Victor Sizemore's Blog

The family and I drove up to the Bay Area a few weeks ago for a bit of fun and business. I had a couple consultations and an engagement session with Kellie and Tim. Their wedding is in Laguna at Three Arch Bay Park a very intimate and private setting off PCH. Tim is getting into Bourbon was we talked about a bunch of great places in San Francisco to have a nice drink. My short list is Bourbon and Branch, Library Bar, Rickhouse and Whiskey Thieves. During school Kellie used to work for a family member as a sales rep for St. Germaine the new Elder Flower liquor. She turned me onto some libations with St. Germaine and bourbon. I can’t wait to try them out!

Here’s the engagement photos from the same trip to Charleston. Catherine, Jason and I had a great time roaming around town through all the beautiful streets. Half-way though the shoot we stopped at the Blind Tiger for a cold pint! Later than evening we hit up a Charleston staple called Jestine’s Kitchen. You feel as if you are to dinner at your Granny’s house, just making yourself at home in the dining room. Mrs. Jestine Mathews lived to be 112 years old! Enjoy and stay tuned for Catherine and Jason’s wedding photos next week.

Last week I shot Stephanie and Sam’s engagement session at USC. They went to school there and actually met in Spain during a study abroad program through the college. We tried to beat the college rush by shooting before class started but campus was still crawling with people. Not too mention the international student orientations and concert in the quad. We still managed to get our photos done quickly, under an hour… Then we went for a drink downtown at there “go to” place called Rivera. It’s only fitting that they would love a modern Latin inspired restaurant with a killer bar! Stephanie and Sam had a couple awesome cocktails and I had a Thomas Handy Rye neat. Check out these photos and stay tuned for their wedding at the Ritz-Carlton in September.

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing Lizzie and Christian’s engagement session. Some of you might remember Lizzie from the Las Vegas mentor shoot this past February at WPPI, if not check it out. Lizzie is originally from Kentucky and former Miss Kentucky 2002 so we immediately hit it off! For the shoot they wanted a more stylish, Hollywood feel. The wedding is at Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara which oozes ‘Old Hollywood Glam’ surrounded by Spanish warmth within a siren beach setting. I can’t wait, it will be my first wedding there!

We started at the Viceroy in Santa Monica and I love to shooting there, however it was rather busy especially for a weekday. So I didn’t get to shoot all the places I would have liked. Then we headed for the Hollywood hills and finished up at the Griffith Observatory. Lizzie had two awesome Betsy Johnson dresses and Jimmy Choo’s to match. Christian wore a nice summery linen suit with a killer belt buckle. I love a great belt buckle but it takes time to find the right one for you. It needs to say something about you or represent you in some fashion, no pun intended. I had an awesome one which I actually made until Sammy slammed it on the title floor pretending it was a whip. He was Indiana Jones of course. It was an old silver dollar mounted on a plain buckle, I choose to show the eagle side of the coin. Being real silver it tarnished nicely with the buckle face. Somehow the silver dollar got miss placed in the move before I had a chance to re-mount the coin. I’m sure there’s another fitting buckle for me out there waiting to be discovered! Enjoy.

This has to be one of my favorites!

Diane and Kevin originally wanted to shoot their engagement session on the beach and I thought, argh!!! (Very pirate like as well) I hate shooting at the beach too much! I try to only shoot 2 or 3 engagement sessions at the beach per year, for those couple that really, really love it or want some ocean and are not even getting married close.  Anyway, Diane and Kevin are such a stylish couple this shoot suited them much better. When Diane emailed me with the option of shooting at their friends Bed and Breakfast I was all over it! The place is called Korakia Pensione in Palm Springs, it’s an awesome Moroccan style villa.

They even had one of the best rooms lined up to shoot in and for Rachael and I to spend the night; however, we had to bring the kids and couldn’t use the room, bummer! We ended up staying at the Ace Hotel which was super cool and very kid friendly. Two huge salt water pools, killer food and bourbon selection. The waiter rode a skateboard around to deliver food and drinks by the pool. Anyway, Diane and Kevin were such an easy couple to shoot. I’m really looking forward to their wedding next May in Mexico. Diane may also be our model for the 2nd Annual WPPI Mentor shoot in Las Vegas. Enjoy…

This time of year tends to be busy with engagement sessions and creating custom Save the Dates.  Below are a few that we have recently designed for upcoming weddings.  They range from multi-fold pieces and custom envelopes, die-cuts and simple, yet effective postcard!

Jenna and Reggie’s Old Hollywood Movie Ticket

*Front

*Back

Erin and T.J.’s Tri-Fold

The image in the center is the back side of the Save the Date and the two sides fold over to create the front cover.  

*Front Right – Back Center Panoramic – Front Left

*Inside spread: Left, Center, Right

Megan and Kyle’s – 5×7 Postcard 

*Front

*Back

Christine and Richard’s 5×7 Folded Golf Score Card ‘Save the Date’

*Front

*Inside spread

*Back

I shot this session in November before Thanksgiving and it was a ton of fun! Christine and Richard love to play golf. We didn’t have time for a real round so we decided to go putt-putting at Boomers in Irvine. We also got in the batting cages after, me included. I had to knock the dust off the ole’ swing! Christine got some sweet shots of me in action! Then we headed down to Laguna for some evening shots around downtown. I could not believe the sunset, it’s the best one I’ve seen in a while! Christine and Richard are getting married at the Resort at Pelican Hill next May. We are currently designing a cool golf ‘Save the Date’. Enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago I shot with Kristin and Nate at UCLA. It was during the fires the light was super warm and the air was stuffy so we had to make it a quick session. Nate was in town over Thanksgiving break from Michigan where he’s attending grad school. They brought the dogs and we had lots of fun! Their wedding is coming up in the spring at the St. Regis, Monarch Beach. 

I shot this fun session last week with Kyle and Adam. Kyle works for Elysium Productions and I’ve worked with her for a few years now. We’ve always talked about what her wedding would be like and now it’s almost here! They are getting married in December at Sandal’s Resort in the Bahamas! Can’t wait to get some fried Grouper fingers and fresh Conch, yummy!

This was the second great engagement session I shot last week. It was in Boulder, Colorado which is an awesome city and set in a very picturesque area. The mountains are amazing! Megan and Kyle met at CU and we even shot the second part of the session at a football game. The Buffalos took down the West Virginia Mountaineers 17-14 in overtime! It was a great site seeing Ralphie run around the field before the game and during half-time. Ralphie is the CU buffalo mascot! Check out some of my favs!