Hello and welcome to the blog of Viera Photographics. We are Dennis and Jaime Viera, a husband and wife photography team. We shoot weddings, portraits, lifestyle, editorial, and many other random things!

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Here are some photos of the happy family... and no - they STILL don't have a name for him... any suggestions? Alex's suggestion is "George Anderson Hopper" - don't ask where that came from. 

Bryan is actually my old landlord... we loved the house we were renting so much that we bought it from him! He helped us out heaps with the whole process... So we are eternally grateful to Bryan and his family for making this all possible. 

Bryan has always been a big fan of our work so we did a family session for him while they were camping at Leo Carrillo State Park. 

Thanks again Bryan! 

Here are a few more from our recent trip to Guatemala.  What an amazing country and such beautiful people.  For a country roughly the size of Tennessee, it encompasses such diverse topography and climate.  Our trip was confined primarily to the highlands but the country also has beautiful beaches on the Pacific coast and dense, lush jungles stretching from the highlands to the Caribbean coast.  

Our hike beyond the town of Santa Cruz to Los Dos Miradores (with Alex strapped to Jaime's back - good effort!)

Here's the first of two photo installments from our recent trip to Guatemala.  We've opted to talk less up top and put info specific to individual photos beneath them.  Hope you enjoy!

Our meal a la Mexicana Airlines (yes that is tequila on the left)

Walking the streets of Antigua

We're pretty adventurous but a ferris wheel at a local Guatemalan fair was just a bit outside our comfort zone.  

I told myself it wasn't poisonous...

Quite possibly the worlds best mom.

The dock leading up to our little vacation rental in Paxanax being rebuilt above flood waters.  After Hurricane Agatha hit in June, the country had some of the worst flooding in history and raised the level of Lake Atitlán by more than 10 feet.

Juanita - de Santa Cruz del Lago

Up in the village of Santa Cruz

Hugo (with the paper airplane) and his friend

No patch of workable volcanic soil goes unplanted; most of the time, with corn.  Here are the fertile hills of Zunil, outside Quetzaltenango (or Xela as it's referred to by locals).  Alongside the road to Zunil, we saw some of the most beautiful produce we've ever seen.

"Parque, parque, parque!" These guys hang out of these crammed minivans trying to get a few more people in as they commute between the bus terminals and the town centers.

Me dejas tomarte una foto?  Guatemalan people are extremely camera reticent to the point that if you take their permission without asking, you risk your well being...so I asked whenever I was going to invade someone's space.  This woman, who's name I tried desperately to understand but couldn't after three attempts with my budget Spanglish skills, was very sweet and let me sit with her for a few photos before continuing on her way.

This one's for Hardy...

I've always wanted to shape my own surfboard since I was a wee boy fixing other people's lacerated boards in my cold New England basement.  It never happened but I kept surfing and never came any closer to understanding the mystery behind the creation of my boards until just recently.  I placed an order for a new board with Greg Sauritch, an esteemed North County San Diego shaper with over 40 years and 40,000 custom boards under his belt, and asked if I could photograph the process.  It's not the first time he's had his photo taken shaping and he was extremely accommodating of me invading his space over the 2 hours it took to complete my new board.

Much of the manufacturing of surfboards these days is mechanized and controlled by computer applications but Greg does it all by hand. I have a special place in my heart for people who remain true to their craft resisting the temptation of ease that technology can sometimes afford and who needs a machine anyway when you're the machine.  Even more noteworthy is that my board is an EPS epoxy which are extremely difficult to hand-shape for the foam particles are so much larger than typical polystyrene particles.  The majority of epoxy surfboards worldwide are machine made because most shapers just can't work with the materials but Greg had no trouble shaping mine!

I appreciate all your work Greg. The board rocks!

Gen and Alex were living in New York when we first met them - but they both were longing to come back to live in California again. Genevieve grew up in La Jolla and her mom is still living in the beautiful house on the hill that they grew up in. In the first step to moving back, they decided to hold their ceremony at the St. James by-the-sea church and the reception at her very recently renovated childhood house. The views over La Jolla were incredible, it was a lovely and intimate family atmosphere - they couldn't have picked a better place to get married! Just back from their honeymoon, they are probably packing up to move back to the West Coast as I write this... :) 

Yesterday a Federal Judge ruled Proposition 8 (the 2008 voter initiative banning same-sex marriages) as unconstitutional. We drove up to West Hollywood to photograph the rally that occurred in the West Hollywood Park. Unfortunately, we were a bit late due to heavy traffic and arrived after all the speeches - but we were happy to be around for the celebrations!  The post-speech atmosphere in the park was celebratory and the spirit of family was strong and we were honored to be part of such an important day in California's history.

Here is an excerpt from the ruling of Judge Walker: 

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite- sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."

One of three weddings festivities for Geraldine and Ricky - they first got married in Taiwan, then they had a reception in the US at Solage in Calistoga... now they are having another reception in Malaysia. Unfortunately, we only got to photograph the one in the US - but in their own words, it was the highlight of all the festivities, so we were glad to be a part of it! It was a casual affair, they planned and designed everything themselves - they made their grand entrance on a bike, played games, ate good food and ended with a Piñata smashing!