Julie's super speedy portraits

Hi everybody! We returned safe and sound from our holiday trip to Napa. It was so nice to get to spend time with Damion's family and enjoy the GREAT surroundings. Also took a quick trip to San Fran! While we're waiting for Damion to get a chance to gather some of his favorites from our trip, just wanted to share with you a little mini, mini session that Damion did of me :) He was preparing to meet with our friends and fellow photographers, Sherry and Steve, to discuss workflow and needed some pics to process. Girls were sleeping, so I was the next best logical choice...to the backyard we went.

These pictures were taken with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II Lens shot wide open at f/1.2 at ISO 100 on a Canon 5D. Image was shot in RAW and minor adjustments applied in Adobe Bridge CS3. Converted to JPEG in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). The sun supplied plenty of ambient, natural lighting on an overcast day. I was facing directly toward source of light (in this case, the sun behind the clouds).

Here's a funny (who's in trouble?) with a couple of my favs!

In Napa...

Hi everyone! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We're suffering :) in the beautiful wine country now and enjoyed the gorgeous fall colors of the grapevine leaves and the crisp cold air (brrrrrrrrrrrr....). Hopefully we can post some pics soon! Miranda's having a great time documenting the trip from her perspective, as she is using her own camera. Light night at the Festival of Lights in Yountville, CA, I think she took pictures of 36 dogs. Well, at least we won't forget the dogs! In the meantime, don't forget to check out our previous post on Wells of Life! Make sure you click the link to visit our new blog! See you soon!
Damion and Julie

Giving Thanks for...Wells of Life

We have so many things to be grateful for, especially living here in the United States of America where we are free to worship as we please, pursue our own dreams, and live a life of abundance. We are so blessed to have an abundance of all that we need to live!

In honor of this glorious day where we remember all that we have blessed with, please consider helping someone who doesn't live in the same kind of abundance!

Imagine this scenario with me if you can: What would you do if you only had a meal to feed your kids every third day and had to teach them not to complain about being hungry? What if you had access to a fresh water pump for only 30 minutes each WEEK? I don't know about you, but I don't can't even imagine living like this. I have just described the life that some of mine and Damion's dear friends are living in Zimbabwe every day. They write emails to let us know more about their situation when when they have internet access.

It is because of the abundance that we have here in America that Damion and I are starting a new project called Wells of Life. Please click here to read more about how you can impact a thirsty child half a world away. We will be updating this blog and reporting the progress of this project as it has already begun and will be continuing on.... It's simply getting to the point that in our hearts, we know that we can no longer sit back and do NOTHING. We are compelled to do something, however small a step it may be.

Please, please pass the Wells of Life blog link on to anyone and everyone that you know! You never know how that small step may bring just the right person to fund this project.

Have a very happy and blessed Thankgiving Day! May your day, week, month and year be filled with great peace and great appreciation for all blessings, great and small.

With much love and gratefulness, Damion and Julie

Catherine & Brandon's Engagement

This is going to be our very first wedding of '08...literally. It's on January 1st! What a great way to start off our year, doing what we love AND we're especially excited about capturing this wedding, because we've know Catherine since she was a youngster! (Her mom was actually our wedding coordinator almost 10 years ago---great job Marianne, we're still married :) We've had a chance to watch her grow up, attend Azuza Pacific University and meet the lucky man that she will share the rest of her life with, Brandon :)

Thanks to the rainy weather last weekend, I think this portrait session may have just set the record for our fastest engagement session ever!! Hope you enjoy these pictures. PS -Don't you love the vibrant color that Catherine's wearing and how it looks great on her?? Not everyone can get away with wearing that color!

Wanna take your business to the next level...for free?

Who doesn't??? Our buddy Ross Tanner has just launched his new full service custom website and blog design service, Flosites. The company has already had a chance to create custom blogs for noted photographers such as Jill Higgins, Scarlet Lillian, and even Nathan and Amber Holritz (AWESOME!!!). What impacts me most about these blogs is that in each one, you will see a completely unique dynamic, specifically suited to their personalities, design tastes, branding, and goals.

So, you say you would like a custom blog to capture and communicate all that you are? Go to the Flosites blog to find out more about how you can put your design skills to the test to win a custom blog absolutely FREE! What a great prize! This prize might be that push forward that your business needs to jump to the next realm!

While you're there, be sure to look for some of Damion's pictures floating around the site in the header and also on the contact page. AND< stay tuned as we plan on re-vamping our blog with Flosites in '08! Can't wait!

Jameson Villa

Whew! Ever tried taking pictures of a 2 year old? With a little wrangling skills and maybe some rope, it might be a possibility. Between Jayden last week and Jameson this week, I would say Damion's going to be in tip-top shape! Besides seeing our little buddy, it's been so fun to watch Jameson grow up in the photos! Here's some portraits from our past sessions and the most recent too....

7 months....




































15 months...






























21 months...

Persichino Family

If you've visited portrait gallery on our website, you may remember seeing pictures of Jon and Denise from before. At that time, Denise was very round with a bundle of energy, Jayden. Well, Jayden will be celebrated his 3rd b-day soon and there's a new little one in the picture, Janae-10 months (12 days older than our Livy)! We had a great time at the park with their family and Damion got a quite a workout, so of course we had to follow up with a meal together at In N Out afterwards! YUM! Besides the fact that this family is so beautiful and easy to photograph, I love the way that Damion captured the essence of each member of the family and of them interacting together. You can see their love for each other in these photos. Hope you enjoy them!

There's so many good ones that I can't choose which ones to include! I know I can't include all 220, but I think this post is going to be really long :) There are so many great photos that aren't shown here, I wish you could see them all!










































Introducing Janae....


























































































And Mr. Jayden!

Venue Spotlight: St. Anthony's Catholic Church

Are you looking for an open and airy ceremony site with plenty of natural light and a beautiful view of the mountains? St. Anthony's in Upland, CA is the perfect place for you! Damion and I had the joy of capturing a wedding at this site back in August. It was a wonderful place to take photographs because the huge north-facing windows allow light to flood the entire sanctuary. It's hardly necessary to turn on the inside lights because of the soft light that radiates from outside.

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to share lunch with Vicki Hvidston (the "H" is silent), one of the wedding coordinators from St. Anthony's. I can tell you from first hand experience that Vicki is a wonderful coordinator; kind, thoughtful, calm, and firm when necessary...all of the things that you would look for in a person who is organizing your special day and keeping the chaos at bay! Vicki goes the extra mile to pamper the couple and their wedding party. I also enjoyed getting to know her "behind the scenes" life where she has an interesting job of collecting data for cancer statistics and is learning first-hand the pressures of being the step-mother of the bride. Thanks for the lovely time Vicki! If you are interested in having your ceremony at St. Anthony's, be sure to ask for Vicki or Pam (super friendly as well!). Here are some pictures that demonstrate the beautiful lighting at this site and a quick self-portrait of Vicki and I too!

Our little "bugs"!

Of course, we have to show off our cute little winged creatures! Here are our sweet little bugs dressed up for a "Trunk or Treat" party where the adults stocked their car trunks up with lots of sweets to hand out, while the little ones got to show off their costumes! Miranda was an excellent Tinkerbell, complete with TONS of pixie dust that I'm still finding everywhere....especially on her scalp, on our bedspread, the kitchen floor...she definitely sparkled! And Livy tolerated being a cute little butterfly even though she wasn't feeling her best. Of course, Mom was a cowgirl complete with Texas Twang accent and Dad.....well, he just rolled out of bed (as usual!)

Oh yeah, and don't forget to check back this week because we have some exciting posts for ya, featuring the Persechino family shoot from this weekend as well as the beautiful new album we are offering--La Vie. If you've never heard of a La Vie album, you have to see one. It is one breath taking album. More on that later...... :)