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Hey there! My name is Becker and I am a wedding photographer from Orange County, California who specializes in capturing relaxed portraits, amazing details and real moments for the coolest brides and grooms on the planet.
This blog follows both my personal and professional life, and features images from the weddings I shoot, the places I travel and the friends and family members that mean so much to me. It's basically like my own personal photo album combined with an information source for my current and potential clients and a source of inspiration and education for other photographers. This site is a little more informal and I just want to give everyone a sense of who I am, and what I am all about. Thanks for visiting.
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check out the top voted images click to enlarge
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| The New PickPic is here |
05.31.2007 |
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Well, it took a little longer than originally expected, but it was well worth the wait!
Our new online proofing and shopping cart solution is finally here! PickPic 3 is alive!
We've been using the original Pickpic for the last couple of years and our clients have been loving it. It gives us complete control over our online proofing and provides an outstanding experience for our clients. The new version has too many new features to list, and to be honest, I haven't even had a chance to set it all up, but I still wanted to give you all a preview of the cart, so if you'd like to see a sample gallery, click here. (Keep in mind that the system may be a little slow with all the extra traffic over the next day or so). Check out the zoom feature, which makes it so much easier for the clients to decide on which photos to choose.
Here's why I just love PickPic:
- There are no monthly fees.
- I don't have to give up a percentage of sales.
- I can use whatever lab I choose.
- We are able to give our clients better customer service since we are in control of the entire process.
- No one spams my clients and their guests.
- The back end is so slick (but I can't post it because I don't want to tip off the competitors)
- I am just so excited about the new features like gift registries, album and frame ordering, as well as other products and services that I am able to offer.
If you are a photographer who would like to elevate your clients experience, and while putting more profits in your pocket, instead of that of your current online proofing company, you should get on the waiting list to have your cart installed. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments below and I'll try to answer them ASAP.
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EDITED TO ADD: If anyone is interested in getting a PickPic cart, please don't use the email link at the bottom of the demo but instead contact them directly through their website as I don't have any affliation with them except being a happy customer. That email link is to my office manager Kathleen and she is busy taking care of my clients. Thanks!
And, another one of the cool features the new version has is some built in stats. I just got back from lunch and in the two hours since I posted the demo, I know that 186 unique visitors have already checked it out looking at more than 2000 pages. Being able to track viists versus orders is a key piece of info that can help you with your marketing strategy. |
| laguna beach engagement photos |
05.30.2007 |
For the photographers looking to see my PickPic demo, you are going to have to check back tomorrow. Some last minute things came up and I didn't get a chance to finish writing about it. I will post it tomorrow afternoon and the shirts will still be available this Friday at noon PST.
Also, I still have a couple of spots open for the June 12 Party of 5, which I will be demonstrating the PickPic cart as well as my new workflow and we have also have some really, really, really good looking models coming!
Here are some engagement photos that I shot last night in Laguna Beach near the Montage. These two were so fun to shoot and I am looking forward to their wedding this July at the La Venta Inn. |
| Randsburg, California |
05.29.2007 |
On the way home from my fishing trip the other day, I took a slight detour off of Highway 395 when I saw a sign that read "Mining District, 1 Mile". So I took a right and headed towards my latest photo field trip... Randsburg, California.
Like Bodie, Randsburg was a mining town, but the difference is, people still live there. Only 77 according to the 2000 census, but were are a few shops open and people milling about as I walked around the downtown area.
I was also talking to my mom yesterday, about how much I hated going antique shopping with her as a child, but now, I really appreciate old things, that have stood the test of time. I especially like old signage, and the weathered texture of things that have been around longer than I have been alive. There is just something so interesting about it to me lately.
Anywho... here are a few images from around town, starting with the post office: |
| And these old bottles in the window: |
| I love old school graphic design and textured paint: |
| I wish this old trunk was for sale: |
| This house needs a paint job!: |
| The was the sign in front of the "White Butterfly", which was a "saloon and floozie house"... we don't have any of those in Mission Viejo: |
I just want to encourage wedding photographers to get out and shoot for yourself from time to time.
Also, check back tomorrow for my demo of the new Pickpic system!
AND... the [ b ] school t-shirts will be available THIS FRIDAY at noon PST. There are less than 100 shirts left and when they are gone, they are gone. I wanted to give everyone fair warning about the onsale. |
| Happy Memorial Day |
05.28.2007 |
I just wanted to say happy Memorial Day to everyone and give a shout out to our troops that are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am thankful for what they do and for all those who have served in our armed forces in the past. I am grateful for all the people who have the courage to stand up and fight for freedom and out way of life.
I don't have a flag to fly on my house, but here are some of my favorite flag photos that I've taken over the years.
From Bodie last week: |
The flag the hung off of the Pentagon shortly after the 9/11 attacks. This photo was taken at the Smithsonian in 2003.
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| The stained glassed window at the Dole Institute |
| From Randsburg, CA (more on Randsburg later in the week) |
| A memorial on the beach in Santa Barbara |
| Bodie in Color |
05.27.2007 |
| Here are a few color images of Bodie. |
| Bodie in Black & White |
05.26.2007 |
Back when I was just getting into photography in high school, my dad took me to Bodie, and old ghost town just outside of Bridgeport, CA (about a 45 minute drive from where we were camping). Bodie (on Wikipedia) was one of the huge mining camp towns that flourished during the California gold rush. Over $34 million worth of gold was taken from it's mines and it was one of the towns that was synonymous with the Old West... murders, shootouts, ballroom brawls and stagecoach shootouts were regular occurrences.
The other day, my dad and I spent a few hours walking around the deserted town shooting photos and just wondering what it must have been like to live back in those times. I have always been fascinated with that era and especially Billy the Kid and other outlaws (Young Guns and Young Guns II are some of my favorite movies, can I get an "Amen"!).
Here are a few of my favorite B&W images, I'll post the color ones tomorrow. |
| Check back tomorrow for the color photos. |
| A campin' we will go |
05.25.2007 |
Even since my dad was in high school, he has been coming up to the same campground in Eastern Sierra's each year for a little fishing vacation. Annette's Mono Village at Twin Lakes just 13 miles outside of Bridgeport, California is the spot and there are even photos of me on my dad's lap taken when I was just 9 months old. The place holds some of my favorite childhood memories as we came here on family vacations many times.
Just about every Memorial Day weekend for the last 37 years or so, most of the men in my family, along with neighbors, coworkers and friends, have come up to fish, hike, relax, fart, burp, tell dirty jokes, drink heavily, etc... One year, about 45 guys made the trip.
When I was little, I remember my dad coming home with a cooler full of fresh trout (which I never cared for), but I was also so impressed with how many fish he caught and I always wanted to go, but I was just too young.
Finally, about 20 years ago when I was 13 and in high school, my dad took me out of school early one Friday, to
get a head start on the weekend traffic and I was invited for the first time. I thought I was a "big boy" and could pack for myself, but unfortunately I forgot to pack long pants, and my shorts just weren't cutting it in the snow. We spend the entire day Saturday looking for pants that fit and lost an entire day of fishing, and they never let me forgot it each of the following years
Fast forward to last Tuesday. I drove up about 400 miles to meet the guys up there for the first time since 2003. I've had destination weddings over Memorial Day weekend the last couple of years and unable to attend. (By the way, the gas price post from yesterday was from a remote gas station in the middle of nowhere on the way to the lakes). I arrived around sundown, and hopped out of my car with shorts and flip flops and was immediately asked if I remembered pants. Smartasses!
The place is absolutely gorgeous: |
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| I found the tree where I carved the [ b ] logo four years ago: |
| Of course I got my hammock time in: |
I guess I've gotten a little soft in my older years, because I don't enjoy camping as much as I used to. I froze my ass off the first night and didn't sleep very well. The second night was a little better, but not the way I like to spend my vacation. I much prefer warm, tropical places with comfy beds, hot showers and room service... not to mention WiFi and ya know... electricity!
I do love just sitting around the campfire and chatting with everyone. |
| And check out my dad! It was awesome watching him cruise around the lake in his tricked out pontoon boat catching fish left and right! (Ok, so I personally only saw him catch one, but still... he was having a blast). |
My dad and I also had some great bonding time as we walked around shooting an old ghost town... check back tomorrow for those photos.
Oh... and just to clear one thing up so my mom and aunt don't freak out... there isn't a lof of heavy drinking going on these days... everything else is the same. |
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