Boni images

Humble request

2010-07-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

oops! I mean http://blog.boniimages.com/

Finally done! Now comes the hard part.

2010-04-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

After 3 ½ long months and countless hours getting the business ready, our new wedding/portrait and events portfolio sites are up and ready for business!

I want to take a moment to thank a few people. I want to thank Suzanne Sease (Suzannesease.com) for her invaluable help with creating a new brand, creating a marketing focus for the year, and for her blatant honestly. I want to thank Cali and J at Livebooks for their abundant talents and knowledge. I want to thank all the beautiful people who have allowed us the honor of taking their photographs, and Dalton Gaudin (daltongaudin.com) our new go-to videographer guru for his super duper video skills, and creating a “kick ass” promo video. An extra special THANK YOU goes out to Emily, for putting up with all our demands on her time, and going along with all our crazy ideas; thank you lady.

When you have a chance, please take a look at our new WEDDING/PORTRAIT site and our EVENTS site. Please let us know what you think (good, bad or any improvements we can make).

Xoxox

Ashton & Stephanie

Bubbles and String

2010-04-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

When I get an image stuck in my head it usually stays there until I flush it out. This time I saw purple bubbles and string. The details become clear when I start setting them free.

The next image rolling around in my head are elephants and a Sambo's diner...I'm in trouble!

Our promo video for our new site

2010-04-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry! The link to our promo video on our last post didn't show. Do over!

Here it is.

Our article in Photo Technique magazine

2010-04-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

I decided to put my 10 years of photography experience on paper and see if any magazines would be interested in what I had to say. The angle I chose was, “How nightclub photography can enhance a portfolio.”

When Paul Schranz (the editor of Photo Technique Magazine) contacted me the first thing I said was, “Who the hell is this!?” When he finally convinced me of who he was by describing the photographs I had sent in detail, I knew he wasn’t kidding on who he was. The first thing I did was apologize for cussing at him, then I took on the assignment. After many edits and expansions I think I finally had an article I was happy with. I think the toughest thing about the assignment was which photos I wanted to show.

I also want to take this moment to thank all the boys at Nitevibe: Sam, Daniel, and Bennett. Thank you for teaching me what you know and for letting me be as crazy as I wanted.

To see the complete article click HERE.

Next blog will be the release of our new and improved website. I’m so excited! We have a new brand, a new direction, a new marketing schem, and a portfolio that’s hopefully best presents our work. I can’t wait to show you guys! Here is the promo video we got back from our video guru Dalton Gaudin(daltongaudin.com)

This one time, at Pier 39…

2010-03-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was extra fun. Ashton and I travelled back to San Francisco to shoot the “Meet Us” video for our new website. That meant getting up at 6:30am and getting home at 11:30pm, and spending the hours in between being completely crazy. While Ashton can do anything (or nothing at all for that matter) in front of a camera, I have horrible stage fright, and freeze up completely if someone is filming me. My place is behind the camera, not in front of it!

Our cameraman du jour (Dalton Gaudin) was amazing though, and made the task of spitting complete sentences out so easy, even I managed to look good. I think. We started the shoot at Circolo; a rather posh restaurant/ultralounge in Potrero Hill. Great atmosphere and talent made things go very smoothly.

I must say that being inside a nighttime hangout during the day was surreal, and surprisingly clean. We stopped for a super yummy Asian-fusion lunch at Fang’s (upscale sister restaurant to House of Nanking), then made our way to Pier 39.

I swear; none of the tourists who were there that day had ever seen a bride before! People kept staring at our brave bride as we worked our way down the pier to the carousel. Of course the red furry boots and pink kitty-cat umbrella might have had something to do with the odd looks…

After working our magic on the waterfront, we hopped across the Bay to Emeryville, where we took over the instant-photo booth and kicked all the children out of the ball-pit at the public market. As a quick aside, I’m sure that one particular woman is trying, at this very moment, to find out which German reality TV show we were filming… At the end of the day I felt that the video shoot was a success, even with my Kevin Costner-like performance, and we had yet more amazing photos to add to our collection. Maybe I’ll move to LA and become a movie star now…

More to come about our new site.

A car full of circus clowns!

2009-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

In November, I visited Emily again and FINALLY got around to the second part of her photo layout. Honestly, I never get tired of taking pictures of her; she is so unique! As usual, wherever we went to take pictures, other people were taking pictures of us. By the time I’m done with her, she’s going to be famous around SF.

So… The last time I shot Emily (as Buttons the raver) the photos were crazy, colorful and fun, but this time the flavor was definitely more low-key and serious. We mixed things up with a combination of street clothes and costumes, and revisited Hippy Hill as well as digging up a couple new locations. I even put Emily behind bars at one point!! For her own good, of course.

Shooting Emily is like packing your car full of circus clowns; open the door and watch all the different personalities come rushing out. She can be anything I need her to be, and do it in style. Honestly, the photos I take don’t really do her justice. As much as I like them, they only capture the visual aspect of Miss Emily and omit her contagious laugh and the way she capers down the street. I want to be like her when I grow up!

To see the rest of the photos click here.

Hollywood Undead

2009-11-21T09:17:00.001-08:00

I had the honor to shoot this band for a print ad and there concert. These guys are amazing and there a great bunch of guys!

I did my research before the shoot and they are blowing up! They recently got signed with A&M. They have over 34 million hits on there Myspace. People are tattooing their lyrics on their bodies. They have tons of stuff selling on Ebay and there all over the web. They had over 20K people at there concert!

I think the nicest cat was Funny man (that’s his stripper name and the tall guy singing on the mic). He told me his real name but I forgot :( He was kind enough to give us there latest CDs (I would have been happy with a ripped one) and a T-Shirt at the concert. Kind and appreciative is what rock stars should be.

Having spent most of the day and into the evening with these guys they lead a fun and exciting lifestyle. It's a dream come true. They've earned it.

Click here to see the rest of the photos

Obrigado!

2009-11-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

I shot Adrianne & Amits wedding at the Bellevue club in Lake Merritt last week. What a great day! I had the area scouted out for the post ceremony shots but didn’t realize how beautiful this building is!

I never had to leave the building for anything. It had so many beautiful spots; 20 foot ceilings, rolling stair cases, a mezzanine, a swimming pool, and a gorgeous balcony that’s connected to their suite.

I don’t think I’ve met such a happy couple. These two people really know how to live and enjoy the moment.

I’m blessed to have been the photographer for there special day. Obrigado to them.

Click here to see the rest of the photos.

Whose dad are you?

2009-11-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

I've photographed many Halloween parties in the past 10 years, and it was quite refreshing to shoot my 11 year old daughter's halloween dance for her school.

There were no drunks, sleazy women, and club drama to deal with, just some mild emo. Who doesn't like that?!

The kids kept asking, "Whose dad are you?" I told them Bloody Marys. Adorable isn't she? My wife did an awesome job "uglying" her up.

My favorite costume (next to my daughters) was the robot dancing Charlie Chaplin LOL! Click to see the complete gallery

“Holy Crap! We look like Destiny's Child!!”

2009-10-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Shooting the Origin bellydancing troupe reminded me of why I take photographs, I love shooting people specially people who know how to move. This troupe definitely knows how to move!

I couldn’t have found a better person to assist me on this shoot or any other shoot. She knows what I want before I even ask for it. I have so many things racing trough my mind when I’m photographing: is the lighting right, do they think I suck, how many pounds are in a kilo, is my fly down. She keeps an eye on things that I miss. She’s my amazing and beautiful wife Steph.

Origin is comprised of a main troupe and a student troupe called Basis. We watched them the other day performing at one of their shows. What a treat! It got my wife hooked on bellydancing and she’s planning on taking their classes in January. Lucky for me; right?!

The main lesson I learned from this layout is to let talented people do what they do best. After I got the conceptual stuff out of the way I just let them fly. They flew really high! The best photos came from there freedom to do what they felt was right.

When I showed Sarah (leader of Origin) the photos she said, “Holy Crap! We look like Destiny’s Child!” I think they look better, bootyliciously better!

To see the entire gallery click here

CAR!!

2009-10-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Shooting Dolomite and Phenixx was crazy fun! It started in and around Dolomite’s home; he has the most insane bathroom ever! It was covered with mirrors so it made an interesting shoot about.

We drove for almost an hour (not really but it felt like it) looking for the right railroad track that worked. The original idea had to be scratched due to bad lighting. Damn you sun!

Then came that pain in the ass graffiti wall. It was situated in a busy ally way next to a coffee shop, so we had to put one of the assistants on car duty. Every 5 minutes we would hear “CAR!” and we would have to get out of the way. But it was worth it

Last location was those cool railroad cars in old Sac. All aboard Mr. DJ! Next stop Funky town!

Check out the rest of the gallery

Shooting Buttons

2009-09-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

I love assisting Steph on her layouts. I learn so much about myself when I’m with her. We shot Emily around SF and it was fun to hear the comments from the passerby’s, hey baby! freak! And you look beautiful! I think they were talking about me but I can’t confirm that.

One of the locations was Hippy Park in GGP and there was a music festival going on and surprisingly Emily was underdressed.

We didn’t have time to bring to life the other ideas Steph had so a round two is in order. We are gonna pull out the trampoline!

BTW Buttons is Emily’s raver name.
Check out the gallery

"Get out or I'll call the police!"

2009-08-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Shooting in a junk yard brings me back to my high school years where going where I’m not suppose to be was a common occurrence. Nothing like “get out or I’ll call the police!” to get the blood going. But that’s my motto; “do it until someone kicks you out.”

Daniel wanted to get some good shots so he can submit them to a modeling agency. I think he has what it takes. If not, he might have a future in gay porn. Baby steps of course…International male?!?!

The water was my idea. Nothing says “buy me” than wet clothing!

View the gallery

My first blog...I hope I don't suck

2009-07-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy week of shooting. Taking photos of Mari and Brendan was so much fun! It got us back to Lake Tahoe which Steph and I are quickly growing to love more and more; so many pretty locations. I can't wait for round three with these guys! They're getting married again in Brazil in December and I'm shooting their wedding. I'm gonna do my best to remember all the tips that Mari taught me so I can fit in better; Never touch the food your eating, never ask for a doggy bag, and don't burp....I think I'm screwed :)

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Shooting Yuliya and Daniel was lots of fun too. They look so beautiful together. I hope he doesn't screw it up. We always screw it up don't we?! I'm glad the weather cooperated with us. Well, except for one location where I wanted them in the shallow pool but, I didn't realize it was high tide and that blew that location. But, no worries they want to shoot again and I have some other ideas in mind for them. It involves lots of colorful balls, wreckage and lots of H2O...

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