An Engagement Session in 14 Minutes Wed. November 25, 2009
When superstar wedding coordinator (my wedding coordinator) Angel Swanson of Love and Splendor asked me if I would be able to do holiday photos of her and her husband Erik, I was flattered, and a little nervous. Angel & Erik have been shot by some of the best: Amelia, Jasmine, and Nate & Jaclyn (twice). So I had an impressive roster of photographers to live up to.
We settled on the shoot being here in Orange County yesterday, and since it is getting dark so early these days, we would have limited time to shoot. Meaning, we'd only have an hour and a half or so, in which I would create these beautiful, Anthropologie-style photos that they would treasure and have from this year.
But, as fate would have it, there was a terrible accident, which caused Angel & Erik to be trapped in their car on the way down here for well over two hours. When they arrived, we scrapped the original location and headed to the hills of my neighborhood, Ladera Ranch, chasing the sun as it slipped behind the horizon. I knew that we had limited time to shoot, so we worked FAST!!
This shot was taken at 4:38pm:
And this last shot was taken at 4:52pm, 14 minutes later:
Here is what happened in between.
It was a rush of laughing, walking, and kissing :)
With a little sweetness:
And a little silliness:
And a bow:
And a favorite:
Not to mention some beauty:
A lovely moment:
Don't forget kindness:
And it wouldn't be fun without a little attitude:
Some teasing:
A dash of looking really really good:
At the end...relaxation:
And holiday cheer:
Angel and Erik--thank you for the most lovely 14 minute shoot. I'd say it looks like we shot for at least 30 minutes!
Lisa & Shaun's San Antonio Engagement Session Sat. October 31, 2009
What is the proper beginning to a love story? Is it traditional dates with roses and candy? Is it a setup through friends of friends? Lisa and Shaun might tell you it's going to Jamaica on spring break in college, recognizing an electric connection in someone you meet randomly, and five years, several moves, long distance dating, and two dogs later becoming engaged to the love of your life.
it's not typical, but then again, neither are Lisa & Shaun.
Lisa is dynamic, petite (4'10" and that's taller than some members of her family!), quick witted, stylish, and kind. Shaun is intelligent, tall (over 6 feet), easygoing, friendly, chivalrous, and so incredibly sweet to Lisa.
I hadn't met Shaun before I arrived at their house in San Antonio at 9am this morning, but he immediately welcomed me with a hug and a warm "come on in!". I liked him immediately.
Lisa and Shaun are people of very varied interests, so we decided to incorporate a few of them into their shoot. Two of their interests are their dogs, Dexter (the big one) and Pixie (the small one). The dogs are just like them--one big one and one small one :)
Dexter was quite rambunctious, so as I do with children at family shoots, I decided it would be good to let him run around to blow off a little steam:
A little family photo:
Shaun and Lisa have such an easy rapport with one another. They were very natural and even if they felt a little awkward, they were so comfortable together that it was easy for them to show their personalities:
I love the bottom photo because both dogs are looking at me but neither of the people are:
We were actually scheduled to shoot the evening of the previous day, but the forecast called for rain. Lisa and I decided to postpone the shoot to the following morning, and of course there was no rain on the original afternoon and a nasty forecast for our new morning! When I woke up, it was hideous out--cold, rainy and windy, but it cleared right up and became a perfect day!
I saw this field on the way from Jeff's parents home (they live in San Antonio--very convenient!!) to Lisa & Shaun's house and just HAD to shoot there:
California light? Please! Texas is where it's at!
It can't hurt to have a few cacti in the photos (actually it can--I STILL have a few needles in my jeans!)
Well worth it, thought:
I love this one:
Lisa told me that they have a frame that says, "Home" and wanted an image to suit. I think these two would work very well:
Especially this one:
We headed down to the riverwalk so they could show their more fun side:
I just had to poke a little fun at the height difference:
Lisa mentioned to me while we were at the house that she had gotten into smoking cigars! We happened to be near a cigar shop, so we stopped in so they could snag a couple--it made for great photo ops:
These two are my faves of the day:
We really wanted to shoot some colorful things and we did!!
love the colors in this one:
and the attitudes in this one:
And the feel of this one:
Lisa & Shaun, thank you for letting me into your lives today! I had an amazing time with you and can't wait to be a part of your wedding next year!
an engagement shoot in beverly hills. On a rooftop. Of the raddest hotel ever. Fri. July 31, 2009
I remember my life by milestones, and by before and after's. Before I moved to California....before I was a photographer...after I discovered the 50 1.2. I am currently living in "before I knew about the incredible-ness that is the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills".
I got an email from Jay that went something like this:
"Jessica, we need to set up our engagement session with you. We want to do a dawn shoot for our E session with you snapping at us on the roof deck pool area of the SLS hotel in LA... very renegade. Please let me know your thoughts, but this could be the coolest event since mr and mrs pacman back in 84."
I find it impossible to express my joy at receiving an email like this for several reasons, which I will now list out:
1. I love shooting at new, amazing locations, and I love when someone else drops them into my lap.
2. I immediately wanted to go break out an Atari and play Pacman
3. My clients are awesome
4. I got to spend the night at a rad hotel. (**sidenote--I left my car in drive at the Valet when I got there and my car drove into another car without me in it. oops!)
So we went to LA and shot at dawn. The whole scene at the hotel was very cool, modern, offbeat, eclectic, and surreal, so I gave some of the photos processing to match. I used my trusty totally rad actions and dirty pictures textures, and shot the whole session RAW to be able to change the white balance to throw the color off more easily.
Enjoy and happy friday!
** I should warn you, that if you are going to shoot at dawn, you might want to have a makeup artist handy--it's tough to look like perfection that early! Carrie's makeup was done by Stacey Craven, who did an incredible job!
The patio of the hotel was so cool and softly lit at dawn that I wanted to shoot everything all at once! So I started with these silver chairs, which I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to include on the patio of my house:
A slightly different angle:
Aren't the chairs (and Carrie's dress) cool?
I had to incorporate this yellow chair. Luckily, Carrie brought outfits to match most of the furniture :) :
I just adored the lines and oversized frames and mirrors behind them:
Carrie doesn't like being photographed alone, but she's so beautiful I couldn't help myself. Also, yet another chair I would kill for:
Jay thinks Carrie is too beautiful to stay away from though, so the solo shoot was short lived :)
They're hot. And cool. Life's just not fair sometimes:
Something about this shot makes me happy:
I want this whole scene in my house NOW. I found the couch, bought it, then immediately cancelled my order because it's so expensive I felt sick about it. Now I feel sick about not getting it. What should I do?!
Maybe just shoot at the SLS every day:
Yeah, yeah, they're cute...
Went downstairs to shoot in the lobby. I almost liked it even better:
The colors and style here look and feel so retro in the coolest possible way:
A more serious portrait, but it works:
Look at that lucite buck in the background--GENIUS!
One of my faves:
My fave:
Jay and Carrie, you are superstars. Your wedding will be phenomenal and I can't wait!!
Cheyenne & Daniel's Engagement! Tue. July 14, 2009
They showed up looking cooler than cool, with the wind in their hair and a gorgeous sunny backdrop on the day of their engagement shoot. They are smart---business school grads. They're athletic--Cheyenne played college basketball. They're kind--wanting to invest in companies who just need an extra push or desire to make a positive change in the lives of children who otherwise wouldn't have a shot at a successful life.
Cheyenne and Daniel, in a word, are superstars!
It's always fun when I book a wedding over the phone to meet them for the first time. When they arrived for their engagement session, I knew immediately upon viewing Cheyenne's shoe choices and Daniel's laid back attitude that we were going to have a great time. And we did!
Of course, their wedding is in just two weeks, since my blogging has been a little subpar lately, but it doesn't lessen how awesome these guys look. Check them out:
Hey, it was sunny out! They looked so cool I almost hated to ask them to take the glasses off:
The way they look at each other is just wonderful to see.
Cheyenne is so stylish! I have had a sneak peek of her wedding outfit and she's going to be soooo fantastic looking!
A little detail:
Wind may blow hair a little out of place, but I just love that look:
And these kinds of looks:
And this kind of look:
And this one :)
Shooting their wedding--yes please!
Testing out a beta version of the latest offering from TOTALLY RAD! The new textures aren't out yet, but they're seriously incredible:
More texture (I'm loving it):
Not a bad location:
I absolutely love this one. My fave of the day:
They have fun together:
Just a little shot of the view:
Cheyenne likes this view better:
Just relaxing together:
Cheyenne & Daniel, I am so glad to know you and to see you again in two weeks! Move down to OC immediately!
Kristen & Nick's engagement (and best proposal ever) Mon. July 6, 2009
Bet you thought I was gone, huh? I know I should grovel, tell you how much I suck at blogging, etc., etc. and it would all be true. But let's just try to forgive, forget, and move on, okay?
First things first! The winner of the gorgeous black and white pillow below is Cass Comeford who said this:
"Assign someone to stop you five points throughout the day so you can take a mental memory."
Brides never realize how quickly their wedding day will go. Months, sometimes years of planning all come down to a ten hour day (if that), and it is gone in the blink of an eye. So what I want on that day is to make a point just to take things in and really be present and in the moment. And not just in the sense that I want to remember how things look, but what the whole thing really feels like. So Cass, thank you so much for this advice! Email me your address so I can have Amazon ship the pillow :)
Here's how behind on blogging I am: I am now shooting weddings for people whose engagement sessions I haven't even blogged. So here we go, with a couple I have known for a long time, Kristen and Nick.
I met Kristen about five years ago, and she'd been dating Nick for a long time then. We would talk about if and when they'd get married, and Kristen never had a doubt that it would happen someday, but that someday was probably a ways away. She never seemed impatient, just matter of fact, that they had things to do and places to go before getting married. So when I got the call one day last year that Nick had proposed, I was just so happy for them, because I know what they have gone through in the past five years and their dating has taken so much effort on both their parts!
I also knew that Nick would have found some sort of fantastic way to propose to Kristen, because Kristen had quite a few restrictions on what Nick could and couldn't do. For example, nothing in public, nothing cliche, nothing embarrassing (all of which Nick could easily have gone for, except of course cliche). Nothing about Nick is cliche, he's an individual to the extreme!
When they came to meet with me, one of my first questions was, "So Nick, how did you get her to agree to marry you", and I was so excited to hear the story! With their permission, I am going to share it with you here, before I show their engagement photos.
Nick and Kristen had a day planned with friends to go to the Getty museum and spend the afternoon their looking around and having lunch. Kristen is a teach, a reader, and appreciates art, so this was a great plan for her. At the last minute, their friends backed out, so Nick and Kristen went off to the Getty on their own. Nick and Kristen ended up sitting on a bench outside the museum, when Nick told her he picked up a children's book that she might like. He told her he wanted to read it to her, and of course she agreed! The book ended up being one Nick wrote and PUBLISHED himself, and was the story of their whole relationship! Thanks so much to Kristen & Nick for letting me post it here. He had it illustrated by an artist friend, Heather Malk, and it's the sweetest, most creative thing I have ever seen. Score one for Nick (sorry guys, he's got the best story ever so far)
The Dedication makes me tear up already:
This is the best part--the characters are total RINGERS for Nick & Kristen. Heather did an incredible job!!
Here's how good Nick's planning was--can you imagine being in this exact same spot in real life and turning to this page in the book??? Incredible. Seriously.
Well, I don't think any guy out there is beating that one. With that, here are the photos--you'll see how much they look alike their book figures!
Nick and Kristen are just so cute together. I loved the old fashioned look of Kristen's dress:
A sweet moment:
A nice clean portrait:
This location is right behind my house and I just can't get enough of it!
There's something about this one that just makes me adore it:
Aren't these shoes adorable?
A quick costume change and we're good to go:
They are always laughing and having fun together:
But they never forget to be sweet with each other either:
I love this one:
Isn't she going to be a gorgeous bride? (she was!)
One last little photo:
Coming soon:
A wedding in this crazy little chapel (a re-wedding, actually)
This beautiful bride and a Chicago wedding:
Kristen & Nick's wedding:
This beautiful pregnant woman:
And this one:
Plus of course some fun stuff and wedding updates of my own. This is my birthday month too, and wait till you see what we have planned! Thanks for sticking with me :)
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