Stephanie & Kirk : Then Comes Marriage | Laguna Beach Wedding Photographer

I’ve been really excited to post these photos of Steph and Kirk for awhile now. It was virtually impossible to pick my favorites, as these two were so fun to capture on their big day. Me and my awesome friend and second shooter, David Manning, had an absolute pleasure taking photos of them, and their family, on such a GORGEOUS day. Rain surrounded the forecast for the days before and after the wedding, but on December 19th, in Laguna Beach, at the Surf and Sand Resort, it was 76 degrees and sunny! It was a beautiful wedding for two beautiful people. They are so happy together, and it just radiates and warms those around them. Enjoy!

Thanks David for the killer detail shots!

Mae Chan did an amazing job on the flowers!!!

The 24-70 does a killer job in macro!

Loooove this shot! Her face says it all!

Steph was a gorgeous bride, and oh so feroche!

The Surf and Sand is a beautiful venue!

Steph’s parents know how to set the dance floor on fiah!!

Just can’t handle the waiting….

Love this!

Two of my faves from the day! Hope you enjoyed!

Muddy Puppy! | Lucy

This photo made me laugh today. We had to give our dog 7 baths in one week due to all of the crazy rain that bombarded So Cal. She’s just too cute!

Wednesday Woolgathering

It’s so tempting for me to only do blog posts that have pictures/events involved. I’m not sure why I always assume it needs to be that way, but I always seem to put off random musings, daydreams, obsessions and things I’m loving this moment instead of writing them down. So, I thought I’d just put up a little post about things I’ve found inspiring or made me stop for a moment and think. Oh, and there aren’t many “W” words that have to do with musings, daydreaming, or thoughts. So, in thesaurus.com, it had Woolgathering as another word for “daydreaming.” Maybe it’s just so weird it’ll stick and I’ll keep my dorky title.

1) First off, I loved the post that Chenin Boutwell did with this attached to it:

I’m going to type it up and display this quote EVERYWHERE! It gets so easy to move into this robotic thought process when it comes to photography. Couple + aperture + shutter speed + iso + compensation + pretty light = perfect photo. But, what about the imperfect? So many things that inspire me are imperfect, broken, rusted or discarded. Why not shoot photos that are inspiring? I want to shoot photos because they struck a chord with me. I want to shoot photos that are beautiful even if it’s just a picture of a leaf, or an old rusty truck. I think the more I enjoy my creative process internally, and in my every day life, the better product I in turn provide my clients! Of course I love my fashion magazines, but I want to look deeper into my inspiration “tank” and figure out what other things have awakened feelings such as joy, peace, pain, frustration etc. The more I get in touch with that, the more authentic I will be! This is a good reminder that reading other wedding photographers blogs (while fun), is not where our inspiration should come from all the time. That leaves us wanting to be someone else, or do our job like someone else. And in turn, we lose ourselves!

2) The book by Julia Cameron called “The Artist’s Way.” I just started going through this 12 week book/journal, and already feel illuminated (wow, I sound totally new age-y). I’m going to go through this book with one of my best friends in the whole world (love you Kat), and I’m excited to see where we go in our creative process. Julia really gets down to the heart of our artform, and makes you delve into places that you probably haven’t explored before in regards to your subconscious and psyche (yep, now I’m sounding even more like I’m visiting from the twilight zone). Her whole point is that often times we live inbalanced lives and we aren’t reaching our creative potential because of people in our lives that have stifled it, or experiences where we didn’t feel like we measured up. We also get so caught up in people’s opinions of our work that we stop doing work and art just for ourselves. So, it’s a lot of journaling, doing “artist dates” by yourself that are out of the ordinary from your normal routine, and picking a few tasks a week that help you process what that week’s lesson is about. I’m really excited about it, especially because she encourages all of this in order to get closer to God, as he is the ultimate artist!

3) This amazing blog: Oh, Hello Friend. Danni finds the most amazing inspiration all over the web. She also creates some amazing products that she sells on her etsy store. I love the cool crafty things she finds all over etsy and flickr and in turn shares with us. She also is a designer, and when I rebrand, I think I’ll be hiring her to do my designing!

4) These shoes via the amazing photographer Stephanie Williams. Aren’t they simply DIVINE? I want them. I think they are Nina. I will find them. And, buy them.

5) Two words: Irene Suchocki. She sells her amazing vintage inspired photographs on etsy, and also has a blog (Eye Poetry). I want to buy every print she sells. Especially this one:

6) I’ve decided I want to start reading more “personal” books. Not just business books. I’d love suggestions! On my list right now is: “Love is a Mix Tape” by Rob Sheffield and “Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe” by Bill Bryson. Especially because Ryan and I will be taking a pretty epic trip to Europe in the fall. Complete with Bavarian castles, yodeling in the Swiss Alps, exploring cobblestone paths, and taking a dip into Lake Como. Cmon people, give me some other suggestions for reading! I want to read a book every two weeks!

7) Lastly, I’ve been pondering what it’ll be like when Ry and I have a baby. I don’t feel ready yet, although we are edging towards having been married FOUR YEARS as of March 11, but when I think about having a little mini-me of us, it gets my heart aflutter. I feel so overwhelmed in my business right now, and want to get some of that stuff figured out before having a kid, but I also know that I’ll never feel 100% ready. I know at some point we’ll just have to jump in and go for it! And really, I am ready if it means I get a child like this to look forward to:

Hope you enjoyed my “woolgathering!!” I think I seem to woolgather a little too much, but I’m glad to get it out there and finally in writing!

Pin-ups and Classic Cars | Encinitas Photography

I had the pleasure of shooting a fabulous group of models, all decked out in 50’s style pin-up attire. It really made me wish I got to live in the days of classic cars, high waisted skirts, fun peeptoe heels, wingtip sunglasses, and seriously awesome hair poofs. Some amazing vendors donated services and products to make this shoot what it was! Pamela of Pamela’s Parasols donated the amazing parasols for the event, Sabrina Sloan (Rosie the Riveter in our shoot) provided fashion advice and custom made attire, Lance Durant of Hire Old Cars provided FIVE classic cars, Make up was by Robyn Mason, and Hair was by Rebecca McLaughlin from Beaucage Salon. And, the amazing location we shot was at San Dieguito Heritage Museum! A special thanks to ShootDotEdit for hosting the after party!

Enjoy! I did some vintage punch to this set, because how can you not when it comes to a 50’s inspired shoot?! What’s your favorite photo of the series??

Dig it!

One of my main goals of this shoot was to try different and unique angles! I’m stoked on the results I got!

She makes an awesome Rosie the Riveter!

In love with this image!

Doesn’t she look like Rachel McAdams?!!!

One of my faves from the day!

John & Karla : First Comes Love | Encinitas Photography

John and Karla are the epitome of awesome. I’m so glad that I got to capture their love as they only had a few days together in San Diego over the New Year’s holiday before John had to head back to Mississippi where he’s based for the Marines!  Oh yeah, I meant to mention as well that Karla is in the Marines too! He flies jets and she flies helicopters. I’m so jealous, I’d love to be able to walk around and say “I’m so awesome, I fly helicopters.” hehe. Although, Karla SO didn’t do that. She’s so humble, and so refreshing!

Just from my short time of hanging out with them, it’s obviously that they are totally in love. Karla is super sweet and genuine, and John is so kind and is so sweet in his interactions with Karla. They are planning to have a gorgeous wedding out in Maryland at the Naval Academy in May. Karla will be a stunning bride and John a handsome groom! You were a joy to meet, get to know, and capture with my camera!

Karla, you’re stunning!

Gorgeous light!

I love the way he looks at her!

I love old buildings and black and white!

There’s something I looove about this image. Maybe it’s John’s sweet caress of Karla’s cheek, and the whimsical-ness of it.

Nothin like a little vintage twist to the beach photos. Something about the beach just screams to me that I need to purchase a hasselblad.

So, there’s no reason for it, but I like this image. It’s totally blurry, but maybe that’s why I like it.

Reminiscent of an old SX-70, and my fave from the day.

Another fave!

Trash the Dress: Lake Arrowhead | Lake Arrowhead Photographer

This shoot was absolutely, hands down one of the funnest shoots I’ve done to date. A bunch of us photographers went up to the mountains and got to take bridal portraits of 5 stunning brides, and even had the pleasure of having some of their husbands join them! I also got to use my 50mm 1.2 lens and it’s a beauty! I also learned some necessary stuff from my friend Wai, as I recently switched from Nikon to Canon, and some of my settings were wacky! I’m so in love with so many of these photos, and excited to show them to you! Enjoy!

In case you didn’t notice, I also changed up my blog majorly! Ok so maybe not majorly, but I’m SO happy with the revisions. I feel like it fits me even better now, and it needed a little facelift. This gives me a better template to work with to inspire my website that will be coming soon! Wahooo! What do you think of the new look??

P.S. I’m off to build a contraption in our backyard to keep the massive amounts of rain from flowing towards our house! Stay safe out there Californians!

In love with this image. The snow, the smile, the gorgeousness. I just wish I would’ve had more time with her!

These two were SO cute together. We got a lot of time to shoot with them, and I took full advantage!

Look at those gorgeous lashes!

Natalya, you are too gorgeous!

I love…

this….

sequence!

Erica, I could’ve shot photos of you allll day! This is my fave shot from the whole day. In love with it!

Credits to: Makeup: Amy Clarke (who also was the gorgeous blonde model!). Hair: Kristen Camacho (who also modeled but I didn’t get much time to photograph)!

Florals: Kelley with Lavenders Flowers (seriously my husband who doesn’t care about flowers was blown away by these arrangements. Hire her NOW).

Hair Pieces: Rachel Larraine (SOOO gorgeous, they totally completed the look for our models)!

If you hired this team of women, you’d have a DREAM TEAM on your wedding day!