SAN DIEGO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG :: SAN DIEGO POTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG: SCHNACK STUDIOS

On Christmas morning, my wife and I took our daughter on a hike in the hills behind our house.  My wife has been running these hills for the last several months and it’s really reignited her passion for running–in fact, it’s pretty much all she talks about anymore.  That and Anthropologie.  But I digress…

During our hike, the landscape struck me as something that would be a great site on which to photograph portraits.  This past Sunday I had the opportunity to photograph some very good friends of ours, the Marazoni family, and I chose those same hills as the location for the shoot.  I photographed the girls several years ago and in looking at those pictures now, it’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown.  They are one of the sweetest families you’ll ever meet and my family and I are very lucky to have them in our lives.

Winter has finally made its arrival in Southern California.  Heavy rains, strong winds and large surf–and highs in the 50’s (brr!)–all offer a nice change of pace from our usual perfection.

The Nichols family was photographed late Sunday afternoon, just as the most recent storm was approaching.  I really love shooting in this type of light–really low with dramatic texture in the clouds–but I knew with the strengthening storm we’d need to get this done quickly.  It was the perfect situation for big, soft light, so I set up a single strobe in a 5-foot octodome.

The drawback to using the octodome is that, in strong winds–even with a sandbag–it pretty much turns into a kite. I managed to shoot many of these images with one foot on the bottom of the sand, holding it in place.

Nevertheless, the Nichols family hung in there through the cold and were absolutely great during the shoot!

A few days back I had the chance to shoot some family portraits of the Motyll family.  I’ve known Jeff for years and he’s gone on to big things with his multimedia production company, Cirrus Motion Media.  It was great to see Jeff and Stacey again and to see how their son, Aidan, has grown.

Early last Sunday morning I had the opportunity to photograph a good chunk of the upcoming catalog for Fairen Del, a high-end boutique with stores in Carlsbad and Del Mar.  Considering it was 6:30 AM the morning after Halloween, the models (Katie and Leslie) and crew showed up ready to work and we had a blast!  Here are a few of my faves from the shoot.  Let me know what you think!

Last week I had the chance to shoot Ella and Maddie again.  Ella and Maddie are two of my best clients (this is the third time I’ve photographed them) and it’s been so fun to see them grow over the years.  These images were made at the Agua Hedionda lagoon in Carlsbad.