Category Archives: Personal

NY, NY #3

Hiya!  Today is day 3 in my series of my trip to NY!  If you caught my other blog posts, you got to meet my other lovely friends and find out about the fun things I did with them.

Today, I bring you 2 other lovelies!  Celina, whom I’ve known since my college days, and Carolina who is a talented New York City Photographer and the owner of Carolina Nicasio Photography.

First ,let me start off with an image that I took before my “dates” with my friends.

So, on my day 3, I met Celina for breakfast.  Have  you noticed a trend?  I eat a lot.  Celina has travelled the world for work and fun the last few years.  And so, we had great discussions about not only travel, but also careers, relationships, friendships, family, politics, and social issues. Her experience, her perspective, her wisdom brought such depth to the time we spent together.  Gosh.  I know I’m gushing – I just super enjoyed my morning with Celina.  Here she is, ready for our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (to be honest, in the interest of time, we didn’t make it all the way across).

And here is one view from roughly the mid-point on the bridge.

And you know what this is?  Yep.  It is the view from the rooftop of her apartment building.  WOW!  WOW!  WOW!

I was a little weepy to leave Celina behind, but thennnnnnnnn Carolina picked me up to go to LUNCH!  I had a FAB. U. LOUS. time talking with Carolina about everything under the sun.  She is such, such, such an incredible person.  Not only is she super gorgeous on the outside (see below!  see below!), but she is also super gorgeous on the inside.  Gah!  Carolina drove us to a great Mexican restaurant in Manhattan (Carolina, if you read this – what is the name of THAT place???) and I ate chips and guacamole.  Yep, just good ol’ chips and guac.  I just really needed to eat avocados.  I think if I could only choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life, I would choose the avocado.  Yum!

Love ya, girlie!

So, my day 3 is not over quiet yet, come back next week for a peek as to how I spent my summer evening in Maplewood, New Jersey!

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NY, NY #2

Hello and welcome back!  I have only one image to share with you today.  An image I love, because these 2, er . . . I mean, these 3 are so dear to my heart.  Meet my gorgeous friend Sarah and her adorable husband David and their baby-to-be!

On the second day of my NY trip, I got to hang out all day with Sarah and David.  I’ve known Sarah for about 13 years now.  We met when we were both living in Los Angeles through mutual friends.  Oh, Sarah, how I love ya!  You are bright, and talented.  You are spunky and honest.  You are loyal and kind.  So it is no wonder that David, your adorable hubby, knew YOU were ONE of a KIND when he first met you.

David and Sarah took me to a great Brooklyn bagel place for brunch and even though we were totally stuffed from brunch, we made a stop at a donut shop.  The best donut shop in the world, according to David. And David should know, he has excellent taste in food!  Then we did a little bit of shopping, hung out for a while in their home, and headed to dinner with their friends.  They cooked up some delicious food and I got a chance try for the first time grilled watermelon.  Yum!

Next week, you’ll get to meet 2 more awesome friends when I tell you about my 3rd day in NY!

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NY, NY #1

Hello! It has been quiet around here on this ol’ blog. I’m on summer time schedule! Lots of exploring around my neighborhood, hanging out with friends, taking my boys to swim lessons. So much fun to be had!

Today, I’d like to share with you a handful of images that are part of my “NY, NY” series – one blog post for each of the days I was in New York. I didn’t take too many pictures – I know, shocking! I kept my camera tucked away because this trip was part business and part pleasure. I’ll tell you more about the business part in a few days, but let me start off with the pleasure – hanging out with good great friends.

I got to meet with friends Julie of Julie Walton Shaver Photography and  Chelo of Chelo Keys Photography and Chelo’s cutie-patootie boy K.  I met both Julie and Chelo on a photography forum 3 years ago and this is the second time I meet up with Julie and the first time I met Chelo in person!  It was so great to catch up face to face.

Chelo is gorgeous, no?

And look at her bebe, K.!!!


Sadly, I don’t have pix of Julie to share.  I took a few headshots of her but with HER camera!

After having breakfast with Julie, Chelo and Kent.  I took the train into Penn Station and then the subway up to Columbus Circle which is at the south end of Central Park to meet my good friend Daisy – a fellow San Diegan.  Daisy was also in New York for some quality friend time.  We laughed at the fact that we live, like, 20 minutes from each other, but HAD to meet up in NYC!!!  I met Daisy’s friends Cybil and Annie and tremendously enjoyed my afternoon strolling through Central park, chatting at Shepard’s Meadow before walking to MOMA in a rainstorm.  Here is a pic before the rain started.

Then I met up with dear friends Amy Goodman and Jennifer Brandon for dinner at Avoce in the Time Warner building.  I ate the most heavenly risotto I have ever tasted!  Yummmmm!  I’ve known Amy and Jen for about 18 years.  We were all Communication Studies majors at UCLA (go Bruins!).  And I just have to say, they are as wonderful now as they were back then.  One of my greatest realizations on this trip is that I am a pretty good judge of character – it is great to know that I was pretty smart about choosing my pals when I was in my late teens.  These two women (and the other friends you’ll meet in the upcoming blog posts) are incredible.  Smart, funny, accomplished, warm.  Just. Plain. Awesome

Please, please, please excuse the following picture.  I gave it to a passerby and up popped up the flash and the image didn’t turn out as well as I would have wanted it to.  BUT!!!!  At least it is in focus.  Every picture taken of me  with my friends during my 6 day visit to NY was out of focus.  Every single pic except for this one.

Come back for more “NY, NY” blog posts and meet the rest of my lovely friends tomorrow, Friday, and next week!

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Talkin’ ‘Bout My Inspiration | San Diego Beach Photography

Inspiration.   What is it?  Where to find it?

Today, I just wanted to share a little bit about how I incorporate inspiration into my photo sessions.

Well, music, let’s start with music, shall we?  Music is incredibly inspiring.  Did you get my The Who reference in my title?  Actually, I’m not a huge fan of The Who, but I digress.  Album covers inspire me – oh, how I loved to hold those 12″vinyl records as kid and look at album covers.  I still have loads of records at my parents’ home – most of that vinyl was theirs to begin with.  Check out the lighting on this Beatles album cover.  I love it!

Sometimes a song lyric inspires me.  Paul Weller’s song “Country” has a lyric that I incorporated in one of my photo shoots last year.  ”I know a place not far from here/Where fresh cut grass will fill your hair.”  I photographed two sisters and had them they lie on the grass, picking petals off of daisies and blowing dandelion weeds.

I find inspiration in magazines, adverts that come via mail, cereal boxes.  Inspiration, anywhere and everywhere.  Sometimes I like a color combo, sometimes it is a prop that is featured in the image, sometimes it is a landmark, sometimes it is a scene.  Skateboards, a dog on a leash, a traffic cop, an ice-cream sundae, kissing, the color orange, a beach towel, lemonade.  All of these small, disjointed ideas can be a spring board to a great concept, a greater theme.  This is partially how I incorporate themes and props into my concept shoots.  I always, always involve the family that I’m photographing into the process – “My son likes to climb trees.”  ”My daughter is great with the hula hoop.”  ”We read a lot as a family.”  ”We are outdoorsy.”  These are ideas that will be developed so that the photo shoot is representative of the family.

I’m a big record keeper.  I love to journal and make lists.  I have a notebook and pen with me at all times.  The other day, my friend saw me scribbling madly into my notebook while I waited for my 1st grader to come out of his classroom at the end of the day.  ”Mind dumping, eh?” she said to me.  Hahaha!  Yes, indeed.

Here is a small collage of what my Inspiration Notebook looks like.  You will see one of the images has a few wooden musical instruments strewn about the notebook.  Since we are a very musical/music-loving family, we used these very instruments in our own family pics last year.

INSPIRATION! What is yours?

 

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Photos From the Style Hour | San Diego Photographer

Whoa!!! What an event!  The people, the goods, the style, the yummy treats, the (ahem) wine and beer – it was fantastic!!!  Thanks to all of you that stopped by the Rustic Rooster last Wednesday evening, it was such a pleasure to see you!

If after looking at this collage of pics you are thinking to yourself, “Whoooo, that looks fun, I’m so bummed I missed out,” don’t worry, we will be throwing another such event soon.  Just keep your eyes peeled and visit any of the blogs below for updated info on our next Style Hour.

  • Sylvia Borgo Photography Blog
  • Rustic Rooster Interiors
  • Style Your Life
  • Chris Bolton Jewelry
  • Hairgoddess Salon
  • La Feem Jewelry
  • Pears and Bears
  • Kiwi Jump
  • CB’s Cupcakes
  • rikshaw design
  • Planned to a T
  • Lemongrass Salon and Spa
  • Adrianne Smith Floral Design
  • Venissimo Cheese
  • If you spot a friend, tell them about this blog post/collage!  Can anyone spot me?  Anyone?  Heeee, heee!

    Enjoy!

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    So much light . . .: JinkyArt Workshop Part IV | San Diego Photographer

    Since all of my sessions from the last 2 weeks were postponed because of the rainy weather (boy, it is going to be a busy November).  I bring to you . . . . the 4th installment of the Jinky Workshop I attended in September.  The first JinkyArt Worshop Sneak Peek was published in mid-September.  JinkyArt Workshop Part II was published in  mid-October.  And JinkyArt Workshop Part III was from just a week ago.

    So, yes.  So much light I almost didn’t know what to do with it.  And I was shooting into the sun.  Whoa!  I had never really tried backlighting before and wanted oh-so badly to really get great flare shots with the gorgeous light from that late afternoon.  Wow!  Can I just say I’m in loooooove with backlighting.  Here are the images featuring a very beautiful family and all that yummy light.

    The first image from the session I featured back in September is one of my fave of all time – CLICK HERE

    And now, the new features:

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    JinkyArt Workshop: Part III | San Diego Photographer

    This is the third installment of select images from the FABULOUS JinkyArt Workshop that I attended in Los Angeles in early September.   The 1st sneak peek was posted in September and the 2nd sneak peak was posted a couple of weeks ago.

    This cutie-pie little boy and his sweet baby sister were full of energy!  They were also very, very understanding when all 12 of us photographers wanted to snap pictures of them.  How can you resist them?  They are too adorable!  Don’t you just love their red-hair and bright smiles???

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    Headshot Exchange | San Diego Photographer

    About every 3 or 4 months, I get together with San Diego photographer pals to shoot for fun and to update our headshots.  This time around, I was excited to hang out with Melissa, Michelle, Brad and Katie, Masen, Jennifer, Ian, and Cindy (who took my awesome headshot I am currently using on FB. Love ya Cindy!).  And even though there were, like, 10 adults at the shoot, I ended up spending more time with sweetie-pie J. (Brad and Katie’s little boy).  I think it is a good thing I’m a child and family photographer, don’t you think?

    Apologies – I resized these too small but I’m  just dying to get them out on the blog and decided not to resize them.  Hope they still look okay!

    Melissa

    Michelle

    Jennifer

    And cutie-pie J.

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