Newport Beach | Huntington Beach | Orange County | San Diego | Los Angeles | Destination Wedding Photography
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On Twitter, my short and silly bio says: I'm a "Caffeinated Photographer, Insatiable Wanderluster, Google Glass Explorer, Passionate Coffee Ninja, Stolichnaya Scholar, Educator and Incurable Music Junkie."
While that's all fun & true, I also love being a: philanthropist, iPhoneographer, filmmaker and Director Of Photography who totally loves working with vibrant, passionate & exciting people around the world.
My career has been an exciting roller coaster too! It spans from the USA to England, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, Singapore, Costa Rica and Germany - photographing Grammy Award-winning bands like Duran Duran, X Games, commercial & fashion, contribute to a best-selling photography book, model for Ralph Lauren, teach & give motivational presentations in Elementary, High School & Colleges and had my photography & written work published in 4 languages across the planet.
Whew! So come on inside and take a look at my "Riot Of Colour In A Grey World!"
Good evening everyone! It’s been such a crazy day here in Huntington Beach, that I nearly didn’t mention the latest conversation that we had with a great photographer; Thomas Hawk for Camera Dojo on iTunes.
Basically to put it quite clear & plainly – Thomas has a goal of having a million images published before he dies. At first blush, this doesn’t sound like much, especially if you’re shooting as much as we do – which can be upwards of a few thousand to nearly 10,000 photos per month.
But for Thomas, he has to shoot every day 300-400 images and have them posted online every week on Flickr! There are a lot of people out there that are doing a photo a day (not me, I’m happy to have my West Coast Wednesday Video Of The Week done each week), but imagine doing 30-40. That’s totally crazy-insane!
In our conversation, Thomas chats about his gear, his work-flow, and what keeps him motivated. This is a huge week of inspiration and I’m hoping that this will inspire you to take on your own photography project regardless of the scale.
If you would like to listen to the podcast or subscribe to it, just click the button below. You can also check out the Show Notes on the Episode Page on Camera Dojo. Have a super West Coast Wednesday – cheers!
Good Evening Everyone! I’m going for broke tonight on my emails and instead of filing for “Email Bankruptcy,” I’m dedicating my whole day to getting caught up on them.
Well, as I’m going through my seemingly endless inbox after having some Thai for dinner in my wee-little office in Huntington Beach, California – I just ran across a powerful email from Linda (One of Laura’s Bridesmaids) about Laura & Eddie’s Wedding that I photographed a just a few weeks ago at the Wayfarer’s Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.
I just had to drop you a quick note and tell you so. You can bet that I will share your name and card with everyone I know that needs a photographer.
As soon as my daughter or son are ready to marry or need a photo shoot, you will be my pick!
I have been around many photographers but you were the TOTAL package. You presented yourself well and became a friend to the wedding party. I really loved that. I’m a people watcher and I watched. Your work is creating perfection out of the ordinary. All I can say is wow!!!
I truly wish you great success and thank you for serving my friend in such a professional and friendly manner.
Good morning from Huntington Beach, California everyone! Home of surfers, celebrities and killer sunsets for weddings.
As I’m sure you know, I have an affinity for a good laugh, good times with my friends & a passion for getting the most out of life. Well this past week has been very trying for me as a person that I respected and admired in the creative industry has left us. Unless you’re living under a rock, then you already know that it’s Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson was a HUGE influence for me in my early creative years and over time I drew inspiration from his talent, vision and amazing ability to consistently throw caution to the wind & do what he wanted to do with his craft.
Well yesterday, was Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service and from my little home office in Huntington Beach, I watched it on my monitor at CNN.com. Yes, my eyes were flooded with tears and my heart ached as I watched the video on my screen knowing that someone like him has left us and is on to a much better place.
The world will have a void now that he is gone, but we will always be able to cherish what he left behind for us; his thoughts, his vision for peace, and his beautiful art.
With all my ramblings aside, I want to share with you that being a Leo, I’m supposed to have 9 lives as a cat. Well I have used up 4 of them and only have 5 left (A VERY long story best shared over a good bottle of wine, preferably merlot). I know first hand what it’s like to not only be given a 2nd, 3rd & 4th chance at life and how at the blink of an eye it can be over.
So I admonish you to take stock in where you’ve been, what you’ve done & where you’re going. Appreciate where you’ve been, because it’s the path behind you that has helped shape who you are. Admire what you’ve done because it’s your gifts that you’re using to the fullest extent of your abilities. And, always look ahead at where you’re going. It’s the road that lies ahead of you where you can build to make a difference in not only your life, but those around you on to infinity.
I have said that I do my best to live my life spherically – not just paying it backward or forward, because what we do, say, think and make happen will echo throughout eternity. So make your life count and enjoy it to the fullest.
Since I’m a big fan of live performances, here are a couple of live videos of two songs that I loved from MIchael Jackson. I was given a choice back in the ’80’s to see either Michael Jackson or Duran Duran and as I’m sure everyone knows – I chose the latter with the hopes that I would see him perform live some day in the future. That almost came true as I was on the pre-sale list for a ticket to see Michael Jackson live in London when he announced his tour, but this will not happen now – but I have tons of videos and nearly all his CDs to enjoy.
May your lives be overflowing with much love & laughter shared with your family & friends – cheers!
Good Evening Everyone! I just got back in my office in Huntington Beach after having a happy hour beverage & snacks at Fried’s on Main Street in Huntington Beach with my new BFFs; Whitney & Jennifer over at Sorella Occasions — and I have I got some terrific news to share with you.
While we were sitting there chatting I received the most amazing testimonial from Erin’s mother; Frieda on Facebook about Erin & Nick’s Wedding I just photographed at The Muckenthaler Mansion in Fullerton.
I am forever humbled and honoured when I receive testimonials from parents or other family members of weddings that I photograph and this one from Erin’s mother totally moves me. I hope you enjoy it and find it as inspiring to keep doing what I love & have a super evening – cheers!
“David,
All I have to say to you is you are AWESOME. The pictures I have seen so far that you took at the wedding were unbelievable. I have looked at the web-site and saw pictures from weddings that were nice but nothing like the ones you took of Erin and Nick.
Now I know I am being a bit one sided because I am Erin’s mother but you are the best and the nicest photographer I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
THANK YOU so much for being the best photographer ever.
Good evening from my hotel room on the 5th floor at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro! I’m so excited to share with you Reina & Richard’s wedding day today.
I first learned of Reina & Richard’s wedding from Richard’s brother; Jeff from Prism Eye Productions because we tend to work together on a lot of weddings each year. So when I received the call that they were interested in me being their wedding photographer – I was very excited to do it & quite the honour as well.
My good friend Linda at A Wedding Store coordinated the whole event from beginning to end & it was completely flawless. From time-line to ceremony to the reception – perfection!
Reina & Richard’s ceremony was held at Seaside Community Church in Torrance & their reception was at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro. Their wedding day had everything from tears of joy to classic & traditional portraits with their family to some awesome street shooting in downtown San Pedro – which Reina & Richard totally rocked.
Reina & Richard had a Spanish guitar trio to play beautiful music for them during dinner, Luis from Just 4 Fun Mobile DJ had the room thumping and my new friend Carolyn Takahashi from the Crowne Plaza rolled out the red carpet to make sure that the guests had every need met throughout the entire night.
I hope you enjoyed some of my favourite photos from their wedding day & Happy Independence Day – cheers!
Good evening everyone! It’s been such a crazy day here in Huntington Beach, that I nearly didn’t mention the latest conversation that we had with a great photographer; Thomas Hawk for Camera Dojo on iTunes.