Happy Holidays from Studio J!

From everyone at Studio J, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May your holiday season be everything you hope for.

SoCal Photography Group Brings the Ultimate Shootout Back to Studio J

The SoCal Photography Group once again swarmed Studio J today. Approximately 50 models and photographers along with a full makeup and hair styling crew came in to take advantage of the urban/industrial setting of the East Village studio for their Ultimate Shootout 8 – and what turned out to be Studio J’s final big photo shoot.

SoCal Photography Group at Studio J

Jose Farias by Mark Rosales

This summary from the SCPG blog:

The Big Shot of the Day comes from first-time SCPGer, Mark Rosales! His shot of Jose Farias and a silhouetted mystery model (shown at left) shows some excellent light capture and editing to give it the final cinematic punch. Second place goes to Aiza Giron, whose shot of Josh Noblejas in mid-air and surrounded by wisps of light shows that a little graphic design doesn’t hurt Third place is Ryan Rivera’s shot of Alyssa Lerner with some amazing hair & makeup done by Kiefla Antonio and Veronica Deleon.

Studio J would like to thank the SoCal Photography Group for their support. We truly enjoyed hosting you, and especially seeing the great images produced at Studio J. FYI, the SoCal Photography Group can also be found on Facebook.

Holiday Rental Savings

Studio J would like to wish our friends and customers a Happy Thanksgiving, and best wishes for a great holiday season. As our way of giving back, we will be offering a 25% discount on rentals from now until Christmas. This space is perfect for photography, classes, workshops, mixers, fairs, bazaars, and other events. For more details, please call the studio at 858-964-4664. Happy Holidays!

Mona Lisa Boutique Holds Popular Fashion Friday at Studio J

A full house occupied Studio J tonight as Mona Lisa Boutique brought together 5 designers for a well-organized show. William Morton helped transform the studio into a stage and runway, with almost two dozen models showing off the latest local fashion. In between the designers, entertainment included music artists and dancers. DJ Here Productions helped MC the show for the near capacity crowd. For more information, visit Mona Lisa Boutique on Facebook.

Studio J set up for a fashion show	Near-capacity crowd lines the red carpet
A singer entertains the crowd at Studio J	Fashion model poses on the Studio J stage

William Morton Demos Lensbabies

William Morton (of Morton Visuals photography) visited Nelson Photo Supplies in La Jolla today to lead a free seminar on Lensbabies.

Digital Photo Academy's free Lensbaby seminar at Nelson Photo Supplies in La Jolla

Lensbaby is a sponsor of the Digital Photo Academy, for whom William teaches Photoshop classes and NIK Software workshops. On this Saturday morning, 23 attendees joined in while William demonstrated each of the Lensbabies along with their optics system – followed by an opportunity to take them out on a La Jolla photo safari. The students loved not only the opportunity to learn about all the Lensbaby options, but the chance to actually give a Composer a free “test drive.” Each participant returned and printed three of their favorite images captured with a Lensbaby, from which 10 winners will be selected to have 11x14s printed (courtesy of Nelson Photo) and displayed in the front window of the store for the month.

Organizer Tony Amat of Nelson Photo reported that the event was definitely a success, and is already planning a sequel at Nelson’s downtown (Little Italy) store in early November. If you haven’t tried them out, this is a great opportunity to add some creative images to your bag of tricks! Accompanying photos are courtesy of Tony Amat and Patrick Gooden.

William Morton describes Lensbaby opportunities

William Morton leads the Nelson Photo class

Morton Visuals Photographs Isagenix Celebration

"Believe" stage setup for opening session
Jim Coover gives the thumbs-up	Isagenix convention opening
Rhythm Nation warms up the Isagenix crowd
Renowned speaker Les Brown motivates

William Morton Visuals photographed the Celebration 2010 convention for Isagenix. Isagenix, the world leader in nutritional cleansing and replenishing, put on a world-class 3-day event at the San Diego Convention Center.

Titled Celebration 2010, the daily themes were Believe, Achieve, and Decide. Merestone Event Productions created a stage show encompassing each, with a light show worthy of any Las Vegas venue.

Rhythm Nation warmed up the crowd for the grand entrance of Jim & Kathy Coover, the President and Executive Vice President of Isagenix. Notable speakers included the legendary Les Brown, who provided a very inspirational speech to the attendees.

Corporate Convention Photographers Cover APA

Corporate Convention Photographers, based out of Studio J, covered this year’s convention of the American Psychological Association held at the San Diego Convention Center. The busy schedule included numerous meetings and presentations, as well as notable speakers such as former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. A major topic of the convention was marriage equality, particularly well-received here in California after recent court rulings. The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus lightened things up with a performance on opening night.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter	Dr. Carol Goodheart opens the convention
Attendees hear speakers on marriage equality	San Diego Gay Men's Chorus performs

Groundbreaking of the new downtown Central Library

Studio J owner William Morton photographed today’s ceremonies surrounding the groundbreaking of San Diego’s new downtown Central Library. The site of the new library is directly across the street from the studio, and is visible from our west windows. Plenty of local politicians and VIPs were on hand, a few of which are shown below. Mayor Jerry Sanders led the ceremonies, with VIPs ranging from local city council members to Sen. Christine Kehoe and former Gov. Pete Wilson. Dr. Irwin Jacobs, founder of Qualcomm and a major donor to the library project, spoke to the crowd with his wife Joan. A surprisingly large crowd was on hand, including basketball legend Bill Walton.

Mayor Sanders greets VIPs and guests downtown	Donors Irwin and Joan Jacobs speak
Gov. Pete Wilson attends the ceremonies	Mayor Sanders hosts the day's ceremonies
VIPs break ground for the downtown Central Library	Mayor Sanders jokes with NBA star Bill Walton

Morton Visuals Shoots the Siemens Smartchopper

William Morton worked with photojournalist James Aronovsky tonight to photograph convention guests posing with Paul Teutul Sr. (of Orange County Choppers and the American Chopper TV show). Guests of the AHA Leadership Summit got a chance to pose with Paul Sr. and the Siemens OCC Smartchopper, an all-electric custom motorcycle, on the pool deck of the nearby Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

Paul Teutul Sr with the OCC Siemens Smartchopper

During the only brief pause in the line of fans, Paul Sr. gave William a smile and a thumbs-up. Morton Visuals, assisted by Tammela Loy of Photos by Tamme, shot 286 portraits in a hectic 2-hour period, eventually printing 400 4×6 and 5×7 prints for the excited guests to take home with them.

Studio J Hosts Passion Party

Studio J was the scene for a fun-filled Passion Party last night! Approximately 40 ladies came in to East Village for a ladies’ night out. The ladies were pampered with massages, a make over, and a chance to sit for their own beauty shoot. After their glamor transformation, the ladies got a chance to splurge on lingerie from Mona Lisa Boutique and jewelry by Mia. A few brave ladies tried on some lingerie and posed for portraits by Second Glance Photography. With the assistance of products from Passion Parties by Nicky and a few lessons on how to work it from eByResa, the ladies were ready to head home for a night of romance!

Scissors and Guns

Ladies enjoy Passion shopping at Studio J
Lingerie model owns East Village	Modeling custom jewelry and lingerie
Boudoir photography by Second Glance

Hostess Nicky LaVoie brought in a variety of vendors to cater to the ladies’ needs:

• Passion Parties, the premier sensual products company
• Fashion from Mona Lisa Boutique
• Custom jewelry by Mia
• Hair and makeup by Amy of Scissors and Guns
• Striptease and lap dancing lessons from eByResa
• Massage by Hired Hands Massage
• Glamour and boudoir photography demonstrations by Second Glance

To learn more about any of these vendors, please visit their links above.