Randy Reyes Photography

Welcome Chloe!

randyreyesphoto — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:45:16 +0000

The gift of life is an amazing experience and today we celebrate the welcoming of a new member of the family Chloe Jade Chavez Reyes, the first child of my proud cousin Ernesto Reyes Jr. Chloe was born at 12:33am on June 18, 2008 weighing in at a healthy 5lbs 8ozs at Seton Hospital Daly City.

I received a text message from my cousin early morning that Catherine, Chloe’s mom, had already given birth and the labor endured without complications. I was excited to see my new niece so I arrived at the hospital with some relatives the same morning to meet the new addition to our family. As I entered the room her mother lay in bed resting and awoke as she heard us all walking in. Her eyes looked as if she hasn’t been sleeping in days and her voice sounded weak. We congratulated her and congratulated her as a new mother. She told us that Chloe was out with the nurse and would be back shortly. My cousin Ernesto was on his way back from gathering fresh clothes for Catherine to wear for when they leave the hospital.

A few minutes after our arrival the door opens and Chloe Jade comes in bundled up from head to feet. She’s beautiful, tiny, precious, innocent, fragile, and a gift from God. She was asleep and despite the sounds of excitement from family members she still kept her eyes closed perhaps because the light was still too bright or because of all the crying she had done earlier. Her father arrived shortly and we congratulated him as a new father. He picked her up and started to call out her name and she woke up to his voice. A few brave of us were brave to hold the newly born baby but I declined. I just couldn’t imagine holding something so fragile and delicate. We soon left after to give Catherine and more time to rest. There will be plenty of more days to spend with Chloe.

Feliza and Chris

randyreyesphoto — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:57:34 +0000

It was a typical day in San Francisco with overcast skies that started to drizzle when I arrived with my cousin Darlene. Today we worked with my other cousin Feliza who will be getting married next year in San Diego. The photos were to be used for their announcments and save the date cards so if you don’t get one just arrive at their reception late and make sure you have a gift to crash politely. Everyone will be heavily intoxicated by then so all is welcome. LOL JK!

Our first location starts out at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. The second location was at

Brown Estate Vineyards

randyreyesphoto — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:45:49 +0000

The realase of the new wine Betelgeuse from Brown Estate Vineyards was released today.

Vineyard Source & Winemaking
The fruit for this wine comes from a delightful low-yielding merlot vineyard in the heart of Yountville in the Napa Valley. This vineyard was chosen with the deliberate intention of creating a spectacular rosé wine. The grape clusters were hand sorted and gently pressed and then removed from the skins to preserve the light rosé color. Fermented in small stainless steel tanks to retain the fresh, bright fruitiness of the wine, it was bottled in May 2008.

Tasting Notes
This deep rosé colored wine with a touch of blood orange at the core is fruit driven yet crisp, bright and refreshing with a light nose of strawberries and honeysuckle. Clean flavors of fresh honeydew, guava, ripe pear and white plum give it a full and slightly tropical profile. A delightful finish of orange blossom and green rind melon rounds out this festive warm weather wine. Celebrate an endless summer!

Brown Estate Vineyards

randyreyesphoto — Sat, 03 May 2008 23:25:19 +0000

It’s May and the temperature around the Bay Area is heating up. This weekend I get to work with Brown Estate Vineyards again and I arrive to see a red carpet laid out on their driveway. The theme for todays event is hats. It was a great turn out today and the contest for who has the best hat was in gear. The guests started out on the red carpet where I took their photos before entering the backyard where appetizers and wine were served. Before entering the cave a brief introduction for the even and then they introduced the contestants. Inside the caves guests enjoyed more delicious food and great wine while I fly around like a humming bird snapping photos.

The Holy Grail at Treasure Island

randyreyesphoto — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:47:08 +0000

There’s an island in the middle of The Bay Bridge that doesn’t seem to get as much attention to the locals than the toursists do. This historic manmade land off the exit on US-101 North is called Treasure Island. I arrived today half an hour early to explore the many hidden historic landmarks in this mysterious island. This is not my first encounter with this remote island but I always feel that a surprise awaits me if I spend more time here.

After the cruise I end up by the rocky shore where I park my car and grab my camera to check a few angles. As I walk closer to the shore I notice an upside down garbage rubber container which I thought was strange. As I get closer to it a couple guys hollered but I couldn’t make out what they said. I walked towards them and greeted both men before asking what was going on which turns out they were videographers taking a time lapse of the the bay with San Francisco in the distance. My phone rings and it’s Jennifer along with Charisse who I’ll be shooting today.

I meet up with the models at the parking lot and take them to the area where I want to shoot the first look. Our colorful and urban wardrobe today was supplied by Gail and Christian from The Holy Grail located in Brentwood, CA. I took a look at the collection and our team decided to go with the colorful dresses which I thought would look great with the sky, buildings, and rocks in the foreground. While shooting at our second location we had a surprise visit by the security on duty who ended up showing me a few great spots in his truck. I forgot his name but thanks again bro! It was a fun day.

Happy Birthday Calista!

randyreyesphoto — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:05:30 +0000

The beautiful girl above is my niece Calista who celebrated her 3rd birthday today. Her lips and mouth is covered with lipstsick and after a few minutes after this shot her whole face was covered with it. It was one of the gifts she received, a makeup set for kids. Yea, that’s right.. makeup. Like most kids she opens all her gifts and throws aside the clothes except for toys. I can’t believe she’s 3 already.

The celebrant gets all the attention along with the cake and cupcakes. The princess cake ornament and the cupcakes were made by my sister who’s another person in my family with a lot of creative intrests. This is his first attempt at a larger scale cake ornament and it came out great.

Jon & Natasha’s Portraits

randyreyesphoto — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:05:27 +0000

The day before the actual wedding day, the sky was gray and rain was pouring when I met up with Jon & Natasha at the Meritage Winery Resort in Napa. We were all worried about getting wet the following day of their wedding. Today was the rehearsal and before everyone arrived we took the time to walk around the resort and look for potential locations for backgrounds to use in their photos. The lobby was design very modern and the lighting was soft and elegant. The area where the ceremony and reception would take place was in a man made cave which was nice but I thought something outdoors would be more appealing since it’s a winery. After the rehearsal they took me to the back of the resort which was a small park with huge statue of a man churning which they wanted to take a photo with. I still had no idea where to shoot.

The next day I arrived an hour early with my assistant Sam to have another look around the area hoping to finally put my mind to rest about the portraits. I take a walk around the resort again checking angles and I still can’t find a “great” spot to take photos. So we take a drive to the back and walked around the statue like I was worshiping it then I came across a broken fence that leads to the vineyards. We didn’t see the day before before because of the bushes that were blocking it but it was a relief to see a potential lead. So I walk through the fence and down the path to an area that I thought was the “perfect” place to shoot them. Finally I put my mind to ease.

Wide Angle

randyreyesphoto — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 22:52:02 +0000

I can see more!! No, I didn’t get new glases or contacts… which I should be wearing hehe. I tested out a Canon 10-22mm ef-s f/3.5-5.6 super wide-angle zoom lens with my Canon 30d. My experience with this lens is limited but it was fun shooting around and learning new angles. The angle perspective is something I’m not accustomed to because of the extended field of view through the viewfinder compared to a standard lens. It’s performance was flawless and I’m looking into buying one to shoot landscapes and taking creative shots for upcoming special events.

Hellagant

randyreyesphoto — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:32:34 +0000

Today I worked with Mikey and Kate again with our favorite model Eileen. We shot in their working space in the garage of Kate’s home. The unique background you see in the images was made by the carpenter skills of Mikey and an old chandelier that was spray painted. The pieces we shot today were actual products that they will be selling to consumers.

I used one strobe here with a large umbrella w/diffuser on camera left and the white side of the reflector camera right. We were going for a dark urban yet classy feel for the images. I had to adjust the shutter to pick up the light coming from the florescent bulbs in the background. It was a fun day

www.hellagant.com

Don’t you just love duotone?

randyreyesphoto — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:08:53 +0000

I guess it wouldn’t matter if you’re working with an exceptional model right? Hehe.. in this case it didn’t. Our models Brooke and Tien were pros and couldn’t have made my day any easier. Makeup was applied by Maria Nguyen and hair styling by Steve Elias. If you add all of them up with yours truly there comes endless possibilities of creativity.