August 2010 « Smiles & Blessings — Andy Rea Photography + Design — Professional Portrait Art

Hola Amigos! My name is Andres but most people know me as Andy. If you call me Andres...just make sure you roll the "r" (rrrrrrr) with a cool latin accent and don't randomly place the letter "a" at the end and call me Andrea. Otherwise...just call me Andy so I don't get confused. This is my familia, Elijah Marcus, Me, my gorgeous wife, Elizabeth, and my daughter Angelina Grace. They are my life, my purpose, my smiles, and my blessings.

Welcome to my blog, Smiles & Blessings! Get to know me and enjoy my posts. For more details about who I am, what I do, where I do it, and how I do it; please visit the About Me page in the Details tab above. Thank you and enjoy your time here with me and my family.

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Considering I haven't used this account in um I don't know, 6 months, maybe I should deactivate it? Or keep it and log in again in 6 months # 2011/09/22

Archive for August, 2010

Family Portraits of Compassion |Giving Back with Blessings|

August 29, 2010

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?

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

family_portrait_carmel_California_Andy_Rea_Photography Design05 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!

Tags: blessings, Carmel, community, compassion, Downtown Monterey California, family portraits, friends, kids, love, memories, Monestary Beach, Monterey City Hall, NILMDTS, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Seaside, wikipedia
Posted in Community, Family Portraits | View Comments

The End of Andy Rea Photography, THE BRAND New Beginning, and a High School Senior Portrait Showcase |Andy Rea Photography + Design|

August 22, 2010

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!

New	Old
Website: www.areaphotodesign.com	www.andyreaphoto.com
Blog: www.areaphoto.net	There is no old because my blog is only 1 month old!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/areaphotodesign	Will delete this page in the following month. www.facebook.com/andyreaphoto
Email: ar@areaphotodesign.com	PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS!!! ar@andyreaphoto.com
Phone: (831)272-AREA (2732)	This still works though so you technically don’t have to change it if you have it on speed dial. (831)320-2474

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!

Tags: andy rea photography + design, brand, business, CA, california, change, friends, high school senior portraits, identity, mitche graf, monterey, new beginning, Salinas High School
Posted in 1-High School Senior Portraits, Business | View Comments

Back to School and a Look Into the Future |Class of 2011 Senior Portraits + Future Seniors|

August 15, 2010

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.

Tags: children, Family Portraits, kids, memories, Monterey City Hall, Salinas High School, senior portraits
Posted in 1-High School Senior Portraits, Bellies & Babies, Children, Family Portraits, Maternity | View Comments

This is what it’s all about! |Garcia Family Portraits – Carmel, CA|

August 8, 2010

My second post! I’m starting to think that I can get this blog thing to actually work!

It was great to get an Email from a past client, asking me to capture her family’s portraits. Thank you Susan for asking me, two years after the big family session we had with Jaime and the gang, to capture your family portraits. It was a great day even though it was totally freezing! I guess it didn’t matter how many times I said, “think warm, think of of the Bahamas,” because there was no disguising how cold it really was. The little girls were such troopers too. They all looked so cute in their summer dresses even though our beautiful Monterey Peninsula looked like a bad afternoon in Winter! Everyone seemed to be having such a great time though and were making the best of it no matter what. I’m guessing that is how your family works because there were tons of smiles and laughs to go around! Thank you Susan for a wonderful family portrait session and giving me a chance to capture the love and happiness in your family.

Everything I do is motivated by making sure my family is sustained and blessed. Being able to give back blessings of memories to a family is such a wonderful feeling. I present to you all the Garcia Family and their cool portrait session taken in Carmel, CA on Monestary Beach.