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Black Rider Studios Welcome to Black Rider Studios! 📸 Where moody style weddings and hiking elopements become adventurous tales of love. Book now for an unforgettable experience!

Let us capture the imagination inspired by your unique love story. PHOTOGRAPHY. This is our love. This is what we are meant to do. We love to capture people, their emotions, their feelings and make not only portraits but art. Whether you are a fashion model or a beautiful bride, the goal is to create imagery that will stop people in their tracks. We want to make photography that transcends generations. We want generations to pick up that photo and know the mood when the photo was taken. Our style of work is not trendy. It’s a legacy.

Apparently, photographing weddings with a major storm threatening to crash the celebration is becoming a Black Rider Stu...
10/12/2026

Apparently, photographing weddings with a major storm threatening to crash the celebration is becoming a Black Rider Studios tradition.

This is our second one.

Last Saturday, we found ourselves near Lake Gregory, California, photographing a wedding beneath some pretty threatening skies.

The ceremony took place inside a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, followed by wedding portraits among the beautiful mountain scenery. Dark skies, towering trees, and that wonderful, moody light we love so much.

But the real story happened in Fontana.

The reception was being held at a friend’s home, and the storm threatened to turn the celebration into a complete washout.

That’s when something beautiful happened.

Instead of calling it quits, the newlyweds’ friends rolled up their sleeves. Large event tents went up, arrangements were made, and everyone worked together to make sure this couple had their celebration.

Nobody was getting paid to save the day. These were simply people who loved their friends enough to do something about it.

As Jehovah’s Witnesses ourselves, we’ve always known the brotherly love within our spiritual family. But watching it unfold right in front of us was something special.

It wasn’t just something people talked about. It was something they did.

And that’s what we’ll remember most.

Not the rain. Not the threatening skies. But a group of loving friends who refused to let a storm have the final word.

The weather may have changed the plans, but it couldn’t change the love surrounding these newlyweds.

And that’s a pretty beautiful way to begin a marriage.

Some weddings feel less like a traditional wedding and more like the closing scene of a really good movie.Keri and Zacha...
10/09/2026

Some weddings feel less like a traditional wedding and more like the closing scene of a really good movie.

Keri and Zachary’s was one of those.

A little romance, a little rock and roll, and a whole lot of personality.

From the lace wedding dress and burgundy suit to the intimate ceremony, the bubbles flying through the air, and a movie theater marquee announcing their happily ever after, this wedding had its own character from beginning to end.

And we loved every bit of it.

There was something beautifully unpretentious about the whole thing. Nothing felt like it needed to follow somebody else’s idea of what a wedding should look like. It was elegant without being stiff, romantic without being overly sentimental, and just unconventional enough to make it unforgettable.

One of our favorite photographs came from a staircase, of all places. Zachary reaching upward while Keri held his hand from below. It’s the kind of photograph that reminds us why we love finding stories in places other people might walk right past.

And that marquee? Come on. How could we not love that?

We put together a little more of Keri and Zachary’s wedding story on our blog, including some photographs that deserve more than a passing glance. If you’re curious how their day unfolded, the rest is waiting there.

Link in story.

There’s something about the desert that makes you feel like you’ve wandered into another world.No city noise. No distrac...
10/09/2026

There’s something about the desert that makes you feel like you’ve wandered into another world.

No city noise. No distractions. Just miles of rugged mountains, weathered granite, golden grass, and the kind of light that makes you wish the sun would take its sweet time disappearing.

And somewhere in the middle of all that was Krissel.

A black lace dress, cowboy boots, silver jewelry, and a whole lot of personality. There’s something wonderful about watching someone make a place their own, especially somewhere as wild and unforgiving as the desert.

We played with the light, wandered among the boulders, and let the landscape become part of the story. Some photographs felt quiet and almost dreamlike. Others had a little more attitude. And that’s what we love about portraiture. You don’t have to be just one thing.

Beauty can be delicate and fierce. Romantic and rugged. Sometimes all in the same photograph.

We recently shared more of Krissel’s desert portrait session on the blog, along with a closer look at the photographs. If these caught your attention, there’s plenty more waiting for you there.

Link in story.

Some weddings feel less like an event and more like an entire community showing up to say, we’re with you.That’s what Na...
10/06/2026

Some weddings feel less like an event and more like an entire community showing up to say, we’re with you.

That’s what Naomi and Joel’s wedding felt like.

We’ve had these two in front of our cameras before, so by the time we arrived in Littlerock last Saturday, they didn’t really feel like strangers waiting for us to photograph their wedding. We already knew a little of their rhythm together.

But a wedding day lets you see something different.

The nerves before everything begins. Friends packed into the house. Family everywhere. A ceremony surrounded by people who genuinely love them. And two people making a promise to build a life together with Jehovah right at the center of it.

Then we stole them away for a little while.

Out into the desert. Cowboy hats on. Nothing around us but open land, mountains and the sun disappearing behind the horizon. The kind of light you chase because you know it isn’t going to wait for you.

And for a few minutes, neither did they.

They laughed, walked through the dirt, held onto each other and let us make something that felt like them.

Then it was back to the party, back to their people, and eventually cake under the lights.

Naomi and Joel, congratulations. From your engagement session to watching you become husband and wife, it’s been pretty damn cool getting to tell this part of your story.

Here’s just a little preview.

Some wedding days happen in one place.Jacqueline and Vinny’s took us on a little road trip.We started in Fullerton for t...
10/06/2026

Some wedding days happen in one place.

Jacqueline and Vinny’s took us on a little road trip.

We started in Fullerton for the ceremony, where Vinny got his first look at Jacqueline coming down the aisle and immediately had one of those reactions that makes you forget there’s a camera in your hands for a second.

Then we headed to Anaheim for portraits, chasing the last of the afternoon light around old houses, gardens, porches, and whatever little corners caught our eye.

And eventually, Placentia—where everybody could finally exhale, celebrate, eat, dance, and enjoy the fact that these two had actually done the damn thing.

Three cities. One wedding day.

But looking through these photographs, the geography almost disappears. What sticks with me is the way Vinny looked at Jacqueline. The way she settled into him when nobody else mattered. The tears. The laughter. And all those little moments in between the big ones that usually end up telling the story better anyway.

This is only the preview.

Congratulations, Jacqueline and Vinny. What a hell of a day.

There’s something about the desert that strips everything down.No distractions. No crowded backgrounds. Just open land, ...
09/30/2026

There’s something about the desert that strips everything down.

No distractions. No crowded backgrounds. Just open land, mountains, wind, and two people who eventually forget there’s a camera pointed at them.

Aisha and Mac wanted space for their engagement session, so we took them out to Borrego Springs. As soon as I saw them together, I knew I wanted these photographs to feel romantic, adventurous, dramatic, and intimate.

Mac had this natural way of pulling Aisha into him whenever they embraced, and she would immediately soften toward him. Those little reactions are the reason I’m always telling couples not to fight the moment. I’ll give you direction, but once you’re there, let it happen.

That’s where trust becomes important.

The more comfortable you are with the person behind the camera, the easier it becomes to drop the walls. And once those walls come down, we’re not really photographing poses anymore.

I left a little more of this evening over on the blog. Link in story.

There’s a difference between planning a wedding on a budget and trying to make a big wedding cheap.Those aren’t the same...
09/30/2026

There’s a difference between planning a wedding on a budget and trying to make a big wedding cheap.

Those aren’t the same thing.

Janay and Brandon understood that.

They kept their wedding intimate, put their money into the things that actually mattered to them, and somehow ended up with a day that never felt like it was missing anything. Oscar’s Brewing Company gave the reception enough polish without pretending to be something it wasn’t. Good people, good food, laughter, and enough room for everybody to actually enjoy themselves.

And before all of that, there was Brandon waiting for Janay during their first look.

Nervous as hell.

Then he saw her.

He was practically speechless until, in true Brandon fashion, he apparently found some flirtatious line that made both of them laugh. I wish I remembered what he said. I just remember watching all that nervous energy disappear.

Later, we took them to Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve for their wedding portraits. No perfectly manicured garden. No ropes telling us where the photograph was supposed to happen. Just rocks, brush, dirt, trees, and a little beautiful chaos.

That freedom is where we tend to feel most at home.

Romantic. Cinematic. A little dramatic. But still relaxed enough for Janay and Brandon to forget about us for a while and just be married.

That’s the part I hope lasts.

Wedding days have this strange ability to make people lower their walls. For one day, everybody seems a little less embarrassed to say I love you, hold somebody tighter, cry in public, dance badly, or kiss like nobody else is standing there.

Years from now, I hope these two don’t just remember what their wedding looked like.

I hope they remember exactly how much they loved each other that day.

I left a little more of Janay and Brandon’s Temecula story over on the blog. Link in story.

Some families make you work for the photograph.The Montes mostly made us keep up.We spent the afternoon wandering around...
09/28/2026

Some families make you work for the photograph.

The Montes mostly made us keep up.

We spent the afternoon wandering around Mormon Rocks with them, where their little guy did what kids do when you give them dirt, rocks, and absolutely no reason to stand still.

And that was kind of the point.

We weren’t interested in making them look like some perfectly behaved family from a picture frame aisle. We wanted them.

Mom and Dad being affectionate. Their little guy exploring. The three of them holding hands and making their way through this strange stretch of desert together. The quiet moments that lasted about twelve seconds before life started moving again.

That’s what I like about photographing families this way. Somewhere between the portraits you planned and the moments you didn’t, you start getting something that feels less like a photoshoot and more like a record of who these people were together at this exact point in their lives.

And against those enormous sandstone formations in the Cajon Pass, the Montes looked wonderfully small.

Just three people making their way through a much bigger world together.

There was more to that afternoon than we could squeeze into a handful of photographs here. The rest found its way into their story on the blog.

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Oceanside, CA

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+17604212628

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