Jon Claxton | Photography

Mellisa and Anthony come from two really close families.  And when I say, really close families….I’m not kidding.  Both of their grandparents ended up growing up together on the same block, in the same town.  On top of that, now both of their families live directly adjacent to each other on two really beautiful parcels in Nipomo, California.  To make things even closer, Anthony and Melissa now live on one of those parcels within a second residence.  Well, during their wedding ceremony, the deacon pointed out one fabulous advantage of this scenario:  on-site babysitting.  And let me tell you, both of these families are expecting some children from this couple!   Anyway, Katie DiSimone (www.katiedisimone.com) and I traveled the countryside with them, as they prepared for the wedding in Nipomo, got married in Arroyo Grande, and had a huge celebration at the Spanish Oak Ranch (www.spanishoaksranch.net)  in Santa Margarita.  The entire event was a really impressive display of family values and good old country love.  In retrospect (while I pour through some of the photos), I get a sense that there was probably an old classic movie or novel made about a love like this….

Last weekend, I shot another great wedding with Katie DiSimone.  We met up at Summerwood Winery, where the bride and groom had rented the entire bed and breakfast as well as the winery for the reception.  The setting couldn’t have been more spectacular, the lighting on the otherhand was starting drive my camera’s light meter crazy, as there was about a 3-4 stop difference betweent the sweeping setting of the surrounding vineyards, versus the cool dark shade beneath the gorgeous valley oaks located outside of the B&B.  Despite the photographic challenges with the natural light, Annie, Casey, and their friends couldn’t have been more impressive.  Honestly, I couldn’t believe how “well put together” everyone looked that day.  They made me feel like a cafeteria worker with my usual black ninja photography outfit.  I suppose that is was happens when everyone is from San Francisco, L.A., New York, or Chicago.  I suppose it’s just more proof that you can’t find any good shopping in San Luis Obispo County.  

Kathleen Bennett (now K. Bennett Mink) met me at my front door nearly eight or nine years ago (I’m losing count) while she was looking for a place to live.  Short in stature but full of energy, Kathleen surprisingly accepted to move into my dilapidated downtown San Luis Obispo house, with my two other housemates.  After a couple years of living with us, Kathleen  had enough of the dirty dishes and such, and moved just down the street to her own space (good move, Kathleen).  Shortly thereafter, she also grew to realize that little old San Luis Obispo couldn’t hypnotize her with its’ quaint setting and well known slow living lifestyle; so she packed up her things and moved to San Francisco.  And not long after living in S.F. Kathleen found Barna Mink, a tall handsome Hungarian; the type of fella that you would probably never find in San Luis Obispo.  Having met Barna a couple years back, I was pleased to see what a great pair that these two made.  To me, Barna was the ying to Kathleen’s yang.  Kathleen, often times full of bounce and polka dots; Barna seemed to be as steady as a ship with his warm personality and engaging demeanor.  It was clear that they worked great together.  With all that said, it was a real honor to see Kathleen come so far and to bear witness to her and Barna’s commitment to each other, along side their incredible group of friends and family.  Best wishes to the both of you.  – jon

Engagement session appointment, take two…

Katie, Anthony, and I have been dodging the ridiculous Spring winds of the Central Coast for a while now.  However, we finally found a window of time last Friday to get outside and grab some shots of these two lovebirds before the next gale force winds blow through our area.  With Bachi the wonder dog in tow, we met up for what was to be a rad photo shoot (that’s right, I’m going to bring “rad” back).  We blasted through a variety of spots throughout San Luis Obispo, and at each one, it was obvious these two monkeys were ready for anything.  There was plenty of laughing, kissing, and joking going on (note: I was not kissing anyone but buckwheat, thank you).  Overall, Katie and Anthony were truly cool to hang with.  Take home message:  If your reading this and you don’t get a wedding invitation from these two people, you might want to either befriending this couple in a hurry, or consider crashing their wedding because I’m guaranteeing it is going to insane!

Another successful central coast wedding with Keith Dunlop (www.kdiphoto.com).  Greg and Holly tied the knot in Morro Bay last weekend, but not until Greg and his buddies went through some rounds at the local shooting range.  As second shooter (no pun intended), Keith anointed me with the job of meeting the boys at the shooting range and getting some photos of them before the wedding.  I had to convince Keith that if he had any doubts, he should know that I’m the right guy for the job; having been to the shooting range several times and being a gun owner, as well.  I think Keith may have been even a little shocked when I asked him if I could bring the Glock along with my camera gear.

So, I just got back from another engagement shoot with Bill and Deb.  This time, we were in San Luis Obipso, rather than San Francisco.  Bill and Deb scored a sweet hotel at Avila Village Inn.   I had never been inside the place, but I highly recommend it to folks staying on the Central Coast (www.avilavillageinn.com).  From there we did some drive by shootings at various locations around Avila, Los Osos (almost), and San Luis Obispo.  I was impressed by Deb and Bill’s skills after the first engagement shoot.  This time, they were just flowing from one look to the next, pretty seamlessly.  They made shooting incredibly easy.  Anyway, here is just one of many great photos that I have of them from this afternoon.  

Valentine’s Day 2009 marked the first day of marriage for Vivian and David Zarate.  As a second shooter to Keith Dunlop (www.kdiphoto.com) I had the pleasure of spending most of the pre-ceremony with David (the groom), who couldn’t have been more nervous inside, but remaining cool on the outside.   I thought that the above black and white, couldn’t have said it better, showing David waiting patiently for his bride.  David came through just fine though.  Maybe it was those pre-wedding shots of tequila that helped calm his nerves in the end.

With the trusty aid of my iPhone, I navigated my way through the rainy streets of San Francisco last Sunday to find Deb and Billy in their sweet Glen Canyon neighborhood.  From there, we piled into Billy’s rig for what was to be a really fun engagement shoot in the nearby neighborhoods.  Billy and Deb were up for pretty much everything.  We dodged the public transportation, shadey folks hanging out in the Mission District, and even Mother Nature herself.  I’m looking forward to the shots we get when Billy and Deb come to San Luis Obispo in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully we’ll dodge the rain like we did in SF.