{Craig and Autumn}

I have known Autumn since before I was married to Rachel. They used to be roomates in a house of Mill St and they got married last weekend! I'm going to be posting some more images soon, but here are a few from their casual portrait session we shot a few weeks ago!

Every single couple has their inside jokes and funny things they do, lets face it, if us guys were not funny, and the girls didn't laugh, life would be so much less exciting. So one of my favorite things to do on our casual portrait shoots is to encourage them to be themselves, as if it was the 1st month they were dating. Looking back at when I was dating my sweet wife, I went to great lengths to make her smile. We would even go into Walmart, and I would hide inside HUGE 70 gallon tupperware container and she would drop a dvd case as a "cue" when someone would get close. Then I would pop out and make a loud noise and scare the people who were walking by. I'd trade off with her sister and we would have a blast. Simple fun, laughing and being silly. (I know, I know, I was 24 then and young!)

Its those times that remind me of why we were attracted to each other from the beginning.

We were fun people and while we have spent the last 4 years growing closer and serving each other, the initial sparks of fun, and silliness came out and made us smile. Thats why I spend so much time at these shoots doing these kinds of shots. It may take an hour to get to this point, which is why our casual portrait sessions usually last several hours, depending on the couple and the light and how many cool things we come up with.

Life is so fun, and its so important to capture it now. Its been rightly said, "never forget the joy of your youth". I am a firm believer that if everyone remembered these things about their wives or husbands, there would be less excuses about "drifting apart" and pain that comes when marriages separate and end. If only we can remember how much fun we had, and remember that life should be more simple, serving our spouses, respecting as if we were still on the 1st date, and having as much passion and energy for making them laugh as we did in the early years. Thats just part of why I do what I do for a living. I hope your marriage is blessed beyond your dreams Craig & Autumn...

Hamburg, Germany - Workshop Day #5.

Here on day of of our 10 day road trip, we have covered through Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, back to Germany and on Tuesday, off to England. Here are some of the shots of the Calumet workshop today!

This couple was so sweet, they were great to volunteer as our models and did a stellar job.

Everyone loved seeing my camera in the air. The question 0f "have you ever dropped it" is the question i get asked the most!

Here below is an example of the perspective difference between shooting from standing and from laying down. I most always try and get low to get my favorite perspective.

This is an example of overpowering the sun with two sunbounces, the before and after, with the SAME camera settings, I love these California Sunbounce reflectors!

So for those of you who are interested, the Sunday Free workshop in Zingst on the beach will be on Sunday at noon. email geller@sunbounce.com for more info!

Munich Workshop

Here is the Studio we shot in while we were in Munich, it was a warm day, 34 degrees! But we had a great time. We covered the following topics,

Leadership & Influence
Shooting Right the 1st time
Live shooting demos
Photography business systems

Calumet & California Sunbounce European Tour 2009

This is the 2nd Calumet & California Sunbounce "Master of Light" tour. It is an honor to be out there. I'm very excited as this is the second time we have done this tour. The last time was in the Fall of 2007. This time however they have added more cities and I have new material to share. The Workshops are a half day and start at 10am. Check out www.calumetphoto.de/events From Germany can call to make a reservation for the city listed on the website. Here are the cities that we will visit!

Munich (mon)
Dusseldorf (tues)
Amsterdam (wed)
Knokke (thurs - The Santa Barbara of Belgium)
Hamburg (fri)
Berlin (sat)
Zingst (sun)
(off day, fly to birmingham)
Birmingham (wed)
Birmingham (thur)
Birmingham (fri)

Stay tuned, as I will be updating images from the workshop. Its so beautiful here in Germany and I'm glad to be back!

Costa Rica Wedding Shoot { Mikel & Jen }

We just rolled to our rental house in from an amazing wedding down here in Manual Antonio, Costa Rica! Mikel & Jen were such a blessing to serve. We had a great time with them. Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more, but for now, as I call it a night, here are some of my fav's out of 11,500 images from the 2 day event!

What a way to end, fireworks and a swim...

"To Look or to Be"

As I was having my daily morning reading time, which is one of my perminant goals for the rest of my life started this year, is to go to bed earlier, wake up earlier, before the sun rises, and to get into the word, to read, and to set my list of traits and qualities i want to BE for the day, based on what I'm currently struggling or desiring to overcome. All of us have

George MacDonald rightly said, "half of the misery in the world is caused by people trying to look rather than trying to be."

Below is my background picture, its taken outside of LAX as I we were landing, coming home from a flight from Cabo San Lucas last year. When I look at it, I think about the big picture of the rest of my life. I wish I could see things from this high up, the eternal perspective, and think about how I'd live my life differently. Thankfully, I get to live it one minute at a time, one foot in front of the other, and when I get caught up trying to look a certain way, or do something someone else is doing, or worse yet, compare myself to someone else(not considering what they had to sacrifice or possibly compromise to get there) my morning devotions re-direct me and keep me grounded, stable and consistent. Those are the traits that others value in me the most. Don't get me wrong, I passionate and a fanatic about the things in my life that are essential, but if I'm not grounded in what My God calls me to be, that which is the most fulfilling. Thus, this gives me the freedom to live pursuing the desires in my heart, otherwise I'm in bondage to always searching and trying to be things I'm not, buy things that rot, and that is the biggest trap, the biggest lie I've ever been suckered into.

I dropped cable to stop wanting what I was being sold, in between my favorite shows. I don't get a paper, because the ads kept my christmas list going year round. Not that these are bad for everyone(I'm not a legalist), but for me, freedom is more to tame a desire for everything and stop a constant searching, and be content with what you have rather than the opposite; to be able to go after everything and to only find that doing everything is tiring and not going to fulfill me as much as doing what God calls me to do in my life.

Now, this week, I sit here and look at my business from the numbers angle, something I don't always do and I look at whats really worth my time, and what is not. Its such an eye opening experience, and something I'm thankful my parents who are great at business can help me with. Something that forever, I'm gonna challenge the photographers that I'm blessed to help, to prioritize this process of looking at their business.

Bell Air Engagement Soot { Don & Robyn } Preview!

Yesterday we met up with one of our stellar couples in Bel Air. They were such a pleasure to hang with. AND they have the coolest dogs. This is a sneak peak of whats more to come this week!...

Beverly Hills, Greystone Mansion { Steve & Stef }

I love this family of friends. Its been a blessing this year to watch some of our clients who have become friends get Married and really influence each other. When anyone gets married, they have the potential to influence so many people! This is true of Steve & Stef, they have left a wake of people that are more blessed because of them. Rachel & I included.




We got started at The London Hotel" with Stef and her girls in West Hollywood, from there, we met up with Steve at his house and prayed over his day. I loved seeing the dedication of their friends towards helping them with their day.


Steve had a great group of guys around him to support, encourage and make him laugh.


Stef was beaming as she walked around the beautiful grounds of the mansion.


This is a spectacular site. Greystone Mansion sits overlooking the LA basin, the rainy weather turned blue skies and it was actually pretty warm out until the sun set! The Ceremony was one of the best ones I've heard. Challenging to myself as a husband, I was captivated by the words JUST as much as the images I was capturing.

Right after the Ceremony Steve & Stef snuck away to this balcony to have some private time, something thats a MUST for all couples right after they get married!


So as our bridal group photos came to an end, I decided to up the ante, using all the petals from the ceremony isle, everyone grabbed a handful and tossed them into the air. While it looked cool, it was very hard to catch the camera as it fell from a cloud of orange petals! Crazy, but I'm amped on how it turned out!


Steve, the amazing man he is, is also a pretty good looking statue, and caught the attention of his bride here while she headed to get her hair adjusted.


During the day, there are about a gazillion things that catch my eye and I NEVER, EVER get a chance to shoot by them all, or even a fraction, so I have to pick as many as I can and go as fast as I can while not rushing as well, its a delicate balance. I knew I wanted to revisit this wall by the bridal room and the light was perfect. The color is sweet!


What a couple, what a weekend, we have been blessed by getting to know Steve & Stef more and I felt like this was one of those weddings where I grew from. I love that.


Lighting is EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING, those of you brides who are reading this, lighting makes such a difference. As someone who is looking at an event from a photogenic perspective, I can't recommend it enough!

Bella Events did a great job putting everything together.

Darin and Libby: Pismo Beach CA.

Darin & Libby were a fun couple, Darin is the most laid back guy, very cool, collected and fun to hang out with.  Libby is an animal trainer and is amazingly talented.  She trained a hawk to be part of the ceremony, yeah, read on...

The day started off right with Darin making the perfect todo list for his morning routine.  

Libby getting ready with the final touches as her bridesmaids make her laugh...

And the cute little flower girl who was "watering" her flowers with sand moments before this shot, was being silly and loving every second of it.  Its funny how much little girls like their dresses.  Its almost programmed into most every girl.

They had their ceremony on a bluff in the sand.  Atop a dune, surrounded by cool trees, this was an amazing spot to have a ceremony.  The evening color was sweet!

This is the amazing part.  She had trained the Hawk, "Lupus" to fly in between their arms and deliver the rings to the officiant.  It was a surprise to everyone, (except us :)!) Needless to say, this is the most original ring delivery I have ever seen!  I was mucho impressed and was glad my Canon shot at 8 frames per second.  I max out the buffer all the time and did 2 seconds after this shot.

What I loved about this ceremony setup was how they were up high, on a dune, which made for a very untraditional look to the ceremony, I think it was easier to photograph yet, very original and I was able to get some cool shots...

What a stud with his beautiful new wife. Notice his confident stride and the way he makes her laugh.  Its gonna be a good marriage.

First Dance, it was a great reception and Darin was a gentleman with his new wife.  

This shot was taken at 1/25th of a second, with my 85 1/.2.  The ISO was 1600, and I did shoot in color, but I liked the B+W better.  I LOVE pushing my camera to the limits, and it took 18 shots to get this one.  8 frames per second rocks my world.  7,000 images later, this wedding was a hit and we left proud of what we shot.  Thanks Darin & Libby, you guys were great.  Have a wonderful honeymoon!

Cameron & Monica "Day After Session"

I LoVe these, in the morning, after their wedding, we went out to a beach spot a few miles down the road and round some sweet scenes. I love taking the time to be creative during these sessions. Most of the time, these inspire me so much, since there is no pressure of time, and we just get to have fun with the couple we are working with. Cameron & Monica had not a care in the world, but leaving for their honeymoon.