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Wednesday Weddings – Clos LaChance Winery

Mark — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:29:12 +0000

To continue our Wednesday feature of a local venue we love today we are showing a great winery tucked back in the hills of San Martin (and for everyone who doesn’t know San Martin its just a little outside of Morgan Hill). Clos LaChance is a definate gem, although it isn’t too far off 101 you feel like you are out in the Italian countryside. The grounds are spacious, they have 100 acres of lush vineyards and golden hillsides with majestic green oak trees. The also have an awesome Mulberry Grove with a fountain in the middle it gives you a very old world feel to it and is perfect for your cocktail hour. Dinner and Clos LaChance’s hand-crafted wines are served on the Terrace, surrounded by views and beautiful gardens. The terrace not only gives you a beautiful view of the grounds in the evening but also the detail to the main building all add to the charm.

One month already

Mark — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:12:10 +0000

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

The Ranch Golf Club, San Jose

Mark — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:59:48 +0000

To continue our wedding Wednesday’s posts I am going to highlight another venue I love shooting at, The Ranch Golf Club. The Ranch Golf Club offers stunning views of downtown San Jose and the distant skyline of San Francisco along with some great golf course views and a beautifully designed clubhouse. There are so many scenic spots around here to shoot at from the golf course views to the stonework and arches that go throughout the clubhouse.

Here is a little more info about The Ranch Golf Club:
The ranch golf club has many great reception options within the San Jose venues to choose from. Whether you are planning a small, intimate wedding or a grand gala event for your entire community, the Clubhouse at The Ranch Golf Course is the ideal setting for your wedding in the entire San Jose area. Our distinctive facilities have a rich warm and elegant style, creating the perfect ambiance for your special day. This cherished event can be both exciting and challenging. It is for these reasons that we have designed affordable, yet lavish wedding packages to simplify your wedding. Our catering staff takes pride in excellence and attention to details and will assist you from the rehearsal through the reception, creating memories you will treasure for a lifetime.

And a recent wedding from the Ranch (the ceremony was at St. Joseph’s Basilica in downtown San Jose.

Photos from the Ranch Golf Course from mark stagi on Vimeo.

Love is in the air

Mark — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:40:51 +0000

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.

Wedding Wednesdays – Villa Montalvo

Mark — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:59:39 +0000

I am going to start a new series on the blog for everyone out there planning their wedding. The bay area has so many awesome locations to have your wedding at sometimes it can be hard to find that right place. Since we have been shooting weddings in the area for 11 years we have been to pretty much every venue around and know all the great locations to have your wedding at. Every Wednesday we will highlight a new venue and show some work from a recent wedding there.

For our first week I want to highlight one of my favorite places to photograph at, Villa Montalvo (now officially called Montalvo Arts Center) in Saratoga. Montalvo is a perfect location for a wedding, the stately mansion sits at the end of an expansive Italian garden and lawn area and the views around the grounds are just breathtaking. The mansion itself (built in 1912) is an amazing backdrop for a wedding, there are so many areas around this property that just inspire the artist inside me to create beautiful wedding images. And the grounds around the mansion are just as break taking, its nestled in the Saratoga hillside and common to see deer walking across the front grass as you and your guests are dining along the front veranda.

Here is a little history of Montalvo Arts Center:
Montalvo Arts Center was previously known as Villa Montalvo, a historic landmark built in 1912 by James Duval Phelan (1861-1930). Phelan, a passionate Californian who had been a three-term progressive mayor of San Francisco, went on to become California’s first popularly-elected U.S. Senator. Villa Montalvo was Senator Phelan’s favorite home and a center of artistic, political and social life in Northern California. Phelan invited leading writers and artists to Villa Montalvo to work on individual artistic projects in an environment rich in dialogue and fellowship. Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglass Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham were among Phelan’s many guests.

And a little slideshow from one of our favorite weddings out at Montalvo last year:

Wedding at Villa montalvo and St. Claire Hotel from mark stagi on Vimeo.

Win a hour long photo mentoring session

Mark — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:50:51 +0000

I am giving away an hour long mentoring session to help raise money for Thirst Relief. If you are going to be at WPPI it will include a lunch or dinner, and can be an hour one on one session about anything you need to know! You can bid online only today and tomorrow so get your bid in now: http://thirstrelief.shootq.com

Get mentored by mark

in the 2010 ThirstRelief Mentor Auction!

Click the images to
open them in new windows.

Grow as a photographer while saving lives!

I’m participating in the 2010 ThirstRelief Mentor Auction. Our mission is to save lives by tapping into the incredible talent and generosity of the photo industry.

Did you know that every 15 seconds someone dies of a waterborne illness? That’s 5760 people every day! You can help. Bid on a mentoring session with your favorite photographer!

100% of the proceeds directly benefit Thirst Relief. Add to that the incredible wisdom and talent that is being shared in the one-on-one mentor sessions and you have better and more
successful photographers! It’s truly a win win for everyone involved!

About me and my mentor auction

Here is a little bit more about my studio:

Passion is what its all about for us. True passion and love for photography drive our team every day (and a few Mocha’s along the way). Photography has been a love of ours since childhood and we shoot not only to provide our clients with the most awesome images they could ever image but to also fuel our creativity and need to capture compelling images.

We have been capturing weddings in the Bay Area for over 11 years. It all started with a passion by Award Winning wedding photographer Mark Stagi to create fresh, fun wedding images that reflect each brides unique day.

Mark has a degree in Fine Art along with a minor in photojournalism. This has given him a unique look into weddings, from focusing on capturing the emotion of the day along with getting creative with off camera lighting setups. Running a studio shooting over 50 weddings a year has given Mark many insights into what it takes to successfully market your company. He has learned how to keep a boutique style feel to his studio with a strong focus on his customers all while taking care of a good number of weddings each year.

Our mentor session will focus on finding your style and being true to that. We believe that the best long term way to run your business is to be true to your self and let your passion drive everything you create. We wear our passion for our work and our life with our clients and truly give them an experience they won’t forget. Mark will also focus on how to keep your marketing fresh and to keep buzz always around your studio.

My mentor session can take place at WPPI 2010 (Las Vegas), in my hometown of San Jose, ca OR on the phone.

save on our workshops

Mark — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:30:16 +0000

We are running a discount for our workshop registration only to our readers this week. For any of our workshops (Weddings photography from A to Z and our Marketing in 2010) save $60 off the workshop cost if you register by this Sunday (2-14). You can view details about our workshops online here: Photography Workshops.

Weddings from A to Z
Our weddings from A to Z workshop is a full day intensive workshop all about wedding photography. With emphasis on finding your style, expanding your creativity and unleashing the artist in you. We will cover some basics in using natural light in an artistic way and start to get a little more complicated with bringing in external lighting to your weddings. We will show you how to turn the ordinary wedding scene into an amazing art piece. From using creative compositions to creative lighting and how you work with the bride and groom, we’ll show you how we turned our passion for the art of photography into a successful wedding studio. Its all about unleashing the artist in you and making your work shine!

These are full day workshops in our studio in San Jose. Our next wedding workshops are:
2/27
3/13
5/7
7/16

Marketing in 2010
2010 is here and times have changed dramatically over the last few years when it comes to marketing. 2010 is here and if you want to have your photography business thrive in this age you have to learn many new ways to market yourself (as well as some tried and true methods that have worked for ages)

Are you just starting your wedding photography business and don’t know how to get new clients? Or just looking for new and fresh ways to increase your current business. In todays competitive environment marketing is key to your success. We will cover many aspects of marketing from websites, blogs, Podcasting, referral marketing, and social media. Learn all about Facebook, Twitter and other online ways to market your business. This will also include a portfolio review and insights on how to brand your image.

Our marketing workshops are 1/2 day workshops and limited to 8 photographers. Our next Marketing in 2010 workshops are:
3/19
5/21

I love teaching these workshops, they are a lot of fun and packed with great info and goodies from our sponsors.

– Mark

Writers block

Mark — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:21:50 +0000

Thinking about what to post today I think I started 10 different posts, wrote down a few things and just wasn’t feeling it. I always want my blog posts to either have some great images or if its a personal post to be something to help and inspire others. I am always hesitant to put out a blog post, it takes me some time to hit that final publish button. I want to be real with everyone but at the same time know you are all so busy and want to provide great content for you to read, to be able to lift up your spirits. But tonight nothing comes to my mind to write about so I am going to do something I have never done before, just write. What I don’t really know but as I type I hope something good will come. Actually that gets me thinking about movement, what do we usually do when we don’t know what to do? Sometimes I think we tend to stay put instead of push ahead into the unknown. Fear keeps you put, it keeps you really in bondage. I used to be like that, sometimes I would have an idea but wouldn’t fully know how to do it. So what would happen with that idea, it would sit in my mind until one day the thought of it was gone. I have had many things I wanted to try out in my business, new lighting ways, new ways of printing…. so many ideas go through this little head of mine. But what used to happen is I would write it down, get inspired, maybe even start something new. But then I would get to a point of not knowing exactly what to do next, instead of asking someone, searching for help or even just trying something totally new myself I would say to myself “i’ll finish this soon”. Or thought “OK now this is the hard part and I need to do it right so i’ll wait until I am ready”. What happened is I would never be ready and after time that inspiration would be gone. I don’t know how I got to be like this either, when I was younger I used to love to try out new things. But somehow something changed that was trying to keep me from reaching out. Fear of rejection of not being a “success” was getting in my way of doing what I was supposed to be doing.

But last year when I really realized what was going on I saw how ridiculous it was. I started to act out on the things that were in my head and make them happen. I realized that no matter if something is a success or not, you have to try. By not trying something new you will have 0% chance of succeeding and what is success anyway? It’s defined differently for us all, for me it’s living out God’s purpose on this earth. Doing what I was created to do and doing it to my best ability! I have found that the insights he gives me are always right and am finally starting to act them out, and act them out right away. There is really no time like the present. In 2010 I will continue to act on things right away and have no fear, regardless of what happens I am sure that 2010 will have some pretty amazing stories and things to share. I know that it already does and we are just in the first month of the year. I think that’s it, a little thought that came into my mind, put it down on paper (or

Wow, now I feel much better about this post. I didn’t know what I would say or how that would go but it was a fun exercise for me. And I hope that this can at least touch and help out one of you reading it. I sat down and wrote out some thoughts in about 20 minutes and am not going to proof read them or even look at what I wrote

Welcome baby Isaiah

Mark — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:27:14 +0000

As I first woke up this morning it was like any other day. My internal alarm woke me up around 5:45 and I stretched out in bed for a second. I gave thanks for another day ahead of me with possibilities running through my mind. Looking over to my right I saw my wife was already out of bed, which normally would be very strange to have her up before me but lately not too rare. In the last month of her pregnancy she has been getting up really early hungry and eating a quick breakfast then going back to sleep for awhile. I sat in bed for a few more minutes and right before getting up saw her standing right next to me. She was pretty calm but said she had been having contractions for the past few hours and they were harder than they have been for the past weeks. We both thought it wouldn’t be anything big but since the Dr. said to go to the hospital with anything we decided to head over to O’Connor hospital. We took our time (even stopped for a quick bite to eat) and got to the hospital around 8. They got her all setup to monitor the contractions and called her Doctor to see what she wanted to do. She was still having contractions and after a ultrasound confirmed the baby was not in the right position for birth. The doctor came in and said they have a c-section scheduled for 9:30, I paused for a second and first said “a c-section?” and then “9:30, are you talking about in like 45 minutes or 9:30 some other day?”. I was shocked, our first baby came naturally and we didn’t even think about the possibility of a c-section. I also didn’t think we would be having our baby that day. With his due date not until 3 weeks away my mind I guess just wasn’t ready yet. Well 9:30 came and 11 minutes later Isaish was delivered into this world, nice and healthy and already 8lbs.

This week has been a blur and a challenge. My wife is doing well but with the surgery can’t move much and can’t pick up anything heavy, thankfully we had help from my family to watch Faith and take care of her a bit. Every day is getting a little easier on my wife so hopefully she will be fully healed quick. You never realize how much you need to lift and carry with a 16 month old until you can’t. But all of these things are always just minor inconveniences in the big picture, sleep can always be caught up on later, work can get done at other times but the beauty of your child is worth so much more. I am Thankful today for my two beautiful and healthy babies, looking at them always brings a smile to my face.

Reel life photography and video

Mark — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:23:18 +0000

The fusion is here!!! One thing I am super excited about is a brand new thing we are going to be offering this year. Reel life videos are a hybrid, part photography and part HD video fused into one amazing storytelling movie. I have been wanting to do these for quite some time and think these are such a great way to tell the story of your day. We can add these to any engagement session or wedding coverage (or even lifestyle family portraits). Just give us a call or email if you are interested and for more info. I am really excited for the creative opportunities these movies will bring this year!

I’ll be posting some samples up on the blog over the next couple months but in the meantime check out the really fun and cute couple Dustin and Sharon below. I had the best time shooting their photos around downtown Los Gatos and love how the video aspect just brings their personalities to life.

Sharon and Dustin e-shoot from mark stagi on Vimeo.