| Monday, June 30, 2008 |
| Boubulina and Marcus Wedding at Elings Park |
Boubulina and Marcus were married this past weekend at Elings Park in Santa Barbara. They did such a great job using all the park has to offer! They had their ceremony down in the amphitheater, cocktail hour on the deck and dinner was served out in the grassy area with the DJ and the dance floor. There were gas lamps for heat and lights were strung up over the party.
Boubulina's brother Stavros was her Man of Honor and there were around 150 guests there to celebrate the wedding. The DJ was playing requests that kept everyone dancing hard right to the end. At the end of the night, Marcus projected a slide show onto a huge screen of fun pictures of themselves over the years.
Both families and all the guests were so nice and it was an honor for us (my awesome team Karen, Craig and I) to be there, thank you.
Here are some favs! Check out these first 3 detail shots by Craig, Karen's husband, nice job!
              
Here's a great example of how 2 perspectives, a 2nd shooter (Karen), make a nice difference in a shot.
             Labels: Elings Park, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
posted by Ricky @ 2:48 AM   |
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| Wednesday, June 25, 2008 |
| Dawn and Brian's Wedding at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History |
I had the honor of shooting Dawn and Brian's wedding this past weekend at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History! What's so great too is that I met Dawn over 4 years ago when she first came to Santa Barbara from Chicago! She moved into my brother's house when they went to Europe and was an original tenant to the day they came back to the states. I actually painted her bedroom... twice!
Anyway, the wedding was beautiful, the families and friends were wonderful and with Karen 2nd shooting for me, everything was perfect. It was an emotional ceremony with many people being recognized, especially Brian's late father that had a seat dedicated to him during the ceremony. One fun fact about their wedding day is that Dawn's parents celebrated their 40th anniversary on the same day. They had pictures of all the family weddings in the reception hall and there was one picture of Dawn's parents crossing a bridge on their wedding day so we re-created the same image.
Dawn has always talked about wanting a VW Bug so... Brian stashed the car at the museum the week before and right after the ceremony, he parked it right outside the gates so he could surprise her... too much fun. Also, just like the shower that morning, so much work had gone into the details during the reception. There were pictures of them all over the place along with fun facts about Dawn and Brian on all the tables.
Here are some favs from their day!
                     Labels: santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 12:18 AM |
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| Monday, June 16, 2008 |
| Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer in Positano, Italy |
Another great experience we had while in Italy, was driving up the Amalfi Coast. There are so many beautiful little cities all along the coast and one that we stopped at was Positano. Melissa was in Italy for 3 months last year and while she was there, she visited Positano and did a review on the spa at Le Sirenuse.
We dropped by Le Sirenuse and gave them a copy of the article she wrote for them in YWD. They were so friendly and gave me a tour of the hotel and spa. They were also so kind as to have us there for dinner as their guests. The views from the hotel are amazing, the city, the coast... everything. We actually met two couples from the states that were staying there that were on their honeymoon.
      Labels: Italy, Positano, Santa Barbara Destination Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 4:58 PM |
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| Sunday, June 15, 2008 |
| Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer in Rome, Italy |
After an incredible week in Capri, Melissa and I spent a few days in Rome before we flew home. I couldn't wait to see Rome and I had no idea what to expect. Being in Italy alone was culture shock enough but walking around the streets of Rome was absolutely amazing. As you walk around the streets of Rome, you know you're in a city but then all of a sudden, you're standing in front of St. Peters Basilica or the Colosseum! To think that there was a civilization that lived around and built these structures almost 2000 years ago blows my mind! My concept of "The Big Picture" has suddenly been magnified 100 fold.
The first piece of history we came upon was St Peter's Basilica. San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) is best known as the home for Michelangelo's statue of Moses. It was surreal to be walking inside of this Basilica that was built in the years 432-440. Where are we now... 2008?
 
Again, as we are walking down the cobblestone streets, we turn the corner and there stands the Colosseum. This was incredible to see. The size, the age, everything about it. I walked up to it and just stood there staring at it with my hand on one of the walls... people must've thought I was nuts!
 
We walked for miles but it didn't matter because of where we were. We were starving and since we've been eating like kings for the past week during the wedding, we wanted something quick and bad for you so we found a McDonald's! How wrong was it to be eating at a McDonald's where the view out of the front door was The Pantheon! Yes, I know that's just wrong :)
  
After the Pantheon, we found ourselves at the Piazza Navona. There were people painting, sculpting, singing, dancing and acting all over the place. One of my favorites was this guy that looked like a business man on the move. He was pretty funny and the crowd around him was huge. He just stood there nice and still, but looked like a guy walking in the wind! He would raise his eyebrows with every tip he got.
  
The Vatican City was pretty amazing to see. You could see it way off in the distance but nothing compared to standing in front of it.
 
One of the last sites we saw was The Trevi Fountain. There were so many people here that I had to wait for the crowds to move just so I could stand in front of the fountain. Again, simply amazing. I read that the fountain collects around 3,000 EUR a day just from people wishing into it! That's awesome! I think we did really well for seeing Rome in a day, but there's so much more to see and I can't wait to come back!
 Labels: Capri Italy, Italy, Rome, Santa Barbara Destination Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Event Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 1:14 PM |
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| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 |
| Stefanie and Gil: Villa Verde Ristorante, Capri Italy |
Capri is such a beautiful place and so are the people. The weather is perfect, almost as perfect as it is in Santa Barbara! haha. You can walk everywhere you want to go, unless you want to get to the other side of the island and visit Anacapri. I'm sure you could walk, but the thin winding roads and mountainous terrain make it hard so you either take a bus or taxi. We spent alot of time up in Capri Town where most of the restaurants, shops and bars were. it's pretty surreal to walk through the cobblestone streets with shops that make Rodeo Drive look like a strip mall.
On the last night, we all went to the super fun restaurant, Villa Verde. As you walk through the entrance, the walls are collaged with images of friends, families and celebrities! Our whole crew took up most of an outdoor patio and it was probably the most fun I've had at dinner in a long time! Stefanie and Gil knew the owner so we were all treated in the same manner as we were used to all week.. like family. Everyone was laughing, drinking and singing that's amore with Dean Martin. We were the biggest group there and the loudest but everyone in the restaurant loved it and sang along with us.
Stefanie and Gil opened up gifts and of all the wonderful things she received, one very special gift from her sister brought tears to Stefanie's eyes. It was pretty amazing and a complete honor to be included in this incredible life celebration between Stefanie and Gil for their wedding with their closest family and friends.
3D glasses that showed hearts when you look into the light were handed out right before a congratulations cake was brought out. The cake lit up like the 4th of July and everyone had sparklers... incredible. Thank you Stefanie and Gil for treating me like one of the family. My fondest memories of my first trip to Italy include both of you, your families and friends!
Here are some favorites from that night. The first picture is of Ori Kafre, the owner of the JK Capri.
             Labels: Capri Italy, JK Capri, Santa Barbara Destination Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 5:37 PM |
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