chaz thoughts // the photo blog of chaz cruz

reshele + brent // gamers paradise

Tue, 04 May 2010 09:01:30 -0800

When I booked Reshele and Brent, who are avid gamers (video, board, everything!), I asked Brent "what's your favorite moment spent with Reshele?" He said, "we love going to plays, then after the play, my favorite part is just sitting on the couch in our dress clothes and playing games." To me that was a beautiful answer, it totally defined them and I was excited to capture that reality.

Brent decided to draw me for one of the games, I think its a great likeness, except for the goatee.

embrace // sneak peek

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:56:30 -0800

jenny + isaac // desert love

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:24:36 -0800

When Jenny asked if I was willing to head to Glamis, about 2 hours East of San Diego, for some fun in the desert with an ATV and a bunch of sand dunes, I jumped at the chance. When we arrived, it was one of most serene feelings I ever had, so I was excited to get photographing.

colleen + victor // camp love

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:32:16 -0800

While I was in New York, I photographed an engagement session in New Jersey with Colleen and Victor, whom you might remember, as I photographed his proposal to her after my best friends wedding. We headed out to Camp Fatima, where the two had first met.

The step where they first discussed getting together and Colleen still had a boyfriend, good job Victor!

rose + joe // weddingland

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:32:10 -0800

I went up to Los Angeles to photograph an intimate wedding with Rose and Joe, who I have to say, may be the two cutest people in the entire universe. I don't normally go for the super cutesy shots, but I just couldn't help myself with these two. I spent the day photographing the wedding, then the next day we headed out to Lucille's BBQ where they went on their first date. After that, we headed to Disneyland where Joe had proposed to Rose, then the cheese factor went way up. Haha, enjoy the photographs and watch the slideshow of all the images at the end.

mickey // sneak peek

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:17:44 -0800

Shot an intimate wedding in Los Angeles today with Joe and Rose, off to Disneyland tomorrow for their post wedding session, I think they really like that place.

its TK time!

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:57:46 -0800

Last year, I worked with a good friend of mine, Toe-Knee "TK" Nguyen for an editorial shoot for a new magazine which didn't launch, so I held on these images until now. TK is nightlife promoter in Los Angeles and San Diego with his company, Victory Nightlife. We did the shoot at Thin/Onyx in downtown San Diego, which is one of the mainstays for TK's parties. We made use of the club in the daytime, which was definitely a change of pace from the craziness at night. A big thanks to Desiree for setting up and styling the shoot and Dominic for the assist.

street etiquette

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:36:16 -0800

Happy Easter everyone! I'm finally back from New York and wanted to post up an entry with the stylish duo that make up Street Etiquette, Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs. I met these two at Self Edge in New York and when they walked in, I knew I had to work with these fellas. They were recently featured in GQ as well as Urban Outfitters online, their style is amazing, they bring back style inspired by vintage photographs. We focused on the saddle shoe for our shoot, so after photographing them I definitely want to pick up a pair for myself. Definitely check out their website and enjoy the photos and a big thanks to Shannon Sturgis for photographing along with me.

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.