Aaron Willcox Photography

San Diego Chargers: It's a date... shoot

Aaron Willcox — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:09:00 +0000

I'm a firm believer in asking for forgiveness instead of permission. Don't tell the hard-core-anti-photography security guards at Qualcomm... those guys were just doing their job... and I was just doing mine; being a third wheel that is. Somehow, last Saturday evening pretty much turned into a dream: hanging out with a couple on their date. It definitely wasn't an engagement shoot! The night was Stephen and Arleen's and I happened to be there to document it. Awesome. I think I'm pretty much done with ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS. I'm going to call them "Third-Wheel-Date-Sessions" from now on. That will probably scare a few of you away, but for those whose eyes just lit up, I'm your photog. And now... drum roll please... the ring shot!

Wedding at San Diego Botanic Gardens: one wedding, two posts

Aaron Willcox — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:35:50 +0000

Choosing images to put on this blog is always a challenge. I have realized, the image set I choose truly establishes my photographic style; two posts from the same wedding could look completely different. Should I polish the bajeezez out of the perfect shots, crop, balance, tweak and magazine them out? These are the shots you want to see right? On the other hand, maybe I should post my personal favs; the imperfect raw moments that move me... but will they move you? What if you don't know Ashley and Alec? Well, now is your chance to weigh in. No more lurking. Below are two posts, the first set of images are magazine-ish, cropped out and tweaked. The second... we'll tell me what you think. What would you rather see? Please, no sugar coating.

NOW FOR THE RAW

This is by far one of my favorite shots. No, not perfect. Could have been better without the flowers in front of Alec's face, surely not magazine content, however... what this image does show is the truth in Ashley's eyes, you know exactly what she is feeling and thinking: ... you know me ... all our time together and here I am ... that girl you fell in love with... in a wedding dress!... about to leap off that cliff and trust each other with everything ... it's as sincere as it gets and this is why I love to photograph weddings.

Thank you again for taking a moment to tell me what you think. Also, be sure to check out the crew who made this event possible: Wedding Coordinated by Rachel + Jennifer2 with Bliss Events * Ceremony Venue: San Diego Botanic Gardens * Flowers: Rae Florae * Hair and Makeup: Alison with The Bustle * Catering: Culinary Concepts * Cake: Sweet Cakes Baking

Wedding at the Ayres Hotel

Aaron Willcox — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:17:12 +0000

When I met Gina and JR for the first time, I knew right away I wanted to photograph their wedding. They had applied for a spot on my "Big Heart" program and after seeing these two together and hearing the details about their life, I was already looking foreword to capturing their day. Gina spends her free time as a volunteer mentoring youth with disabilities. Her passion for her work in this community and her insatiable smile was only eclipsed by the connection she had with JR. As she spoke about her plans, I could see the patience and support in JR's eyes. I knew, their wedding day was going to be full of these moments and I couldn't wait to capture them on film.

As always, a big thanks to all of the wonderful vendors to helped realize Gina and JR's vision for their wedding. Venue: Ayers Hotel Hawthorne * Wedding Coordinator: Miriam of Glam Candies * Flowers: Tigerlilly Floral Designs * Hair and Makeup: Gilbert Gonzalez * DJ: Christian Rasmussen * Cake by Mayer's Bakery

Wedding at Paradise Point

Aaron Willcox — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:34:13 +0000

Anjali and Ryan met while traveling the globe. The entire story was re-told by Ryan's best man during his toast. He pretty much had everyone, including me, in tears when he presented Ryan with the very guitar used to serenade Anjali. Ryan apparently plays the guitar very well, as this sparked the beginning of their inspiring courtship together. Here are a few of my favorites from the few hours I had with them including a few shots of that guitar.

Special thanks goes out to all the wonderful vendors who's work is the reason why my photos look so great: Wedding and Reception Venue: Paradise Point Resort and Spa * Wedding Coordinator: Brenda Davis Landini * Wedding Cake: The French Gourmet San Diego * Wedding Dress: Pronovias * Hula Dancers: Na Pua Llima * DJ: Primo * Officiant Craig Knudsen

Wedding at the Lodge at Torrey Pines

Aaron Willcox — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:48:37 +0000

It has been way too long since my last post! Time to catch up on all the fun news but first... a few shots from last weekend's wedding with Brittany and Russell. I was afraid it was going to be a hot day, but the venue sits right on the cliffs of Torrey Pines and provided some a great breeze along with that soft golden evening light. We had a fabulous time and the wedding was filled with plenty of genuine moments; my camera and I were very happy about that.

A big thanks to all the vendors that put together such a fabulous wedding:

Venue: Lodge at Torrey Pines * Wedding Coordinator: Merilee with EverAfter Events * Flowers by Flowers on 56 * Orchids by South Coast Orchids * Hair: Kathleen Connolley * Makeup: Vivian Kuriakos * Officiant: Pastor David Plank * String Quartet: Angelica Strings *

WPJA winners

Aaron Willcox — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:50:23 +0000

With hundreds of entrants from all over the world, it is alway an honor to be recognized in the WPJA competitions. Here are three shots that placed for the Q4'09 competition:

What is an engagement shoot?

Aaron Willcox — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:14:50 +0000

Good question. Honestly, the value this shoot offers has really very little to do with photography and making photos. It's all about getting to know my clients as a couple and getting a chance to just hang out and have some fun. When July 17th roles around, I'm going to wake up in the morning thrilled that I get to shoot Brittany and Russell's wedding. Here are a few fun shots we put together with a few hours in La Jolla.

It's Album season baby!

Aaron Willcox — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:09:26 +0000

I'm stoked to announce, this year will be the first year we are offering the hand-made Cypress albums. After receiving rave reviews for their 4x6 proof boxes, we decided to include more of their fabulous products. These guys are at the top of the wedding industry and each product they make is created with patience and care. They are the perfect match for my photography and I just love how it really showcases each image. I just received a proof box and a hand crafted Juniper album today so I couldn't wait to share them on the blog. The proof box pictured below is made for a set of 500 prints and is covered with the Hazel silk and accented with the Sage colored ribbon. The Juniper album features 200 year archival prints mounted between sheets of Italian parchment. The album nests perfectly in a matching box featuring the same color combination of Ice Blue silk with a Chocolate ribbon... yum!

Aaron selected as top wedding photographer in the world!

Aaron Willcox — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:45:12 +0000

I just received an invitation to join an incredible group of photographers! Only 350 were selected from a pool of 5,000 wedding photographers from around the world. Each photog was hand picked by a review board consisting of David Beckstead, Ben Chrisman, Del Sol Photography (Matt Adcock and Sol Tamargo), Glen Johnson, Anna Kuperberg, Crash Taylor, and David Ziser. This is a new association and I will be sure to post a link as soon at it is live around the middle of January. I'm so humbled to be a part of the amazing group of photographers.

Of course, blog posts are boring without a photo! Here's one of my favs from Sheyanne and Dan's wedding a few weeks ago (more to come). Be sure to check out their SHOW SHOW SHOW!

Seaport Village Enagements (contraband photos)

Aaron Willcox — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:10:37 +0000

We actually got away with doing our little photo shoot at Seaport Village. Security finally caught up with us at the end of the night and kicked us out. Melanie and Matt were up for just hanging out and we ended having a great time.