Oh yeah, we have fun at wedding part deux

Last night I was a dinner at my church and saw my friend Peter Ross. He chided me for not updating my blog all week (even though he doesn't even have a blog). So, I decided to upload some more pictures from Ric and Esther's wedding that I second shot for about a month ago! Enjoy!

Yes, for all of you who were wondering "WHAT IS THAT" won thanks to Siona's vote as well as mine...

Breaking the Silence

First of all, I must apologize for the silence. I think that many of you are comparing the amount of time since my last post to the amount of time that the chess champion Bobby Fisher spent in seclusion before he emerged and challenged and beat the Russians. I sincerely apologize for leaving you all hanging about the "big news." Keep reading.

Yesterday was a good day. For many reasons. Last night Cory and I drove to LAX to pick up our good friends Jay and Janelle who got MARRIED last weekend! (See the picture above, aren't they smashing together?). They spent their honeymoon in Banff, Alberta Canada and had a rockin time! We picked them up from the airport and went straight to In-n-Out. Now that's what I am talking about. It was so fun to hang out with them and to hear a lot about their honeymoon and to get to see their excitement about being married together!

Yesterday was also good because it was Cory's last day of work for the week and it kicks off a four-day weekend for us! We'll be spending the first three days at the Resolved Conference out in Palm Springs (yeeouch it's gonna be hot!) and then day four we are headed to Disneyland!

Yesterday was a good day in another sense because yesterday afternoon me and accounting parted ways. For good. A little over two weeks ago, Northpoint Church (where Cory and I have been attending for the past three years) offered me a position as the Junior High Ministry director on the Student Ministry Staff! And I accepted. As such, Friday was my last day with Capital Pacific Homes. The transition was bittersweet for me because on the one hand, I am excited to no longer be doing accounting, but on the other hand, I really enjoyed working for the company and alongside the people that I worked with.

It was a little over two years ago that my good friends Scott Burns and Ken Flower and I sat down and were talking about my future and giftedness and what we thought the Lord wanted to do in my life and after that I decided that I if somehow God worked it out for me to do ministry full-time someday, that I would be really excited about that. But two years ago wasn't the right time and I was happy to stay in the accounting world. God thoroughly blessed a little over a year ago to take me out of the public accounting world (high stress, consistently super long hours, LOTS of time spent in the car) to allow me to work for a cool company here in Corona (cool people to work with, close to home, better pay). And now I am super excited that God has blessed yet again!

My first day with the church will be this coming wednesday and I am so excited (and I just can't hide it). I'll be jumping right into the fray as our JH summer camp is two weeks away!

Well, I gotta go get ready for our trip to Palm Springs (I think we are staying at the "Heat Wave" resort)!

Have a great weekend!

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

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.

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!