Cindy & Jesse: Wedding.

Here it is!!! My first wedding of the season! And what a special day it was :) Cindy and Jesse are so silly and fun and after getting to meet the rest of their families, I see where it comes from ;) Their day was super easy going and......FUN!!! I have never had as much fun at a reception as I did at theirs, Oh Boy.
Cindy and Jesse, thanks so much for choosing me to be a part of your big day. You guys made me feel more like a member of the family than a wedding vendor! I wish only the best for you and your little ones!

Now here are some highlights of the day...



Cindy, getting her hair done. Doesn't she have the most vibrant smile?!?!







Reading a letter from Jesse...



LOOK AT ALL THOSE CAMERAS!!!! These little cuties stole the show :)





I had to grab a shot of their youngest son peeking at me from between the pews. He was looking rather dashing in his little suit!!!







AHHHH we were SO blessed by the time of day we were doing their portraits during. The light was sooo amazing!















The little flower girl hanging out in the driver seat, having a snack. Her expression made me LOL as I was culling through the photos. So cute!!



Loved their cupcake stand! :)







Jesse's emotional dance with his sister, in memory of their mother, brought tears to everyone's eyes. Especially when his father stepped in to share in the moment...



I told you that these two are silly!! This was their idea!...



Now for some behind the scenes action!

I had to laugh when I saw the one photo my awesome second shooter, Daniel Cruz, snagged of me during the ceremony. Not only am I sitting down, but I'm also shooting the opposite direction of the actual ceremony. Great timing, Daniel!!! Lol. Don't let this fool you...I do work!!



Oh man....this reception was SO lively. When Daniel and I were done with our job for the day, we couldn't even bring ourselves to leave! So we spent the last 10 minutes of the night dancing with the guests and my lovely bride and groom. Here's a photo I snapped of Daniel doing the "camera dance", that literally made me laugh till I cried when I viewed it on my camera's LCD. (He's not QUITE as crazy as this photo makes him look) Hahahhaha. Enjoy!



Jesse and Cindy, viewing their same-day photo slideshow I made for them!



This is the "We love our photographer" photo :)



xoxo

Zerrin + Mommy&Daddy: Family Session.

Ohhh perfect little Miss Zerrin...with her huge eyes and all the silly faces she makes!! She really is one of the cutest kids on this planet! I remember seeing pictures of her when she was first born and thinking, "WOW, she is beautiful!". She just keeps growing bigger and bigger and getting prettier and prettier. Mom and Dad are gonna have their hands full when she reaches dating age! Oooh boy.
For their session, we decided to go with an urban/colorful feel and I about DIED when I saw Zerrin's pink and black tutu outfit!!! She was a little ball of energy running around all over the place and making us laugh with all of the expressions she was making. I had so much fun capturing it all and I can't wait till our next session! You'll be seeing a lot more of this little cutie! :)

Just a Peek :)

Okay so you know how I've been posting so many things about my new blog and site and the "top secret" projects surrounding it? Welll I only did that because the release really was supposed to have happened already! Unfortunately, due to some delays in certain elements involving the site...we're now looking at a release date of late April/May. I know...I'm bummed too! BUT, it will be awesome!! :) Here's some things you can look forward to seeing...
-Brand new super fun website!!
-New bloggggggg!! (bye bye blogspot)
-My new office!
-Photos from some unreleased sessions :)
-AND a BIG contest leading up to the site unveiling! So get ready for that if you wanna win big!!

Well I wasn't planning on sharing any of the material from the new brand/site. Buttttt... since it's still gonna be awhile and I feel bad about being such a sneaky sneaker...here's a little peek from one of the styled sessions :)
P.S. Hair and Makeup styled by my beautiful friend Celeste. She is amazing!! You'll get to see her work closer in detail later!

DO. IT. NOW.

How many time's have you told yourself "I'll get to it later...." or "Later on when I have time, I'd like to...." ?
If you're anything like me, you probably do it A LOT. I always seem to find a ton of things I would love to do, but can never find the time to do them. You see, these things I really "want" to do always seem to get overshadowed by the things I "have" to do or "should" do...you feel me?
Why is it that the list of things we want to do is neverending, but the time to do them, goes unfound?
The answer is simple: That's how life is.
The time is just going to keep ticking away no matter how hard we fight it. That time you are searching for, is passing you by.
I see the pattern in myself allllll the time. The book I could't wait to get, still sitting there months later without a page turned...the old hobby I'm DEFINITELY gonna take up again once I get past wedding season...the good friend whom I haven't seen in ages, that I'm FOR SURE gonna hang out with after I get a few more things checked off my to-do list...
Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.
If it's not one thing, it's gonna be another. If I'm busy today, chances are I'll be busy tomorrow...and next week...and next year!!! Especially as I take on new opportunities, my life just gets busier and busier and busier....
So I challenge you to take today to commit a little time to that special thing you've been wanting to do. (Unless you're planning on waiting till retirement!)
Do it TODAY.
This post isn't meant to be some profound message or eye-opening statement. It's simply something we've all known from the start...today is as good a day as any :)

Well...it's kind of WAY off topic, but since I refuse to blog without a photo...I thought I'd share these photos I took of Rocko yesterday, in my great-grandmother's old wig. Poor poor Rocko. He looks like a cross between an elderly woman and a disco dancer. Enjoy! ;)

WPPI 2011

As I write this blog post, I'm finding it so hard to believe that my first WPPI really has already come and gone. Months of anticipation, planning, and excitement all came down to this past weekend and just like that it's passed! Pretty insane. But I've said it a million times before and I'll say it again...it was amazing!!! I headed out there with Ty LaMothe and we stayed for 3 jam-packed, AWESOME days. During this time, we hung out with some old friends, made some new ones, and filled our brains with knowledge till we couldn't take anymore!!! Let me break it down for you, day by day :)

SUNDAY:

-Crazy fun drive into Vegas with Ty LaMothe.

-AMAZING business/branding platform class from Bob & Dawn Davis.

-Dinner at the Hash House a Go Go with awesome friends. (Check out the size of those portions!!!!)



Myself, attempting to eat the ridiculous pork loin sandwich without the provided fork and knife. The guy in the background found this so funny that he came over shortly after to get a picture of it as well!! Hahah



-B School party with some more awesome friends! Here's some photo booth shots from it!








MONDAY:

-Bobbi & Mike's motivational platform class. I love Bobbi & Mike!!! Their class was my first priority for WPPI.(Did I mention that I LOVE them??!!!)

-Hung out in the Showit lounge and met some cool people!

-While we were in line for lunch, Ty and I got introduced to the Jarvie Window. Crazy stuff!!!





-Exploring the trade show and getting 10 pounds of marketing material and product samples from the companies!!

-Jasmine Star's kick-butt motivational platform class. But really...when DOESN't she rock?

Jasmine and I having a rather animated looking conversation after the class.



Someone pointed out her striking resemblance to JLO in the photo. What do you think?



-Unite worship night. A big group of photographers gathering together to worship Jesus in the midst of sin city....AWESOME.

-Great dinner and even better talks at dinner with Ty at Diego!!


TUESDAY:

-Lazy morning, enjoying our breakfast and people watching.

-Yet another visit to the Showit lounge to hangout and chat about the awesome new stuff coming to Showit this year!! SO excited :)

-I was SOOOO excited to see Bobbi & Mike in the food court during lunch and got a chance to hang out with them and chat for a bit :)

Here's myself and the Bobbi part of Bobbi+Mike.



-Roberto Valenzuela's RIDICULOUSSSSS shooting platform class. This man is a genius with a camera. And this class was definitely the favorite of them all for me and Ty! SO much knowledge packed into our brains!!

Grabbed a shot on my phone of one of the quotes he included in his presentation. Love it!



-We finished up the night with an informative pricing platform class from Jared Bauman. After that we headed back to our room to get a good night of sleep and pack our bags to head out the next morning!

So, my advice to anyone considering going to WPPI next year is.....GO!!!! Nothing can replace the experience I had there and I am SO happy that I went. If you missed out on this year, don't let 2012 pass you by too. I'll see ya there! :)

The Rodriguez's: Family Session.

Last weekend I met with the Rodriguez family at a super awesome location that they picked out themselves, for this fun family session. (I will definitely be shooting here again!!). I will be shooting Cindy & Jesse's vow renewal/wedding at the beginning of March and they chose to replace their engagement session with a family session so that they could get some photos of their adorable little ones as well! Working with them got me super pumped for their wedding which will be my first to kick of the 2011 year, followed by many more!!
Check out some of my favorite shots from their session!! :)

Bianca: Headshots Session.

I mean it when I say that Bianca is one of THE sweetest and most down to earth girls I have ever met in my life. It's one of the first things I noticed about her...that, and that she is ALWAYS smiling. Bianca contacted me to do these headshots for her, for an upcoming pageant she was will be competing in. As I stood in her room with her, helping her make final decisions on outfits and accessories for the session, I couldn't help but notice the LOADS of trophies, tiaras, and sashes from her previous victories. I couldn't imagine how she had managed to win so many things in her lifetime. I said "So you've pretty much been doing pageants your whole life, huh?" to which she replied, "Just since 2006". I was stunned. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised though...with her awesome personality and the fact that she is INSANELY photogenic, she makes for quite the competitor! I'll be at home watching and saying "I knew it!" when she claims the Miss America title one day!!

Here's the highlights of my session with the lovely, Bianca....













I fell in love with this outfit!!!!