Published at: 10:02 pm - Monday February 22 2010
Feb 22nd 2010:
Now, for you long time readers, seeing me take pictures of babies may seem out of character for me. Yet when my old college friend and new mother, Annie, called me up and asked me to photograph her baby, how could I refuse? I mean for one such as me who is a staunch adventurer, how could I not be up for the adventure of trying to get a newborn to smile. At least little Aaliyah was patient with me long enough to get a few great shots.
And, for my personal favorite for the day (although possibly not Annie’s favorite):
Published at: 10:02 am - Saturday February 20 2010
Feb 20th, 2010:
Last weekend I had the chance to spend a sunny Californian winter day in Laguna Beach with Katie and Brett for their wedding day. It was an awesome day and when the groom ends up crowd surfing on an uber-packed dance floor, you have to know your wedding was a success! I had a great time, and congrats once again to Katie and Brett!
Published at: 09:02 am - Monday February 15 2010
February 15th, 2010:
Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy Chinese New Year!)
My Lunar new year started off yesterday with an entire day of editing pictures from Saturday’s wedding of Katie and Brett in Laguna Beach. I still have a lot of work to go on these pictures, but I thought I would give you a little teaser whilst I furiously click my mouse for another day. More to come.
Published at: 09:02 pm - Thursday February 11 2010
February 11th, 2010:
The third of five engagement shoots was Ivory and Misha, who had a remarkable story of how they met in Jr. High School. We shot at the Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro under a blazing blue sky. I absolutely love the landscape right below this.
Published at: 09:02 am - Wednesday February 10 2010
January 10, 2010:
Adam and Susanna were the second of five couples I photographed last weekend. We had a nice sunset wander around Downtown Pasadena as the rains abated and even manage to catch a few shots with a rainbow in the background!
Published at: 08:02 pm - Monday February 08 2010
February 8th, 2010:
After a solid weekend of 5 engagement shoots, Today I am hard at work at my computer to edit the 4000 or so pictures I took. The first couple I shot on Saturday morning was Ana and Christian in Old Town Orange, and the rain couldn’t decide whether it would clear or not. But our soon-to-be-wed couple took it in stride, and never missed a beat.
Published at: 06:01 pm - Friday January 29 2010
Jan 29th, 2010:
I just finished up pictures for Cindy and Mike at Santa Monica Pier, where we shot under the clear blue sky after a week of storms here in Southern California.
Also be sure to check out the new “Engagement Photos” section on my webpage, where I’ve featured some of my favorite pictures!
Published at: 12:01 am - Wednesday January 20 2010
Jan 19th, 2010:
The insane rains in Southern California cleared just in time for us to carry out our planned afternoon engagement session in Long Beach. What we didn’t count on was the flooding of PCH and the consequential closure of the 710 freeway, whilst we were on it… So Felicia and I sat there parked, when we were supposed to be meeting Amberlynne and Chirag, who I may have saved from a similar fate by giving them a traffic update before they made it to the 710.
Sitting locked on the freeway at 4:15pm watching the winter sun set while I was supposed to be shooting is a photographer’s tragedy. All the pictures I was going to miss kept flashing through my mind like epileptic fits.
The happy couple arrived only 20 minutes late at 4:35pm and called to let me know they were walking up to the meeting spot. I said “I’ll be there in 10 minutes”, hoping I wasn’t lying to them as I finally pulled off the freeway 3 miles from the shore. I turned a corner and found I was in luck, a street that wasn’t jammed with freeway overflow traffic. I hit the gas (perhaps driving a little too fast) and made it out front of the Aquarium of the Pacific (in Long Beach) just about 10 minutes after Amber and Chirag.
We started moving fast and shooting fast, and before we knew it the sun was gone and we were shooting in a spectacular purple twilight. Amazingly the catastrophe that I imagined in my head while sitting on the freeway never happened, and I was able to leave this shoot with some images that I am quite proud of, I hope Amber and Chirag enjoy them too.
Published at: 11:01 pm - Sunday January 17 2010
92 and Counting:
This is RCP1. He is a solid 92 years old and still kickin around and making a fuss. I am Robert Carl Paetz III, barely 30, but if my namesake is anything to go by, I have a solid 60+ years to go to check out all the awesomeness in this world.
Today my father (RCP2), wife and I headed out to seal beach to introduce Felicia to Grandpa. Up until recently he and his wife lived in Prescott, Arizona and I have seen very little of him in the past couple of decades other than a crisp $5 note every Christmas. So in the spirit of reconnection, we bought Grandpa a 6 pack of German beer (more on that later), some potato chips and brought his wife some flowers. Felicia and I spent a couple hours chatting and showing him our wedding pictures and taking the obligitory RCP/RCP2/RCP3 shots that are required whenever the three of us unite.
Now the beer story. I guess a few years back he went in for his annual check up with his doctor and the doctor did the normal physical checks (breathing, weight, heart rate, etc, etc) then started asking questions “Do you smoke?” “No” “Do you drink?” “Well yeah… a man’s got to live, I have a couple a day” Grandpa replied. The doctor then told him that whatever he is doing is keeping him in tip-top shape and he needs to keep doing it, so Grandpa may be one of the rare people in the world prescribed “…not one, or three, but two drinks a day.”
Gotta love that.
