Friday, July 22, 2011

The Old Turns New

 Famous for its eclectic bundle of world renowned restaurants, Yountville, CA, has a new ambitious winery with old roots in town; Somerston Winery. Their tasting room located at 6490 Washington Street holds Somerston's three amazing labels, Somerston, Priest Ranch, and Highflyer. I am 99.9% certain that I have tasted every wine that Somerston offers and I am yet to be disappointed, but if you go, which you should, do not pass on the chance to taste the Somerston 2007 Cabernet. My professional description of this power packed Cab, is lots of yummy for my tummy!

While your at Somerston tasting room take advantage of their wine club, set up a date to do their world class Off Road Vineyard Experience, or book your next event at their amazing outdoor lounge area or beautiful balcony with a gorgeous view of Yountville and the Napa Valley.  I am positive that Somerston will exceed your expectations, and that is coming from a person who lives for amazing experiences!

If you would like to know more about Somerston and get a more in-depth look at what they have to offer, please visit their website @ www.somerstonwineco.com. 

I would like to thank my friend Lamar Engel and his team for their amazing knowledge and kindness at every visit, and if you would like to check out the amazingness of wine even further then check out Lamar's blog at http://azombiesguidetowine.tumblr.com. 

So on that note, thanks for reading and revisiting. Please drink responsibly and Live, Love, and Never look back!

Sincerely, 
Jared Teska


 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Humanities Cry

In our world today humanities cry for help is so loud that even those who don’t want to hear are feeling the vibrations of its call. It is breaking through the walls of division, and cultures are uniting together to fight against those who are committing inhumane acts against others. I am honored to be apart of Mark 16:15 International, a team of people who believe in bringing justice, equality, compassion, and provision to those in need. From what started to be a project to help widows in need, has now become a mission to provide, protect, and love on the widows, orphans, and the fatherless worldwide. This is a call that requires more then just a group of passionate people. It requires thousands of committed people, resources, and finances to make this call come to fruition. Here are a few images that I took of the people we are helping across the world. If you would like to support our team’s efforts please visit our website at www.solstarministries.com. 
Thank you for your time and support! 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Summer Love

Greg and Kate rocked my world with their fun and spunky attitudes. Even with the sun blazing and virtually no real shade to escape to, they both kept positive attitudes and were determined to not let anything ruin their special day. Armed with a cigar bar, bartender at hand, and amazing food and cake, one thing was for sure, there was about to be a slammin party! 

Thanks for letting me be apart of your special day :)  

Friday, April 22, 2011

Trashion Fashion

On April 10th I had the honor of joining my friends Kate Easterling, Candace McDaniel, and Kim Juberg at the Trashion Fashion show in San Francisco put on by the Aveda institute, to show off their beautiful creation on the runway. Before the show we had the chance to snap some fun and artistic shots in the city. Despite the short amount of time to shoot, my tumble down the escalator and forgetting my oh so important reflector. I feel like these shots came out awesome and that Kate looked amazing! Candace a widely talented artist, Aveda stylist, designer and seamstress designed the beautiful dress out of 100% recycled  products. She also designed Kate's amazing hair minus the corks(that was my idea :)) But Kate wouldn't be as radiant as she was in these shots if it wasn't for Kim who rocked out the make-up for the shoot. All of the profits made from the show went to the California clean water fund. Which was most worthy of our time and money.

So to you amazing men and woman who contributed to this show, I am proud of you for standing up for something worth while, and committing a selfless act for nature and humanity.

I hope you enjoy the shots! :)

All hair and beauty products used in this shoot and runway show was AVEDA products.





 

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Leonard & Elyse


  I first met Leonard in the Philippines a couple of years ago on a photojournalism trip. A few  days into the trip, I had a dream of him saying his vows to my friend Elyse. I decided to wait a few days to tell him but the next night I had the same dream again. So I told him I knew the woman he was going to marry....yes that is a really brave thing to say I know, but I did it anyways. After he saw her picture he said "that's great but I live in Manila and L.A. and she lives in Northern, CA, plus I'm not really trying to get married any time soon. So we left it at that. Months later he called me and told me he was going to be moving up to Vacaville, CA, where of course Elyse was located. I laughed because I knew it was meant to be. To make a long story short, a brake up later, Elyse and Leonard were dating and in no time Leonard  knew he had loved Elyse since the day he saw her beautiful face in Manila. He of course asked her to marry him and she of course said yes. I am so honored to have been apart of their journey from the very beginning. The wedding was amazing and they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. I can't wait to do the Maternity pictures! lol

Leonard and Elyse got married at Cornerstone Sonoma in Napa Valley, CA. If you are looking for a beautiful place I highly recommend Cornerstone Sonoma. Their property is amazing full of breathtaking landscapes, art and textured backgrounds, best of all they can accommodate any size wedding or event.    

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hello all!










Wow! What a few months! I am two weeks from being done with school until January of 2011 and I am in desperate need of a brake. It has been a crazy summer, but I am super blessed to be this busy in such a crappy economy.

I have to say that Wedding's are awesome! I love them, even with all the stress that comes with the day. There's nothing more rewarding then seeing the grooms watering eyes as he watches his beautiful and radiant bride walking down the isle. Knowing that his life will never be the same but better then it could have ever been alone. To see the bride so delicate and anxious, ready to get on with her new life and show this man she's chosen what he could never have without her. To capture these moments are an honor and a privilege. I am so lucky to be able to shoot so many different types of weddings, it never gets old.

Well I will be back soon to give you brides some awesome tips for your up and coming weddings! Until then for all of you out there don't forget to live, love, and never look back!

God Bless

Thursday, January 7, 2010



I would first like to thank the following people for making this shoot possible. Julija Zukova, owner of Zukova Boutique, for giving us these awesome clothes. They were perfect and we couldn't of done it without your support. Molly Mcculloch for shoot styling, hair and make-up. She was absolutely amazing and adapted to all the changes that came at us that day, from rain to location. To our amazing model Jaynell Breshears. She was the best model ever! Not one complaint came from her mouth the whole day and we all were freezing our asses off. Actually I'm pretty sure I was complaining the most, lol! Plus Jaynell just rocked the shoot. She listened to every direction attentively and it showed in her shots. Last but not least, Emmie Alderton for assisting me with all the photography and taking action shots of the shoot. You are an amazing photographer and I am proud to have been able to work with you on this shoot. Thank You.

I actually got the idea for this shoot from Tim Burton's Edward Scissor Hands. I chose to approach the shots like old Polaroid film. So I created some old 1970's Polaroid filters in photoshop, and based everything else after that. Molly helped me develop the look on the shoot like the bike and umbrella. We also wanted the hair to not be so perfect. So she gave Jaynell some volume and texture, but still let some of the hair fall where it may. We really wanted to utilize Jaynell's textured hair. You see too much cookie cut perfection in fashion shots now days. So we went against the grain and kept it as natural as possible. At the end I got this really cool textured feel to the pictures. I was really happy with our
end result. We were able to get this really dark, eerie Gothic English countryside look, but still kept it fashionable in so many ways. It was so much fun working with the girls and I can't wait to do another shoot with them!
Equipment and Software used for this shoot: white sheet reflector, Canon 5D (with a 24-70 mm 2.8 lens), Mac Pro, and Photoshop CS3.
Location: It's a secret "he,he,he."
Any of the clothes seen here can be purchased at Zukova Boutique in downtown Vacaville, CA.
Thanks again, everyone. You were awesome!