| Wednesday, October 29, 2008 |
| Lee and Nicole's Wedding - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
I love being a wedding photographer, it's such an honor to be a part of one of the most important days in a couples life together! It's also so cool to see how no matter where you are in the world, weddings have the same key elements... families, friends, happy couples, beautiful brides and lots and lots of partying! haha
I was in Oklahoma to visit an awesome photographer, David Baxter and most importantly, to assist him with a couple weddings. Everyone at Lee and Nicole's wedding were so wonderful. Nicole was beautiful and Lee was tight and neat in his uniform. An honor guard was present and the roses on the cake were hand made... what a perfect day.
David is such a great guy and we have way too much fun when we shoot together. At one point, we were both out on the dance floor! haha I love being a wedding photographer!
Here are some of my favorites from Lee and Nicole's wedding at Coles Garden in Oklahoma City.
                       Labels: Oklahoma City, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
posted by Ricky @ 9:01 PM   |
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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, May 25, 2008 |
| Made it to Capri Italy! |
So Melissa and I left for Capri Italy on the 24th with a 5 hour flight to Philadelphia and then an almost 9 hour flight to Rome airport. We arrived in Rome and picked up this awesome little rental car, a Fiat Punto! We drove this little guy from Roma to Napoli and it kept dinging everytime I hit 130km/hr! The little thing would barely go any faster than that! I kept getting passed by all of these sweet cars and motorcycles! For those of you that know me, you know that didn't make me happy! hahaha I have also now decided that I must have one of those smart cars! Check out the picture, they're awesome!
We got to Napoli and dropped off the Punto at the airport and then found a cab that brought us to the Ferry. This wasn't just any ferry, it was a hydrofoil boat that brought us to Capri in 40 minutes. Way cool!
Check out the beautiful view of Capri! This is a beautiful island, every bit of it. We're staying on the other side of Capri, in Anacapri, which is on top of a mountain at the Capri Palace. There was a fesitval today up here in Anacapri and they had the roads closed to traffic. Everyone was out and about walking all over. There was this old couple sitting on a bench that I took a picture of. They were so cute, just sitting there laughing with eachother, saying hello to everyone they knew. They have probably lived on Capri their whole lives and probably know everyone on the island. Like I said, they were so cute and so happy sitting there talking away. She barely had any teeth and everytime she laughed she looked like a boxer!
Here are some pics!
   Labels: Santa Barbara Destination Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 6:31 PM |
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| Wednesday, April 30, 2008 |
| Destination Wedding in Capri, Italy at the JK Place, Capri Hotel |
I'm super excited about the wedding of Stefanie and Gil for so many reasons, I don't even know where to start. I've said this before and I'll say it again, but the number one reason I love being a wedding photographer is for the people I meet, work with and become friends with. There are so many amazing couples that I've shot weddings for and are now my friends. I see babies come and families grow, I absolutely love it!
Stefanie and Gil treat me like one of their special guests and I haven't even met them in person yet! From all of the correspondence I've gotten from their guests and friends, this is going to be an amazing gathering of friends and family. Here's a fun fact... Stefanie, aka Fawni is an accomplished singer and artist signed with Sony BMG! They're having karaoke one night and now there's no way I'm picking up that mic!
I will be shooting their wedding on the island of Capri in Italy at the JK Capri Hotel, with wedding activites scheduled for 5 days! The JK Place is an amazing hotel rated "Hotel of the Year" in the Tatler Travel Guide 2008.
Stefanie and Gil are also excited because Your Wedding Day Magazine is doing an exclusive feature on this wedding. YWD is a destination wedding and lifestyle magazine and online publication. With engaging editorial, stunning photography, compelling graphics, and contributions by the industry’s finest, YWD provides their discriminating readers—brides and grooms, their parents, and their wedding professionals—with innovative and elegant ideas as well as a full complement of resources to make their wedding day a stylish occasion. YWD is a beautiful magazine so make sure to look for it on the stands!
This is going to be an amazing destination wedding so check back for updates!Labels: Capri, Destination Wedding Photographer, Italy, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Portrait Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 5:13 PM |
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| Sunday, April 06, 2008 |
| Figueroa Mountain Wildflowers email |
I wanted to share this email from my good friend and business partner Melissa. The pictures are amazing!
The subject of the email was... Wildflowers in honor of an innocent squirrel.
"I went to Figueroa Mountain in Los Padres Forest above Los Olivos yesterday for a little solitude (spa health people!). The hike was great, but I think biking would be better. The wildflowers are at their peak and I thought you would like to see a few good pics -- looking at the photos makes you want to frollick naked in the fields, doesn't it? Well, maybe the thought of ticks or poison oak scares you, so maybe not. Aside from running over a squirrel in my miata, it was a great day -- not too hot, not too cold and really nice views."
   Labels: Santa Barbara Event Photography, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 10:58 PM |
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| Friday, April 04, 2008 |
| My Skater Niece and Nephew, Sarah and Jordan |
Every once in a while, I get to keep the kids with me over night and it's called "Camp UR", which stands for camp uncle Ricky. I love having them over, they're so much fun. Well, they're really into skateboarding so here are some pics of them being goofy on their boards.
What's so great about these kids is that they are best friends. They get along so well and never.... well I guess I shouldn't say never, but very rarely fight. I love these kids!
    Labels: Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Portrait Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 1:19 AM |
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| Sunday, January 13, 2008 |
| San Francisco |
I love cities and I've always wanted to see San Francisco but just never really got around to it. I've flown through it many times but never really saw it until this week! I was up here shooting and visiting and all the good things I've heard about this city are so true!
My good friend Dia Rao lives up there and she was so kind to take me literally everywhere around the city! She drove in and everywhere we went, we parked right in front! Talk about parking karma! Who says it's hard to park in the city!?
Anyway, it was awesome, even with the clouds. We went to see The Embarcadero, Pier 39, saw Alcatraz, the lions :) (Little did I know she meant sea lions at the pier. My first thought was the 4-legged zoo kind, whatever, I was a tourist! haha), finally got to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, the Pink Ladies, Lombard street, had Burmese food for the first time, ate some awesome pizza and so much more! I had a great time!
Here are some of my favs!
         
I had to take some pictures of Dia, my awesome tour guide! Yes, it was cold!
  Labels: San Francisco, Santa Barbara Photographer, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 1:41 AM |
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| Thursday, July 12, 2007 |
| Maui No Ka Oi! - Delta flight with Jewel Van Valin! |
Well, I'm off on a wedding shoot to Maui, going to visit some dear friends and to see my family. I took off from SB down to LA and then to Maui. My trip to LA was a short puddle jumper, which was a piece of cake. My flight from LA to Maui was another story, a great one! About two hours into the flight I decided to get up and walk around. Anyway, I made friends with two Delta employees and we wound up laughing all the way to Maui!
The flight attendants, Jewel Van Valin and Dave were so awesome! We sat and talked about everything from relationships to travel to their 30 years of marriage! Dave fixed me the most incredible bloody mary that never seemed to drop below half full! He kept that rather large cup full for the last 3 hours of my flight.
Jewel was so amazing. She walked the plane and had all the kids and any adults that wanted to play draw something with crayons that she brings on every flight. Once they were done, she would tape them up on the ceiling and the walls of the plane. Everyone loved them and there were some pretty amazing drawings! We had the plane laughing and playing games and at one point, we had a mother and daughter racing (fast walking) the aisles to see who could complete the most laps in 3 minutes. People were taking pictures of all the artwork that was hanging all over the plane and by the end of the flight I think I took pictures of everyone as if it were a wedding reception.
The flight seemed to last 30 minutes and before you knew it we were on the ground. I've never flown with a flight crew that was so friendly, helpful and fun. That's Jewel, Dave and me in the last picture posing with my work of art!
Here are some favs!
         Labels: Maui Hawaii, Santa Barbara Destination Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer |
| posted by Ricky @ 4:01 AM |
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