One of My Favorite Places in the World…

I love California… Orange County, San Francisco, Yosemite, EVERYWHERE.
Such an amazing State.

It’s one of the only places in the world I just naturally feel AT HOME.
And yet, each time I go back; I find some new gem, some new cherry on top
of the heaping scoop of awesome that California IS.

This time, it was Santa Barbara… While it wasn’t my first time IN SB
by any means; it sure felt a lot different this time. Maybe it was because
my darling wife was with me, maybe it was because I was shooting another
amazing couple’s wedding…

Who can be sure?!

All I know is that I *love* Santa Barbara (and the rest of the Central Coast,
for that matter)…. Here’s a little taste of WHY:

Beautiful light, isn’t it?!
Mmmmm.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself again (nasty habit, that).

Brian And Mandee’s Wedding Adventure….

I *love* these people.
When they first announced their engagement, I knew I’d be getting a call
soon… And a great one at that

See, I’ve shot three different weddings with this couple in them; from the
first one a few years ago; when they’d just started dating, to the next (Brian’s
sisters) last year where I took the liberty of shooting a few “pre-engagement”
photos… Like this one:

Cute, aren’t they?!

Well, when the call came I started planning our trip cross-country.
Nelle and I decided to make a crazy road trip of it; with no real plans
as to where we’d go, how long we’d be gone, or where we’d even end
up in the end!!

I’ve got about 15 posts worth of photos from our trip (and endless
adventures to share) but I’ll save that for another day.

We were hired to shoot Brian & Mandee’s entire Wedding Adventure;
four VERY full days of fun. In all, we shot WELL over 5,000 images

So, what follows are just a few to give you a little taste of their love,
and of my love for California

Thursday night began with a delicious Italian meal:

Followed by a rousing game of BROOMBALL:

The Bride, Mandee thought it’d be fun to be the best player out
there… ’till she nosedived into the ice about halfway through the game:

Of course, she kept playing and ended up having a TON more fun.
(I love Bride’s with a little adventure in ‘em :))

Friday, we shot the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner… Lots of great details:

And then it was the Wedding Day

Isn’t her bouquet gorgeous?

As for HER, she’s ALWAYS one of the most radiant people
I know; her Wedding day simply increased the brightness

Time for a little boutoniere help.

Mom wants a picture too

Caught in the act!

A Little “Epic” Action

And hey, why not a picture of ME showing them that picture?



(Many thanks to my assistant for the day Carlos Chavez for shooting that one :))

Ahh soooo many fun portraits to share from this wedding!
I’m going to try to limit the number; but here are a few more

/\ That one is one of my new all time favorites /\

And another favorite:

And then; it was time for a wardrobe change… Mandee planned two
separate dresses, receptions, and more

Great times were had by all

The “Big” Portraits aren’t something I post very often; but here are a couple
of my favorites from this group:

And Another:




This one was their idea; not mine… Haha.

I always encourage my Bride’s and Groom’s to take a few minutes
to get away… To recapture themselves; close their eyes…
And just BREATHE on their wedding day.



I make EVERYONE leave them alone… Even if it’s just five minutes.
A bit of time to relax, and be alone is just SO lovely

Cute, aren’t they?

I have a bajillion more photos; I’m going to put just a few more
in this post and then possibly set up the rest for a future one

As we were walking down the street; I spotted this tiny little oasis
off the sidewalk. Brian had to carry his bride across the shrubbery;
but we got the shot!

I really DO get to shoot the most beautiful Brides

SO many more photos I *could* post; but I’ll leave you with their
wonderful ceremony… This is my second in this Church, and I just
LOVE the wood

Now,  as you might have seen by the new logo; I’m *finally*
re-launching myself as a photographer. I’ll be explaining all
of that sometime soon.

Can’t wait to share it all with you!

So tell me; which photo is your favorite?
I’d love to have your feedback

Never Do Too Much At Once….

When we were making our wedding plans, it was SUCH a flurry of decisions.
We wanted a short engagement, but we weren’t expecting to end up with just
3 months!!

Everything we’d planned suddenly was pushed forward. We’d look at wedding
magazines and they kept insisting that the things we were just considering should
have been done 18 months out… It was nuts!

But, we got it all together; primarily by deciding to separate our wedding ceremony,
and our reception; by a week.

See, we REALLY wanted to enjoy them both, but we knew that if we tried to
do too much on the day of, all we’d want to do was get away to the honeymoon!
So we split them up… And boy-oh-boy are we glad we did

I’ll blog images from our wedding as soon as I’m able, but for now; let me share
a few from our fabulous celebration.

Here’s Riley:

Just as my friend Matthew Saville was flown in to photograph our
wedding, Riley Spiller flew in for the Celebration.

It’s really quite special… See, Matt taught me how to take perfect
photos TECHNICALLY; Riley taught me how to capture moments
in the fashion world, and then I convinced both of them to come
capture OUR moments

We had a blast

Nelle and I arrived from our honeymoon, directly into the waiting party.
It was oh so exciting… Just ask Nelle!

The best part of the Celebration (for me) though, was that I actually
got to shoot a LOT of it.

Many of the next photos are mine

There were many fantastic conversations:

We also had simply the BEST helpers in the world:

The Matron of our family (My Grandmother, Vita Hinshaw)
was looking lovely as always:

If you’re wondering just what the heck that pink is in the background;
it’s one of the main buildings of the Chalet Suzanne…  Founded by my
Great-Grandmother in 1931, it’s where I was born and raised.

Some of these photos were taken by my new sister-in-law’s boyfriend
Michael Flores; he’s a real up and comer, and has been growing by
leaps and bounds under my tutelage.

Above is my little brother James… One of my favorite people in the world.
(He is SO friggin’ cool)

A few more of Nelle and I…

Laughing at something… Or someone

As it grew later, sunlight and perfect diffusion gave way to flashes
and moonlight… Oh, and the party began

Just in from Scotland, where he’s been studying for his Doctorate;
here’s Robert… My brother-in-law, and his wife Katie… They were cutting it up!

In attempting to do something a bit different; we gave
away the flowers as favors… And apparently it went quite well!
We heard lots of reports from folks that said they lasted over a month

One more thing we did to be a bit different…
Here comes the toss!!

I told you it was a bit different

We’d assembled 12 roses… 6 loose, and 6 together.
That way, MORE WINNERS

Amazingly (and unplanned) Alexandra my little brother Joseph’s
(then) girlfriend caught them… And as of LAST NIGHT, they’re
engaged as well!!

And THEN the party really got moving

Taking a breather with my older sis…

LOTS of old friends came to join in the fun…
Here’s a rare moment that Cody wasn’t dancing like a madman:

Two of my favorite people of all time… Riley and Emily.

And here’s the PERFECT picture that explains the three
way relationship between Nelle, myself, and her darling sister Emilie.
These girls are pretty much the uber-awesome; I’m so blessed to have them in my life.

My awesome sisters…

And the new sis, once again:

All in all, an amazing night… With loads of incredible moments:

My Dad Rocks

Many thanks to each of you that read this far; many, MANY thanks
once again to all of you who made this possible.

I’m so in love with ALL of you, and so HONORED to have you in my life.
I can’t wait to share each of our next chapters

Saturday, my darling wife and I are heading off for another adventure…
This time, a cross country road trip to California to capture another couple’s
perfect wedding day.

Keep us in your prayers; and let us know if we can do
anything to bless your life!

Texas, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania…

In October, Nelle and I decided to celebrate our “Monthaversary” by taking
off on a whirlwind tour… First, to San Antonio, Texas for the Pat O’Bryan’s
venerable “Unseminar 7″ — I got to speak on an area of marketing that I’ve
never shared before and had an absolute BLAST doing so.

The attendees at Unseminar are always my favorite; and the other speakers
are some of my very best friends in the industry… Here’s a couple shots
from our time in Texas:

Dr. Joe Vitale & Dr. Pat O’Bryan

Just Plain Ol’ Pat:

I LOVE his hat… Been dying to pick up a nice Panama Fedora for a while.

Joe, ripping it up on the harmonica during one of the many after parties…

We departed late on Monday after an amazing stay at Rodney’s
B&B cabin’s up in the Texas Mountains just outside of Wimberly.
*You may remember Rodney’s Wedding from earlier this year…

Flying into NYC is always such an adventure… Made a bit more so,
by being the only Angels fan on the plane, while they’re in the final
game of the playoffs vs. the Yankees

I was upset… They were cheering… It was fun.

My Bride in The Big City…

(Doesn’t she look just smashing??)
This was Nelle’s first time in the NYC, we had a BLAST!!
We spent almost a week, exploring the city, hanging out with
new and old friends; and ironically enough, sitting on our butts.

(Let me explain)

That’s Dane Sanders, there on the left. He’s a friend of mine from
Southern California, a Pastor, and an incredible photographer.

A few months earlier, he’d asked if I’d be interested in coming up to
check out his workshop which the esteemed Ira Lippke was hosting in
his small Manhattan studio. Of course, we said yes; and here we were!

If you’re an up and coming photographer (or even an established one)
I can’t encourage you enough to go and check out Dane’s “Fast Track
Roadshow Workshop” series. It’s not so much about photography,
as it is about building a real business; and building YOURSELF
to be ready to move forward.

We spent two days there, sitting on the floor (did I mention that it was
a SMALL studio?;)) listening intently.

Of course; because there was a group of photographers gathered together,
we simply HAD to have a photo shoot… T’was fun

And yes, that is Nelle in the foreground
She makes a killer, interim model… No matter how long you have to wait
for the “regular” models to arrive

Ahhh, there they are:

Such a gorgeous couple

Dane did a great job of pointing out little ways each of us could excel…
Everyone was constantly growing in unexpected ways.

After the workshop, it was back to see our wonderful new friends,
and hosts for our New York stay Jason, Christy, and Max…

Christy and Max

They’re pretty much the awesome… Thanks again!!

Later in the week, we made some time to stop by Brooklynn Brewery
for their weekly open house… “Drink Up Buttercup” took the stage first:

Followed by some epic strings, accordians, and vocals from the next band:

Nelle and I had made the trip to Brooklyn, but we weren’t alone…
Our new friends (introduced to us by another old friend from the xanga
world, Kenny Kim) were an amazing couple Matt & Stevi Savage.

They’re DEFINITELY some of our new favorite people.


Here’s the girls:

And we fellows…
(In a sudden “rare” fit of tomfoolery we swapped hats):

He has a MONDO sized noggin’

Like I said… Tomfoolery is rare in our clan…
Stevi wearing ALL the hats, on the Subway back to Manhattan:

Back on the Island, the rain was coming down more and more…
So we decided to hoof it to Times Square, of course

On The Way:

And then, we were there

(Photo by Matt Savage)

Let me tell you, Times Square should ONLY be seen in the rain,
after midnight, on a weeknight… Hardly any people were out; it
was cold, it was beautiful… And the reflections were to DIE for.

Matt & Stevi

All in all, it was an AMAZING trip to the City…
We took off the next afternoon for Jersey, and then across the border into
Pennsylvania… But, this post has gone on long enough!!

Besides, there are only so many pictures you guys can stand looking at, I’m sure.

So, thanks for stopping by… Oh, and which photo was your favorite??

I still need to share our wedding, celebration, more travels, and gosh…
Even MORE photos with y’all… I’ll get to it asap

Or At Least, I Hope Not…

What can I say?
Life is wonderfully zany

Saturday was our three month anniversary… And since I haven’t blogged
Engagement, Wedding, Honeymoon, or Celebration photos; I figured it’s
high time I finally do at least one of those

So, like I said… Why not go out of order?

Our Honeymoon:

It all began on Sunday, September 13th… We rushed out of my family’s resort
(http://ChaletSuzanne.com) already a little rushed to make our flight… Only to
discover that our getaway car had a dead battery!!

A quick jumpstart and the fastest airport trip EVER (Literally; we made it in about
half the time it should take… While barely speeding!) we arrived at the Orlando airport
and picked up our tickets… At which point, my beloved Bride learned where we were
going

Maine!

I’d spent months and months researching places we could go; and it all
came down to either a small Cay in the Bahamas, or the Grand Old State
of Maine. In the end, we opted for Maine since it’d be COOL (and far
less likely to be in the path of a Hurricane

Man oh man, were we ever glad we went!!

See?

Truly though, Maine was perfect… We went to four breweries, two forts, and
spent LOTS of time exploring.

See, when we landed in Portland, we went to pick up our rental car and they gave us
a choice… A bland ol’ Chevrolet, or the Toyota Prius Hybrid… To be blunt, I’ve always
harassed the Prius and their fleet of predominantly slow, boring drivers

But on the roads of Maine? The Prius was a blast!!
We drove over 800 miles on $38 in fuel (58mpg+!) and I was even able to test
the “crazy” factor… Got it up on three wheels a few times, and brought the fuel
burn down to 4mpg… Haha TOO much fun!

Of all the Coastal villages we visited in Maine, we liked Bucksport the very best.

It was beautiful, quiet, and wonderfully devoid of the plethora of tourists that are
EVERYWHERE else in Maine.

Bucksport, ME

See that bright white building in the middle?
That’s a quaint old Bed And Breakfast that was recently bought out by
Best Western… Know what that means? Beautiful, quaint rooms with ugly
comforters, windows that open wide, and clean surroundings… Perfect!!

We stayed there for 3 days, and loved EVERY minute… See,  Bucksport
is unique in the fact that they have quite a few REALLY cool little things.
First among them, is “Fort Knox” — No, not the one you’re thinking of,
but the ORIGINAL Fort Knox from the early 1800s.

We visited

See it Larger…

It was truly a cool, and unique place

Though admittedly, my attention was elsewhere

Bucksport is also the home of Maine’s fastest elevator…
Which takes you here:

To the top of their gorgeous bridge observatory…
The view rocked

B&W = Love.

One thing we may not have mentioned… The REASON there aren’t a lot
of tourists in Bucksport… Simple.. There’s a “small” paper mill there:

But the view from our hotel could make up for anything:

And here’s our view of Fort Knox…

The clouds were just Oh SO Amazing.
After three days in Bucksport we were ready to take off for the North…
Bar Harbor was our next stop; but before we’d arrive there, we just HAD
to stop by our second brewery of the trip… “Atlantic Brewing Company”
t’was AWESOME

Nelle agreed

Then, suddenly we were in Bangor:

I stopped in and bought some *great* old books

The next day, we headed South, back to Portland…
And to our 3rd brewery of the trip “Shipyard Brewing”

The last day of our trip, our flight didn’t leave ’til the late afternoon so
we took off on a lighthouse / Fort hunting trip…

It was successful!

Shipwreck!

Nelle and I decided we needed to snap some more photos of the two of US.
I think I’m getting better at the whole self portrait thing:

An amazing old building on the Fort’s grounds…
It was used as an Officer Quarters in the late 19th Century.

And as a silly finale for this post…
Here’s the Greatest Graffiti of ALL Time:

That’s all for now
MANY, MANY more posts to come!!

P.S. Do me a favor?
Leave a comment to motivate me to  post more!
Which was your favorite photo??

http://ericandnelle.com