A Sacramento Wedding

guest commentator: monica

wow... what a gorgeous venue and gorgeous day to have a wedding. the drive to sacramento was gloomy, with rain clouds looming above us. it wasn't until we got onto the property of the radisson and stood outside of stow lake that we began to see some sun. seriously, just beyond the property, the weather was completely different.

witnessing and photographing the pre-ceremony preparation, the buzz of excitement & warmth of family love filled the rooms where the bride and her bridal party were getting ready. the short, yet very sweet, ceremony ended in time for the couple to "jump the broom" as the sky filled with a glorious sunset.

enjoy the breathtaking images below of the thomas wedding ceremony & reception.

may joy & jb continue to share many more moments which take their breath away. salud!




//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

the venue


getting ready


ceremony during sunset


reception

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abbie and brian's wedding - fun fun fun! PART 1

guest commentator: monica

wow... words cannot begin to describe the beauty, magnificence, and damn fun this wedding was! i must say this is the most elegant & enjoyable wedding i have ever had the pleasure of attending. the weather could not have been any better in san diego, what with the clear blue skies and warm mid-70 degree temperatures. if you have never seen the usd campus, you must do so on your next trip down south. beautiful white buildings surround lush landscaping and fountians, with a view of the hills on one side and the bright blue of the pacific on the other. the church itself is straight up gorgeous, with it's impressive height & architectural detail. no other name is as fitting as the "immaculata..."

the breathtaking beauty did not end with the church. what a way to show off the color scheme of the wedding through the attire of the bridal party. each bridesmaid wore a different variation of brown (and in at least one case, variations of browns) in a different dress cut & style and the vests and ties of the males were a rich, bronze color. the bride was a stunning vision in the most beautiful couture gown i have ever seen on a real bride. it's hard to describe how beautiful the entourage looked without seeing it for yourself...

the most astonishing aspect of this wedding is how much of it represented both abbie & brian. naturally creative & artistic, you can see their presence in every piece of the wedding. not only did they pay careful attention to the aesthetic details but they also attended to the details of ensuring that each participant & guest felt comfortable & honored to be part of the event. not only were we able to celebrate abbie & brian but we were also able to celebrate "ourselves" as important people on their important day.

more pictures will follow but with high anticipation for a view of the pics (namely from me, i admit!), eddie was excited to post just a few of the highlights. i think we're all still recovering from such a smashing success of a wedding. congrats to you both, abbie & brian!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


getting ready ---


--- on the way to church ---

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abbie and brian's wedding - fun fun fun! PART 2

--- The Emaculata ---


--- a little celebration ---


--- break to lunch at roberto's ---

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introducing... mr. & mrs. alan & heidi bradford! PART 1

by guest commentator: monica

in honor of heidi & alan's wedding in san jose, eddie has asked me to write his blog entry. and even though i played a small role in their wedding photo shoot, i still think i can take a lot of credit for any of the really outstanding photos. ;)

we headed over to the bradford residence to shoot the guys getting ready. i kept nagging eddie about getting to the house "on time" and he was in no rush, claiming "the guys only need a few minutes to get ready." of course, he was right. i forget so easily sometimes that besides having a decent haircut and shave, all guys have to do to get ready is put on their clothes & slap on some cologne & deoderant. done! the lawn area outside the house has some beautiful redwoods, which eddie took advantage of in the guys' shots. the bradfords and groomsmen all looked fabulous!

a lovely ceremony was held at st. lucy parish, officiated by a suprisingly young & hip priest who joked about the 3 rings of marriage: "engagement ring, wedding ring, and lastly, suffe-ring..." hehehe, i got a kick out of that one! the highlight of the ceremony was their adorable baby boy as the ring bearer, being pushed along in a decorated wagon down the aisle by alan's sis, kat. super cute!

the icing on the cake was the post-ceremony/pre-reception location shoot at santana row, particularly inside the hotel valencia. can you say GORGEOUS!!!! the stylin' couple already looked fantastic but put them in beautiful architecture & design and they look STUNNING!

lastly, the reception was all about fun, fun, fun. both sides of their families have such warm & fun-loving spirits. put them all in one hall with a complimentary bar and you've got one bangin' party!

congrats again to the happy couple. enjoy your honeymoon in rome. congratulazioni! salud!!!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

--- the grooms ---

--- the ceremony ---

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kris and nicole's wedding - PART 1

this past weekend was one of those super memorable weekends where everything right happened. while i was looking at some of the photos captured at the wedding, i started to really appreciate how moments are able to be captured in time so that the viewer (,such as yourself or the bride,) can appreciate what a meaningful day it really was after everything has calmed down. this is when, to me, photography plays an important role. a part of your life has been captured which in turn can be transformed into art and can be appreciated anytime after.

kris and nicole are a young couple, very much in love. they had their wedding in vallejo and the reception in travis. so much detail was put into this wedding that it would have been a crime to walk past and not appreciate how beautiful everything was... on with the pictures!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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before and after

recently, we've been getting more and more questions about "post processing". we then reply saying that every single image taken receives a custom "makeover". individual images go through a rigorous change in temperature color, exposure, shadow, brightness, contrast, saturation and curve. from there, we're able to transform "nice photos" into "wow photos". please see below for examples.

= )

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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maria's e session and family photos - updated

guest commentator: monica

eddie and i headed over to sf to meet up with maria and her family in the city. afraid that it would be raining all day, we were so lucky that the sun had actually peeked out of the clouds this morning. a photo session with a family of 7 is automatically expected to be fun and this family is definitely no exception! and by the way, this couple is definitely in loooooooooove.... so much so, their children even excused their "cupcakin,'" as the kids are callin' PDA ("public displays of affection"). FELIZ CUMPLEANOS, MARIA!!! (Sorry for forgetting to wish you a very Happy Birthday today!)

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

--- the family ---

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jen and ron - updated

i'm just testing out new layouts... don't mind me. =)

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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new image sizes

i will now upload "edited" square images on my blog from now on (or as much as i can)... i love the new look. the reason why i'd like to do this is because i always get stuck with plenty of other images that i like that nobody else would see... but if i do upload all the "others" i overcrowd my blog with too many images. what do you guys think? = )

oh, and congrats to heidi and alan (the lovely couple below)! i hear you guys are expecting!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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norm's pregnant photos

guest commentator: monica

with only 1.5 hours to shoot this evening, in a very cold "studio," with one very sick photographer, one rampant weiner-dog searching for treats, one "mua" (make-up artist) who ended up wrapping one of our gifts secretly (and quite well, i might add!), one hungry lighting assistant, two out-fit changes, and an 8-month pregnant model, we shot the following...

enjoy the glimpses of the glow of new life growing in a new mother's body....

and happy holidays, everyone. eddie really appreciates all you viewers, especially those who take the time to leave comments. you guys really keep him going...

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

"sheer shots" (my made-up term)

pretty in black

april, the "mua"

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jen and ron's engagement

guest commentator: monica

to combat the dicey weather in the city, we ended up asking the lovely couple, jen and ron, to meet us three hours earlier than planned. and boy were they troopers waking up that early after only having had a couple hours of sleep. regardless, they were just as excited and eager to shoot as we were. with a tentative itinerary, we headed to our first destination but ended up making a detour to the "little beach" just before the exit to the city. the swirl of dark clouds looming made it especially a good background, with the sun peeking out every now and then.

into the city we went to our first destination, then we detoured again, this time to the back of sf moma. and when i mean "back," i mean directly behind the building, illegally parked where trucks are unloaded and forklifts enter. 5 minutes, boom, and we're out!

we began to head to our original destination before we find a "secret" spot with an amazing set of "stairs that lead to nowhere" it seemed. jen and ron were so flexible with every unintended spot. that's what's great about san francisco... the unlimited photographer's eye candy.

here's a glimpse of some of the highlights of the day: (and because this is an engagement session with a wedding date late next year, we'll reveal the "exclusive" shots post-wedding, most likely with the wedding photos themselves). enjoy the beauty of high school sweethearts still in love! =)

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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funny story -

a funny story-

i was explaining to beverly and jason why photographers use reflectors and how it masks shadows that don't usually provide the nicest appearance on peoples' faces, especially on a super sunny day where the sun's light is nothing but harsh. so i used jermaine (their youngest son) as an example. i carefully placed the reflector on the ground away from the camera's point of view moving it back and forth...

"see how the shadows just go away and provides a rounder form of light? see?" i said.

but while i was talking and moving the reflector back and forth to show the before and after, jermaine was having a difficult time giving us a straight face since the light was in his eyes. it was SOOO cute and FUNNY, i had to take a shot.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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(red)

The Global Fund

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was established in 2002, with the support of the world's leaders and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, to dramatically increase resources to fight three of the world's most devastating diseases, and to direct those resources to areas of greatest need by supporting locally-driven strategies. To date, the Global Fund has committed US$6.6 billion to 460 programs in 136 countries.

The Global Fund is an innovative partnership of governments, non-profit organizations, and the private sector, working together to rid the world of AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. Its sole purpose is to raise funds and make grants to countries, organizations and communities that urgently need financial help to allow them to respond to these epidemics. The Global Fund continues to fund grants dependent upon proven results and targets achieved.

Please help support the foundation by clicking on the image above or simply go to joinred.com because it saves lives.

In addition, the cool image above has been borrowed from becker.com who is one of the many super talented wedding photographers i look up to.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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bev and jason

i had a chance to take photos of beverly and jason the other week. they're already married, but i just couldn't pass up NOT taking their photos. they're SO into each other like they recently just started dating...

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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update - adriana geisha

one more to add from the geisha shoot with adriana.

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and their babies...

roxanne has her baby.



monica has her's too.

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arnold photoshoot

entrepreneur, video producer, and promoter are what arnold is. given all the different types of genre he produces, i found it hard to think of a style and background environment that suits this man of many talents. so i placed him in as many different backgrounds and textures as i could possibly find and think of in the given amount of time we had to shoot. these two images below are what caught my eye as well as what just felt right. boo-yah!

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photo touch ups

i just wanted to share with everyone what goes into some photos. a number of images posted here are cleaned up to keep the quality as high as possible, meaning, erasing some stray hairs, removing some lint, and simple cropping to make the image more visually appealing and interesting. some, on the other hand are simply "touched-up" and bluntly edited.

most of my clients, friends and family don't mind and would PREFER that i help them lose a pound or two, even give back some years by removing wrinkles and CHINS, on a few images they really like. below are some examples of what's possible.

//ed

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monica and kristin ran a half marathon

monica and kristin ran the nike women's marathon last weekend. 13.1 total miles were traveled to officially complete a half marathon. i can't even imagine biking 13 miles, let alone, do it by foot. they truly are warriors.

i believe the nike run has the most perks because of all the free chocolate and free dry-fit shirts and free tiffany necklaces and hot firefighters in tuxes and free organic foods and free oxygen bars and free massages... let's just say i can keep going.

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adriana - geisha photoshoot

this past weekend was something special. busy... but special, none the less. i had a very good friend named adriana come over and dress up as a geisha. getting ready took over an hour but oh, man was the wait SO WORTH IT. she looked absolutely AMAZING in her outfit.

we've been planning this for several month and the wait is finally over. i hope you enjoy adriana's pics as much as i do. thanks adriana!

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