I am training a new associate photographer. Unfortunately he won’t be ready for “prime time” for a while and he likes to shoot in his underwear…
He’s only 17 months old, but you can’t start too young, right?
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My friend, Roger, has been sailing for many years. He has also become friends with Dennis Connor. For those of you who don’t know who Dennis Connor is, just click here. He is the “Jack Nicklaus” of sailing and also known as “Mr. Americas Cup”.
So when Roger asked me if I wanted to crew on a race with Dennis Connor on his yacht, “Stars and Stripes”, I jumped at the chance! (I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into…)
The race is known as the “Beer Can Races” which they have in San Diego Bay once a week in the summer as a opportunity for everyone to get out and sail. Little did I know how competitive these races are.
As the low man on the totem pole with no experience, I had the grunt position of “grinder”, meaning I had to turn a crank as fast as possible whenever someone yelled at me. Roger was manning the other side of the crank and also shifting gears. Roger had warned me repeatedly about being prepared to “sweat”, but I figured, how hard can turning a crank be?
Now I know why the grinders in the Americas Cup races are 250lb. men with HUGE arms! About 5 minutes into the race, I thought I was going to die and the race is 90 minutes! I certainly have a new found respect for Americas Cup racing. Fortunately I made it through the whole race without passing out, barely. All that effort paid off since we won the race in our class. There was one other boat in our class which put up a good fight until Dennis got fed up and we pulled way ahead of them. As Dennis put it, “Why would they keep poking at the bull to get him mad?”
Needless to say it was an amazing experience.
Unfortunately, during the race, there’s so much going on that there is definitely NO time to shoot photos or video. Once the race was over, I grabbed my camera and shot what I could as we headed back to the dock. So in the video, it looks very calm and leisurely, but believe me, it was anything but that!
Click here to view the video in HD.
Here’s a few photos taken by www.da-woody.com of us on the Stars and Stripes:
PHOTOS By: DA-WOODY.COM / Dennis St.Onge
I cut my trip to Cabo short this year to come back to shoot Laurie and Kendall’s wedding. To be honest, I love my work so much that I was happy to come back to shoot a wedding. This was an awesome wedding with a awesome couple at the Hotel Del Coronado.
I had met Laurie briefly before and had never met Kendall. It’ always amazing how much you get to know a couple over the course of one day.
For this wedding, I also started recording sound during the ceremony and the toasts. This is yet another feature I am adding to the video/slideshows. I can also provide all the audio as part of the DVD so the couple has a recording of the ceremony and the toasts, something you can’t really capture with photos, obviously. Also, if the couple has not hired a videographer, this is one way to at least have a record fo those key moments of the day.
Flowers by Karen Tran Florals
Wedding Coordinator - Emily Smiley
Click here to see their video in HD.
Click the “play” button below to view their slideshow/video.
Here’s a few photos form their wedding:
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Great shots! I love the Del in the background and the black and white landscape of the couple walking down the beach. Beautiful!
Katelyn and Rodney will be getting married later this year. Fortunately I had a chance to take some photos and video of them in Balboa Park.
Here’s a sample of mixing video with stills for an engagement session.
Click here to see the video in HD.
Cristina and Stan got married at the beautiful Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook, CA. I knew it was going to be a great day since Cristina and Stan were such great “models” for their engagement session at UCLA earlier this year (click here to see the custom guest book I created for their wedding reception).
The Pala Mesa Resort seems like it was designed for photographers. There are endless locations for great photos plus it’s always great when I have plenty of time to shoot the portraits.
I even had time to shoot more video during the wedding day and test out some new equipment to help shot video.
Congratulations to Cristina and Stan!
Click here to see their slideshow in HD.
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My first wedding of 2009…(Well at least my first full day wedding.) Fortunately I have been shooting a lot of other events and portraits since my last wedding, so I didn’t feel rusty at all.
I am doing something new for 2009. I am now able to shoot full 1080p high definition video with my cameras. This opens up the possibilities for incorporating video clips into the slideshows and DVD’s. As you will see, the video from the professional still cameras and lenses really look a lot different than conventional professional video cameras.
Whitney and Jack actually booked me a year ago. Judging by all the details I would say they definitely used a lot of that time planning the wedding with the help of coordinator extraordinaire, Catherine Bachelier-Smith of CBS Weddings.
The reception at The Abbey, was very unique. Since the Abbey has two levels, the guests watched the grand entrance, first dance, toasts, etc. from the upstairs level while enjoying their cocktail hour. Then rather then having assigned seating or a sit down dinner, they had a bunch of food stations throughout the Abbey with everything from sushi to a mashed potato bar to Chinese food. To top it off, they had ice cream cones and french fries passed on special trays at the end of the night.
Congratulations to Whitney and Jack!
If you have a fast internet connection, click here to see their slideshow in Hi Def.
Here’s a few photos from the wedding day:
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Our good friends, Paula and Steve Cook, had their 2nd annual charity run and walk at Mission Trails Park yesterday. Their story is amazing and the work they have done for Rady’s Children’s Hostpital is admirable. You can read all about their event at Max and Jake’s Big Race. I can’t believe how much work they put into organizing their charity.
I’m not much of a morning person, but for such a great cause and a great opportunity to get me and my whole family out for a trail walk, I was willing to get out of bed a little earlier. Our kids had a great time including Jackie who I carried on my back the whole time while trying to shoot photos and video.
Click here to see the Hi Def verion of a video I put together.
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What a cool experience. I grew up around sail boats and idolizing Dennis Connor. Thanks for sharing these shots-they brought back fond memories for me.
Darin,
You did a wonderful job capturing the essence of being out on the water for the summer beers cans. Fast sailing, Friends and Fun. It was a please having you on board. I forwarded your link to Dennis and he wrote back about you.
“Thanks, there are some nice shots, he is a good guy and come again.. cheers dc”
We will do this again. I suggest you hit we the gym!
Roger
Wow, what a beautiful yact and what an experience (of a lifetime!), one that you will never forget, and you did a wonderful job of recording it to share this experience with us. I was crying for more.