Got my nerd on…

So I haven’t updated in a little while since my partner in crime hasn’t been feeling too good as of late and hasn’t been taking on too much new business. Good news is that we have a wedding gig set up for the beginning of next month! So in the meantime I’ve been keeping myself busy! First I did a photo shoot with the lovely Charlee Monroe (which I will be posting about as soon as I finish editing) that was amazing, and I’m excited for the end of this month for a long weekend spent visiting Portland and Seattle!

But for this post…. well if you don’t know me I’m kind of a nerd. AND DAMN PROUD OF IT TOO! I love me some Star Wars, I’m going through watching all of Star Trek: Next Gen right now, if I was skinnier I’d love to do cosplay of a multitude of characters(haha), I’m a gamer, and a zombie lover.  There are many more things I like but for the sake of the post I’ll just leave it to that for now. So when I found out I was going to grace the halls of San Diego Comic-Con I nearly peed myself!

I immediately started to try to plan out how much I could squeeze into one day and all the events that were going on around the city (not just at the con). I only found out a few days before that I would be going and didn’t have much time to fully understand the magnitude of this event. Not to mention it reminded me… but more so my body… exactly how old I am! With attending just the preview night, and the first two full days, I was 110% tapped out and hurting something fierce! Now that I know what to expect I want to go back next year, and hopefully with more friends to join! And maybe a few cosplay characters in store? *crosses fingers* But we shall see. I didn’t take as many photos as I wanted, and over all kind of surprised at the lack of cosplayers that were there when I was, but I’m assuming they were all in panel lines or days that I wasn’t there. But none the less here are some of my fav shots, and you can check out the rest in my Flickr stream.

Till next time kids!

Tyler & Maria

This past weekend will be one of those “Do you remember when?” stories for Nicola and I. The day started off like any other, rummaging around and gathering all my equipment and double checking it before the wedding. I gathered my things by the door and awaited for her to pick me up to head off to shoot Tyler & Maria’s wedding. Time was getting close and I hadn’t heard from her yet so I was getting a little anxious. She finally showed up and I rushed out to the car, only to find the poor thing sick as a dog. She was balled up in her driver’s seat, and the color was drained from her face. I felt AWFUL for her and started to panic trying to figure out how to help, and what to do about the wedding. Luckily my guy is super awesome and agreed to help me get to the wedding. I sent Nic back home to rest up, and agreed that if she felt better later she’d meet us at Balboa Park to shoot formals for the couple. I made it to the ceremony on time and the day went flawlessly from there on!

The ceremony was unbelievably cute and luckily Nic was able to make it to Balboa after all. But what I can be most grateful for this day was how AWESOME Tyler & Maria were!! These two were just so happy the whole day it was infectious. Not to mention how easy going and unabashedly smitten they were!

Look at how gorgeous their rings AND her bouquet are!!! If I remember right I believe Maria’s sister made her bouquet for her. Didn’t she do an amazing job?!

Josh & Lacey

Talk about a sweet couple! Josh and Lacey were super awesome during the engagement shoot with Nicola and I. Even though Balboa Park was super packed this particular day we had fun finding little nooks and crannies of the park that weren’t so populated. End results were a fun day of adventuring and some really great shots!

Super excited about their wedding in August!!

My first engagement shoot!

A few weeks ago I got the chance to accompany Nicola on my first engagement shoot with her. While being the one in charge of holding the lightbox (which let me tell you it was a feat in itself! HOLY COW is it windy by the ocean!) but I was also able to snap off a few shots of the lovely couple while there. We ventured down to Sunset Cliffs and the pier in Ocean Beach and had some fun. These two were just a blast and made work really easy. Here are just a few of the shots I got.

I know the sun flare is kind of distracting but I just think this shot represents their personalities the best. Such a fun happy couple. Can’t wait to shoot their wedding next year!

Tim and Julia

I had the profound honor of attending my boyfriend’s brother’s wedding a few weeks ago. Although I was not the actual photographer for the wedding I took the liberty to snap off a few rounds while there. It was a beautiful day and fun was had the whole weekend. I can’t thank them and my guy enough to including me in this wonderful event! Here are a few shots I snapped off throughout the day.

 

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your special day and I hope you like these. More can be found on my Flickr page 🙂

New things on the horizon

I’m getting really excited about the possibilities that are opening up for me. Not too long ago I met up with a local wedding photographer who was looking for an assistant/2nd shooter. Luckily Nicola and I hit it off well!! About a week or 2 ago we got together to work on a shoot. There is a series she’s working on that the concept is REALLY cool. I don’t know if she’s keeping the project a secret or not so I won’t divulge that infomation, but I’ll definitely keep you posted!  While working on this shoot she was nice enough to let me snap off a few rounds with my camera and start practicing with lighting (which is something I’ve never really had the chance to work with before). So with the help of Nicola and her equipment here are a few of my shots.

 

THIS ONE IS MY ABSOLUTE FAV!!!! What do you think?

Now off to do some more editing! Next up? A wedding I attended this past weekend!!

Instant Bonds

A few years ago I attended the most interesting wedding I can recall to date. I didn’t know the couple or their family, and hardly anyone attending. I was invited in from out of town by the maid of honor who had been friends with the bride for as long as either of them could remember. The bride, Jenny, maid of honor, Janitza, the maid’s cousin, Danitza, and myself spent the week leading up to the wedding in a crash course bonding experience, lol. I had been friends with Janitza and Danitza for a few years, but just met Jen for the first time. It was a whirlwind of a week from having to replace Janitza’s dress, the bachelorette party, a close call to standing in as one of the bridesmaid… (since one of them didn’t show up), and giving posing advice to the photographer as well as snapping off a few pics of my own. Now I was not impressed at all with the shots that I had taken of that day, since I wasn’t actually working the wedding, but I did grab this one…

I thought it was really neat and whimsical with all the bubbles floating about as they exited the church. But upon months later a visit with Jen she had asked for any and all photos I have from that day. Apparently the photographer they had hired was more into the party aspect and not so much into the actual working part. My heart sank when she told me that and I kicked myself for not trying harder with the photos I did take, but I gladly showed her what I had and handed them over to her. With any hope she found comfort in them.

So what do you guys think of the shot? Cute? Distracting? Best thing ever? lol I kid.

Shoot ya later

-V.

San Diego Adventure Time!

So those of you who know me I’ve moved across the country in the past few months. As a result my photography has kind of suffered due to the lack of knowledge I have for around here. But over the past 3 months I’ve slowly been working at trying to make a groove for myself out here. So to start things out I’m trying to catch up on posts I’ve neglected. First up is a few shots I took at the San Diego Safari Park. My boyfriend, his family, and I went there to celebrate his birthday! I had only been in town for 2 days to this completely blew my mind. I’d never seen anything like it. Animals just meandering around while you walk around the paths or take guided tours on trams. It was rad! Here are a few shots from the day.

So there you have it, my first post after the big move and hopefully the first of many!!

P.S. I cannot get use to the sight of palm trees for the life of me!!!!!!

I’M NOT DEAD!!!!

Yes I know I’ve abandoned my site, but I mean to remedy that! These past few months have been quite a whirlwind of things that unfortunately I’ve let my photography suffer from it. Between returning to my old job, traveling, and family events it’s been pretty nonstop. But thankfully do to the traveling I was able to grab some shots to share! I had the luxury of traveling to Sedona, Arizona on a 3 day road trip. I cannot even begin to describe the kind of beauty that exists out there. Here are some of my favorites from my adventure…

Now I know I’ve over processed some of these during editing but I was testing out a new photoshop technique and realized my graphics card is crapping out I think. So until I can properly re-edit them, these will have to do 🙂

Liquid Sundays

So there is this pretty awesome event that my friends Will and John volunteer for called Liquid Sundays. This rad set up of art, bands, food, and beer for a night of enjoyment. This was my second time shooting the event and I had just as much this time as I did the last. Here are a few of my favorite shots of the night.

The Wreckids

Wise Blood

You can check out my Flickr stream for more photos, and also keep an eye out for the next Liquid Sundays because there is a good possibility I’ll be showcasing some of my work!