Military Homecoming

I (Bean) received a phone call to fill in as a photographer for a military homecoming this weekend. Apparently, in military fashion, there was no guaranty when or where the soldiers would be flying in. I was assigned to the John Wayne Airport, in Orange County. As far as I knew there would be three soldiers coming in on the flight. When I showed up though, there were far more soldiers expected–12 to be exact. It was not a huge charade or breaking new story, but the men who came home from Iraq, came home to proud cheers, loving arms, thankful tears and immense joy!  I imagine it made no difference to these heroes that there were no news cameras or flashy scene. They were with family again! I cried–I was in awe. There were times when I forgot that I was there to take pictures, the moment stopped my breath. Here are men, men who fought for our country, our safety, and protecting our freedoms, placing their lives in danger every minute for the last year standing right in front of me and they want no recognition, all they want is to hug their families. I am thankful for our troops!

Katie and Adam’s Engagement Photos

Here is a little peek at an engagement session we shot this week. These guys were so much fun! We took a walk around old town tustin and made memories of the scene. Old town Tustin is one of our favorite places to shoot because it provides so much variety and a touch of warm homey-ness. Brooke and I had a great time with these two–out and about. Here are some of our favorite shots from the day.

Bubbles

A post from Brooke!

It had been a long day…one of those days that drags on and on–each new hour compounding in complexity. I (Brooke) was tired and I was grumpy. I picked up Eden from school; she had the class stuffed animal along with an extra assignment for the weekend. Grace woke up when Eden and I got home and you’d have never known she’d been asleep for two hours.
She was whiny and cranky. The kitchen was a mess, but the rest of the house had been cleaned. I feared that the girls’ new energy would quickly destroy the bit of tidiness I’d managed in the house. Eden was whining in my face for a snack; Grace was crying because she wanted to be held. The kitchen called for me to clean it. The phone began to ring. We could hear it, but we couldn’t find it. A heavily deflated sigh scraped over my lips.
I looked at the girls.
I glared at the kitchen.
I ignored the phone.
Then I closed my eyes and started to sing. Well, I sort of growled at first. It’s a song that many of us know–one that Eden sings in
preschool: “Oh, the Lord is good to me/and so I thank the Lord/For giving me/The things I need.” The edge in my voice dissipated a bit as I opened my eyes and looked fondly at my children, thankful. I sang some more, “The sun and the rain and the appleseed/ The Lord is good to me.” Eden giggled. Grace stopped crying. I took them both by the hand, inhaled deeply and relaxed my shoulders. Eden started to sing the song a second time. I smiled down at her as I led the girls outside. On the way, casually picked up the camera from our dining table.
We spent an hour in the front yard playing together:
Laughing.
Swinging.
Singing.
Blowing bubbles.
Spinning.
I love my girls. The half hour I spent photographing them was therapeutic. These photos capture the delight of the afternoon. The warm glow of the setting, winter sun brought golden contrasts that reflect wonderfully the transition of hearts that afternoon. I’m blessed.

Dan and Monika’s Engagement Party

Friday, the 13th of February 2009 is Monika’s Birthday. To celebrate, her boyfriend Dan threw her a surprise party (everyone now, “aww!”).  At Agora’s in Irvine, we sat chit-chatting while waiting for the arrival of the guest of honor. We all gathered to witness the turning of a new year of our wonderful comrade, Monika. When they walked in there was no big “SURPRISE!” bellowed as the formal guests of the restaurant would probably be offended, the restaurant would then be forced to kick us out and the evening would be ruined. Much to her credit, she was surprised and delighted just the same without the shouting.

We enjoyed a fabulous feast of salad, tri-tip, fillet, lamb, chicken, sirloin and birthday cake. When we all started to lean far back in our chairs and evaluate our individual intoxication levels from food an wine, Dan excused himself to “grab something from the truck.” He came back bearing a card with a heartfelt letter. He beckoned her to come and start reading her birthday cards. She, (from all the party excitement) could not read. Dan, being a gentleman, read them aloud for her. You can see from some of the pictures, she enjoyed them very much. Then she picked up Dan’s card, which turned out was a memory from the past; a card he had given her once before will now possibly be kept forever. Dan opened his card began read his heart to her; the time that they have shared together have been priceless to him, she is his special gift and he is so thankful to have her, she’d made him a happy man thus far and he only had four more words to ask of her…we all knew what was coming but still we held our breath. Monika still had no idea! She picked up the card to reread what she had heard. Then out of his pocket came the box—stunned, you could see her surprise from behind the card. Her eyes filled with tears—“Monika, will you marry me?” She gasped and cried–they kissed and hugged–then repeated that sequence several times. I never actually heard her say, “yes!” but there is no doubt that she did. Take a look for yourself: here’s a small timeline of the evening through pictures. Congratulations you two!

Products

While in the studio last week, Ana asked me to shoot some of her new products that are either going to be for sale, or part of a workshop she will be doing. www.b–creative.com I love angles and shooting abstract objects. So this project was very fun for me and I wanted to share the results. We were also given the opportunity to shoot for a make-up company called Too Faced. www.toofaced.com Since a portion of Shoot Me Photography business is product photography we thought, “why not show people what we can do?” So, here it is. Well, some of it at least.

Reminiscing

This week I’ve been attempting to rekindle the relationship I used to have with God. I went through old verses that used to inspire me, old dreams, and missions. Through my search, I came across the photos from a mission trip I went on to Africa, in 2005. This is part of what inspired my photography career as well as showed me the sovereignty of the Lord. I’ve known since I started this company that I wanted to use it as a ministry along the journey I lost my passion and started to be concerned more with success as a business than an opportunity to serve. We hope that we will be given the opportunities again soon to use photography as a tool for God–not just be another Orange County pursuit. Our goals as a company are changing to focus more on the people who have-not, instead chasing the more affluent “client.” We are excited for this new chapter in business and look forward to what God will be doing.

These pictures here are from “The Ark”—an orphanage in Rehoboth, Namibia. These kids were some of the most playful, full-of-life children I have ever witnessed. 48 kids to 4 working adults, with only clothes enough for everyone to share, the Ark was a quaint building in the heart of this broken city. Where the people lived in tin shacks and off a bowl of soup a day, these children knew what real joy was. We thought we were going to Africa to help, and we may well have, but we were humbled by the sheer simplicity of this small culture. The Ark and its inhabitants knew what it meant to really trust God with all of their needs and had more than we’ve dreamt of in a run down, shoeless life style. I will never forget what I learned from The Ark.

Program:Wedding Give Away!!

So, my life changed this weekend. No I didn’t win the world series of poker…yet. I (Bean) read a book given to me by a friend (Brittany Hoagland) and it hit home. The book is called “When dreams come true.” Its the adventurous story of a young couple who decided to let God write their love story. While I thought the story was cute but  a bit cheesy, I found while reading that I have been missing the heart of God. My time has been focused too much on myself, and making money. I have missed what I loved about being a Christian, and turned into a great cynic.  I vowed this weekend to reevaluate what I think is important and focus more of my time on seeking Him. I As of now, I’m not sure what this change will bring in my life but I know I am on board for the ride.  Praise God for my new found revelation and more chances to get to know him.

My point in sharing this change with all of you is this: Brooke and I discussed this change in my heart and we are excited to annoucnce a program: Wedding Give Away! Knowing that what we have to give right now is photography, this is the perfect oportunity to embarck on a new set of standards. God has blessed us with this business, and we want to bless others with it. So, if you know someone that you think deserves/needs their wedding photographed for free, let us know. Write us a letter, an email, or just give us a call and let us know why you think that your nominee should get the gift–don’t’ worry we are nice.  We will be giving away at least one wedding every year!  Thanks for letting me spill my heart.

Valentines Day

So with the economy now, we keep lookin for good deals, so we  figured why not give one ourselves. So we are. I don’t think there is a whole lot more to say! we’re giving 25% off all portrait sessions and prints. That includes: HS seniors, babies, prego ladies, families, grandkids, pets, tattoos, engagements and well, anything else you can think of.

Why I love Photoshop…

When I started shooting pictures I believed in a pure, untouched photo. I thought that editing ruined photography and put a damper on the art. I know people that still think that, I no longer agree with them. Instead, I believe that Photoshop can only increase what I am able to produce in a photo. While I consider myself a photographer, I am more of a designer. My work is best when I can give the client what they want, and maybe sadly or vainly, what the clients want is to look better than they do. I mean lets face it, if we can we’d all make ourselves look like models. And that is what I try to do. I designed the “Charlie Solbrig music” shots for a CD cover for, you guessed it, Charlie Solbrig. I was able to bring his music and style into an image that I could not compose in just a photograph. The other pictures are just amazing renditions of retouching. With some minor changes, I gave both of those girls a make over. And they didn’t even have to get their hair wet! I love the freedom of the Photoshop and the range of options it allows. From a CD cover to giving a bride her dream photos–Photoshop is my friend.

Family Style

We were  told last year that we needed to add some “color” to our portfolio. Coming from a black man (Ben Law of the Law family, below) and his family–I couldn’t help but laugh but still agree. When he called back for family portraits we were stoked to be able to cater to a whole different market and get to add some attitude to our day. I mean, not to be cliche but they I caught them dancing–its in their blood.

For those of you who know the Obrimski family (top) , you are familiar with their yearly family picture. As beautiful as they are its hard not to gawk at how great they always look. This year we were fortunate enough to score the lauded job of photographing their family. We went for a less traditional approach to show the fun, playful nature of these great folks.

The last family we shot was the McMillen family ( bottom). They were actually a referral from another photographer, John Norling. They, against our creed, wanted traditional photos. Since they were a referral from John we conceded. For those of you who know John, he’s not much in the way of traditional either, but didn’t want to disrespect his clients. Turns out, that turning on “traditonal style” doesn’t work to well for us. So we got some but ended up playing around with them alot. And after it all, they loved their less-traditional photos the best! Our creed stands tall!