Well, Lindsay and I just had a very difficult weekend. It started out awesome with an engagement shoot up in San Francisco with Kelly and Mitch. Then my new pal, Josh Newton, needed a second shooter up near SF and I was all for it. Then our little puppy almost died. As of a few hours ago (and nearly $1000 later!), it looks like she’s going to make it. So, if you’ve got a minute, I’ll tell you all about our last few days :)
So Lindsay and I flew up to SF first thing Friday morning (got up at 4am!). Lindsay had never been to SF and we really wanted to test the light out at different spots (to get a feel for what time to start on Saturday for our engagement shoot with Kelly and Mitch). We got in, checked into our hotel, and took off from there. We went straight for Chinatown (Lindsay and I worked in China and surround ourselves with all things Chinese any chance we can).
From there we walked over to Fisherman’s Wharf and checked out the sea lions and Alcatraz. Super fun stuff! We were really hungry so we ate at California Pizza Kitchen where I got thee best raspberry lemonade ever. We then walked all over the place again, saw SF from some fun high points, and then ran into the “world famous” (as he calls himself) bush man. He just sits on the ground holding two branches and scares people. There was a good 20 people watching him at all times. We stayed there for about twenty minutes and he got at least fifty bucks in that time. Not bad for a street performer!
We then went back to our hotel (the Club Quarters right in the middle of downtown) and took a little rest before going back out again for dinner. Lindsay’s parents always send us little goodies and had sent us fifty “fun” dollars. We used it all up (and some :) on possibly the best italian restaurant ever. Thanks marmadoodle!!! We split crab ravioli in a tomato cream sauce and a fettucine with shrimp and cream sauce. Holy cow! If you’re ever in SF be sure to eat at the Mona Lisa on Colombus. We’ve been to Italy five or six times and this restaurant was the first outside of Italy that tasted as though we were there. Incredible restaurant (the entire staff was from Italy, as well). Definitely a jam packed little place to eat!
The next day we met up with Kelly and Mitch. They were soooo awesome in holding off our shoot. We initially were going to meet up around 3pm, but the light was so harsh that we moved it back to 5pm. It was well worth the wait. These guys are an awesome couple with two of the sweetest dogs ever! I had to remind myself that I was working or else I would have played with Sadie and Ben the whole time :) I’m a sucker for nearly all animals – but especially dogs. Anyways, they both chose all of our shooting locations and I couldn’t have been more thrilled with their choices!
Thank you both so much for finding such awesome spots and even more for dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf. My dad was so excited when I told him that I got fish and chips there :) You guys are awesome and the wedding is going to be a blast!!!
At this point we met up with Josh Newton. Lindsay was flying back home in the morning and I was going to stay in SF to second shoot a wedding with Josh. We actually just met on the phone the day before. Josh is a good friend of David Jay’s
and saw one of DJ’s recent blog posts about Lindsay and I. He then saw that I was going to be in SF and thought it’d be fun to shoot together. It sure was. Josh and I hung out like we had known eachother for ages. Plus, it was fun shooting with such an amazing photographer. You have to see some of his shots from this wedding! Here are some of my shots before the bad news…
Now to the bad part (followed by the good part). Lindsay was back home by herself with Remmy (our five month old german shepherd puppy). Remmy ran into the house whimpering, panting, and jumping all over the furniture. After a short while she just collapsed. Lindsay called me while we were shooting some more shots of the couple (after the wedding and most of the reception) in tears. She said Remmy had been freaking out and then just collapsed and now was sort of passing out (looking drugged and not responding). It was a really terrible feeling. I hated that Lindsay had to figure all of this out on her own. I grabbed my laptop and jumped on the internet to look for an emergency clinic. We eventually found one and Lindsay got Remmy over to it. After a couple hours the vet had diagnosed her with anaphalactic (sp?) shock – likely from a bee sting or black widow. Remmy’s abdomen was blown up like a balloon from being so tight, her ability to breathe was almost gone, and heart was racing at a pace that she couldn’t have survived. Lindsay left her over night and we just hoped for the best.
In all of this, Josh (who lives in Santa Barbara but had planned to stay up in SF for a couple days) said “let’s get you home.” He drove and kept my mind occupied from 10pm to 6am. I know the guy a day and he drives me through the night to get home. What an awesome guy, huh? I caught the 6:45am train back to San Diego. Lindsay called me and said the vets said Remmy was eating and back to normal and going to make a full recovery! We couldn’t have been happier. I’m now home with my living puppy :) and my wife (who I missed after being apart only 1 day – I’m a big sap when it comes to being away from Lindsay). Life is a bit hectic at the moment but so good. I’m just so thankful that we are where we are right now. A year ago we would have had to find someone to bum money off of to save our dog (as they required payment in full that night). We’re so blessed to be able to take care of a situation like that on our own – all because of people like you who appreciate my love for photography enough to keep me working. I couldn’t appreciate all you who take interest in Lindsay and my photography and lives anymore than I do right now. I’m just so happy that this weekend saw an awesome trip to SF for Lindsay (having never been), ripping engagement photos for Kelly and Mitch, getting to know my new pal Josh, shooting a beautiful wedding with him, and now being home with my wife and healthy dog. Life is good.
Bobby
Anyways, so last night was the final class for the Missional photography workshop that Lindsay and I have been going to for the last four Tuesdays. It’s been awesome. Jessica Claire picked my photo for every week! Last night she said “I like almost everything about this image,” with a smile on her face (I was off focus a bit – but she said even that didn’t bother her that much). When we left the class Lindsay immediately said “how excited are you?!?” I know that Jessica Claire is just a person like everyone else, but she’s a person who happens to be the best photographer out there (in my opinion). I’m just so excited that she had positive things to say about my images. 
Now, I’m going through images from the last two weddings I shot at the moment. These two just stuck out to me. I love them. The first one is one I took on Sunday up in San Francisco when I shot with Josh Newton. Josh is actually in the middle of this photo, but I took him out (sorry Josh :). This place was so beautiful!
This image is from Steve and Nicole’s wedding we shot two weeks ago. This could be my favorite wedding image so far for 2008. Lindsay took it and I just can’t stop looking at it. I love it, love it, love it! How lucky am I? I’ve got a hot wife who takes ripping pictures!
by Bobby Earle
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