Tsunami Watch Oceanside

Weather made for some nice somber images of the clouds this afternoon. After hearing the bad news in Chile and listening to reports of Tsunamis I had to take a walk down to the water to check out the conditions. Before the rain started to dump on me I got a few images off. Below are some images from my wet walk down to the beach.
I have some friends taking off on Tuesday for a vacation to Hawaii and I wish them well on their travels.

Music & White Chocolate Butterceam

Well..., Michele and I have decided on our DJ & Baker for our wedding.
Two more things to knock off the list!
We just met up Vynce Pham who is a very well known wedding DJ in southern California, specifically San Diego. He was referred to Michele & I by our wedding planner and after meeting with him we knew he was a good fit. If your looking for the perfect DJ for your wedding or event check out Vynce's website or send him an email.

Michele had a girls day out with her Mom & Aunt doing some cake tasting for our wedding cake. Unfortunately I could not make it because I had to meet up with a potential bride & groom, but, Michele brought some home. The girls had an appointment with Sweet Cheeks Baking to sample a various amount of cake, fillings & frostings. They were nice enough to send home a sample pack for me to sample. With a nice cold glass of milk and an assortment of goodness in front of me, I enjoyed every single crumb. Group consensus was on the Red Velvet with cream cheese filling and white chocolate buttercream frosting. After reading that sentence again, I want a full slice right now.

website:
http://www.sweetcheeksbaking.com/

website:
http://www.musicphreek.com/
email:
vyncep@yahoo.com

"Being Jared" - Ro Sham Bo

My younger brother Jordan called me today and asked me for some help with an idea he had for his band "Being Jared". The band was named after a knuckle head friend of his (I won't get into details) and the guy wants to play Rock , Paper, Scissors all the time. So..., Jordan thought it would be a good idea for a shirt or just having the image for the band. Jordan is in the process of taking a Photoshop class so he is interested in learning a few things. With the rain it was a great day to photograph something in doors. Below is what we completed today in the small amount of time we had.
Hope he learned a few things and I was happy to help out.

Sophia - iTunes Cover

Photographed Sophia today for her iTunes cover and her soon to be released C.D. Sophia is a local up and coming singer that has quite the voice on her.
Our shoot started today at 2:00 and we ended right before 6:30. Below are a handful of images out of a couple hundred we took today. We got quite a few different looks down in the amount of time we had. First part of the shoot started at a local studio here in Oceanside and the second half we finished down by the beach. Overall I think the images came out great and I think Sophia will be extremely happy.
Once all the final images have been chosen and a C.D. cover has been designed I will upload a few more.
Nice work today Sophia, you did a great job!
All images by Joe Hamilton Photography

-14 Degrees Fahrenheit

At least 2-3 times a week I like to take a walk down to the beach to take some photos or just to clear my mind. Being able to walk across the street and view the sunset dipping into the Pacific Ocean almost everyday of the year is pretty nice. My family is originally from Canada, so, winters down here are quite nice compared to up north.
Pretty sure my father still says, "I think I'm going to like it here...".
Looking at the weather in Winnipeg, Canada where I was born I think I agree with him 100%. Yesterday it was a whopping -14 degrees fahrenheit compared to our freezing 65 degree temperature.
I think I'm going to like living here as well....
All images by Joe Hamilton Photography.

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

Shepherd Family Photo Shoot

The Shepherd Family photo shoot took place at their house in Vista, CA this past Monday. They took advantage of my Valentine's special and decided to include their son Andrew in a few of the shots. Andrew started off being my assistant, helping me set up and pose Mom & Dad. After he was a little more comfortable with the lights and camera I asked he wanted to jump into a few pictures. Andrew took me literally and decided to steal the show and we ended up getting some pretty cool photographs with him. Below are a few images from the shoot . This has to be one of the more entertaining shoots the past few days.
All images by Joe Hamilton Photography.

Mom mentions Toys-R-Us and the kisses start to flow.

Cookie break on the set. Where is the milk though...?

Testimonial:

"Wow, we don't know what to say about our anniversary/valentines day photo shoot with Joe Hamilton "The Genius", besides WOW! He went above and beyond our expectations. His photos are so unique, I cant even explain it. In the past we have had a hard time getting our little boy Andrew to sit still for photos, but not in this case.... Something about Joe, He has a great way of dealing with crazy kids.... Somehow he got Andrew not only to sit still, but he got him do do some crazy poses. We could never get him to do that in the past, it is impossible. All in all we are super stoked and we will be calling Joe from now on for all our photography needs."

Thanks Joe