The Oldest Camera (and a deal!)

It's not about the camera.  Anybody who takes pictures for a living knows, and will usually tell you that right off the bat.

Sure, the newest rig on the block has all the bells and whistles (probably more than one whistle, at this point), but does it make you a better photographer?  More than enough has already been stated on this topic, and I'm not one to try to talk people out of a certain religion, just because it doesn't fit where I currently am in life.

What I will try to talk you into, is simplifying.

This camera above is the oldest one that Chelse and I own.  It shoots 35mm film.  It was built in 1945, and is as relevant today as the newest Canon or Fuji or Nikon.

This post isn't about gear, just like photography as a whole isn't about what camera you use or what lights you have or what your favorite aperture is.

Photography is about communicating an idea, about seeing something and wanting to share it with others, or even just about holding onto whatever it is you are seeing for later.  We at Voir L'Amour Photography, want to see your love, we want to help you communicate that idea to others, we want to hold onto those moments for you.  The world doesn't need more cameras, it needs more moments recorded by them.

That's why we take pictures.  That's why we named our business Voir L'Amour.  See the Love.

For all you blog readers, a limited time deal!  15% off our normal couples/engagement session fee if you book with us by July 10th and mention the "Mercury II" camera seen in this blog post.

Email us at info@voirlamour.com to book now!

Milestones, polished up.

SD PUG was freakin' awesome last night.  Great location.  Excellent people.  Awesome overview of albums.

It was a super learning experience for Chelse and myself, and I'm so revved up and excited for some new possibilities that may be coming our way.  The always wonderful Youngren team made the newbies feel welcome and the regulars had plenty to chat about.

Lastly, we're almost at 2,000 individual blog views.  Incredible, and thank you all for your support on our journey.  This has been an awesome privilege to be able to work with everyone that we have, and we're definitely looking forward to more!

Short post for today, but keep checking back!

Balboa Park. It's still there.

Balboa Park is one of those destinations in San Diego that seems to get more out-of-town traffic than it does San Diegans.  I always feel like I'm in foreign territory when I'm there, due to all of the touristas and folks clearly getting lost.  Anyway, I still like the flow of people, the movement through the different areas of the park, and just the general atmosphere of most of the park.

So, we walked around a few days ago, talked a lot, and generally enjoyed the whole thing after a long day at work for both of us.  Setting those projects up has definitely helped me focus get back into the swing of things, and the weather has been fantastically gorgeous, which doesn't hurt either...

Here's my better half:

And, our newest rig (which has taken the place of about 5 other cameras in the stable):

Been away...

Anthony says:

It's Sunday morning right now, and we're finally back at home after 2 weeks of tons of running around.  We went to Visalia for the July 4th weekend with my parents and didn't touch much beyond a radio for the entire time we were there.  Yes, they still make radios that are simply that...AM/FM radios.  Hard to believe the format has lasted as long as it has...Wikipedia says Christmas eve of 1906!

We also started the new jobs and have settled into a bit of a routine there.  It's with a good company and the people we work with are really helpful to each other and motivated to push forward.  It's been excellent practice being on the phone and I'm grateful for that opportunity.  One of our colleagues is part of a race team that runs the 24 Hours of Lemons with an E30.  I'm hoping to get a big lens rented for a day at the race track to work on my sports photography and reaction time and get some nice images of their car.  I haven't shot anything moving faster than a walking pace lately, so I'm looking forward to honing back in.

We spent yesterday afternoon hanging out with our good friend Cameron Ballensky.  He's super inspirational and funny, I always come away from time spent with him in a great mood and looking forward to seeing his future projects.  His past work is really solid, and he's got great things ahead, whatever he ends up choosing to dominate.

I ran through another roll of traditional B&W film this weekend, and 2 rolls while in Visalia, so the pile is continuing to grow.  Will have to take a day and develop all 12-13 rolls, which reminds me that we need negative sleeve pages for storage.


What was on your radar the first couple weeks of summer?

The Lure

Anthony here, coming to you direct from our living room after a delicious dinner of fish and chips.  I'll conveniently forget to mention the green beans that I messed up on...they were very forgettable.

The open road.  Wait, let me correct that: The Open Road.  It's been a constant lure for me ever since I got my first motorcycle (still have it, in fact) way back in 2001.  Travel by car was interesting to me prior to that time, but I always associated it with road trips with the whole family and most of those were directly to my grandparent's houses in north-eastern Iowa.  For the folks that haven't hit that popular tourist destination and driven along the Mississippi, it actually is a fairly interesting drive.  Of course it's not exactly like driving up and down the famous Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) through the gap between Los Angeles and San Francisco, but it's still quite beautiful in it's own way.

Anyway, I have spent a lot of time on the road over the winding course of my life, and I have to admit, I'm proud that I like it.  I sometimes complain and very occasionally get sick of dealing with traffic in the auto or wind blast when I'm on a motorcycle, but I get over it fairly quickly and the blacktop's draw is back.  This song sums it up, or at least hits it pretty close.  I've never drank with grifters in Vienna.

The ever lovely Chelsé made this image at exactly 62mph somewhere north and east of San Diego on a recent two-up motorcycle adventure.  That's my giant dome blocking the right side of the frame.

We're getting back to real sessions with real people, I promise.

We made it!

Finally, after a thousand attempts and years of struggle (ok, it was really just a couple times pulling up their Yelp page and finding that we missed their open hours AGAIN), we made it to an apparently well-known and much-favorited (is that a real life, one that you can really use in real life, or just an "internet real word?" Hmm...) little taco/burrito joint.

I've been called a rookie because I didn't know it existed.  I've been teased for knowing so much else about the city I have called home for the past 5 years, including which is the longest of the piers in the area (it's not the one that is closest to Mexico!!) that I can seem like a born-n-raised-in-SD-lifer, but not knowing about this spot.


So I'll bet you're excited to see some awesome shots of the burrito that Chelse got.  Or a quick-n-dirty Instagram shot of my 5 rolled tacos, all lined up in their delicious order?  Well...you're out of luck.  We had exactly zero cameras with us on this adventure.  Gasp.  Double-gasp.


Zero cameras!  Not one hidden in the trunk, not one jamming in a front pocket, nothing.  We could not even take pictures of the super awesome and entirely too filling dessert we had in Coronado along with 50c worth of 78rpm oldies, either.  After stuffing our faces there, and catching up on caffeine with an awesome Breve Latté (an old trick ensuring you'll get something drinkable or better even if the espresso isn't perfection, from my time behind the counter as a barista), we hit the Goodwill before blazing back home.


NO DESSERT PICTURES.  I can't believe I just typed that.

Mini review post to come!  Happy Thursday, everybody!

It's too beautiful!

It's way too beautiful here in San Diego to be inside.  Walk the dog, polish the car, head over to the neighborhood block party.  Maybe more coffee?

I'll be back with another post, possibly a new blog post series I've been thinking about.  What are you folks doing today?

Meredith and Eric's Wedding

Early on, we had the opportunity to shoot a wedding via our friend Ms. Tina from Stephina Photography here in San Diego. She's (as previously mentioned) been a great source of inspiration and push as we wander blindly towards our goals. =]

The lovely Meredith was the Princess of the Day on the most perfect day for a wedding.

The clouds had been tearing in the few days before and slight sprinkles threatened with a chilling wind. The day of was blissfully and unnaturally sunny and spectacular with crystal blue skies and a warm inviting breeze. (The next day, however, it stormed!) Let me tell you, she is picking MY wedding day! =P

The whole family that day was bright, cheerful and entertaining! Her gentle and petite mom surprising me with random comments and her dad, talking enthusiastically, still calls his wife his Bride (After 30+ years of marriage!) That's His Secret, he says, never forget she's your bride.

His son-in-law Eric, seemed likely to follow suit (at least if Meredith had anything to say). Beautiful and strong willed, but easy going and quick to smile, she rocked the day. Eric's humor was contagious as he gave his guests Kazoos and had them kazoo the wedding march for Meredith!

All in all, it was a wonderful day had by all and a beautifully simplistic ceremony. Thank you both for being awesome!