Heidi Ryder Photography: The Blog » Southern California and Destination Wedding Photography

I received word the other day that Ashley and Brandon chose one of the images I made from their wedding for their Christmas card! It always pleases me to hear about my images being used in ways that I didn’t expect. I love the image that they chose, so I wanted to share it here:

In other news, Chris and I are in Colorado for two whole weeks spending the holidays with the Ryder clan. I absolutely love this state, especially in the wintertime! Snow is still such a novelty for me because, being a Southern California girl (born and raised), I didn’t get to see a whole lot of it growing up. Now, I have a white Christmas every year, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

I will try to blog images from these next two weeks as often as I can. It’s beautiful country here and I want to capture it as much as I possibly can! But, for now, I’ll leave you with this festive little image!

Wishing you a holiday season filled with all that you hold “deer”!

xo,
The Ryders

I’ve always been one of those people who never wins anything. Competition makes me uncomfortable and I don’t like to lose, so I rarely participate in contests of any kind. Last month, though, I was compelled to enter one contest in particular because of one word. That word? JOWLER. In case you don’t know what a jowler is, there’s a great site dedicated to the artform that explains it perfectly. I first learned about jowlers several years ago from a friend of mine. He had me take a picture of him jowling while we were at a bar in Las Vegas. When handed me his camera and said, “I’m going to do a jowler,” I had no idea what that meant. I was mortified when he started flopping his head back and forth rapidly in the middle of this crowded bar. I snapped a photo and couldn’t stop laughing at the results. I’ve since taught many of my friends how to jowl and I’ve got a pretty nifty little collection of jowler photos that I keep handy in case I need to use them as blackmail later.

But, back to that contest. You’ve heard me mention the [B] School here before. Becker, the founder of the [B] School, together with a rowdy group of photographers known as THE MAMMOTH MEN, invited photographers to submit their best jowler photos. While it’s true I already had a very large pool of jowler photos to pull from, I decided to take a new one and my loving husband gladly stood in as my jowler model. While we were downtown doing our portrait swap with Jenny and Tyler, I decided to utilize part of the Los Angeles skyline for our jowler photo. I call it Jower and the City. Behold:

Hott stuff, right? Back off ladies, this one’s taken!!

Well, all of this is really a not-so short and to the point way of announcing that I WON! For my (and Chris’) efforts, I was awarded a Private School membership to the [B] School, which means I am now a lifetime member and I gain access to super special parts of the [B] School that regular members can’t see. It’s very exciting to me because the [B] School has proven to be a very valuable tool for me. I’m so glad I’m a part of it. And, now I’m a lifer! Thanks to Becker and The Mammoth Men for putting on a super cool contest!

Speaking of the [B] School, last night I hosted a get-together for Southern California [B] Schoolers. It was a potluck white elephant party and good times were had by all in attendance. The rain was pretty gnarly so several people couldn’t make it last minute, but we had a nice little group of photographers, I was very pleased! Here’s a few snapshots from last night:

Araxi of Araxi Photography, her husband Nick, and Jason Javier check something out on Jason’s Canon.

Matthew Saville rips into his gift.

Eric and Nicky of Eight20 Photography were there!

And so was Jenny from Fairytale Dreamer Photography! Here she is being amused by her gift.

Joel of Arellano Photography stole Eric’s sweet Lord of the Rings DVD. He’s so mischievous.

Brian Dreisbach was totally enamored with the awesome gift that I contributed to the party, as you can see. Who doesn’t love a snow globe?

Here’s Chris with his new friend, Chia Head Shrek.

Oh, and here’s Matt Saville–a die-hard Nikonian–holding a Canon. Guess he didn’t want any incriminating evidence to be posted on the Internet, though. Hehe.

And that’s about what I’ve been up to recently besides the usual holiday business that always happens this time fo year. Chris and I are heading to Colorado this week and we aren’t coming back until January. Woot! So excited. I will be doing some family portrait sessions while we’re out there so I’ll be sure to post those when I can!

When I got a call from Alicia of The Modern Type asking me to tag along as a second shooter for Trish and Jeff’s wedding, I was very excited. I had met Alicia once before and found her to be just lovely. Imagine my surprise when I met Trisha and Jeff and discovered that they were quite lovely, too. Working with three lovely people in one day–what a dream!

The lovely couple were married at a close friend’s home in Beverly Hills and the whole affair was beautiful and fun, just like Trisha and Jeff! The bride was so excited to be marrying her groom that her grins were from ear to ear all night long. And Jeff…well, it seemed as if Jeff could do nothing else all night but stare lovingly at his beautiful bride.

I had a fantastic time capturing this wedding because everyone in attendance was having a really, really fun time. It’s really difficult to have a bad time when you’re taking photos of people who are laughing hysterically and dancing like crazy. Mazel Tov, Trisha and Jeff…here’s to a very long and happy life together!

I just loved the detail of Trisha’s dress. She looked stunning in it. I used the amazing “Blog It Board” Actions from MCP Actions for several of these. They’re perfect for times when I want several images to be paired together to help better tell the story.

Their “first look” before the ceremony…

Their ketubah signing was a very moving event and their ketubah itself was gorgeous

Husband and wife! Look how excited Trisha is! Love it.

I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in this next one, but I like it! See what I mean when I say these people were fun?!

There are plenty more images where these ones came from, but you gotta play the slideshow below to check them out!

Jenny Smith is a talented photographer and the owner of Alders Photography. We recently met during the [b] school excursion to Calico Ghost Town and have been keeping in touch ever since. When she asked me if I would take some photos of her and her husband Tyler for their Christmas cards, I was honored and nervous. I had never photographed another photographer–and if I know anything about photographers, I know that our standards are quite high!

Jenny also offered to shoot some portraits of Chris and I, and so a portrait swap was arranged! We spent some time in Chinatown and then headed over to the Disney Concert Hall before it got too dark. I think we all had a blast and I was really happy to have captured some nice shots for Jenny and Tyler. Luckily, they were thrilled with them, too! If you’d like to see the ones that Jenny got of Chris and I, head on over to her blog. Here’s the adorableness that is Jenny and Tyler:

I wanted to take a moment out of our regularly scheduled programming to wish all of my family, friends and clients a very happy Thanksgiving. This year has been filled with blessings and challenges and I really wouldn’t have changed a thing. In truth, it’s been one of the biggest years of my life in terms of life changes, so I wanted to take a minute to reflect and list the things I am thankful for.

This year, I am thankful for:

• Chris. This year I became his wife, officially making me the luckiest woman on the planet.
• Photography. Bringing this craft to the forefront of my life this year has been nothing short of amazing. I fall in love with what I do more and more each day and feel so lucky to have found my “thing.”
• My family. Both sides! I’m very thankful for the family that has always been a part of my life and this year my family has grown exponentially. The Ryders and their extended family are some of my favorite people in the world and I honestly feel as if I’ve won the lottery by marrying into this bunch. Seriously. You have no idea how great my family is.
• Frasier. Our little pooch is indeed our furry baby. We adore him and can’t imagine life without him at this point. He had surgery on Monday to remove a very large fatty tumor (lypoma) from his abdomen. He’s been very out of sorts these past few days and we thought he was having some complications but we just got back from the animal hospital and so far all is well. I am so very thankful that he is home with us where we can nurse him back to health.
• You. Whoever you are. Whether you’re a fellow photographer who stops by to view my work silently, or through the comments you leave here. Whether youre a past or future client. Whether you’re a friend or family member who is checking to see what I’ve been up to. Or even if you just happened by randomly through a web search. I’m thankful that, for whatever reason, you have visited me here. The images I create aren’t just for me. They are for anyone who is willing to take a look. They are my contribution to this world. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

Here’s a recent shot of Frasiser. Can you blame me for being so in love with this little guy?

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, whatever you do. What are you thankful for?

Michelle and Daniel exchanged their touching vows at the beautiful First Baptist Church of Pasadena. To call this church  breathtaking would be an understatement, as would calling Michelle and Daniel a lovely couple. No, Michelle and Daniel are an amazing couple and it was clear on this day just how in love they were. It was an honor to be in the presence of such love.

Michelle and Daniel, here’s to a long and happy life together!

Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Michelle had quite a lovely dress and it took a while to get everything in place!

Daniel got a little help from his mom…

It was pretty dark inside the church by the time the ceremony started, but I was extremely happy with how the images I made turned out!

After the ceremony, it was off to the reception at the Pasadena Hilton. A few details:

Michelle and Daniel had a really funny choreographed first dance that had all in attendance laughing great big belly laughs. Michelle is the dancer in the family, but check out Daniel’s sweet moves!

Check out the rest of my favorites in this here slideshow!

Ashley and Brandon exchanged their vows in San Juan Capistrano, CA at the beautiful Franciscan Gardens. It was a perfect wedding for a perfect couple and I felt so honored to be there to document the day for them, along with Pam and Ashley of Pamee & Ashlee Photography, who graciously invited me along to second shoot.

From the get-go the day felt incredibly special. Ashley was a gorgeous bride and I was surprised by how calm and serene she seemed to be. The wedding her and Brandon planned was colorful and bright and planned down to every last detail. As you will see, I was a little obsessed with their flowers!

I had a blast at this wedding and I sincerely wish Ashley and Brandon a lifetime of happiness together.

Ashley and Brandon decided to do a First Look before the ceremony in order to have ample time for portraits while the light was still good. Love it when that happens!

We took full advantage of the nearby train station, naturally!

Some details…

I was in LOVE with their flowers!

These crazy kids not only had a wedding cake, they also had personal cakes! No, they’re not cupcakes because these things were as big as my face!

Probably my favorites from the day are these dancing shots. They feel so cinematic–almost as if I screen grabbed them from a film. Love it.

Here’s a slide show of these and the rest of my favorite images from this day. Enjoy!

The second part of my trip to Calico Ghost town is featured completely in black and white. I tend to see things in color most of the time–I don’t have a huge number of B&W images that I’ve made. But Calico made seeing things that way pretty easy and I had a really good time making these images…it felt like I was stretching my legs after an extremely long flight, or something. Mostly, it forced me to use my brain differently, and I think that’s good for all of us.

Enjoy!

A couple of months ago I joined an online community for professional photographers called The [b] School. Through it, I’ve begun to forge relationships with local and non-local wedding and portrait photographers who have reached varying levels of success in their careers. It’s been a great resource for me as I didn’t really know too many photographers in this field personally. Well, that’s changed and on Tuesday I even got to shoot with a handful of them during a day trip excursion to Calico Ghost Town. Joe Photo organized this Day Trip and plans to organize one on the second Tuesday of every odd month for a while. This was the first Day Trip and 13 of us had a blast together while we made photos just for us–not a client in sight.

I had an amazing time and can’t wait for January’s trip. Calico had amazing textures, which is something I’m always drawn to in a photograph. I’ve decided to blog my photos in two parts: color and black & white. First up: the colors! Please enjoy:

Chris and I went to a costume party on Saturday. This was a big deal for me because if you know me at all, you know that I detest dressing up in a costume of any kind. Even when I was a kid I felt ridiculous when dressing up for Halloween. I don’t consider myself an overly serious person, and I don’t think I was an overly serious kid–but how else can I explain my hatred of dressing up? Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely LOVE seeing other people dressed up, I just don’t like to do it myself.

But this year, for some reason, I decided to play along and actually plan and wear a costume to the party we were attending. I’ve always loved Mary Poppins and have wanted to BE her since I can remember, so dressing up as her for Halloween was the closest I could get. I guess I got pretty close, though, because I won Best Female Costume that night! I have to say, I had a pretty fun time dressing up this time. Chris looked absolutely adorable as Bert the Chimney Sweep, don’t you think?

Our friends James and Melanie gave us a ride to the party and their costumes were AWESOME. James won Best Male Costume, with Melanie only one point behind me for best female. She even had a real prosthetic preggo belly, with an outie belly button and everything! They were a spot-on Juno and Pauly Bleeker. They recreated the pose from the movie’s poster and I just couldn’t resist dressing the image up a little.

Hope you all have a fantastic Halloween, whatever you do! I’ve got some weddings and portrait sessions to shoot throughout the month so I’ll be a blogging fool in no time!