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.

Please take the time to look around and click through all of the links at the top, and don’t forget to add me to your RSS reader! If you have any links or blogrolls pointing to my old blog, I’d appreciate it if you took a minute to switch them over to here. I’ll be happy to do the same for you.

If you’d like to know a little more about me or my photography, please SEND ME AN E-MAIL, or give me a call at 619.244.7627.

If you are a client looking to see your proofs, please do so by clicking HERE.

And lastly, if you are planning on getting married, I’d love to hear from you! Or if you know someone else who is getting married, please send them my info. I promise you won’t regret it! Thanks again for stopping by.

And I love these last 2 shots. They show their fun personalities, as well as the beautiful wedding venue.

I also want to send out a BIG thank you to Ian Andrew for coming along to shoot with me!

It’s been a while since my last round of portrait mini-sessions, and I’m happy to announce that I’ve put together a new package, and two new session dates!

This round of sessions will take place on two consecutive Saturdays… May 26th, and June 2nd! Stepping away from Balboa Park this time, the sessions will be held in beautiful Presidio Park, just up the hill from Old Town. Here’s the breakdown of info for the sessions…

For a session fee of only $139, you’ll receive a 30 minute session for yourself, your family, or your children. You’ll also receive a disc of all the hi-res final images for unlimited personal printing use, an online password protected gallery for image browsing and print ordering, and a $25 professional print credit through me and my professional lab! This is easily the best package I’ve been able to put together for mini-sessions.

Here are the date and time slots:

Saturday, May 26th – Presidio Park

3:00pm – OPEN
3:30pm – OPEN
4:00pm – OPEN
(BREAK)
5:00pm – OPEN
5:30pm – OPEN
6:00pm – BOOKED

Saturday, June 9th – Presidio Park

3:00pm – OPEN
3:30pm – OPEN
4:00pm – BOOKED
(BREAK)
5:00pm – BOOKED
5:30pm – OPEN
6:00pm – OPEN

I will update this post as the dates begin to fill up.

If you’d like to book a spot, please SEND ME AN EMAIL HERE, and let me know your preferred date and time. Payment is due at the time you book your session slot. I will happily send all of the details once you contact me. And as an added bonus, if you refer a friend that books a session slot, you’ll receive an additional $25 print credit inside your gallery!

Here are a few samples from past portrait session!

I’m certain these dates will book up quickly, so contact me soon if you’re interested in booking your spot! If you have any questions, please shoot me an email and I will happily answer them.

I look forward to seeing you all soon!

A good stretch, coming out of a good nap:

Paul, being a good daddy…

And a little portrait of the happy family:

Congratulations, you guys. She’s beautiful!

To begin, here are a few of my favorite shots from our get together on Tuesday. This couple has two adorable little boys, and they wanted some updated family photos. Check’em out!

We started with just a couple shots at their home before heading over to the beach.

We had to move our shoot up a day at the last minute, as the forecast for our original shoot day was all-day rain. I’m so glad we did, as the light and weather on this day was amazing.

Big brother, sporting his awesome shades:

Enjoying the prize for being so good during our shoot!

Did I mention the light at the end of the day was amazing?

Alright… onto the story. After returning to their home following our shoot at the beach, the father shared this story with me, and I starting tearing up. Seriously.

I first photographed this family on November 1st, 2009, 2 weeks after the birth of their first son. You can check out that session by CLICKING HERE. Go ahead and look. I’ll wait…..

The Dad is a US Navy Seal, and was sent out for deployment just 2 days after our session. You’ll notice at the end of that post there’s a photo of his newborn baby boy wrapped in an American flag. Here it is:

Being a father myself, I CANNOT FATHOM having to leave home for an extended period just days after my first child was born. While on deployment, Dad would take that very same American flag, and wrap it around the armor that was inserted into his vest to remind him of his little boy, and why he was serving his country. I can’t get into any detail here, but shortly into his deployment, Dad was shot multiple times in the chest. He survived, thanks to the armor he was wearing around his chest. When we walked into his house, he told me this story, and then pointed to a wall in his living room, where the flag was hanging, with multiple bullet holes torn right through the flag:

Shivers. That’s about all I can say.

Dad is just fine, and is still serving our country. I received his permission to take the photos, and to share his story here on my blog. For that, and for his service, I thank him. This session reminded me of why it is that I do what I do for a living. Because it allows me into the homes and the lives of some amazing people, and to somehow, however little, help document those lives and the amazing stories within.

Here are a few of my faves from our afternoon together. Lots of gorgeous late afternoon sun action going on in these. : )

They’re kinda cute together, eh?

If you’re still interested in having me photograph your family this holiday season, I still have a few dates available. Just send me a message and let me know!