The state of my Current Blog

For all my blogstalkers and my beautiful current, future, and past clients. Yesterday I transitioned my website to a brand new hosting company. I have a completely brand new built from the ground up website at http:/jllacarphotography.com.  However, in doing so, it rendered my WordPress blog inaccessible. Therefore I am using my old WordPress blog as a “temporary” means of showing off my clients images. Right now I really stressing out because my “real” blog is beautiful and gorgeous. Honestly, I like my blog MORE than my own website. So in the meantime, this is my current blog for now. I am working my current hosting company to bring back my REAL WordPress blog! Thank you so much! By all means, please leave me a comment or two.

Check out my new BLOG at jllacarphotography.com/blog/

Hi Everyone! I just want to let you know that I “migrated” my blog to a new site.
Please check em out at http://jllacarphotography.com/blog/

Thank you everone for reading all my posts and commenting on them!!

Sincerely

Joel

E-Session: Dave and Loty at The Santa Monica Pier

Arrived at The Pier around 2:30PM Sunday Afternoon, March 2nd 2008. Beautiful and absolutely perfect day for an engagement session. The Pier itself was just a little too crowded to hold such a shoot. So we decided to shoot their session at the Boardwalk and the outskirts of the Pier. Dave and Loty ran about an hour late because they were stuck in traffic coming from Riverside. Loty is a very good friend of May, whose wedding I will be shooting March of next year. Loty and Dave is set to be married this coming May, not too far from The Pier. Dave and Loty were such a fun couple to shoot! From the very first frame, they got right into it. They have such a good chemistry together, and it shows! The Beautiful Santa Monica Pier along with excellent natural lighting provided beautiful images! Loty and Dave are so easy to shoot too, I just ask them to “perform” a certain fun pose,and they just “roll” with it. This is what I LOVE about photography. I love capturing images that evoke beautiful and fun emotions!

Check out Loty and Dave’s Slideshow also. Turn UP those speakers!

 

 

 

For Heavens Cakes, Extreme Makeover by myStyle Channel and Peter Ishkans

Lisa Donahue and her unbelievable staff of talented and skilled “Cake Artists” of For Heavens Cakes in Thousand Oaks, was chosen by this show for a Store Make-over. I had the honor of capturing this day as she and her staff was surprised by Peter Ishkans and myStyle Channel. It was surreal! Lisa and her crew had their own makeover as they were taken to a Beverly Hills Salon for hair and makeup. They were then taken by limousine to their newly remodeled store. Friends and family was on hand to greet them outside their bakery. The Style Channel video crew and Peter was certainly causing a bit of stir from their surrounding retail stores. I am so fortunate to be associated with Lisa. Just to let you know that For Heavens Cakes are REALLY “To Die For!!!”.

Now Open Your Eyes!! Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Master Your Craft Workshop with Bob Davis and Mike Colon

I attended a workshop that I have been waiting for since I first learned of it at David Jay’s Open Source Photo Forum, back on December of last year. I got to meet two of the worlds best photographers in the world in Bob Davis and Mike Colon. I was so excited that I could not sleep the night before. Besides, I had a long drive to Los Angeles Sheraton Gateway near LAX where the workshop will be held. It was so funny that the Pictage ParnerCon 2007 also happen to have taken place here as well back on September of 2007.

Mike and Bob are are very down to earth and approachable. They answered all our questions after each topic of discussion. Whether it be about equipment use, a certain camera setting, how to light a scene. Anything to do with photography, they answered. I sat right on the front row, I did not want to miss anything by sitting in the back. I wanted to be right there, front and center! They told a little bit about themselves, how they got into wedding photography. What they love about it and why they keep doing it. Even though they are way up there from me. I feel that we share the same love and passion for photography. Ever since I picked up my very first dSLR, I knew I wanted to be a photographer! I absolutely love capturing moments as they happen. My wife Rachelle, and our son, Jordan happen to be my most favorite subjects.

It was over eight hours long, but man, I wanted to be alot longer. I wish it was over 10 hours long! I absorbed everything they talked about; from camera settings, to lighting techniques, work-flow and post-processing, using Adobe Photoshop and Apple Aperture 2.0. We also learned about marketing our business, serving our customers, meeting their expectations and providing the best value to them. Not only did I get to learn from two of the best photographers in the world, I also got to know photographers within my community. Some are from the Orange County, Los Angeles County, and some from San Bernardino. We exchanged business cards, exchanged ideas, asked each other questions about how they are doing. It was so fun and exciting to get to know my peers, and also to network with them. Most of them are going to WPPI next month in Vegas. I am so excited about WPPI Tradeshow and Convention. That will be another long story that I cannot wait to share with you.

Check out some of the photos I took during our workshop!

Jordan and Lucy

Lucy and her mom, Joy, Rachelle’s co-worker and good friend dropped by the house this afternoon too see Jordan and Mom for their fourth play date together. The last three times the playdate was held at Joy and Kay’s place here in Thousand Oaks, but this is the first time the playdate was held at ours. I was looking forward to it, with my camera in tow. I took a bunch of photos. As you can see, Jordan and Lucy are quite “fond” of each other.

Jordan posing as Cupid for Valentines Day 2008

So my wife and I had a little bit of fun with our 3 month old son, Jordan. Rachelle bought angel wings and some other Valentines day stuff. Last year, I bought a baby poser but I never got to use it. Well now that I am a Dad, I guess I will have more chances of using it. So we had Jordan dressed up as Cupid. Some of the shots,we had him lying down on his tummy on top of the baby poser. I had one Alien-Bees AB800 on a lightstand with a white shoot through umbrella on the left, with a huge white reflector that my mother-in-law was holding on the right. Boy, baby and children shots are HARD! Jordan kept sliding down on one side of the baby poser, so she has to hold him with his legs while I take the shot. If we keep there long enough, he will start to whine, no less. So my wife had to keep Jordan pre-occupied again while I take the shots. I used my Canon 5D with my Canon EF 50 f/1.2L.

 

Valentine’s Day Floral Arrangements

So I have been working with a local florists, Westlake Florists in the city of Westlake Village about putting together a few shots for her website and for ads at a local magazine.

I shot on location at her shop in westlake village. I brought a pair of my AlienBees AB800 Studio Strobes. 2 lightstands and 2 silver umbrellas with black backing.

I used my Canon 5D and my NEW Canon EF 50 f/1.2L. Shot RAW and pp’d in Adobe LR 1.3

Here are a few of them:

And some impromptu maternity shots of the shop owner, Georgene. She is due this coming June. She is having a boy! Congratulations Georgene!

Portrait Session: Rey and Rushell

 

Two good friends of mine. They asked me for to take photos of them in Hermosa Beach last Saturday, Jan 19th. It was quite a beautiful day in Hermosa with lots of sun. It was an excellent time for photography. To see their slideshow, please click their link: Rey and Rushell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Heavens Cakes Booth at The Bridal Premiere

Ok. Let me explain. As I have said from my previous post that I did NOT have a booth of my own. Rather I was “invited” to bring all my promotional stuff with me so I may leave them front and center at For Heavens Cakes vendor Booth. Lisa Donahue was SO NICE to have invited me to “share” some of her display booth space so I may show PROMINENTLY my business cards as well as a Promo Postcard that I designed (see previous post if you’d like to see the postcard). Anyway, I attended a couple of bridal shows before when my then-fiancee and I was shopping around for our wedding but I never experienced being “behind the booth”. Over 800 brides passed through the the Hyatt Westlake in the city of Westlake Vilage. Boy, it was a packed house. So many vendors with so little space. They even had a bridal fashion show where they displayed some of the latest wedding gown , bridesmaids, flower-girl and tuxedo designs. It was a pretty elaborate event. So there I was just hanging out with Lisa, her best friend Kat, their pastry chef, Jennifer, and her mom.

I didnt get to interact with brides because I didn’t have a booth to show my work and my albums. Although for next year, I have some great ideas. However, for Lisa’s Booth, this was their first booth at this show as well. They had so many brides come to our booth because of the SWEET GOODIES that ForHeavensCakes had! Boy, I tried a few of the samples, and it so true, just exactly what their tag line is on their business card: “Its to die for!!”. They had several cakes to sample and I just kept coming back to there sample platters and helped myself. I am so lucky to be working with Lisa and her staff. They are one of the nicest people I have ever worked with and I hope that my images will help them grow even more!