Blackmail Thursday: D.I.C.S. Day

In college my dorm was all about Braveheart. And sometimes fellas, and I know most of you can back me up on this, we just have the urge to bash, smash, shoot, blow up, or otherwise just wail on something! haha. Well back at Wheaton College we embraced these carnal urges and set aside a specific day for such a cause. We called it D.I.C.S. Day, or rather Day of International Class Skipping. It was glorious. Weeks of planning and preparation went into this every year and it was nothing short of epic. We marched around campus, yelled at the establishments that caged our free spirits (aka, the science building) ate with our bare hands (at the cafeteria) and fought legen...wait for it...dary battles to the death on the school's front lawn. Our swords and shields may have been made of cardboard and duct tape, but our hearts were made of cast-iron and our motives were pure. On D.I.C.S. Day we did what we wanted, we freed our spirits from the Grading Curves that enslaved us all....and nothing else mattered. Here I am pictured with my buddy DJ moments before our glorious battle. I was the candy-cane of death.

WPPI 2009': Vegas Baby!

Call me a wimp...call me a sissy...call me whatever you want...but I am just NOW finally recovered from our WPPI trip! We got back exactly a week ago and finally I can feel my "sleep-o-meter" no longer on "E" but now closer to "FULL."

Before our trip began, we purchased a Flip MinoHD. It is a super compact HD video recorder that plugs directly into your computer's USB port. It already has the software built into the camera so all you have to do is plug it in and within minutes your videos can be up on YouTube, Vimeo, or anywhere else you want!

We took our customized Flip on the road with us to this years WPPI convention and recorded just a few of our favorite moments. I'm still trying to get the hang of it when it comes to getting some decent shots to splice together into a movie, but hopefully this will give you all an idea of why exactly it's taken a week for us to get back to normal (Erin's edit aimed in my direction: "As normal as can be hoped for at least")

....thank you for clearing that up, Erin.

So without further adieu, our first video blog! Much more to come for your viewing pleasure :)


Gavin Wade Photographers: WPPI 2009 from Gavin Wade on Vimeo.

Anna & Lönngren: Tied The Knot

This past weekend I was invited to shoot with our friend, the ever-talented Henry Chen, out in Camarillo at the Spanish Hills Country Club for Anna and Lonngren's wedding. With the help of Heidi Ryder, we all had a great time shooting this truly special couple and their family.

Both Anna and Lonngren decided to wait and see each other until the ceremony, so I was able to meet and photograph them each separately and capture their last moments alone before pledging their lives and hearts to one another. It was quite the intricate dance, trying not to let them see one another, but the moment their eyes met when she entered the ceremony was a point in time I wish I could just hit "pause" and relive a hundred times over! 

Throughout the course of the day, I had the opportunity to get to know both Anna and Lonngren separately as well as together. And to know these two together is to see love in its truest form. Congratulations to you both! May the years of your marriage be filled with endless blessings and may your love be forever patient, kind, and selfless.

Here are a few moments where I hope I hit that "pause" button at the right time :)

--Beautiful Florals by: Fiore Designs--   --MC and DJ by: Bill Lovelace--  --A Delicious Cake by: Jamaica Cakes--

Mike Colon Experience: Day 3 With Jared and Rosanna

Although Jared and Rosanna won't be walking down the aisle just quite yet (April is coming up soon though!), they undoubtedly worked out all the kinks during today's photoshoot! Our shoot included a field with an ocean view, followed by a wooden beach boardwalk (also with an ocean view :P). As the sun was disappearing behind the horizon, we practiced with off-camera lighting and Mike Mijangos was incredibly nice teaching us lighting, exposing for the backgroun. He was such a stud holding the strobes for us the whole time. We had a blast shooting Jared and Rosanna for the second time this week. I loved how Jared made Rosanna constantly laugh with his singing, funny dance moves and whispering things in her ear. They made our jobs so easy.  :) 

Also, Gavin and I had the privilege of spending one on one time together with Mike Colon last night; something he provides to each of his workshop attendees. We got so much out of it and can't wait to be home just so we can start working on his suggestions! :)

Thanks Mike for your incredible patience and giving spirit with both of us! 

We were able to capture these images from the shoot... enjoy! :)

Gavin took this next picture coming up... He shot it in between another photographers arm. It turned out great! :)

Gavin nailed the lighting on this picture! Way to go babe. :)