Last week, I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement session for one of my couples, Scott & Taylor whose wedding I am so looking forward to that will be taking place on Coronado Beach next July. We had an amazing time shooting down in Pacific Beach near the Crystal Beach Pier Hotel. The top of the Cyrstal Pier is like any other pier but it immediately changes once you step beneath it!

I can’t wait to share all the images later this week!! Enjoy.

What if, for just one day Jesus were to come down and be you. What if Jesus were to become the owner of your photography business, shoot your weddings, manage your client inquires. Would it all be attended to any differently? Is the way you handle your business today, the way Jesus would? Is the way you treat your clients today, the same way that Jesus would?

As much as that might start your mind to travel on those ideas… Jesus loves you just the way you are. He LOVES the way you are running everything in your business. He LOVES your photography and he certainly loves your clients more than you do.

I want you to take a birds eye view of your business today. How are you treating your clients? Do you love them with all your heart and treat them like they are the last client you will ever have? Meaning… try to treat your business as it belongs to Jesus. IT DOES. It’s not your business, they aren’t your clients. They are all his. Looking at it from that perspective, how will you change the way that you handle things?

The love God has for your photography will never cease. NEVER. Though we may love him in one part of our lives and forget about him in our business, he still loves us. He knows that it’s all his. He is just waiting until we trust him with it.

This short message is pretty broad and it’s deep at the same time. It might push you to think. Thats exactly how I want you to feel.

I used to write this blog every Monday called “The Monday Morning Devotional”. It starts again today, with a new direction with the focus where every Monday Morning we will dive into a walk with Christ. Our goal is to make Jesus the center of your business at the end of 30 weeks.

Philippians 2:5-11

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

God Bless You

Thank You

Thank You for God’s grace that surrounds me every morning

Thank You Jesus for continually forgiving me

Thank You for the love that I recieve from his blessings upon me

Thank You for my family who loves me

Thank You for the friends that support me

Thank You for the photographers that have given me a chance

Thank You to Apple for making amazing computers

Thank You to PhotogShootout for giving me the chance to build community

Thank You for twitter. I love peeking into others lives from my iPhone

Thank You for the teenagers that say “Thank You & Your Welcome” because they want to

Thank You for California Burritos

Thank You Canon, for making an amazing camera

Thank You to those who still shoot on film, I love you guys!

Thank You for World Vision for giving me the chance to change the world one child at a time

Thank You for my puppy. She looks like an ewok but I love her kisses I get every morning

Thank You to Francis Chan for writing “Crazy Love”. It changed my heart

Thank You to Ninitendo for inventing the Wii

Thank You to all my amazing clients for allowing me to photograph your lives

Thank You to those who allow me to stand next to them when they say, “I do”

Thank You to Sherwood Pictures for making amazing, heart warming movies

Thank You for Pictage. You make everything easier

Thank You for ShootQ. Your amazing. Plain & Simple

Thank You to the San Diego Chargers

Thank You for rollercoasters

Thank You to Starbucks for tolerating me when I order a Grande Coffee 3 pump white mocha, 2 pump carmel, 2 inch cold soy

Thank You to my amazing girlfriend who I cherish so much and who cares so much for me and who brightens up my days.

Thank You for everything Jesus. Your what life is all about.

I just want to say Thank You

What are you thankful for?

Four months ago, I would have never thought that I would be so blessed where I would be teaming with Yvonne LeBrun to start a workshop in San Diego where the idea is to allow photographers to shoot alongside leaders who are some of San Diego’s best photographers. Our first event, the San Diego Photog GTG :: Sponsored by Photog Shootout sold out in under 3 hours and was a huge success. This month, we planned for it to be bigger, host amazing models and attempt to host an event which at first seemed impossible. The truth is that nothing is impossible with Jesus leading the way.

Our second event was held in Ramona at Split Rock Ranch. My good friend Teale of Teale Photography totally hooked us up with an amazing shooting location. I was blessed with amazing group leaders like Sara France, LaVida Creations, Evan Bishop, David Manning, Hanssie & Matthew Saville. These names are those who I once looked to as who I wanted to strive to be and today, they were so gracious in donating their time to grow our community.

When we opened registration, we were expecting another 2 hour sell-out time. When PhotogShootout texted me that all 30 seats had sold out in 10 minutues… We were in shock. What started as a group of people hanging out to shoot for a few hours & eat dinner afterwards now has become the leader in San Diego that provides a “shootout” experience. It’s my honor to now announce that we are officially, the San Diego PhotogShootout!

I was also a leader for the shootout and my group was so much fun! I’m so excited to post my images below from what I captured during the day.

I chose to turn into a journalist & capture Sara France in action while teaching the workshop attendees

Before you continue viewing the images.. Read This: We were about to start the event when one of our models dropped last minute. Right as we were finding a way to solve the issue, David Manning walks up to us and we made him our fill in model. David is a great wedding photographer in San Diego but this time, he earned an awesome, new role. I think it worked out well, David was giving pointers to the photographers from the “models” perspective and coaching everyone on seeing from a new perspective which was a great addition to our shootout! David wouldn’t have been able to pull off his good looks without our brilliant model, Megan! Thanks you two!!

After the event, we went to another ranch in Ramona for our “Ho-Down BBQ”! I was so stoked to have the opportunity to capture some of the clear night sky that was over our heads!

I think it’s so incredible that God created every single star in the universe and it lays out so perfectly!

CONTEST: WHOEVER CAN COUNT THE NUMBER OF STARS IN THIS PHOTO & POST THE # AS A COMMENT BELOW, I WILL GIVE YOU A $15 STARBUCKS or iTUNES CARD

This might make you a bit dizzy… Matthew Saville & I created Star Traces. The idea is you plant your camera on your tripod. Point the lens at the north star and open the shutter for 20-40 minutes to capture the earths rotation!!

Bryan & Veronica were both students at Point Loma Nazarene University. First, they were connected through their groups of friends and eventually came to know each other through sharing classes with each other. Their friendship continued for a few years which included “friendly dates” to the movies. They also both were youth group leaders at a local church in Coronado during their Junior & Senior years of College. As their strong “friendship” continued to grow it wasn’t until late into their senior year that they opened their hearts to each other and shared their feelings. Since then, it’s been a strong passion that not only do they share for each other but for Jesus Christ! Bryan & Veronica were engaged on Coronado Beach this fall through an amazing plan that Bryan secretly put together.

Bryan & Veronica are not only a great looking couple, their hearts for Jesus Christ and serving the youth of San Diego are immerse. I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve in ministry with them for the past 2 years. It’s because of this strong connection we share with Jesus that I feel so honored to be their wedding photographer.

When they first told me they wanted to shoot their e-session at Point Loma Nazarene, I couldn’t have agreed more! It was so special shooting them on this campus. I could totally see the passion they share on this campus & that’s why they decided to have their marriage ceremony their later this summer too!

Point Loma Nazarene is an amazing college campus that overlooks the pacific ocean & is surrounded by plenty of trees and ancient looking architecture. Let’s not forget the great surfing spots it also provides to the Point Loma community!

Thank You for reading their story and I hope you feel blessed by these pictures!

Yesterday, I had the honor of shooting the engagement session for one of my couples whose wedding I can’t wait to arrive! Bryan & Veronica are two very close friends of mine and it’s a complete blast when you get to be the wedding photographer for your friends when you have known them for years! Our session was so much fun and where better of a place to shoot than the very place they met, Point Loma Nazarene University!

Here is a teaser from our session! I can’t wait to get all the images online!

Family & Friends, to be notified of when all images are posted online please click here

I’m SO excited about the upcoming Photog Retreat 2010 to the Bahamas. It’s an amazing opportunity for rest & relaxation on a carnival cruise ship, fine tune your photography with an amazing exotic shootout and learn from amazing photographers, Scarlett Lillian, The Bui Brothers, Shaun Austin with KISS Books and Kylie Banks. I will also be attending the retreat as a speaker along with organizing the shootout in the Bahamas.

As a So-Cal Photographer, I totally understand that it can be tough to pay for the retreat and a flight from California to Florida. The normal price for the retreat is $850/person. I spoke with the people at photogretreat.com and worked out a deal that gives California Photographers “the goods” for the retreat!

The special price for California Photographers is, $700 for 1 photographer or $1300 for 2 photographers who attend together!! With the savings of $150 off the regular price, that now allows room in your budget to afford a flight to Florida! (First come, First serve basis)

If you want to attend, please email me your Name, E-Mail & Phone Number to info@stephenknuth.com

Last year, when I was getting serious about wedding photography, I was reading a blog post by The Youngrens about their famous Partner Con Bedjump. This year being my first trip to Partner Con in the amazing city of New Orleans, I kept running the idea through my head of creating a “bedjump”. The oppurtunity raised for myself & my amazing room mates to create our masterpiece. Then it struck me… “Isn’t partner con all about dream…create…inspire??” Well, I stopped ourselves from jumping and instead I ordered our team to pile EVERYTHING in sight onto the king size bed, grab the couture book team and climb aboard the BED PILE!! Why copy the bedjump when we could create our OWN legacy at Partner Con 2009!? The amazing Scarlett Lillian offered to shoot our creative endevor and it officially became a team effort. By the way… who ever thought lamp shades could serve as hats???

The Bed Pile at Partner Con 2009 is… Stephen Knuth, Bryan Miller, Reuben Poon, Josh Mercer, Scarlett Lillian and Dave Luebke of Couture Book

It was 2 years ago & I remember it so well. It was the day that I attended my very first photography workshop. It was David Jay’s “Free to Succeed Tour” featuring Jasmine Star. I had never heard of Jasmine Star and I barely knew of David Jay. It was certainly the workshop that put me up on my two feet because it led me to an internship with Sara France which has now put me in a comfortable place within my own business & creating events to help the growth of the photography community. The next event I attended was WPPI which is where I ended up meeting my sweetheart, Scarlett Lillian. Today, I am on my way to Pictage PartnerCon 2009. I have been told by so many leading up to this day that it is THE event to attend in our industry.

I was looking through some old archived emails last night & I came across one that I kept reading over and over. It was between myself and San Diego Wedding Photographer Jeff Youngren. It was before I had ever thought about pursuing photography as my career. We were planning a lunch to chat about “What is Wedding Photography?”. It made me meditate all afternoon over the thought that I have only been at this for a little less than two years and the Lord has rocked my world and done so many amazing things in such a short period of time!

I can’t wait to stand in the presence of the leaders of this industry and sit in on talks from some amazing photographers who will inspire me to become better at what I currently do. Oh, by the way… Partner Con is in New Orleans and I cannot express enough how COOL that is and it’s a city i’ve always wanted to visit. Not only am I getting a vacation with Scarlett, I am also getting to grow as a person & photographer… AND Scarlett Lillian is going to give a KILLER presentation on Tuesday morning!!!

I still haven’t even finished packing yet… I need to go get that all finished.