I am finally getting caught up with some fun shoots we did awhile back and just wanted to post a few little teasers of whats to come. Stay tuned for some great stuff coming soon, in the meantime here are a few quick pics.

First a few pics of Carrie and Aaron from a shoot we did awhile back and finally am finishing up. Some great stuff from this beach photo session in Maui.

And just a quick photo from a family session with Nic and Catrina, such a cute little family and I cant believe how big the little guy is getting!

- Mark
Bay Area wedding and portrait photography

One thing that is just such a joy to photography is babies, so much wonder in their eyes and full of life. I always photograph littles ones that are under a year in their own home and like to really capture them in their natural setting. Images of them playing with their toys or getting loved on my mommy and daddy are perfect little moments that I try to capture. I got to photography baby Sarah a few weeks ago and what a cutie she was, just full of laughs and smiles. Here is a quick little highlight of some of the images.

I love photographing children in a natural environment when they can just have fun and be themselves. During a recent mini workshop I was able to capture some images of a great family we have been able to work with many times in the past. Melissas kids are just so adorable I absolutely love being able to create images of them. With out lifestyle family sessions we like to capture some moments that are natural and really show the personality of the kids, here we just were able to capture some natural images of them interacting with each other and some great moments. Here are a few quick images and a little highlight slideshow:

Since I have primarily focuses on weddings for the past 12 years I am known for my wedding photography but some people don’t know that I also love to do Lifestyle family photography. Capturing a point in time for a family can be a great experience and especially when you have kids in the mix I think its an essential thing to have portraits created to remember that point in your life. There is nothing like capturing the love of a family and interactions between each other. Here is a shot from a little while back that I just loved, the light was just at a perfect angle and created this really soft and beautiful shot!

It’s a brand new year and we are excited to roll out part of our new look for 2011! Our photography style has always encompassed a few things, Art and Passion. We are very passionate about what we do and I have always felt that what sets our work apart is the joy and love you see in the final images. Our logo was created 12 years ago by my wife in a little apartment in San Jose where I started my business. The first thing she drew right away when sitting down at my computer was a heart. It looked cool but I had her try many more variations and we kept going back to that first drawing which has stuck with us since then. It’s always been an important symbol for me since it shows what my photography is all about, Heart. When I photograph a session I put all of my heart into it and also connect with my couples. At a wedding I laugh, cry, jump for joy and am filled with all of the same emotions you are. With that love and joy I capture artistic images that capture the essence of your day and really tell a story about your unique day. This year we are starting to rebrand everything to really fit with our vision and show the fun, joy and more colorful side of who we are as artists. Although I did like our clean and classic old look of the blog and website it will all be refreshed with this new style that really captures the fun and joy that we are all about.

I wish you all the best in 2011, and remember we love to hear your comments so please drop us a line below.

– Mark

Fine Art Wedding Photography Blog

I love it when I get to photograph a family with their extended family members (pets). Pets really are a part of a family and it can make for such a fun shoot with dogs, its always unpredictable but so fun and this shoot was great. It was great to explore around Vasona Park in Los Gatos with Greg and Rachael and their two really well behaved dogs. For having two dogs at a park (with ducks, birds, kids and lots of distractions) they did amazing. Master Chef the big guy was a totally lovable guy and the other one Cortana did great also. Here are just a few highlights of the shoot:

Check our more of our Lifestyle family portraits at http://www.stagiportraitlife.com

I am so stoked to have my 3rd iPad app in the app store! I started writing a few mini books awhile back to help educate photographers wanting to start shooting weddings or portraits. There are so many questions I get from people that normally are the same questions people have when getting into photography. I also see so many people starting out that lack a certain creative element in their photography. Normally some of the more advanced things like Lighting are missed by most people starting out. So over the past year I have been working on putting down on paper some of the many things in my head that I can share from my 11 years of shooting professionally and years of Art school before that.

Baby photography 101 is now available in the app store here! Baby Photography for iPad

You can also get it in an iPhone version here: Baby Photography for iPhone

I wanted to create some guides that were really easy to learn, easy to understand and covered the technical parts of photography but in a not so technical way. As a photographer I am visual, after college I would still keep up with my photo education and read books, attended seminars and workshops and usually was pretty uninspired by the way the information was presented. Normally it was so technical that it lost my attention after a few minutes and I put the book on the shelf never to be picked up again. So I set out to create some tools for people to learn and be inspired and also wanted to create them at a very good price, really a no brainer. When the iPad was released I was excited, it really is a perfect medium to learn on . You have a nice large screen as well as something that feels great in your hand like a book but can be so interactive. So far I have created a Portrait 101 and a Wedding Photography 101 guide that right now are only $1.99! I wanted to create some very useful guides to help people get more creative with their photography and also have them be so inexpensive anyone can buy them. These also are available as iPhone (or iPod touch) version and for those of you who don’t have an iPhone or iPad going to be available as eBooks coming out in the next few months.

I can’t believe it’s already been one month since our son was born. I know it seems time goes by faster the older you get but this last month really, really, really flew by quick. With 2 babies in the house things are just going by at the speed of light! I know I have been slacking on my daddy photographer duties, hopefully now that we are getting used to having 2 I will pick up the camera more and get some good footage of him to post. In the meantime here is a shot from a few weeks ago of him peacefully sleeping

With valentines day just passing, love is still in the air. When we first started Stagi Imagery 11 years ago and were trying to figure out what to do for a logo my wife and I decided to have a heart as the logo. It doesn’t have much to do with photography but at the same time has everything to do with OUR photography. When we started this business it was all about the heart, being passionate about what we were creating and putting everything we had into creating the best images in the world for our clients. We still have the same basic beliefs today, we want to create the most amazing images for you and capture a slice of your life. Years down the road when you are looking through your wedding album we want tears of joy to come back to you or if you are looking at photos of your newborn to feel that excitement you felt when holding them in your arms. Photography is such a powerful art form and we are so happy to be able to be a part of all our clients lives.

So this year for Valentines day we are going to do something crazy, we are going to share the love with all of you. Any portrait session from now until 3-15 we are discounting to just $50. This is a huge savings compared to our normal sesison fee’s and a great way to get an awesome portrait session. To see more of our portrait work visit our Bay Area Lifestyle Portrait site. If you don’t need a portrait session for yourself no problem, give one away to a friend. You can give away as many of these discounted sessions as you would like. The only restriction is the shoot must be scheduled before March 15th.

Here are a few more of our recent family portrait shoots. As a proud pappa of the cutest 15 month old it has really opened my eyes to how fast children grow and how important it is to capture good images of them at their different stages. Lifestyle family photography can tell a story of your family at a given point in time and in the future be such a precious thing to look back on. We still have some family portrait sessions available for this yet, so if you haven’t had a professional portrait taken recently let us know. Visit our lifestyle portrait site here: http://www.stagiportraitlife.com

– Mark
family portrait photographer