HI, my name is Marc Weisberg, I'm a wedding and portrait photographer based in Orange County, California. For the past ten years I have photographed couples on one of the most emotional and special days of their lives using a mix of photojournalism, gorgeous portraiture and amazing details to tell their story. Through a natural progression, my style has evolved into fine art portraiture for children and families. This is where i post my photography and random thoughts about my life and travels. It’s both my web site and my blog. My award winning work is published internationally in magazines and books available on Amazondotcom. My client list is made up of people like you. Over the years some of the places where I’ve photographed are: Paris, Copenhagen, Mexico, Los Angeles, New York, Cuba and Stockholm.
Oh-nine was super busy. In June, we moved our studio from a loft in Newport Beach to store front in the center of Historic Old Town Tustin. There was so much going on with the new studio and setting up shop there wasn't time left to post on the blog. The is a funtastic, relaxed, engagement session with Holly and Robbie at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. It was one of those things were everything fell into place naturally. Happy couple in love and excited about life and their upcoming wedding at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine. Perfect weather, gorgeous light and big surf.
Tarzana Wedding Photographer, Garden Wedding, Wren & Pete
Tuesday, 1.12.10
When i first met Wren and Pete they were extremely excited about their DIY backyard wedding at their uncles house in Tarzana. They shared with me some of the small details that they'd been working on that would make their wedding special and personal. Wren, Pete and their families worked on their uncle's backyard for about a year, trees were pruned and strewn with lanterns, vintage 50's cars dotted the expansive yard, candles in Mason jars lit pathways, hand labeled miniature bottles tied with yellow ribbon were filled with homemade vanilla for guest favors, and, hand written place cards hung clothes-pinned to twine on a white picket fence. The stage was set for an intimate and fully personalized wedding without breaking the bank. Wren's dad showed off his craftsmanship with artisan copper birds cut from thick pieces of copper. After all, Wren is named after a small brown song bird. So you can already guess what kind of copper bird adorned their head table. In fact, each tables featured a distinctly different type of handmade copper bird gleaming in the sun like some kind of over sized hood ornament. To know Wren is to know she is full of life and excitement and does a little dance when she gets excited about stuff. On her wedding day she did many little dances.
And in true DIY fashion Wren and Pete's wedding was a truly personalized success! I've photographed quite a few backyard weddings. Something I experience at backyard or home based events is a remarkable and unmistakable familial closeness. The love of family and friends was the finishing touch. The amount of vision and time that goes into planning and producing a DIY event just makes it a bit more special.
Love the cake with a nest, and Wrens of course.
A relaxed family portrait.
Two of Wren's gorgeous friends and bridesmaids.
Pete was all about keeping the relaxed look and feel in his khaki suit.
Some fun portraits. Spider Man and i think the little girl was flexing her muscles for me?
Kinda just like being on a movie set. Great light, amazingly cool old cars and lots of love.
Soaking up the love. One of my favorite images from their day. Wren and Pete enjoying a moment of bliss.
Model Shoot in San Diego, Staying on Top of Your Game
Monday, 1.11.10
Self educating, and growing as a photographer is important to me. My goal last year was to bring studio lighting into the mix for my self in a big way. Half of my new studio is dedicated to a relaxed shooting environment where I can photograph anything from fashion, to kids, pets and commercial photography. Understanding light, lighting modifiers such as beauty dishes, softboxes, snoots, and whtie and black scrims to reflect and subtract light is are all tools that help shape light and affect the mood of the photograph.
There's a myriad of choices and people giving workshops on all areas of photography. What I did however, was round up a few of my best friends. And the lighting guru, shaper of light, god of the seamless, my friend Kevin Connors. Who this very week will be presented with his Master Craftsman and Master Photographers awards by the Professional Photographers of America at PPA's Imaging USA in Nashville. Kevin's been shooting for about 4 years and has a keen sense of light and I really admire his work. There may not be any tequila left in Nashville at the end of this week, due to his love of this particular nectar and the post celebration ballyhoo that is sure to ensue. Also, in attendance is the fabulously talented and all round gem of a guy Garrett Delph and his buddy the talented Jason Ward. The shoot took place at Kev's studio San Diego studio. Having friends like this is priceless and sharing info and our various techniques is invaluable.
My approach to studio lighting or any kind of photography is to get it right in camera so that you have to do very little to it in post production. Some of these were very simply executed with a six foot Larson softbox that I brought with me to the studio and a snoot on the background. Others are more complex using a beauty dish or softbox in combination with strip lights at about 90 degrees to rim light our model. Typically we were photographing at 200 ISO, f11 @250/sec. We started out basic and then went in a few different directions experimenting with Beauty dishes and a Magnum reflector which provided more harsh shadows but also a moodier photograph. Also, we threw in a ring flash for some fun. All the lighting gear we used is Profoto trigered with Pocket Wizards.
The groovy thing about getting down your lighting chops is that this studio this stuff can translate from the studio to on location in a heart beat. So anything you do in house can be done anywhere on the planet. Studio lighting is allot like baking a cake. Baking is more of a science. You need to be exact or you cake will not turn out well. Same with studio lighting. Your quantity of light and your manual camera settings need to be exact within 3/10ths of a stop or your image file will be too dark or to bright. So go out and play. Make some new images and have some fun learn'n yourself. Buy your friends some breakfast and lunch, like I did. Just reach out and get together with some friends. This is a great time of year to experiment and even build up your portfolio and stay on top of your game.
Estancia Resort and Spa Wedding, La Jolla Wedding Photographer
Friday, 1.8.10
One of my favorite resorts on the planet. Understated Spanish elegance, with a fantastic wine bar and restaurant. I first visited the Estancia about 5 years ago, just after it was built and stayed there a few days with my sister Dr. Jill (she's a neuro scientist, scans peoples brains and stuff). The room rates have since almost tripled, but it's still worth it. Plus, you can't beat the location, right near the expansive beaches at Torey Pine. The property has some fantastic grounds with cactus an old Spanish bar and big fire places to keep you warm at night. Emily and Brian are the coolest. Emily is simply gorgeous and Brian a rough and tumble smart super nice guy and loves Emily big time. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, with misty fog moving in and out, it made for great lighting and gorgeous ceremony weather. Check out their engagement session.
All I've got to say is WOW! Brian you are one lucky guy!!
Emily had a wonderful open suite with lots of daylight. Her dress is stunning!
If there was a photography niche for only photographing the getting ready part, one of my favorite parts of the wedding day....I'd sing up in a heart beat.
Brian tried to fight back his tears. He lost. But recomposed himself and this is what happened. Emily and Brian saw each other before their wedding ceremony.
What a great looking group. Twenty including the two kids.
I just love the emotion the first time Emily saw all her guests and her soon to be husband, Brian, waiting for her at the alter. For all you brides that think seeing your man before the wedding will ruin everything...think again.
Their ceremony was on an open lawn, strewn with rose petals, with lots of gorgeous sunlight and perfect weather.
Because Emily and Brian wanted to see each other before their ceremony and complete all their bridal party and family photographs, we had plenty of time to create wonderful portraits of them.
Amy Kuchta was the coordinator and Andie from Ditzie Cakes provided these elegant cup cakes (which continue to be a growing trend for many affairs). And a huge shout out to my friend and fab photographer Miguel Pola for coming to shoot with me.
Emily & Brian, thank you for letting me be your eyes on your wedding day. Your wedding album will be in your hands in the next few week.
Send This Post to a Friend
RSS feed