Nathan and I have been watching a few of the World Cup games in the mornings. For some of your watching soccer is like watching golf  :)  but for us its a lot of fun! So, Nathan always picks a team that he wants to win based on the color of their jerseys. I mean, he may not like Brazil based on if he likes yellow this morning or not – not caring much about their performance. It’s kind of funny – it made me laugh! Like, if he had a bad night he wants purple to win. Strangely enough, after all I thought he was right. I so want to be like Nathan now :)!  That would be so awesome if I could look at things and  love them not based on their performance. Can we love people just cause they’re people? Fat, skinny, short, tall, nice, rude, happy, sad, grumpy, funny, joyful etc. ? Just wake up in the morning and say ‘I love you’  just because… No reason’ – that would be beautiful!

And below is a beautiful wedding of Paul and Natasha. The whole thing took place at Golden Palace.   With a very limited  light they have there it created this great romantic feeling to the ceremony and reception and complemented sincere atmosphere. Congrats to Paul and Nata once again!!!

Yesterday, late evening, as we were driving back from Pismo Beach, I stumbled upon a thought that made me think about it up until now. I love driving with my family at night – its the time of peace and quiet. The kids are usually at sleep and Yana and I enjoy 2-3 hour conversations. Well, this time Yana had, from what I could tell, a terrible migraine, and talking was making her feel worse, so I was left alone with my head full of thoughts. I don’t know how its got there, but little by little I started thinking about the past, trying to compare how we are and how we were. And again, this whole thing made me realize how lucky of a man I am to be married to Yana. The thing is that by nature I’m a dreamer, but was raised in a very pragmatic family. Things that were beyond realistic for a given moment, often times weren’t considered at all – which isn’t necessarily bad for certain things. Unfortunately, pragmatism and art cannot exist together. Back in the days, I was astonished by the ability of my wife to have big dreams. I loved photography and respected photographers very much, but could never even think I could become one. So, I cannot thank Yana enough by questioning my standards and pushing me to start dreaming again. Dreams and hope kind of go together, don’t you think? If you don’t dream big, you have less hope – that’s how it works for us…

And below is a beautiful family of Denis and Nadya Tsytsyn. We had a privilege to photograph their maternity session. So now, meet little Mandea. They are a truly gorgeous family and it was a lot of fun taking their pictures.

Alright, we were waiting for this wedding since January 1 of this year. Nico and Alina are a very unique couple who have won our wedding contest in December of last year. From the very time we met them, we knew their wedding was going to be beautiful, different, and unique. It took place in the back yard of their ranch home in Sanger. Everything about it was amazing. Besides the beauty of the whole thing being under two huge oak trees, every little detail was thought through and most likely hand made.  One of the things that we liked the most were postcards. Alina got some old vintage postcards for guests too look at and pick their favorites. Next, they would write warm wishes on the cards for the couple to enjoy in the years to come. So, in overall it was hard to focus on something specific because each table was decorated differently, yet in the same style, creating this unrepeatable, custom feel to it. Needless to say, Nico and Alina looked stunning. They completely knew what they want and need, which made our job more efficient and enjoyable. It was unforgettable experience for us and we would like to share some images from their wedding below:

we were happy to have an assistant,  Jayne, with us, helping capturing the fullness of this day. Some of the images below were taken by her. Thank you Jayne!

and here is some detail shots from their beautiful wedding

Inspiration. Where does it come from? Well, apparently it came from God. He is the only true creator. Often times we only recreate or repeat what he has already done, or placed in our minds. That was generally speaking. However, personally for us, in order to create good images, we need to get inspired to do so. To explain what I mean, lately, after not playing and not wanting to play soccer for more than a year, just by thinking about the World Cup in South Africa, and watching a few of the games, I started craving to go on the field and mess around with the ball.( if you hate soccer – don’t leave a comment:) So, there are certain things that we do that trigger in us this creative mood for taking good photos. For Yana that would be magazines, Anthropologie (not the science:), some of the great photographers’ work, and just holding a camera in her hands moves her to be creative. And as for me, often times I would listen to Mozart’s Requiem right before a photo shoot(what??? a death mass???) – but its an extremely powerful piece of music, great movies, calm, but powerful songs, simple piano melodies, and great acting are the things that move me, and make me want to create. I’m sure there are probably more things that I forgot to mention and things that we haven’t discovered yet.

And below is a wedding of Eugene and Lilya that took place a couple of weeks ago. Very bright and sunny day complemented this couple’s open and pleasant personalities. And we hope that these images will remind them of this day for the rest of their lives.