joy and john's wedding - updated (full teaser)

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guest commentator: monica

it's amazing to me how many couples we've shot that have been together for over a decade... it's definitely an awesome honor. joy and john are high school sweethearts and their families and friends have been waiting sooooo long for this day. self-proclaimed so-californians at heart, they planned their union to be an intimate 30-person affair in the late afternoon glow at the cliff restaurant overlooking laguna beach, with a view almost as beautiful as this couple. it seemed there was not a dry eye witnessing this couple profess their love and commitment to one another...

a week later and after a restful honeymoon on maui, they jetted back to the bay area for a larger celebration of their nuptials. they wanted to be able to share their big event with the rest of their loved ones at a wedding reception held at the holiday inn in concord. we were fortunate to be invited to this event as guests this time, however, due to a previous engagement, we were only able to catch the tail event of the party. even into the latter hours of the night, the party was still going strong!

congratulations, joy & john! we couldn't be more happy for you both and wish you a marriage filled with lots of love, laughter, and "tarpolines." =)


//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

images are now online for both the oc wedding & bay area receception!

the details



getting ready. fabulous hair and make-up by our favorite, the lovely diane.



the rings & favors



the groomsmen



joey, the best man and bro, kept everyone laughing throughout the entire day



who knew a wall and an elevator could look this good?



a little flirting as "single people" just before they're wed!



the awesome ceremony view



they love to jump! a little sunset kiss.



first dance as husband and wife under the heavens.
photo also known as: "check mate"



party time!

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commentator: ed

this one is more for the photographers (sorry, non-photograper folks):
we've been getting a lot of emails from you picture-takers
asking about how we get the images that we do and our unique lighting set-up.
below is a detailed shot of what our "LIGHT STICK" consists of, held by one
of the groomsmen from joy and john's wedding. thanks resty!

free san francisco bridal show - "lovely details: a wedding event"

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we've been invited to participate in a bridal show event sponsored by the awesome floral/invitation/monogram designer, huckleberry karen designs, and wedding/event coordination company, bellissima vita. we're thrilled to be participating and hope that you will all join us for this free event!


here are the details from the blog of bellissima vita:

12.18.2007

Lovely Details: A Wedding Event

Together with Huckleberry Karen Designs, Bellissima Vita is hosting a fabulous wedding event! This event is free and open to the public. Come visit us and some of the finest bay area wedding vendors:

Where: The Firehouse at Fort Mason (a great venue by the way)
When: February 3rd 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.


Hope to see you all there!

Posted by Bellissima Vita at 12/18/2007

image from: www.fortmason.org


//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

ptsp & friends' holiday party & white elephant gift exchange

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commentator: ed

below is a picture of the gift i put together for the white elephant gift exchange. it's some sort of pumpkin-squash-thingie wrapped with $25 worth of bills with a rubber band. as ugly as it was, it was a popular gift and was one that was stolen the maximum of number of steals. lesson of the day: "looks can be deceiving!"

click on the image below to view more of our party on my personal blog:

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com

edpingol.blogspot.com

awesome sunset

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commentator: ed

i was looking over some of the photos taken recently and noticed this gem. the sunset today was particularly awesome... yes, this photo was taken today. good o'l christmas day has blessed me with an awesome sky that i just had to share.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

happy holidays!!!

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commentator: monica

this is my favorite time of the year; so many birthdays in my family, lots of gatherings/parties, a time to catch up with old friends from college, nippy weather and fuzzy sweaters and scarves, and plenty of food!

as much as there may be lots of festivity with your families and friends, we wish for you all (and for us) to remember the reason for the season. merry christmakwanzakkuh, everyone!

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commentator: ed

lola absolutely hates clothes in general. this one that monica put on her she especially hates. Schadenfreude everyone!!!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

we're featured on "flashflavor!"

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commentator: monica

when atlanta-based destination photographer, matt adcock asked if our work could be featured on his site, flashflavor, which aims to showcase and teach the best in photography lighting, we were floored! he is a supercool "off-camera flasher," who together with his awesome partner, sol tomargo of playa del carmen, mexico, make up the team that is del sol photography. and this duo are not only partners in business but partners in life, as they just were wed just a couple of weeks ago. congratulations on your marriage, matt & sol!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


article from flashflavor:

18th Dec 2007

deleting the ambient

I’ve been keeping an eye on this week’s featured photographer, Ed Pingol from San Francisco. I noticed Ed’s photos in the Flash Flavor Flickr image pool and was immediately went to look for more of his work. His style is pretty impressive. He manages to shoot some of the sexiest formals (future FF post) I’ve ever seen, all with the power of of his ambient light deleter flash stick.

Ed Pingol writes about “deleting the ambient”

Monica (my wife) and I were presented a huge problem with busy cluttered backgrounds of freeways, street post with wires and people walking to and fro. we needed to “delete” everything and try to manage a decent picture on the process.

This technique can be applied anywhere and can easily be done as long as you have the capability of off camera flash. a definite “must-add” for your bags of tricks if you don’t have it yet already.
My off camera flash “light stick” consist of 2 sb-28 flashes mounted on a flat bracket triggered by a pocket wizard (also mounted on the same flat bracket). you can easily get one from ebay for $7! make sure you search for “multipurpose flash bracket”. This little setup is then mounted on a “Bogen 3232 Swivel Tilt Monopod Head” which allows me to… well, tilt my flash heads to any direction i want, which gives me a lot more creative freedom when compared to simply attaching the flat bracket straight onto a monopod.

I placed Monica who is holding the “light stick” 5 feet behind the couple. the flashes were both set at 1/1 (full power) with a beam spread of 24mm (the widest setting). when your f-stop is adjusted to compensate for the light stick’s bright flashes we automatically delete most of the ambient light and are left with what is pictured above.

A question that is brought up often is “why 2 flashes”? well, a cool thing about shooting with 2 instead of one is you can double your light output. but the main reason why i shoot with 2 is because of those times when i don’t need to shoot at full power. i double the speed of recycling time because shooting @ 1/2 power with 2 strobes is equal to shooting @ 1/1 with a single strobe.

Kewl! I must admit, I haven’t once used 2 flashes on one rig but now that I think about it, I think there are definitely some situations where 2 heads are for sure the way to go! Especially outside in bright bright daylight! I look forward to seeing Ed’s stuff on formals, you are really going to enjoy the time he puts into making his portraits!

Anyone get inspired by this or have a photo examples? Please give Ed your thoughts!

Cheers!
Matt

ahhhh... family vacation to cabo san lucas, mexico

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commentator: ed

during the long thanksgiving weekend, monica and i jetted to san diego to hop on board the ELATION, one of carnival's fine cruise ships to start our family trip with... well, family. from there, we cruised towards cabo san lucas, mexico. along the way, we ate and ate and ate. once we arrived in mexico, monica, my bro and i were scheduled to hop on a sailboat set to sail one hour away from the touristy spots and towards a very isolated coral reef. there, we relaxed, snorkeled and basically enjoyed nature. twas awesome.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

there's a TON of images... if you want to see, click on the pic below

what is cosplay?

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commentators: ed & monica

what is cosplay?

this is the question i asked when i received an email inquiry regarding a cosplay photoshoot from cheryll. once i got my learn on, i quickly jumped at the opportunity that presented itself in front of me. "this is SO awesome... how come i never knew about this before?," i thought. anyways, on with the explanation of what cosplay is...

according to the public library of cincinnati & hamilton county, "cosplay is a term that originated in japan but is based on the english words “costume play,” essentially play-acting in costumes. in japan, cosplay is not limited to anime/manga, but also a staple of many other entertainment industries such as science fiction and horror. in north america, the term cosplay is reserved for anime/manga related costuming."

"anime/manga cosplay has become very popular amongst fans in japan and north america. some cosplayers make their own costumes, investing large amounts of time and money in the process, while others buy their costumes from professional costume designers. the end products are generally shown off at anime conventions."

cosplay contests are often held at these conventions, the most well known convention being the comic-con held annually in san diego. san francisco has it's own mini-version, wondercon, held at the moscone center. and this group of cosplayers is no stranger to being crowned champs at these contests! from this shoot, we have become so intrigued by the concept of cosplay that we are hoping to attend wondercon in february '08!

of the five cosplayers of hcc cosplay, judy, cheryll, and aj were able to attend the shoot, along with their entourage, who helped the ladies into their costumes and made sure they looked perfect. their costumes are adapted from the manga series, "five star stories." being that the series is a "space opera," we shot the group on mare island, hoping to get a more industrial, sci-fi feel. as immobile as they were from the weight of their extravagant and intricate costumes, theses ladies were experts at modeling and took direction very easily.

from their first place finish at comic-con in 2007, hcc says they will be retiring from competitions. but they say their costuming won't end here and we'll definitely be looking out for their next big project.



//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


cheryll as "nein"



aj as "the bride"



judy as "amaterasu dis gran grees eidas iv." check out her costuming site!



the group - "five star stories"






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images courtesy of oscar - the shooting handler

sacramento state university fashion show 2007: "midwinter nights"

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commentator: monica

rolend rose will be graduating from sac state in a couple of weeks with degrees in apparel & design and business marketing. here is a description of her collection for this year's show: "visions couture is inspired by a contemporary sleek style of formal wear. visions couture color inspiration includes, sophisticated black accented with lustrous bright colors. this elegant look encompasses the silhouette of today's modern women along with the formal tailored fit for men. visions couture hits the eye with simplicity with a touch of elegant designs for ladies & gentlemen."

below is her line, "visions couture," which premiered on the runway at the university union ballroom last friday. along with some of the work of the other designers of the show. congrats, baby rose! we couldn't be prouder of all your hard work!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


the talented fashion designer: rolend rose



model: mindy



male models: brandon, james, and ruben







female models: stephanie, mindy, and magenn



hair and make-up by: heather and katie of "teased up"



other designers' collections. in the words of tim dunn, "make it work, people!"

we're "photo of the month" on wedding vendors directory!

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commentator: monica

the talented san diego-based myong hong of prodigy studios is the mastermind behind wedding vendors directory, an up-and-coming wed planning site. it's described as a "user friendly website that provides engaged couples and any viewers a simple way to search for wedding vendors without having to create a membership." we think any way to simplify the already daunting and stressful task of wedding planning process is a great idea!

we're thrilled and honored to be chosen as the site's first featured "photo of the month!" check out the image we submitted from melissa & edler's aftershoot. thanks so much to our lovely bride and groom and to myong for the awesome recognition!


//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

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From Wedding Vendors Directory

Photo of the Month

Ed Pingol Photography | Photo of the Month of December We are proud to give our very first photo of the month to Ed of Ed Pingol Photography. "This shot was shot with a canon 30d with a manual setting of 1/180th @ f/11 - iso100. "why f/11?" i picked f/11 because of how the subject was lighted. my lighting set up for this particular shot consisted of 1 SB-28 powered @ 1/1 set at 24mm wide beam spread on a monopod triggered by a pocket wizard held camera left by an assistant. This setting brings the glare down of the sun tremendously while at the same time saturating all the colors of the sunset." You can see more of Ed's photos at www.edpingol.blogspot.com Wedding Vendors Directory

tis the season to be grateful

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commentator: ed

with so many things to be grateful this year, i am most grateful to have family around me.

the past three years have been absolutely great... monica and i started our lives together in marriage after dating for 8 years and have "settled" in vallejo right between her family and mine. as most of you know, living in the bay area hasn't been exactly cheap, so even though our family is no longer than a 7 minute drive away in the same city, i rarely saw them because of work and my horrendous commute of 100+miles a day. to give you a better perspective as to how long that is, i would sit in my car for 3 hours per work day. that's about a straight month sitting inside the car in a year.

i complained, but the job paid well...

this past january, monica and i started this photography business which grew fast. fast to the point to where this "hobby" is now my full time job. yes, i am SO grateful to be given this opportunity to do what i love doing. to top it off, (even though it has only been less than a week) i can make time to see family anytime, any day. this has been priceless to me, and that is why i am OH SO GRATEFUL.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


most people take pictures in front of a christmas tree, we did too...
(tree is in gherrideli square)

ed pingol teaching a photography lighting workshop?!?!

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commentator: ed

yup, i even surprised myself as well! back on october 28th, monica, my bro hamilton, and i went to dixon to teach what we know about photography and lighting. to our surprise, there were over 25 attendees eager to learn what monica and i have been doing when we're out on shoots, as well as how we market ourselves. (as i type this, it's still such a shock that others want to learn from us, since we believe there is still so much for us to learn about the art and business of photography.) rose hyc of rose photography actually did most, if not all of the grunt work (we just showed up...). she even went as far as hosting the event at her awesome studio and gathered the "students." a HUGE thank you to you! plus, she's a muy talented photographer herself.

anyways, when we agreed to "teach," we made phone calls to a few of our couples we knew would be happy to model for us: jen & ron, who were wed in august; chelsea & bj, who are soon-to-be-wed this march; melissa & edler, who were wed in september; and antoinette & neil, who were wed on the luckiest day of this year, 07.07.07. thanks to all of you for being such great sports and models for your very own paparazzi for the day!

and a big 'ole thanks to the great town of dixon! we really didn't believe it when rose would tell us how friendly the residents are. we were able to flag down not one but two vehicles-- a classic chevy truck and an antique vehicle, which if i'm not mistaken, was a model t ford-- and a bicycle from a friendly neighbor. to finish off a great day of shooting, we enjoyed some great burgers and pork chops at bud's pub & grill.

***the images featured below are courtesy of the photographers who attended the workshop and a few of our images, with post-processing done by me. for those photographers that attended the workshop, we'd love to hotlink your blog entries to this blog entry to feature your work! please send us a link to edpingol@gmail.com or feel free to leave your url on the comment section. thanks for being so patient in waiting for this long-overdue blog post. happy holidays!***

check out the photographers who joined us for the workshop:
ryan greenleaf
carlos rivera
rose hyc
sylvia fife of great fx photography
monica toohey-krause of katchinyakandid
carmen salazar
marita & glenn of madeloni photography
mori & charlie of focused on you photography


//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

a glimpse into our day!

antoinette & neil posed as a "funky engagement session couple."

chelsea & bj were our other engagement couple. and yes, they're really
layin' down on the middle of the street!

melissa & edler, getting practice for their official aftershoot.

jen & ron, our other wedding couple. they had her climbing up
train light posts & the classic chevy!

the generous fellas who let us use their cars, which served as great "models" for us to use. thanks, again!

michele and dennis' engagement session

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commentator: monica

we continue to be astounded with the level of personalization and creativity our clients have recently been bringing to their engagement sessions with us. it's always great to include locations that couples consider as meaningful. for michele & dennis, the embarcadero is a special place since this is where the lovely couple had their first date, along with their dinner at the stinking rose in san francisco. we weren't surprised either when the twosome asked us if they could incorporate their love for poker and baseball but we were pretty much floored when we heard about the jerseys they had custom-embroidered, not only with their last names, but with their wedding date; his is #6 and her's is #21. these will surely make some cool "save the dates!"

congratulations, michele & dennis! we can't wait to see what's up your sleeves for your tahoe wedding next year!


//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


although they each root for rivals, they're definitely on the same team!
overlooking the awesome at&t park from mccovey cove.



"sweet and silly," perfect words to describe the two together.



their love is so apparent, it can't help but catch the attention of an onlooker.



a winning hand! playing a game of poker outside of steps of rome caffe
in north beach, which is claimed to have the best tiramisu in town!



garlic lovers delight!


the rocks amongst the other kind of rocks