One of the 1st shots of the happy couple…good job Handicapped sign!!

Elise & Kristy came with us!  Good thing they’re iPad fanatics!

Quail Hill is right near the freeway and buildings and powerlines…Marc positioning to leave all that out of the shot

This time of the year we’re learning there are plenty of snakes…even on trail.  To the right as we see the snake, we hear the bushes wrestling.  I run over a see literally a dozen wild brown bunnies prancing around.  It was a beautiful taste of nature…

our assistant Benson.  Thank you honey for lugging around that big reflector and all our lenses.  <3

The view behind Marc.  Amongst the field of flowers…

You would never know from the shots we selected from the shoot, but the cowboy is really not-so-serious.

Paper Diva Shoot
Today I’ll be attempting the shoot the invitations I’ve been working on.  Since the invite’s main color is ebony, its been a challenge deciding the right surface to shoot on.  Stay tuned.  Have a fab 4th!

We shot an adorable couple, who might as well be a real-life cowboy & cowgirl.  They met on eHarmony and things moved swiftly into a beautiful engagement.  And who knew asian guys could own Buicks, wear ostrich boots, fancy belt buckles, and carry a cowboy hat wherever they go!?  The bride-to-be admitted they hardly have any photos of them together! We sure fixed that.

We shot with a few props and stumbled into a semi-styled shoot. I’m always reading about styled shoots…and as I reviewed our shots, I realized my subconscious shot the couple as if we were following them around on their ranch. With the entrance of a mere cowboy hat and a few square dancing moves, it transformed this shoot into something magical and western.

I shot with 3 different lenses. 50% was shot with my new 30mm 1.4, 35% with the trusty 28-75 2.8 and the remaining 15% was shot with a 10-22 (which was my first time snapping shots with this lens).  My favorite to shoot with was the 30…but I am intrigued now with the 10-22.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Canon 10-22

Sigma 30mm 1.4 (I love)

Paper Diva
Sometimes I think I have Jamaican blood somewhere in my bloodlines.  I put my paper-diva thinking cap on and have been working on some wedding shower invitations.  The happy couple (no relation to the cowboy & cowgirl), chose colors of ebony, sunflower and snow.   You would think these colors are tough to work with, but we have been sailing with awesome design ideas.

Our good friends the Wangs were at our place till midnight yesterday working the invitation assembly line.  Pics to come.  I haven’t shot products before hmm…that’s going to be fun.  Stay tuned…

New Eye
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to shoot with Canon’s L series 35mm 1.4, which goes for $1500.  It has been on my lens wish list for the longest time.  I’ve been comparing that to the Sigma 30mm 1.4 The $1000 price difference between the Sigma and the Canon was no match.  The Canon was not $1000 better than the Sigma.

I found a sweet deal online from Unique Photo for the Sigma (the discounted price shows up when you put it in your cart), and the store ended up beating everyone else’s price by $50.  The pretty Sigma 30mm 1.4 came last week and I’ve been learning a lot from shooting with it.

I thought I loved my 28-75, and then I met the 30.  I love you new lens.  Here are some test shots:

clean black cars steal the show

HSUFAM

one of the very first shots the lens fired…bokehhhh

See you after the shoot!!