La Trisha and John's wedding (part three)

Location: Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center

Right after being introduced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs., the two took to the dance floor an took a spin only noticing each other.


Soon it was time for La Trisha to dance with her father, which she did gracefully to "In My Daughter's Eyes".


When her bouquet was tossed many women, and a little girl tried to grab it, some of them weren't that close as you can see.


When it came time to get a group shot of the happy couple with the winner of the bouquet and garter toss a flower girl joined them. A few of them even put on their silliest expression just for the photo.

When it was time to end the reception, La Trisha hugged all her guests goodbye warmly.

La Trisha and John's wedding (part two)

Wedding Date: 01/27/06
Ceremony: South Valley Community Church, Gilroy, CA

La Trisha's cousin, Danette, danced to a song to help set the tone.


La Trisha was all smiles as she walked down the aisle to meet her groom. She was escorted by both her brother and father. John was so eager to take La Trisha up to the archway to get married, that he reached for her hand early, leading the pastor, Darryl, to gently let him know it was not yet time.

La Trisha and John's smiles were ever present throughout the ceremony.


The couple lit a unity candle with tapers lit first by their mothers at the beginning of the ceremony. They chose to leave the tapers lit as well as a symbol of the two people who were coming together to form one united bond.

Near the end of the service, a friend performed in white as an angel.

La Trisha and John's wedding (part one)

La Trisha and her wedding party got ready at her house which is also the site of her childcare business. So many of her getting ready shots have cute and colorful animals and other designs in them.
The afternoon sun peeked in through the shades (after quite a bit of rain) and bathed the room, and the women getting ready in a beautiful natural light.

As La Trisha was getting ready, her friends prayed with her, and her cousin, moved to tears by emotion, joined in with her hand raised in praise.

In addition to having gorgeous sequins and beadwork, La Trisha's dress had an intricate cross woven back.
After making a video message for her then soon-to-be husband, La Trisha received a hand clasp of reassurance from her videographer. The room she and her party finished getting ready at for the church also had colorful decorations for children in it.

La Trisha posed for one last portrait before getting ready to say, "I do."

La Trisha and John's wedding rehearsal (part two)

La Trisha and John's rehersal went smoothly with the chance to do two run-throughs in the alloted practice time. The evening was started off with a group prayer in which the adults held hands, the kids did, too, but only for a bit in their excitement.

I think groomsmen Miles and bridesmaid Meredith were put together as their personalities were so similar. Both kept smiling and cracking jokes when it was their turn to walk down the aisle.

John looked so happy and excited to be presented with La Trisha with an ear to ear smile. La Trisha was walked down by her brother, left, and father, right. It meant so much for her to be walked down the aisle by her father who made the trip in from New York.

The rehersal had many moments like this of quiet reflection and prayer.

As the practice went on, changes were made including to the background. While this curtain was not used for the actual ceremony, during the rehersal it gave the bride an extra sense of privacy, though their expressions of elation shine through.


In tomorrow's blog entry, I'll begin posting photos of their wedding day, starting with La Trisha and her bridesmaids getting ready.

La Trisha and John's wedding rehearsal (part one)

Last night I attended the prewedding dinner and rehersal for John and La Trisha. La Trisha and her guests got to see her sign in book for the first time.

La Trisha was happy with the book (the layout of which she had approved, but saw for the first time that evening). All the guests (the people who will be in the wedding party today, along with some family members) all wanted to see the book.

The one person who could not see the book yet was John as it does have backgrounds made from my photos of the details of the bride's dress. While John was cooincidentally out getting ice, everyone started signing the book.



When John came back I told him his only job for the dinner was not to look at the book, he would get his chance the next day (which is now today), at the reception (and after he has seen his beautiful bride for the first time and I photograph his reaction). John promised, and was a man of his word, and didn't peek at the book once.

See you both in a few hours.

Photo of the Week (Ending 01/26/07)

We had a lot of interesting photos in the paper this week, so as usual, I'm picking two photos as my favorites for the week.

The first photo shows David Krajewski, 5, who got up to get a closer look as Doris Parenteau read aloud from "Just in Case" at Sleepytime story time at the San Benito County Free Library.

I really like David's expression of wonder as it contrasts with Doris' serious expression as she reads the comedic book.

The second photo shows instructor Isabel Torres, who introduced a new Latin flavor-rich dance style she created and calls Latizmo to her students.


Her students really got into the style of dancing and it seemed a great way for kids to excercise, socialize and express themselves in a positive enviornment.

Theme Parties, Part One

In 2006 I photographed a few celebrations that had elaborate themes to them. Jewish coming of age ceremonies (a bar mitzvah for a boy, bat mitzvah, or a b'nai mitzvah if two or more children have the ceremonies simultaneously ) often have such parties for their receptions.

Maia's party had an Arabian Nights theme with stunning decorations:


In addition to the scenery, ornately costumed entertainers presented the bat mitzvah girl, Maia (in red), and danced for and with the crowd.


Her mom especially got into the dancing mood:

A time to celebrate

I was listening to the radio today on my way to the newspaper, when one of the hosts made a comment about there being no major holidays for a while. It made me stop and think, Valentine's Day is coming up, with Easter after, but it does seem like they are very far away.

During the busy December multi-holiday season, I went to R. O. Hardin Elementary school where students were watching a program on how different cultures celebrate that season's holiday.

They learned about Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukah and the Chinese New Year. I learned a lot about Kwanzaa, which celebrates among other things determination.

I really liked how the showed the history of the holidays, complete with crowning one of the teachers as Alexander the Great.

The performers really got the students involved and the Chinese dragon at the end was a big hit:

Bonsai Seeds Planted

When we last left the Bonsai seeds, they had been soaking in water for a day, then placed into a damp cloth and put in a refrigerator for a week per the instructions.

Today the planting day finally arrived. After letting the dirt peat expand, I planted several seeds, and placed the container in a pan with a small amount of water. (Using a pan with a round design at the center worked well visually, I think.

I will post written and photo updates of the Bonsai progress (if any) as it occurs.

Family Time

Last week while looking for feature art, spontaneous photos that showcase the people of Hollister leading their daily lives, I came across an active and very colorfully dressed family.

At first, when the three pink blurs ran by me, I thought I had found a family of triplets, but soon learned the girls were a set of twins and a younger sister. At first I tried to photograph their game of tag, but enthralled with my camera, they decided to pose instead.


It started with Anely, 4, center, throwing her arms around her sister, Jaylu, 6, exclaiming, "I love my sister!" Then Maria (Jaylu's twin), came over (her arm around both in back), and exclaimed, "I love both my sisters!".

Their big brother, Jamie, 10, then came over and rounded out the picture. Though I knew it wouldn't be used as a feature shot (we like to have them being people in motion), I thought it would make a great semi-casual portrait shot anyway and took it.

Soon used to having the camera on them, the children went back to their game of tag. I photographed them with different ones being "it" and submitted this one to the paper which was later published with the headline, "Three's a crowd!"

Playing with your food

A Slice of New York invited World Champion Pizza Thrower Tony Gemingani to their store for their recent two day event celerating their grand opening. Tony had a lot of people watching him to see his food acrobatics in motion.

Even the employees kept looking out the door.


Tony also invited people watching it to give it a whirl.

A Slice of New York was started by Kirk Vartan, a New York native, who missed the city's style pizza more than anything else when he moved here years ago. I like the meatball and garlic the best so far.

I just found out last night that a special dessert pizza featuring Gnutella and powdered sugar is available by special request. I will be doing some food photography for the restaurant for upcoming brochures and the website, so I will make sure to try the dessert pizza and post some pictures of it here as well.

Help Needed for Fellow Photographer

One of the best things about being part of a large community of photographers, is that it is often easy to find people in the community to help with things as simple as some advice, to having an extra pair of hands and eyes for an event.

Sometimes more serious help is needed, as is the case with the email I received yesterday. Marianne Thomas, who is a former photo editor at The San Francisco Chronicle, and is now currently a documentary and fine arts photographer, is battling breast cancer. With medical costs being as they are today, she needs help raising money to pay the deductible for her treatment.

She is selling prints of her work at her website to raise money, www.mariannethomas.com. If you would like to speak with her directly, you may contact her at 650.548.1937 .

Photo of the Week (Ending 01/19/07)

Among the photos that I enjoy taking the most are those that show action, freeze time and make things still that weren't still at the time. It's part of my passion for photography, and part of how I chose to name the company.

Our sports and fitness section included a piece I photographed and wrote about a local group of girls on a competitive hip hop team known as Club FX. The moves are fast, the girls athletic, and they are definitely keeping physically fit through their perserverance and practice.

My two photo of the week choices (so hard to pick just one favorite, though this is my first time on this blog choosing two from the same assignment), are below. First is the girls cartwheeling over their chairs. I like how each one is in a different aspect of her turn.


The second photo is of Jasmine Gonzales on the right, and Desiree Troia, jumping over their chairs, with their legs up high and pony tails flying up.

Becoming one with the music

As House Photographer for JJ's Blues, I've photographed a lot of different musicians, many of whom play in several bands. (Hi Randy and Dennis!)

I shoot photos of the band as a group, two or three members jamming with each other, and individual musicians.

The job involves listening a lot, for solos, changes in tempo, and waiting for the moment when the musician and the music all come together so they are completely focussed with playing a specific note at that time.

A lot of my favorite pictures thus I think of the musician becoming one with the music. Here are two of my favorites.

In this one, "Gin" (as he prefers to be known) of Jake Mackey and the Muddy Suns looks serious and motivated as the drumsticks frame him and set a tempo around him.

This one I anticipated happening as I watched the musician, Max Cabello Jr. play. Maxx always puts the guitar just out of his reach at times during the show, behind his head, behind his back, this time it was just ahead of him, and as he reaches around his whole body was enveloped by the music and the mood.

JJ's owner, Johnnie Perkins, said he watched me photograph Maxx, saw the camera come up, and hoped I'd gotten just this particular second.