See you there!

Lisa and Darren were married at the Bel-Air Bay Club which is one of my absolute favorite places to shoot a wedding. First of all, the ocean view is spectacular and beyond that it is just a gorgeous picturesque place with a staff that gives impeccable service every time.  What really made the wedding special, though, were Lisa and Darren. They are so clearly madly in love and also know how to have a really good time! Their family and friends were also just enjoying the day from the very beginning of the day to the very end of the night. It was one of those days with so many moments – of joy, excitement, anticipation, love, laughter…I LIVE for these types of moments…it’s truly why I do what I do. To me, capturing a wedding is of course about documenting how gorgeous everyone looks on their wedding day, but more importantly it’s also about documenting how you FEEL on your wedding day. It’s about finding those moments and capturing them one by one. To me, that is the true joy of photographing weddings. This one had moments a plenty.

Florals were done by the incomparable Hector Martinez of Greenleaf Studios. I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

I love photographing children’s birthday parties. It’s always a great way to combine a fun portrait shoot with great candids. This party was just about four times as fun as any other party I’ve ever done because the party was for FOUR dashing, charming little quadruplet boys.   It was AMAZING. First of all, I must say that these were the most well behaved, two-year old boys I have ever met. As anyone who photographs any children will tell you, trying to get four toddlers to cooperate for the same picture is a challenge and these boys were a dream come true. And check out the outfits! This mom has the most fabulous style in every way…this was one of my favorite shoots ever! Here are some highlights of the boys. I think I’m in love… with ALL OF THEM!

First, check out the outfits. Could they be any more fabulous?

 I had such a great time with this family, the party was so much fun and clearly these little ones are going to be serious heartbreakers. Thanks for letting me be part of a really special birthday party!

But alas, the light changed as they were getting ready to leave  and I knew I had to take five minutes to grab a few shots. Because I know that it will be at least a bit before we see each other again and these tiny magical little creatures will have changed again and again and again.   And sometimes all you need is five minutes to capture a moment in time, in this case a little girl on a bike in a hat in the yard.  

Reception: Verandas, Manhattan Beach

Veronica and David have such an amazing story…when Veronica called me to set  up a preliminary meeting she said that David would not be able to join us since he was not living nearby at that time. Or even remotely nearby. He was in fact serving in Iraq in the Air Force.  Needless to say, I was thrilled (and relieved) when I finally met these two together on the wedding day. They are so madly in love and so GORGEOUS that it made my job incredibly easy.  I also need to give a shout out to my wonderful friend and fellow photographer, Jen Greer Berggren of B&G Photography  for shooting with me. I had the wonderful good fortune of having Jen available as she is a very busy and talented wedding photographer and it’s always lovely to have her to work with.

They had the ceremony in Manhattan Beach and allowed plenty of time between the ceremony and reception to grab some shots on the beach. I love a bride who will sit in the sand in her wedding dress, so worth it!  You’ll notice the details of the reception are Disneyland inspired…and floral designer Bobbe Vagel did an AMAZING job incorporating elements of the happiest place on earth in the most fabulous, cool way!

Per Veronica:

“We met at a bar in 2006 in Marina Del Rey.  He was at the bar and I walked right up and sat down.  We closed down the bar 5 hours later.
What was so great about David was his passion for not growing “old”. I instantly found him so dreamy it was hard to not think I wasn’t dreaming. He has a smile that can knock the wind out of you!  We found out we had a lot in common.  We happened to have the same favorite band, which since there are from Iceland and not well known was a miracle in its self.  Our first song was Hoppipola from them which means hopping in puddles (childish I know) in Icelandic.  We both believe that we can grow and change but don’t have to grow old.  It has been the mantra of our entire relationship.  He gave me my 1st season pass to Disneyland for my first birthday we were together and we have had them ever since.
Disneyland is like home to us.  It’s whimsical and lets you enjoy laughing and being a kid with out anyone staring at you.  On Nov. 8, three weeks after getting orders to deploy to Iraq his family came down to So Cal to say good bye.  We spent the weekend as a family at Disneyland.  Of course Disneyland its where you can lose yourself and step away from whats bothering you and just enjoy the way your heart flutters on the teacups or excitement of plummetting down Splash mountain.   Choose your adventure, you can find it there.
Being someone who never wants to grow up my favorite ride is Pans Flight.  Granted my heart was heavy with the impending departure, I noticed nothing out of sort.  The whole family got on the ride in front of us and right as we were soaring over London he whispered, “Will you never grow up with me, will you marry me?” 
He had to grab my hand I was shaking so badly and put the ring on my finger.  His whole family was waiting outside cheering and waiting to give us hugs.”

It was such an honor being part of your day!

We had quite the time in Pershing Square downtown…amazing spots to play with a gorgeous family and fabulous light. What more could I ask for on an early Sunday morning!

It’s about time!  After a wonderful (and very busy!) 2009, I am finally catching up on blogging.  To say that I have been a  horrible blogger this past year is a gross understatement (considering I blogged for all of two months!) but as a New Year’s resolution I’ve decided to get that back on track.  I thought I would do a little recap but considering the fact that I never blogged any of these weddings to begin with I opted instead to rewind and share some of the amazing weddings and fabulous couples I had the pleasure to work with in 2009.

 Yael and Chris married on June 26, 2009 with a beautiful wedding at Cypress Sea Cove in Malibu, California. The wedding was a perfection in details all pulled together by the fabulous Marketa Harlan. The schedule allowed us to take a little detour and do some wonderful pictures of Yael, Chris and the wedding party at one of my favorite beaches in the world, El Matador.  The ceremony spot overlooked the Pacific and the party was cliffside…what a lovely spot to tie the knot!

So the mom of this fabulous  family, Jennifer, is very good friends with the mom in my last post at Temescal Canyon, Elise.  Originally, the two women had approached me about doing a back to back session type of thing at the same location. But as I mentioned below, Elise didn’t really want the beach, but Jennifer really did. I am SO glad they both really went with their gut insticts and split up and did different spots.   For me, the location is a huge part of the shoot. It influences not just the look of the images, but the whole energy of the shoot, especially with kids.  For this one, the beach was the thing.

 Mostly because of their little Island Girl.  I have never met a seven year old with such an incredible free spirit.  She was so completely at home with the sand and the water and surf  and shells and everything about the ocean that she was knee deep in the waves within minutes and had no  issue with her jeans being cold or sandy or wet. I honestly think she must be part water nymph because she has the most beautiful infectious joy about being at the ocean.  Not to mention fabulous hair…

  Meanwhile, her little brother had his own version of beach bliss.  

Although perhaps not so into getting wet as his sister.

And then there is THIS shot. In all of my years as a photographer and having dads throw kids in the air (as Dads often spontaneously do to their kids’ delight) I have never gotten this shot where somehow the child so completely engages with me in mid-air. I LOVE this shot  because it is a moment of pure joy…of quintessential childhood…of generations of dads and kids and trust and freedom.  A little boy in flight…in mid-air…in a moment. 

 I think there are certain special places that we all have that invigorate us, that inform us somehow of what is important…like spending time at the beach with our kids on a Saturday morning…playing and jumping and running and getting absurdly wet and being together.   We need to know where these places are and to GO there. And not only when we have a photo session. To go often and to connect to whatever it is that gets us going again when we run out of steam. And a little flying is always good too.

.  

Plus Elise was so great to collaborate with in terms of what she was looking for and how I work. It was actually an overcast morning which matters not at all with boys running around in the woods collecting pine cones and ladybugs.  And it certainly didn’t hurt that they absolutely adore each other.

 I LOVE this…

With their treasures: In cupped hands on the left is a lady bug, and the little guy on the right has a pine cone in one hand and a stick in the other.  Who needs toys?

And of course sticks make excellent fishing poles…

The end of the shoot.  We had played like crazy and were basically leaving the park. I saw the golden grass and came up with some funny reason that we should all lie in it.  They were total troopers as it was a little itchy to say the least.  At first they were lying side by side and then suddenly the little guy climbed onto his big brother’s back and hugged his shoulders and this is what I captured. 

 I can suggest locations and help kids relax and have fun but only they can bring the connection and love that two brothers share.  And there I was lying in the grass trying not to get eaten by bugs  and absolutely loving my job.