YStudio is proud to announce that we are embracing and welcoming HDR!

Ok ok , it takes us older folks a bit longer to get on board with the technology I know, but seriously, we have been busy!  Between juggling our 40 hour work weeks, and shooting weddings and portraits in between, it's no wonder it took us THIS long!  AND finally, as many photographers are saying goodbye to the stone age and HELLO to HDR, is a GREAT move for us all...but mostly for our clients! 

Aside from not be able to contain myself with all of this creativity and opportunity to provide this service to our clients, I am equally excited about "launching" our campaigns.  We haven't had too much luck with it lately with mail outs so we decided to post it here on our blog!  We are constantly looking to upgrade and we are striving to work hard this Spring to re-vamp our photo studio.  In the meantime, we keep shooting, shooting and shooting with our clients in mind.  And photographers.....yes, we know what we love, but do we really know what our clients love and NEED  from us?  We hope that this will encourage all photographers to think out of the box and get that new gear or gadget that will take your business to the next level, it's like going to the gym, a pain to get there, but once you are there, you do not want to leave!

Like my husband says "this life is all about improvements", and we hope you will join us for the ride, there is so much to do and see out there, and as far as photography goes, don't let the years pass you by without preserving them for your loved ones, whether you are a photographer or not, make the memories count, and make the memories with YStudio Photography.

 

 

We are also proud to announce we are offering 20% off of prints with your Trash the Dress (we don't really trash them), High School Seniors and Portrait sittings.  Call for your consultation TODAY!  This is going to be FUN!  (Thanks to LaNisa, Lynn and Angelo for letting us share these images with you)  And a special heartfelt thanks to our team for this session.....Makeup Artist: Nechelle Turner and Hair Stylist and niece, Ariana Lara...On location in Pt. Richmond, California.

Never say NEVER!

How many times have we as photographers set up so many parameters for a shoot, we have a vision, we have a plan, we have A MODEL and then it all goes south because of the weather?  This is exactly what happened to us last week.

I had gone through some lengths to get the right model, the right idea, and then as we were getting ready to do a kool outdoor urban fashion shoot, it began to rain, no wait, I am lying, it began to pour!  It broke my heart because here it was Friday, I had planned for weeks, our gear was packed and ready to go, my model had three outfits ready.  I called our model Myrna and I could hear nothing but silence as I told her the shoot would have to be postponed.  And of course, without a functioning photo studio, I felt it was my responsibility to make this happen!  I immediately told Myrna that I had an idea and that I would call her right back!

So...I called my good friend and cake queen, Yolanda (of Yo-Yo's Cakes), and asked her if she had any ideas of cool looking spots in our area.  She mentioned this one place that recently opened near El Cerrito, a place called The Boiler House and Craneway Pavillion in Point Richmond, California.  Yolanda had raved about this place as she had been there for a company party and so I was curious!  I went to my source, Yelp.com, and looked it up and what I saw was a yummy looking industrial space with awesome lighting, it was definitely worth a shot to call and ask the manager if we would be welcomed to come and shoot there.
I called and spoke to Rob Nachtwey who manages the place, and can you believe it?  He said "come on down!"  I called Myrna and she was excited as we were and she began to make her journey to our side of the San Francisco Bay.  The place was too cool, my husband and I were excited and as was my son Angelo (our wonderful gear and  lighting assistant), and we were indeed welcomed.

I have to add that our model Myrna ROCKED this shoot, not only did she bring some adorable outfits, she brought a great attitude and she did a great job with her own posing ideas....but she also earned major kudos as there were folks all over the bar, and people having dinner as my hubby, my son and I did our thing and shot all over the place.  We were interrupted a couple of times by on lookers who wanted our business cards, or perhaps that was an excuse to get a closer look at Myrna?   Whatever the cause it was FUN for everyone, even the on lookers.

Rob asked if we were available to photograph a couple events in the coming days and we said YES!  So .... we photographed their San Francisco Chocolate & Beer Festival as well as their XLIV Superbowl Party!  The C&B Festival turned out to be a great shoot and we got hired by one of  the bands who performed at the event, as they loved the photography we captured of their act.  By the way what a small world, the guy who hired us for a July gig they have, Dave Bailey of the Juke Joint Band,  just so happens to be the son of our next door neighbor...talk about "meant to be!"

Ok that's enough chit chatting, here are a few photos from this shoot, ENJOY!!

Our Grammy Experience!

We may not have gotten the WHOLE enchilada, but we sure did get a lot of tacos! The Los Angeles 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, totally exceeded our expectations! As a nominee some words of advice if you get an opportunity to go one day...."leave your wallet at home!" Honestly, the Recording Academy takes care of YOU and of it ALL! Stay tuned for more of our story and more photos. For now, I just could NOT wait to share my Grammy medal with you all! Although taken with my Blackberry, it is one of my favorite parts of this journey! Be back soon with more!

We are OFF to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony!

I am excited, but I think the grand excitement and out pour of emotion will come when I am finally in the hotel, getting ready for the Nominees Reception Dinner at the LA Convention Center. Thank GOD it is Business Attire, I want to be comfortable, and although they will NOT allow us to bring our real deal cameras, I WILL have my Canon SD1100 in Pink in my bag!

My husband on the other hand, is so excited he can hardly stop! He has spent countless hours online and reading everything there is to know about this grand celebration! He has his suits and shoes ready and I am trying to get my gowns packed as well as my business attire, shoes, makeup, jewelry, etc. Maybe it will finally hit me? I am too busy to stop and think that hard.

I want to send a heartfelt thanks to John Santos, one, for believing in me and my talents, and of course for asking me to be a part of so many wonderful recording and performance projects! I began to work with John in 1999 and had no idea where this would take us. John in his 5th nomination with the Academy, and me in my 2nd alongside John's projects, am simply humbled, overjoyed and grateful in his friendship, talent, dedication and trust in my performances.

We are finishing up the last of everything, and whether we win or not, THIS will be one of the most significant milestone events of our lives!!! And thank you to all of you whom have supported me in my production, performance and recording efforts.

And the winner is...........................

Happy New Year everybody!

I am so sorry, but we have been so busy. It's not easy juggling a full time job, and trying to run and manage Weddings 9-1-1 AND The YStudio Photography business, but boy are we blessed and grateful! We just finished the last wedding of 2009 this past week, and now we can take a deep breath!!!

We would like to thank all of the happy beautiful couples that made this year a success for us, we look forward to keeping in touch with them all and we look forward to news of new babies arriving...wink wink....

Congratulations to all of our couples of 2009:

Christopher & Jacqueline Bucini, Duke & Michelle Pahulu, Kenneth & Natalie Jamaca, Alfredo & Jacqueline Chavez, Robert & Raquel Rothenbeuscher, Jose & Lucia Vega, Michael & Theresa Burk, Nick & Elisha Cortez, Chris & Amanda Dunne, and John & Amber Schultz! You were ALL a blast to work with!

We would also like to thank all of our clients this year for other celebrations we captured:

Teresa Reynolds, Make-up Artist, Wells Fargo Bank, NA., The Richmond/El Cerrito Fire Department, Merry Jones, Emani Lewis, Safia Umar, Anabel Gomes, The Valley View Bible Church, Michael Esterline, The Jenny Brady Family, Susan Frazier, The Manaleo Organization and Napa Aloha Festival, The Rouse Family, Alyssa Martinez & Carla Mock-Ketcham, Annette Cueto, Maricel Quiroz (Go BIG Network), Kate & Brian, Michelle & Eric, David M'ore, Joy Evangelista Family, Shelly and Danielle Hodges, and the Rosales Family.

We would also like to take this time to thank Gerry, our Photography Associate, for assisting us this year with GREAT imagery AND our new LOGO! We LOVE IT! A special heartfelt thanks also goes to Angelo Cervantes, my son, who is the World's Greatest Lighting Assistant! Juliana Alvarez-Thumas for also being a great assistant! We are so blessed, and you all are very special to us! And to my darling and loving and extremely helpful husband, Wayne, you are "mi piedra", and I love you por vida!

We look forward to a BRIGHT successful 2010! Enjoy the slide show (Scroll down to the bottom), from all of our shoots this year!

"Something about MARY!"

We are so excited we could hardly stand it! I received a call last week from Theresa Reynolds, one of our friends whose daughter we photographed along with a few other runway models, in our FIRST Trash the Prom Dress photo shoot. We're happy to report that Mary, the beautiful blond you see here, has just signed with The Ford Modeling Agency! Great news for all of us since mom told me YStudio Photography were her favorite photos!

We'll have to keep you posted once we have another shoot, because, as you can see, there is SOMETHING SPECIAL about Mary!

Congratulations Mary and a special hug goes out to Theresa for all of her hard work, dedication and for being one of the Bay Area's Best Makeup, Airbrush, and Hair Artists! Visit Theresa's site here: http://teresa-reynolds.com/

Stay tuned everybody! It IS going to get better......

The 2nd Annual Napa Aloha Festival

We would like to send the maximum amount of ALOHA possible to the Manaleo Hawaiian Cultural Foundation, Inc., who chose us to be this years official photographers for this fabulous event! Visit the organization here: http://www.manaleohcf.org/aloha%20festval.htm

The 2nd Annual Napa Aloha Festival event took place Saturday, September 19th at the Napa Valley Fairgrounds in Napa, California. We rose and shined early and arrived at the festival early and we were welcomed with loving hugs and ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOha! Plenty of vendors, volunteers, and performers! This years Special Guest, direct from Hawaii...Cyril Pahinui, see why so many patrons came to the festival.....we were blessed! Check out Cyril's page here http://www.cyrilpahinui.com/

If you look to the RIGHT of this page you will see our slideshow from some of our favorite shots from the festival. The staff was delighted with our work and have called us again for future events, one right around the corner, in October. We are blessed, see why........Mahalo and aloha!

Barbara & Wayne...... and please visit our NEW site at: http://ystudiophotography.com