out of the office

I can't believe it's already the end of October which means it's already time for my awesome European vacation! Ben and I have been looking forward to this trip for over a year... we got engaged while we were living in Paris back in 2005 and haven't been back since. We'll be gone until November 11th, which means I'll have spotty internet and non-existent phone service for a couple of weeks. If you do need to get in touch with me please send me an email and I'll do my best to get back to them as quickly as possible. I'm also going to shooting a couple of portrait sessions while we're away and on our quick stopover in New York coming home so look out for those as well.

Here are just a couple of photos from back in 2005:

Why I love where I live

With all of the fires I think people have been feeling down about southern California and the fact that with the dry weather fires are pretty much a given every fall. I thought I'd just throw out a couple of photos that Ben and I took a few of weeks ago when we ran to the beach on a whim at sunset. I love the fact that I live a mile or so from the beach. I love that it's warm enough all year round to go out by the ocean chase each other around the sand like little kids. And I love California.

Enough chatter... here are a couple of my favorites:

I asked Ben to stand still for a second to try out something with my lens... and instead of standing still he jumped up and flopped over in the sand unannounced. Lesson learned: f1.8 is not good for capturing someone who is flailing backwards away from me. I really wish this shot was more in focus... but I still think it's funny!

And I think these are pretty funny too. Like I said... we only go to the beach to goof around. What good is a beach if you don't use it?

Cheesy self-portrait... I think we have one of these of ourselves at every tourist spot we've ever been to!

I shot this one of Ben....

While he was taking this movie of me... we got a flip video recorder and it's been pretty entertaining!

Ben took this one of me... I look pretty ridiculous but I think I make ridiculous faces a lot so it's probably more likely you'd catch me looking like this than not.

After the sun set we headed home... but I couldn't help but think how lucky we are... I love California. End cheesiness now :)

Pinata party

I can't believe how far behind I am in my blogging! For those of you that haven't been following the news there has been a string of horrible fires here in southern California that's really thrown me behind in ... well.. pretty much everything! Ben and I, along with my whole family are all fine and well, but it's been tough getting anything done lately. I have so many back posts that I've been meaning to put up and I find myself with some unexpected free time today, so here goes:

First up, a pinata party... it was a combination last day/birthday party and what better way to celebrate than bashing open a pinata that looks like yourself? If you haven't hit a pinata since you were a little kid I think you should give it a try. It's pretty hilarious. Here are a couple of the shots I got in the 10 minutes or so before the thing was smashed to bits.

Poor George... lost his head.

Janelle & Keith Married!

On Sunday I once again had the pleasure of joining Crissy Farah in documenting another beautiful wedding. This week it was the wedding of Janelle and Keith. Their wedding took place at the Clarke Estate in the beautiful courtyard and was followed with an outdoor reception. It was a beautiful day and I was so happy to be along for the ride! Here are a couple of my favorites from the day.

First up a couple of getting ready shots

How many bridesmaids does it take to put on a wedding dress?

This may be the cutest flower girl I've ever seen!

The beautiful bride, all ready to go!

Before the ceremony we took some quick portraits of the groom with his groomsmen.

And then Janelle and Keith shared a private "first glance" moment before the ceremony. Don't they just glow? They were so excited about the wedding!

One of my favorite shots of the day, Janelle and her stepfather walking down the aisle.

After the ceremony we had time for a couple of bridal party and couples portraits before the reception started. Janelle brought along these bright parasols which were a lot of fun.

At the reception Keith's brother gave a funny and touching toast which involved a LONG list of marital advice...

I think Keith got a kick out of it!

Congratulations Janelle and Keith! Have a wonderful time on your Mexican honeymoon and don't forget to get some relaxation in while you're away! Thank you to Crissy for inviting me along to another great wedding.

server issues!

I'm sorry to say that my web server (where my blog photos are hosted) appears to be down at the moment. Sorry to those of you trying to check out the latest updates, I'm hoping to get this figured out as soon as possible. This may also be affecting my email so if you don't get a reply to an email you sent this evening, please try again tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience!

Amy & Ken married!

This Saturday I was so excited to help out fellow photographer Kara Frans and join her in Palm Springs to help in documenting the wedding of Amy and Ken at the gorgeous MiraMonte Resort. Amy and Ken were such an beautiful and relaxed couple and all of the details were just stunning. It was such an amazing day all around and I had to really hold myself back to keep the post to a manageable size! I hope you enjoy!

First up the beautiful gown.

And the gorgeous Christian Louboutin shoes!

Amy was such a relaxed bride and her gown looked absolutely amazing on her.

After their first sight we had just a few moments to capture some portraits on the resort grounds before the ceremony.

To honor the special relationship Amy had with her grandmother she incorporated her rosary into her beautiful bouquet. I love special and personal touches like this!

The first dance as husband and wife!

I have never seen another bride THIS excited about cutting her cake. She must have known how delicious it was going to be!

And another wedding cake first for me... they didn't bother waiting around for a plate...

And of course with rings this beautiful you just have to break out the macro lens for some close-ups!

Both Amy and Ken had touching dances with their parents. Here is Amy with her father and Ken with his mother.

After the "official" dances the whole crowd started tearing up the dance floor! Including the flower girl.

Congratulations Ken and Amy. Your wedding day was a truly gorgeous and special event and I wish you all the best in the future. I also wanted to say thank you to Kara for inviting me to come along!