruiser :)

what would a visit to coronado be without getting your toes in the sand?
i don't know, and i don't wanna know :)

again brittany and zach, thank you so much for driving all the way down (in gnarly traffic) to hang out with us in san diego for a bit. we had a shopping cart full of fun with you guys. if this session is any indication, i know you will both have a lifetime of happy memories together. congratulations.
we can't wait to see what images your awesome friends, the lovely jasmine star and the talented mr david jay, come up with at your wedding in october at strawberry farms in irvine. your wedding is going to be amazing!

brittany and zach's engagement teaser

2009-05-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

we cruised down to coranado to shoot the super hot brittany and zach's engagement session. more to come later (: this short and to the point post is brought to you by kim. i'm on fire!

playing with light, and kimberly and wesley

2009-05-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

we recently headed out with some of our good photographer friends dexter, marissa, and phil, to play with a little light. dexter brought his friends from church, kimberly and wesley, to model for us. they said they're not professionals. these pictures april took say otherwise.

you're jokin me right?!?! hot hot hot!!!

insane hotness...

ka-razy hotness
kimberly and wesley, thanks for being gamers and doing whatever we asked! if you haven't already guessed, this is another awesomely to-the-point post by KIM. i ain't got time for david's "jokes" or sap :)
i like my posts like i like my movies... funny, action packed, and filled with bad dialogue :)

hella good friday

2009-05-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

as i woke up this morning to a brand new day, i heard someone squeal because they walked into some spiderwebs. it was too late to go back to sleep, so i ran some bathwater and yelled out "hey baby" to kim. we washed up and kim said the magic's in the makeup. i told her that she's so beautiful underneath it all that she could win a beauty contest. that's when we started making out :)
this whole post was just a made up story in my head, but there's no doubt that we are going to be feeling hella good when we see this band tonight in concert at the cricket wireless amphitheatre in san diego!

and since no post is complete without a still shot, here's an awesome scanned shot of us at the U2 popmart tour with our pals dave, billy and 2 girls.
can't wait to see them (minus the 2 girls) again at the U2 360 tour when it hits las vegas later this year!

here's rain and noah with their good friend john locke (aka terry o'quinn) in aloha stadium at the U2 vertigo world tour.

later that same night at aloha stadium, jack johnson thought he'd get a better look at U2 on the stage by standing next to me and rain.

this is us. we're going to see no doubt tonight!

do you know what today is? it's our anniversary!

2009-05-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

as kim and i celebrate our anniversary today (may 18th) i am reminded of the day we met. i don't think i've ever told that story online. we always love hearing how our couples met, so i think it only fair to share how kim and i met. i'll try to give the abridged version, but i do not know what that word means :)
(taking deep breath)
kim and i are both san diego natives that grew up within 10 miles of each other, but we had to travel 2560 miles away from home to meet.
i was on active duty for the Navy at the time and serving on Oahu (tough job but someone had to do it). it was a thursday and i had just finished a long day flying when my friend doug asked if i wanted to go to waikiki with him to celebrate his girlfriend's birthday. i didn't say yes right away. i NEVER went out partying during the week. i told him to ask me again before he left because i was already tired and i knew going out to waikiki with doug meant that we would be drinking until 4am, not getting any sleep, and having to go back to work at 6am (half-dead). as 9pm rolled around doug came knocking on my door. with a sigh, and the thoughts of knowing what punishment i was about to inflict upon myself, i told him i would go. afterall, i was his wingman, and a wingman never says no.
what doug failed to tell me was that his girlfriend worked in a bank and the party was being thrown by her co-workers at a club called studebakers in restaurant row. it was an awesome club, if you were 45 or older. we, being barely legal, stood out like ron burgundy's trousers when he was talking to veronica corningstone. and yes, people were impressed :)
i made the best of it. at least the dj was playing some cool 80's music. as the party went on i noticed one of "the co-workers" just sitting in a booth all by herself not talking with anyone and not having a very good time. doug and his girlfriend were out on the dancefloor, and everyone else seemed to be having fun in their own way. i felt bad for her, so i did what any self-respecting person would do, i asked her if she'd like to dance. i honestly don't know if she had ever been asked to dance before because she looked at me as if i were speaking german, so i asked again. her face lit up and out of the booth she sprang. we danced for probably about 20 minutes and that's when i saw this incredibly beautiful woman standing at a table next to the dancefloor staring at me. she had the kind of beauty that demands your attention. with every turn i peeked back to see if she was still there. she was. she didn't make a move or say a word. she just stood, looking at me. at some point after that, doug's girlfriend and the co-worker said they were tired and went to sit down. it was then that i walked over to where the beautiful stranger had been only to find an empty table. she was gone. my eyes quickly searched the room. a sea of faces surrounded me, but not the face i was in search of. how could i have been so stupid? i should have walked over to her the first moment i saw her. it was in the following moments that God taught me that there is a perfect place and a perfect time for everything and that it was not up to me to decide when, where, or how things would happen in my life. just as i started walking back to doug's booth i saw her again. i had a lifetime of bad pick-up lines at my disposal, but i found myself speechless in the face of her beauty. the only thing i could do was hold out my hand as if to ask her to dance. she grabbed my hand and followed me out onto the dancefloor. who knew that the best pick-up line was to say nothing at all? it was some time during that first dance that i collected my thoughts and asked her name. kim, she said, as i tried to keep myself from saying something stupid and ruining any chance i had to get to know her. funny thing is, i didn't. every word i said to her was just, right. for the rest of the night we did not leave each others side. we decided to leave studebakers and walk to another nearby club called the blue zebra. the music was infinitely better. all night long we danced and laughed and talked about the things we love. we were like old friends that had been apart for a lifetime and were finally getting back together. one thing i remember talking about was the totally random music that we both like (i.e. U2, nwa, white zombie, depeche mode, and the smiths). the world around me vanished when i was with her. her words were all i could hear. her face was all i could see. she was perfect in every way.
as 4am approached doug came up to us and said it was time to go back to base to get ready for work. i told doug that i could not leave. kim was the girl i had asked God to lead me to for my whole life. i was not leaving her for anything. doug knew that i had to stay, so he left me there and drove back to our base at barbers point. kim and i continued to talk and as the club closed we took a cab back to her hotel, the outrigger reef on the beach in waikiki. we went up to her room and proceeded to accidentally wake all her friends (patti, bryan, scott, & ed) that were on vacation with her, thus earning me a nickname that shall not be named. after waking everyone up we decided to let them get back to sleep so we headed back outside where we walked on the white sandy beach of hawaii from the outrigger reef on the beach all the way down to the statue of duke kahanamoku. we stayed up all night talking, swimming, evading hotel security, and... :)
it wasn't until the sun came up that reality hit me and made me realize i would be in deep doo doo if i didn't show up at morning muster. i called doug and he came all the way back from ewa beach to pick me up. as i waited for doug, i asked for kim's number and held her as we said a long good bye.
a little over a year after first meeting kim i got out of active duty and went home to san diego. i reconnected with kim and less than a year later we were married.
just when you thought this story couldn't get any more amazing, it does.
at the time when we met, i NEVER went to clubs during the week because i always had to fly early in the morning. this was the first time i had gone out to a club on a thursday night AND it was to a club that i had never been to or would have ever gone to on my own.
the reason kim came to studebakers the night we met was because she had come to oahu with some friends on vacation and they were wandering around lost, looking for an entirely different club. upon seeing studebakers kim, and her best friend patti, said they were tired of looking for the other club and decided to go in to studebakers. approximately 23 seconds after kim and patti walked in they realized the club was not very good, but as they turned to walk out patti saw him (dancing with the co-worker) and said "look at that cute guy," and then kim said to patti, "he's the one." (patti confirmed this story to me months later.) upon sayin those words kim ordered herself a long beach ice tea and stood next to the dancefloor staring at me while dream weaver played in her head.
that was all it took.
now, i'd like to have you believe that i just have that kind of skill on the dancefloor, or that my attire was so sophisticated that kim couldn't help but stare. in all honesty, i am not even close to being a backup dancer for britney, and i was not wearing assless chaps (that night), nor do i speak italian, spanish, australian or any other cool language that makes the ladies swoon. i'm just a simple man (kim would say a "very" simple man) that God or fate or destiny or whatever you believe in, put me in the right place at the right time to meet the right person. i spent my entire young adulthood searching for the woman i would marry and love for the rest of my life. i had no clue that when i wasn't looking for her at all she'd find me. thank God she did.
i have always believed in lifelong love. my grandparents taught me that. they were married for 73 years. after 73 years they still held hands, they still kissed, they still called each other honey, and they still loved each other as much as they did the day they were married. my grandma passed away last september. my grandpa is still with us fortunately. every time i see him i am reminded what true love is. his heart is lost without her and it hurts me to see him miss her so much. i feel blessed to have witnessed love like theirs. kim and i have a long way to go to reach 73 years but since the day we met i have chosen to let life lead the way and not try to force things. i know that God has a plan for us all. all we need to do is have patience and love every minute that we are granted on this beautiful world together. i do.
kim, i still do.

please excuse the crudity of these old photos. it's 2am and i have neither the time or will power to improve their quality :)
here's patti and kim on the trip when we met. looks like i showed up just in time.

tomfoolery aside, singapore is an awesome city to visit. obviously this is before i met kim and straightened up my act.

check the white vans. so fresh and so clean clean.

here's patti and kim the day after they met me. notice the smiles.

this is kim and i heading out on our first date after i got back to san diego. she's so HOT!!

here's a couple from our engagement session. if you look closely you can see the world in my eyes :)

this was just moments after we were announced husband and wife.

this is what happens whenever an article of kim's clothing is flung into a crowd of single men. our friend dave was the (lucky?) recipient of kim's garter. i couldn't tell if he was screaming for joy, or if he was sustaining bodily injury, so i hopped on top of the pile to check. i can't be totally sure, but amidst all the noise, i may have heard the faint sounds of bones cracking.

kim made sure everyone had a good time at our reception. everyone.

ymca, still works.

doug's take on the dollar dance.

this is where things got really fun. doug (and some dude in red boardshorts that we didn't even know) got into the caterer's cool whip supply.
the night was about to jump up a notch.

apparently i didn't have enough product in my hair. doug took care of that for me with a little cool whip.

good job crasher dude, and doug.

good job indeed

before the night was over, i had more drinks poured over my head than i could count, i was stripped of all clothing from the waist up, and i had cool whip in 4 of 6 orifices.
in other words, it was an awesome night.
kim and i both said we'd get married again just to have another reception. this reception was at marina village. it was so much fun that there were people coming over from other wedding receptions at marina village to party at ours.

with my rag-top down so my hair can blow :)
we closed our reception with everyone singing 40. everyone still standing was invited back to our hotel room so they would have a safe place to stay the night (and sober up) kim and i hopped in our rented chrysler sebring convertible and drove around pb and belmont park for a bit then went home to prepare for our honeymoon in oahu that was starting the next morning at 6am. no sleep til...north shore.

we were stoked that our photographer met us over on oahu to get some honeymoon photos for us.

this was our favorite honeymoon bar at the outrigger reef on the beach. where else can you go topless at a bar and nobody says anything?
back scrather!

when we got back home we suited up again and did a bridal session in balboa park.

when choosing an anniversary gift for your new bride, you may want to save this one for a few years. i had this sign flown around cabrillo national monument and the old point loma light house (where i asked kim to marry me) for our 1st anniversary. how do you top that?
seriously.
how do you top that?
i need some ideas for next year.

last time i was on navy reserve duty in oahu i gave kim a call and told her i was walking on the beach in waikiki. i then asked her to log on to the duke cam for a little surprise. here's what she saw.
through the magic of al gore's internet and my trusty mobile phone, i asked kim to marry me again. of course she said yes, so as soon as we get the time and funds together we are going to throw one rad reception (with a little ceremony). we'll keep you posted.

this was our gift last year from april.

april surprised us again this year with another awesome drawing. thank you april!

if that's not enough, here's a quick slideshow for ya

an afternoon with kelly for some family portraits in carlsbad ca

2009-05-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

in keeping with my goal of catching up on my blogging, i present kelly's really really ridiculously good looking family.

thank you so much kelly for having us over to photograph your beautiful family.