Blog Readers: BEWARE!

I have got to say, I like the blog. Thank you all for checking in on it. It has been a bunch of fun. On a darker note, has anyone noticed that there has been a lot of talk lately about the Chupacabra, or is it just me? I mean seriously, last week I was watching the Discovery Channel and they had a whole hour show about the Chupacabra (Spanish for "goat-sucker"). Then, on LOST, Hurley started telling a spooky story about the Chupacabra. Coincidence, I think not. I am just saying, we gotta be careful about these things, especially if you are a goat farmer in South America. That is why I am so happy to be a wedding photographer in San Francisco. There have been many goats lost to the Chupacabra over the years, No wedding photographers! For that reason, I will continue to photograph weddings here in the Bay Area and around the world, except for where the Chupacabra dwell.

Brook out!

Bliss.... Yes please!

I LOVE getting together with my friends and family. I do! A little BBQ and possibly a great beverage. The red cup kind, you know what I'm talking about. Every great party growing up involved the solo red cup with power action grip, for safe delivery of your beverage without worry of spillage. Ah, thats nice. Sorry, a little off topic. Back to my point. So, you head over to your friends house and you are prepared for a fun evening when you hear the words of death,"Wanna check out my wedding video?" I get the chills just thinking of it! Why? Well, most of the time wedding videos are as the French say,"cheesy". But with a French accent, so it sounds way more snobby. Not so if you use the services of Kristen, founder of Bliss* Video Productions. We have had the chance to work with Kristen a bunch of times, from San Francisco to the Bahamas down to Mexico. She is FANTASTIC! Kristen chose us to photograph her for her new promotional piece. It was a lot of fun. You all have a great weekend!

Enjoy a red cup today!

Brook

What should I look for when I hire a photographer?

Clients always ask this question. And hey, it's a good one. There is not just one thing to look for, it is a bunch of things. One, and I hate to say...it is the dreaded "B" word. BUDGET! You need to find a photographer in your budget. So, when you are sitting down to watch your Tivo-ed Oprah and plan your wedding, plan to spend about 15% to 20% on your wedding photographer. At least. Some may say that is a lot of money, and hey it can be if you are having a large wedding. I have to say this, photos are the one thing that you are going to have years from now. People forget the chicken, shrimp, and the crab cakes. I mean I love them, don't get me wrong, I love me some crab cakes and those asparagus bacon wrapped deals, you know the ones I'm talkin' about. Sorry, I am a little hungry now. The point I am trying to make is that photographs are the one thing you have left, years later. Get the best that you can get. Get us.

The next thing to look at is the photographers work. You should love your photographers work, not just like it, LOVE it! Otherwise you are going to look at your photographs years later with the kids and think your pictures are ok. And your kids are going to say, "Your pictures are ok but they could have been amazing." With tears in their eyes they will say,"Why? Why didn't you hire Alisha and Brook?" For nothing else, hire Alisha and I for the kids. Do it for the children. Don't disappoint them.

Last but not least, hire a photographer you love, I am talking about "personality". You need to feel comfortable around your photographer. Not like, "Wow I love his/her work, but boy, they give me the heebie-jeebies!" Because the result will be that you and all your guests will have a weird look on their face in each and every photo. You don't want that. Alisha and I guarantee not to give you the heebie-jeebies or even anything like a heebie-jeebie. We are anti-heebie-jeebie.

To sum up, crab cakes are delicious but don't last. An ok photo is still mediocre, but fabulous images are taken by Alisha & Brook. And in conclusion, we offer anti-heebie-jeebie wedding packages. No one else in the world offers that. No one.

Have a great day,

Brook

Ah........Italy

Alisha and I have been able to travel to many exotic locations over the years. The Bahamas, Hawaii, Mexico, Fresno. Wait a sec, ok, maybe not Fresno. Not that there is anything wrong with Fresno, I mean, it is the prune capital of the world, mainly because it is so dry and butt hot. Really, it is super hot, I am not just saying that, it is. But one of our favorite places that we have ever traveled to for an event was definitely Italy. WE LOVED ITALY! The event was amazing. You can see it on our Far & Away page. While we were there we had about 20 day that we were able to explore Italy. From Rome to Florence, from Cortona to Venice. Alisha and I are happy to say that we are going to be doing our first Italy Art Show of our images, here in Santa Cruz. But for those of you not living in this part of the world, you will be able to view them and purchase them on our site in the next month. They are beautiful! Here are a few of these fine art images. Enjoy!






Shout out to Fresno, Producer of K-Fed and other dried up Fruits!

Brook

Importance of a Photograph

We have an amazing job! I love what we do! Some people wonder if photographs are that important. The fact is THEY ARE! Alisha's grandpa died this week and friends and family have all come to visit. Each and everyone of us have LOVED looking at the old photos of grandpa Dave. After looking at the photos, really after looking at grandpa's life, it reconfirms that we as photographers have a responsibility to our clients to make sure we capture all the great moments of their special day. Even family photos. What we create today is what will be loved and cherished by friends and family for years to come, this week has proved that for us. Tell your family that you love them today and while you are at it, take a picture.

Brook

David W. Burgin Jr. Loving husband of 64 years, father of 5, grandfather to 14, great-grandfather to 11. We love him dearly.

Elvis has left the Building, but we're here!

So, my bro, Joe Photo has been buggin' the heck out of me to post some images of our new studio in San Francisco. It is a great little spot just around the corner from Union Square, FAB location. The day's of meeting clients in coffee shops is over! I have to say that coffee shops had worked pretty good. I did hate yelling over those freakin' loud espresso machines, DANG the hot foam. So, with out further "adu"(sorry I don't spell French or whatever), here is our office. Enjoy! I added that French word for the Bebbs, they are "Canidian". Sorry, I don't spell in "Canidian". Wait a second, I can't spell in Inglish. What the heck. This post is over. Alisha is going to read me a book, hopefully one with pictures, those are my favorite. Pictures good, words bad. I guess that is why I am a photographer, not one of those ritter people, you know, those people who make the books with words and such. Pen to pad, small hands, those people. If you don't get the joke by now I would draw you a picture, but I can't draw. Dang it. I am stickin' with my Canon.

Have a great day!

Brook

This is Alisha writing since Brook can't. Heh, heh. This is the front of our building, The Hearst Building. As in Hearst Castle. This is owned by William Hearst's grandson who works in the building. He has a cool Bocce ball court on the roof that we played in once with the building manager, Brennan. He's a pretty cool guy.

You walk into the building and there is a directory of the different offices which include O - The Oprah Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country, Cosmo Girl and Esquire. You take the elevator to the 7th floor and come to our suite:


That's it for now and thanks for checking up on us!

Alisha

WPPI - Las Vegas Baby!!

This is Brook making my first offical post. For those of you that do not know what WPPI is, it stands for Wedding & Portrait Photographers International. And this is their annual convention & trade show. This was the biggest year ever with over 10,000 photographers from 35 countries. Whoosh! That was a bunch of people! I have to say, it is a great time. It is always fun to hang with all our close friends Joe Photo, Parker J, Brother Schu, Michelle Walker and some new friend like the Bebbs. Oh, last but never least Becker, my other bro. Becker it was a fantastic party, like always. I also wanted to give a shout out to Jessica Claire, great photographer and inventer of the huge hit, the ShootSac. I told her she needs to have a Brook Sac, one that is just a little bit sacier, for that extra junk, I think I just coined a new word. Ya'll are free to use it. Just one more Brookism. As a Platform Speaker at the convention, I have to thank all who showed up see us at 8:30am on Wednesday. That was a bit too early. Though there was still a great crowd there and I thank you!
Here's a shot of us in Vegas. Thanks for the image, Schuhmann!

I swear I will be posting a bunch more now that I know how easy it is. Thanks for checking back in on us.

Brook