http://blog.thebecker.com/ the becker photography blog en-us http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1056/Michelle-Curtis-are-expecting-again http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1056/Michelle-Curtis-are-expecting-again Mon, 14 May 2012 17:50:00 GMT Michelle and her husband Curtis (who is also a friend and one of my poker buddies) are expecting their second child any time now. I shot their maternity photos a couple years ago when they were expecting their first child, and last week we met down in Laguna Beach to shoot again. Here are a few of my favorites.

Thanks to Ashley Gannon for providing the hair & make up.

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1055/Backyard-Wedding-in-Lodi http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1055/Backyard-Wedding-in-Lodi Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:03:00 GMT
Here are a few of my favorite relaxed portraits, amazing details and real moments:

The bride was stunning and incredibly sweet!

The groom was just awesome! Fun guy, super nice... full of life.

The bride arrived on a horse drawn carriage driven by her grandfather:

I love all that is going on in this image. As the dad is giving his daughter away, the sister is crying and the flower girl and ring bearer are looking on in awe as the groom waits patiently for his chance to kiss the bride.

Not a bad view for a backyard wedding eh?

I could have shot here all day.

A couple more relaxed portraits:

I love the soft sweetness of this moment:

The veil blew away again:

A huge thank you goes out to Joe Photo for making the road trip and shooting along side of me. It was also a pleasure working along side of the coordinator Rachel from So Eventful and Lisa Fairchild for providing the florals.

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1054/European-Vacation http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1054/European-Vacation Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:20:00 GMT
I spoke at the Mystic Seminar in Connecticut the second week of January, then my girlfriend Ashley met me in NYC and we flew to London together. I was speaking at SWPP for the second year in a row. I love it over there. I wish I was going back for the Olympics, but I'm not. The photographers who came to my seminars were really nice, even when I overslept and missed one of my presentations. Jetlag & cold medicine is not a good combo) Thankfully I was able to switch with another photographer and do mine just a bit later (Thanks Katie!). The feedback was very positive and I love how they kept saying "Brilliant, simply brilliant!" They are too kind. We even managed to have a little [ b ] School dinner at a Thai restaurant not too far from the hotel and got to hang out with my friends Gary & Jeff from Album Exposure.

As per usual whenever I have a business trip, I try to take a couple extra days to see the sights and explore the region with my camera... even though in London I mostly just used my iPhone. London is a very cool city. It was nice being back there for the second time. I felt a lot more confident about getting around... especially using the tube. I did mind the gap and I got around with no problems. I also went back to the Casino at the Empire. I didn't do as well as I did last year, but I still had a good time and managed to walk out of there up a few pounds.

Here's a collage of some of my favorites from Instagram (follow me @thebecker):

Here's a portrait of the lovely and talented Ashley Douthit along the River Thames.

This statue was in front of Parliament.

And I loved the color & texture of this apartment building next to Westminster Abbey.

It was also fun to hang out with Joe Photo & his wife Ingrid.

Joe snapped a few shots of us in from of the Tower of London:

And a couple more in front of Westminster Abbey:

Then Ashley took matters into her own hands with a nice self portrait of us.

Ok, after the business trip was done in London, we took the train under the English Channel and spend a few days in Paris. It was so fun. The weather was mostly nice, but it was very crisp. We had some amazing food... the French sure do know how to make bread. And cheese. And pastries.

I had been to Paris only once before, and only for about 15 hours. I actually had a long layover on my 21st birthday in Paris and was able to hit up the Eiffel Tour and and enjoy Le Whopper at Le Burger King on Le Champs Elysees. Oui! I am happy to repost that on this trip, we made it to some nicer restaurants including the world famous Buddha Bar (I have a bunch of those CDs) and then we even popped into the Ritz for a late night drink. 10 Euros for a Diet Coke and 30 Euros for 1 cocktail? Ridiculous!

Ashley managed to get a decent shot of me near the Eiffel Tower:

The view from the top. It was a little overcast that day.

It is so impressive at night:

We snuck into Notre Dame for a few minutes:

We had the most fun the day we went to Montmarte. Here's the Basillica of the Sacre Coeur:

Someone likes having her photo taken. I am not saying who.

Cafe in Montmarte:

The metro is Paris was slightly more confusing than the tube in London... be we managed to figure it out. I did take 3 years of French in high school (what a waste).

I like this shot Ashley got of me.

Finally, a little gif of the Tour Eiffel at night. They do a light show at the top of each hour for a couple of minutes. It's gorgeous assuming you don't have a seizure watching it.

I would really love to spend more time in Paris... I think it would be cool to rent a flat there for a month and just shoot street portraits and experience the Parisian way of life. What do you say Ashley, do you want to go back?

Oh yeah... I almost forget... Lacy Dagerath, a photo friend of ours was also in Paris at the same time we were, so we had a few photos taken. It was weird being on the other side of the camera, but Lacy did an amazing job (especially since Ashley & I were both bossing her around during the shoot). Click the image to see more from the shoot. Thanks Lacy!

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1053/Addison-is-4 http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1053/Addison-is-4 Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:08:00 GMT Caden was welcoming his baby sister to the world, but in fact, it was 4 years ago today.

Addison Jane has turned in to a spunky, happy and beautiful little girl and we love her so much.

Sometimes it takes a while for her to warm up to the camera, but when she does... watch out!:

Addy & her mom (my sister):

The Engelken family. (Cade turns 7 in June):

4 generations of women. Addison has some wonderful role models in her grandmother (my mom), her mom (my sister) and her great grandmother.

Caden is taking after his uncle by wearing some t-shirts with a message. When he was one, I got him one that said "They Shake Me".

After lunch we took her to Build-a-Bear and she got a new friend.

Thanks to Ashley for taking this great shot of her. I'm not sure what she said, but Addy was cracking up!

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1051/destination-wedding-in-destin http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1051/destination-wedding-in-destin Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:19:00 GMT
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be a part of another incredible wedding down in the Emerald Coast for an awesome family. Here are some of my favorite relaxed portraits, amazing details and real moments.

Please leave a comment below and notice the new feature where you can easily pin your favorite photos.

The bride got ready at her parents home on the bay, and her Monique Lhuillier hung in the back door

Jimmy Choo's in the window:

Check out this handsome guy:

The groom got ready a few doors down before coming to the bride's home for the first look:

On the back porch:

I loved her veil:

We shot all of the portraits in their from yard:

On the dock behind the house:

The ceremony was at the United Methodist Church in Destin.

I love the moments between the couple right after the ceremony:

The reception was at the bride's grandmother's house. She passed away a few years ago and the house has been empty for a while. The bride asked for a portrait inside as she was very close with her grandmother.

We shot a few more relaxed portraits on the dock around sunset.

The first dance:

The backyard was perfect for a wedding reception:

The sparkler sendoff:

All in all is was a wonderful day and hopefully I'll see them again soon (the bride's sister is also engaged and currently trying to find a venue and a date).

This wedding was wonderfully coordinated by the two Jens from It's a Shore Thing

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1050/laguna-beach-engagement-session http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1050/laguna-beach-engagement-session Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:19:00 GMT
These two will be tying the knot in Los Angeles over Labor Day weekend and I am really looking forward to their day. We shot these down in Laguna Beach and a you can see, they are quite photogenic.

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1049/engagement-photos-moss-point-laguna-beach http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1049/engagement-photos-moss-point-laguna-beach Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:25:00 GMT
These two will be tying the knot in June and I am really looking forward to being a part of their day. These two were so sweet together. They were a little nervous at the beginning of the shoot, but then they really warmed up and we were all just cracking up and goofing around by the end of the shoot. Good times!

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1048/hearts-apart http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1048/hearts-apart Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:24:00 GMT Hearts Apart organization and they asked me if I'd be interested in donating a session to a couple who would soon be separated due to a military deployment.

Brandon is heading back to Afghanistan next month and Amy is due with their first baby boy just a month later. He'll be gone for a year and I was happy to provide them with some images that they'll be able to enjoy while they are apart.

If you are a photographer who's willing to donate a session or two, please contact them by clicking the link below:

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1047/new-york-london-paris http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1047/new-york-london-paris Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:44:00 GMT
On January 4th, I headed to the east coast to take part in the 7th annual Mystic Seminars hosted my my friend Walter Van Dusen. It was my first time speaking at the conference and it was great. I am hoping to get invited back next year. There were about 300 photographers in attendance, and I was honored to be included in the line up of speakers with some of my favorite photographers in the industry such as Joe Buissink and Jerry Ghionis. It was also nice to catch up with some old friends as well as meeting some [ b ] Schoolers for the first time. A little shout out to Nate, Noa & Pamela especially.

Right after Mystic, I was off to London to take place in the SWPP conference for the second year in a row. The trip started off a little rough as I caught a cold in Connecticut and suffered from some wicked jet lag (which is so unlike me). I actually overslept for my first speaking engagement after I was awake in plenty of time (shouldn't have laid back down). I blame it on the strong English cough medicine! Thankfully they were able to switch me with another speaker and it all worked out. I was plenty early to each of my next 3 speaking engagements!. The people in the UK were so warm and friendly and I got lots of compliments on my talks. My favorites praises included "Bloody brilliant" and "Magic". I could get used to hearing those kinds of compliments.

Mystic with about 300 people in attendance was kind of like a warm up to SWPP and I look at SWPP (about 3,000 attendees) as a warm up to the WPPI convention (15,000 photographers attend) that takes place in Vegas every year... I speak 1 month from today (Sunday the 19th at 3pm - pre board if you haven't already).

Anyway... my year has already included a lot of networking & sharing with my photographer friends and I look forward to continuing that trend for the rest of 2012. Speaking of which... we started a new series in the [ b ] School and we'll have fresh video content in the classroom every Monday this year... so if you haven't signed up... get on board now before you get left behind.

Here are a couple of shots from my last talk in London:

Last year you may recall that Joe Photo & I trekked down to India for a photo safari after SWPP, but this year I took a few personal days in Paris before coming back and starting my year. I'll post more photos from my trip once I return, but for now enjoy this view of the Eiffel Tour taken from Montmartre.

]]> http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1046/Merry-Christmas http://blog.thebecker.com/index.cfm/postID/1046/Merry-Christmas Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:05:00 GMT
For the 4th edition of my digital Christmas card, here's a look back at my 2011 through Instagram. All 500+ of these images were shot on my iPhone.



You can find me on Instagram @thebecker.

And here is the annual Engelken family photo (my sister's idea):

Here I am with my favorite little people. Caden is 6 1/2and Addison is 3 1/2. Time is flying by!

]]>