Yes! Christian Louboutin heels for the engagement session definitely bodes well for the wedding!

A Louboutin heel does have height advantages, however.

One of our goals at Belmont Park was to get on the coaster, but apparently in order to bring a camera on the coaster now, you have to sneak it on. I’m tempted to go back with a camera stashed in a bag…We still had fun, starting with Josh swishing a basket to win his bride a dolphin.

We took a few minutes to take in the beautiful sunset on the beach behind the park.

Back to the park for one more ride!

Jenny launched the Vintage Sugarcube food blog to showcase her unique talent of deconstructing desserts, but it’s never been about just the dessert itself. Sometimes I think the desserts are just an excuse for Jenny to get into trouble…or ‘Shenanigan’s’ as she calls it. Jenny has more than ideas about desserts, she has a vision.  I don’t think any other food blog exists where the scene is so well set; where they dish up a story with every plate. I’m going to share some of my favorite examples here for you in this post and  you’ll see exactly what I mean. Jenny remains largely a Sugar Mistress of few words, chosing to adhere to the KISS principal in writing and in dessert preparation when possible. She has a knack for leaving you wanting more…

As of this writing, the current post features a cherry cheescake with pistachio in the crust, along with Cherry herself. I’ve always wondered how close to a landing aircraft  I have to be for the jet turbulence to blow over my light stands. Now I know. It was super loud, but mostly, it was a lot of fun.

Speaking of large metal objects…I recently learned a couple of things. One is that Airstream trailers come from Ohio, and the other is that ‘Buckeye’s are a chocolatey / peanut-buttery dessert that I can eat about four and half of at a single sitting.

Sometimes Jenny has company, as she did for her special dessert with nuts, a.k.a. Menage a’ Trois Bars.

Even when Jenny isn’t in front of the lens, it doesn’t mean she’s not in the picture. This cake tasted amazing, especially for having an identity crisis.

Sometimes I get to travel to exotic locales to practice my trade….

The ‘Dirty  Delicious‘ cupcakes, compliments of the Queen.

Or even the gym, for a Spinach + Orange bread. Really, you should try it!

It was worth sneaking these into the libray to eat them. Ice cream sandwiches made with Cornflakes and Bourbon.

In case you’d like to sail away with a Cantaloupe Martini.

One of my favorites, and my first time photographing a dessert for Vintage Sugarcube, the Petit Four. I never knew what ‘Drexting’ was until this!

Of course, a picture is only worth so much. You owe it to yourself to go over the Vintage Sugarcube and get the whole story, and even some recipes. There’s bound to be at least one dessert that will spin your beanie, and then you could even leave a comment on the blog!

The right time to do a shoot finally came along, since Darwin booked a return gig, singing at Dizzy’s jazz club, down on 2nd and ‘J’ street. Darwin wanted some new art to use for a promotional poster for the gig, so we put together a plan to shoot at the Santa Fe train station for fun, and then do something else among the city lights of downtown for the poster art. Friend and fellow photographer Felice Kinnear  was kind enough to come along to assist and shoot, and it was great – we had a blast!

Starting at Santa Fe

After the sun went down, we headed over to one of my favorite spots on 4th Avenue with two lights and a microphone. I have long been inspired by the amazing jazz photography of the great Herman Leonard , especially his work in the 1950’s, so this was a perfect opportunity to tip my hat to Mr. Leonard, and do my best to practice the sincerest form of flattery….immitation! A shoot like this is something I’d been wanting to do for a long time and I think it was worth waiting for.

Felice grabbed one of my favorite shots of the night. I wish I could take credit for the lovely wide-angle shot below, because I love it!

So when it came time to creat the poster for the gig, we worked up a few ideas for it. These are two that I didn’t think were ‘the one’ for Darwin, but  that I just wanted to see as a poster just for fun.

This is probably my personal favorite.

From 4th Avenue, we move across to the steps of the convention center for a few closing shots.

For Darwin, the mood of this image most closely matched the feel of the evening he will be presenting, and so this is the ‘official’ poster.

Oh, and P.S…….want to see a little ‘behind the scenes?’ Apparently Darwin has a fan club, and they ambushed us in the middle of the shoot. He was very gracious about it all and we even got to have our own little ‘We Are the World’ moment and snap a group photo.

Watching Brooke and Dominic get married was incredibly sweet, and seeing them so happy and relaxed after the ceremony was wonderful. They had to wait for the processional to see each other for the first time that day, but I got to spend time with both sides of the bridal party before the ceremony. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story below. Many, many thanks to friend and fellow photographer Kristina Chartier for shooting with me all day!

One of the things that makes Immaculata so beautiful is the way light filters in through the stained glass windows. The low levels of light make it a challenge to photograph inside, but the results are always worth it.

One of my favorite moments captured by Kristina that day, of Brooke and her Father on their way to the foot of the aisle.

The Kiss!

From one of my favorite ceremony sites to one of my all-time favorite venues, the Ultimate Skybox at Diamond View Tower for the reception! Brooke and Dominc went straight into their first dance, 15 stories high above San Diego.

The look says it all.

Of course, I always love to shoot at night, especially downtown! The view at Diamond View is more than just baseball. It just doesn’t get better than this for what I always call the ‘Goodnight Shot,’ which is usally a perfect closer for the album. Many thanks go to Amanda McPhail for putting together such a wonderful event and making it run so perfectly.

]]> http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/sandiegoweddingphotography/2010/the-rest-of-the-story-brooke-dominic/feed/ 0 http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/sandiegoweddingphotography/2010/the-girls-and-getting-ready-at-the-w-hotel/ http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/sandiegoweddingphotography/2010/the-girls-and-getting-ready-at-the-w-hotel/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:09:09 +0000 admin http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/?p=616 I’ve written a little  bit on this blog before about how much I enjoy the ‘getting ready’ part of the wedding day. It really is an honor to be part of so many moments that are generally reserved for the closest friends and family; when a woman transforms from her usual self, into a Bride, just for one day. As much as I love photographing portraits, it’s always a fun challenge to find interesting ways to photograph details, like the flowers, or my favorite, the shoes. It’s the part of the day where everyone is in a great mood, and there are always little a bit of nerves just sort of tingling in the air. For me, the ‘getting ready’ part of the day is it’s own little story within a story. It’s about families growing, close friends marking a new chapter in their story together, and countless hours of planning coming to fruition right in front of the camera.

When it came time to go to the W Hotel to see Brooke and her girls getting ready, I already knew the day had amazing potential for beautiful images. She and Dominic chose to have their ceremony at USD Immaculata, and their reception at the Ultimate Skybox at Diamondview Towers, which are two of my favorite wedding venues in San Diego. The W Hotel was familiar to me, but Brooke added a bonus by managing to move into the “WOW” suite on the top floor, which is spectacular. The day got off to a great start and we made the best of being at W before the girls boarded their trolly bus headed for USD. I’ll be ready to share the whole wedding day pretty soon, but for now, I just wanted to share a little bit of what is often, my favorite part of the wedding day. Plus, I’ve never had a bride volunteer to jump on the bed right after getting her dress on, so enjoy!

Brooke chose Katie, from “a dab will do you” in La Jolla, to be her MUA…..make up artist, that is. 

The dress is almost ready to go. That must mean it’s time to….

…JUMP ON THE BED!

Down by the pool room, with a retro-twist

It’s hard to go wrong with six beautiful women in one photograph.

]]> http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/sandiegoweddingphotography/2010/the-girls-and-getting-ready-at-the-w-hotel/feed/ 1 http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/sandiegoweddingphotography/2010/sailing-into-the-sunset-with-dawn-and-michael/ http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/sandiegoweddingphotography/2010/sailing-into-the-sunset-with-dawn-and-michael/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:20:57 +0000 admin http://www.defalcophoto.com/blog/?p=576 A little over a week ago, I had the pleasure of sailing with Dawn, Michael, their family and friends, aboard the Harbor Excursion yacht ‘Quiet Heart.’ I’ve photographed quite a few weddings on the bay , but none quite this intimate. It wasn’t long before I knew the names of just about everyone on board. Most everybody, including Dawn and Michael, came out from Arizona to have a destination wedding here in San Diego, so you can imagine what a treat it was for everyone to enjoy an evening on the bay with a beautiful ceremony and well-catered reception dinner.

I first met up with Dawn at the downtown hotel where she was getting ready, along with her parents.

I popped into the cafe near the boarding dock a little ahead of schedule, only to find Dawn’s father, Tom, going over his notes for his toast.

The upper deck of the Quiet Heart

It started out with a bunch of birds, and then things pretty much just got crazier from there!

A first dance on the bow…

…and fireworks off the stern.

David had a few minutes to calm his nerves and chat with his Mom and Dad just before we left the dock and the ceremony began.

Flowers were done beautifully by Janay at  Kenner and Sons.

We took some time after the cruise to take a walk through downtown, just one-on-one with Lani and David. The cruise was a big success, and having some time together was a nice reward for them both!

After our session was over, and I was walking out of Balboa Park to head down to the El Cortez, I stopped to check out the moonrise. I loved the way it looked as I was passing this tree near the dog park, so I snapped this image. For some reason I really like it, so I’m sharing it here.

I’d like to share a handful of favorite images here, rather than make this a review of the show itself. Suffice it to say, their set was amazingly tight, and they sound so much bigger than any four piece band should. Metric is one of those rare bands that manage to sound better on stage than recorded. Emily Haines was spot-on vocally, even while playing keyboards and guitar, and working every corner of the stage – much to the delight of the crowd…and myself!

James Shaw and Joshua Winstead

Emily Haines singing ”Help, I’m Alive!”……”Can you feel my heart…..”

…..beating like a hammmmmeeeerrrrr!”

For the song ‘Gold, Guns and Girls’ Emily broke out her Fender Mustang.

James Shaw and Joules Scott Key

Metric Jimmy Jules

Metric closed their set with an old one and a new one : ‘Dead Disco’ and ‘Stadium Love.’ Emily was all over the stage  (often in the air!) and the crowd loved every second of it.

I am working on another handful of images for the blog, inlcuding perennial IndieFest favorites, Danielle LoPresti and the Masses, as well as the bands Far and Audible Mainframe. Look for more IndieFest images coming soon!