I shot Karen and Craig’s wedding about a month ago as Kim Fox’s second-shooter. It was such a fun day. Karen and Craig were the most relaxed bride and groom! Kim and I had a great time running around the hotel with them.

Here are my five most favorite images from the day.

Ah… Jimmy Choo. Every time I see Jimmy Choos I think of that Sex and the City episode where Carrie gets mugged and the mugger takes her Jimmy Choos.

How amazing is the back of this dress? And Karen rocked it!

The handsome groom, Craig.

There was this great brick building behind the hotel that Kim and I just loved for some of the romantics.

A very sweet first dance.

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Last Saturday I spent the day shooting Teri & David’s lovely wedding with Jen Leshnick. I had such a wonderful time and Jen and I were able to get some great shots.

Wattles Mansion is an awesome wedding venue in Hollywood. It has great light, great history and is just a really, really cool place to spend the day.

I have a lot of favorites from the day…. so let’s get to it!

Check out this amazing dress! I just love that diagonal lacing down the back. Teri was rightfully very proud of this find.

The gorgeous bouquet. This bouquet made me realize how much I looooove peonies. So beautiful.

The beautiful bride.

The handsome groom.

Teri and David decided to see each other in a First Look before the ceremony, so we had plenty of time for lots of romantics. I love both of these.

This wasn’t an accident… but I didn’t think I would like this shot as much as I do. I think it’s tied for my favorite shot of the day.

The SUPER adorable flower girl.

She just loved that parasol. So cute.

The gorgeous garden where the ceremony took place.

The ceremony was short and sweet. Just enough time for some really great personal vows and a long first kiss.

The details were so amazing. GD Designers did a truly amazing job with all of the florals and Teri, along with her lovely coordinator Wendy, designed the paper products for the day.

Because we did all of the family, group and romantic photos before the ceremony, I had some extra time during the Cocktail Hour to hang out with this beautiful little girl on the lawn. She was so interested in my camera. Check out those big, beautiful eyes!

Teri, David and all of their guests had a great time with the photo booth during the cocktail hour.

Thanks to Jen Leshnick for asking me to shoot with her, and to Meg for referring me to her.

Thank you, Teri and David, for a lovely day and for being so fun to photograph! Have a great time in Costa Rica!

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I’ve just uploaded May and Shawn’s Wedding slideshow! Click here to check it out.

Happy Friday!

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Last night, Meg and I attended a great cocktail party at the Oviatt Penthouse in Downtown LA. The party was an industry event for wedding vendors to get together, network and talk about our industry. Everyone from event coordinators and floral designers to jewelry designers and photographers were there. I had a great time meeting a ton of new people who are all involved in the wedding industry in one way or another. I even ran into Kelley of Picture Perfect Events, whom I had the pleasure working with last June when I helped Kim shoot Christine & Bryan’s wedding. If you’re planning your wedding, you definitely want to check out her blog for some ideas. She posts really great inspiration boards — I had a lot of fun looking through all her blog posts just this morning.

Meg and I also met some fun guys from the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, just outside of Palm Springs. We got to talking and it turns out that they know my very good friend Hillary who works at the Miramonte Resort and Spa in Palm Desert. Small world!

Thanks to Meg for bringing her camera (with a flash, of course) so that we could take these photos, though a couple are quite ridiculous. And, thanks to the kind server who was able to take the photos for us. Check out Meg’s post for a few more shots… some are quite silly, just so you know!

Here we are with the guys from Rancho Las Palmas Resort and two lovely ladies from Greco Photography.

Silliness…

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May and Shawn’s wedding snuck up on me quickly. It doesn’t seem like that long ago I was meeting with them for the first time to go over packages… but I guess that makes sense with the way the rest of my year has been flying by. Is anyone else amazed that July is almost over?? Geez!

What a lovely day for a wedding in Southern California! May and Shawn are such a great couple. They are so easy to get along with, and never questioned an idea for a shot. Love that! Plus, all of their friends and family were so nice and fun… how can you not have a good time when you’re surrounded by fun, kind people?

I was very lucky to have Meg shoot with me! She got some amazing shots (check out her post about this wedding here), and, as always, was a lot of fun to work with. Not only do we have similar shooting styles, which makes it so easy to work together, we are both always focused on having a good time with our clients and everyone at the wedding.

And now, the images…

The dress.

The happy bride.

The shoes! Hello!  May actually told me about these shoes during the engagement session because she knew I am so into shoes, as is she. I think its so fun to introduce some color or a fun pattern (like polka dots) into the wedding ensemble by way of the perfect pair of heels.

Ready!

The groom.

I thought all the guys looked very smart in their suits. I just loved those ties. I think that about this moment the guys were talking about World of Warcraft… and they were surprised to find out that I knew anything about the game (thanks to some friends of mine who were almost unhealthily obsessed with the game a while back).

The ring exchange during the ceremony. Check out how happy May was the entire day! I just love the laughter.

Married!

After the ceremony we made the slightly dangerous move of running across the canyon street to shoot in this great space with the whole wedding party. I’m not quite sure what was happening here, but I’m very I happy I was able to capture this very special moment between May and Shawn.

A fabulous wedding party.

This is my favorite shot of the day, for sure. Check out that amazing light with just a hint of flare. I’m so glad we were all brave enough to cross that street… anything for good photos, right?

Love this one, too.

I had to get a shot that showed off those shoes.

I love this shot. How GQ is Shawn in this photo?

I had to throw these images into the post because it was a running theme throughout the day of how Meg and I could incorporate Matt’s height into all the group shots we did of the wedding party. I took the first shot of Shawn, Matt and a friend at the reception… then quickly took the second one after Matt stood straight again. He was a fun guy and totally a good sport.

The first dance turned into a bit of a serenade with May and Shawn singing their special song aloud to each other. So sweet.

Again, I had a great day with May, Shawn and all of their friends and family! Thank you guys so much for entrusting the photography of your special day to me. I hope you are having a great time in Napa! Drink a glass of Chardonnay for me.

The slideshow will be posted soon.

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May and Shawn’s wedding was so lovely. I can’t wait to share the rest of the images! But, for now, this will have to do as I’m off to shoot my third wedding of the weekend.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

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This week was our monthly Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting for the L.A. bunch and it was great. Michael and Anna Costa were our guest speakers and they had some great things to say about how to stand out in the wedding photography industry. With so many of us out there, it is a bit difficult to make our individual styles shine… and that’s just what they were there to help us do! Not only are they great photographers, they are really cool people. Meg and I had fun chatting with Anna after the meeting about her auditioning for the next season of American Idol! She even rehearsed her song choices in front the group! Her audition was supposed to be on Thursday, so I hope she did well!

Here are a few images I snagged from Jules’ blog.

Can you spot me? I’m either a.) bored and impatient, or b.) intently soaking up the knowledge… Anyone have a guess?

Michael & Anna generously sharing what has worked, and hasn’t worked, for them in this industry.

I really love this shot. That girl smiling in the center is Claire– very funny lady, then there’s Laura of Beautiful Day Photography in the green and the headband whom Meg works with a lot, Meg and Me.

I’m looking forward to implementing some of the things I learned that night over the next couple months!

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It all started with a quick e-mail from Meg… I believe she was writing about a wedding we were about to shoot together, and then she mentioned a book she had been reading and thought it would be great for me to take on the plane to Hawaii. (I will be shooting a wedding there later this Summer.) It was some book called Twilight, which I had never heard of, and pretty much pushed the book to the back of my mind. About a week later, I was at Barnes & Noble picking up the text book for the wine class I am in this Summer, and there it was. It looked promising, so I bought it thinking I may get bored on the plane from watching videos on my iPod and playing on my computer…

Without knowing much about the whole craze that has apparently infiltrated the teen girl market (it was in the Teen Lit section of the bookstore, afterall), I started reading it and I became obsessed. I literally could not stop thinking about the story for days… I went to the gym just for an excuse to be on the treadmill with nothing else to do but read. I gave up on my watching-tv-before-bed habit and read this book instead… staying up much later than I should have most nights just to get through more of the riveting story. I even tried to squeeze in reading while waiting in line at the drive-thru Starbucks once! Something about its characters — I felt like I was 14 again the way I understood what the main character was thinking… Plus, it’s about vampires! Who doesn’t love a great vampire story?? Especially a vampire like Edward Cullen… ::sigh:: … see what I mean about being 14 again?

Sometime while reading Twilight, I learned that it’s only the first book of a four-part series! I can’t tell you how excited I was that there was more than just this one book. And, of course, there’s a film being made! But, I’m more excited to get through the first three books of the series so that I can start reading book 4 (Breaking Dawn) when it comes out in August. I’m well on my way being halfway done with book 2 (New Moon).

Click on the movie poster to visit the film’s official Web site.

Meg and I have written many emails back and forth about these books, the characters, the casting for the upcoming film… oh, and of course about our crushes on Edward Cullen :)… I’m so glad that she recommended this book and that I have her to chat with about how great it is.

Have any of you read the books? I’d love to get comments from you to hear what you think!

I’m obsessed with at Teen Lit novel about vampires… who knew? Now, off to read more of New Moon…

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Kristin and Brice were married on the very popular date 06-07-08, and, to be honest, theirs was one of my most favorite weddings I have ever shot. They had every component of a dream wedding I can think of as a photographer: great location, amazing wardrobe, lovely details, fabulous coordinator, great weather, and, most importantly, an incredibly kind and loving couple surrounded by very welcoming friends and family. Not to mention, Kristin and Brice are both pretty easy on the eyes…

Kim and I had so much fun shooting this wedding. Check out her post here to see more from the wedding.

Here are a few lot of my favorite shots of the day.

While Kim hung out with the ladies while they were getting ready, I was with the guys as they watched some baseball and figured out how to put on boutaineers. (At one point someone had to Google on which side they were supposed to be pinned… I told them it was the left side, but they had to confirm with Google. :-P)

I decided to take a detail shot of the groom’s shoes since apparently these gray Italian babies served as the inspiration for the wedding day colors! Brice totally rocked those.

Here’s the groom reading Kristin’s note to him and making a phone call about some last-minute wedding details.

The handsome groom.

Gorgeous bouquet. Unfortunately, I forgot to get the name of the florist…

Everyone had been getting ready at The London Hotel in West Hollywood, which was really gorgeous inside. They had this amazing foyer with unbelievable light, so we did the first look and many of the formal portraits there.

Here’s the gorgeous Kristin.

Right before the first look. Kristin, quiet with anticipation. Brice, beaming with excitement.

The first look. (Side note: I totally love my new TRA2 Boutwell Actions which have a lot of actions that create the slightly aged and desaturated look, but I actually edited and processed this wedding before I even bought them. I was just experimenting with different post-processing things in Photoshop… but using the TRA2 mix is so much faster and easier! Thank goodness I have those now.)

A simple portrait of the happy couple.

How very GQ!

We all loved the gold couch in the foyer.

The very stylish wedding party. One of the bridesmaids was wearing the most killer Christian Louboutin pumps! One day, I vow to buy myself some of those!

Beautiful details. Because Kristin is half Japanese, they incorporated some Asian-influence into the details. These paper cranes were all folded by Kristin and I thought they were a really cute and unique touch!

The ceremony was in a round room that looked out onto the Hollywood Hills. I loved how everyone in the room had a great view of the couple.

The ceremony was so lovely. At one point, some close friends of Brice and Kristin even read a few of the emails that they exchanged when they first started dating after a mutual friend set them up on a blind date! It was really cool to hear the progression of what the letters were like after their first date to the time they knew they loved each other.

The ceremony was so emotional that at one point during Kristin’s vows, the room started to become noisy with everyone sniffling, unable to hold back tears. There was definitely not a dry eye in the room, and mine were no exception.

After the ceremony, Kim and I stole some time to do just a few more romantic shots of the newlyweds. I think this is my favorite shot of the day.

These cufflinks were a very special gift from Kristin to Brice in memory of Brice’s mother who passed away a few years ago.

Stunning details. Penny of Pennyrella Weddings was a fabulous coordinator and such a pleasure to work with. I can’t stress enough how great it is for everyone when there is a coordinator there the day of the wedding. It makes things flow so much more easily and allows the bride and groom to just enjoy their day.

The first dance.

A great moment during the toasts.

A funny moment during Kristin’s thank you speech.

Congratulations, Kristin and Brice! You truly are a beautiful couple and I wish you guys all the happiness. Thank you for making me feel so welcome on your very special day.

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So… I wasn’t exactly able to stroll in and by the iPhone this morning. Apparently, a few other people in my area heard about the phone and wanted one as well. Weird…

I used to slightly make fun of people for waiting in absurdly long lines to buy anything. People who camp out for video game consoles, concerts, movie tickets — all that never really appealed to me. I waited in line for Star Wars: Episode II one time in high school with a bunch of friends for 4 hours. I vowed to never do it again. I wasn’t even a Star Wars fan!

But, today I stood outside of the local AT&T store for more than 3 1/2 hours for a phone. I had to deal with some of the most annoying people on Earth in front of me for 3 1/2 hours… and when I say annoying, I mean ANNOYING. Wow. I didn’t even take the time have my morning coffee… so that was a true test of my patience. On top of that, I forgot the book I meant to bring with me to read. (It’s that insanely popular teen lit novel “Twilight.” I got it because of a recommendation from Meg and am totally hooked. It reminds me of a cheesy teen romance flick, but it’s smart and youthfully addictive. It kept me on the treadmill for over an hour yesterday because I didn’t want to stop reading.) On top of that, once I finally got the thing home 4 hours later, the servers on iTunes were too busy so I couldn’t set it up right away.

Finally I got everything all set-up and have spent about 30 minutes playing around with it. All those hours in line behind some of the most annoying people on Earth, with no coffee and no book, were actually worth it! I love my new toy so much and have already installed the Twitter app so I can Twitter on the go. (If you don’t know what Twitter is, check it out… it’s a fun way to keep people up-to-date on things throughout the day.)

Here are some photos of Wolfie I took on my iPhone. Of course, he had to be my first model.

It’s a decent-enough camera. Can’t wait to try out all of the other features!

I also wanted to take a minute to post some of the photos I took last week on the 4th of July.

I started out my day at Zuma Beach with some friends:

It was a gorgeous day for the beach!

I didn’t take too many photos there because I was a little paranoid about the sand/water/too many people aspect. But, I like this one I shot from the hip as we took a walk down by the water.

Later that evening, exhausted and drained from being in the sun all day, I met up with my family at my Uncle’s block party. These are my twin cousins Emily and Ethan. Aren’t they so cute?? Ethan absolutely loves showing off how much he loves his sister when the camera is around. (For a look back, visit this blog post to see Ethan and Emily about 2 years ago. My how they have grown!)

Emily was very proud of her nail polish.

What’s more American than Superman and hamburgers? (Actually, it was a turkey burger and Ethan was pretty much only eating the bun.) I love that the burger is as bis as his head!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

I’ll be in San Diego shooting a wedding, but don’t worry, I have my iPhone now so I’ll be Twittering and emailing while away. Yay!

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