Welsh & Kinnaman family photos

December 23, 2009

So I get an email from Kaite the other day asking about a surprise photo session for her mother. What a neat idea, and a great Christmas surprise! We had originally thought about doing this shoot in Old Town Temecula, but with all the holiday decorations, we decided that studio shots would probably be better. We met the other evening, and here’s the results. Katie’s father is a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force Reserve, her brother just received his officer’s commission in the Marine Corps, and is a Second Lieutenant. Her husband is a Petty Officer Third Class in the Navy (soon to be promoted to 2nd class!). It was a privilege and an honor to photograph a family that’s given such a commitment of service to our country.

On to the photos:

Ryan, 2nd. Lt, USMC

Portrait taken in Temecula of US Marine Corps 2nd Lieutenant

Here’s everyone in uniform
Portrait Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy

Portrait Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy

Portrait Navy, Air Force

Now for some more casual photos:

Family portraits

Christmas Ordering

December 8, 2009

For my clients interested in ordering a canvas gallery wrap and wanting it before Christmas, today is the last day to order without having to incur a rush charge. If you can wait for your canvas until after Christmas, no rush charge is needed. This is something that the vendor charges because they get slammed every Christmas creating their incredibly amazing custom artwork.

I recently took the school photos for Shiloh Christian Academy. Shiloh is a small Christian school located in Winchester, CA (out in French Valley, close to Hemet). The kids were great! Darlene had everyone ready, and everything went very well.

Here are some of the shots from that day, in no particular order:

School pictures for Shiloh Christian Academy taken in Winchester

School photos for Shiloh Christian Academy taken in Winchester

School portraits for Shiloh Christian Academy taken in Winchester

School pictures for Shiloh Christian Academy taken in Winchester

Woo hoo! My new backdrop arrived yesterday–Sweet Apple by Silverlake. I’d been drooling over this backdrop for quite some time.

So, after getting the backdrop set up, my son Daniel volunteered to be my guinea pig. Yeah, I know his hair isn’t the best, but I had to get a shot of someone against this backdrop and he was willing to pose for me.

Portrait of Daniel posing against the Sweet Apple backdrop in Murrieta

After Daniel helped me, I decided to see how well Shasta, our Siberian cat, would look against it…

Portrait of our pet Siberian cat against the Sweet Apple backdrop taken in Murrieta

Here, Daniel is helping out with one of Shasta’s toys:

Portrait of our pet Siberian cat against the Sweet Apple backdrop taken in Murrieta

Portrait of our pet Siberian cat against the Sweet Apple backdrop taken in Murrieta

Portrait of our pet Siberian cat against the Sweet Apple backdrop taken in Murrieta

I had the privilege of taking portraits of the students at MorningStar Christian Academy and those with the Hands of Grace Christian Support Group. This is a great bunch of kids from all over the Temecula Valley, and range from kindergarten to high school seniors.

Here’s a random sampling of shots in no particular order:

School portraits for MorningStar Christian Academy and Hands of Grace taken in Temecula

School portraits for MorningStar Christian Academy and Hands of Grace taken in Temecula

Sibling shots are always fun to do!

School portraits and photo of sisters and their brother taken in Temecula

More school portraits for MorningStar and Hands of Grace taken in Temecula

School portraits for MorningStar and Hands of Grace taken in Temecula

Some camera/shoot information: All of the individual portraits were taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 85mm f/1.2L lens. When viewed at full size, the clarity and sharpness of these images are simply amazing. The sibling shots were taken with the same camera, and a 24-70 f/2.8L lens. The backdrop is by Silverlake and the lighting was done using Alien Bees.

Megan and Matt got married!

September 19, 2009

Megan and Matt were married on a very warm September 5th at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook, CA. This is a beautiful venue with waterfalls, arches, a gazebo and a very impressive staircase. Their wedding was a beautiful combination of American and Filipino traditions–some of the barongs the men were wearing were very ornate and intricate. After the ceremony, Matt changed out of his tuxedo jacket and white shirt and put on a beautiful blue barong…you’ll see it in the photos below.

Here is a short slide show of some of the wedding images set to music

Anyway, on to the photos:

Here is a detail shot of Megan’s wedding dress…
Photo of the bride's wedding dress being laced up at her wedding at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Here’s Megan and her bridesmaids…

Wedding photo of Megan and her bridesmaids standing on the big stairs at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Wedding photo of Megan and her bridesmaids standing on a bridge at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Here’s Matt and his groomsmen…

Wedding photo of Matt and his groomsmen standing in front of a waterfall at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Photo of Matt and his groomsmen at his wedding in Fallbrook

Putting on the rings:

Photo of the bride and groom exchanging rings during their wedding ceremony at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

The happy couple walking down the aisle:

Photo of Megan and Matt walking down the aisle at their Fallbrook wedding

The wedding party:

Photo of Megan and Matt's entire wedding party with flower girls, ring bearer and coin bearer at their wedding at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

This is one of my favorites:

Wedding photo of Megan kissing Matt's cheek while standing on the big stairs at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook.

Some other shots:

Photo of Megan and Matt at their wedding posing in front of a waterfall at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Wedding photo of Matt kneeling before Megan in a gazebo at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Closeup photo of Megan and Matt's shoes taken at their Fallbrook wedding

Closeup photo of Megan and Matt's wedding rings and bouquet at their wedding in Fallbrook

Closeup photo of Megan and Matt's hands with rings over the bride's bouquet at their wedding at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook

Chelsea and Tucker had a beautiful large wedding at our church on Saturday afternoon, June 20, 2009. There were 7 bridesmaids, 7 groomsmen, 2 flower girls and a ring bearer – quite the wedding party! It was touching to see a young couple so in love.

One thing I like about weddings at our church is that the reception is held on the grounds. It’s always nice when you don’t have to fight cross-town traffic.

Chelsea and Tucker have posted their love story over at mywedding.com .

Here is a short slide show set to music:

On to the photos!

Tucker kneeling in front of his bride at his wedding in Temecula

Tucker, Carter and Logan at Tucker's Temecula wedding

Photo of Chelsea seated at her wedding in Temecula

Tucker and his groomsmen pose outdoors for this photo at his church wedding in Temecula

Photo of Chelsea the bride and her bouquet on her wedding day at out church in Temecula

Photo of Tucker the groom on his wedding day in front of our church in Temecula

Yes, SEVEN bridesmaids…

Photo of Chelsea the bride at her wedding and all her bridesmaids at our church in Temecula

Photo of Chelsea the bride at her wedding and all her bridesmaids at our church in Temecula

Photo of Chelsea the bride at her wedding and all her bridesmaids at our church in Temecula

Here comes the bride!

Photo of Chelsea walking down the aisle with her father at her wedding in Temecula

This was taken just a few microseconds before their first kiss…

Photo of Chelsea and Tucker about to kiss at their Temecula wedding

…and then you couldn’t get them to stop…

Photo of Chelsea and Tucker kissing with wedding party tossing flower petals at their Temecula wedding

Photo of the bride's bouquet with the couple kissing in the background at our Temecula church

Photo of a tender moment with Tucker holding Chelsea at their wedding in Temecula

Photo of Chelsea and Tucker holding hands with the preacher holding his bible in the background

Closeup photo of the wedding cake

Closeup photo of Tucker and Chelsea's wedding rings at their Temecula wedding

Tucker carrying his bride out of the church…

Photo of Tucker and Chelsea kissing as the bride is carried out of the church at their Temecula wedding

Brooke and Daniel were married June 4th at the Stone House at the Temecula Creek Inn. The day before the wedding there was a huge thunderstorm in the area…lightning, wind, hail and rain. Alyssa, my daughter and 2nd shooter, and I went to scope out the area the day before, and it was certainly interesting trying to find cover under the huge oak trees they have there while lightning was flashing and thunder rolling across the valley.

Fortunately, weather the day of Brooke’s wedding was perfect!  It was a small and intimate wedding in a beautiful setting on green grass under sprawling oak trees.  One of the cutest things that I found during the wedding was the look of wonderment on the bride’s little brother’s face during the first kiss…absolutely amazing!

Here’s a quick video of some of the photos…

Anyway…on to the pictures…

Getting ready…
Brooke getting ready for her wedding at the Temecula Creek Inn

Photo of the wedding ring on a Bible

Ceremony

Photo of the ring bearer and flower girl at Brooke & Daniel's wedding at the Stone House

Photo of Brooke with her father walking down the aisle at her wedding

Photo of Brooke at her wedding in Temecula

Photo of Daniel at his wedding in Temecula

Notice her little brother’s expression…priceless!
Photo of the happy couple kissing at their Temecula wedding

Some other shots

Wedding photo taken next to the Stone House at Temecula Creek Inn
Closeup photo of Brooke & Daniel's wedding rings
Daniel at his wedding in Temecula with his father in the background
Brooke, Daniel and Amanda in front of an oak tree at their wedding at the Temecula Creek Inn
Wedding photo of Daniel, his father and his father-in-law under a large oak tree at the Temecula Creek Inn
Brooke's bouquet taken in front of an oak tree at her wedding in Temecula
Photo of Brooke and Daniel at their wedding at the Temecula Creek Inn

New proofing system!

June 19, 2009

So I’d been using a piece of cart / proofing software called EZ Photo Sales.  It did what it was supposed to do…be an easy to configure and provide clients with the ability to view their proofs in password protected galleries.

The trouble is that a couple of months ago, the developers decided that there were better directions to go, and EZPS became AbandonWare.  Yes, it got left out to dry…can’t you just hear the violins playing something in a minor chord?  There was also supposed to be an newer-faster-better cart coming out with all sorts of bells and whistles…but, alas, it was not to be.  <insert more minor-chord violin music>

So, off I went, evaluating proofing systems.  I decided to go with a very “feature rich” one called PhotoCart.  It’s got waaay more features than EZPS ever did…I can actually issue print credits, offer coupons, have discounts for early ordering, lots of goodies.  And it’s possible to actually specify options for your photos…like if you want a certain texture, lustre finish, or a particular mounting option.

If you had a gallery under the old system, and you don’t see it listed, either leave me a comment, or shoot me an email and I’ll get it moved over to the new system.

Why Terebinth Tree?

June 19, 2009

tree-100x85
This post was originally hosted on my Blogger blog and was without a doubt the most popular post. A day doesn’t go by without someone somewhere in the world who’s looking for information on terebinth trees viewing this post…regardless of which search engine they’re using.


I get asked all the time “What is a terebinth tree?”  Or “Why Terebinth Tree?”  Or even “What is a ter…teri..tere..um, how do you say it?”

So I thought I’d finally answer that…

I was reading about Abraham in the Bible, and was wondering about the plain of Mamre where he pitched his tent.  Pitching his tent meant that he was putting down stakes there and was planning on staying a while.  In looking up the word plain, it can mean a large open space like a field.  It can also mean a wooded area.  My Bible has footnotes in it, and these footnotes indicated that there were terebinth trees in that plain.

It seems to me that pitching ones tent near a wooded place would be an excellent idea.  Not only do you have a ready supply of firewood, you could fix things in such a way that your house can be kept cool by the shade of the trees.  And where there are trees, there’s got to be water nearby, too.  What a good place to “put down roots.”

According to this Wikipedia article, the terebinth tree is a small tree or a large shrub.  This article in the Jewish Encyclopediasays that the terebinth is similar to an oak in that both can be “large, strong trees.”  Oak trees are very hardy trees, and their roots go down deep.  They can survive for a very long time, too.  The Santa Rosa Plateau, which is close to where I live, is dotted with many oak trees that are hundreds of years old.

In our own lives, we seek for a good place to put down our roots.  Like an oak tree, the roots of our lives go down deep.  The feelings that we have for our children and families also go down deep.  Are not genealogies also called “Family Trees?”

Those special days in our lives, especially when a couple commits themselves to each other before the Lord, also go down deep. Days such as this are filled with emotion, meaning and purpose.

So, this should give you an idea of what a terebinth tree is, and why I choose that name for a venture where I have a goal to capture memories that last a lifetime.

Peace.

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