Saturday, November 26, 2005 at 8:27PM 
David & Kim Orozco are married! Their ceremony was at the San Diego Mission and then reception that evening was at the La Jolla Hyatt Regency. David and Kim were contagiously happy that day in full smiling form. It was great to be among their family and friends and such a pleasure to shoot that wedding! And if you only could've seen Dave do the worm. Their slideshow...
N
Monday, November 21, 2005 at 10:56AM We pray every night with our little girl and last night she said the prayer. She said, "I'm thankful for Nathan and Arianna and alyssapetty.com". She calls us Dad and Mom about half the time but when she referred to herself as alyssapetty.com we were cracking.
N
Friday, November 18, 2005 at 11:51PM 
Karis Beal in the studio. I was talking to another San Diego photographer, Rich Pecjak, and we were discussing studio vs location. Both have their advantages and drawbacks, but we both agreed that location photography tends to be more spontaneous and offers the challenge of constantly changing light. John Bilderback, a Surfer Magazine photographer that I got to know in Hawaii said, if you're shooting in the studio and it looks good you did it. And if it looks bad, you did it. You create the right lighting, exposures and it is a totally controlled situation. The spontaneity in the studio comes with the subject and adjusting the lighting and setting to match that inspiration. Rich got me started as a paid photographer about 8 years ago and he mentioned to me as were having this discussion that part of becoming an excellent photographer is how you deal with light and how it moves and how you respond to it and control your camera to respond to it. He taught me through conversation and example how to respond to light with a camera in my hand. Some light reflects, some light is absorbed and some light is blinding. Just depends which way the camera eye is looking.
Having said all that, you can come to your own conclusion about this studio session went. It's been about 10 months since I've worked in the studio and it was good to get back in there. Here's the slideshow...
Friday, November 18, 2005 at 5:23PM So we're at Balboa park, the quintessential place for wedding images, shooting a bridal session. We've got nice light and she's been real easy going the whole shoot and then pulls this! Totally unexpected but hilarious!
I'm sitting here editing the photos, saying to myself... now THAT is some definite blog material.
N
Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 2:36PM 
This shoot we concentrated some on winter fashion, while shooting downtown San Diego. A few outfits and locations. Karis has been my attempt at a *complete* portfolio and has been right for it so far. She's fun to work with and is always into every shoot we've done. Check it out.
Heading into the studio 11.18 to do some experimentation with lighting and few outfits. I'll also be doing a bridal shoot within the next little while.
N
Wednesday, November 9, 2005 at 12:44AM 
While I was in Hawaii I wanted to shoot some portfolio work and ended up connecting with Heather Goedel while I was there. The shoot. One of the pieces she wore was designed by Alejandra Jackson.
N
Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 8:59PM 
The reason for this Hawaii trip was to photograph Gladys Knight's visit to BYU-Hawaii and shoot a "fireside" put on by her choir - Saints United Voices. She joined the LDS Church in 1998 and has since formed this choir and traveled nationally to share with people the message of The Book of Mormon. Here she shares a powerful testimony of her conversion to the church and desire to share "with the world" the message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The time spent on Oahu was right during my wife and I's 6th anniversary and we both graduated from BYU-Hawaii, so the trip had a few purposes -- Photograph the choir, get away from San Diego for our anniversary and get back to the school, people and islands we love... and yes, squeeze a surf session in at V-land.
I'll be heading back in January '06 to work on a surf video. Check back for pics from that trip.
Monday, October 10, 2005 at 6:21PM 
Another amazing day of photos with Karis Beal. She was a champ today. We started off the day with some golfing images in La Mesa. Simple enough. A bit of putting and driving, then we went up to Oakzanita Ranch in Cuyamaca State Park, where we shot a few changes into the evening. So, first off was the "western" look and thanks to Cassandra Kendall, another photographer here in San Diego, she let Karis ride one of her two horses there at the ranch. While I was shooting Karis riding the horse, Jemmie, a horsefly came over and nipped the horse in the rear. I about fainted. Cassandra and Karis both kept their cool while Jemmie squirmed and reared a bit, but luckily the horse calmed down pretty quick thanks to Cassandra who was holding the lead rope and Karis was fine. Major sigh of relief there... We need the model. She's kind of important!
N
Monday, October 3, 2005 at 4:02PM 
Here is a half-day variety portrait shoot with the beautiful Karis Beal here in San Diego. La Jolla is always an enjoyable place to shoot, which offers nice photographic variety in a relatively small area. We started in the a.m. on the beach and moved up into the sidewalks and shops to escape the harsh light in the afternoon.
The second song on this slideshow is another original tune - From the Floor. I couldn't decide on a second song so I pulled something from my personal collection. I had my home computer and keyboard on the floor for a while because we were waiting on a desk (long story - ask my wife). It was there a bit longer than we'd expected and one night I had the urge to eek out some tunes, so this piece of music is what came that particular evening "from the floor".
N
Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 9:24PM 
I was blessed to travel to Fiji with Rich Pecjak and Flavia Berys, in April '05 on an amazing week-long assignment for David & Tammy and ended up connecting with one of their guests on his upcoming wedding in October here in San Diego. Here are the engagement pictures we took last night.
N
Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 3:31PM 
I recently shot a wedding in Bountiful - just above Salt Lake City, Utah and gave myself a day to cruise and shoot some "travel" images. I ended up going to the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons that are home to Brighton, Solitude, Alta and Snowbird ski resorts. Some macro and scenic shots.
N
Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 10:27PM 
A brief test shoot with a model in Point Loma. Portrait work is always interesting and is a refreshing departure from weddings. It offers some variety to work with somebody outside the confines of a wedding day schedule. I love weddings, don't get me wrong, but as a photographer I always appreciate a new type of shoot. Can I get a witness?
This original tune in the slideshow is a work in progress. Before I started the blog, and come to think of it, even before I started photography, I played the drums, guitar and piano. A few years back, Apple came out with Garageband, a piece of music creation software, and suddenly I had an outlet to put my music somewhere other than my brain. When I first started using the Garageband I thought, "Where has this been all of my life?!" Needless to say I've got about 15 songs pieced together from guitar riffs, piano pieces and drum beats. Everything's original minus one or two songs that I started with a drum loop. Cheater.
What an insane program Garageband is! Simple to use, yet exhaustive. Go Apple.
N
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 at 9:14AM 
I recently looked back over some of the image slideshows that are in the video section of my website that I hadn't seen in a while. This is the only material on nathanpetty.com that's not entirely wedding related.
Sports - Kid Gloves : Rush
People - Time Stand Still : Rush
Abstract - Untitled original tune made in Garageband
Also, Photohands.com is in the works, which is going to show videos and photography of corporate events, lifestyle portraits, products, and other professional work.
N
Tuesday, September 20, 2005 at 1:17PM 
In late August I was able to do a variety shoot with Miss Utah USA 2005 - Marin Poole. These were some of the images that we came up with. To be honest, I haven't shot much with "professional" models and I don't know how much I'll do, but she was fun to work with and it was apparent she had worked in front of the camera quite a bit. This definitely inspired me to shoot more lifestyle portraits and just people in general, outside of weddings.
N
Monday, August 29, 2005 at 11:00AM 
I've been shooting images professionally since 1998. A combination of music and photography, both in scholarships and outside work, put me through school in Hawaii. I'm currently based in San Diego, as a freelance photographer, shooting mostly weddings, but shoot corporate events, product and portraits as well. A few past clients:
Vision Event Prod. - Corporate Events - i2, FedEx Kinkos, Agility
Cornerstone - Audio/visual for large-scale productions
SUV Choir - Gladys Knight documentary photography
Ellsworth Bikes - Product catalog, Print ads, Location shoots
Soltek Pacific - Structural photography
Speak, Inc. - Employee group and headshots (minus last two shots:)
I've shot weddings internationally in Mexico and Fiji, and some of the western states including Hawaii. I find that documenting people's lives and events has its demands but is extremely satisfying.
The rewards always outweigh the work! I love my job!
I've come to the conclusion that photographs take on a life of their own. Ever taken a picture and the subject still remains in front of you, yet you're more drawn to the picture you've just taken? Images are powerful expressions of time, people and places. I'm not going to get deeply philosophical about the profession, but I know that I enjoy what I do and that photographs are powerful things.
My father passed away in February of 2005 and EVERY LAST IMAGE that I took of him I appreciate, from the car shows at Del Mar, to the Elvis impersonations, to the Sunday afternoon chats. I know he is at peace, but those images for those of us who remain, are truly priceless. Photographs of people are a glimpse of those relationships.
As I develop this blog I intend to be transparent about how I work both in technique and concept. Feel free to call or email if you have any questions.
Thanks for taking the time.