Temecula Wedding Photographer | Rock This Moment

One of the great things about the Temecula wineries is that they attract a large number of outside visitors. People from all throughout California travel to the Temecula Valley to get a little sauced up on some of the local reds and whites, and I for one think this is a wonderful thing. However, the Temecula wineries aren’t all about slamming glass after glass of champagne and snacking on cheese. Believe it or not, the Temecula wineries are also wildly popular among those getting married, and those looking to renew their vows to one another. That was why when Summer and Jay from Pacific Beach contacted me about photographing a wedding renewal ceremony at South Coast Winery (one of my personal favorites), I was on board quicker than Lindsey Lohan could get thrashed at a open bar during cocktail hour. Probably even a little bit quicker!

So everything was set for South Coast Winery in Temecula when I was informed by Summer that plans fell apart and that they would instead be having the ceremony at a location called Bay View Park on Coronado Island. Bay View Park is a small and intimate location, making it the perfect setting for such a event. Therefore, the ceremony site move from Temecula to Coronado wasn’t a bad thing at all. Below are my photos of Ron Burgandy’s turf, and of course Summer and Jay’s vow renewal extravaganza! Let’s go!

Summer and Jay are both transplants from far away distant galaxies known as South Carolina and Texas.  I don’t recall the specifics on exactly how they arrived in Southern California, but I heard them speak frequently about something called the “shake weight” so I can only assume they had some sort of partnership or investment in the fitness product that literally vibrates uncontrollably in a person’s hand. The device sounded pretty exciting.

I absolutely love it when I get to spend extended time with my clients because it allows me to be a little more creative with some shots. For example, the above images that were taken in the middle of the day in Summer and Jay’s backyard. I used some off-camera lighting to blast a a white curtain that created the silhouette shots. However, I think the best photograph is the one below. A simple note written on a kitchen white board that says it all.

After the vow renewal, some friends and family gathered at Summer and Jay’s pad to cook up some crawfish, shrimp, and all the fixings. This was the first time I ever ate crawfish so it was a pretty big event in my life. I felt like John Wayne. He probably ate crawfish for breakfast before he killed Indians.

Although this Temecula wedding photographer had to be a Coronado wedding photographer for the day, I could not have been happier getting to spend my day with such friendly people full of life. Hopefully, my new friends will give me the opportunity to shoot their next vow renewal ceremony. Congrats Jay & Summer! Continue being strong like the lion, smart like the beaver and wild like the might grizzly during a salmon run!

Getting the opportunity to shoot a wedding at any of the local Temecula wineries is awesome. This is because the environment is gorgeous, details are always top-notch and Temecula is my local hood. Therefore, the drive home from the wedding is only ten minutes for me, compared to the hour or so when I take wedding photos in San Diego or Orange County. Although I have captured wedding and engagement pictures at South Coast Winery, Wilson Creek Winery and a number of the other popular wineries in Temecula, I had never been to Lorimar Winery. This is partly because the place literally opened up last Wednesday! Therefore, when my pals at Inner Song asked me to help them with a wedding there, I was excited to check the venue out and see what the place had to offer. There was only one catch, Inner Song didn’t need my assistance as a secondary shooter, but rather as a photo-booth operator.

For those who aren’t familiar with photo-booths, basically a backdrop is set-up, different props such as cowboy hats, goofy glasses and wrestling masks are available for people to wear, and the photographer just snaps away at people as they walk in for a little fun. Photo-booths are always entertaining, and get wedding guests into the mood to party. Old, young, tall, short, drunk or sober, everyone rocks while in the photo-booth! Although this Temecula wedding photographer was not able to rock the photos of the ceremony, I was still able to bring the heat in the photo-booth baby! Here are some of the photos I shot while rocking the photo-booth at Lorimar Winery this past Saturday night! Let’s go!

Last Wednesday started off like any other ordinary day; I woke up, got ready, walked my dog, edited some personal artistic nude photos, went to the gym (where I did over 1,000 curls), then came home to complete some more work stuff. The only difference was when I got home from sculpting my guns at the gymnasium, I had a voice message on my house phone from some Temecula wedding photographer by the name of Anthony Carbajal. My very first thought was this local photographer guy probably got some information that I was getting married in October, and therefore he planned on soliciting his photo services to me. After listening to the voice message in its entirety, I quickly discovered my assumptions were wrong. Basically, Anthony’s second shooter had to cancel the wedding they were both scheduled to shoot at Orfila Winery in Escondido due to a vicious herpes outbreak (I am totally kidding I really have no clue what the reason was), and that left Anthony without a wing-man for the Saturday wedding. After listening to Anthony freak out on the phone for hours (almost to the point of tears) about what he was going to do because of the dilemma, I informed him that I would saddle up and shoot the wedding with him. Just like the time I purchased beer for the teenagers in front of Vons grocery store, I saved the day!

In all serious now, I had a rad time shooting with Anthony, and in just the one day shooting with him I felt my wedding photography skills improved. He is a very talented young photographer with the type of facial hair that would make any man jealous. I look forward to working with him again sometime in the future.

The first question you might be asking is why do I have so many photos of the groomsmen? Well the answer is simple: because I was the second shooter. That means I shoot the guys. The wedding day is all about the bride, therefore, the primary photographer is the one who captures the bride and her bridesmaids getting dolled up and all of that stuff. Trust me I am not complaining, taking photos of guys is pretty simple. Essentially, all I was required to do was take photos of them knocking back cold ones. I will say I was a little jealous though because the groomsmen were drinking one of my favorite beers (Stone, a local Escondido brewery). Disappointed nobody offered the wedding photographer a cold one (insert sad face).

Scott, the groom, is a pilot, and a damn good pilot if you ask me! Why is it that I am providing this information you ask? Well because during the ceremony he had some of his Top Gun buddies do a fly over, leaving white trails in the sky (Hopefully, they were not evil pilots taking part of a government conspiracy to spray chemicals on the public *Google “Chemtrails“). Some how I missed getting this shot… photographer fail.

My favorite photograph of the day is in the photo section above (the silhouette shot of the couple as we were walking back from the back side of the Escondido winery). #winning Well I think that pretty much sums up how I documented the story of Scott and Fawn’s glorious wedding day at Orfila Winery. Momma always said if you smell something burning, something is probably a’burning, and that is what the tag team duo of Anthony Carbajal and Rock This Moment did, set the wedding of Scott & Fawn on FIRE!

After Taco Tuesday at Guadalajara’s, Corissa was kind enough to let me take some photos of her so I could practice using my new tilt-shift lens. I really love my new tilt-shift lens, but at this point in the game I am struggling pretty hard with it (as you can tell by the above photos that were basically all shot with my 50mm). It probably did not help that I was trying to figure the darn thing out after two margaritas, which I swear were made from pure gasoline. Any margarita-enthusiast must stop at Guadalajara’s in Temecula during their happy hour and drop the $3 for one of these margaritas of death. I am actually shocked people can even drive out of that parking lot after a couple of those drinks…Anyway, after getting sauced up, we went behind Wilson Creek Winery at a spot off Buck Road to do a real quick mini shoot (Buck Road also happens to be one of the party spots of my youth, so it was nice to go back and relive the glory days of dirt party shenanigans). The reason I selected this location is because it is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. The spot is remote, so there are no distractions, and the fields are a rolling green and gold color. It is a location I would highly recommend any Temecula photographer use for doing an engagement or family shoot.

I would like to send a big thank you to Corissa for being such a awesome, sexy, smoking hot model, and not complaining about the continuous farts I was ripping from the all the beans and tacos I grubbed down during dinner! You’re the best sugar face!

This has seriously been one of the most hectic and fun past 10 days I can imagine, and the party does not look like it is going to end until probably St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday.  The party pretty much began last Friday when this Murrieta wedding photographer switched gears and performed his very first wedding as an officiant for some really great friends at Los Willows in Fallbrook. Temecula local photographer Zach Hodges was hired to shoot their wedding so the only way I could get into the action was to perform the ceremony. Check, and mate. Being the preacher man for my very first time was an incredible experience, and I can now see why those guys get more squirrel than an oak tree. Preacher men have power, and ladies love the power. The wedding party took it to level 10 that night, which was pretty freaking awesome, but unfortunately the very next morning my fiance Corissa and I were scheduled to meet her cousin and drive to Las Vegas for the day. Naturally, when Saturday morning rolled around I had no way to move my head that wouldn’t hurt. I can honestly say that nothing is worse than a severe hangover combined with a long drive to Las Vegas in a small car.

When we got to Las Vegas the booze once again began to flow like swallows to Capistrano during mating season. We shot craps, drank beers, hit the Marquee night club and pretty much tore it up. A little part of me died that weekend, but it was probably a weaker more pathetic part of me that was no longer required since I am clearly evolving into an animal. During our stay in Las Vegas, I talked with Corissa’s cousin Brandon and his lady friend Stephanie about doing a shoot while they were down in Southern California for the week, and they both said, “F***Yeah!”. Brandon and Stephanie both live in Iowa so obviously they are corn farmers who have never had there pictures taken ever. Here are the first photographs ever of the two. Enjoy!

As you can clearly tell, Brandon is wearing a purple shirt. When I mentioned this to him he snapped like a bottle rocket, exclaiming that it was a soft shade of lavender. After a second look, I noticed he was absolutely correct. I felt like an idiot. Another little tid-bit about this session is that when we were shooting, a couple on horseback came by and one of the ponies took a massive dump relatively close to where we were taking photographs. On this Thursday the winds were swirling in the Temecula Valley…I will leave it at that. No, actually I won’t. It smelled like s*** when we were shooting. Like horse s***!

In all seriousness now, Brandon and Stephanie were awesome during this shoot. They went wine tasting beforehand so they really made a day out of it, which is something every couple should do if they plan on taking photos in the Temecula wine country, or pretty much anywhere for that matter. They were in a time crunch that day that resulted in us having to shoot a little after high noon (the kryptonite all wedding photographers dread), but other than that I was pleased with how many good photos turned out.