STUDIOcastillero » Portrait

RAIN = awesome

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:32:57 +0000

Alright, so today’s post is just a BIT awkward for me…the things we do for sweet pictures right? The reason for this is evident in the first picture which is a giant picture of my face! HOWEVER, as much as I am NOT A FAN of getting my picture taken, Rico and I couldn’t resist doing a shoot in this fabulous downpour we’ve been having in San Diego this week. Since it was just the two of us, we had to pick one person to shoot and one to be the subject. Alas, my long hair betrayed me! It just looks so much better when soaked. So, there you have it, go easy on me, I’m not photogenic so instead just focus on how awesome the rain is, and how it makes for some pretty mean (in a good way) pictures. Happy Thursday my friends!

And yes, the umbrella was definitely just for show…normally it does work better than that.

JAMES allison

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:58:11 +0000

Now I know it isn’t often that we post on a Friday but today is special. Why you ask? Because there is someone whose shout out on the blog is LONG overdue. The person I am referring to is our fabulous friend and IT consultant, James Miller who has pretty much made our blog and website a reality for us (ie. the new updated banner on the blog, if you haven’t noticed it, you must so just look up a bit and gasp at James’ awesome coding skills). Pretty much everything on the blog is his work, we give him the design he gives it life, and he is so patient with our constant “what do you think about this James? How about changing that James? Can you add this James?” Seriously, every time he can figure it out and in like 5 minutes…it’s magic, I’m telling you. I often find myself thinking to myself (or saying to people I meet) that “everyone needs a James!”

Then there is his lovely wife Allison, don’t even know what to say here except that I love this girl. She has taught me a lot about hospitality and simply about having fun and she seriously NEVER FAILS to make me laugh (even during yoga when everyone is getting their “intense” on). She second shoots for us from time to time as well and is so much fun that I don’t even notice when my feet start to hurt after 10 hours of shooting (Allison, you are my painful feet distractor and I owe you my life for it…not even kidding, if you’ve shot a wedding you’ll understand). So for the holiday we did a little photo sesh with the Millers because any time spent with them is a good time, and we basically are obsessed with them (shhhh, wouldn’t want to scare them off). So without further ado, I give you James and Allison! (Muah to both of you!)

Seriously love this next picture of James…way to get your fierce on buddy! ( is that how you look when I use fonts that are all caps?).

ADALYN.AMALIA

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:13:38 +0000

Welcome back to the office for all of you who had a nice long holiday weekend! I know mine was nice….spent time with my sister and the baby, then with Rico’s family and his sister’s new baby. Lots of babies (for other people of course, nothing on the horizon for us…I can promise you that)!!!! So I thought I’d start this week off as a bragging auntie and share the pictures we took this weekend of both of our new nieces. I know you saw Addy already, but I couldn’t resist sharing more pics, and we’ve been dying to do a shoot with Amalia and jumped at the chance when she came into town from Michigan for Thanksgiving! So enjoy the pictures, they’re pretty freaking cute if I do say so myself. Amalia & Addy, we love you and CAN’T WAIT to spoil you for YEARS to come (not that you’re reading this, although that would be impressive, I’ll leave it to your parents to relay the message). Also, I was going to include some nice tips for you all about photography prep for your wedding, but I think I’ll hold off on that for today and post later this week….I’ll let you enjoy the babies for now, because really, they are quite enjoyable.

Whenever I think about that EXTREMELY explosive diaper that I changed for Addy, I’m just going to come back to this picture…just look at that face, totally worth it.

Amalia looking a little skeptical…wonder where she got that from?

AGUIRREfamily

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:08:12 +0000

Happy Monday my friends! I hope you’re all enjoying the start of your week and that your day will be just a little bit better due to the Monday blog post! (my favorite part of Monday, I must admit). I have a good one for you today too. You might remember the Aguirres from a shoot we did with them a while back. They were that adorable family that looked like they came straight out of a magazine. So photogenic, so beautiful and fun to be around, yes that’s them. Well, they decided they wanted to do another shoot with us but this time with just the kids. They also wanted to start later in the day to incorporate some night shots, we love anything that’s a little different than the norm so we happily obliged. I don’t have to say much more about these kids because the pictures speak for themselves on just how adorable they are, so I’ll leave you to it! Thanks for a fabulous shoot once again Aguirres and can’t wait for more to come! Enjoy!

BRECKA {senior portraits}

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:45:32 +0000

Well, I have something new to share with you on the blog this Monday. Yes indeed, and it’s pretty awesome (even more awesome than this Owl City I’m listening too, which is pretty good considering Owl City usually motivates me to go skipping down the street…..yes, it’s that happy). OK, SO the post. A few weeks ago we did the senior portraits of the lovely Miss Brecka. I have know Brecka since she was born and it was such an honor to shoot her senior portraits after watching her grow up all these years. Such a beautiful woman she’s becoming (just look at the pictures!). She drove all the way to San Diego from Idaho just so we could spend a few hours running around with a couple of cameras, posing in parking lots, the streets of Bankers Hill, and playing in the ocean in her prom dress. Brecka, you’re a beautiful young woman and we had so much fun documenting this moment of your life. May your senior year be one to remember (in a good way of course!). Enjoy the pics!

Oh, and ps. Check out Brecka’s hair, that’s her natural color…fabulous!!!!!!!

STUDIOcastillero {rico+rachel}

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:48:30 +0000

MONDAY! Our favorite day right???? Yeah, probably not so much, but that is why we have Monday blog posts…to try and make the day just a little bit better. Today’s post has a slightly more personal note to it because it contains pictures of us! We find ourselves documenting others so much that sometimes we forget to take pictures of us, and our life. Also, we thought it was about time you got to see what we look like, so if you ever find yourself in Bankers Hill and you see us, you have to say hi (hugs are welcome too, people tend to like hugging Rico…can’t say I blame them). No excuses people! You have seen our faces! Just a warning though, for this shoot I wore a lot of makeup (ok friends, pick those jaws up off the floor). Makeup is a RARE occasion for me, and I actually had to read about how to do eye liner (I know, kinda sad right? LOL). I had a great time though embracing my inner stylist, so I’m thinking the makeup might have to stick around. SO ANYWAYS, details of the shoot…Rico and I headed out to the wilderness of San Diego, just the two of us, to play around with our cameras and hopefully get some good pictures for the site. Recently we’ve been inspired by the fabulous catalogs that Anthropolgie puts out, so we wanted give these pictures an “Anthropolgie-esq” feel. Hence the setting, the lighting, the editing, more serious poses, vintage cameras (gotta take some pictures of us with cameras, we are photogs after all!) etc, etc. I will admit, I have a hard time in front of the camera so this was very difficult for me, but just as I tell all our clients, by the end I felt completely comfortable. Alright alright, enough of my talking….you can check out our little endeavor below. I hope you like them! Until next post……

JENNI jason

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:47:52 +0000

Hello internet friends!!! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are feeling fresh and ready to face the week. Rico and I had two shoots this last weekend, one family shoot (15 people! So much fun and can’t wait to share) and also a lovely engagement shoot in Pasadena with our new friends Amanda and Paul (stay tuned for that blog post….you won’t want to miss it). I even found some time on Saturday to hang out by the pool where I managed to get COMPLETELY sunburned. All in an effort to be a little less whiter than snow when I wear my black bridesmaid dress for one of my best friends’ weddings in July (Carleigh, my love for you is evident by the RED covering my back…well worth it for sure!). OK OK, enough about the state of my skin, onward to the fabulous post I have for you today!

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to do a maternity shoot with the lovely Jenni and her beautiful family. She and Jason have a son who is 18 months old (see cuteness below) named Tanner, who, as you’ll see below, was very helpful in pointing out just exactly where his little baby sister was….I’m almost died from cute overload, I’m serious. Jenni, Jason, and Tanner, you were all such a blast to work with and we CANNOT WAIT to spend time with you again in September for your family session!

“Where’s the baby Tanner?”

“I know, I keep forgetting….where’s that baby again Tanner?!!” (so helpful)

Hmmm….Jenni wins this one, sorry Jason.

CASTILLERO parents

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:00:55 +0000

In honor of Mothers Day (or two days after Mothers Day to be exact) we thought we’d post a few pictures of some of our parents (Some of Rico’s to be exact, in case you’re wondering who passed down those good looks)! We did a shoot with them a while ago in Little Italy to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary and they rocked it. Yes, yes you did Motheresh, it’s true. Rico’s dad also blew me away with his cool serious look….like father, like son, I must say. Thanks you two for being such great parents and for spending a few hours with us and our cameras in your face. Congrats on 20 years! We love you!

I love these next two pictures…like father, like son indeed! Those Castillero men!

Rico…pre-haircut, and oh so cool

This one is my favorite, so happy.

Check out Dan is this picture!!! He belongs in a magazine!

TRACI andrews

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:55:03 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Rico and I had the chance to connect with an old friend of mine, Traci Andrews (we went to high school together). She is an aspiring country singer and needed some pictures for her portfolio. When she approached us to do the shoot, we jumped at the chance because she’s such a natural in front of the camera (which will be obvious to you once you look at her pictures below) AND she’s a blast to spend time with. We drove out to Julian with one of my most successful thrift store finds EVER (the yellow chair) and spent some time shooting in the 30 degree temperature (Traci was such a good sport and didn’t complain once about how cold it was…reminded me of America’s Next Top Model…yes, I admit, I watch it from time to time FOR POSING IDEAS!!!….where they make the girls shoot in crazy conditions, like swimsuits in the snow…Traci, you’re a regular top model). Thanks Traci, you’re such a wonderful person and I can’t wait to spend some more time with you when you pass through San Diego!

I know you want to check out her music, so for a few samples go HERE and HERE (her website will feature some new content soon, so stay tuned!).