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Speaking engagement at the OC Smugmug Meetup

08.29.2009

Thursday night I had the honor and privilege of speaking in front of almost 300 of my peers at the Orange County SmugMug meeting. My friend Jasmine Star, who host them, and asked me if I'd do a presentation and of course I jumped at the chance.

I talked about "Passion & Profits" and the general gist, is that in order to make a living in the photography business, you need to be passionate about what you are doing. It was fun because I was able to share a lot of my personal photos, as well as some of my favorite wedding photos. I met a bunch of new people and I also got to catch up with quite a few [ b ] Schoolers.

I was a teensy bit nervous before my talk because A). it was a larger group than I am used to talking to and B) it was my home town peers. I've been traveling the world speaking to photographers all of this planet, but this was a tad different because it was in front of my friends, my family (mom & dad came) and even some of my competition.

Here are a few images that Jasmine took, and there are even more images on her blog

Jasmine gave me a very warm welcome that had me a tad choked up and threw me off of my game a bit.

Something got in my eye. J* was quite pleased with herself!:

Here's a collage from some images from my friend Matthew Saville. After my talk, we all hit up Cold Stone, then a few of us ended up at Korean BBQ at the end of the night where, I rattled off some self portraits too.

Thanks to everyone who came out to show your support. Remember to do you homework assignments: Follow @thebschool, become a fan, and follow up with the people you got business cards from.

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Malibu wedding at the Sunset by an OC wedding photographer

08.25.2009

Two years ago this coming Monday, I shot a lovely Laguna Beach wedding for a super nice couple, so when the bride's baby sis called me up and asked me to shoot her wedding, or course I was on excited. I love shooting second and third weddings within the same family because it makes my job so much easier since half of the people already know me and are used to my style and pace of shooting.

This past Saturday, my crew & I started at the Four Season Westlake Village to shoot the getting ready photos before stopping at Malibu Creek Park for some bridal portraits and ending up on the beach in Malibu at the Sunset restaurant.

Christina from Simply Modern Weddings coordinated the affair and Commerce Flowers provided the florals. Design Visage provided the hair & make up.

Here are some of my favorite relaxed portraits, amazing details and real moments from the day. Please vote for your favorites and feel free to share this post on Facebook and/or Twitter.

The bride got a little emotional when her dad saw her in her dress for the first time. I think this is my favorite image from the day so far.

The groom was looking quite dapper and excited to be getting married.

This is the groom's father, who reminded me of a Senator. Couldn't he just play the President in a movie? Get this man an agent!:

A few more of the bride. I posted a preview on Sunday.

Hi ladies!:

You just can't beat the late afternoon sun for some nice portraits:

They had quite the choreographed number for their first dance.

Thanks to Ryan from Cheesy Photo Booth for sending these images of Larry & I.

Larry Reeves and Whitney Elizabeth, my fellow [ b ] Schoolers, also shot the wedding with me. Thanks you two!

Contact Becker. View Wedding Portfolio

miscellaneous monday 64

08.24.2009

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Welcome to the late edition of Miscellaneous Monday. I had a crazy day and was out of the office almost all day, but alas, here is the randomness that is going on in my life.
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Programming note, there won't be a Misc Monday post next week as I'll be at Burning Man. In fact, I will be going on a complete internet black out for 4 days, Monday through Thursday. No phone, no blog, no Twitter, no Facebook, no [ b ] School, no contact with the outside world what so ever. I hope nothing bad happens, but if it does, I'll find out about it on Friday.
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I'm getting very excited for my first OC speaking engagement in over 5 years this coming Thursday. I've been working hard on my presentation and I'll be sharing a lot of my personal work. All photographers are welcome. Get the details & RSVP here
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Eric Bruntlett turned an unassisted triple play to end the Phillies/Mets game on Sunday. It's the first time since 1927 that happened.
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I'll be picking up Snow Leopard on Friday for sure:

Apple also released two new tv spots and my favorite is the one called Top of the Line because it makes fun of the lame Windows ads that have been running lately.
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Speaking of Apple, this tablet looks sexy.
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A lot of my friends from the midwest and the south refer to LA as the "land of fruits & nuts". I can't imagine how they'd ever get the idea. Certainly not from a local weatherman who does a dance party weather forecast every night:

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I saw Inglorious Basterds last night, and while it wasn't what I was expecting, I really did enjoy it no matter how twisted it was. The trailers make it out to be almost like a comedy or a spoof of a war movie, but it was actually a pretty gruesome drama. I really enjoyed the dialog as well as the way it was lit and shot. Brad Pitt was great but Christoph Waltz stole the show.
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When I went to see Inglorious Basterds, they had a trailer for an awesome guy movie that I am dying to see. It's the new Jamie Fox, Gerard Butler movie Law Abiding Citizen

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Last Friday I was watching the preseason game at Cowboys Stadium and was blown away by the awesome awesomeness that is the new HDTV that is suspended above the field. Sweet:

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Tweet of the week.
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Shout out of the week: I'd like to give a shout out to all the peeps coming to my upcoming workshops. We still have space available in all 3. Little Rock, Omaha & Miami
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T-shirt of the week:

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Malibu wedding preview extra gorgeous bride

08.23.2009

I love my job! Here's what I had to work with yesterday. She cleans up alright eh? ;-)

Photographers note: Processed with the new Dirty Pictures textures from the Totally Rad people. My favorite texture so far is Booty LaRue.

By the way, there's a $25 coupon code inside of the [ b ] School towards the purchase of any Totally Rad product. Good until 9/04/09

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Fine art nude images of Valerie

08.22.2009

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Enter "valerie" in the password box above only if you are not offended by artistic representations of the nude female form.

I shot these photos back in 2006 while I was in Bermuda for a wedding. This model also happened to be vacationing in Bermuda at the time and we hooked up for a few hours one afternoon. I never blogged the images, but please take a peek as I reworked some of the images with the new "Dirty Pictures" textures from the Totally Rad people. (Go ahead insert your own "dirty pictures" joke here).

By the way, there's a $25 coupon code inside of the [ b ] School towards the purchase of any Totally Rad product. Good until 9/04/09