Bulov Family Portraits

I had the honor of doing a portrait session for the Bulov family this past weekend, right on Rincon Beach just south of Santa Barbara. I've known Mark and his wife Amanda for almost 9 years now. They moved away and just recently moved back to Santa Barbara so when he gave me a call and asked if I was available to photograph their family reunion, I said of course; I would've moved mountains to be available. My good friend Karen was in town so it was perfect timing, 2 for 1!

They are such an amazing family and they took us in like long lost children. I couldn't thank them enough for their hospitality. Here are a few of my favs.

WPPI in Las Vegas

So, I've been in Las Vegas this past week attending WPPI, the largest trade show in professional photography! WPPI stands for Wedding & Portrait Professionals International. It was amazing! It's all about networking, education on the latest and greatest in the industry and one of the biggest perks is that it's way too much fun!

I have many things to blog about like new products etc. but here's a photo from a photo booth at the Bludomain party. They went all out at this party being held at the Parisian Palace with casino tables, tattoo artists, a hypnotist and even a tarot reader!

The folks at Bludomain are an amazing bunch of people.

The new face of Ricky Mia Photography!

I just wanted to let everyone know that my re-designed Santa Barbara Wedding Photography website is up and running so if you get a chance, visit the site and let me know what you think! www.rickymia.com

The Katsiouleris Clan Visits The Santa Barbara Mias

My brothers job took his family to Europe for the past 4 years and while they were in London, they met the most incredible family instantly becoming friends. The Katsiouleris clan consists of Bob, Vivi, Matina, Adrianna, Sophie and Dimitri. Sophie and Dimitri are right around my brothers kids ages so they were friends right away.

Anyway, they came to visit since my brother and his family are back in Santa Barbara and they told me I had to meet them and I'm so glad I did. They are an amazing family, super close and full of passion! A few of us went down to the beach and did some longboarding (our latest favorite hobby!) so I had to get some pictures. Adrianna is really into photography too, which I obviously dig!

We listened to the drum circle down at the beach for a while. The circle is a bunch of drummers that get together at the beach on Saturdays and just jam out till the sun goes down, pretty cool!

Here are some favs!

The Tammy and Spooky Dan Wedding at the Houdini Mansion in Los Angeles, California

I was a 2nd shooter for Karen at one of the most unique weddings of last year. Tammy and Spooky Dan were married at the Houdini Mansion in Los Angeles, CA. The mansion itself was incredible but what made the event so awesome were the friends and family that were there to celebrate the Goth wedding.

The details to this Goth wedding were pretty amazing. There were corpses laying around the grounds, skulls for centerpieces, guitar hero on the TV, body parts in the pool, Frankenstein and his bride were on the cake and more!

Here are some favs to show how awesome the wedding was...

The guests arrive...


...the wicked centerpieces...

...the cake cutting dagger...

...Frankie and his bride...

...the Goth bouquet...

...the awesome guests...

...and the Alien hanging out in the front yard!

Here is their slideshow!

San Francisco

I love cities and I've always wanted to see San Francisco but just never really got around to it. I've flown through it many times but never really saw it until this week! I was up here shooting and visiting and all the good things I've heard about this city are so true!

My good friend Dia Rao lives up there and she was so kind to take me literally everywhere around the city! She drove in and everywhere we went, we parked right in front! Talk about parking karma! Who says it's hard to park in the city!?

Anyway, it was awesome, even with the clouds. We went to see The Embarcadero, Pier 39, saw Alcatraz, the lions :) (Little did I know she meant sea lions at the pier. My first thought was the 4-legged zoo kind, whatever, I was a tourist! haha), finally got to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, the Pink Ladies, Lombard street, had Burmese food for the first time, ate some awesome pizza and so much more! I had a great time!

Here are some of my favs!


I had to take some pictures of Dia, my awesome tour guide! Yes, it was cold!

Baby portraits of Benjamin Caputo

I had the honor of meeting little Benjamin Caputo the other night. Little Ben was at my brothers house for dinner and a visit while his parents Sara (Radiant Organizing) and Steve Caputo were out to dinner with family. I forgot what it's like to have a newborn in the house since my niece and nephew are getting so big now!

Anyway, I did a little portrait session with Ben and only got pee'd on once! Here are some favs.