California Wedding Photographer, Photography Worldwide – Victor Sizemore’s Blog

I’m really excited about the mentor shoot at WPPI this year. Last year’s shoot went great and we had a ton of fun. However, we are stepping up the game for 2010. I’ve brought on Summer of Grey Likes Weddings to help style the set. Spaces are limited so get more details and register at the link: http://vcsmentorsession.eventbrite.com/

On day 2 we photographed two different couples with two very different styles. The first session we did a mock getting ready and first meeting and shot close to the hotel and around Champs-Elysees. Then with the second session we had a nice walking route with the couple that included the Louvre.  Enjoy!

Here’s a shot of our group!

I wonder if that guy had a good view?

Back in September Jay Reilly and I did a two day workshop together in Paris. I’ve been meaning to post these but life and other business just got in the way. We moved to LA and the holiday season came flooding like the rain last week. So I’m finally starting to get catch up on blogging. Look for several more wedding posts from the end of last year. The photos below were from our mock engagement session on ‘Day One’. The next post will be ‘Day Two’ from our two bridal couples.

Crazy, no one was at the Eiffel Tower that day, yeah right!

Had to mix in a couple of Jay! He’s was stand in model while I was talking about lighting situations.

A little off-camera lighting demo. Not bad…

Dragging the shutter with a little pan action.

Backlight and lens flare.

Last weekend I drove to San Francisco with my good friend Fenton and his fiance Katie to shoot their engagement session. It rained all week in California so we didn’t know what type of weather to expect in the city as usual. However, we had an awesome day with bits of rain and clouds here and there which added to the mood.

I’ve known Fenton for 10 years now. We played baseball together in Kentucky at Brea College. We also did two road trips in college, one of which was 8229.6 miles door to door from my house in Kentucky. We drove a loop around the country going I-40 straight to Las Vegas then Death Valley, Sequoias, Yosemite, San Francisco, down the coast, LA, San Diego, Mexico, Yuma for the Super Bowl, White Sands, San Antonio, New Orleans, Nashville and home again. Gone 30 days on the road! We stayed with everyone we knew in the areas, sleeping on floors and couches. We also camped and even slept in the car several times.

Here are some photos of me, Fenton and Lucian from the road trip. Then some from the engagement session in Frisco.

Sequoia National Park

I just had to post this one of Lucian brown bagging the Anchor Steam and talking to the street guy.

Me on the tracks up the coast. A head shot of my brother-in-law Michael Hedden outside his college apartment.

My beautiful wife, Rachael and Elijah at 6 months at Hotel Del Coronado.

Us with Hector before heading down to Mexicali for the night.

We started at the Palace of Fine Art where it was still raining on and off. I saw a couple bride and grooms too.

We had an awesome day after the rain. Here we are down at Chrissy Field by Persido.

Of course Baker Beach is always good…

I had to mix in a “Shot” at my favorite liquor store.

Before leaving town we hit up Buena Vista by Ghirardelli Square for the original American Irish Coffee. It was strong but amazing!

Here’s some fun in the photobooth we set up under the deck.

Needless to say, that’s the pig we roasted…

When we decide to do something we do it right! Here are photos of my buddy’s place in Silverlake all set up at sunset. We scraped and scrounged up decor and random items from our homes to style everything. Also, a big “Thank you” to Wildflower Linens for hooking us up with some table coverings and drapes! We weren’t quite all the way finished when the photos were taken. It was getting dark around 5PM in November and the party started at 7PM. So a lot of the drinks were not pictured, including more Bourbons, wine, sherrys, dessert wines, and infused Sweet Tea. We also had out one of our home cured Prosciutto for everyone to try!

All together we had about 18 Bourbons and Ryes for people to taste. We started with a formal style tasting using: Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Four Roses Yellow Label and Woodford Reserve. Throughout the upper and lower decks we had four different Bourbon stations set up, then a couple very nice bottles Pappy Van Winkle 20 Yr. and Eagle Rare 17 Yr. Below are a list of the stations:

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection
- Sweet Mash
- Four Grain
- Sonoma Cutter Finish
- Seasoned Oak

Single Barrel
- Blanton’s
- Four Roses
- Willet

Small Batch
- Black Maple Hill
- Woodford Reserve
- Buffalo Trace (Technically not a small batch but awesome quality)

Rye
- Rittenhouse
- Michter’s No1
- Vintage 21 Yr.

On the menu we had short bread with a Bourbon glaze, Prosciutto, ribs, potato salad,  and whole roasted pig.  And for dessert banana pudding (Thanks Barb).

Later in the night we fired up the photobooth, just acting silly!  Then moved down to the lower level bonfire and played the nail game while smoking cigars.  Nail game you ask… Everyone stands around a stump that’s about waist level and each taps in a nail, a high quality galvanized 10 penny to be exact. (About 3 inch) Then you take turns driving down the nail with a hammer and the last person that counter sinks the head has to take a shot! Here’s the catch, we use the CLAW end of the hammer!

The next post will be the photobooth shots, enjoy.

Back in November some buddies and I had a wild idea to throw a party called the “Bootlegger’s Ball”. We originally wanted to attended a tasting in Santa Monica called “Bourbon-cue” a Bourbon tasting with barbecue. They were charging $60 per person. Although there were some good Bourbons on the list nothing we couldn’t get our hands on. Chances are we would have been disappointed in the barbecue!

It starts as the three of us would take the $180 and invest in some new bottles we didn’t have in our private collections. However, we could let it go at that… We came up with a costume theme party and base everything around the Prohibition Era. With the fictitious Uncle Zeb leading the charge. Below is the printed invitation. It came in a wooden box with a 50ml bottle of Bulliet Bourbon with a personalized medallion. It was finished with a wax seal on the top of the box. I wish I would have taken a photo of the finished piece. Maybe one of my photography friends that got one with shoot me over a few shots to post!

Stay tuned for the next two posts of the party!

Here the digital version of this years Christmas card. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Front

Inside Spread

Inside Flap

Back

Here’s some photos of the drink boxes I gave to my bona fide Bourbon buddies. Infused bourbon flasks with all the components to make a custom cocktail.

Every year I take great pride and joy in putting together my gift boxes for family, friends and colleagues. I always like to go with a theme. One year it was coffee and nostalgic candy, the next it was apothecary jars and travel. This year I wanted to go more simple with handmade goods rather than buying wine or chocolate like some of the past years. I wanted a down home Southern feel. However, simple went flying out the door as quickly as it came when I put my ideas on paper and got into the kitchen.

This year I scoured the big wine houses for wooden wine boxes for my delivery apparatus. Below is a list of some of the things I made that went into the boxes. I mixed and matched so everyone had a different combos and it was designed to the person or a group if they work in an office with lots of people to share.

Walnut Banana Bread in a mason jar (Staple, everyone got this)
Herb Bread (Sage, Fennel, Basil, Dill, Thyme, Herbes de Provence, Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive)
Chili Oil
Peaches in Rum
Spiced Cider

Praline Syrup
Maple Walnut Syrup
Vanilla Peach Syrup
Cherry Almond Syrup

Port Wine Jelly
Christmas Berry Jelly
Strawberry Preserves
Blueberry Marmalade

Here are some photos of how they turned out. The next post will be on the Bourbon Infusions and homebrew!