Visalia, CA Wedding Photos – Central Valley in October – Angel & Larynne

As you might imagine, shooting a wedding in Visalia, CA — in the heart of California’s Central Valley — can be hot, even in October. While we were spared triple-digit temperatures when we shot Angel & Larynne’s wedding on October 8th, there’s no doubt we were fish out of water in those Central Valley temperatures. To make things even more interesting, we shot this wedding when Cindy was two days from giving birth to our beautiful daughter. Pish posh.

Cindy and I each shot the wedding with a digital and a film camera. Here’s a bunch of my film shots, and for novelty’s sake I’m limiting my shot selection to shots from a single roll of Neopan 400 black & white film that I shot on my Nikon F100 with my trusty 85mm f/1.4 D.

visalia california wedding - bride and groom kiss

visalia wedding - boy holding hasselblad 500 c/m with polaroid back

visalia california groomsmen with hands folded in front

visalia wedding - backlit bride

visalia wedding - girl runs through the grass under cover of trees

Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2011 // Days

Daytime at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival is by turns hot, dusty, rainy, muddy, and… festive. The music flows from every corner. Flatlanders labor to breathe. A little beer and Jameson go straight to the head. This is not sea level. This is not your beautiful house. This is 9000 feet.

Daytime at The Festival means early morning runs to reserve tarp space and afternoon runs to fetch snacks and jackets. It means bagels from the big red bakery and festivarians picnicking by the river. The whole experience is about so much more than music, yet the music is unforgettable. This year, so many great acts.

Can’t stop listening to the Head and the Heart.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2011 // Nights

When night falls at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the beauty of still-snowcapped peaks and late-melt waterfalls gives way to starry skies, the vibe changes. Dusty and sunblocked nouveau-hippy cowgirls don puffy down jackets in preparation for the steep drop in temperature that accompanies the headline acts they came to see.

And then they wait.

bluegrass fan with horns

And play with beach balls.

Beach Ball high in the Air, Set Against the Mountainous Backdrop of TellurideCrowd at Telluride Bluegrass Festival at Duskbeach-ball-telluride-evening

And eat chicken.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Chicken Vendor

And then, finally, the stage lights come on.

Sarah Mclachlan at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, 2011Old Crow Medicine Show, Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2011Colorado State FlagMumford and Sons join Old Crow Medicine Show on Stage, Telluride 2011old crow medicine show, joined by mumford and sons, telluride 2011

This year, our first at the festival (after years of my father trying to talk us into attending), we saw Sarah Mclachlan (pictured, top) on opening night, and Old Crow Medicine Show (pictured three times above, in the last two joined by a very-late-for-their-opera-house-engagement-downtown Mumford and Sons) on Saturday night.

When we left both shows, we walked down main street and saw festivarians pouring out of local bars and cafes, often enjoying live music in more intimate settings like the Last Dollar Saloon…

Telluride Bar, Bluegrass Festival Evening

And the Telluride Opera House.

On the way to see Mumford and Sons at Telluride Opera House

Perhaps most importantly, we found a hot dog stand…

Hot Dog Stand Downtown Telluride

And some excellent night tacos…

Telluride Night Tacos!

Gear: Nikon D700, Nikon 85mm f/1.4
Processing: Cinnamon Rose ACR Presets (upcoming) – la playa, sessions e, and telluride

*emera messenger bag giveaway – this friday!

Leave a comment on Cindy’s *emera messenger bag giveaway page before Friday the 20th and you’ll be entered to win a unisex green *emera messenger camera bag.  The bags have a coated khaki exterior and an orange interior with adjustable velcro-on padding and an interior zipper pocket.  The bag closes in a snap with handy metallic button clasps, and the zipper pocket on the outside of the flap is the perfect size for storing a moleskine and a few stray CF cards or an extra camera battery.

And dudes: the bag’s plenty manly.

Be sure to leave your comment on Cindy’s blog between Monday and Thursday; the winner will be selected at random from those who have commented, and the selection and announcement will be made sometime on Friday, May 20th.

Here’s what fits in my green *emera messenger:

And here’s a few shots of my friend Ricky with his messenger bag, just so’s you believe me when I say it’s for dudes, too…

Go enter that bag giveaway already!

BYOBW – Bring Your Own Big Wheel 2011

BYOBW is an SF Easter tradition.  Words don’t really do it justice, but in a nutshell the recipe is this:

  • Find the steepest, curviest street in SF (no, not Lombard – Vermont Street running down the south side of Potrero Hill).
  • Find a big wheel or, barring that, some other kids’ wheeled vehicle, preferably rickety.  Modify as desired.
  • Dress up because, well… it’s Easter and it’s San Francisco.
  • Get rad. Let it rip. No brakes.

Shot with a Nikon D700 with a 85mm f/1.4 and a Nikon F100 with a fisheye 16mm f/2.8 (loaded with the new Portra 400)