Saturday, May 24, 2008

Oh yeah, we have fun at weddings...

I am at home today getting a bunch of things done and finishing up some photos to get out the door but I just though I would put up a few that I shot at Ric and Esther's off the chain wedding last weekend!
These are of my good buddy Siona Savini rockin the J Crew lick with a mc-twist of goofy face. We did these with the entirety of the awesome bridal party and it was so fun! My goal was to put up a contest blog voting for who had the best goofy face but I was having a really hard time deciding which face to use of Siona's. And so I NEED YOUR HELP!!!
PLEASE VOTE and let me know which one is your favorite by leaving a comment below!
"Surprised"
"Rampage"

"Deliberating"

"WHAT IS THAT?"

Also, BIG NEWS coming up here in the Blakey casa that I will be SURE to let you know about soon (this is not to string you on for a long period of time in intense suspense) but so that the authorities can be notified of the situation first. The cat is soon to be out of the bag...

B

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Christie Allen-Senior

Meet Christie Allen. Christie is a senior this year at Corona High School (my wife's Alma Matter). Christie's mom Carrie called me prior to my knee surgery inquiring about senior pictures and this was a good first shoot to jump back into after having knee surgery. Christie had originally had some senior pictures taken in a studio nearby but just didn't like the way that they turned out. I was excited that they were interested in something a little bit more my style of photography. Classy and Fun. Last Saturday, we went out to Newport Beach and spent some time getting to know the Allen's and getting some great shots!
The light was tasty.

When we were discussing the location for the shoot, Carrie asked me if there was a way to incorporate both the urban and the beach setting. Yes there was!

Let me also just say that I was instantly respectful of Christie due to the fact that she came ready for a foot picture-with the Rainbow Sandals!

You could tell that Christie is a person that loves life.

And she was able to bust out the "game time" face as well!

The jumping picture. Classic.

Christie is currently playing varsity volleyball for the Panthers and next year is going to be playing for Sonoma State University up in the bay area which I hear has a gorgeous campus. They are going to train her to be a setter. Cory had the great idea for the picture above!

Don't be surprised if you are ever on a photo shoot with me and I get excited when I see an empty parking lot.

Did I mention that I LOVE shooting at the beach? It was such a great day and so relaxed! Carrie and Christie-thanks so much for coming out! We had a great time and are excited for you guys to see the rest of the pictures!

If there are any of my blog readers who know upcoming seniors at Corona High School or Santiago High school or Centennial, I am starting a Senior rep program for next year that may interest them. If anyone is interested, shoot me an e-mail at billblakey@gmail.com.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Lisa and Steven

A few weeks back (before I went under the knife) we had the opportunity to do an engagement shoot at Disneyland for Lisa and Steven. Lisa and Steven go to Compass Bible Church and found my blog through my brother Bobby's blog and my Sister in Law Christa's blog. We met up at the Magic Kingdom and braved the crowds and were actually able to find some nooks and crannies that weren't too crowded and got some great shots! Lisa and Steven were so laid back and it was really fun for Cory and I to be able to hang out with them and get to know them better. They are getting married in July at the Garden Cottage at the Green in San Clemente and we can't wait!
Besides the fact that we were at Disneyland, I knew it was going to be fun when this was literally the first image out of the gate.
Lisa had brought the shoes. We had to show them off.

Bet you haven't seen the spot above at Disneyland.

Partially inspired by the Jaynelle album cover.
Lisa and Steven, thanks again for coming out for some great time shooting and I am looking forward to the wedding in July!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Shawn and Laura

I'm Back!
Thank you so much for all of you that have been praying for me as I continue to recover from surgery. I really appreciate it and every day I feel a bit better and can do a bit more. I do have to say it was a bit more intense than I thought it would be!
Well, I went into this week of recovery (which I thought would be more like a week of vacation) with high hopes that I would blog every day, wake up at a decent time every day, run three miles a day, and as you can probably tell they haven't quite materialized the way I originally planned (especially running three miles).
So I thought I would make it up to my blog readers (especially those of you who have been checking my blog in hopes of seeing wedding photos) with a super-long sneak peak of Shawn and Laura's Wedding! These two got hitched at Northpoint Church on Friday, April 11th and it was the place to be!
The church was decorated tastefully and looked awesome. I love the attention drawn to the cross!
Laura picked out a lovely wedding gown.

At the start of the event, there were many things telling me we were in for a great day, not the least of which that the entire Bridal Party was shewn with Rainbow Sandals. I'm sorry, but Rainbow Sandals are hands-down the most comfortable footwear that there is. Crocs, take a back seat where you belong. Laura made a great choice!

The boquets were beautiful.

I was very privliedged to have my good friend and the man who photographed my wedding Matt Floreen to come along to shoot this wedding with me. I always think that having two photographers at a wedding is a good idea. Not only can we be in two places at once, but we can also get two different angles of the same occurence. Here Matt caught me in action during the "first look" between the happy couple. My angle of the scene is the picture below.

A few of the lovely bride....

The groom cleaned up pretty nice himself!
I really liked this shot of Shawn waiting for Laura at the first look.
A few of the couple pre-marriage...

Shawn and Laura wanted some of them on the playground before the ceremony such as this one.

The rainbows. My feet were jealous all day.

Again, Matt getting a totally different perspective in the image above than I got in the image below.

Laura and her ladies.

Shawn and the men.

Laura and her maid of honor.

Laura and her two sisters.

Laura with Bridesmaid and high-school small group leader extraordinaire Maddie Hodge. Maddie cracks me up and I picked this one as one of my favorites from the "goofy ones" of Laura with each of her girls.

We took some pictures before the ceremony which is sooooo nice to be able to do, but then it was time for the main event. Something that was so special to me at my wedding was to be able to be prayed for by the men standing with me just before the event and I was stoked to see Shawn's men eager to do the same for him before the wedding. Cool moment to be in the room.

Shawn, eagerly awaiting Laura walking down the aisle.

Laura with her father walking her down.

The ceremony was truly a festival of conviviality.

Shawn showed no hesitation when he was given the chance to kiss his bride!

Cory and I really liked the feel of this image of the newly pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Zickefoose!

After the ceremony, Matt and I grabbed Shawn and Laura for a few short moments while we took a few more photos of the two of them. The light outside was ROCKIN just after the ceremony and we couldn't pass it up! Just a note to my future couples to try to think of the schedule of the day with lighting for the pictures in mind. The absolute primo time of the day is anywhere from 1.5hours before sunset to right afterwards! I was stoked we got to catch some during this time for Shawn and Laura!

I really liked the feel of this series!
The reception took place in the backyard of Shawn's parents here in Corona. The weather was beautiful, the music was tasty and the lights were out!
A few details with the last moments of light we had left.

I loved the candles they had all around!

Don't let the good looks of this cake deceive you, it tasted even better!

After everyone got situated and beveraged (which I was might thankful for-shooting weddings is thirsty work!)
Above you can see DJ putting the final touches to his toast!
There was a round of toasts where the love and respect that Shawn and Laura's friends have for them came out in a way that was really awesome to be able to witness. I love seeing relationships well-lived.

Here Here...

And then after a delicious dinner catered by the Mac Shack as my good friend Jay refers to it; it was time to dance! Shawn and Laura started it off by cutting the proverbial rug! They had some awesome moves!

The dances were a fun time for Matt and I to play with some off-camera flash. I liked this one of Shawn dancing with his mom.

After the parent dances, then everybody was getting down.

After that it was time to cut the cake and head off to the honeymoon!

Corona, CA. Shawn and Laura, thank you so much for allowing me to be part of a great day! The time was thoroughly enjoyable and it was so awesome to see the culmination of what God has been working in your lives and the start of something awesome in your life together!

Enjoy marriage! You won't want to go back!