Thanksgiving + Self Portrait

Cooked the first turkey of my life. Results......Best. Turkey. Ever. So juicy you didn't need a knife. The recipe comes from a mixture of my Mother-in-law and my Sister-in-law's turkey recipes. Thank guys:

20 pound pre-brined Turkey
Stuffing used:
Whole yellow onion
Fuji apple
5 cloves of fresh garlic
4 celery stalks.

The magic is in the butter and white wine used. Cook about 1 cup of cooking white wine with 2 cubes of unsalted butter. This is what I used to inject the turkey with. The cavity of the turkey needs to be patted down with rock salt before the stuffing is added. Cut another 2 cubes of salted butter and place several slices under the turkey skin. Lastly sprinkle garlic salt on the bird after rubbing it down with vegetable oil.
Cooking time was about 5 hours on 350 degrees. We basted it every hour. It was delicious!!


After my Tryptophan induced nap I took these of myself while laying on the couch. This is something, I rarely see. A picture of myself.

I love this time of year. Food, friends and festivites till the new year!! Happy Holiday's everyone.

Danielle & Michael :: Wedding

Had the pleasure of shooting with a good photographer friend mine in Florida over the weekend.
Tony Schreiber was an extremely gracious host along with his wife Maggie, daughter Alex & son Max. (Don't tell Alex but I used her toothbrush and she'll probably get cooties now.) Good times man. Had a blast taring you up on Rock Band, (not really, he smoked me). Thanks again, Tony.

The flight was SOOOOOOO long. And if flying across the U.S. isn't enough, I had a layover in N. Carolina. When I finally got to Florida, (first time by the way) the weather was just great. I have to say though that the humidity there was crazy. NOTHING like anywhere I've been. Best way to describe it is it felt like I was in the shower the whole time I was there.

The Wedding was a very grand affair with no details missed. It took place of a very nice part of North Miami called Williams Island. The wedding party was HUGE, (22 altogether not including the bride and groom) and everyone looked like they had walked out of magazines. Very classy folks. This wedding even had a 10 piece Latin band. I'm gonna guess they were Cuban. So good! Did a montage just for them. This wedding was a real blast, and I hope it's not my last time in Florida either(wink, wink). Enjoy the shots!

~Sam


















Little bonus montage of Tony the Tiger. He's is a beast at rock band! Look at his fancy shirt, ppffff. Thay don't make clothes like that for guys my size :(

Baby Aviana

Darlene and Eli have been friends of my wife and I for many years. Aviana is their cutie for a daughter and I had the privilege of shooting for them a couple weeks back.

Shot their session in Niles Fremont, (my old stompin grounds). I also added a new prop to my growing list, a ladder and it worked perfect with her little pink outfit. This girl was all over the place. So surprised all the shots weren't blurry with the way she moves. Lots of fun guys, take care and enjoy the shots. Friends and family are encouraged to say something about the munchkin below.

~Sam






Darlene and Eli have been friends of my wife and I for many years. Aviana is their cutie for a daughter and I had the privileged of shooting for then a couple weeks back.

Shot their session in Niles Fremont, (my old stompin grounds). I also added a new prop to my growing list, a ladder and it worked perfect with her little pink outfit. This girl was all over the place. So surprised all the shots weren't blurry with the way she moves. Lots of fun guys, take care and enjoy the shots. Friends and family are encouraged to say something about the munchin below.

~Sam

Sandie & Ben :: Wedding

Had a chance to second shoot with my photog partner in crime Jared Alvarez. If you're looking for a great photographer, (and I'm not available ;) check him out. He's got serious style and shooting with him is super fun. Lots of laughs. We've flown, drove and walked many-a-miles this year shooting together. Enough of that - to the pictures!!

Ceremony and reception were all in one place which makes things pretty cool. Sandie was a beautiful bride and Ben was just too cool.
Off to Florida this Friday to shoot with my buddy Tony Shreiber. Gonna be fun! look for the shots in a few weeks from now. Till then enjoy the shots folks, cheers.

~Sam

Thomas Family :: Portrait Session

I love when clients do requests from me. These guys were SOOOOOOOO awesome for putting up with my crazy ideas. So I threw the idea of American Gothic to them and they were game. (If you were reluctant, you did a great job of not letting me know guys :) Audrey is a painter, thus the painting theme riddled through-out the session. She is VERY talented!

Ed, Sharon and Audrey were my actors on the stage. You guys seriously photograph well. I love all the shots of you Audrey. This doll is gonna be a serious heartbreaker. Is the last shot gold or what. That ones gonna end up on the cover of my site.

Still have about a week to go with getting client in time for the Christmas rush. Using photos from your session to create Christmas cards is a great idea. Hop on it and send me an email for pricing: info@hassasphotography.com

~Sam