Jose Villa

The Viceroy in Palms Springs was Malin and James's pick for their beautiful wedding celebration. I was like a kid in a candy store with so many awesome details to shoot, the lighting was stellar and Malin and James looked stunning. 

Wedding Gown: Monique Lhuillier, Shoes: Monolo Blahnik, Grooms Suit: Prada ,Location: Viceroy, Palm Springs, CA, Wedding Planner: Alexandra Kolendrianos, Floral: R. Jack Balthazar, Cinematography: Fifty Foot Films, 

Im loving Malin and James sense of style, these were shot at their rehearsal dinner. Wedding Images to follow.

 

 

 

Words can't describe how amazing last weeks workshop in Ahualulco, Mexico went. I said this a few times while we were at the Hacienda, but I felt like we were on an episode of MTV's Real World as we hugged a few attendees as they left early to catch their flight on the last day.. Light tears were shed..

Now that we are back home,  planning begins for the 2009 Mexico Workshop. Dates and Details coming soon, cant wait!

Thanks to all of our Sponsors:

Fuji Film 

Cypress Albums

Richard Photo Lab

Triple Scoop Music 

Big Folio 

Preston was a blast to photograph in Crissy Field in San Francisco.

 

Georgia and Nate were married in the amazing hills of Montecito. I loved their wedding, they have awesome sense of style, very organic eclectic. I love the garden feeling along with the old world touches here and there. Rebecca Of Duet Weddings and her amazing assistant Miki did an stellar job of planning this beautiful event. Camille of Modern Day Design  worked her magic with some of the most beautiful flowers I have seen this year. 

 

Here are some fun photos I took with my holga down in Guadalajara, Last month while on a trip with Cameron Ingalls to finalize a few things for my annual A Villa Mexico workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelly and Barry were married in the beautiful mountains of Montecito, California. San Ysidro Ranch to be exact. 

 

Last week Cameron Ingalls and I went to Guadalajara, Mexico for a few days to finalize some last minute details for the Mexico workshop. Here are some Images I took with Cameron's Digital camera, Holgas coming soon. 

this is my beautiful grandma Antonia  this is cameron, I got the tilt shift fever while I was down there shooting with his camera

Sinae and Josh are from DC, I love the simple elegance of their wedding.

PDN has come out with another of its ProSeries books, this time on wedding photography, published by Amphoto Books. Deputy Editor Jacqueline Tobin interviewed 20 Top Inspirational Wedding photographers in today's industry. I was Blessed to be 1 of 20 and more so to have my image on the front COVER and make it to Amazon.com .. wow...1 of the most exciting things this whole year in my business.

The book examines the subjects of wedding photography today and the role of the photographer at the wedding, then breaks down the day visually into Getting Ready, the Ceremony, Portraits, and Receptions. Also covering practical considerations like equipment, establishing rates, getting published in bridal magazines, branding, websites, albums, and more, the book is not only a stunning celebration of the distinct styles of these artists' work, but a solid source of much-needed information.

You need to get this book if you're looking for inspiration from Photographers like Parker J Pfister, Elizabeth Messina, Jesse Leake, Mike Colon, The Marings, Christian Oth, Meg Smith, Liz Banfield, Melanie Nashan and many more..

The book is not available yet, but you can pre order it on Amazon

Author: Jacqueline Tobin, PDN

Photo: Jose Villa

Louisa and John were originally going to marry in Big Sur at the Ventana Inn but due to the crazy wild fires during that time the Ventana Inn and big sur were shut down.

Nothing was going to stop them on their wedding day so, with amazing wedding planner Beth Helmstetter help they moved the wedding to a beautiful private home in Malibu. It was such an special day, I was feeling the love all day long. John and Louisa were so happy, there were many tears of joy from them and me too.. yikes.. loved it all !

Wedding Gown: Monique Lhuillier, Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Grooms Suit: Prada ,Location: Private Estate in Malibu, CA, Wedding Planner: Beth Helmstetter, Floral: Holly Flora, Cake: Nancy Kay, Cinematography: Joel Serrato Films, Music: Cale Music, Linens: Wildflower Linen, Lighting: Aspect Lighting

I can't wait to see Joel's super 8 film .. I will post here once I get it from him.

Love this shot of Mom watching the father daughter dance.

A couple of weeks ago Ann Hamilton, Gene Higa, Joel Serrato and I took a small vacation in between the busy wedding season. We decided that Mexico would be the best for the amount of time that we had before we had our next wedding.

Mazatlan, Mexico was it, no questions! I was born in Mexico and love the land, people, textures, and light. I asked Ann, Gene and Joel to bring only a holga and no other camera equipment. Sometimes we need to slow down and shoot with cameras that make us think a little, and that take patience to shoot with.

Here are some of my favorite images from the trip.

and this is me being silly.. thanks joel for taking this!

In my last posts I mention my trip to Tennessee to photograph photographer Tec Petaja and Chelsea Hughes stunning wedding.. Wow, that's all I can say!!

The south was amazingly beautiful, green, very hot and humid, but well worth every single drop of sweat.. yukk..

O.k. So get ready.... this is the biggest post I have ever made here on my blog. I just couldn't leave anything out.. well not really.. I had to leave some out cause there would have been at least 450 photos in this post instead of the 55 or so that i really posted.

Gown: Claire Pettibone, Cinematography: Mat Kearney, Event Design: Chelsea Hughes and Joy Thigpen, Grooms Shoes: Asos, Suit: Express, Grooms Shirt: J Crew, Catering: Loveless Cafe ,Invitations and Packaging: Chelsea Hughes, DJ: Kevin Perryman, Officiant and Workshop: Aaron Keyes, Workshop: Joy Williams, Hair and Make-up: Jordan Byers

This is Inka, Inka is a 1973 BMW 2002 fun little vintage car. If you haven't already noticed I love all things vintage, rollei, super 8, cars, etc.. I was driving back from a San Francisco wedding last year and saw this model car on the roads and I fell in love..

As I was doing some research I soon found out that this car is more popular that I thought..So in talking to friends and family about this model (2002 bmw) I soon found out that many of them loved them, or had one, or knew someone who had one in the past.. My good friend Gene Higa had one back in the day and raced it..

So while Sandy Pan was here on her 1 on 1 workshop we took it out on a drive around town, It was the first time I had guests in the car so I was a little nervous, but it all worked out fine..

Sandy Pan, Linda Chaja ,and Joel Serrato of Joel Serrato Films

Roaming around Nashville during the Country Music Association Music Fest was too much fun.. We ran into Taylor Swift as she was getting ready to record her new single. Most of you don't know that I really like to work with country music blasting in the studio.. ha ha, yup you heard right.. well, my assistant Lacie loves it and I have growen to love it too.. I still Love my 80's songs though..

o.k. back to holga.. here are some of my favorite images from roaming the streets of Nashville.