So PDV made the big move from Canon to Nikon! There has been so much gear coming in and out and it’s pretty exciting using a new camera. Everything is in a different place! Haha so I’m still getting used to Nikon’s settings but I like it. Jimmy let me use his macro lens the other day!!! First time shooting with a macro…. let’s just say he’s not getting this lens back anytime soon (shhhhhhhhh haha) But seriously, if you’ve never shot with a macro before, suddenly all you want to do is find small things everywhere! I had a friend visiting from out of town and couldn’t help but take a shot of his eye =] If you look closely you can see us in it.

I meant to get this post up a few days ago but … Jimmy and I are in San Francisco and Berkeley having too much fun =]

-Heidi

And you haven’t actually seen us eating?  The four of us at PDV enjoy a good meal every once in a while, and we’re pretty talented at taking food photos too!  So here’s a taste of some of our cooking and food photography.

Want to talk about planning your wedding over dinner?  Sure

-PDV (Jimmy)

The year of 2010 was a year that impacted PDV with enormous amounts of growth and change. Changes in our business, changes in our personal lives and changes for the future. We started the year strong and ended it even stronger. With the growth of clients and the addition of two new members, PDV has continued to grow as a close team of photographers that not only work with each other on a daily basis, but live and socialize with each other.

With many common interests, finding something to do can be as simple as lounging in our apartment with a simple cup of coffee, or something as complicated as a hazelnut caramel mocha or going for a photo walk around town at one of the great locations San Diego has available, such as La Jolla Cove or Coronado Island. At PDV we enjoy to entertain friends and guests at nearly all hours of the day. With a convenient location almost centralized to most of our closest friends, we often hold holiday gathers and weekend socials.

With 2011 now here and blazing by (wow its mid February already?! where has the time gone!?) we have been doing our best to keep this blog well updated just about once a week. You can always expect Heidi followed by Kenny, then me(Paul) and at last Jimmy. Then the cycle continues. What we’ll blog about? Who knows? We go to Disneyland a lot…well I go to Disneyland a lot…(6 times in the last two months isn’t that bad right) So you may find me blogging about my Disney adventures, or perhaps my obsession with espresso based beverages. My travels and the occasional random thought may occasionally come up as well. Of course this won it be just purely a casual social blog, we’ll fill the blog with pretty pictures to keep you all coming back! Major updates will be of weddings and large events covered by PDV. Those will have more of a technically written blog post vs a rambling post such as this one. So I hope you continue to read our blog, and I encourage you to come back once a week to view our blog and check for update. Also feel free to follow us on Facebook (Search Perles de vie Photo) and check us out on Yelp in San Diego!

-PDV (Paul)

WHAT? Two new posts by PDV? We’re out of control! Anyways time to jump on the introduction bandwagon, I’m Heidi I’m a photographer down in San Diego and I’ll also be heading the Marketing for PDV. Last spring I graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelors in Communications and a focus in Public Relations. I’ve worked with a few companies before doing PR for up and coming electronics companies and then changed my focus a little by doing PR for sports celebrities and charity events. I prefer working in an environment where I’m doing a little bit of event planning too which is what sort of landed me the officer position at UCSD’s Photography Club as their Events Coordinator. I met the guys in this club and now they’re some of my best friend’s, their house has turned into dare I say, a second home to me? What I’m trying to say is they’re amazing friends, even better photographers, and I’m excited to be working with them now!

In my spare time right now I’m working on improving my photography, brushing up on my French, baking, cooking (seems to be a common interest of PDV’s, though in response to Kenny’s last post, I’m totally in it to eat). My dad’s a chef so it’s safe to say I love love love good food and it’s great because I wouldn’t be able to calorie count even if I tried, can’t be bothered when there’s so much butter and salt to add to everything. Every day I’m discovering new great music from indie to country to pop to ska, you name it. So if you have any music recommendations shoot me an email I’d love to hear it (I’m totally not kidding heidi@perlesdeviephoto.com haha).

I’m in love with San Diego, this was where I want to stay at least for the next few years. As long as you’ve got good food, good friends and good weather, can’t imagine why I’d leave? <3

-PDV (Heidi)

This is the first blog update in a while, so why not start off with a proper introduction! My name is Kenny and I just joined Perles de Vie Photography as a partner and co-owner a few months ago. This merger came in lieu of increasing collaboration between myself and the duo of Jimmy and Paul; the two are some of the nicest and consummate professionals I’ve ever worked with, so the choice to combine was a no-brainer!

Anyway, a little about me:

I’m Kenny and I just graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a double major in Joint Mathematics/Economics and Psychology. Luckily, I’m putting my degrees to good use as a marketing consultant at a San Diego branding firm and as a staff research associate at UCSD. Next Fall, I’ll be headed to Chicago to attend Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management for a Ph.D. in Marketing, specializing in judgment and decision making, game theory, and Bayesian choice models. It’s going to be a fun five years (:

Work aside, you can describe me as a bit of a goofball. I never take myself seriously, and luckily for me, this is a desirable trait when photographing people who aren’t so at home in front of the camera! I know when to be serious, but couples should be happy and worry-free at their wedding, and that’s my goal when you hire us to photograph your special day!

Like Jimmy and Paul, I was and still am heavily involved with UCSD’s Photography Club. I joined the organization when I was first learning the ropes and credit all my success and knowledge to many of the senior members there (both my partners included). I hope to be able to pass the knowledge I’ve acquired forward to members new to photography.

In my free time, I like to travel and indulge in good food. Because of this, you’ll most likely be seeing a lot of my blog entries center around those two themes—many times hand-in-hand. I don’t know if it’s eating the actual food itself, or that I’m a huge fan of ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ (and secretly wish to travel and eat everywhere that awesomely witty jerk goes), or if there’s just an inherent beauty from living the epicurean life, but whatever it is, I’m punch-drunk in love with it.

Anyway, this is it for now, but I look forward to working with PDV!

-Kenny

A few weeks back, we had the amazing opportunity to be the photographers at Danielle’s Bat Mitzvah.  Danielle is the youngest of four kids in her family and after three celebrations, it was finally her turn at the bimah.  The day was hectic from start to finish, but it was such an honor to be there for such an incredible event.  Congratulations on your becoming a Bat Mitzvah!

-Jimmy

Another fantastic engagement shoot with another amazing couple. We met Alicia and Brian at the northern parking lot at UCSD then carpooled to the Torrey Pines reserve in San Diego. The weather was fair with a patchy over cast that continued to tease us through out the day.

 
The location chosen was the Torrey Pines reserve in San Diego. It has a natural beauty often found on the coast of southern California and really does remind you of California’s real natural habitat. Desert. The hard packed trail weaved through the rocks and cactus through to the coast. The natural sunlight was diffused by the on coming marine layer giving us moments of the most amazing light any photographer could ask for.

We had an amazing location with soft diffused light and happened to have a incredible couple. Alicia and Brian were two rock stars when it comes to being behind the camera. Their poses were natural and genuine shot after shot. While shooting this amazing couple, it puts a smile on my face to see two people so in love.

 
As the ambient day light was disappearing so was the awesome sunset. One problem. We were still a good half a mile from where we would have liked to have shot. So we hurried to the ideal location jogging through the trails and at times creating new ones but sadly by the time we reached our ideal location, the sun has fallen behind a thick cloud creating a cold monotone sun set.

 
Through the 4+ miles hiked that day, we shared stories and ideas, concepts and thoughts and had one heck of a time. We look forward to photographing your wedding next month. Congratulations Alicia and Brian.

-PDV

Kiss and Winson held a small ceremony at Swiss Grove park in Whittier, CA. The day was a beautiful bright blue day with out a cloud in the sky. Southern California’s summer just starting(kind of late) so the heat was on. When we first discovered the small unique details of the wedding, I laughed. Hello Kitty was EVERYWHERE. Coming from a design back round, I work with designing Hello Kitty confectionaries for Latin America so I was kind of tired of seeing the cat.

The day went off with out any problems. To my surprise the wedding was on time and actually ended a little early. Allowed us a little extra time to grab a few more shots and laughs.

Once again, congratulations Kiss and Winson for this special moment in both your lives!

-PDV

Congratulations Gwenn and Dan for your Beautiful ceremony held at Balboa Park, San Diego. Here are just a few of the images from that amazing day.

-PDV

We’ve had our hands full the past few weeks so posts have been sparse. Here are some highlights from Kevin and Jamie’s engagement shoot. First off the bat, you can tell the two are just perfect for one another in the way they interact with each other. The way they interacted in front of the camera made it for a fun and seamless shoot.

Me and the crew met the couple at Torry Pines beach here in La Jolla. The day was a even overcast with a light breeze. Thank you San Diego! Fantastic conditions for a engagement shoot. We really couldn’t have asked for a more perfect shoot.

Although the natural beauty of the beach is more then enough to draw us out to this location, what really caught our eye was the great architecture of the concrete bridge on the far end of the beach.

We started the shoot by the bridge. Couples are always nervous about being in front of the camera, but Kevin and Jamie’s genuine affection towards one another took down those worries in an instant. After Torry Pines Beach, we headed towards Del Mar, another one of our favorite locations and got some great shots there. We had a blast photographing the two of you. Kevin and Jamie, hope you enjoy the pictures! We are looking forward to photographing your wedding!

-PDV