Praying for Bumpy

We were just on Facebook and looking through what is happening on social media and I noticed that one of our photos of this beautiful little girl was posted on a link. I remmeber meeting her during one of our wedding as she was the flower girl. She was so sweet and her family was telling us about all the things that she has gone through.

In 2011, when she was 5 she was diagnosed with Leukemia and has been in remission, but it has returned. A page was created for her to pray while she is back in the hospital for treatment.

Here is what it says on the Facebook post:

Hayden Ritchie AKA Bumpy is a sweet little girl that WAS diagnosed in 2011 at age 5 with Leukemia and has been in remission but it's come back and she is in the hospital undergoing 30 days of chemo treatment. Her grandmother is a really good friend and I pray God hears us and relieves this child from this horrible disease and I pray they find a cure so that no child has to suffer this ever again. The family is asking everyone to say a prayer for her.

Dear Jesus,

You walked on the earth, understood the broken world, yet also rose from death into resurrected life. I pray for Bumpy that she would be held in your loving arms. Bless the work of the doctors, surgeons and hospital staff, and bring the power of your resurrection life into her body. Come fill Bumpy with your restorative Spirit. May your resurrection life bring healing and wellness into their being. May your grace carry her and her family through this hard time into a new season filled with hope and joy.

Amen.

I believe that she is already healed. Our prayers are with her and her family.

Grand Tradition Estate Wedding | Creating Album for Andessa + James

Putting together an album for Andessa and James from their wedding at the Grand Tradition Estate in Fallbrook, Ca. There are so many beautiful images from the day that I have had to add more pages than I originally planned. Still have to tell the story and include all the fabulous images.

I think the book is going to look fabulous when it is all complete. Hopefully we will have something ready by the end of the week.

Photographers: Be Still Photography Ernie Padaonm Ray Mickshaw Venue: Grand Tradition Estate, Fallbrook, CA

San Diego Trash the Dress Photography | Kenny + Ashley

San Diego trash the dress with Kenny and Ashley in La Jolla and at Point Loma. 

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Photographers: Be Still Photography (Ernie Padaon and Fiona Padaon) Locations: Point Loma Liberty Station, La Jolla Shores

Happy Anniversary to this amazing couple Kenny and Ashley. We love them and did this Trash the Dress shoot with them a few months ago. We went out to La Jolla Shores to get some amazing shots at the beach and also did some shots out at Point Loma at Liberty Station to capture the amazing scenery that is there.

The portraits from the day turned out amazing. These two were the best to work with. They were ready to do anything. We found some great spots to do portraits around La Jolla.

There are some great locations out there to take portraits and the fact that the two of them were willing to get a little dirty was awesome. We took a lot of fun shots and added those romantic shots of the two as well. These two are amazing and we loved hanging out with them for the day.

Here are a few shots from the day.

Wedding in Caramel Mountain Ranch CC | Daniel + Tracy

Wedding Photographer: Be Still Photography Ernie PadaonVenue: Caramel Mountain Ranch Country Club | San Diego, CA

I had the pleasure to capture the day for Daniel and Tracy a few weeks ago and enjoyed every second of the day with these guys. They are an amazing couple and have some great things in store for them in the future. The venue at Caramel Mountain Ranch Country Club was awesome.

To start out the day, Daniel and Tracy exchanged some letters to each other. Daniel had to step away from the rest of his groomsmen to focus in on writing his letter. He stepped into the abandoned bar area and wrote something up for Tracy.

After all the guys got dressed, we all took some portraits seperate from the ladies. These guys were so easy to photograph. Everyone was laid back and having a good time.

After the portrait session, the guys all decided to pray for Daniel. Seriously one of my favorite moments during weddings.

Daniel and Tracy did nont want to see eachother before the weddingm but they wanted to get prayed for with eachother before the ceremony.

Again, the ceremony was beautiful.

After the ceremony, we did the formal dances. Bride-groom. Father-daughter. Mother-son.

Daniel and Tracy loved to dance it out

I think Tracy got the best of Daniel during the cake cutting.

Again, it was an amazing day with an amazing couple.

Be Still Photography Published on One Fab Day

Be Still Photography has been published on the wedding site One Fab Day. Back in September, Fiona and I were asked to be the photographers for a styled shoot in hopes of getting published. Jordan Dull of I Do... Weddings & Events asked us to participate and we were excited about the opportunity.

We had some amazing vendors to work with and the venue was absolutely gorgeous. We had a great time out there and have been rewarded with this publication.

We thank all the vendors that took part in the shoot.

Winter Wedding Shoot Details:

• Planning: Jordan Dull, I Do…Weddings & Events
• Florist: Rae Florae
• Venue: The US Grant Hotel
• Dress: The Dress Theory
• Stationery: Whimsique
• Rentals: Concepts Event Design
• Cake: Sweet Cheeks Bakery
• Hair & Makeup: Danece Van Soelen

Wedding in Carmel Mountain Ranch CC | Tracy + Daniel

Wedding Photographers: Ernie Padaon (Be Still Photography)

We have been delivering slideshows created by Animoto for our wedding clients before they see all the images. It has been an awesome deliverable for clients. We shot this wedding a week ago and was able to deliver this to the clients before they were able to see the group of photos. Adding music onto a slideshow creates an emotional attachment into the photos. Since it is all still fresh.

Carmel Mountain Ranch Wedding | Daniel + Tracy

Carmel Mountain Ranch Wedding | Daniel + Tracy

Wedding Photographers: Be Still Photography Ernie Padaon, Breathe In Light Tara Simpson Venue: Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club, San Diego, CA

I had the opportunity to capture the wedding for Daniel and Tracy over the weekend and had a blast with this great couple.

The venue was absolutely stunning at Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club.  The ceremony was outside of the clubhouse and the skies were perfectly clear. Everything ran smooth and we were able to get some great light for the portrait session.

Here are a few images throughout the day. This is just a sneak peek while we go through all of the images. These are all straight out of the camera.

Camp Pendleton Wedding | Carson + Mary Kate

Photographers: Be Still Photography, Ernie Padaon and Fiona PadaonVenue: Pacific Views Event Center, Camp Pendleton, CA

What a fun wedding to be a part of this weekend with Carson and Mary-Kate. They were such a fun couple to work with and the wedding party was filled with a bunch of people that were ready to have a great time.

These two have a great future ahead of them. We enjoyed every second of the day. Here are some of the highlights from the day.

Here is a look in at her wedding dress with the "Mrs Ritchie" on her wedding dress hanger.

And here are some of the flower details from the day. And the ring shot.

The venue was beautiful with an outdoor setting.

The two wanted to sneak a little hand hold before the actual wedding, but they didn't want to see each other until she walked out so we made something work out for them.

Here is the video of their amazing day.

Trash the Dress Photo Session in La Jolla Teaser

Fiona and I were able to shoot a "Trash the Dress" session over the weekend and had a blast with this couple. We started out the day in Point Loma jumping in a fountain and worked our way up to La Jolla to splash around in the beach. We have some amazing shots of the couple and here are a couple of teasers from the portion in La Jolla.

This one was an amazing shot that was taken by Fiona. That wedding dress was flung out perfectly on the shot and we were able to get the area clean enough to make that composition.

On the photo from above, Fiona was working with "bride" while I just shot off to the side and found a perfect spot to get them both into the photo. Having a pair of photographers on sessions has its benefits.

Trash the Dress sessions are so great! Can't wait to get more of these booked on the schedule!

These are just a couple of teasers from the session over the weekend and we should have more to share in a few days.

San Diego Photographers: Be Still Photography | Ernie Padaon | Fiona Padaon

Location: La Jolla Cove

Grand Tradition Estates Wedding Teaser | Andessa + James

Andessa and James have been friends of ours for a couple of years and I had the honor to shoot their wedding day. The wedding was beautiful and the location was perfect for the vintage look that they were looking for. I have a couple of teaser images from the day that I wanted to share with everyone as we run through all the images.

One of my favorite images on the day is with all the groomsmen and the groom walking back to the room after portrait sessions. This of course was part of the session, but I just kept shooting and picked up this magnificent shot of everyone. Everyone lined up perfectly and we are able to see all the groomsmen in the shot. It could be a poster to a movie.

Here is another shot that worked out perfectly during the grand entrance of the bride and groom. I took a risk sitting toward the back of the room while shooting the entrance since the other shooter was at the bottom of the stairs and was able to catch this shot with perfect framing. The napkins were being waved around in the air and James and Andessa lined up perfectly in the middle.

San Diego Wedding Photographer: Be Still Photography Ernie Padaon & Ray Mickshaw Wedding Venue: Grand Tradition Estate | Fallbrook, CA

Blogging... it is important

Photo from wedding at Grand Tradition in Fallbrook this weekend. Still needs to clean up the random guy on the right side, but it was shot yesterday.

I have known the importance of blogging as a marketing tool for a while but for some reason I keep slipping on the blog for our photography site. Partly it is because of the madness of the day-to-day of family, photography and my other job and my other blog that puts this on the back burner.

I also run a couple of NFL sites called NFL Spin Zone and Bolt Beat and know how much traffic that can be brought in for blogging. I know how to do it and can do it well, but I still seem to push it on the backburner. It needs to go to the front of the priority list.

Working on a wedding this weekend and met with this DJ named Earl Henry from My DJs and he was telling me about his business and the marketing that he gets just from blogging. There was important pieces that he included on those blogs that I didn't even think much about. I was in sports blogging and know my way around that world, but in this blogging environment in photography I am still trying to find my way.

List out the vendors of events. List out the location. All these people deserve credit for the things that they do and search results for certain venues can have you linked to them. I am not sure what people that are getting married put in google when they are looking to find photographers, but I could imagine them writing "Grand Tradition Fallbrook Wedding Photographer."

I imagine that customers try to find a place to get married first and then figure out the rest. If you already have the experience at a venue, it is going to put you ahead of the line.

The photographers that inspire

Photo above taken by Joe Buissinck There are so many people that have influenced me in this game and inspired me to get better and better. Here is a quick list of the best people that I follow on blogs and youtube . Jared Polin "Fro Knows Fotos" (amazing low light and concert photographer), Jasmine Star (Southern California Wedding Photographer), Joe Buissink (wedding photographer for the stars), Brett Florens (unreal wedding photographer) and Bambi Cantrell (San Francisco based wedding photographer). They are all amazing follows and give great information on how they get the amazing photos that they get. 

The only non-wedding photographer of the group is Jared Polin. He is REAL though and will teach you everything you need to know about low light. He isn't afraid to tell people the truth. He did wedding photography in the past and has that photojournalistic approach. He is amazing at what he does and is all about telling a story with his photography.

Jasmine Star is a wedding photographer from SoCal that has a story that is very similar to the path I want to follow. She started a bit clueless on the industry, but quickly made herself into one of the best in the business.  I love her story and she gives great tips.

Bambi Cantrell.. I am in awe with the photos that she takes. She makes everyone look like supermodels! I don't know why, but one of the biggest things that she has said that has stuck in my brain is "I would rather ask for forgiveness, then ask for permission."

Brett Florens and Joe Buissinck are the guys that get called in for the big dollar weddings. If you can match their approach,  then you will be in your own league.

I love this group of photographers and business people. It will be a dream to be mentioned with some of these people.