"The right picture can win or lose a war"

I watched Flags of Our Fathers last night and it was very interesting since it shows how powerful a single photo can be.

MORE INFO ON WIKIPEDIA



TRAILER


This is the original image
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal / The Associated Press

Street Photos

I went out to L.A., Hollywood, and Beverly Hills today to scout some locations for a bridal photo shoot next week. Jason Groupp is coming from NY, TJ Cameron from Portland, and Chris + Lynn from Canada to shoot in the streets of LA... can't wait to see these awesome photographers in action... more on that soon.

Here are some snapshots that caught my eye.





Does anyone care about Windows Vista at this point??? Not me

Megan and Josh - Slideshow

Click on the image to start the slideshow

I shot Megan and Josh's wedding some time ago in Palo Alto, CA with Chris Hymphreys but I never uploaded the slideshow to the blog, so, here it is.
Megan and Josh are a great couple as well as their bridal party and family.

The Boutique is up and running

Check out the first line of products offered CLICK
And check back soon for more products including a great variety of picture frames.

A diamond in the rough

At first sight this image could be easily considered as 'unusable'...

(before)

... but it turned out to be a diamond in the rough

(after)

I love this type of images... how about you? Leave your comment. Thanks!

Michelle & Scott - Slideshow

Michelle and Scott's slideshow is ready... CLICK TO VIEW

Engagement Session in Griffith Park

Today I had a great photo shoot with Michelle and Scott who are tying the knot next September.
We met at the Travel Town Transportation Museum in Griffith Park and walked around the exhibits shooting. It was my first time shooting there and really liked it.

MICHELLE & SCOTT ARE GETTING MARRIED IN EXACTLY -> CLICK

Here are a couple of shots from the day.











Oh the rivalry

Brittany & Gavin - Slideshow

I had the great pleasure to shoot Brittany and Gavin some time ago but I never put up a slideshow, so here it is.
We shot this images on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Jane & Derrick - Slideshow

As promised, the slideshow is ready.
Click HERE to view it.

COUNTDOWN TO JANE & DERRICK'S W-DAY

Fun Engagement Session in Laguna Beach

I couldn't go to sleep without posting a few quick shots from earlier today. I met Jane and Derrick in downtown Laguna Beach to shoot their engagement session.
They are getting married in April and I can't wait to shoot their wedding.

JANE & DERRICK ARE GETTING MARRIED IN EXACTLY -> CLICK





Of course they couldn't resist getting into the red phone booth


After walking around downtown we went to the beach for a different look.
It was pretty cold out there but the guys (specially Jane) braved the low temperatures and the difficult geography to get all kind of great images
Looking sharp guys!


Derrick is about to fly on this shot


Paparazzi style shot from afar with long lens






Thank you so much guys for a great time!

... check back tomorrow for the slideshow.

FAQs

By showing different examples I'll try to answer the most common FAQs I get from brides and prospective clients. Hopefully I'll be able to use these posts in order to give my clients a better and visual idea of what I'm talking about.

Q: I get this one all the time: "Will I get retouched images or just raw files?"
A: All of my client's images are retouched some way or another. Most of the times I start with a good image right out of the camera (or at least I'd like to think so ;-) that way I can make it great.

Image 1: out of the camera


Image 2: basic adjustments


Image 3: a little extra


Q: Do you provide images in sepia tone?
A: Of course! See some examples of the same image below.

Images 4; 5; 6: different sepia tones




More answers soon...

-Wayne Gretzky

I love a quote Steve Jobs used today during his keynote presentation because it has a lot to do with shooting weddings in a photojournalistic style:

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."
-Wayne Gretzky

Check out the Macworld San Francisco 2007 Keynote Address.

The new iPhone is here...

Damn... I was so happy with my BlackBerry Pearl ;-( ... well, at least it lasted a couple of months ;-(

The features are amazing... check them out!

Heather & Reggie's Wedding Album

We create custom designed albums for our clients and there are different ways to go about it. Most of our clients trust our vision and we design their albums completely, from the selection of photos to the clean layout to tell the story of their wedding day.
Others prefer to browse through the hundreds of images we shot and choose their favorites to be included in their album. Once we have a folder with their selections we proceed with the design and present them with a draft. Then we make changes based on their feedback... if necessary.

This is Heather & Reggie's Wedding Album.
The first and last images are one page, the rest are two-page spreads.