Aww, you want to know more about us? Take a look below, learn how we met, our mission statement for Studio Sequoia and take some time to get to know us a little more, everything from our favorite foods, movies and things we love to do in our spare time…..
Studio Sequoia came about in a very serendipitous way at the University of San Diego California when Kelley and Kim stumbled upon one another. It all began for the first time when Kim (who had finished her honors thesis in the media arts department) met Kelley one afternoon at a cafe on campus. Kelley at the time was working as a university art coordinator and she was going to help Kim curate her honors thesis show in the spring. From that day on, they connected and became friends, and continued collaborating together on creative projects long after the show was over.
In August of 2009 one of Kelley’s friends were getting married and needed a wedding photographer for the spring wedding, she knew she had to jump at the chance even though she had little experience and was not the greatest with the camera; “as long as Kim did it with me,” she thought, “I would be fine.” So she called Kim up and made arrangements to do the gig together; and It came out AMAZING! Not only were Kelley and Kim shocked and pleasantly surprised at how well it came out, the family of the bride and groom loved the photographs. In a crazy awesome way, it seemed like they were the perfect pair, each balanced the others personality, style and artistic talent. It was FATE, and so Studio Sequoia was born.
Our business, other than being affordable, must be friendly to our environment and it’s inhabitants…. we try to maintain as high of standards as possible in this, while being reasonable and understanding that we can’t have it all; there are probably flaws somewhere in our system… but for the most part, we try… We use rechargeable batteries for our flashes and cameras, we recycle or donate our old memory cards, we try not to needlessly purchase or throw away any portable hard drives or CDs , we use eco-friendly printers, All of our props are purchased from thrift stores or made from recycled materials, heck we even EAT eco-friendly (go veg)! Enjoy our photos, give us a call… I know you’ll be happy with your choice. Everyone has a story, let us tell it for you!
My background is in the finer arts, mostly painting… My bachelor’s degree is in Art History from the University of California, San Diego but honestly, I think I made more art at UCSD than I studied… and I studied A LOT of art! I have sold several pieces of art, locally and internationally, and have shown pieces in nasty coffee shops as well as high end art galleries. Art is a fickle business with lots of ups and downs, you kind of have to go with it and hope you hit the wave on an upswing. I am still waiting for the tide to rise…
After years of painting and never being able to make a go of it, I really wanted to learn photography. I needed something new, something to recharge my artistic batteries! So I bought a little Canon Rebel and started taking pictures… I never intended it to go anywhere! I had never been a real lover of photography before, I didn’t have the funds to become a “photographer”, I didn’t know anything about “photography”.. and it seemed like everyone and their mom was a photographer! Painting had always been where I stood out, with photography I was a tiny fish in a big pond… so I figured, at the very least, I would have photography as a way to inspire my painting… but, from shutter click number one, I loved it… instant art! I think it and I make it… and I could do it over and over and over again! In a spilt second I had gone from producing a single picture a year to producing thousands in a day, and I was addicted… and being a portrait painter always interested in people’s faces, I found a natural inclination to focus mostly on people… so was born event photographer Kelley…
- When Aaron of I discover a vintage camera in the thrift store we get super excited because that means a lot of night time photographing together around San Diego.
- Spending time with my husband Aaron is my favorite thing in the world, we like to take photographs together, aaron is a landscape style photographer, so we like to go around train stations, alleys and downtown in San Diego.
- Dahlias are my favorite flower, my husband Aaron was the first man ever to bring me flowers, to this day he still brings me flowers.
- I love to watch comedy shows like “Community” and “Parks and Rec”
- I went to France for my honeymoon and love it, I want to go back again, and maybe one day even live there!
- Painting is the love of my life, I have been painting since childhood.
- Jose Villa is a wedding photographer I stalk online, all the time.
- Those of you who know me, I always have a cup of coffee at my side, Starbucks in my neighborhood knows me by name.
- I left my heart in San Francisco, I love that town so much.
- If you ever want to take me to lunch, Pokez is my choice, their food is bomb.
- Camping is something I love to do, when i can find the time.
- Dresses, I love dresses, wearing them and getting to photograph brides wearing amazing gowns!
- Chocolate doughnuts…. enough said.
- I Love dogs, my girl is Izzy, she is the sweetest
- Glasses, I love them so.
Throughout childhood I was always drawn to arts and crafts. My grandma watched my sister and I before and after school until my parents got home from work and picked us up. After finishing my homework I was allowed to be creative. My grandma had a craft-room, we would go in there and create anything we could think of. When I got to middle school, I had this thought that art could never be a “job” so I set it on the back burner and focused on academic things with hopes from as early at middle school to become an environmental lawyer. Fast forward to UCSD, I found myself there as a transfer student taking two history classes and two pre law classes. I was spending all hours of my day reading and writing essays. After getting my first migraine (funny never had one up to this point in my life, thought I needed glasses lmao) which lasted about three weeks, I decided to skip my classes for two days and soul search. I spent a few days walking around La Jolla’s beautiful Torrey Pines reserve thinking about what I wanted my life to be like. I came to the conclusion that I should do what I love… and what I love is art. I immediately spent the next few weeks meeting the the media arts department and communications department to change my major from history.
I got a double major and graduated with two Bachelors degrees, one in communications and the other in media arts video production. Video production was fun, but I always enjoyed photography much more, I think its the fact that you can capture one single solitary moment of emotion in a frame, its a beautiful thing. I never was into photography until I changed my major and had to take basic art classes for my pre requisites, I took a basic photography class and fell in love. I started carrying my camera with me everywhere I went, capturing photos in my hometown neighborhood of Chula Vista and when I got the chance to hike in the local mountains or desert I would grab landscape shots. Things I am really drawn to in photography are texture, color and pattern. I know without a doubt my photographic style is inspired by street graffiti. In my teens and even today I would have to say street graffiti is my favorite art form, I love the idea of turning words into art, its so powerful. The complex beauty brought together when the texture, pattern and color meet the power of the word, it brings a tear to my eye. When I shoot photographs, I tend to visually incorporate people into the environment they are in for each shot and allow them to become part of the texture, color and pattern of the photograph as a whole. When I have a camera in my hand, I get this crazy weird feeling like I’m invisible, and I am just observing the world around me at my reflective pace, this is my zone, this is my joy and my bliss.
- I really like to bake bread, my boyfriend of 5 years (Dave) is a chef and I guess it rubbed off on me.
- I love nature, I’m a very introverted person, don’t get me wrong I LOVE people, but after a huge amount of socialization I like to reflect in nature, Big Sur and the Sequoias are a few of my favorite places to recharge
- Aside from hiking and camping I love gardening, I get it from my grandpa and mom who have bright green thumbs, if you mastered caring for gardenias or bonsai, let me know, these plants stump me still!
- You can always hear music being played wherever I am, I pretty much like everything, but my favorite types are folk and bluegrass, I really am obsesssed with the Avett Brothers, Dave and I have seen them in concert about three times, and want to see them even more! I also like Meiko, Feist and Cadillac Sky, among hundreds of others…
- Crafting is my life, my passion and my happiness, it brings me back to my roots and puts a smile on my face in 5 seconds flat. I made 100% recycled crafts from stuff thrown away in dumpsters or thrift stores, I am eco friendly fanatic!
- I would be with my boyfriend every second of the day if it was at all possible, he is my best friend and we get along like two peas in a pod. We met on craigslist and our first date was ice blocking in Precidio Park.
- I like gnomes… when Dave and I started dating he had this gnome he had painted with a girl he went on a date with before me, it was painted super ugly, so we repainted it together and ever since that gnome comes on road trips with us, he is kind of like a mascot, and thus I love gnomes and want to have a crap ton of them in my yard one day.
- Autumn is my favorite time of the year, I love thanksgiving, pumpkins, colorful leaves, cool breeze and gourds, I dream of fall all year long until its fall, really I love it that much.
- I’m not a huge movie fanatic, I pretty much could be happy with only watching these three movies for the rest of my life… King Pin my all time favorite, Planes Trains and Automobiles and O Brother Where Art Thou?
- I Love graffiti art, I like going under bridges and in tunnels to check it out, my favorite artist is “Cycle”
- I could eat bean and cheese burritos, orange bell peppers and apple cherries till the cows come home!
- Whenever the stresses of life have got me down, I tune into Southpark for a much needed laugh.
