Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by my brand new blog. My name is Masen, and I’m a wedding and portrait photographer working and living in beautiful Southern California. This blog is meant to serve as a journal for me and my photographic life, where I post images, stories, thoughts and opinions from every aspect of my life. I like to think of it as a great way for my clients, friends and fellow photographers to keep up with my day-to-day personal and professional life.
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I’m so happy to finally post images from this wedding! I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone between shooting a wedding, and blogging it. The wedding took place the day after Christmas, and with the craziness of the holidays and the new year, I just hadn’t gotten around to it until now. But, it’s worth the wait as I have TON of images to post!
This was about as fun and easy as it gets to photograph a wedding. The bride and groom chose amazing venues (The Immaculata and US Grant Hotel), and factored in plenty of ample time for me to photograph them both before and after the ceremony. We were also blessed with amazing weather and light. I posted some images of the reception photobooth from this weeding in the post below, and now finally, here are some of my favorites from their big day!
I just love this dress and it’s details!
Mom, helping with the finishing touches…
TOTALLY love the classy vintage feel of her ensemble!
I don’t think she was very nervous. That, and I’m an extremely funny guy!
The adorable flower girls:
A few portraits of the gorgeous bride…
I know these two are similar, but I couldn’t choose a favorite, so I’m posting both!
The groom cleans up pretty nice too:
The Immaculata is a gorgeous church on the campus of USD:
A couple from the ceremony:
First kiss!
The happy couple:
After heading down to the reception at the US Grant, we shot a couple of portraits in and around the hotel before the party started.
I know this shot is slightly out of focus, and has a little movement to it, but I think it really adds to the vibe and happiness of the moment.
One more on the street:
The first dance was so much fun. The crowd was super loud, and the happy couple had some classy moves on the dance floor!
The couple hired a full Mariachi band for the dinner hour:
And lastly, here’s one of MANY fun shots during the reception. The couple had all sorts of different props that were distributed throughout the night to keep the guests hopping! Here’s a fun shot with some streamers. I love the groom the left side of the screen covering his face.
Thanks so much for having me out to share in your big day, guys!
View/Leave Comments (4)I shot a fantasticly beautiful wedding the day after Christmas which I’ll be blogging very soon, but wanted to share a few of the photo booth, or “Funbooth” images from the reception. The bride and groom, along with their guests had an amazing time at the US Grant after their nuptials, and these photos were so much fun to capture! Check back soon for images from their wedding day!
Even my buddy David who helped photograph the wedding with me got in on the action:
Every year around Thanksgiving, my awesome wife Jen plans and runs a charity auction for a local organization. Everyone from her office donates items and services to generate money for a worthy cause. I’m happy that every year I get to donate a portrait session to try and drum up a few bucks for that year’s charity, New Alternatives Group Home, a fantastic organization for foster kids, ages 7 - 11. This year, the portrait session was won by the super-awesome Julie Meditz! She asked if I would be willing to photograph her family during the holidays, and I was more than happy to so so! They’ve been patiently waiting for these photos as I warned them that I’d be taking a few days off before the new year.
So, without further ado, here are some fun family portraits of the Meditz clan shot in one of my favorite hidden locations here in San Diego:
Mom and Dad deserve their own portrait, too!
A few shots of the girls:
And lastly, my favorite shot of the day of the whole family:
Thanks for such a fun time, guys! I hope to see and photograph you guys again in the future!
View/Leave Comments (2)Shortly after I returned from my Army trip last month, in the heart of the holiday season, I had a chance to get together with and photograph one of favorite families of all time. I’ve photographed these ladies several times, but hadn’t done so in way too long. These three have a very special relationship, and it shows every time we get together. Loraine and her two daughters Annabel and Mae, met me at Balboa Park for a fun hour of photos and catching up. They bought special dresses from one of their favorite designers just for the shoot. They looked totally fab, and they always make it easy for me to photograph them. I hope we can make it a yearly tradition!
Here are a few fun shots from my time with these awesome ladies:
Work it, ladies, work it!
Some mood fashionista shots:
Thank you for an awesome session, ladies! I hope to see you again soon!
View/Leave Comments (4)Happy New Year everyone!
After a nice long break from blogging, a vacation at home with the family, a fantastic Christmas and New Year’s, and a nice semi-break from social networking, it’s great to be be back! I’m incredibly excited about all of the things in store in the coming weeks and months. This blog will soon be getting a facelift, and I’ll also be debuting my brand new main portfolio website! I’m also planning on blogging a lot more this year, (including my daughter’s website). I blogged EVERY SINGLE DAY in the year 2007, but have been a bit of a slacker the last couple of years. It’s time to pick up the pace! I certainly won’t be blogging every single day, but definitely more often.
I also plan on networking more in the new year. Getting out and socializing (in PERSON) with my fellow industry professionals is key being successful these days. In fact, I’m going to try to have lunch with a fellow industry friend at least once per week. If you want join me, let me know!
After the most chaotic, and at the same time the most rewarding year of my life in 2009, I’m looking forward to creating more time for friends and family. I’m hoping this year is both a year of growth, as well as tranquility. All of the hard work and stress is meant to give us the ability to enjoy the little moments spent with the most important people in our lives. And that’s what I hope to do this year… to work hard, but to also make plenty of time for my family and friends. That’s what it all comes down to.
I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season, and that you’re as pumped about this new year as I am! I have several shoots and projects from last month that I’ll be blogging in the next few days, so check back!
And because blog posts without pictures are lame, here are a few shots of my daughter from a couple days ago, tearing apart a teething cookie like only she can:
And just for fun, a super-sized image of the queen of the cookie!
On the eve of my flight back to San Diego after a two week shoot out here at Ft. Gordon, I thought I would post a shot the fantastic crew I get to work with while I’m out here. This trip was all about shooting communication specialties, so that’s why I chose the satellite dish as the background. I’m the thug in the middle wearing the hoodie. Home tomorrow!
Before I flew out here to Augusta for my current US Army shoot, I met up with a lovely former bride of mine from earlier this year to shoot a quick bridal session in Poway, CA. Due to time constraints and forces beyond out control, I wasn’t able to shoot everything I would have liked on her wedding day. So, a few months after the wedding we got together to capture a couple more shots of her in her dress. We only had a short time to shoot in the late afternoon as the sun was dipping below the horizon, but I’m still very happy with the images I was able to capture. Here are a couple of my favorites from our get together!
One of the things I love about the holiday season and my profession, is that each year I’m fortunate enough to photograph some of the same families, reconnect with them, and see how the kids have grown. I first photograph the Gonzales family last year, when their little girl Danica was only 4 months old. She’s now running around like crazy, and just a adorable as ever. We once again headed to Balboa Park (a favorite place for the family) and shot a few images for their holiday cards.
Here are a few of my faves:
A beautiful, happy family!
A couple shots of the super-cute Danica!
I love this shot of Danica and Dad!
And one final shot similar to a favorite shot from last year, walking across the bridge at sunset:
Thanks again for another fun time you guys! I can’t wait to see you again soon!
View/Leave Comments (1)These two beautiful kids are getting married the day after Christmas this year! Our schedules finally aligned and allowed us to get together last week to take a stroll around La Jolla and grab a few engagement images. The one thing that Maribel specified about the photos was that in some of them she wanted to have balloons. Balloons are AWESOME, so I was happy to hear that! Here are a couple of shots from our afternoon together…
Balloons!
After stolling through the streets we headed down to the beach for a few shots just before sunset:
I love this little moment:
And what beach shoot would be complete without a silhouette shot?
I can’t wait for their wedding next month! It’s going to be amazing!
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