Jill and Dan were married at the lovely Miramonte Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, CA (very near Palm Springs). They had an amazing celebration thanks to Laurie and her staff from The Events Department, and of course Hillary, my good friend and catering manager at the Miramonte. The details were fabulous, the guests were lively and the whole day was just a blast. Thanks to Hayley for helping me out on this one — it’s always a good day with her around.

This wedding was actually my last scheduled wedding of the year! It’s been quite the wedding season. I’ve had the best time working with all of my clients this year and now I’m looking forward to having a few weekends off, shooting more portraits, as well as working on some other projects I’ve wanted to get started. I hope to even set up a just-for-fun shoot with models, hair, make-up — the whole nine yards — where I can really experiment with different technique. Any one interested in modeling??

Anyway– on to the many photos of this fabulous wedding!

Here’s Jill getting ready with the help of her Maid of Honor.

A twist on the shoe shot– you know me and shoes!

Love this!

The flowers by City of Commerce Flowers were AMAZING!  This bouquet was a real beauty– and weighed a ton!

The gorgeous bride. How incredible are her eyes??

Dan looking all dashing.

The First Look. Love love love these moments!

The happy couple.

Jill, Dan and Dan’s son Bradley who was truly the life of the party!

Dan with his nephew. Such a cutie.

The ceremony. I adore Dan’s expression as he saw Jill walking down the aisle.

Yeah… did I mention the flowers were amazing?

Married!

All of the incredible details.

Dan and Jill’s reaction to Bradley’s Best Man toast. That kid knew how to work a room!

We set up an impromptu photo booth for the guests…

Hayley and I had some fun with the rings and the props they had for the photo booth. I can’t decide my favorite between the two.

The First Dance.

Jill and Dan — Thanks so much for a great day! Congratulations!!

7 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

So, I’ve already shot Jill and Dan’s wedding and I cannot wait to post some of those images. What a great wedding! But, first thing’s first… Here are the rest of Jill and Dan’s engagement photos!

No Comments » Posted by admin / Engagement Sessions

Jill and Dan got married last weekend, but I have yet to post their engagement session because we shot it so close to the wedding and right smack in the middle of my crazy October-November schedule. So, here’s a preview of their engagement photos. The rest will be posted soon!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

2 Comments » Posted by Heather / Engagement Sessions

I just stumbled upon this music video and because I’m obsessed with the Twilight saga, I thought I’d share it.

Sure, the books were probably written for teenage girls, but I know a whole bunch of 20-somethings who are completely dazzled by the books and are all getting together next Friday (opening night) to see the film together in LA!

Meg and I were lucky enough to see the movie already — she has a connection that got us invited to a screening with the director when the film was still in the rough stages of editing. In LA, it’s all about who you know. It was actually quite embarassing at first since the other people who were invited were all young girls between the ages of 8 and 14!

After the movie, we spent some time talking to the director about the film– choices they made in the screenplay adaptation of the book, editing choices, and what it was like working on the movie. It was an incredible experience. We even got to talk to her about our impression of the movie. The whole experience was even more interesting to me because while I was in grad school at USC, I thought I wanted to get into the film marketing industry.

Here’s my iPhone photo of us in the screening room.

Needless to say, I cannot wait to see the movie in its final state.

Oh, Edward…

1 Comment » Posted by Heather / My Life and Just a thought...

I think of myself as being quite patriotic and have always been supportive of the men and women who serve our country. I was out with friends last night for Monday Night Football and they were hosting a salute to the Marines where we were. I got a little choked up listening to the stories of the Vets and seeing all the men and women in uniform. One woman there was 90 years old and first entered the Marine Corps in 1943! She had a great story.

If you’re a Veteran, thank you. If you know a Veteran, tell them I said thank you.

Today, I hope we all take a moment to thank a Veteran for their service.

No Comments » Posted by admin / Just a thought...

Nicole and Matt are a great couple with awesome style, and their wedding was fabulous. It was my first time shooting at The Willows and I loved it! The O’Donnel House on the property is gorgeous, and the view from any spot on the property is amazing. Throw in some fun guests and Meg as a second shooter, and you pretty much have my favorite kind of wedding!

Donna of Ultimate Events and her team were fantastic coordinators who also took care of the florals, lighting and other decor. Harmony, the site coordinator, was also great in making sure things ran smoothly. Thanks to the following for also helping to make this wedding so great:

New Leaf Catering — awesome food!

Joy Fields — hair stylist extraordinaire.

The amazing dress!

Loved the tile details of the The O’Donnell House.

The lovely bride getting ready.

Loved her hair!

Gorgeous.

How awesome is this long netted veil??

The ceremony site. Those stunning clouds were a little scary at first, but no rain fell, thank goodness.

Here’s Matt watching Nicole walk down the aisle with her father.

Great moments during the short-but-sweet ceremony.

A fun portrait. I loved Matt’s skinny white tie.

The guys all wore Converse All-Stars. Love it!

The gorgeous, fun wedding party.

Here’s the image from the preview post. This is in the running for my favorite of the day.

The FABULOUS details. That ice sculpture and all of the floral elements were all stunning.

The wedding was on the smaller side — only about 70 guests — and allowed them to have just one long table. I thought that was so chic!

The first dance.

And finally, a great shot of the happy couple and the gorgeous view right after sunset.

Congratulations, Nicole and Matt! I hope your honeymoon in Paris was lovely!

2 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

I shot an amazing wedding last weekend for Nicole and Matt (you can see their engagement session here and here). Here’s a quick preview.

Happy Sunday, everyone! I’m definitely enjoying my day so far… I’ll enjoy it even more if the Packers defeat the Vikings!

UPDATE: Boo! Packers lost by 1! 

No Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

As a very busy wedding season begins to wind down for me, I wanted to take a moment to remind my blog readers that I am not just a wedding photographer. I absolutely adore shooting weddings — it’s really fantastic to be invited to be a part of such a special day for my clients. But, I’m a photographer, and love photographing people no matter the occasion!

So, if you or someone you know is looking to set up a kids or family portrait session for holiday cards, or just to have some awesome photos, email me!

And because no post is quite complete without an image or two, here’s a look back at my adorable little cousins from 4th of July!

No Comments » Posted by admin / Portraits & Fun and Just a thought...

A couple of weeks ago, I tagged along with Meg to shoot a fabulous wedding at Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes. I had never shot a wedding at Wayfarers before… but I loved it. Especially because Jasmine and Alex were such an awesome couple! They were both so happy and their love was so evident– they truly made our job so easy and fun that day!

Here are my favorite images from the day.

Here’s Alex looking very handsome as he waited for Jasmine.

They decided to do a First Look, which allowed me to get this incredible reaction shot and gave us plenty of good light to use for all of the romantic photos.

Wayfarers has a stunning view of the ocean.

Then it was time for the ceremony in this gorgeous church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

A great nighttime shot.

During the toasts. Jasmine’s smile and laugh were totally infectious.

The first dance.

Meg and I had some fun with the rings.

A sweet moment.

Jasmine and Alex,

Thank you so much for being so lovely! I had an amazing time photographing you guys on your special day and wish you all the best!

3 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

I had the pleasure of shooting Walsh and Pandora’s simple morning wedding at the fabulous Miramonte Resort and Spa on October 26th. Thanks to Hillary and the rest of the Miramonte staff for coordinating the wedding and making sure everything went smoothly.

Interesting fact: Walsh and Pandora live in Taiwan and booked me completely over email! So, it was great to meet them on the wedding day and to hang out with them, their friends and family.

A couple of bridal details. I just loved that flower on the back of Pandora’s dress!

Stunning.

Walking over to the ceremony, high heels in hand.

My friend Jeremy joined me to shoot this wedding and got this great shot during the ceremony.

This was my view at about the same moment during the ceremony.

Then we spent some time roaming around the resort for some fun portraits.

Walsh was a total natural in front of the camera.

Some of the cutest kids in the world were at the wedding… and they loved the cameras.

These two were inseparable the whole day.

Finally, some fun with shadows and harsh light.

Congratulations, Walsh and Pandora! I had such a lovely morning with you guys and wish you all the best in your life together.

1 Comment » Posted by admin / Weddings