Michael lives and works here in the U.S., but he maintains a long distance relationship with his girlfriend, Cindy. It’s not a case of San Francisco vs. San Jose, either – she lives in Hong Kong! So to celebrate her visit (and probably so he remembers what she looks like after she’s gone!) Michael hired me to get some shots of them together. I thought it was going to rain during my earlier session, and I was blown away that it didn’t rain during this one! After our hour was up, it started sprinkling a little bit – talk about great timing! This shoot went down at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. Here’s some of my favorites, all 70 final photos can be viewed my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com.
Hollie and James have been married a couple years, and they just had their first baby. OK, so it’s a large puppy (Sheldon) – but everyone works at their own pace 🙂 They live in Felton, and are active outdoorspeople, so they wanted to go to a special place in the woods. It ended up being the Circle of Redwoods in Henry Cowell Park – a place I just so happen to have a wedding at next year – so it was cool to check out. The dog was definitely a pup, but super cute and you can tell he *wanted* to be good, it’s just sooo haaard. But I’m presenting mostly just the photos where he was dutifully looking at the camera, and not licking everyone’s faces – okay, so there’s one of those in there… Enjoy my favorites below, there’s 79 edited photos to check out at my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com! If you like my work, leave a comment!
Tags: bay area wedding photographers, bay area wedding photography, circle of redwoods, couple, dog, family photography, hollie wright, james wright, married, pet, photography, ponderosa, portrait, puppy, roaring camp, scotts valley, shoot, woods
Manuel Romero gives a solid first impression as a striking-looking young dude, and then he picks up his guitar and starts playing and singing, and you can’t help but smile. We had hair, makeup and Starbucks – you know, the whole shebang – show up for this portrait shoot at Maceio in downtown San Jose. The intent for this shoot was to have a cover to put on Tastes of San Jose Magazine. We were originally envisioning the shoot happening indoors, but I really liked some of the brick walls, stairs and other areas around the back patio so I spent most of the time shooting there. We did go inside towards the end to capture Manuel in the colorful context of the Brazilian Steakhouse, which turned out pretty decent. Here’s a selection from the 1.5 hour shoot below. There’s 74 photos to look at in total at my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com.
Tags: artist, bay area business headshot, bay area portrait photographers, bay area portrait photography, brick, business, business portraits, downtown, goodeye, guitar, head shots, headshot, headshot photos, maceio, manuel romero, musician, performer, photography, photos, portrait, professional, restaurant, san jose, session, singer, singing
I met the “Smiths” (preserving some modicum of anonymity here…) at Wilder Ranch, located about 5 miles west/north of Santa Cruz off highway 1. It’s a great State Park and preserve covering about 7,000 acres and traversed by 34 miles of hiking/biking/running trails – many hugging the coastal cliffs and valleys. What I didn’t know about was the restored buildings and barns that once belonged to the Wilder family – the property is completely open to the tax-paying public! There’s even goats, sheep and chickens living there. I guess it’s a popular destination for elementary school field trips, and I can see why. But for photographers, it’s an equally delightful location – one that I’ll definitely be revisiting.
Of course there’s the natural beauty of the trees and grass – but the true gems are the distressed wood walls of the barn and houses, the old farm equipment, old horse stalls, hay stacks – you name it. The “Smith” family and I had a great time exploring the many photographic options Wilder Ranch has to offer. And this family made it fun too – they were willing to goof around and entertain my crazy ideas. They don’t always translate into a great photo, but if you don’t try you’ll never know! My favorite part was near the end of our one hour session, where Ryan demonstrated his back-flipping abilities over the head of his indifferent brother. Ah, it’s so tough to impress your little brother!
Below is a selection of my favorites from the session, there’s 83 photos in total to view at my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com. Enjoy, and as always, leave a comment if you’ve got sumpin’ to say!
Tags: abandoned, christian, dave, distressed, family photography, family portraits, farm, houses, old, old houses, Portraits, ranch, ryan, sandra, santa cruz, santa cruz family photography, wilder ranch, wood
After an extremely wet Santa Cruz weekend, I was dubious about this morning’s 9am session with the Day family. But when I spoke with Patti (resident Grandma), she sounded peppy and ready to go, so I figured if they could do it, I certainly could! Patti and her husband Paul moved to Santa Cruz a couple years ago from Washington, and their son and family were in town visiting from said state. Since the young couple had never had professional photos done of their family (Cooper, 10mos and Kyle, 8), Patti hired me to do my thing while they were in town. We met at Natural Bridges this morning, and although the ground, trees and sand were still wet, the sun was shining and it was absolutely beautiful out. We began by walking down the (dangerously slippery) wooden walkway to where the Monarch butterflies should be – but as 8yo Kyle pointed out, they were probably hiding from the rain in their “nests” …mmmmkayyyy 🙂 Anywho, here’s my favorites from our 1 hour session below, you can check out all 70 final photos over on my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com.
Tags: arch, beach, connor, family, family photography, goodeye, jen day, jennifer, kyle, monarch, natural bridges, ocean, photography, photos, sand, santa cruz, schell, toddler, walkway
Elizabeth booked my services just a couple weeks before her wedding day. There were only a few people attending (Mom, Dad, Sis, Kids) so it was an incredibly intimate affair. Of course Pacific Grove decided to rain that day – and rain it did – pretty much continuously. But it was light showers, not the drenching, camera-equipment-destroying-downpour that would have changed things dramatically. But it was wet enough for me to keep my off-camera flash gear in the limo as I really didn’t want to fry that stuff. I love bringing light into my shots, but we managed with good ol’ natural/available light.
Because of the rain, the first-choice spot for the ceremony on the beach got nixed. Luckily Plan B involved a water-resistant gazebo a stone’s throw away. The coolest thing was how everyone was just giddy with excitement over the joining of Pat and Elizabeth – the rain was barely on the emotional radar. Yes, we were all soaking wet, but we didn’t care! We spent a lot of time taking B+G and family photos on the beach at Lover’s Point, really wanting to just extend each moment. Back at the house we turned on the Giants game, popped open some champagne and enjoyed the caterer’s fresh appetizers coming out of the kitchen.
From beginning to end I was with this family for only three hours, but I shared the best hours of one of the best days in their lives, and for that I am humbled and grateful. Congrats guys.
Here’s my favorite photos from the event, there’s 469 photos in total to check out at my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com
Tags: bay area wedding photographers, bay area wedding photography, ceremony, elizabeth, lemucchi, monterey wedding photography, pacific grove, pat, photography, photos, rose, santa cruz wedding photography, wedding
There’s no shortage of rental properties in Santa Cruz, and those with an ocean view are the most attractive to out-of-towners looking for the beach city experience. Of course all those potential customers are combing through photos on rental property websites, so if your photos are crap, you’re gonna get less business. The smart ones know to hire a professional for this kind of stuff, so I was happy to provide my services to this particular owner. This house, located in the Sunny Cove area of Santa Cruz, looks like a really fun place to stay – and one that can accommodate quite a few people which is great. I hope these photos do their job and keep this place rented out as much as possible! Here’s a few of my favorites, there’s 59 photos in total to check out at www.GoodEyePhotography.com.
Tags: adam sah, beach, beach house, details, interiors, photography, professional, real estate, rental, santa cruz, sunny cove
I met Sergio Retamal a year and change ago, he publishes a magazine called Global Supply Chain Review and owns his own consulting business focused on…
GSCLG is an association of senior Supply Chain executives, magazine editors, selected consultants, and other Supply Chain thought leaders built on the foundation of local chapters, who come together to share and enhance their rich intellectual capital for the benefit of its members and their organizations.
Sergio held his fourth annual networking event for leaders in the supply chain industry, and there were about twice as many people attending this year as last. This year it was held at Redwood City’s Hotel Sofitel – a beautiful location, and with great food to boot! Here’s a few photos from the event, see all 215 photos at www.GoodEyePhotography.com.
Tags: annual, award, ceremony, chris schmauch, event, global supply chain review, goodeye photography, GSC Review, hotel sofitel, magazine, networking, photography, sergio retamal
PotD: 2010.10.21
Date Taken: 2010.10.18
Photo Specs: Nikon D3 + 24mm/1.4 lens @ 1.4, 1/200 sec, ISO 1400
Lighting Specs: Ambient only
Why it’s cool & how I got it: My family and I were up in San Francisco this Monday for a mini vacation with our good friend Erin Brummett and her two rugrats Austin and Faith. We’d just had an amazing dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse and were walking back to our hotel Parc 55 when I snapped this shot. I was shooting with Nikon’s AMAZING 24mm/1.4 lens, the sharpest lens I’ve ever used wide open. It defies logic. Typically you’d be shooting this photo at, I dunno, ISO 6400+ to get a 1/200 sec shutter, but shooting at 1.4 opens up a lot of possibilities – and since it’s a wide angle lens you get much more depth of field (aka “forgiveness”) than you would with, say, the 50 or 85mm/1.4.
I like the candid nature of the shot, the silhouettes of my wife, youngest daughter and Austin, the orange lamplight, the shadows, the city in the background. It is dark and mysterious, yet touching and lighthearted at the same time. Thanks for reading!
Tags: ambient, chris schmauch, goodeye, night, nighttime, nikon 1.4, photo of the day, potd, san francisco, street photography, wide open
Today I met Nicole and Joey Baker and their adorable little girls Mackenzie (lil’) and Madison (lil’ bigger) at the house they rented for their Santa Cruz vacation. It was a little chillier than they expected so of course mom had to go shopping for some more appropriate accoutrement 🙂 I’m glad she did, because those fur vests were too freaking adorable. It looked good on Madison too haha. Anyways, the house they were staying in was a short walk to Black’s beach – which is kind of around the bend and East of Twin Lakes beach. I’d never been there, but it was pretty scenic. There’s lots of rocks, some cliff walls, and even sea anemone-populated tide pools! The sun was peeking in and out of the clouds the whole time, but there were points where I had to drop everything and tell them I was taking a moment to be a landscape photographer it was just so gorgeous.
Even though it was chilly and a little breezy, Joey, Nicole and daughters were really great – I didn’t have to perform nearly as many acrobatics and other attention-getting antics with these littles as I usually do. Here’s a few of my favorites from our professional family photography session, please leave a comment if you like what I did. If you’d like to see more, all 99 photos from the session are at www.GoodEyePhotography.com.
Tags: baker, black's beach, family, family photography, joey baker, kids, mackenzie, madison, nicole baker, ocean, professional, sand, santa cruz, sunset, waves
PotD: 2010.10.19
Date Taken: 2010.04.30
Photo Specs: Nikon D3 + 85mm/1.4 lens, 1/250 sec, f/4, ISO 1600
Lighting Specs: Ambient only
Why it’s cool & how I got it: Mill Rose Inn hired me to shoot some interiors / exteriors of their cozy hotel, and there were some leftover floral arrangements hanging from the large oak tree from the wedding the previous day. Since I was staying the night, I got some shots of the roses hanging at dusk. Not only are the hanging flowers unique and beautiful, but when combined with the lights strung throughout the tree, they make a gorgeous sight to behold. Then you grab a full frame camera and the venerable 85mm chunk of fast Nikon glass, you get the most beautiful bokeh from those out of focus points of light. And I’m sure the pun is not lost on you, dear reader, for the “bokeh” and “bouquet” are both pronounced the same, and both elegantly exemplified in this one photo.
PotD: 2010.10.18
Date Taken: 2010.01.30
Photo Specs: Nikon D700 + 28-70/2.8 lens @ 70mm, 1/30 sec, f/6.3, ISO 500
Lighting Specs: Two un-modified Alien Bee B800 strobes in the corners of the large room – the rear left providing the backlight (you can see the flare at the top of the frame) and the closer one camera right and behind me providing the key light for the subjects. A Nikon SB-800 dialed way down on my camera provided some subtle fill. When using manual strobes in a room you have to constantly be adjusting your manual camera settings, depending on how close your subject is to the nearest light. And if you’re filling with on-camera flash, you have to make sure you’re not shooting from the same direction as a big strobe or it will overexpose your shot. Lots of stuff to think about while you’re capturing candids at an insanely fun event like this, but you get used to it after a while. So in a nutshell, this is a three light setup – two fixed room strobes at 1/8th power and one on-camera flash probably dialed down to -2EV or so.
Why it’s cool & how I got it: This shot is from a “Gods and Goddesses” themed party I shot at Illusions in Palo Alto. It was an 18th birthday for three friends so all the parents went in on the themed party. It was a lot of fun, and the “kids” had a blast. I love the shot below – I’m on the stage, but laying down to be at their level. Looking at this shot takes me back to that night – the energy, the pounding music, the kids having an insane party before they all go their separate ways to college or wherever. The two kids in the center are obviously the focus of the shot, and they know it. Their eye contact draws you in as no one else is looking at the camera, but it’s a split-second acknowledgment of my presence before I was once again thoroughly ignored. I love it.
Tags: 18, 18th, birthday, e40, eighteen, goddesses, gods, GodsGoddesses, goodeye, illusions, palo alto, party, photo of the day, photography, photos, potd
I briefly met Shane and Linda last year at the local Starbucks for our “do we want to work together” meet-up. I thought they were great, and apparently the feeling was mutual. Fast forward a year and here we are – October 16, 2010. The weather threatened to rain – which would have put a damper on the outdoor ceremony at the Hilton in Scotts Valley, but it was held at bay and everything was beautiful. Both Shane and Linda are active in theatre, but they kept the drama to a minimum. I enjoyed Shane’s endless collection of celebrity voice imitations (which he does really well), which kept the edge off the nervous energy at the getting ready stage.
Live music is always great at weddings – don’t get me wrong, DJs are great and important, but there’s nothing like a live band to really rock the house and get people onto the dance floor. At this wedding, we had The Peelers playing rockin’ cover music that really got everyone going.
Without much further ado, here’s my signature slideshow containing my favorites from the day. If this isn’t enough for ya, there’s over 1,000 more photos at my proofing site, www.GoodEyePhotography.com. Leave a comment if you like what you see!
Slideshow Music: Snow Song (It’s Coming Down) by Groovelily, Written by Valerie Vigoda, Brendan Milburn and Gene Lewin
Tags: bay area wedding photographers, bay area wedding photography, ceremony, hilton, Linda Olbourne, october 16, photography, santa cruz wedding photographers, santa cruz wedding photography, scotts valley, Shane Olbourne, wedding, wedding photography
The Flores family wanted to shoot at a beach near their house, so we decided upon Rio Del Mar / Seacliff. We parked at Rio since it’s free and explored the area. I’ve never had a family session there so it was fun to see what we could find. Nick and Stacey have two little ones – Nadia the lil’ babe and Noah the big, rowdy 4yo. They are both simply adorable, my camera loved them! It was foggy, a little chilly, and not what you’d think of as ideal shooting conditions – but we persisted through it, and since I use studio lighting on location anyways we got some really nice portraits done. It’s always a challenge to get candid, spontaneous shots when you’re lugging around a bunch of equipment (where is that assistant, anyways?), but I managed to get a few of those anyways. Noah was ready for a nap, which means he was acting like he’d just chugged a couple Red Bulls, so the photos you see below are the lovely moments between the yelling, screaming and cursing (exaggerating). Enjoy the photos, leave a comment. All 69 photos are here.
Tags: aptos, beach, family photography, goodeye, nadia, nick flores, noah, photography, photos, Portraits, professional, rio del mar, stacey flores
Alice Wan called me up to get some photos of her brother who came up from LA and parents, who just arrived from Hong Kong. We had a lot of fun walking around downtown Capitola and the beach. Here’s my favorites from our shoot, all 74 photos are here.
Tags: alice wan, beach, capitola, city, downtown, family, family photography, goodeye, mural, ocean, photography, photos, Portraits, river, sand, wan
PotD: 2010.10.15
Date Taken: 2010.03.11
Photo Specs: Nikon D3 + 60mm/2.8 lens, 1/800 sec, f/8, ISO 500
Lighting Specs: The setup and location for this shot is much less pretty than the shot itself (see below). The key light is coming from three Nikon SB-800 speedlights optically triggered and shooting through a 30″ softbox camera-right. The accent light is another wirelessly triggered SB-600 with a Honl Grid mounted on front to control the light spread as well as prevent any lens flare from the light firing towards the camera. This small light source is acting mostly as subtle fill and catch-light for the spilled cream on the left side of the frame.
Why it’s cool & how I got it: It’s cool because I only had one shot to get this shot, and I got it, so there! Matt Mermod, the Chef at Kaama Lounge in San Jose, was interested in doing something a little different with his food shots, so we incorporated action wherever we could. I had to shoot at a fast shutter speed (1/800 sec) to stop the action – which you can’t easily do with studio lights, but the Nikon speedlights were more than up to the task. I find myself using these smaller light sources more and more, there’s just no real downside to using multiple small flashes over single studio strobes, save the expense. I guess it’s my strobist homage to Joe McNally and David Hobby, both BIG proponents of using small lights in a, well, BIG way!
So after I set up the lights and dialed in the proper camera settings, I gave the nod to Matt to start pouring the cream. It’s technically supposed to be milk, to go along with the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and their gourmet counterparts, but cream just looked better. I fired off several shots, and this is the money-one. Click to see more photos from this shoot. If you like what you see, leave a comment!
Here’s the not-so-pretty setup. Looks can be deceiving, no?
Tags: action, creative, Dining, dish, dropping, Food, foursquare, kaama lounge, lighting, matt mermod, movement, photography, photos, plated, radhika, restaurant, san jose
PotD: 2010.10.14
Date Taken: 2010.03.14
Photo Specs: Nikon D700 + 28-70/2.8 lens @ 52mm, 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400
Lighting Specs: This is a two-light setup, the first being the sun (ha!) coming in from the right/rear. The key light, or main light, is coming from four Nikon SB-800 speedlights shooting through a 30″ softbox mounted on a lightstand camera-left. The lights are triggered optically from another SB-800 on-camera.
Why it’s cool & how I got it: There’s a couple things I love about this shot – first, the lighting IMO is perfect. It’s soft and natural, like you’d get in a studio environment – but we’re next to a creek in the woods! The second thing I love is the subjects are totally at ease, comfortable and happy. The pose is interesting, the grass in the foreground and background add depth to the composition – and the quality of light adds some mystery and interest without being distracting. Your eye clearly keeps coming back to the subjects, which all command equal interest, yet the varying heights keeps the photo from looking too linear or structured. Like the natural setting, the composition is natural and organic. Oh, and they’re a great-looking family aren’t they? Click here to see more photos of the Farquhars.
Interesting Side-Note: The original purpose of this shoot was to get a portrait of Wayne to use for his first book, a police thriller titled Blood Over Badge. I haven’t read it yet, but it sounds like my kind of novel, and Wayne’s 28 years with the San Jose Police Department leads me to believe this book has an extra layer of realism that’s sure to grab the reader and keep things intense from cover to cover!
Tags: christian, exploring, family, farquhar, fun, morgan hill, nature, photo of the day, photography, photos, portrait, Portraits, walking, wayne
PotD: 2010.10.13
Date Taken: 2010.07.05
Photo Specs: Nikon D700 + 28-70/2.8 lens @ 50mm, 30 sec, f/8, ISO 1000, no flash (lighter photo taken @ 28mm, ISO 200)
Why it’s cool & how I got it: OK, so I’m including two pics – the second photo is the one I originally wanted to write about, but that alone doesn’t give you much context of the location since it’s so dark. My buddy Miguel Valenzuela and I were vacationing with our families up at Lake Almanor, CA this summer, and we wanted to get some cool shots of the nearby river (Deer Creek?). So after the sun set, we drove about 20 miles to this location off highway 32, hiked down to the water with our gear, and proceeded to explore the possibilities.
These are both 30 second long exposures using a tripod, of course, which is why the running water looks more like flowing mist. When there’s no wind to blow the other plants around, it makes for a really surreal effect.
By the time we got to the second shot below – it was really dark. Miguel busted out his flashlight, which we used to “paint” the water while the camera shutter was open. It’s definitely a matter of trial and error, but the end result looks like the river is populated by lively streams of bioluminescent organisms. The white balance is also tweaked to taste – I think it works well. Drop a comment below if you’ve got something to say!
Tags: chester, deer creek, dusk, feather river, forest, highway 32, lake almanor, light painting, long exposure, nature, night, painting with light, river, stream
PotD: 2010.10.12
Date Taken: 2010.02.11
Photo Specs: Nikon D3 + 28-70/2.8 lens @ 30mm, f/7.1, ISO 200, no flash, 7-shot bracketed HDR
Why it’s cool & how I got it: If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ll know I am fairly adept at this whole High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography thing. It’s a popular technique of late, and involves taking multiple shots at different exposures and then blending them together into one. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t. And it’s really easy to overdo – which is why so many photography snobs poo-poo the whole HDR process. It’s too bad, because when it’s done well, it can be simply stunning. I’ve tweaked my own process over the years, and use it most often for my architectural interiors and exteriors. In this case I used it to shoot this sweet little Ferrari, parked in a large garage. The only light is coming from the overhead fluorescents. I used a tripod to shoot 7 different exposures at varying shutter speeds, then blended them all together to get what you see below. If you’d like to see more of my HDR work, check out this gallery.
Tags: bay area business headshot, bay area portrait photographers, bay area portrait photography, business, business portraits, elizabeth, environmental, goodeye photography, head shots, headshot, headshot photos, natural bridges, photography, portrait, professional, santa cruz
by Chris Schmauch
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