I don’t think most people from outside of the golden state have any idea the love affair that us Californians have with the beauty that surrounds our great state. I think what separates California from other states is the amazing differences in terrain and views that you can have by simply driving one hour.
After some meetings and photographing some in the Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach and Hollywood areas I decided to take the coastal route home (which I often do, even though it adds some extra miles onto my trip). The central coast of California is absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite areas is where the rugged mountains and hard landscape meets the Pacific Ocean in the Santa Barbara area. I’m truly envious of my wedding photographer friends who live in this area and get to shohttp://scottandrewstudio.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=472ot there all the time. I had a chance to spend some time with a few friends and enjoy laughs and good times over a wonderful dinner in Los Olivos. Jeff Newsom has always been a leader and someone I respect greatly for his individuality in our industry. But agree or disagree with him, his work is amazing and he is a class act of a human being (some may question his actual human-ness). Joel Serrato seems to be perpetually in a happy mood and is one of the best Super 8 wedding cinematographers around. His work evokes real, raw emotion and takes you from reality into the film. Outstanding. Jose Villa is just Jose Villa. I think most people know Jose and he’s just pure rad. His style is so pure, so lovely and so contemplative. I’m blessed with some awesome friends and it was great to spend some time with all you guys, let’s do it again soon.
Off the highway before dinner, I stopped off and made some photographs for my California Collections project. This project probably won’t ever end, but I feel an undeniable urge to document this great state how I see it. I hope you enjoy reading these posts from my travels and viewing some of the photos of the beauty that is California. Enjoy.

I feel like a little kid coming out of my room to tell my mom I’m sorry, but I AM really sorry about the complete drop off from the blogosphere. Could I have made time even though I’ve been super busy? Sure. Am I too much of a perfectionist to blog sometimes? Probably. Should I create a better system for blogging immediately after the majority of my photographic journeys? Definitely. The good news is that I have been photographing some amazing weddings lately, some epic engagement sessions and making some awesome portraits like it was going out of style. Seriously, I feel super blessed with the abundance of work right now.
To add to the stack of stuff, I picked up the keys to the new place today so I can start some texturing, painting, flooring and get moved in. I’m going to be enlisting my loyal blog readers to give me a hand soon with designing a layout for the space. You know you’ve always wanted to be an interior designer like the cool guys on the “do-it-yourself” shows. It is going to be really nice to have a great space out in Linden, CA away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
And now onto the featured wedding for today:

When I first talked with Justin I’m not sure if we discussed much of anything concerning weddings for the first half hour or so. We talked about mountaineering, riding dirt bikes, skiing and a lot about photography in general. I knew that Justin and Baha were a sweet couple right from our first meeting and I was excited when they decided to book me for their wedding day. It was great getting to know them in San Francisco when I photographed their engagement session and when the wedding day came along, I felt like an old friend at the wedding with a nice, fancy camera.
Bahareh is Persian and Justin is a laid back guy from Grass Valley, CA. They are both dentists so I made sure to rinse, brush and floss the night before the wedding and I even brushed my teeth late that night. Their wedding was a beautiful blend of two very unique cultures and it could not have been more beautiful. The setting was a private residence where Justin grew up in Grass Valley. Special thanks to Ryan Flynn who came down from Seattle, WA to photograph alongside with me (a lot of the frames below were photographed by him) and Ingrid Nelson of Myrtle and Marjoram who opened up her studio in Grass Valley for two tired photographers to crash at after the wedding. Justin and Baha, you two are awesome! Enjoy.