Love ya Blogger. BUH BYE.

Out with the old blog (3 years, almost to the day). In with the new.

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The Law of Increasing Returns

I'm going to be blogging from time to time, speeches I've come across, that hopefully can be a help to somebody, somewhere. So here's the first in a series, The Law of Increasing Returns.

If you have a few minutes to listen and study something practical, beautiful and humorous, have a listen.

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Every day is a new canvas

Tayler & Jarom

One image in Tayler & Jarom's engagement set that I liked.

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Jeff Collins - Self titled CD

Had the opportunity of shooting Jeff Collins first CD, which is self titled. Take a listen to this one called Depend on the Wind. 18 years old and goin' places. He can be reached at jeffcollinsmusic@yahoo.com. CD's are 10 smackers.

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RUSH on The Colbert Report

RUSH on American TV for the first time in 33 years.

I've listened to these guys since the late 80's and Neil influenced my drumming when I started playing in 1990. They've endured the time test, put out 24 studio albums since 1975 and simply are an amazing band to say the least. It'd be interesting to find out how many tour dates they've played over the years.

Definitely a band that's in a league of its own.

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Google's Free 411

Very cool. Add it to your phone already!

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Brandon & Caitlin

Quick engagement shoot this morning with Brandon & Caitlin.

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Chery & Tyler

Cheryl & Tyler's engagement shoot in La Jolla.

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Post wedding shoot

Had an open Saturday and devoted some time to a post wedding shoot, which I haven't done in a while. If you're interested in a shoot like this, let me know.

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Wedsnaps! meets SlideshowMax

Another jam packed gallery of Wedsnaps! Pick the 3rd option for the best viewing experience. Have fun :)

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Drew Brees

The Drew Brees Foundation held a live auction at the Torrey Pines Hilton and donated over $20,000 to two organizations at the kickoff event for the Professional Open 2008. The event is going to air on the NFL network. A few images of the event.

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The Spazmatics

On a corporate shoot for Destination Concepts last week and the evening's entertainment was The Spazmatics at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. Hilarious.

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Biased

A shot of my little one I really like.

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Music to edit photos by

Found these streaming radio stations and wanted to share. Enjoy :)

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Frank Caliendo

Recently at a corporate event in Orlando, I photographed Frank Caliendo and jumped in front of the camera with him. He did standup for an hour and it was clean, suprisingly. What's great about his act is the sporadic change from his impersonations of Bush to Madden to Barkley. Watch the clip on the link above.

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Laura & Francisco

Congrats Laura & Francisco! The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe.

McAfee Corporate Event

McAfee - MGM Grand Las Vegas - Vision Event Productions

Chris & Esmeralda

You never know what images are going to come out of the camera. Chris & Esmeralda enjoying their evening. In May... enjoying their wedding!

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Idahoan Chitlins

They grow 'em cute up in Idaho.






I love the everyone's-doin-their-own-thing photos. Sometimes they work. This last one, that was definitely the case.

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Billy Beane

Had the opportunity to shoot Billy Beane in Florida this week.

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Ted.com

This site is pretty amazing. A lot of extremely interesting ideas. One speech I particularly liked. Spend a minute or two and learn something.

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Zzyzx Curiosity

If you've driven the 15 out in boondock California just south of Baker, you've seen this sign - Zzyzx Road - but chances are you drove right past it. I've seen that sign many times and wanted to finally see what was down it. I was coming back from shooting a corporate event for McAfee in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, cooped up for four days so I took the liberty of scheduling a 5 hour drive and squeezing into one day, with obvious time to wander. Driving past that sign for probably the 50th time, it was time to see with my own eyes what was out there. And photograph it.


There's a pretty cool salt flat as you travel further east.


The view back from the edge of the salt flat. Pretty barren.


Salt deposits.


Off-roading on the salt flats apparently isn't supposed to happen. Someone went for it.


Self portrait nonsense.


Just liked this shot.


Ton of salt and brown shrub.


Keep out.


Palm tree side. Been photographing a lot of macro textures lately.


More rock texture.


This was once I left Zzyzx road and went further south a few miles. The desert definitely has its own beauty.


Smashing ideas.


Watch out Big Sky Montana. California does it just as well.

Cadence Pharmaceuticals

Quick shoot with the CEO of Cadence Pharmaceuticals for an industry publication.

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Phil & Valerie

An engagement session in the streets of La Jolla with Phil & Valerie. They're getting married on May 26th in Malibu on a Monday. Weekday weddings are becoming more the norm and we're looking forward to it!

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Lisa & Brent

Balboa Park engagement session with Brent & Lisa. I'm talking with them as we're shooting and I find out that Brent restores Woody's full-time. So whip one of them out for the wedding and let's get some great images! And take Lisa away in it that night :)

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Travis & Lisa

Wedding on Valentine's Day. Cuvier Park. La Jolla Woman's Club. Gotta love Thursday weddings :)

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"The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman

I wish I had read this book years ago. The second I made the decision to do this for couples, I shot off my bed to the computer and started typing. This is critically important to me and I want to share it with couples that I work with, if only as a photographer for one day of their lives. My job is to see, to look, to stop moments and if there's anything that I see in couples or want to see, it's genuine and enduring love.

Every couple that books a wedding with me will get this book as part of their wedding package. In fact, I require it :)

It is simple genius and I have absolute confidence it will contribute to the happiness of couples who read it together and implement its seemingly elementary yet crucial concepts. This is not another quick blog entry. I honestly want to see people happy in their marriages and if I can give you a book that will help you love your wife, or love your husband I'll have done something good today.

The Five Love Languages Google searched.

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Ginger & Greg

I met Ginger & Greg at Swami's for an engagement session. I hadn't heard this song by Corinne Rae before, but I like it. Coming across new music is always cool. Ginger & Greg's wedding will be at Cuvier Park (the wedding bowl) and then off to George's at the Cove for a meal and some mingling.

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Mitt Romney - The Grand Del Mar

A few more photos of Mitt Romney here in San Diego, this time at The Grand Del Mar on December 13th.

Watch this speech on politics and religion which is a seeming dichotomy at first glance but a masterpiece throughout, down to the last audible strokes.

I've had a growing interest in politics as I've gotten older. Maybe I should say more accurately, that I have an increasing interest in seeing this country be a place of liberty and hope and helping that cause in whatever way I can. That's what drives my interest in politics and Mitt Romney's message is resonating with me, more than anybody I've heard.

I've traveled a few places and I always appreciate seeing the goodness of people wherever I go. It's everywhere. John Mayer has it right when he sings, "I know the heart of life is good." My sentiments exactly. Our nation is great nation, but I also see with more clarity, the war that we are facing, not in foreign lands, but in unnecessary conflict, in calculated efforts gnawing at the moral makeup of our country and weakening us at the core. I want to see our nation improve and so I will improve myself because I am part of it. I hope that people will listen to their better side and simply be good. Whatever "being good" means to each individual.

I recently returned from Kauai on assignment and I saw the state seal. It reads, "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono". In English that translates to, "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." What a simple, beautiful statement. I believe that can be broadened to the reaches of our entire country. "The life of the United States of America is perpetuated in righteousness." Or any person, or family, or community, or land or nation. If we increasingly become selfish and less prone to do what each of us believes is right, our strength is taken from us individually, and saps the collective strength of our nation. And we become vulnerable to physical and spiritual attack.

I have to raise my voice not simply because I want to hear it. There are too many voices like that. I raise it knowing there is a red tide that needs to opposed for the sake of my family, my friends and my country. It is my honest belief that a vote for Mitt Romney is a vote to maintain the divine strength of this nation.

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Jesse Miller - Surf Artist

I ran into a friend yesterday, Jesse Miller, that I hadn't seen in a while. Jesse is a watercolor artist and lifeguard here in San Diego. We both spent time on Oahu at BYU-Hawaii going to school and surfing. About 3/4 of the way down this page there are two photographs that I took on the point at Waimea Bay on the day of the Eddie Aikau contest in 2001 that Kelly Slater won. I showed Jesse a few images from the photos I took that day and he wanted to re-create two in water color. I had forgotten they were on his site.

Hawaii is pure magic and it was fun to catch up again, remember good times and peruse through Jesse's site. Have a look.

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Alyssa's Red Dress

When you have a cute phone message from your daughter, a spontaneous shoot with her red Christmas dress where she did her OWN eye shadow and about 10 minutes on your hands...

you make a slideshow like this.

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Tanya & Tim

Of course I like repeat clients, but it's always more fun when there's a little addition. And a cute one at that.

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The Mailbox

I have mixed feelings about the mailbox for obvious reasons. Today was a good mailbox day. An artist's CD came in the mailbox that I did some photography for. It's always a great feeling to see the end product. And to hear this particular set of tunes was particular timely for me today. Beautiful work Amy. A CD is a collaborative work as well as so much of the good art that we experience.



Secondly and completely out of blue I got a card from a couple who I had photographed nearly 2 years ago and a portion of their card read:



I got a kick out of that one... albums and credit cards. I've arrived.

Two bright spots on a rainy day. Thanks to all three of you. You know who are :)

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A quick message from the Pettys...

This is a must see.

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Under the radar

A quick excerpt on Mitt personally helping out somebody affected by the recent San Diego fires. No press. Just some good old fashioned sweat and service.

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Stacy ∆ Justin . Congrats!

Two people obviously meant for each other...

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Boyd 'n' Jessica

A quick engagement session down at Seaport Village with Boyd & Jessica. San Diego Temple wedding at the end of year. Can't wait :)

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Conversion

Eternal Marriage. Eternal Family.

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Last minute Kauai wedding

You have to love the email that says "...oh by the way I have a Kauai wedding for you." More photos to come.

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wedsnaps.com

It's official. Every wedding in 2008 and beyond is getting wedsnaps!

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Stan ∆ Yuko

Beautiful wedding...



Stan & Yuko from Tokyo, with their little one, in Oceanside for an engagement/fam shoot. A much anticipated Palos Verdes wedding this weekend and thank goodness we survived those fires with open freeways so I can drive up there.

It was getting hot in here.

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Exec shoot

Worked with a Wright Engineers executive on a shoot in up in Laguna Beach a few days back. We got some images that will be going to print for a company brochure and other media.

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Mitt Romney

I was able to photograph Mitt Romney on a campaign fundraiser he was doing here in San Diego.

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Gaslamp Engagement Session

Some evening hour gaslamp engagement photos.

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wedsnaps!

Wedding photo booths are becoming all the rage. I decided to jump in one at a recent event and be on the other side of the camera for once. Talk to me about wedsnaps! and I'll give you the scoop on an extremely cool, less expensive way to capture you and your guests.

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Ben & Sandra

A few pics of Ben & Sandra - Congrats you two!

Just the kids...

Another family shoot with a shot of just the kids I liked. Good lookin' bunch.

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Tony Gywnn statue unveiling

Tony Gwynn's statue was unveiled at Petco park last Saturday and I snapped a few shots around the stadium on that day. Congrats Tony.

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Chip + Becky

After their ceremony


At the beach


At the reception

These two were so smiley I didn't know what to do with myself. Congrats to the smileys - Chip + Becky!

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Engagements in the ocean

Sometimes you gotta just get in the water.

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Skateboarding Bulldog

I had to blog this video. I was dyin' watching this. My favorite part is Tillman going down the stairs in sets of two. I almost fell out my chair. I do not endorse the statement at the end of this video :)

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Fiji Wedding - Matangi Private Island Resort

This is the same video streaming off of nathanpetty.com. This video quality is a bit better than the YouTube version but they both do the trick -- Matangi Island Private Resort - Fiji Wedding.

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Fiji Wedding - YouTube

Here's another video I uploaded to YouTube. This wedding was shot at the Matangi Island Private Resort in Fiji. We did both photography and video for this wedding - David and Tammy Neylan. We were there for a week. It was magic.

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YouTube

This is my first shot at embedding a YouTube video into the blog. And wham-o it works. You gotta love YouTube.

This was a video edit I put together of some Hawaii and SoCal surfing footage from 2000-2002. It has bits of Andy Irons, Kalani Robb, Sunny Garica, Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, Fred Pattachia, David Bowen, Daniel Skaf and others. Ozz Daynes has yet to make the blog. One day...

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Need a wedding video?

My clients who need wedding videos I am referring to Eric Richards of Izlas. I could talk about how great he is but go take a look at his site and form your own opinion :)

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New website featured on INTO THE DARKROOM

Got an email today from Meghan Bingle of INTO THE DARKOOM and she surprised me with a site feature. Very cool. Made my day actually. That and having Subway with my wife and daughter :) Yes, it's the simple things.

I'm drawn to my site often to improve it to be the effective marketing tool it needs to be and ITD's content management tools give me that flexibility. A big thanks to all of the crew!

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New Brand - New Direction

Nathan Petty Snaps is now live!

It's been a looooooooong time coming. It took me nearly a week to go through every assignment I've shot and this new site and brand is the culmination of a lot of hours. There are way too many images I could have shown, and luckily I have the advantage of quick content changes, but this is a great across-the-board portfolio of the work I've done as a professional photographer in the last decade. Definitely a fun milestone to be hitting.

I was promised by someone that my career would bring both pleasure and joy. And it really has. I have unquestionably experienced both in my work.

On another note I'm no longer marketing myself toward wedding videos. I will be involved with video production from a directing/editing standpoint, but no longer actively taking them on as a shooter. If you need a video done still feel free to call as I have a working relationship with many videographers here in the San Diego area whether it's wedding, corporate or otherwise.

Have a look!

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

"The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support, and service to each other as we press on in our journey to return to our Heavenly Father."

Opening Day 2007

SD Padres opener went well other than losing the first game of the series to the Rockies. We went 2-1 in the series, both successive days walk off hits in the bottom of the 9th and 10th. I think I'm going to like this...

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San Diego Padres

So I'm cruising the San Diego Padres website a few months ago, thinking about the upcoming baseball season and notice MLB is hiring for some part-time media positions. Long story short I'm working as a pitch f/x operator and tracking the speed and trajectory of the pitches. When you watch the games on Cox Channel 4 you'll notice that a pitch by pitch graphic is generated so that broadcast can use it in replay to show how a pitcher struck out a batter. Sportsvision, who owns and operates the software, is using essentially the same technology that generates the graphical first down line in pro football. It's a time commitment of roughly 4 games a month which should be enough to keep my baseball fire stoked.

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Rose Crew

A fun, quick shoot with the Rose Crew on Saturday. We had trouble with the guy on the left. He kept stickin' his tongue out and didn't like to look at the lens but we still like him.

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Carlos & Dawn

Carlos and Dawn set up a small, quiet ceremony on the cliffs of Torrey Pines at Sunset with their closest family and friends. Immediately after their kiss they shot up the stairs away from the small group and had a moment to themselves. Congrats you two!

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Rush

They're back...

RUSH

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New slideshow format

Working on some new concepts for freshportraits.com, which will be launching soon, and wanted to get some reactions back on this slideshow format. Like it? Don't like it? Personally I like the black, clean feel to the site, with the larger uninhibited images.

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Watching another life...

I played the drums as a kid in a few bands and never went anywhere with it... Wait a second. I did go somewhere with it. It put me through college! In Hawaii! And those were amazingly choice years. There were times when I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. Where and when would the fruits of my time sitting, practicing, pouring out all of my emotion at the drum set be seen? Not by anybody else necessarily, but when would I sense that fulfillment for myself. My years in Hawaii for so many reasons were the culmination of my life up until 25 and there were so many "I did it!" moments with school, with music, with travel and my most important personal relationships. The refining of that talent, though rough it may be now, was the gateway to my education and my career. Hawaii was where I made the calculated decision to pursue photography full time. And only with the Lord did all of those things come so perfectly into fruition.

Now that my career is photography and much of my time is spent pursuing and refining the craft, as well becoming the person that I need to be, so that my photography *means* something to others as well as myself, my time at the drum kit has been a thing of the past. Covering a wedding for Sandy Brue a few years back, there sat this kit... in the lights, waiting!! to be played. Since that wasn't my evenings role, I snapped a photo instead and now this photo above has become an object to me and embodies the two talents I have chosen to refine. Music and photography.

So I reminisce... through writing this, posting this image and lastly looking to somebody whose time, talent and hard work is paying off in a brief moment of limelight for this guy. How could I not blog this?

Guitar Center Drum Off Video - Daniel Rodriguez

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San Diego Petty Crew

My two gems - our family shoot - A big thanks to Rich Pecjak for shooting us. I paid Rich back with a photo session of him with his kids. They loved 'em and I was glad to return the favor! I love having this slideshow of these two.

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"I skate to where the puck is going to be..."

Apple Keynote Address - Steve Jobs

Enough said =]

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The Picture Says It All

Brotherhood

Shot a family evening session on the beach and got this one image that's definitely going to be a favorite of mine for years to come. I love this job...

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Rush Fans

What it is with my recent video kick? If you're a drummer or like Rush you'll definitely appreciate this video clip. I've been a Rush fan for more than a decade, have read numerous books about Rush, have studied Neil's drum rhythms by ear, video and text, have their entire studio collection (thanks Miguel) and just downright think they rock!

Enjoy this video - Neil Peart w/ Rick Mercer

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CAN

I had no intention of watching this video at first. After taking a peak I blogged it, it was that good. Definitely worth taking 4 minutes of your time. You have it.

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Jordan & Karissa

This morning I shot the engagement session for my last wedding of 2006. Karissa and Jordan are definitely happy together and it was fun to see them connect in front of the camera! I look forward to shooting their wedding in December!

Engagement sessions are included in all 2007 weddings at no extra charge.

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Electric Halloween

Hanging out with the Petty Crew and my wife's parents. Alyssa couldn't take her eyes off my fro.

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Gladys Knight and the Saints United Voices

Within the last two years I've had some brief assignments documenting Gladys Knight and the Saints United Voices, a choir she started a few years back, who just this year (2006) won a Grammy. Cheryl Osborne who is connected with the choir, which is based in Las Vegas, sent me this link and I wanted to share this on the blog. These are a few photos from some performances in Hawaii and LA in the first link below. This has been a unique project I've had the honor of being involved with and have felt distinctly that this choir is being guided by the Lord.

Small article and podcast

Gladys talks about her conversion

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Shoemaker Crew

Fun shoot with the Shoemaker crew!

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Wow I need an update...

Here it is July 26 and I haven't updated the blog for nearly a month. I'll slowly be filling shoots as they are edited... This was a portfolio shoot with Crystal who came down the from *the oc* to shoot. I think we got a few good ones.

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The Black Hills

Let me start by saying this - The Black Hills of South Dakota are absolutely gorgeous. Came in off a flight from New York City to a slower paced Rapid City which had a one baggage claim airport. I loved the place from the moment I got there. I was in a bit of a rush to get up to the little town of blink-and-you'll-miss-it-Nemo. I pulled in with the welcome of a bit of rain to the Nemo Guest Ranch, about a half an hour NW of Rapid and we went straight into a quick photo shoot. Luckily there wasn't a drop in the sky for their ceremony on the following day. The Friday evening shooting was good to allow them to warm up to my style of working and they seemed to enjoy a quick break from the anxiety and prep of the day. It was also good for me to get used to them. We were having fun with it.

After our evening shoot I had about an hour and a half and was nearly on the photographic high of my life. I couldn't shoot enough of the landscape, the horses, the trees, the rivers, the deer, the barns, the sky. It was all new to my eyes and senses. A rare moment I reveled in for nearly two hours. I literally couldn't take enough pictures.

The wedding day went smoothly and I was touched by the choice of words in Stephanie and Jason's ceremony. They picked out a verse from Psalms 121 - "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills." That hit me with amazing force. As a photographer you have those moments where you might as well be part of the family. It was the culmination of the entire photographic experience for me in the Black Hills. I was able to get some beautiful images that will help them feel the power of those words for a long time to come. I usually stay professionally detached, always with an eye and ear for special moments, but it was truly rare and powerful. I would've rather been nowhere else in the world but there in that moment photographing their wedding

I told my wife when I got back, "I'm taking you to the Black Hills." And we will get there!

Here's their slideshow

N

There's a first for everything - NYC

Just went out to NYC for my first time to shoot another event for Praetorian Financial Group - Event management by Ignite Production Group. Got to spend a day out in the big city, checking out the Times Square area. The energy of that city is amazing. Any time of the day or night that city is buzzing. Central Park is also nice and offers a quick get away if you're close. Saw a few photographers working with some couples as I drove through. Oh hey, I've got an idea, "Let's go shoot in central park!" I'd do it too if I lived there.

Gotham Hall played host as the venue for Praetorian's branding launch evening in NYC and the B-52s were the evening's main entertainment. I'd actually photographed them once before here in San Diego at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Kicking show both times. I do have to share... Here in San Diego I was photographing a meet and greet with the B-52's and instead of the regular "1,2,3" shoot, I offered up a lyrical, "15 miles to the...". I was met with blank stares and silence. You'd think they would've known the words :)

The event went well and then I was off to Rapid City, South Dakota the next day to shoot a wedding. Talk about the two most opposite cities. One is awake 24/7 and the other one thinks about it in the morning and then rolls back over and goes to sleep.

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David Bowen

I met Dave Bowen at school in Hawaii about 7 years ago. We had similar interests in photography, video production and surfing and have kept in touch here and there since I moved from Oahu. He just finished up at the New York Film Academy and was in town here in San Diego so we shot a surf session, macked a bit o' Taco Bell to fuel up for a bit of work on some portraits in La Jolla. Best of luck with it all and you know who to come to for any production stills when the time comes :)

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Chris & Audrey

A beautiful reminder for me to get Chris & Audrey's slideshow up and running! Great shoot and couple. San Diego Temple Wedding, Azul's for lunch in La Jolla and some photos on the beach.

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Sisses

From a recent family shoot... The younger one went for a dip in the ocean and it was cut short but we got some fun images of the family.

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Costa Rica recharge

Went down to Costa Rica for a week and was able to recharge the business batteries. Spent the week with 4 other entrepreneurs and it was helpful to glean a bit from them. There's always plenty to learn about business, primarily how to best serve the client and expedite a more efficient business process whether you're a painter, an event production planner or a photographer. My goal is excellent customer service. Hold me to it :)

We surfed Boca Barranca and stayed at the Hotel Boca Barranca. This wave is world class and is deemed the 2nd longest left in the world. I don't doubt it for a second, that paddle made Jello out of me. We met the owner of the hotel, Diego Calvo and we're going to get a website up for him with a webcam so a return trip may be in order! We surfed other spots such as Corralillos, Calderas, Playa Hermosa and Isla Damas, two of which we had to hire a boat driver and it was well worth it. Our most idyllic setting was Corralillos. We got some amazing photos there. Saw a few crocodiles, lots of iguanas but no monkeys. I wanted to see some flippin' monkeys. Next trip. I'll be putting a highlight of the trip in pictures and will get that up soon. We also have some video that is a must see.

It feels like we only scratched the surface of the wave-riding potential of that place. Definitely more trips to follow.

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Maui Corporate Event - Praetorian Financial

I just went over to Maui to cover a corporate event at the Ka'anapali Sheraton for Plann-it Meetings & Events. The event was for Praetorian Financial Group, a newly formed re-insurance company. Yes I jumped Black Rock... and snorkeled it. Fish galore. Here are a few photos from the event.









Also here is a PDF of Maui photos that was created from the event .

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Liz's Bridals

I shot a bridal session with Liz Cima this week at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. As we were shooting, a Mexican Independence Day rally was going on in a park just next door and all we were hearing was some guy relentlessly going for it on a microphone. It got us both laughing and made for some great expressions for the camera. Not the quietest bridal I've ever shot. She was beautiful and seems so ready for Saturday.

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WPPI - Las Vegas '06

Just got back from the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International convention in Las Vegas. I've been before and it can very easily become an information overload session checking out what everybody is doing in the industry, not to mention all of the new product. I took a few things away from it and also took advantage of the time in Vegas to SHOOT! My cousin Jill Jackson came out from NY. Rich Pecjak and Jill and I cruised the streets one day into the evening and shot a ton of images. It's fun to shoot people and portraits outside of a wedding day and this definitely was a chase the light type of shoot. Once evening came on we pushed the limits of finding available light which is always a good exercise whether you've been shooting for 5 or 50 years. Light is light. How we record it has changed dramatically but the rules for good light pretty much stay the same. We also went to Red Rock Canyon, west of LV the next morning and got some beautiful landscape photos and some more portrait. All of us took turns shooting and being in front of the camera. The photos above are Rich and Jill doing their part in front of the camera. Jill was definitely the cutest and got most of the camera time. She deserved it :)

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Craig & Heather

Craig and Heather flew over the pond to get married in Laguna Beach, which was a great halfway point considering family and guests came from both Australia and the East Coast. They were a happy, beautiful couple! Prepped at a gorgeous 4-story beach house overlooking Laguna Beach and an intimate ceremony of about 20 followed on a quiet Wednesday afternoon and lastly on to The Beach House in Laguna Beach. I can't help but suggest the Sea Bass dinner. Amazing. A huge congrats to Heather and Craig! Enjoy your honeymoon cruise and if you're ever back in Laguna I'd love to treat you to The Beach House and do another photo session with you two!

Here's their slideshow.

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Amy Ayres

I shot Travis and Amy's wedding some time ago. At their reception the DJ was playing a song I hadn't heard it before and I asked who it was. He said, "Amy... the bride". I was definitely surprised as I had no idea going into the shoot. I ended up getting a CD at the wedding and now it's sitting in my iTunes library. She has been playing venues here in San Diego and I recently shot a few images.

Here's a sample tune - My Place

Amy's website - Enjoy.

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Marc & Maggie

Just prior to heading up to WPPI in Las Vegas this April I did a shoot with Marc & Maggie. They had never met each other before and had pretty good chemistry. I went to shoot along with Jimmy Bishop, whose wedding I shot a few years ago. He now has twins. Go Jimmy. He came down from St. George, set up the shoot and we went for it. Spent about a half day in La Jolla. There are so many great places to shoot there. Marc was formerly the lead singer for Off By One and Maggie was beautiful and really knew how to whip that dress around.

Here's their slideshow.

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Engagement session to surf session

Finished up shooting an engagement session in La Jolla and the surf was decent so I drove over to Windansea and shot a few from the water's edge with my 300mm.

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The '54

My Dad had a project car, a 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, and it was his Dad's car years ago. We decided after my father passed away that we were going to finish what he wasn't able to wrap up. He started the renovation and put a lot of sweat and time into that car and did it partially as a project to spend time with his boys on. The vehicle was completely renovated by Robert Farmer of R&F Motor Sports here in San Diego and was handed back over to the family on March 10. Dad, we did this for you and also partially for us, so that we will have one more thing to remember you by.

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Disneyland

Arianna and Alyssa (wife and baby) had been before but this was the first time that we went together as a family! We also went with some friends of ours from San Diego and got the annual passes so we could come back again to either park. Have yet to go to California adventure and it had been a while since Disneyland so it was fun to be there and the traffic was non-existent which was a miracle. Next time you go don't pass up those churros! Tasty...

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Kevin Dean

Winter Fashion in SLC - Kevin Dean

Neil & Meleah

Another beautiful San Diego Temple Wedding and an excellent venue for the reception out in Poway - Maderas Golf Club. Here's their slideshow. Congratulations Neil & Meleah!

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You only have a rectangle

Sometimes I ask myself if Hollywood is trying to entertain the world or themselves. I tend to think the latter. I shoot the same way, not in an attempt to follow, it's simply what pushes me to create interesting images. You only have a rectangle. Use it well.

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Utah report

The Utah trip was a success. The image above is Allison Tiek and her session was the first shoot of the week. I ended up working with 15 models from 3 agencies, both guys and girls, did a few family portrait sessions and got some amazing images. I was blown away at the number of images at the end of it all! When you're working you're not even thinking about it, but that shutter clicked over 6,000 times. The coldest day it was 2 degrees in Park City, but photographer, models and equipment kept working in spite of it all. The night I get home flashes and cameras start wigging out. Kurt's Camera did some needed repairs - $400 later. Ouch. The shutter needed to be replaced which is no big surprise considering how hard it worked, but I never went to my back-up camera. The portrait slideshows should start going up in early January of each individual session. Merry Christmas to all.

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Chris & Norma

Here's their slideshow...

The ceremony was held at the Moonlight Beach overlook and the reception at the Leo Carillo Ranch in Carlsbad. I'd never shot at the the Leo Carrillo Ranch before and it's fun to shoot a new venue. The structures are fairly small but the exterior location offers quite a bit of room! An excellent spot for a reception!

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Utah for a week

Heading up to SLC and surrounding areas to shoot some winter fashion. Stay posted, I should have slideshows up in January. Hope everyone has been enjoying their Holidays up to this point. 2006 is fast approaching!

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Napoleon's Hometown

My mom recently moved up to Preston Idaho, home of Napoleon Dynamite and she sent me this link below. Want to see what they do when they get bored? You know I do... Scroll down for pics.

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David & Kim

David & Kim Orozco are married! Their ceremony was at the San Diego Mission and then reception that evening was at the La Jolla Hyatt Regency. David and Kim were contagiously happy that day in full smiling form. It was great to be among their family and friends and such a pleasure to shoot that wedding! And if you only could've seen Dave do the worm. Their slideshow...

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Prayer

We pray every night with our little girl and last night she said the prayer. She said, "I'm thankful for Nathan and Arianna and alyssapetty.com". She calls us Dad and Mom about half the time but when she referred to herself as alyssapetty.com we were cracking.

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Lahren's Bridals

So we're at Balboa park, the quintessential place for wedding images, shooting a bridal session. We've got nice light and she's been real easy going the whole shoot and then pulls this! Totally unexpected but hilarious!

I'm sitting here editing the photos, saying to myself... now THAT is some definite blog material.

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Hawaii 2005

The reason for this Hawaii trip was to photograph Gladys Knight's visit to BYU-Hawaii and shoot a "fireside" put on by her choir - Saints United Voices. She joined the LDS Church in 1998 and has since formed this choir and traveled nationally to share with people the message of The Book of Mormon. Here she shares a powerful testimony of her conversion to the church and desire to share "with the world" the message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The time spent on Oahu was right during my wife and I's 6th anniversary and we both graduated from BYU-Hawaii, so the trip had a few purposes -- Photograph the choir, get away from San Diego for our anniversary and get back to the school, people and islands we love... and yes, squeeze a surf session in at V-land.

I'll be heading back in January '06 to work on a surf video. Check back for pics from that trip.

Chris & Norma

I was blessed to travel to Fiji with Rich Pecjak and Flavia Berys, in April '05 on an amazing week-long assignment for David & Tammy and ended up connecting with one of their guests on his upcoming wedding in October here in San Diego. Here are the engagement pictures we took last night.

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Cottonwood Canyons

I recently shot a wedding in Bountiful - just above Salt Lake City, Utah and gave myself a day to cruise and shoot some "travel" images. I ended up going to the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons that are home to Brighton, Solitude, Alta and Snowbird ski resorts. Some macro and scenic shots.

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Image Slideshows

I recently looked back over some of the image slideshows that are in the video section of my website that I hadn't seen in a while. This is the only material on nathanpetty.com that's not entirely wedding related.

Sports - Kid Gloves : Rush
People - Time Stand Still : Rush
Abstract - Untitled original tune made in Garageband

Also, Photohands.com is in the works, which is going to show videos and photography of corporate events, lifestyle portraits, products, and other professional work.

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Quick Intro

I've been shooting images professionally since 1998. A combination of music and photography, both in scholarships and outside work, put me through school in Hawaii. I'm currently based in San Diego, as a freelance photographer, shooting mostly weddings, but shoot corporate events, product and portraits as well. A few past clients:

Vision Event Prod. - Corporate Events - i2, FedEx Kinkos, Agility
Cornerstone - Audio/visual for large-scale productions
SUV Choir - Gladys Knight documentary photography
Ellsworth Bikes - Product catalog, Print ads, Location shoots
Soltek Pacific - Structural photography
Speak, Inc. - Employee group and headshots (minus last two shots:)

I've shot weddings internationally in Mexico and Fiji, and some of the western states including Hawaii. I find that documenting people's lives and events has its demands but is extremely satisfying.

The rewards always outweigh the work! I love my job!

I've come to the conclusion that photographs take on a life of their own. Ever taken a picture and the subject still remains in front of you, yet you're more drawn to the picture you've just taken? Images are powerful expressions of time, people and places. I'm not going to get deeply philosophical about the profession, but I know that I enjoy what I do and that photographs are powerful things.

My father passed away in February of 2005 and EVERY LAST IMAGE that I took of him I appreciate, from the car shows at Del Mar, to the Elvis impersonations, to the Sunday afternoon chats. I know he is at peace, but those images for those of us who remain, are truly priceless. Photographs of people are a glimpse of those relationships.

As I develop this blog I intend to be transparent about how I work both in technique and concept. Feel free to call or email if you have any questions.

Thanks for taking the time.

Nathan Petty