chaz thoughts // the photo blog of chaz cruz

karen + raul // snowy new york

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:48:34 -0800

After San Francisco, I flew over here to New York to begin my refresh (which you can read about here from my friend, Anne McColl) and it so happened that Karen and Raul were going to be here on vacation from San Diego. So we setup an engagement session in Central Park the day before they were to leave and of course, a big snow storm hit. But it actually fit perfectly for them, Karen and Raul love alternative style so the whole vibe of the snowstorm was great.

becky + errol // SF loves rain

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:44:53 -0800

I flew up to San Francisco a few weeks ago to photograph Becky and Errol, some transplants from SD who are working up in the Bay Area. They are representing their town though, as their wedding is on June 19th, or 619! But as has been the case whenever I fly up to San Francisco for an engagement shoot it begins to rain! But we weathered the storm (literally) and came out with some great photographs, see you back in San Diego Becky and Errol!

april + brian // engaged!

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:25:50 -0800

When women tell you they love you, its usually a good thing. But when women who are engaged tell you they love you, its probably just because of your photography, hahaha. This is the case with April and Brian who are two of sweetest people I have ever met. I am unfortunately already booked for their wedding date but we wanted to work together so here we are with their engagement photographs! Luckily, I referred them to one of my best friends Mary Frances of Floataway Studios for their wedding, so I know they're in good hands!

vanessa + lee // engaged!

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:12:47 -0800

Ah! It's been too long since I've blogged! I'm on a whirlwind tour of the country and am now officially parked in the concrete jungle of New York City until April! There will be another blog about my whole experience that brought me here, but don't worry I will be back in San Diego soon! I have been photographing engagements for the last two weeks, a bunch in San Diego, and one in San Francisco and also one here in the beautiful snow in Central Park (click the links for the Facebook image, blogs for these coming soon!)

But here is a fun shoot I did in East county San Diego with Vanessa and Lee. I just want to thank them for following me into the depths of the mountains with no idea where I was taking them, haha, I love the trust! But the drive was definitely worth it!

After our little trek through the woods, we ended up at the Motor Transport Museum, probably the coolest place on the planet.

venus + doug // engaged!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:49:22 -0800

So I have a certain order in how I do my blog posts, but to save Venus from waiting a few more weeks for her turn, I decided to post it up today so that she won't keep Doug awake with the constant sound of the mouse clicking the refresh button on my blog, haha. So Venus this post is definitely dedicated to you!

tammy + jon // wedding day

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:36:13 -0800

Man, this was a fun wedding. Jon and Tammy and the whole family were so hilarious, I wish I made videos of the whole day.

catherine + eric // engaged!

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:17:15 -0800

Catherine and Eric don't like kissing, so of course I made them kiss as much as possible. Haha, just kidding. We headed over to the University of California, San Diego and visited some of Catherine's old's haunts when she was a student there.

pinch // sneak peek

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:19:14 -0800

2010 begins // sneak peek

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:22:12 -0800

joyce + neil // rainy wedding day!

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:32:18 -0800

Ahh, my last wedding of 2009 was a rainy one, but it didn't deter Joyce and Neil, who braved the rain (and cold) like champs! We started the day off at the Ivy Hotel in downtown San Diego then ended at Admiral Baker for the ceremony/reception.

Joyce and Neil's daughter, little Naida!

A beautiful photograph of Joyce taken by the incomparable Mary Frances.

First look.

The boys getting some juice. Well except for one, haha.

Little prayer before the ceremony.

giving is awesome winner!

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:53:38 -0800

Happy new year everyone!

I received a beautiful story from a woman named Maria about a child named Thomas who was born with a heart condition that keeps him in and out of the hospital. Being fed through a tube, he has displayed a willingness to live to be with his older brother and sister. So through the holidays it took a little longer to get a hold of them as the family was in the hospital with Thomas, but I'm so glad I waited it out as they are definitely deserving of the Giving is Awesome event. Because of Thomas' amazing determination and his family's love, I know our portrait session will be beautiful and also very meaningful to me and hopefully to everyone else.

Thanks again to Maria for introducing me to this beautiful family!

katrina + paul // engaged!

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:58:16 -0800

I headed over to New York with a few friends to just take in the city for a week. So I decided to throw in a little engagement shoot while I was there. I'm not used to shooting in the cold, but Katrina and Paul were definitely worth it!

giving is awesome

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:46:45 -0800

I have joined up for Giving is Awesome, a worldwide photographic giveaway to a family who deserves amazing photographs.

I'm giving $1000 worth of prints/albums to the winning family and the person that nominated them will get a free session from me (valued at $175) as well.

How this works is you nominate a family who deserves photographs. Maybe they are going through some trying times, or they have given so much to others selflessly, or they just have really bad pictures on their wall, haha just kidding.

To nominate others, email me at chaz@chazcruz.com with a great story! The nomination window will be open until December 21st and I will pick a winner on December 23rd. This is a great gift for deserving people, so please spread the word about this to everyone in San Diego.

Here are some portraits that I have taken recently.

brooklyn // sneak peek

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:35:42 -0800

joyce + neil's wedding photobooth

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:31:55 -0800

EDWARD CULLEN!! ATTACK!!