Surprise Engagement Drone Video and Photography in Pacific Grove with Tim and Anna and Goose
This surprise engagement drone flight and photo shoot was long in the works. Tim first contacted me a few months ago when we started discussing locations and ideas for how to pull off this surprise! The location Tim chose, I knew very well since I walk the Pacific Grove coast often myself. I knew exactly where the spot was he showed me in just one reference photo! With the location decided, then how to capture the candid engagement moment? Tim ultimately chose for the actual real, candid moment to be recorded with drone video (see the above video). I got there early with my assistant, Felix, and was in position with the drone already in the air so I could capture their walk up and approach to the coastline. Tim told me he stoop down and pick up three shells, and the third would have the ring hidden under it, so that was my signal. Being as discrete as possible I had the drone hovering near the couple, and as I saw him make his move, I slowly brought the drone in closer and closer until you can see in the video Goose started barking at it, but by that time I had already recorded the actual proposal moment!
Creative young actor headshots made in studio in Pacific Grove California
My first young actor headshot session with Joseph was back in April of this year. How much can things change in 8 months, well, just take a look at the photos from that first shoot! When he arrived with his mom, Kristen, to my photo studio in Pacific Grove, I noticed right away and the style of headshot shoot we did this time reflected the new roles that Joseph is now ready to take on by looking older. Kristen had sent me some guidelines from Joseph’s agent for this shoot helping me prep the studio for the new style of headshots the agent wanted this time. For this session, I shot with a single light, and Joseph was seated on a posing stool for most of them, and then the biggest change was shooting with a shallower DoF and tighter in. Then, the agent provided guidelines wanting a more natural look, so a bit of imperfection in the hair for example was actually good! I really like the results we got in a session that took less than an hour, but yet still yielded a variety of backgrounds, wardrobe, poses, and expressions, as well as glasses on and off. Thank you Joseph and Kristen for continuing to choose me your headshot photographer!
A Modern, Comfortable Headshot Experience Designed Around You to Start 2026!
A new year is the perfect time to update how you visually represent yourself publicly, and my Pacific Grove photo studio is designed specifically for modern headshot photography. I offer a relaxed, friendly environment where clients feel comfortable — even if they don’t usually enjoy being photographed. With years of experience, a flexible schedule, and a clean, contemporary style, I make the process efficient and enjoyable. You can have your music of choice playing for the right vibe, while getting real-time image review during the shoot, and guidance throughout the session so you know exactly what your headshots are looking like as we are making them. I’m proud to have dozens of 5-star Google reviews, and my goal with every headshot session is to make sure you leave feeling confident and genuinely happy with your photos!
Professional Food Beverage and Dessert Photography and Branding Video with a Holiday Theme
The Point Kitchen & Bar restaurant in Santa Cruz, California was well decorated for the holidays and wanted a branding video made that they could specifically use at the holiday time of year. They also had a series of menu items to be photographed for use on their website and in other marketing materials and on their social media accounts. I coordinated with them in making the video and guided the staff to make it a team effort to get the best action shots of food being cooked, beverages being poured, and the staff interacting with customers. The menu item portion of the shoot also was in sync with the kitchen bringing out each item in a timely manner for it to be photographed at its maximum visual appeal on the plate. After a few dishes were photographed on their own, I styled them next to each other for a high impact hero shot that is fantastic to use as a banner image on a restaurant’s website and as a highlight image for social media. There was even room for dessert! The restaurant had no previous professional photos of their desserts so they brought out a wide variety of their sweet offerings.
Favorite Five Photos & Videos of 2025 — from Pacific Grove and far beyond!
2025 was packed with memorable shoots, stunning locations, impactful portraits, and community moments. While every image has a story, these five stand out as my personal favorites — either because of the experience behind the camera, the creative result, or the emotion they captured.
Colorful and Black & White Branding Photography DJ Musician Producer Photo Shoot in Studio in Pacific Grove California
Incredibly, this was my fourth shoot (1st, 2nd, 3rd shoots) this year with local DJ and music creator Jason Kushy as his career continues to take off! We were back in my photo studio in Pacific Grove for this shoot where Jason wanted some branding photos with a colorful background. He chose a shade of red for those images. Then we shot on a gray gradient background for photos eventually converted to black and white for some minimalist, but eye catching branding portraits. All this resulted in yet another creative shoot that provided Jason more high impact branding photos to use for his own Spotify account and for his label to submit to publications writing about his new music releases. Thank you Jason for continuing to choose me as your photographer!
Photographing The Wharf Rats at the Salty Seal in Monterey Live for Promotional Photos and Video
How did I end up making promotional photos and a video of The Whatf Rats at the Salty Seal in Cannery Row in Monterey, California on a recent Saturday evening? All through the Pacific Grove Rotary Club of course! Fellow Rotarian, Matt, is the singer and guitarist for the band and he asked if I could come to their performance and make a series of photos of them performing, and then at their start of their second set list, make video of those songs. The lighting was better than I expected resulting in more dynamic still photos and the proximity I could get to the band members while they were playing allowed for close up video shots. The video above features the start of them playing Black Magic Woman, which we did not coordinate, I knew the song pretty well, and with a bit of luck and a bit of good timing, was able to record from start into the opening of the lyrics like we practiced it many times! Thank you Matt for this opportunity and for choosing me as your photographer and videographer.
