Martin Katz & Promises 2 Kids

Got a phone call from fellow photographer John Hildebrand the other day looking for a last minute favor. He has a client based out of La Jolla that has consistently sent business our way and she was in need of a photographer. She was hosting an event at the Martin Katz Jewelry gallery in Rancho Sante Fe, CA and the original photographer bailed out at the last minute. I received a phone call roughly 2 hours before the event to see if I was able to squeeze this into my schedule. It was really my schedule that was the major problem for the event. It was that I just got back from my Mexico trip the day before and I lucked out and got food poisoning and a nice head cold. So, still dealing with that..., I took a quick shower, packed up and headed south.
Once I arrived and got into the groove of things and I actually felt a whole lot better.
The event was held at the Martin Katz Jewelry store on La Granada Street in the beautiful Rancho Sante Fe. Next door was champagne & hors d' oeuvres for all the guests to enjoy after viewing all the jewelry. The night was a benefit with proceeds going to Promises 2 Kids which was originally founded as the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation.
At the end of the night it looked as though there was quite a turnout and a lot of donations made.
Below are just a few of the images from the event.

Dale's 50th Birthday Party - Slide Show

Finished off Dale's 50th Birthday Slide Show and thought I would put it up on the blog to share.
Must say I really enjoy putting together slide shows of important life events with family & friends involved. The laughter and tears mixed with the right music can be very powerful and the memories will be cherished for a lifetime.
The song I chose for the slide show is called "La Mar", by The Beautiful Girls.

Dale's 50th Birthday Party from Joe Hamilton on Vimeo.

Dale's 50th Birthday Party

Photographed Dale's 50th birthday party last weekend and below are a few pictures from the party.
Dale & Sandy received a gift certificate for my photographic services from their friends which was a cool gift. Dale & Sandy decided to put the gift certificate to use and hire me for Dale's 50th birthday party. Pretty sure everyone had a great time hanging poolside and enjoying the sun out in Alpine.
Ryan, Dale & Sandy's son played a Tom Petty cover for his Dad which was really cool to see. Family is the most important thing in life and watching a moment like this was priceless.

Beverly Hills Birthday Party

Photographed a birthday party up in Beverly Hills, CA over the weekend. Actually left Oceanside three and half hours prior to the event thinking this would give me plenty of time before to set up. Of course not.., L.A. always has surprises for you. Showed up at the exact scheduled time, so everything worked out in the end. Got just a little stressed out there for a minute.. Next time I will give myself 5 hours....
Shawn & Caroline the hosts of the party threw a very nice gathering and had all their family & friends attend. I was very impressed with huge selection of fruits & desserts set up on the dining room table. Must have taken over 100+ details shots of all the selections. My favorite had to have been a tray full of mini bavarian cakes. I would have accepted some of those as partial payment..
All in all looks as though everyone had a really good time and I hope they enjoy the images. Below are a handful of images from the event.

Makena's 4th Birthday

One of my niece's had her 4th birthday party at a local park with the theme of ladybugs and invited all her friends. 1,500 ladybugs were released and all the little ones had pink or blue nets to "try" and catch the flying ladybugs. Some of the kids laughed and some cried, but, it was all good fun with the bugs. All the kids were given magnifying glasses to take a closer look at the ladybugs. My youngest niece Madison just loved the ladybugs and could not get enough of them.
Looking forward to many more birthdays with the nieces.

10th Annual Seedless Party

Headed to downtown San Diego to photograph an event for a friend at the House of Blues. There was a nice pre-party at the hotel connected to the House of Blues, really cool place from top to bottom. My friend had a plush penthouse sweet with all the bells and whistles and some good "snacks" & beverages. The beer provided was "the Lost Abbey", a local beer from San Marcos which was quite tasty. Sad news and long story short once we arrived to the event there was a major miscommunication and a no go on the photo pass. Had a ticket to see the show, but, decided to pack up the gear and call it a night, had a really early wake up call the next day anyways.

Saturday night at Sound Stage

A sincere thank you to everyone who attended last nights event at Sound Stage. I thought it was a great turn out and a good mix of family & friends. Special thanks to Paul Beyl for hosting the event and supporting the music & arts community.
Paulina, a local young up and coming musician performed first and did an awesome job. With a unique voice like hers she truly has a future with singing in front of her. Below is a link to check out more of her work.
My brother Jeff & I performed second and played 8 original songs all on acoustic. I can't thank Jeff enough for getting me to where I am with playing guitar.
Paul Beyl performed last and he decided to do a solo performance on acoustic. Paul has a great way of changing up his style from song to song. Must say I really liked his last song which had a rap vibe to it.
Stay tuned for future events with Sound Stage on Facebook.
All images by Joe Hamilton Photography. Image of Jeff & I was taken by my younger brother Jordan. Thanks Jordan!

Sound Stage Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/The-Sound-Stage/287357998547?ref=mf

Paulina
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/paulinawrob
iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lovely-tragedy/id354094584

Rainy Day Birthday in Ramona

Celebrated Eddie's birthday (my brother-in-law) yesterday up in Ramona with the rest of Michele's family. Really nice to see baby Dina is taking after her uncle Eddie on mocking me with my deep thought pose with the hand on the chin. Eddie picked up on me doing this a few years ago and has not dropped it since. I dig it though!

Happy Birthday Eddie!