Coronado is a pretty rad location for engagement sessions. Coronado is a pretty rad location in general, and I think it is becoming one of our favorite spots in San Diego. Carla and Graham had a pretty small window of opportunity to get their session done before Graham was out of town again, so I’m glad that everything worked out schedule wise and weather wise for this one. I guess for the most part you don’t have to really worry about weather too much in San Diego, but I haven’t quite lost my weather apprehension from our Portland days. I wasn’t really sure where the best spots were in Coronado, but with the combination of cool clients doing pre-shoot spot reconnaissance and Coronado being pretty photogenic in general we had no shortage of opportunities. When we had discussed locations I appreciated Carla’s willingness for a little adventure since we had never really shot in Coronado. Although I guess if you’re marrying a guy like Graham you had better be pretty down with spontaneity and adventure, because that’s what this guy does. Photos are pretty easy when your couples are down to earth, fun, and blatantly in love. Thanks for a great day guys!

- Josh

The Grand Tradition Estate in Fallbrook was the backdrop for Jackie and Victor’s March wedding.  If you’re looking for a tropical Hawaiian sort of feel for your Southern California wedding, the Arbor Terrace definitely has that feel to it.  We usually see our fair share of people traveling in to be a part of the weddings we shoot, but rarely do we have stories like Chilean Jackie meeting Dutch Victor in Italy… and getting married in California?  It was enough to make my head spin, and somehow Jackie also planned this thing in the midst of medical school.  The crowd really came from all over to be with them that night, and they seemed perfectly normal until the dance floor opened up to some of Victor’s boy bands and suddenly we felt like were in the middle of an epic music video.  It was definitely a wonderful and amazing day, and we were glad to be a part of it!

Cake | Tasteful Cakes
Caterer | Grand Tradition Estate
Celebrant | Mario Seiglie
Coordinator | Veronica Ayala
DJ | DJ Tempoe
Dress | Maggie Sotero
Floral | Caty Seiglie
Hair/Make-up | Je’llis Faces Mobile Hair and Makeup
Venue | Grand Traditions Estate
Video | Luke McCain Videography

Torrey Pines State Reserve is a pretty amazing place for an engagement shoot, and had been on my radar ever since a friend of mine mentioned it as a possible shoot location. Heather and Kevin had two requirements for their session: rocks and water. Not only did we meet those two requirements, but we threw in some trees for good measure too. The other amazing thing about this session is not from the location, but from the fact that I’ve known Heather since the fourth grade. I will not encourage anyone to do the math on how many years that is, but suffice it to say it’s a pretty cool thing to have known someone through elementary, middle, and high school… and still remained friends into our adult lives. But Heather is just cool like that. Oh and if you’re wondering who that kid is in the last couple of shots, it’s their son Jayce. The rumors of us hiring baby models to spice up our engagement photos are totally unfounded.

- Josh

Destination engagement sessions aren’t something I get to do everyday, but it seems like at least once or twice a year fate and the glory of the internet connects us with a couple who do not live close to us. Humaira and Vikas are actually getting married in Boston later this year, it’s going to be a multi-day event that we’re excited to shoot with our pal Marc Rotse and crew from Moving Picture Weddings. However before the big party starts they wanted to do an engagement session in Philadelphia, the city where they met. I had never been to Philadelphia before so it sounded like a great excuse to visit a new city. My impressions of Philadelphia were that it had a lot of similarities to Chicago and Boston, and I needed more time to explore! After the engagement session I had some downtime the following day, but it was raining pretty heavily and it dampened my enthusiasm for adventure. Luckily on the day scheduled for the shoot the promised thunderstorms never materialized until much later in the evening. Humaira and Vikas are the most thorough engagement session planners I’ve ever worked with, and we only had enough time to do a few of the many awesome locations they picked out. But I’m pretty excited about the places we did go. They may not have been as traditional as the Liberty Bell or the Rocky steps, but they were all photogenic and fun to shoot in. Before this session we had only met via Skype, so it was awesome to meet these two in person. This post might be a little longer than normal for an engagement, but it was also a little trip for me too so I figured I’d combine a few things.

- Josh

The above photos are all iPhone Instagram shots from the day I flew in.  If you’re interested in following my Instagram I’m “joshuacmitchell” on there, and here is a link to my gallery.  We actually do have an official Continuum Instagram but we tend to update our personal ones more.  I can’t promise it to be very exciting, but I promise to not hashtag anything #instadork.

I met Humaira and Vikas at the hotel, and after lunch we took one of Philadelphia’s weird subway cars to our first spot.  They are sort of like underground buses.  Strange!

Our first stop was the University of Pennsylvania.  I wonder how many ladies have sat on Ben’s lap?

Alright so we had ONE super iconic Philadelphia shot to do!

So the story goes that Vikas had an epic picnic planned the day he was going to propose to Humaira, but got totally rained out.  So we had a tribute picnic to commemorate.

Probably the coolest location for me was Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens.  It was a big crazy art mosaic that you can walk around in.  Very cool.

Due to time constraints we were in cabs a lot.

These two shared their first kiss at Zee Bar.  The guys there let us in early before anyone was there to take these shots.  How awesome is that?

Philadelphia’s clock tower at the City Hall building was awesome at night.  Later they treated me to the best gourmet burger ever.  This is what happens when two people with sophisticated tastes in food hire a photographer who eats off of the kids menu.

And of course all good things have to come to an end.  These are a few random iPhone shots from the following day.  It always seems so much longer to travel back home!

Our second Malibou Lake Mountain Club wedding fell on the same day as one of the heaviest rainstorms I’ve seen since we moved back here in December. As we were driving up to the Agoura Hills the rain was coming down in sheets and I was trying not to be too concerned. The venue did after all have a roof. This brings me to one important piece of advice I have for anyone getting married- no matter where it is, have a backup plan for weather. Choosing a venue that is able to accommodate an indoor ceremony in a pinch can really save the day.  An outdoor ceremony is always great under optimal conditions, but the staff at Malibou Lake and Truly Yours Catering did a great job of quickly transforming the space from a ceremony hall to a dining room in a short time.  The weather did at times behave long enough for us to take advantage of the outdoors for a great first look and a few portraits around the grounds.  Harper and Brian’s infectious sense of humor kept everyone’s spirits high despite the grey.  Their ceremony had as many hilarious moments as it did poignant ones, and the crazy karaoke party at the end definitely made this wedding a memorable one!  Congratulations guys!

- Josh

Cake | Nothing Bundt Cakes
Caterer | Truly Yours Catering
Ceremony Musician | Jennifer Argenti
DJ | Sing Out Loud Karaoke
Floral | Culver City Blossoms
Venue | Malibou Mountain Lake Club

We’re super excited to post our first San Diego high school senior photo session. We really loved getting the chance to photograph seniors when we lived in Portland, and we haven’t had much time to focus in on getting our name out there for seniors in San Diego. We were lucky that Maddie (a talented photographer herself) found our senior site in a web search. We’ve been thinking that we’d like to start incorporating everything under one roof, so I think we’ll do posts of our seniors both here and to the senior site for awhile until we fully transition it to being under one roof. Maddie had a great location in Rancho San Diego for her photos, and even managed to lug a big heavy chair out into the middle of the field before we arrived. We had a lot of fun and can’t wait to shoot some more!

- Josh

I’ve found myself repeating a statement a lot lately, “it’s a shame that more photos don’t get printed.” I say that constantly, yet I haven’t really made a conscious effort to organize my work well enough to make it easy for people interested in having it on their walls to get it there. So I’ve decided that once a month I’m going to do a post of 10 photos that I think will look great on a wall. All of the photos will be available as a canvas gallery wrap. Why canvas? Well I’ve always liked canvases, and they are awesome because they are a one shot deal. I can show you the photo as it was intended to be seen without cropping, and you don’t have to worry about a frame. We have a fantastic new company doing our canvases that offers the highest quality product we’ve seen on the market at a great price, so we can pass on the savings to our clients.

Canvases all come standard with the following features:
* Durable construction. These canvases will look as tight and flat as the day they were made thanks to a solid face construction that keeps the canvas supported and free from loosening or deforming over time.
* 1-1/4″ depth.  The image literally will wrap around the sides, or if you prefer a custom border edge can be done in black, white, or any color you desire.
* Perfect corners. This was always a big complaint from some of the previous companies we’ve used. These canvases feature a no bulge corner.
* Ready to hang with a finished black backer board. The hanging hardware is pre-installed.
* Ships in 7 business days
* Printed on genuine artist canvas with an exceptional fade resistance. Colors are accurate and vibrant.
* Every canvas is finished with a clear acrylic coating providing an extremely scratch resistant protective layer.

Available sizes & Pricing:
12×18 – $79
16×24 – $99
20×30 – $129
24×36 – $159
30×40 – $199

note: our pricing is lower than Canvas on Demand, and the quality is in my modest opinion – 1000 times better.

These photos below are the first in our brand new old Etsy store that we’ve set up just to be the place to go for fine art prints.  Our new canvas pricing of course applies to any photo you’d like, so if you have a favorite we’ve taken that you’d like to have as a canvas just email us at info@continuumphotography.com and tell us what you’d like to see!  Just click on this link and save your walls from boredom!

“Life.”  This photo was taken in a canola field somewhere west of Portland in May of 2010.  My friend Whitney has a knack for finding interesting photo locations, and those are her hands sticking up in the flowers.  This photo always puts me in a good mood.

“Cherry Blossoms.”  One of my favorite spring time photos.  Taken in February of 2010 in SE Portland.

“CB.” The photo on the left was taken on an August day in 2009 in Chicago’s south loop.  I love urban architecture and am a big fan of the different linear aspects of this photo.  “Sea Grass.”  The photo on the right was taken at Cannon Beach in Oregon in late 2010.  The famous Haystacks are blurred out in the distance.

“Frozen Harmonics.”  Ever been to Chicago?  Resting on the edge of Lake Michigan you can never get the full city skyline in a frame, but this is one of my favorite vantage points taken from Belmont Harbor.  The texture in the water is actually ice, and on this particular night the ice was beginning to break up and rub against itself creating a harmonic tone that to me sounded like a cross between crickets and wind chimes. Taken in February of 2009.

“Shades of the Highway.”  This was taken somewhere in central California.  I took it from the car with a manual focus tilt/shift lens at about 80mph. Don’t get too impressed, I’m sure it’a s fluke.  December 2010.

“I will never know you.” I’ve spent a lot of time riding the trains in Chicago, and one of the things that always struck me is how you’d see so many different faces everyday, making the same commute with a group of anonymous strangers that you’ll never know or recognize.  Taken in June of 2008.

“The Orchard.”  The photo on the left was taken at the Woodburn tulip festival in Oregon.  I know you’re probably wondering where the tulips are, but the adjacent orchard was a lot more visually interesting to me.  Taken in April 2010.  “Remember.”  In March of 2008 as I was about to exit my train I noticed a post it note left on the glass partition near the door of the car I was in.  Such a simple and heavy concept left on a piece of sticky paper that we use as reminders.  It stuck me as profound and I took the photo.

“Yellow.”  Not all photos have to have deep meanings behind them.  This macro shot of a flower that I randomly saw walking around Oak Park, Illinois one day just looked vibrant to me.

When I announced that I was planning on photographing the birth of Cassandra and Pete‘s daughter a lot of our mutual friends were a bit shocked surprised. Now in of itself photographing a birth isn’t breaking any new ground in photography, there are plenty of photographers who cover births and even specialize in them. Most of those photographers however are either parents themselves, or dream of one day of starting a family. This has never been a dream of mine. In fact when I am asked about wanting children usually the answer to my “no” is met with disbelief. How could this be possible? A totally absent desire to replicate? Who will carry on the legacy? I have no answer for you there. The SAF gene (that’s Starting A Family) just never made it to my brain. And no matter how many times I’ve been told that I’d change my mind when I got older, I got older, and my mind didn’t change. But that’s okay, there are people out there to pick up my slack. To add further weirdness to this whole birth photography thing is that in addition to not desiring kids, the BAC (babies are cute) gene is also not in my brain. I generally don’t get that interested in kids until they are formulating full sentences. What can I say, I like to carry on a conversation. And finally you might be thinking, well at least he can appreciate the miracle of life… that’s not even a gene. Actually it’s called the ATMOL gene, and that one’s pretty weak in me too. I look at it from the point that some species have kids who are able to join the herd a couple of hours after birth. Now that’s impressive. A lot of us are in our 30s and  have still not fully joined the herd. I digress.

So why did I offer to do this for Cassandra and Pete? As soon as we got the invite to their baby shower I got to thinking about what sort of gift I could give them that would truly leave a mark on their lives and the life of their daughter. Sure I could have just hit up the registry, thrown my offering into the onesie pool, bought a Costco pack of diapers, or purchased an amazing interactive learning device. But babies grow fast, poop a lot, and are generally more interested in the cardboard box the interactive learning device came in rather than the device itself. What would last? What would really tell them I loved them? I’m not saying that all of the people that bought them traditional gifts didn’t love them, they certainly did… you need a lot of baby gear in the beginning. However I really felt like I could give them something unique. I wasn’t really sure that they’d even take me up on my offer. I photographed Cassandra in her hottest boudoir attire, and I photographed the two of them getting married… but the birth of a child? Now that’s hardcore. There is a lot of trust in something like that and I wasn’t sure how it would be received. I was prepared for them to say, thanks but it’s just too intimate of a thing. The day of the baby shower I presented the gift. Pete immediately gave me a big hug and I knew then- that he knew, and that this would be a really powerful thing.

The plan was for them to text me when it was time, and I would take turns in the room with Cassandra’s mom because the policy was that only two people could be in there with her, and Pete was obviously going to be there the whole time. I had a camera bag packed for this for about a month, not knowing when I’d get the call. The delivery date came and went. Finally late Sunday morning I got the text I had been expecting and I immediately took off for Scripps. I arrived a little before noon I think, and the waiting began. I took photos here and there, but mostly just observed as the emotions built up. Around 7pm the pushing started to begin. I was situated behind Pete on one side of the room. I might have been able to move around more, but I didn’t want to disturb anyone and I was also really conscious of not capturing that angle. You know the one I’m talking about. What happened after that was pretty intense. I’ve probably never witnessed anyone work harder in the next 5 hours than Cassandra did. She never complained once, in fact throughout the whole thing she was mostly worried about the comfort of other people. There were moments when we were all laughing, smiling, and there were some moments of fear too. The pushing part doesn’t usually last that long… there was some discussions of a vacuum (Dyson references had been supplied earlier in the day), and C sections. Those things aren’t without the possibility of complications, and the realness of that was something you could tangibly feel and see in her eyes. Dr. Guru made the call to let her continue as long as she had the energy.  Right after midnight as Harvest Moon by Neil Young played softly in the background Kate was born.

So was watching a baby being born beautiful?  Well the actual physical part I had prepared for by watching many Aliens vs. Predator movies.  It was not so pretty, but the emotional magnitude of the moment was exquisitely beautiful.  This experience did change me. Not in the wanting kids part, that I’ve already covered. It changed me in the sense that I want to be a part of life-changing moments, I crave the heavy responsibility of documenting them. I want to record the beauty of emotions, and the passage of time. I know I can do more than just weddings, and in a way I feel like a door has been opened. I had joked that this was the first and last birth I’d ever cover, but I’m not so sure that is accurate anymore. The reward was too great to ignore. And I really do love people, and not just any people, but my people.

The final thing I want to say about the experience is that in the medical industry the nurses are the real heroes. Not that Dr. Guru wasn’t in there doing her part, she was. But Jina and Julie the two nurses assigned to Cassandra were amazing. There is a big Gigantor shot of Julie towards the end of this post looking angelic, like some true life guardian. The last time I had been in a hospital it was when my grandmother had died, and the nurses that took care of her (and us), were beyond what I’m even capable of describing. To be able to give like that to people you barely know is an amazing thing. They also let both Monica (Cassandra’s mom) and I stay in room the entire time. Another family member could have easily been in the spot I was through the whole thing, but I am thankful that Cassandra and Pete trusted me enough to let me be there.  Welcome to the world Kate, I can’t wait for you to learn English!

- Josh