tis the season to be grateful


commentator: ed

with so many things to be grateful this year, i am most grateful to have family around me.

the past three years have been absolutely great... monica and i started our lives together in marriage after dating for 8 years and have "settled" in vallejo right between her family and mine. as most of you know, living in the bay area hasn't been exactly cheap, so even though our family is no longer than a 7 minute drive away in the same city, i rarely saw them because of work and my horrendous commute of 100+miles a day. to give you a better perspective as to how long that is, i would sit in my car for 3 hours per work day. that's about a straight month sitting inside the car in a year.

i complained, but the job paid well...

this past january, monica and i started this photography business which grew fast. fast to the point to where this "hobby" is now my full time job. yes, i am SO grateful to be given this opportunity to do what i love doing. to top it off, (even though it has only been less than a week) i can make time to see family anytime, any day. this has been priceless to me, and that is why i am OH SO GRATEFUL.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


most people take pictures in front of a christmas tree, we did too...
(tree is in gherrideli square)

ed pingol teaching a photography lighting workshop?!?!

commentator: ed

yup, i even surprised myself as well! back on october 28th, monica, my bro hamilton, and i went to dixon to teach what we know about photography and lighting. to our surprise, there were over 25 attendees eager to learn what monica and i have been doing when we're out on shoots, as well as how we market ourselves. (as i type this, it's still such a shock that others want to learn from us, since we believe there is still so much for us to learn about the art and business of photography.) rose hyc of rose photography actually did most, if not all of the grunt work (we just showed up...). she even went as far as hosting the event at her awesome studio and gathered the "students." a HUGE thank you to you! plus, she's a muy talented photographer herself.

anyways, when we agreed to "teach," we made phone calls to a few of our couples we knew would be happy to model for us: jen & ron, who were wed in august; chelsea & bj, who are soon-to-be-wed this march; melissa & edler, who were wed in september; and antoinette & neil, who were wed on the luckiest day of this year, 07.07.07. thanks to all of you for being such great sports and models for your very own paparazzi for the day!

and a big 'ole thanks to the great town of dixon! we really didn't believe it when rose would tell us how friendly the residents are. we were able to flag down not one but two vehicles-- a classic chevy truck and an antique vehicle, which if i'm not mistaken, was a model t ford-- and a bicycle from a friendly neighbor. to finish off a great day of shooting, we enjoyed some great burgers and pork chops at bud's pub & grill.

***the images featured below are courtesy of the photographers who attended the workshop and a few of our images, with post-processing done by me. for those photographers that attended the workshop, we'd love to hotlink your blog entries to this blog entry to feature your work! please send us a link to edpingol@gmail.com or feel free to leave your url on the comment section. thanks for being so patient in waiting for this long-overdue blog post. happy holidays!***

check out the photographers who joined us for the workshop:
ryan greenleaf
carlos rivera
rose hyc
sylvia fife of great fx photography
monica toohey-krause of katchinyakandid
carmen salazar
marita & glenn of madeloni photography
mori & charlie of focused on you photography

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

a glimpse into our day!
antoinette & neil posed as a "funky engagement session couple."

chelsea & bj were our other engagement couple. and yes, they're really
layin' down on the middle of the street!

melissa & edler, getting practice for their official aftershoot.

jen & ron, our other wedding couple. they had her climbing up
train light posts & the classic chevy!

the generous fellas who let us use their cars, which served as great "models" for us to use. thanks, again!

michele and dennis' engagement session


commentator: monica

we continue to be astounded with the level of personalization and creativity our clients have recently been bringing to their engagement sessions with us. it's always great to include locations that couples consider as meaningful. for michele & dennis, the embarcadero is a special place since this is where the lovely couple had their first date, along with their dinner at the stinking rose in san francisco. we weren't surprised either when the twosome asked us if they could incorporate their love for poker and baseball but we were pretty much floored when we heard about the jerseys they had custom-embroidered, not only with their last names, but with their wedding date; his is #6 and her's is #21. these will surely make some cool "save the dates!"

congratulations, michele & dennis! we can't wait to see what's up your sleeves for your tahoe wedding next year!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

although they each root for rivals, they're definitely on the same team!
overlooking the awesome at&t park from mccovey cove.

"sweet and silly," perfect words to describe the two together.

their love is so apparent, it can't help but catch the attention of an onlooker.

a winning hand! playing a game of poker outside of steps of rome caffe
in north beach, which is claimed to have the best tiramisu in town!

garlic lovers delight!

the rocks amongst the other kind of rocks

melissa and edler's aftershoot session


commentator: ed

i've been anxiously waiting to post melissa and edler's aftershoot session on the blog (i hope these images are worth waiting for melissa!). if you guys can remember, we shot melissa's engagement photos at stow lake with a nature-ish tropical feel, complete with a waterfall. then their extravagantly modern wedding at caffe verbena in the heart of downtown oakland.

and now it's time for their aftershoot session from the nitty-gritty urban feel of mare island.

again, i encourage every couple to do an aftershoot. why? because you get to don that beautiful gown again that you spent so much money on, without worrying about keeping it clean and take photos with your new spouse, in a relaxed and scenic location, without the hectic schedule of a wedding day.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


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- BEHIND THE SCENES -
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from left to right:
monica, lola (our dog), edler, melissa and your's truly

eye eighty photoshoot teasers


commentator: ed

Eye Eighty is local (Bay Area, California) talent that Monica and I had the pleasure to shoot at Mare Island. This talented performers focuses on smooth R&B harmonies backed with live music. Yes, ya'll... LIVE music. Please take some time to check them out.

They also have a myspace page which has some snippets of their music... one of my favorite jam of theirs while "chill'n" before performing at Ms. Teen Filipina Pageant can be found here in YouTube. ENJOY!!!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

mare island is a great place to shoot... there's just too many backdrops to choose from

yet another angle from an alley way. the colors we found are just awesome.

"thanks-giving-back" family sessions - golden gate park, san francisco


commentator: ed

we had 8 photo sessions in one day. WHEW!!! if you guys remember, monica and i decided it would be great to give back to the community and deposit some extra good karma because we've been oh-so-fortunate and blessed this year... in the spirit of giving, we went ahead and organized 7 mini family sessions at the music concourse in golden gate park, with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to the american diabetes association and the salvation army! it was a hit and sold out in less than a week!!!

and it's all because of you all, who have continued to "blog stalk" us and spread the word about our services. from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you!

*******for those who missed out and for anyone interested in booking us for a family session in time to create holiday cards, we have one session left for this year since we are no longer taking bookings until 2008. check out the one-hour photo session we donated to the solano community college foundation's holiday auction (you may have to scroll down the page to see the item in the link), which will end on 11.30.07 at midnight. this, along with the other fabulous items up for auction, would also make a fantastic christmas gift for loved ones!***********

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


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- BEHIND THE SCENES -
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commentator: ed

monica and i are very fortunate to be surrounded by so many positive people. my very good friend joey and his fiance, crissy drove out from dixon to help us out with the shoot. my favorite brother also came to shoot some candids and behind the scenes stuff. everyone helped carry equipment, including monica who has recently become addicted to "guitar hero 3" on wii (check her out practicing on the "lightstick")... lola even guarded the equipment from strangers barking loudly at them in her cute christmas outfit. every one i believe had a chance to hold my lightstick during the shoots. thanks guys!!! heh heh heh...

this giving back thing can really make a person feel really good. for all those who participated in the program, thank you. because of you, we're able to donate a handsome amount.

100% of the proceeds will be donated to the
american diabetes association and the salvation army! woo hoo!!!

connie and berto's mini-engagement session


commentator: monica

connie & berto are a hilarious couple. seriously, the laughs are never-ending when you hang out with this adorable duo! self-proclaimed "unromantics," we still were able to capture their affectionate side towards one another. of course, we also made sure to capture the essence of them (and no, connie, it's not "mang tomas"... inside joke ;P ), as well, since this is what makes them the goofballs that they are.

congrats on your engagement, connie & berto! can't wait 'til your official e-session next year.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com

glasses so thick, they can see into the future!

the joys of autumn!

the sweet side

... as well as the goofy side!

tina, jr, lenneah, & jared's family session - mare island, vallejo


commentator: monica

we met up with tina, jr, and their adorable kids, lenneah & jared at mare island for their family photo session. we had been looking forward to scheduling a shoot with them for months but with this family's hectic schedule, along with our own, it wasn't until now that we had the opportunity to do so. fortunately, this is just in time for sending out some awesome holiday greeting cards.

this awesome family was a joy to shoot. we love it when siblings run around after each other since it really allows them to be in their element, giving us plenty of natural shots of them. lenneah and jared even humored us a bit when we asked them to be a bit more affectionate. and you wouldn't even know that jr had just hurt his back a couple of days before. thanks for being such a good sport!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
edpingol@gmail.com
edpingol.blogspot.com


big sis & lil' bro love

the beautiful family

some kisses for mom and dad