Santa Barbara Engagement Shoot { lauren and scott }

Lauren & Scott are a fabulous couple and we met up with them in Sunny Santa Barbara. They are getting married at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu later this year. My favorite thing I LOVE about them was how real they were, down to earth and super cool. They started their casual portrait session out by riding a tandem bike all over town. This is fitting cause they own a sweet company called Totally Tubular Designs. You got to check it out, they make these fabulous wallets and clutches made from recycled bike tires! Anyways the shoot went on until dusk, my favorite time to shoot. Thanks guys for a great day.

Mike Larson Speaking in Santa Barbara this week

I'm excited to announce I'll be speaking in Santa Barbara Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

On Tuesday night for those who are PPA of Santa Barbara County members, check out their website for more information

Here is the Topic I'll be discussing:
LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE" When it comes to our clients, they want to follow leaders, they want to be inspired, led, and influenced. When we know how to do this better, we build a reputation of being a successful leader in the industry and with our past clients. This directly results into a better business. And lets face it, in an industry where there is much less to separate us from others, with our gear bags being similar, and a similar story with our websites, WHO we are is our biggest degree of separation. This is the least expensive area to grow and develop. However its the most costly to leave undeveloped. I believe in this photography industry, today's leaders are going to be tomorrow's success stories. Be a leader in your industry, you don't have to be nationally recognized to succeed, but you will have a business that will grow and stay prosperous in a recession, with clients that respect and refer you.



For Pictage users, check out Wednesday night Jan 14th @ 7:00pm, the Pictage User Group @

1339 Sagehill Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93109 US

I'm excited to see you guys there! Have an amazing week

For those of you who cannot make it I have some upcoming workshops which I'll be posting more on this week.
I have a Las Vegas Saturday Feburary 14th "Party of 4" workshop with only a few seats left.

And a San Luis Obispo Workshop Feb 2 & 3. I'm stoked about these as well, so check out www.stepitupseminar.com for more info.

DJ's Freedom Weekend In Santa Barbara

Sunday, DJ invited me and Rachel up to his new house to stop by his Freedom Workshop weekend in Santa Barbara. DJ as a photographer, businessman, and a friend; really inspires me. I know the benefactors of his knowledge and friendship stretch all over the world. So it was an honor when he asked me to chat with his group for a while. Specifically his Show it Web product. That has had such a huge impact in my couples, they get to see their images in a slideshow set to music on the web that they get to share with others. Kenny Kim took these shots and, it was great to see another familiar face there. Kenny is going to help me shoot a wedding in Indiana in June. Rachel and I hung out for a few hours after chatting. It is always such a blessing to connect with people from across the country and this wedding photography industry has such a great body of people.

Meet:Liz & Bryan

This sweet couple is getting married in less than 2 weeks! June is a busy month, but we fit in some time shooting them in Santa Barbara, the next day after Aaron & Yoko. We did a little bit of shooting up at Knapps Castle, which is now a highly requested spot. Thanks to recent shoots such as Comon & Vineda. But we had a blast shooing with Liz & Bryan, they had so much flavor, and one of my favorite things about our couples is that they are relaxed, have fun and be themselves, and we get to capture who they really are as a couple and how much fun they have. Now Bryan, who looks like a young James Dean, fit perfectly on the Vespa, thanks to the local Santa Barbara Vespa dealer>Vespadealer. The owner was amazing and let us borrow one of his vespas to shoot with, we had a blast wrapping up the shoot on a warm evening in one of my favorite beach cities.