Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Stephens Family + extended: Seal Beach Family Session

So, if you follow my blog, you probably read about the crazy night I had a couple weekends ago. If not, you can check it out, HERE. This particular session happens to be the one I was in Seal Beach for that evening. So as you can see, there was some obviously good things about that day too! Karla contacted me a couple of months ago about doing a seasonal session with her family while she would be out here visiting. You see, Karla grew up in Seal Beach but is now in North Carolina with her hubby and 2 adorable daughters. So for the short time they were back home to visit, they could not pass up an oppurtunity for family photos! There was a total of 13 family members for this session and it was a really great experience for me to be able to document all of these people who are so rarely all together. And don't let me forget to mention that they have some great style ;) I was truly impressed with the color-coordinated yet not overly match-y outfits AND the choice of location. They nailed it!

Here's a few favorites of the many photos taken!



The ladies :)


Couldn't resist a fun sibling photo! Even though I'm sure a few years have passed since they last took a photo like this!






Sisters, Ava and Cora :)












I had NOTHING to do with this next shot :P


The guys....


The proud grandma and her girls :)


And we'll wrap it up with another shot of the ADORABLE Miss Ava :)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Bishops: Family.

The Bishops are one of my most favorite families ever and I have been photographing little Kane since he was still in mom's belly!! Kane was an adorable newborn and somehow manages to get cuter and CUTER everytime I see him. He is just bursting with personality and has a million facial expressions. I had a hard time stifling my laughter and taking the photos as Kane made grrrr faces, fish faces, scrunchy faces and huge smiles. I had so much fun photographing the Bishops yet again and can't wait till next time! It's going to be pretty amazing if Kane finds a way to get even cuter between now and then!!!

Here's the favorites....






Here he goes with the silly expressions :)


Kane and his uncle!




I just love this face here hahahaha.




A shot with Mommy and a shot with Daddy :)


Okay...so I know Kane is super adorable and he's all you want to look at...but in this next photo can we just take one quick second to pause and look at Melissa's legs?? You know, the girl who just had a baby only 7 MONTHS AGO!!!! My goodness, you are one hot mama! Okay, now back to looking at Kane :)




Here's Kane, in his costume, sitting in front of a pumpkin that weighs more than his mom, dad, and him all put together!!! Really!!!




And we will wrap this up with a shot of the proud, loving parents :)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The WORST(and funniest) night of my life.

Let me tell you a little story about the series of VERY unfortunate events my assistant, Ty, and I experienced on Saturday night due to 4 very small, but very deadly mistakes....

The day started no different than any other..Ty arrived at my house a couple of hours before we needed to head down to Seal Beach for a session with an extended family of 13. We were getting all of my equipment ready and getting in shooting mode as my phone was being charged. Because for some reason, my phone is ALWAYS dying. I got a call, which caused me to unplug the phone and wander around the house talking on it, and of course...forget to plug it back in, leaving me with only a small charge for the whole day. Which leads us to deadly mistake #1....

NOT GETTING A FULL CHARGE ON MY PHONE.

We left with plenty of time and arrived to Seal Beach full of energy and ready to shoot. We used Map Quest for directions. For most trips, I use the GPS app on my phone to navigate, but I always bring printed directions just in case. Knowing I wouldn't have enough battery to get us there, we opted for the print directions and made it there with no problems.

Here's a photo of one of the adorable little ones from the session! :)


The session went extremely well and Ty and I were so pumped after, that there was no way we were ready to leave after. We decided to walk around the neighborhood, taking it all in, and walk down to Main Street for some dinner. That night, I honestly fell IN LOVE with the area. All of the homes were so unique and had so much personality. Everyone was friendly and said hello to you as you passed them on the street...oh and the weather was PERFECT. I felt like I was in a total dream. But this dream was about to turn into a nightmare as we encountered deadly mistake #2, while at dinner....

NOT REALIZING I HAD MY OUTLET PHONE CHARGER IN MY PURSE AND CHARGING IT WHILE WE WERE AT DINNER.

Here's Ty, while we were wandering the neighborhood!



By the time we were done with dinner, we were leaving WAY later then we had originally planned, but we had an awesome night and timing was the least of our worries. We got in the car and began to make our way home. I was a little concerned about the drive home because I DESPISE driving at night and I was hoping we would be able to get back by following the directions we had. My phone was had been dead for quite awhile and Ty's doesn't have internet access....those mapquest directions were our only hope. As we got onto the freeway...we didn't realize that the next freeway we had to get onto was less than half a mile from where we got on. Which leads us to mistake #3....

MISSING OUR EXIT.

But this usually is never a problem....you get off at the next exit, turn around and head back to your first location and do it all over again. It should have been that simple....EXCEPTTTTT....the off-ramp made a large curve and completely threw off our sense of direction AND we were met with several detours. Already tired, frustrated with my phone being dead, and irritated with the drive....I began to lose patience. THEN, it started to rain. The only thing I dislike more than driving at night....is driving in the rain. And here I was doing both, and on top of that...after trying to find our way for about 20 minutes, we were completely lost. Don't ask me how we got so far off track, it could have been the detours, or being so unfamiliar with the area, or being thrown off by the rain(and did I mention that my windshield wipers were doing a horrible job????) or a combination of all. Either way, we were LOST. Confronted with the choice of stopping and asking someone for directions, or stopping to get an address and call home on Ty's phone to someone with access to a computer for directions....we opted for the second one. So we pulled over to a Chevron and called home to finally end this miserable journey....which leads us to our final mistake.....

NOT CONTINUING ON THAT ROAD, WHICH WOULD HAVE INEVITABLY LED US TO OUR FREEWAY.

We got directions from our handy navigator at home and also got confirmation that we were in Westminster. And we got some great news!!! We were headed in the right direction!! YAY!!!! Now let's just head on home and everything will be great :) But it could never be that simple, could it??? As I turned my key in the ignition to start my truck....IT. WOULDN'T. START. Just gave a tiny sound of effort...then gave up. This is the point where it became funny....how could it not be funny? All of it was straight out of a movie! Here we were, 2 young girls, stranded in a parking lot behind Chevron in Westminster, in a broken down vehicle, with $5,000+ worth of camera equipment in the car. The fun was just beginning!

Ty on the phone. Totally looks like a scene from a scary movie. And that's what it felt like all of this was leading up to!


After about 10 minutes of waiting, I tried to start the truck again...and still...nothing. So I decided it was time to call AAA. Ty used my information on my card and called...only to find out that my card had just recently expired. GREAAAAAT. Luckily, Ty saved the day with hers. Upon calling AAA with her info, the operator let us know that an associate would be with us no later than 9:25...no problem, only had to wait 30 mins. We passed the time by taking silly pictures and joking about the night, because it really was comical. As 9:25 approached...we got a call with an automated tape recording letting us know that our associate would now be arriving around 10:05!!!!!!!!! At this point, none of it really mattered anymore. We laughed it off...and although we were a bit nervous, we stayed in the car and waited till our tow truck driver arrived.

Thank Heavens for AAA!


One of the many pictures taken during the miserable waiting period. Ty's beloved key necklace! :)


Upon arrival, the driver stepped out of the car and greeted us with glossy eyes, and a creepy smile. We told him where our final destination was and he said "well what are you doin all the way down here??? Parrrtyyyyinggg??" accompanied with yet another creepy smile. Ty and I looked at eachother and immediately decided we were not riding all the way home with this guy. Upon trying to start it up once, he said that it needed to be towed(it turned out to be my battery and a jump start WOULD have worked). When we got in the truck with him, I told him to drop us off at a Denny's and someone would be coming to pick us up. 5 minutes into the ride, it was no longer his character I was concerned about, but rather his driving skills!!!! He cut two curbs and swerved over into the next lane by trying to find his ringing phone under the seat and then answered it. He even proceeded to show me the facebook app on his phone while driving. Ty and I were hanging on for dear life!!!!

Bye Bye Truck!!


By the time we arrived at Denny's, I felt as if I could collapse. I finally utilized my charger and was able to use my phone, even though it was no longer useful to us. Our ride arrived about an hour later and we headed home safely and luckily made it there without anymore trouble.

Sitting on the floor in Denny's because there was nowhere else to sit that had an outlet....but I was beyond caring :P


I woke up the next day wondering if it was all just a bad dream, but got a good laugh when I realized it wasn't. It's pretty funny that those 4 little mistakes that we didn't even know we were making led us to ALL of that trouble. We could have avoided it by charging my phone all the way from the start or charging it during dinner because then the gps would have led us home. Or by paying better attention and not missing our exit. Or by driving just a little bit further before we decided to pull over. But can't dwell on all of that now! So the moral to the story is.............
BUY A CAR CHARGER FOR YOUR PHONE ;)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Keaton: Children.

This is Keaton. And all I can say is he is going to be a total HEART-BREAKER about 15 years down the road. Hide your daughters!!! Keaton's mommy had the idea to do a fall themed, pumpkin patch session and I looooved the idea. The location was completely perfect and kept Keaton entertained the whole time. Keaton is so smart and serious for a little one. At one point I tried to get him to crack a smile by doing a silly dance and shaking my car keys around, and instead of getting a laugh...he gave me a look like I was a total crazy person. It was pretty hilarious! Seems like he's a good judge of character ;) hahahhaha.

Check out all of these fun shots of him and his mommy!

Wearing his Navy shirt for Daddy, who is currently overseas.


Trying to lift the pumpkin, and he almost got it off of the ground!
















The sunset as we were leaving....Seriously JAW DROPPING.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Aaron&Alena: Married.

A few weeks ago, I tagged along to shoot a wedding with my friend Daniel Cruz. There's actually a bit of coincidence involved here... When I first agreed to shoot the wedding with Daniel, I was clueless as to who the couple was and any specific details. All I knew is where to be, and when. Simple. It wasn't until a few days before, that we were discussing the timeline for the day, that he mentioned the bride's name. ALENA. Whoa whoa whoa...wait...ALENA? That's not the most common name. Could it possibly be the same Alena whom I was good friends with in high school, but hadn't talked to since? The Alena whom Daniel and I both attended high school with? Well of course, it was the same Alena. Funny how that works. But that's nothing out of the ordinary right???? You see an old friend for the first time in years and it happens to be on their wedding day. And you're photographing it. Happens all the time right?? hahahaha. On another note, the whole day was so beautiful and I loved getting to be a part of it! These two are just the cutest! After you're done with this post, be sure to head over to Daniel's blog and see what he captured!

Here's the favorites :)







Check out these beautiful bridesmaids. btw, I LOVE the pink and black color scheme! ;)










And of course we had to show off those fabulous shoes...


And here's what was going on up top while the last shot was being taken :)


Alena, dancing with her father :)


It's a super simple concept, but this still has to be one of my favorite ring shot's I've gotten!


The new Mr&Mrs.