Xavier Bailey Photography

Sean and Mairead

2010-03-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

From Time to time, I get invited by other great photographers to come along with them to capture the beautiful moments of a wedding day. Working with other photographers keeps my reflexes sharp, and inspires me in so many ways. This is part of what makes my job so much fun!
Sean and Mairead's wedding was just such an occasion. I was invited by my good friend Lisa, of Elle G Photography, to be a part of her shoot and contribute some of my images to her mix.

Sean and Mairead were married at the beautiful Sacred Heart Church on Coronado Island.

San Diego Style Weddings Magazine release party

2009-10-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Dena Malasek sure knows how to throw a party! Dena is the publisher of San Diego Style Weddings Magazine.
I was recently asked by Dena to come and photograph the magazine's annual release party. I jumped at the opportunity to mingle with all of San Diego's best wedding vendors, and to photograph all the fun and beauty of the event. I really love her publication because it is a wealth of resources for the discerning bride. All of San Diego's best wedding professionals in one book! Keep an eye out for my full page ad in the next issue of the magazine.
This year's party had a nautical theme and was held at the fabulous Loews Coronado Bay Resort. Seashells and starfish were everywhere, and there was even a 15 foot tall, working lighthouse in the middle of the ballroom! This party was so much fun!
The Xceptional Music Company provided a dream team of high energy performers, on a massive stage, with a light show to knock your socks off.
And if that weren't enough fun, there was a magician, a photo booth, a cigar lounge, party donuts, and some of the most exquisite catering in town. (see a complete list of event sponsors below)
The entire event was beautifully coordinated by Liz Beck of Liz Beck Events.

This magnificent event was made possible by the talents of these fine wedding professionals:

San Diego Style Weddings Magazine

www.sandiegostyleweddings.com

Chameleon Chairs & Classic Party Rentals

www.classicpartyrentals.com

Cigar Vera Cruz

www.cigarsveracruz.com

Concepts Event Design

www.conceptseventdesign.com

Continental Catering

www.continentalcateringsd.com

EuroBar Espresso

www.eurobarespresso.com

Eye-on mobile

www.eye-onmobile.com

Kathy Wright & Co.

www.kathywrightandco.com

Kevin Viner Magic & Illusion

www.kevinvinermagic.com

Lee Galloway

www.leegalloway.com

Liz Beck Events

www.lizbeckevents.com

Loews Coronado Bay Resort

www.loewshotels.com

Lounge Appeal

www.loungeappeal.com

Party Donuts

www.partydonuts.com

Sweet Cheeks Baking Co.

www.sweetcheeksbaking.com

Taylor Films

www.taylorfilms.com

The Xceptional Music Company

www.xceptionalmusic.com

TK&A Catering

www.tka-catering.com

Way Cool Rentals

www.waycoolrentals.com

White Wedding Day Events

www.whiteweddingdayevents.com

Wilson Creek Winery

www.wilsoncreekwinery.com

Xavier Bailey Photography

www.xavierbailey.com

Julie & Nick in the park

2009-09-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

What a lovely day to take a picture.
I am fortunate to be able to photograph in beautiful weather and beautiful locations year round in San Diego. And recently I had the pleasure of capturing dear friends Julie and Nick in the sweet time of their engagement. Julie is herself an artist and wanted to be surrounded by the beautiful art and architecture that is Balboa Park.
We had a blast playing and wandering through the park. I was so happy to see that Julie brought along her childhood companion, Kermit. I'm a big Kermit fan, and had one just like Julie's when I was a child.
We're gonna get along just fine!
Julie and Nick, I can't wait to rock some beautiful wedding day pictures of you two on the boat!

Romance at the river

2009-05-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from a very fun Memorial Day weekend at the Colorado River with a bunch of great friends! We camped, we floated, we ate, we drank, we drummed and danced and sang around the fire.

And we helped two of our dearest friends become engaged in a most special way!

A week earlier, Justin had enlisted the creative help of my lovely fiancee Kerry. He asked Kerry to create the letters that would spell out his proposal to the love of his life, Georgeanne.

Kerry was touched and honored, as she and Georgeanne are best friends.

The secret was kept all week and on Sunday, word spread through the camp to meet at the river shore for the special moment.

Justin escorted Georgeanne down to the water and, to her surprise, she was met by her closest friends spelling out " Will you marry me?" in letters lovingly created by Kerry, as Justin got down on bended knee and offered her the most beautiful heart shaped geode crystal.

The whole camp looked on, and afterwards, tears and hugs were shared by all.

And to bless this event, the newly engaged couple took a plunge in the river as friends splashed and showered them with love.

Georgeanne continued to receive heart shaped rocks (her favorite) throughout the day as little gifts from Justin.

After that, all the river stones looked heart shaped :)

Sneaky Kerry

Congratulations Georgeanne and Justin!

And thank you for letting Kerry and I be a part of it.

Snails are beautiful

2009-05-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, snails. -So much going on right now. - As you know I am engaged to the most beautiful woman and mother, Kerry. Well, she has the most brilliant 7 year old daughter, Annaliese.
And Annaliese has recently discovered snails to be the most fascinating of creatures.

She had taken to collecting them as pets in little baby food jars, when I gave her a 'bug box' for her birthday last weekend.

She and her sleepover friends proceeded to fill the box with over 100 snails.
100 pet snails!

Thank you Kerry for grabbing this shot!

Luckily for the snails, Annaliese received two pet hermit crabs for her birthday. Attention has shifted, and I'm happy to report that all the snails have been released to the wild.

- Except for two, which stayed behind and seem to like living in the box.

Watch your step.

Destination, Texas

2009-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Been a very busy April for me and I am sorry that I have not yet shared some of the fabulous images I have had the pleasure to create.

So, let's get started with Mike and Brittany!
I was asked by Mike and Brittany to come out to Texas and photograph their wedding in Georgetown, just north of Austin.

Mike is from San Diego, and I have known his family for some time, so I was honored to be a part of his wedding day.
Brittany's family is also from California and have recently transplanted to Texas. It seems most of the wedding party and guests were all from California.

The ceremony took place on Easter Sunday in the oldest building in Georgetown, Old Grace Church, built in 1881. The wedding date held special meaning as it was Brittany's late grandmother's birthday. Her favorite yellow butterflies were everywhere.

The reception was held at the Walburg german restraurant in Walburg (population 250).
There was excellent german food, beer, and a great house band that played country swing and a few german folk dances.

I am always amazed at the variety in weddings and grateful for the variety of weddings I get to photograph. It's shoots like this that keep it fresh for me.

A real Texan!

Brittany and her horse, Thor

Niki in Balboa Park

2009-03-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day in Balboa Park. Made even more beautiful by the lovely bride I got to photograph. Niki flew in special from Salt Lake City for our session and arrived fully dressed with hair and makeup done.

Niki and Ross will be married on April 25, 2009 at the Hyatt Recency Mission Bay with a nautical reception aboard the Emerald Hornblower . Judging from this session, we are gonna have a blast!

Instead of having what's become a traditional engagement portrait session with the couple, Niki opted for a special bridal portrait session.
Ross is going to love these! but don't tell him - he has promised to wait until the wedding day to see them.

San Juan Capistrano with Nora

2009-02-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

I recently took a day trip with my 13 year old daughter, Nora. Just the two of us, some father - daughter time. We jumped on the Amtrak Surfliner train and headed up to San Juan Capistrano for the day. A short and sweet train ride along the coast dropped us just across the street from the Mission San Juan Capistrano. We took the self tour and had a great time exploring the mission and taking some photos.

We happened to visit on a day when the staff dress in period costume, so this made for some timeless photographs.

I would highly recommend this easy trip to anybody wanting to get away for the day - No driving, and a fun little town to explore!

Reece

2009-02-08T23:05:00.000-08:00

I just found out that I will be photographing the wedding of a musical friend of mine! He goes by Reece, and he is one talented artist.

Reece is a soulful R&B singer as well as a masterful producer and musician. He has been working hard on tracks for an upcoming album and the samples I heard really knocked my socks off!

These rather slick photos are from a shoot we did in the Gaslamp District of downtown San Diego. We had a great time creating these promotional images, so I was excited when Reece asked If I would photograph one of the most important days in his life. I'm sure he'll flash more smiles for his wedding pictures :)

I just love photographing other artists. Musicians, dancers, singers, craftsmen, you name it. All very inspiring for me.

Reece and his lovely fiancee Evita will be married on April 4th at Tom Ham's Lighthouse.

Looking forward to it.

Here's a little sample of Reece...

Tracey and Joel - The Prado

2009-01-26T21:09:00.001-08:00

Since My blog is so spankin' new, I have not had a chance to share with you some of my favorite wedding couples and images from 2008. So I thought I would start with Tracey and Joel.
What a fabulous couple they are. - Truly meant for each other.

Tracey is very creative and detail oriented. So, of course, all the details and settings for her day were beautiful.

The ceremony was held at St. John the Evangelist Church in San Diego.

The reception took place at the The Prado in Balboa Park - A very romantic setting.

One of the biggest and best cakes ever! by Flour Power with flowers by Organic Elements

Joel actually proposed to Tracey by spelling out 'Will you marry me' on the Scrabble board.

The event was coordinated by Crown Weddings, so everything was just perfect.

Tracey's band NRG rocked the house and kept the energy in the room way up!

I enlisted the help of photograher friend Lisa Gisczinski on this wedding. We sure had fun!

There were so many great images from this wedding, I just had to make it into a show...

Light Painting

2009-01-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm at it again. Made time this weekend to create some of my light paintings. They are photographs - of a sort. And paintings in a way. I call them light paintings because I really feel I have painted them with my camera.
They are part of an ongoing series of fine art pieces which I'm now beginning to exhibit in the art community.

This one was made over the weekend.

These two were exhibited recently at the Arts to Hearts Art Show in Oceanside benefiting Toys for Thailand.

A few others from past sessions...

Several pieces are 24"x36" mounted metallic prints. And I have plans to create even larger prints!
I see them as 6'x9' installations or bigger. Yeah, bigger!

It's very freeing to create these images. - To fall into a palette of colors, textures and light. To dance with it for a split second and emerge with images formed where our energies converge. These photographs are not just captured. They are created and experienced.

Would love to read your comments.

Bridal Bazaar

2009-01-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

I spent last Saturday exhibiting my work at the San Diego Bridal Bazaar. My fiancee, Kerry was there at my side. We had a great time talking with so many wonderful and interesting brides and grooms to be.
A bridal show is an excellent place to get fresh ideas for your wedding. Things you may never have thought of or even knew existed. It's also a great place to meet and talk with many of the vendors you will be working with on your wedding day and sample their work. I personally sampled several tasty cakes and chocolate fountains. I love chocolate fountains! If I'll be photographing your wedding, I hope you have a chocolate fountain :)

Thank you so much to all those who stopped by my booth to chat or take a card. I hope to be talking with many of you soon about photographing your fabulous wedding.

Inauguration Day 2009

2009-01-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

What a strange and wonderful day to start my brand new blog.
A day filled with history and spectacle. Watching on TV, I wished I could be down on the National Mall with everyone else, freezing and rejoicing. The images passing before my eyes today span the full range of human emotion. I was moved as I watched and listened. And I was happy and proud to include myself among those who see a brighter tomorrow full of healing change.
What a wonderfully hopeful time in our nation's history.

Well, that's it - I'm off to the ball...
Happy Inauguration Day!
Welcome Barack