Brandon Kidd Photography Blog

Monthly Archives: August 2009

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Adrian + Nicole {Married}

August 21, 2009 – 9:37 am

A couple weeks ago (still slackin’ on the blog postin’) Krisitn and I headed down to San Diego to shoot the awesome duo of Adrian and Nicole.. We had such a great time during the engagement shoot that I knew we were going to get some killer stuff! The girls were getting ready at Nicole’s house and when we pulled up, Nicole’s Dad was pulling out on his sweet ride..

A couple quick shots then into the house for the chaos.. Some nice detail shots by Kristin (my bride to be)….yeah thats right… cute and talented!!

I thought that it was so cool how the girls were getting ready in the house they grew up in.. Nicole’s sister and only bridesmaid was the one to do her makeup..

Dad rented this bad boy as a surprise.. a cool surprise for me too.. more things for me to play with

I love these next shots with the car.. I think they came out awesome..

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Then off to one of the sweetest ceremony spots I have ever been too.. Located right off the coast in La Jolla these sweet little spot is very intimate yet impressively picturesque.. For those of you looking for a cool ceremony site down in San Diego its called The Wedding Bowl.

right on the cliffs..

I LOVE this series of shots.. dont worry it was all eco friendly rice…birdie and squarrel friendly..

Some quick shots at the cliffs then off to Down Town SD..

The had their reception at The Ulitimate Skybox in the Diamond View Tower which has as incredible view of the San Diego Skyline located right next to the Padres Baseball Stadium.. Amanda McPhail was the coordinator of the event and did a fantastic job keeping up with the days events..

Here are some shots from the terrace outside the reception facility..

Super sweet!

the first dance..

and the breath taking view from the skybox…

I think we got some great stuff from the day.. and cant wait til I can go back and shoot at these places again.. there are soo many cool places to shoot around there!!

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Wedding | Comments (5)

The Ring + Jewels by Justin = INSANE AWESOMENESS

August 17, 2009 – 3:10 pm

Ok so it was quite an ordeal getting this bad boy.. (read below if you wish to know more)

I owe a huge huge HUGE thank you and shout out to Justin, Love and Nick over at Jewels by Justin..

I spent about 5 weeks looking for the perfect ring.. I figured out the stone I wanted.. did my homework, drew up some sketches of the design and took it from place to place seeing how long it would take to make this little guy.. and for the right price of course 4-6 weeks was the average response I got.. This wasnt going to do because I already had the perfect day planned.. and wanted it done on Aug 7th, which was still a few weeks out at this point..

Every place brought in stones that were mediocre at best and the ones I liked were about 40% over priced and were unwilling to budge.. I was getting really tired and frustrated that it wasnt as easy as I had visioned.. after another couple weeks quickly passed by I realized I was running out of time and the best bet would be to just buy a ring that was already designed and set to go… I wasnt thrilled with this idea because I had already designed the perfect ring.. but all the places suggested that this was the route to take with the available time I had.. so I put a deposit on the ring and kept praying..

I wasnt happy.. it wasnt the ring I wanted.. both the design and the price of the ring were not there.. so at this point I was about to put the proposal off until I remembered a jeweler that a good friend of mine (thanks Jon Smith) referred me too a while ago when he got engaged.. but it had completely slipped my mind until that point.. It was Aug 4th just 3 days away from my suggested proposal date.. I figured I could always just go in to see if they had any rings already made that would be better than the one I had on deposit.. so I went a little discouraged and skeptical.

When I first walked up to the store I was like oh great.. they’re no longer in business.. all the shelves were empty the lights were taken down.. guys were taking off the sign out front.. I was like oh well there goes that!

The door was opened so I decided to invite my self in and ask to see if they were in fact closing or what the deal was..

I was greeted with a friendly “Hello” by Love and Nick. They greeted me with a huge smile and asked if I needed help with anything and apologized for the mess because they were in the middle of moving stores..”oh thank you Lord!” I was pleasantly comforted.

I showed them my sketches of a ring that I wanted and all the specs of the stone I was looking for. They immediately sat me down (in the middle of moving mind you) with a designer and stone specialist and helped me figure out exactly what I wanted with my design.. then the question came up “when did you want this by” I told them by Friday… actually Thursday night because I was going to propose on Friday.. they said.. “this Thursday as in like 2 days Thursday.. ”

I smiled and said that I was considering moving back the proposal date just so I could get the perfect ring.. but I already had the perfect day planned out so It would be AMAZING.. ephasis on Amazing.. if it could be done..

They immediately called up Justin the Owner of the store and told them my story and what I was looking for and when I needed it by.. He said done!

I was a little weary… “You guys can really do it..?”

He said he would go to LA in the Jewelry District later that day and bring me back some stones with the specific dimensions I was looking for for me to look at the next morning.. Justin said they would be able to do all of this and build a completely custom design from scratch and still stay within the price I gave him!!

So I came back in the next day and looked at them.. One was perfect.. the exact cushion cut I was looking for.. A way WAY better stone than the one I had on deposit and at a much better price!

I was sold! But we only had a day and a half to make this ring come to life.. The problem is with a cushion cut all of the stones are totally custom.. no 2 stones are really alike so the ring has to be built around the stone…

Justin worked all day and all night the next 2 days and met me at 11:00pm on Thursday night at his store. He brought me the most beautiful ring I have ever seen!! It was exactly what I had visioned and exactly what I wanted.. Here it is..

Jewels by Justin COMPLETELY blew me away! Their professionalism, personalities, insanely awesome hospitality and service all made my ring shopping experience end with a pleasant taste in my mouth! A custom ring in 3 days from hand picking the stone to designing the setting to final production.. 3 days… are you serious! Now Im sure Justin prefers having a little more time to perfect all his creations but the fact is that he delivered it when I needed it and at the price he quoted me.INCREDIBLE.

I cant express enough of how ecstatic I am of my ring and just the whole story.. They truly bent over backwards for their customers and it really showed for their service toward me. And if this wasn’t enough Justin is a perfectionist.. he still wants to take my ring and do all the little finishing touches on it.. FREE OF CHARGE… He just wanted me to have it in time for me to propose.. HE is AMAZING. Love and Nick.. AMAZING..

For the rest of my life.. honestly.. if anyone ask me where to go for a ring its going to be them! Just make sure you let them know I sent you!

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Personal | Comments (4)

I’M {ENGAGED} !!!! Meet the future MRS. BRANDON KIDD!!!

August 12, 2009 – 8:06 pm

Meet Kristin.. My completely amazing and truly incredible “better” second half!

Most of you know her as my amazing second shooter.. but our relationship has been one of much more depth than just that.. I present you .. Our Love Story..

I have known Kristin ever since sophomore year in High School. I originally knew her as the girl who could do amazing flips and stunts on the Esperanza Cheer team! HAHA soo embarrassing! Ever since the first time I saw her perform a back handspring back tuck I knew it was love! I just had to meet this woman.. or 15 year old girl at the time. She was beautiful, cute, innocent, deathly shy, yet surprisingly fiery and spunky (little did I know). She had a class next to mine during 3rd period.. I needed a plan.. I strategically and repeatedly took my time packing up after class was over to synchronize her passing at just the right time.. Oh what a coincidence..as we would “bump” into each other we would walk and talk our way to the other side of campus where our next classes were.. Our friendship was formed..

We actually became pretty good friends. Writing letters back and forth between classes.. spending hours and hours on AIM and late night phone conversations.. I think I was falling…. yup… I was falling madly in puppy dog love with Kristin Wyley!.. She was everything I wanted.. funny, cute, smart she could do crazy flips for crying out loud.. she was perfect

After about 2 years of our friendship I decided I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend.. yes it took me 2 years.. Believe it or not I was the shy and quiet type too!! When I finally mustered up enough courage to ask her out…in a note… I tragically found out that she had already said yes to another boy… that same day!!!! I was devastated.. heart broken..She later told me I didn’t pursue her enough.. what was I going to do.. the girl of my dreams was with another man.. Well graduation came shortly after that and it was time to go our separate ways.. We went off to separate colleges.. heart broken..

There’s not much you can do in those situations, just pack up and move on.. I tried.. and some what succeeded.. She always had a piece of my heart.. I would always call her for her birthday and Christmas to she how she was doing.. call it strategy or not.. I genuinely was concerned for how she was doing..

several years passed by with randomly talking to her here and there..seeing each other at the occasional event held by a mutual friend.. but that was it.. and that quickly turned to not talking at all.. we had gone totally separate ways, completely different paths..pretty much she was no longer apart of my life at all..

A couple more years passed.. I had finished college at this point and had started my own career and photography studio.. Life was going well..

Then out of the blue a call from the past.. It was Kristin.. I was thrilled.. she never called me… it was always ME calling and “PURSUING” her..

She was inquiring about her older sister’s wedding and was looking for a photographer. I eagerly set up a lunch date to go over details of the big day, but mostly to catch up with “THE” Kristin Wyley..from High School.

I found out at lunch that day Kristin was in charge of looking for a photographer because she too had grown an interest in photography and knew what to look for and what she liked.. Well they booked me and I quickly offered an invitation for Kristin to come and help assist me at weddings.. I was PURSUING..

And you can all guess what she said.. She did.. she accepted my offer and has been shooting every single wedding with me for the last 2 years.. Along the way we have formed quite a relationship.. that was once “strictly business” to one of companionship. A crazy adventure indeed.. Sometimes turbulent.. borderline chaotic.. but we push on, and keep on course.. I couldn’t picture my life without her.

Well 3 weeks ago I mustered up enough courage and asked her father for his daughters hand in marriage.. and just last Friday I offered Kristin another offer.. a proposal in fact..

I formulated a list of all the different things I LOVE about Kristin Wyley.. and put in it a note.. This is the short list of what I told her: I want to share this so you all have a little more insight of who Kristin Wyley is and how much of an incredible person she is..

Kristin you are so adorable. Amazingly sweet, kind and caring, respectful and loving, gracious and humble, incredibly innocent and stunningly beautiful. I can always rely on you. I can trust you. You are a woman of integrity and honesty, self controlled and strong willed. You have a servant’s heart, obedient and patient, physically strong and capable. You are quick to listen and slow to anger, your love abounds exponentially every day. You brighten up every room you enter and bless me everyday with your presence. You amaze me. You are affectionate yet adventurous, competitive yet compassionate. You can flip like nobody’s business.. Your determined, nurturing, intelligent, witty. You’re so cute when you try new things, new foods especially. I love when you try to impress me and look for attention and affirmation. You’re soft, gentle and most importantly you serve God all those you love with all you know how…. and I am completely in love with you…

…I got down on one knee and told Kristin I wanted to spend every single day I have here on Earth with her as my wife… After all the tears had welled up in her eyes.. she gave me a huge hug and said “ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!” “ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!”.. after hugging and kissing and watching her jump around and crying some more I asked her again if that meant yes and and she said YES, OF COURSE!

It has been truly amazing to witness God’s sovereignty over all the years how he pulled us together in His perfect timing.

An awesome pair.. hand picked by God, restored by His grace and perfect complements for each other, I know we are going to have a wonderful life together and I can not wait to begin this incredible journey with you! I love you so soo very much Kris! Here’s to OUR STORY! I love you!

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Engagement | Comments (23)

Allen + Nicole {ENGAGED}

August 12, 2009 – 12:02 am

Last week I had the priviledge to shoot Allen and Nicole in my home town of Yorba Linda. Nicole is also from the YL so we thought it would be fit to do the engagement shoot there.. I think she was a little surprised at first to hear my recommendation to stay in Yorba Linda for the shoot, most people head off to the beach do do the same thing as everybody else.. So I recommended something that was a little unique and speacial just for them. I think you will agree the photos turned out amazing!

right off the bat you could tell how truly in love these two are.. literally the second we started shooting Allen started to tear up.. Sorry Allen for sharing that but I felt like it was too cool to not share how much you guys love eachother..I think the chemistry really showed up in their photos..

Love the tree stump.. awesome natural prop!

There you have it.. short and sweet.. I decided that I need to keep my posts alot shorter if I think I am ever going to stay up to date

By Brandon Kidd | Posted in Engagement | Comments (1)

Bob + Rosie

August 6, 2009 – 12:05 am

I had the opportunity to go down and shoot Bob and Rosie down in Balboa Park in San Diego. These two loves birds met in Law School.. Rosie is Cuban/Catholic and Bob is Persian/Muslim.. quite the combo! These two were so fun loving with each other and with us too.. As soon as they got there they had a HUGE pizza and sodas waiting for me and Kristin! Again no better way to start off an engagement shoot in my book! So after chowing down on the pizza, which was said to be the best in all of San Diego (Can someone help me remember what it is..?) we hit the streets..