Some of you may know Carrie, she has helped me out for a few years at weddings and also been an amazing behind the scenes help editing weddings and helping with a lot of the office tasks that happen. Carrie is just super sweet, always great to have around and I was so excited for her when she told me that she was engaged. I have got to know her family over the years and they are a great bunch, and when I say bunch they really are a crew with 6 kids in the family! The wedding is tomorrow and I can’t wait, I know it is going to be a wonderful celebration of love and am excited for the two of you to start your new lives together.

For their engagement session awhile back we got to shoot at a little makeshift carnival at the side of the mall. Although the carnival wasn’t what I envisioned, there were a few interesting carnies there and we pretty much had the place to ourselves so was perfect for running around and having some fun shooting. Here is a little Reel Life video of their shoot.

Aaron and Carrie E-Shoot from mark stagi on Vimeo.

Some of you may recognize Carrie from this engagement shoot. Carrie has helped me out over the years assisting at weddings and also being part of the behind the scenes team. She has helped me out so much with some of our post production work I am so Thankful to have had Carries help over the years! When I heard she was getting married I had to shoot the wedding, and since I knew Carrie was always open to new and fun ideas when we were thinking about the engagement session a little carnival down the street came to mind. It was a pretty tiny carnival and had some interesting carnies working it but turned out to be a very fun shoot. Check out a few images of the shoot here:

Carnival Engagement shoot from mark stagi on Vimeo.

Mothers day is coming up quick, what are you going to do for your mom this year? Mothers day is always a special time because moms have made such a difference in most of our lives. This year to help celebrate mothers day we are going to be offering some portrait specials just in time. I know the biggest gift you can give a mom is a portrait of your family. Moms love pictures and especially if there are grandkids involved then a portrait is always a huge hit! We have a couple of spaces open for portrait shoots over the next few Saturdays and will give you a matted 11×14 image with each shoot! That way you can have a perfect gift for mom ready for mothers day and get some great images of your family at the same time.

Call us at 408-323-8727 to book your session or fill out a contact form above. Also check our our new portrait website at: http://www.stagiportraitlife.com

I am stoked to share this slideshow of such a cute new family! I have been doing more and more lifestyle portrait sessions over the last few years and enjoy them so much. I think one thing that even makes them more special than before is I know how important they are to people. Having children has changed so many things about me and really made me realize how amazing certain moments can be to be captured forever. Looking back at photos of Faith at 3 months, 6 months and on brings such a smile to my face. I can relive all of the fun and crazy moments of her first year of life!

This was a very fun shoot down at the beach in Capitola with the cutest little one. The light at the end of the shoot was incredible and just gave me goosebumps when I was shooting it Enjoy a little highlight video here:

I am very excited to announce the release of a iPad app that I have been working on with AppEzzy called Portrait Photography 101: A Guide to Taking Better Portraits. This guide covers some key lessons to create better portraits, giving you examples and real world descriptions.

Everything is explained in real life terms with beautiful large sample images. No drawn out techie terms just straight forward answers. If you love taking photos of your kids or are a amateur photographer looking for some portrait ideas this is the perfect app for you. Read through some real life scenarios along with high resolution images to learn how to take better portraits. Camera settings and stories about each shoot are included as well as a notes section for you to write down some notes as you read along.

So if you are getting an iPad and want to learn how to take better portraits download this from the App Store for only $1.99! Portrait Photography 101.
Also for everyone out there that doesn’t have an iPad but has an iPhone or iPod touch there will be an iPhone version out soon! Follow AppEzzy on twitter or check their website for more news.