Jerad Hill Photographer

Video from Sam & Kelsey’s Wedding

Jerad Hill — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:51:14 +0000

Simi Valley Wedding Photography – The photographer often makes it into much of the video footage during a wedding, however its not often that I end up seeing any of that footage. When I shot Sam & Kelsey’s wedding in Simi Valley there was a videographer there, Jacob Lewis, who was shooting with a Canon 5D MKII, the same camera I use to shoot photos with. His style seemed to be very artistic as I watched him float around the wedding all night grabbing shots. After the wedding, I had really wanted to get some of that footage. Kelsey’s father, who is also in video production, was able to edit some of the footage and get it to me. I have a few short rolls in the beginning, and yes I am wearing jeans, not something I do often. The wedding was a casual one if you notice the Groom and Groomsmen, so I fit in. Normally I look like a ninja all in black. Jacob captured some really nice video, I would have liked to see what he could have accomplished if he had another cameraman there with his vision. Enjoy.

Credits:
Cinematography: Jacob Lewis – http://www.jacoblewis.tv
Post-Production: Ron Cole – http://dmediapro.com

Jerad Hill Photographer App for iPhone

Jerad Hill — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:30:11 +0000

I have created a new way to interact with people online using our iPhones. I have been an iPhone user since its inception and have always thought about how fun it would be to have an app to share my work with my friends and clients. Now that has became a reality in the Jerad Hill Photographer app for iPhone. Watch the video to see how it works and why I decided to create this app.

In this app you can:

View photos in my portfolio
Watch video slideshows
Comment and Share photos from my portfolio
Contact me directly
Request a wedding photography quote
Learn more about me
and more to come…

Thank you for checking this video out. I hope that you decide to download my free app and look around. Its just a different way for me to interact with people through my work.

Download Jerad Hill Photographer For iPhone

Half Moon Bay Engagement Portraits with Calin and Bianca

Jerad Hill — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:07:26 +0000

What a great time I had taking pictures of Calin and Bianca. This was a last minute engagement session. I was already up in Half Moon Bay taking Gregg and Jen’s portraits. By the time that I met up with Calin and Bianca, it was almost 3pm and I already had a pretty good sun burn going on. We ended up just driving around looking for random spots to take pictures at and came up with some great shots. We concluded down the road a bit when the sun was starting to duck nicely behind the clouds on it’s way down.

It’s late (1am) but I wanted to get a few of my favorite shots up for both couples before I went to bed. Besides, Liam is still up making noise so I couldn’t get to bed even if I wanted to.

Thanks so much Calin and Bianca for making the last minute trip over to Half Moon Bay, I had a great time hanging out and taking pictures. I am excited for your wedding at The Reata in Oakdale!

Photo set on Flickr

Half Moon Bay Engagement Portraits with Gregg and Jen

Jerad Hill — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:34:35 +0000

I had a great time today with Gregg and Jen in Half Moon Bay. In case you didn’t know, Half Moon Bay is amazing and it could not have been any nicer of a day today. Gregg and Jen are actually having a Half Moon Bay wedding also. I was lucky enough to tag along as Gregg tasted beers to be served at their wedding. We both agree that the “blond ale” at Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. is a WIN!

Oh, and you should check out Jen’s boutique shops: http://ritzyragz.com

Photoset on Flickr

Palm Event Center Wedding in Livermore

Jerad Hill — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:19:25 +0000

The Palm Event Center in Livermore is a beautiful venue for a wedding. I have had the privilege of being a wedding photographer here and at the neighboring Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery. The entry to The Palm Event Center is a long driveway laden with towering Palm trees. The property lies right in the middle of a beautiful vineyard that is very well kept making it a great place for portraits.

Website: http://www.palmeventcenter.com/
Location: 1182 Vineyard Ave. Pleasanton, CA 94566
Phone: 925.426.8666

Knights Ferry Engagement with Christopher and Sarah

Jerad Hill — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:41:20 +0000

I had a great time this last weekend taking pictures in Knights Ferry with Christopher and Sarah. I have known Sarah for a while through Church. She and my wife have hung out a few times. One of the things I appreciate about Sarah is how classy she is. It emits from the way she presents herself and the way she speaks, it’s no wonder that a classy guy like Chris would be drawn to her. Chris and I got along great because he is into technology and business. I am sure I could talk to him for hours and never get tired of it. Sarah and my wife on the other hand probably beg to differ.

I love to dance, especially more classical forms of dance. I am not good at all, but I can appreciate it. When I asked Chris to dip Sarah you can see what I got. The shot was completely off the cuff with no instruction. It went down like this… “Chris, dip Sarah,” and BAM!

I tell you what I can’t wait for, their first dance at their wedding. I hope I am not setting the bar any higher than they had planned, but to be completely honest, that dip photo made my weekend!

Alameda Engagement Portraits with John and Chanda

Jerad Hill — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:47:08 +0000

John, Chanda and I connected through Facebook. They invited me to their home in Oakland and after five minutes of chatting I knew that we would get along great. John and Chanda both work in the medical field so they had a lot of interesting stories to share with me while we took pictures. Their dog, Dyogi, which if you phonetically pronounce it out is the letters D-O-G. I love it! Totally my kind of people, young professionals who know how to have a good time.

We started off up in the hills above Oakland, which are beautiful by the way. Then we made our way around to Alameda where we took some photos by the water. Lastly, we stopped off for some mexican food and amazing margaritas.

There are so many things that I appreciate about John and Chanda, some of those things you can see in the photos. The way that Chanda looks at John and vice versa. You know that they are in love. They shared some of their dating stories with me, which are some of the best I have ever heard, Meet The Parents status… I am so excited for their wedding in Santa Cruz later this year.

Oakdale Engagement Portraits with Nolan and Janel

Jerad Hill — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:54:44 +0000

Nolan is my little brother, so of course I was excited to hear that he had finally asked Janel to be his wife. One of the greatest things to have in life is someone who supports you completely. The thing I have appreciated most over the last few years as Nolan and Janel have dated is how much Janel supports my brother in his interests. Nolan loves music and although music is a tough industry to get into, Janel supports him all of the way.

Nolan started playing the drums about 10 years ago. To make sure that he could afford a great ring for Janel, he sold his drum set. He has never been with out a drum set since he first started. For those of you who know a musician, you know how big of a deal that is.

Congrats Nolan and Janel, Nol, I’m proud of you man.

Brian and Aly Engagement in Knights Ferry

Jerad Hill — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:10:01 +0000

What I love most about life is watching what people become grow up to become. My childhood best friend was Brian’s older brother, which meant that Brian endured a lot at the hands of his brother and I. Even through all of that he turned out to be a pretty amazing guy and found himself an even more amazing girl. One of the things I remember about Brian from our childhood is that he wanted to be a police officer. It is very rare that people take their childhood dreams and make them a reality. Brian has done that and that is something to respect. Aly is finishing up school and I can already tell that she is going to change the world of business finance.

Our day started out with some Starbucks, I like my clients to be heavily caffeinated by the time we start shooting. We drove up to Knights Ferry to take some photos. Taking engagement portraits in Knights Ferry is such a fun experience because there is so much in such a small area. After roaming around Knights Ferry we decided to head back and take some shots around the tracks in Oakdale. I had yet to take engagement portraits in Oakdale. Over all we were able to capture some fun photos of Brian and Aly.

Brian and Aly will be getting married next year in April and I am excited to be there wedding photographer. I have had this idea in my head for a while that I approached Brian with. I have done several police office weddings in the past and have yet to get a bride a groom to agree to it. I would love to get a police car and have the bride slam her groom up against the hood of the car like in the movies. That shot would be epic! Maybe I will get lucky with Brian and Aly.

Brian and Aly, thank you so much for allowing me to capture your love for each other. It was fun hanging out, catching up, and getting to know both of you together.

Take a moment and watch Brian and Aly’s engagement slideshow.

ps. The top image on this page has weird color. For some reason when I upload the main header photo through my website it messes with the colors. You can see the original on my Flickr account, notice it looks much better.

On Becoming a Father, Soon…

Jerad Hill — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:09:22 +0000

I am less than two weeks away from becoming a father for the first time. This is a role I have always wanted to be in, however could not have imagined actually being there. I was just chatting on Facebook with a friend of mine who was commenting on how he can not believe I am going to be a daddy soon and how scary that reality must be. It’s funny because if it was five years earlier I would be much more scared then I am now. I won’t lie and say that I am not scared, because I am. To know that I am going to be responsible for bringing up this person in a world I constantly question is something to be freaked out over. However I don’t think the timing could be any better then it is now.

I am always thinking in terms of photography and computer related things. Some would call if being a huge nerd, but I take it like it is. I made the comment to my friend that I am actually excited to become a father however I want to make sure that I spend as much time with my kids as possible when they are young because those years go by to fast. I made the following comment to my Facebook wall:

“Words to all photographer fathers. Spend time with your children, you can’t photoshop out a poor childhood.”

I got into Photography and working for myself so that I could make time for things if I wanted to. I could be as busy or as slow as I wanted to be, and I have been. I have been fortunate enough to attract amazing clients who keep me busy with referring their friends and I have even became good friends with many of them. Now that I am staring right into the face of fatherhood I am even more grateful for the way things have gone since I started this journey. God has really blessed me with the ability to work for myself and keep that going.

I will probably be posting more written blogs over the next two months. I only booked one wedding in May and none in June to make sure I had plenty of time to be there for my wife and new child. However once July gets here I am going to back into full swing as the rest of my year is pretty well booked.

Lastly, I just wanted to throw out a huge thanks to all of you who have been commenting and messaging me on Facebook with congratulations. I really feel like I haven’t done anything yet, my poor wife is the one going through a different change every day. She is doing amazing by the way. I am such a lucky guy to have such a beautiful wife who already has such a motherly heart. I can’t want to take some photos of my little one to share with everybody.

Until next time!