APRIL FOOL’S CLASS OF 2012!!!

ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR SENIOR YEAR YET?!?

What I have for you today is not a practical joke so don’t worry.

It is that time of year again everyone! Juniors in high school are already thinking about their Senior year and how amazing it is going to be!  Pay attention Class of 2012 because this is the craziest promotion I have ever had!  Don’t be yet another senior I hear about being frustrated with their portraits because everyone else in the school took their shots in the same park and on the same tree!  Let’s get creative and go to different spots.  You are unique and so your portraits should be too!  You’re supposed to have awesome memories about your entire senior year and your portraits is one of the most important things to plan for.   Senior Portraits should be one of the best experiences!  Let me help create that experience for you!

Announcing the Senior Portrait Session Giveaway!

Win a Rock Star Senior Portrait Session!

“What do I have to do to win?!?  What will I win?!?” Relax…here are the details.

What will you win?
Win a FREE Rock Star Senior Portrait Session!
2-3 Hour On-Location Session
Bring Along Up to 3 friends!
Multiple Locations
Unlimited Poses & Outfits
Private Online Gallery
25% Off Print Purchase
5 FREE Digital Files *
Get a 50% OFF Senior Session Voucher for each of your invited friends!
* Digital Files for prints up to 8×10

How to Enter?
1. Complete the Sign Up Form (<— Click Link) by Friday, April 22nd!
2. “Like” our Facebook Page (<— Click Link or Click Like Button Below)

How to Win?
1. We will post all signed up seniors in a poll on our Facebook Page on Saturday, April 23rd.
2. Seniors will encourage family & friends to “like” our page and then vote for them.
3. Voting will close on Saturday, April 30th at 11:59pm.
4. The person with the most votes wins the session!
5. The winner will be announced on May 1st!!!

Good Luck Class of 2012!  I’m looking forward to see how many votes you can get!

Smiles & Blessings!

Thank you!  This is the only way I know how to express the gratitude I have for both of you, Charlie and Theresa for trusting me with your wedding day images.  Both of you are such amazing and kind people.  Your family welcomed my family as though you have known us for years!  Thank you for the blessing of friendship and the honor of capturing your life together as one.  You day was simply beautiful from beginning to end.  The perfect Carmel weather was in full glory for you two and God blessed us all with amazing light for your images!  I cannot honestly tell you how exciting it was for me to capture your day.  Another quick thank you to Kathee from Carmel Weddings. Thank you for a perfect wedding site and the organization you provided.  I encourage everyone interested in a Carmel Beach wedding to contact her. Thank you!

I have prepared a few favorites for your enjoyment.  Remember you can share and like this post at the end of the post.  Enjoy!

A beautiful detail from Theresa’s gorgeous dress!  Theresa looked amazing!  Theresa and Charlie’s theme was perfect in every way.

This image captures exactly the feeling everyone had during their ceremony.  Love, happiness, and joy!  Laughter warms the soul and Charlie had EVERYONE laughing on this day!  Thanks for making it hard for me to concentrate on capturing images Charlie.  Laughing and holding a camera a the same time is quite the task.

Always one of my favorite moments during a wedding!  I’m such a sucker for love.  You two completely deserve each other.

What an amazing cake!  I feel so horrible that I left the event without getting the cake designer’s contact information.  I’m sure Theresa can fill me in though and I will post her information.  She must be included on this blog.  Perfect details and amazing beauty were found on this gem of a cake.  Such a wonderful job.

I leave you all with this beautiful image of the happy couple enjoying an impromptu kiss and amazing Carmel coastline that surrounded us all morning.  Perfect couple. Perfect location.  Perfect light.  Perfect love!

Thank you everyone for visiting the blog. Please share and post a comment. 

Smiles & Blessings

So yesterday I had a couple of first time experiences!  I will get to the second one  a little later.  Trust me, you don’t want to miss this!

Hold on! Quick Update!  I just wrote about 4 sentences and I went back and deleted them twice!  My brain may be malfunctioning and shutting down.  Forgive me for odd grammar and the common typos from this point forward!

Moving on…So I finally had the chance to connect with the Edmiston’s, Russell, Emma, and Scout!  I had been planning with Emma a fun pet portfolio session for at least a couple of months.  In the end, it was a “race to the finish” type of communication on my part!  I think I need to figure out new ways to cope with an overloaded brain.  It all worked out though and we met at Carmel Beach.  It was a little gloomy first thing in the morning after some rain showers that passed during the night.  It didn’t take long though for that gorgeous Carmel light to shine through!  I was in photographer’s heaven for quite some time during this session.  The light temperature and diffusion were absolutely perfect! (Camera Geek Moment!)

It was time for my first portrait portfolio session for pets!  I have been waiting to build my pet portfolio for so long and somehow I never seemed to get to it.  I finally made the commitment to work on it and I was lucky enough to find a couple of proud parents of handsome Scout!

I love portfolio sessions because I am able to free my mind a little bit and just have some fun.  Many don’t know that one of my biggest dreams was to become a veterinarian.  After a few years working on classes and in a veterinary office, I was able to comfortably make the choice that it was something I could not do for a career.  My love for animals has a very special place in heart and I’m looking forward to building an award-winning pet portrait portfolio.  With that said, I am honestly not really sure why it has taken me this long to get into pet portraiture.  I have always wanted to do it, but never really got it going.  I am so happy though that I had the chance to spend a beautiful morning on the Carmel Beach with Russell, Emma, and Scout.

At first, 4 year old Scout didn’t know what to make of me.  “Should I trust this guy or not?  I better keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t get too weird.”  I could see that question in his eyes all morning.  I think it is great though, because that is only one of the things Scout and I have in common. 

It was so much fun to be down on the beach with so many dogs everywhere.  I think Scout was so proud because he had this weirdo with a giant black thing (photographer & camera) following him around.  When I wasn’t up in Scout’s face, I sat back and just captured him playing with Mom and Dad.

So it was right around this time that I had the chance to experience another “first” in my life.  We were having a blast, minding our own business and capturing some beautiful images.  Of course that only lasts a minute or two until other dogs come investigating what all the commotion is about with this so-called pet photographer!  So here comes a couple of, if I remember correctly, Weimaraners to say hello to Scout.  After they were done, one of them decided to go away.  That’s what I thought anyway!  He went behind me and decided that I would be a great object to mark!  OH YEAH!  I said MARK!  He peed…ON ME!  Can you believe that?!?  So maybe my connection to dogs is only good in my mind! LOL  We laughed about it and I took off my jacket.  Thankfully it didn’t penetrate the jacket too much.  That was officially the first time that I have ever been peed on during a photo shoot.  I seriously hope it the last time too!

I love this image.  Scout is finally starting to trust me a little, laid there and let me get close enough to capture the details of his eyes along with the perfect Pebble Beach Golf Course in the background.  Scout was an awesome dog to photograph!  He blessed me with so many smiles and laughs.  Thank you Russell and Emma for raising a fine young dog and having fun with me on the beach!

This was the very last shot of the morning.  How perfect for the ending!  I think it is absolutely funny how expressive and fun Scout can be,  This image is Scout saying, “I’m done with this photo session, you’re out of treats (that my Dad had to give you), and it is time for you to hit the road Mr. photographer guy.”

I love that wink!  Thank you everyone for coming to the blog today.  Give my Social Sharing Bar a try and share this post with your friends on facebook, twitter, or any other platform you use.  Don’t forget the Facebook “like” button either.  I hope you enjoyed today’s set of images.  Remember that next time I ask for portfolio candidates, make sure we connect and schedule your session immediately.  I don’t have too much room for portfolio sessions, but when I do make sure you grab it before someone else does.  Have a fantastic Sunday everyone.

Oh…leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on my pet portraiture.  It can only get better from here!

Smiles & Blessings from Andy Rea and Family.

Last weekend I had the incredible blessing of capturing the images of a couple celebrating their 40th year of unity, love, happiness, laughter, and peace.  Their value of marriage is stronger than I have witnessed in a very long time!  They still look at each other with passion and love that I pray will continue in my marriage.  They are the type of people that inspire me to make sure my marriage is precious and long lasting.  He still loves to make out with his wife and she does not seem to mind either!  He has the coolest smirk when he notices her glancing over to check him out.  She has the cutest sparkle in her eyes when she looks into the eyes of her awesome man.  They are Charly and Susie Franklin!

It has been such an inspiration to work with both of you Charly and Susie and witnessing the amount of love you still have for each other.  What an honor to look through the images I captured for you and this amazing moment of time.  It is so sad that a long lasting marriage has become such a rarity in our society.  Thank you so much Susie for trusting Sandy Leader’s recommendation and blessing me with the honor of capturing your precious day.  Enjoy some of my favorite images everyone.

Charly & Susie had the most awesome walkway full of tiles created be different family and friends.  This is the first tile of the collection and perfectly represents how warm and welcoming their home is to anybody!

I can not express how beautiful and amazing the sound of this guitar and vocals were throughout the ceremony!

Something that is very important to mention is their appreciation for art and the individual interpretation people have.  To me, this is Charly and Susie.  Always looking at each other and gazing deep into the other’s soul.  This is their love represented by a piece of art in front of their home.

This is their gorgeous backyard.  They renewed their vows after 40 years of marriage and shared it with family and friends.  The great thing about these two is that there does not seem to be a separation to them when it comes to family.  Everyone was family on this day!

This is an image that simply says, “I am complete…I am content!”

I LOVE this image!  So much passion and love for Charly in her eyes!  There’s that sparkle! I am so proud to have been there to capture this for you two!

Another one of my favorites!  I used two of their best friends (The Rosens) as a natural vignette and foreground to focus in on their unity.

I think it is funny that event after 40 years of being married to his daughter, Dad still feels a little advise is necessary!

Even 90 year old men know how to party!  91 years old actually!  How awesome is that.  I want to be partying at 91!

I cannot begin to explain to you how magical this drink was!  I may have had about 5 glasses.  I was officially overdosing on sugar!  I don’t know the recipe but all I know is that pink lemonade with fresh fruit is AWESOME!  I seriously could go for some of this liquid love right now!  I want to make sure I thank the Cachagua Catering Company for an amazing experience of food, drinks, and wonderful service.  Everything they made was simply amazing.  I’m looking forward to working with them again.  Could I please have some more of your lemonade? Please!

This was such a wonderful story!  Every year they share a traditional cake dropping.  On their wedding day, they had the chance to see what happens when a big cake and gravity decide to have a play date.  They never let it ruin their day.  They laughed about it and made it into a tradition.  Here’s the funny thing about this particular day…somebody decided to freeze it solid!  I don’t even think the sprinkles came off this cake when it hit the ground!  This was a hilarious moment!

I’m not sure what Charly was doing with the cake but I think he was well into a bottle of wine at this point!

I present to you Charly and Susie Franklin.  United by love and celebrating 40 years of marriage!  Congratulations to both of you!

I know this post was late, but I hope you all have enjoyed the inspiration that love can bring.  Smiles & Blessings to you all throughout this week!

So as of right now…it is way past my beauty sleep time but I absolutely had to get some of these images ready for today’s post.  Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting the Smith family and capturing Justin’s senior portraits.  He is a Class of 2011 senior from Salinas High School.  What a blast!  That pretty much sums up the entire session.  Lanette and Ben, Justin’s parents were awesome!  They enjoyed this moment of their son’s life by keeping it lively and completely trusting me.  Thank you to both of you for the confidence and trust.  I want to make sure I also give a BIG warm thank you to Lisa White for the referral!  It is the best compliment a customer can give.

So let’s talk about Justin.  Justin just so happens to have the same first and last name of my childhood best friend.  So many similarities between the both of them too!  When Lanette and I started talking about his portrait session, I found out he loves dirt bikes.  I just about didn’t give her any choice in the matter and insisted we incorporated Justin’s bike in his session.  What better excuse to get dirty and capture images at the same time!With all my senior portraits, my ultimate goal is to incorporate exactly who you are and what your passions are.  So don’t feel nervous about wanting to include props.  Letting me showcase your passions with my images make the experience more fun and your family can appreciate your images for many generations.  For Justin it is simple.  Justin loves everything about being outdoors.  He loves his dog Roxy.  Let’s not forget his passion for riding dirt bikes either.

Since I am seriously about to fall on my keyboard from exhaustion, I am going to keep this post short in the words department and simply show off some of my favorites from Justin’s session.  It was seriously great to hang out, joke around, and capture your portraits Justin.  I hope you love them along with the rest of Smith bunch!  Thank you guys for an awesome Saturday afternoon!  I had a wonderful time meeting all of you and sharing so many smiles and laughs with you.

And here is his Roxy Girl!  They both have the same smile here!  I must give credit to Ben, Justin’s dad for getting Roxy to be so attentive.  What a beautiful girl she is.  So one of the things that she likes to respond to and chase are lizards.  I think it was Brittany, Justin’s girlfriend that spelled it out (L-i-z-a-r-d) as an idea to get her attention.  I have to admit that I only caught the first three letters and I was left wondering just what the heck she was talking about.  So apparently my spelling is still just as bad as it was back in 1st grade!  Too funny.  So a little word of advice to families that hire me to capture portraits, don’t spell out words that will help get the attention of your kids or pets.  It is very likely that I will look at you with a very puzzled look!

Is it okay to call him a stud without it being mistaken for a weird compliment?  Whatever!  Great portrait Justin!

This is what Justin got to do after the “regular” session was over.  He’s was pretty excited to get on his bike.  I was equally excited to get my cameras clicking away!  It was such a great experience!  Oh…and this was a solid 20 feet above me!  You’re a mad man Justin.  Remember, you can run over the photographer but NEVER his cameras!

So I leave you all with this image that I absolutely love.  I loved in straight out of the camera with no editing but for those of you that don’t know my style yet…you better believe I had to put some finishing touches on it!  I want to give props where props are due when it comes to my digital darkroom.  I can’t live without my onOne Plug-In Suite 5 and my Totally Rad Actions for Photoshop.  As in any craft there are tools to complete the job, well in my craft these are two of the best tools available.  These tools helped me complete an awesome senior portrait art piece.  I think this deserves to be created into a poster.

I hope you all enjoyed the post this week.  This was a cool session from start to finish and I wish we could have gone another couple of hours.  Many thanks again to the Smith family for trusting the White family’s referral and letting me have a blast photographing Justin!  Enjoy your Sunday and remember that all I could ever wish for all of you are Smiles & Blessings!

Who enjoys being “nickeled and dimed?”  My guess is that not many of you!  If there are some of you that don’t mind it, please leave a comment and tell us how you do it.  When it comes to anyone’s money, my guess is that we are very protective over it.  Well sometimes it doesn’t pay to not pay for what you want!

I had a realization this week.  As much as I don’t appreciate being “nickeled & dimed myself,”  I sometimes do the very same thing to other businesses.  There are times when making an offer is OK and then there are other times that paying the asking price is perfectly fair too.  Well let me tell you something about myself.  I LOVE Ebay!  Sometimes, I shop for stuff that I never need but when I see IT, I know I need it then!  I particularly love looking for photography stuff and gadgets that I couldn’t live without.  I found myself making an offer for the same item to a seller 3 times this week.  I wasn’t happy with the counter offer they were giving me so I kept trying.  I was getting a little upset honestly.  I mean seriously, how dare they refuse my offer!  It was only like 40% off their asking price.  Geez!  Why won’t they budge on their price?  For some odd reason it hit me today that they were asking exactly what the item is worth to them and what it should be worth to me too.  I’m fussing over a few dollars while the seller is fussing over having to waste more time on my offers.  Here’s the bad part!  This is an item important to my craft and can help me create stunning images!  Why would I possibly want to devalue that?  So what do you devalue in your life that you really want and sometimes even need?

I have never approached my business and the clients I serve with a “Nickel & Dime” attitude because I would fail miserably at it and I wouldn’t have very many clients after a while.  Today I went through my coin bucket and pulled out all my nickels and dimes.  I figured the best way to remind myself to never stress over nickels and dimes with my customers is to keep a steady supply of them right in front of my face everyday!  I plan on keeping these coins in front of my monitor to always remind me that losing a nickel or even a dime is not worth losing a customer, ever!

Do you see my little coin cup over on the right?  All nickels and dimes!  If I ever feel the urge to try something foolish with a client, it will be right there to serve as a reminder.  Now I need to keep my desk clear of clutter so my coin cup does not get lost!  Look to the left too.  Go Raiders!  The football season starts today for many team and the Raiders are one of them.  Don’t stop following me just because I’m a Raiders fan either!

This is my awesome digital darkroom by the way.  Isn’t it stylish and purrrrdy?!?  This is where I create my portrait art.  I have been slowly reorganizing my office this week and decided it was time to move myself by the window.  I can open it and listen to the birds now and even the huge eucalyptus tree swaying in the breeze.  On really quiet nights, I can even hear the ocean roaring.  That’s an image of Justin Timberlake on the 18th greenside bunker at Pebble Beach.  I was creating a painting from the original image.  It came out awesome.  Sorry can’t share it quite yet.  If you really care to see it, please leave a quick note in the comment section below.

Here’s one of my favorite tools that helps create my art.  The Wacom Intuos 4 Tablet!  I LOVE IT!  It was a purchase I waited too long to make.  This beautiful tool saves me so much time and allows me to edit my images with a higher degree of accuracy and detail.  Do you see my coin cup in the background?  It’s blurry but it’s there!  I know this image is very random, sorry.

So since I hate to be “Nickeled & Dimed” and I know that most of you hate it too, I want to offer you an amazing opportunity to get those portraits you have always wanted.  I will be participating in a fundraiser to aid in the research of Alzheimer’s on October 16, 2010.  My grandmother was diagnosed with this tragic disease and I felt compelled to do something to help.  Together with a few family members, I will be walking to honor all families effected by the damage of Alzheimer’s.  This is where the 2010 Monterey Memory Walk comes in.  They have organized a wonderful event to help families and friends come together and help raise money.  In the spirit of my nickel and dime experience this week, I want to offer 5 lucky families an opportunity to help me raise money for research and in return you receive portraits!  This is one of the best win-win scenarios I have ever seen.  Hurry up though because I only have a limited amount of sessions available, 5 to be exact.  This is also perfect timing considering that the Holidays are coming up and you could get custom Holiday cards too!

Details:

1. Contact me to make sure there is still a session available.
2. Visit my personal fundraiser page and donate $200 toward the Alzheimer’s Association.
3. Call me to confirm your donation and we schedule your session.
4. That’s it!  100% of your donation goes toward a great cause and you also can write it off for your taxes.

So don’t waste any time.  Send me a quick inquiry and go donate today!

Thanks for spending time with me today! I look forward to designing your portrait session and capturing all the Smiles & Blessings of your family!

There are times when all your plans and ideas come together perfectly!  I totally love those times.  More often than not though, I’m having to deal with some sort of obstacle.  Most of the time those obstacles are put there by my own doing!  Such is the way life is as an artist and business owner.  Brain waves tend to just float around sometimes.  A few weeks ago I received a phone call from a proud mom inquiring about senior portraits.  Another Yonemitsu Family referral!  Thank you Yonemitsu’s, you all rock beyond belief!!!  On a quick phone consultation, I learned that our family have quite a bit in common.  Araceli is a single mom to an awesome son, Cristian.  I grew up a total momma’s boy and I am proud to say that I still am and always will be.  Even though we don’t readily admit it, there’s no hiding the fact that we are.  I think Cristian falls in that category too.  He’s so proud of his mom and I totally love seeing that and seeing Araceli’s love and pride in her son reminds me so much of my mom.  So while designing Cristian’s session, I learned he is an artist too and is all about getting creative and funky!  Cristian aspires to be a cartoonist and he will be attending the Art Institute of San Francisco.  I think it’s amazing the amount of focus and passion Cristian has!  What an inspiration he was to me throughout his portrait session.  Cristian also loves Urban Art and being creative with spray paint!  Well everything fell together perfectly for this senior portrait session, except for sending Araceli and Cristian the wrong link for the directions where we would meet.  Oh yes!  That would be an Andy Rea move indeed!  I’m so sorry you guys for that!  It all worked out though.  I was inspired to scout some new places specifically to match Cristian’s passion and personality.  I found some wonderful locations throughout in the old Fort Ord area.  After spending just a few minutes looking, I knew this would be the perfect place to bring Cristian.  It turned out exactly how I thought it would!

Seeing the smile on his face as he painted was contagious.  Thank you Araceli from trusting my vision and letting me have fun capturing Cristian create his art. This was a unique experience and I am thrilled that I had the honor of creating images for you. 

Here’s another one of my favorites.  I actually have so many favorite images from this session.  Cristian totally rocked this portrait session.  His expressions were natural and easy.  I took too much time trying to figure out what I was going to post.  Even as I write this, I’m contemplating adding a few more! So be prepared for a few more than the normal sneak peeks.  I know Araceli won’t mind!  Enjoy

I have a sneaky suspicion that one of these days, I’ll be buying shirts designed by Cristian.  I got shirt envy right now.  You have to promise me Cristian that I can be the photographer for all the art you create!  There I said it and claimed it!  Nobody else can do it now.

This is one of my absolute favorites from the entire session!  It so simple but expressed exactly who Cristian is in my opinion.  I am really proud that I was able to create this image for you Cristian.  Keep up the awesome work with your art!  You have a lifelong fan!

There is no doubt in my mind that Salinas High School is proud and honored to have such a good young man amongst their students.  A focused student, athlete, artist, and most importantly a great son to a great mom!  Have an awesome senior year Cristian!  I can’t express how thrilled I am to be your senior portrait photographer.

So in honor of Cristian’s dream to be a cartoonist I give you the final sneak peek.  This image has just a great story to it.  I scouting this room a few days before our session.   Moments before we entered this building I asked Cristian what specifically he was going to be studying at the Art Institute and he said cartooning.  I couldn’t believe it!  Well this room is a storage room with boxes of old film cartridges and movies.  I happened to look at a few of these negatives to see what was on them and guess what?!?  A bunch of vintage cartoon films!  You better believe I was going to get a shot in there now!  Here is my wife, Elizabeth’s favorite from the series.  This was such an incredible location and coincidence!  Beyond cool!

Thanks for visiting my blog!  I consistently blogged the entire month of August!  I am surprised how much enjoyment I have received from creating this blog and being able to share with you.  I hope you enjoyed my first post of September.  I started September off with what I do best, Senior Portrait Art!  Have a wonderful and blessed Labor Day Weekend!  I look forward to designing your portraits soon.

Smiles and Blessings,

So how was everyone’s August?  I guess it’s not technically over but somehow I’ve convinced myself that this is my first post of September.  Well not really but it worked out quite nice that the purpose of this post was for an announcement for something exciting that I will be organizing for the next four months.  It is tied closely together with an opportunity for our community to come together and bless each other with blessings and compassion.  I have always wanted to have the opportunity to give back to families with my talent.  A couple of years ago I was deeply motivated to become a volunteer for an awesome organization.  We are Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS).  Luckily our group of other awesome photographers have only had to answer the call of service a couple of times to families in our area.  We photograph the wonderful miracle of a child’s life and sometimes the life they never get to experience.  I’m not sure how a family can deal with losses like this.  Being a man of faith, I know the only way for me to over come something like that would if God was by my side the entire way.

I have experienced through NILMDTS the beauty and honor it really is to be trusted with the memories of a family and capturing that wonderful moments in the short time they have.  I have thought for quite a while about doing something similar for my community in our beautiful Central Coast.  It came to a point that I had to just do it and trust that my community, all of you,  would support my effort to give back.  I need your help with this.

As defined in Wikipedia: “Compassion (from Latin: “co-suffering”) is a virtue —one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy (for the suffering of others) are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnectedness and humanism —foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.”

What a wonderful definition isn’t it!  Let’s open our hearts and look at our neighbors with compassion.

Starting in September and through October, I will start accepting nominations to find a family that needs the gift of family portraits.  Portraits to help bring peace, comfort, happiness, smiles, and blessings. I know I too often take for granted my heavenly blessings and I try my hardest to not do that.  All families deserve beautiful portraits too!  Often they are too busy with their tough situation or with all the time they spend serving others, to think about something like family portraits.  This is where all of us, the community, come into the picture and get involved.

I love this classic family portrait of the Spillers!  This is another sneak peek from their recent session captured in Downtown Monterey at the City Hall.  You four are so blessed and have such a beautiful family!  I think baby Sophia is the happiest out of everyone.  What do you think?

I want you all to begin thinking about a family in our community that could use the happiness and joy that comes from being blessed with a great gift.  Contact Me with your family nomination and tell me why you feel they deserve a family portrait session.   Along with receiving a portrait session, my family is going to bless them with a package of prints to fill their home with memories.  After all nominations are in, Elizabeth (my wife) will select at random, the family which was nominated and we will contact them to schedule their design consultation and session.  They will be able to enjoy their prints by Christmas!  The more nominations a family receives, the greater their chances of being selected.  So remember to share this post with your family and friends.

Family is very important to me and powerful images are just as important.  Capturing artistic images has just as much impact for some families compared to classic family portraits.

Include in your nomination:

• ALL of your contact information
• As much contact info as is available of the family you choose to nominate
• Short description of why this family deserves this gift – Are they selflessly involved in the community?  Do they help the needy when they themselves are in need?  What makes them special in your eyes?
• What would you say to the family you nominate if they won?  How would you explain to them why you nominated them for this gift.

Enter your nomination here.  Thank you to everyone in advance for your warm heart of compassion and your nomination.  I hope this ends up being a wonderful blessing to our community and the family selected.  I know my heart will be blessed so I look forward to this being a success.

All parents should have images of their children when they are getting along with each other.  It may only happen once every year so we might as well capture it when it happens!  I’m just kidding because Sam is such an awesome big brother and having awesome parents is how I stay optimistic for our younger generations.  Captured in Laguna Grande Park, Seaside, CA.

This turned out to be such a beautiful classic family portrait of some good friends, the Mastria Family.  We captured these in Carmel, CA.

Another wonderful family portrait of the Peters Family at Laguna Grande Park in Seaside, CA.  Such a wonderful location with many combinations of backgrounds.  I remember getting this shot.  I had just sprained my ankle about an hour prior to starting their session.  They had to witness me hobble around but I didn’t let it stop me from making sure I got every shot I wanted.

Another favorite of mine of the beautiful Makanani Family.  What a joy it was to just have fun with another family and capture their love and happiness together.  There’s is no hiding it!  We spent the afternoon at Monastery Beach in Carmel, CA.

Let’s work together to nominate great families so that I can have the opportunity to capture portraits for them.  Thanks for visiting the blog today and taking the time to read this exciting announcement.  I know it was a little long but you hung in there.  Thank you!

Please Contact Me if you have any questions.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

You definitely read it correctly, Andy Rea Photography is no more!  Throughout the last year, I have been slowly changing the way I do business and the identity of my business.  It is my goal to create and build a photography studio that is trusted and valued for the cherished memories which it provides.  Previously I was simply meandering along my business path with little vision  or clarity of the bigger picture.  With a new focus and the goals to match it, I have been changing who I am as a photographer and business owner.  With these changes my brand and identity will become stronger.  I must admit that I love immediate gratification, especially in the electronics department, but that’s for a completely different blog post!  Even with this difficult characteristic of mine I came to the realization that sometimes slow and steady is the best path to take, accept, and conquer.  That’s right! I said conquer!  There is so much for me to still learn about the awesome photography industry and to think that I could know it all is plain ole’ silly.  I’ve been trying hard to open my mind to other leaders in my industry and accepting the great knowledge and wisdom they willingly offer.  A serious thank you to Mitche Graf for hosting the WPPI Business Institute.  Quick note to photographers: Make it a point to research Mitche Graf and invest in his products. I was lucky enough to have convinced myself to attend.  I even convinced myself that there had to be at least one thing I could learn from this seminar and that it would be worth the cost of registration.  I came out a completely different photographer and business man!  I even met some new cool friends!

I would like to announce to you all that my business is now called Andy Rea Photography + Design.  The reason for this addition was very simple.  This one extra word truly expresses the service and artistry my customers receive when I capture there memories.  It is not just about going outside and saying cheese for the camera.  It needs to be a fun and memorable experience which makes the images even that much more valuable.  I am focused on pre-designing portrait sessions and events tailored to my clients’ needs.  I go into every project with a vision and design of the outcome.  I put my heart and passion into the design of my images in my digital darkroom.  So in the end, it really is not just about the photography.  I discovered that each and every image hanging in a client’s home or office began with a design and was finished with a design.

It kind of sounds cooler to say too, “ …and Design! ” Just that little bit of extra flavor helps I think.

Since I decided to make this tiny and barely noticeable change to my business name, it quickly jumped out at me that I may need to change the name on basically everything I have already established.  At first I was a little scared because I was afraid of annoying my clients and friends.  The last thing I would want to do is lose clients or make it more difficult for them to find me.  It turns out though that making solid client relationships is what matters and making a move to improve myself is exactly what clients expect and want.  I want my business to be easy to find and have unity throughout the brand.  With that said, I have changed just about everything to match my business’s new name.  I think the new short name for my business, areaphotodesign, is smoother and easier to remember.  Not only that but try to get someone to remember my last name, even though it’s only 3 letters long is a nightmare!  Now all I have to say is, “www.areaphotodesign.com” instead of, “Andy Rea” and looking at people’s faces trying to figure out how to spell it!

Thank you for all your patience and understanding during this transition.  I look forward to your continued support of my dream, passion, and career.  If you and I have never worked together I urge you to contact me and let’s get together to design your memories with a simple consultation.

So enough business right!?!  With the official introduction to Andy Rea Photography + Design (you like that extra plug huh?) I could think of no better way to start it off than that to show off a few images of my favorite type of portrait sessions, High School Seniors.  Senior sessions are great for me because I get to act my age and nobody cares!  I love to have fun and joke around during all my sessions but especially during senior portrait sessions.  I think most of the time the seniors think I’m the biggest goof but I’m cool with that because they are helping me feel younger and I think they get that so they just go along to let me feel better about myself!  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I really disliked my senior portraits.  Don’t tell my mom but I seriously cannot stand the portrait she has hanging on her wall.  The last thing I want is a senior which isn’t proud of their portrait.  I work really hard to make sure I am able to provide seniors and their parents images they are thrilled with and proud to show off to their friends and family.

I had the honor of capturing Karina, Class of 2011 from Salinas High School.  I hope Karina doesn’t get mad at me for saying this but she really wasn’t too thrilled with getting her portraits done.  I could honestly understand her hesitation because I’m a little uneasy in front of the camera too.  Weird right?!?  So about 15 minutes into our session, she asks me, “are we done Andy?”  I didn’t know what to say!  I felt bad because I had to tell Karina, “sorry sweety I’m just barely getting warmed up!”  So even though Karina was unsure about the portrait session, I must say she did an amazing job and I think she did a great job in front of the camera and photographs absolutely beautifully.  You did a fantastic job Karina and I hope that you will treasure your senior portraits for a lifetime!  Here are some of my favorites.

This was Karina’s favorite and her yearbook selection.  Such a beautiful smile.  I captured this image within 5 shots into the session.  I’m kind of proud of myself.  Maybe we were done after 15 minutes but I was having so much fun teasing Karina and keeping her in front of the lens!

I love it when the wind behaves and gives me, just the right amount of drama.

We spent a good part of our session chasing the sun and even though it was acting shy, we were still able to create this image.  A little bit of Seaside in the background.

I think this smile is awesome! So genuine and happy.  I think someone is starting to like the camera!

Another pretty portrait overlooking the Monterey Peninsula.

We left Monterey in search of the sun and a second location.  Instead we found ourselves in Lighthouse Avenue traffic for about 30 minutes and we stopped at the Seaside Beach for our second location.  It was hilarious, Karina and I were texting back and forth almost the whole way.  I thought for sure she would be hating me after all that traffic!  Even without the sun, it was bright enough to get some nice light.  It was freezing though!  Karina did such a great job looking like it was perfect weather.

This is another one of Karina’s favorites.  With as much planning and designing as I do for my shoots, you think I would have been smart enough to figure this out.  This location was 5 minutes from where we met and the sun was shining bright and beautiful.  Mr. Brilliant (me) decided to go the opposite way of where the sun was shining!  By the time we got back, the sun was gone.  It didn’t matter because Karina kept her spirits up and we finished up with some more great portraits.

I absolutely LOVE this image!  Karina looks so incredibly happy here.  I’m thinking that maybe deep inside she was having a bunch of fun and couldn’t resist my ridiculously lame jokes!  Seriously…they are lame.    

I would like to end this post with an image of friendship and love.  These two ladies were together during the consultation and through the entire session.  Makeup, hair, details…handled!  I love when my seniors bring a friend to include in their sessions.  There is so much to be said about a best friend and their impact in our lives.  I seriously wish I would have treated mine much better than I did.  So take my advice seniors, great friends only come around a few times in your life so treat them fairly.

You two ladies rock!  Thanks for a fun session and the wonderful laughs!  Have a Happy Sunday everyone and please share your thoughts by commenting below!

P.S.  I’m not sure if you have all noticed but apparently I have a little thing going on every Sunday at 7am, a Blog Post!  This is my 4th consecutive post and now August is about to be a thing of the past.  I have enjoyed the time I spend preparing my blog and I could only wish that you all continue to come back and read about my silly photographic adventures.  I will occasionally include posts during the week and from time to time I will also have some guest writers.  I really want my blog to be a place to see some great images and a few funny stories to read about.  So click the RSS feed and stay informed when my posts are published.  Thanks for reading!

Well everyone, it is that time of year again where parents everywhere begin going  just a little bit crazier after a nice calm summer.  Back to school week!  Both of my little offspring started this week too.  It was a little sad though because Elijah started kindergarten.  He’s definitely not a baby anymore but I would like to see someone convince my wife otherwise.  It was wonderful to have him hang on to my leg tight just to make sure that I wouldn’t leave his side.  After a few minutes of checking out the scene it was like I didn’t even exist!  I got my hug and kiss though so I guess I can’t complain.  This year my daughter also started 2nd grade.  It is honestly really hard dealing with the fact that my little girl is growing up.  So in honor of this wonderful week of Back to School here on the Monterey Peninsula, I thought I would share with you some senior portraits from the class of 2011, 2026, and 2028! Say what?!? You read it correctly.  I said class of 2026 and 2028!!!  Enjoy this weeks portrait post and please share your comments with me and all your friends.  Have a wonderful Sunday and thank you for stopping by.

This post is full of smiles and a bundle of laughs! I had the chance to capture senior portraits for Jesse White from Salinas High School.  This is a good friend of my senior rep from Salinas High, Jay Yonemitsu.  Jay told me that Jesse’s session would be fun and he slightly underestimated the amount of fun we had.  Jesse was cool to work with and a sense of humor that few people could resist.  We had a great time playing multiple characters from different movies.  You may catch a Zoolander sighting and maybe a little cameo from Ace Ventura too!  When I say fun; I mean a really fun time.  Jesse’s a fun and confident young man.  He loves playing baseball. He even has a little water polo in his blood too.  Thank you Lisa for trusting the Yonemitsu’s referral and allowing me the honor of capturing Jesse’s portraits.  I loved every minute of our session!  Check out these sneak peeks from yesterday’s session.

These two pictures honestly say it all about Jesse’s personality.  Funny! Funny! Funny!  Thanks for an awesome senior portrait session Jesse.  It was great making each other laugh.  I must say that I would never bet against you in a bull riding wager!

Now, I present to you the Class of 2026 & 2028!   My goal was to someday have someone call me the start of their freshman year and reserve their portrait session.  Another photographer I admire, Beth Forester is consistently booked a couple years in advance.  I think having inspiration is important and she’s one of the best in the country!  Well I just demolished my goal by reserving sessions for my nephew Dylan (Class of 2026 – 16 years away) and my niece Sophia (Class of 2028 – 18 years away).  That is a 18 year reservation people!!!  I feel a little like a rock star right now!  ;D  Baby Sophia is my first model for the “Baby’s First Year” portrait package.  These images are from her 3 month session.  While we were at it, I figured I should capture some of their senior portraits too.  It is senior portrait season after all so it seemed appropriate.  Thank you Mike & Jennifer for all your support and referrals.  The Rea’s love you tons and are always sending you Smiles & Blessings!

So here are a few sneak peeks from our fun portrait session with the Spiller Family.

I simply love this image of Sophia!  What a beautiful and happy little girl.

You talkin’ to me? heeee heeee heeee  I’m not sure I could explain how incredibly cute this kid is.  So much personality and energy.  My cool and handsome nephew Dylan.

This disclaimer is for all parents that like to take pictures of their kids.  DO NOT tell the toddler to show you where their siblings eyes are!!!  Poor Sophia almost got a finger right in the eye!  Luckily big brother is gentle.  I believe I learned my lesson! 

Here are my Class of 2026 senior portraits!  I think this would be perfect for his yearbook.  What do you think?

18 years! WOW…Class of 2028, we present to you little Miss Sophia Spiller looking dazzling and showing off her beautiful smile.  I’m looking forward to capturing her portraits for years to come.  What a wonderful blessing this girl has had to have Mike and Jennifer as daddy and mommy.  What an amazing job to have capturing families in love with each other and all their smiles.  Thank you to everyone that has blessed me with the chance to capture your portraits.  I look forward to many more years of capturing portrait art with many more families that appreciate it.  Have a fabulous Sunday.