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

I was so excited when it worked out that my first shoot of 2010 was with the winners of my Giving Is Awesome giveaway. I think that means great things for 2010! When I emailed Alan on Christmas Eve to let him know he and his family were nominated and won, I was pleased to hear back that the whole family was game for a fun shoot at Paramount Ranch. I was so excited because it was my first time shooting there and Alan and Debbie were excited because they love Westerns and Alan had even visited the set of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman years ago, when it filmed on the ranch. Plus, their youngest, Willan, has a new cowboy hat that he’s currently obsessed with. Obviously, Paramount Ranch was the ideal place for this family shoot.

When we got the the ranch to meet up with the Armes’, some of the kids had fallen asleep on the drive over. Speaking from experience, getitng woken up in the middle of a nap is no fun at all, so I was preparing myself for a couple of grouchy kids, at least for the first few minutes. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth though – all four of them were smiley and happy and they blew me away with how smart and polite they were. It was obvious to me that this is a close and happy family and Alan and Debbie are great parents. I was excited to get started.

Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot. A big thank you to the Alan, Debbie, Brayden, Aubrey, Rethy and Willan for being such fun subjects. And also, thanks to their friend Natalie who nominated them!

There’s a beautiful old tree at the Ranch and I was very pleased to find that this family is a tree climbing family.

Clearly, the kids get it from their mom!

And here’s one of the two responsible for this lovely family.

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I’ve been waiting since mid-November to share this shoot. I couldn’t blog it because the photos were meant as a gift for Janelle and Kat’s family members and most of them read my blog regularly. I couldn’t ruin the surprise! I’ve known Janelle since I was 12 and she was 17, and I’ve known Katarina since the day she was born, just over 15 years ago. Holy cow, does that make me feel old.

Janelle is my best friend’s sister and Kat is Janelle’s daughter. When Janelle asked me to take some portraits of the two of them, I was super excited. I only got more excited once we started and I realized that all this time I had these fabulous super models at my disposal. We had a lot of laughs and the session was a lot of fun. And I’m so excited by the shots we got! I’ll photograph these beautiful ladies any time…

We found this awesome field in Rancho Cucamonga that used to be a vineyard but all the vines were dead and dried up. It was a great backdrop for cool portraits.

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When I announced my participation in the Giving Is Awesome portrait giveaway just a few short weeks ago, I was hoping to receive at least one nomination for a deserving family, but I recieved so much more than that and the decision was a very difficult one.

It was so touching to sift through all the entries. I read stories of triumph, stories of despair, stories of strength and stories of hope. Unfortunately there were several entries where people nominated themselves, which unfortunately disqualified them since that was against the rules (sorry, folks – fair is fair). Ultimately, though, I know the right family won out because of the way I felt after reading their story.  The  patriarchs of the Armes family, Alan and Debbie, seem to be the epitome of what parents should be in my mind: kind, selfless and generous. Not being a parent yet myself, I can only imagine how fulfilling it must be to put your children first in all aspects and to teach them the value of giving. Their friend Natalie nominated them for this gift and it was obvious that she admires and loves this kind family greatly. In fact, I’ll let Natalie do the talking…

“Alan & Debbie are the proud parents of 4 amazing children.

With a houseful already, Alan & Debbie still make time to help other people. Alan volunteers with the local boy scouts & Baseball. They both cook food for people who are sick, new parents or even friends they know are just busy & overwhelmed. They are constantly watching other people’s kids for free, volunteer with their church, and they are always donating to local charities & homeless shelters.

They live life very simply, all four kids roomed together until recently when they decided to sacrifice their bedroom & now sleep in the back family room area so the boys could have a room and now the girls have a room too. That’s their lives, total sacrifice for their kids and others. Always giving & never asking for anything. Thus this Christmas season, I think the Armes’ family is totally be deserving because of all they’ve done for so many other people!”

So, congratulations, Armes family! I am so looking forward to meeting all six of you and making beautiful portraits of your beautiful family.

Merry Christmas to all! I’m going to enjoy some time with my own little family now. Hope you all are getting to spend time with people you love.

There are so many ways for people to give to those in need: Food drives, toy drives, monetary donations – you name it, someone has thought of a way to help other people. One of the great things about this world we live in is there is no shortage of ways to give back.

That’s why I’m pleased to announce my participation in this year’s Giving Is Awesome campaign. I chose Giving Is Awesome as my catalyst for giving back this season because it allows me to bring joy to a family’s life in the best way I know how – through beautiful images of their shining faces.

So, this year I am giving away a portrait session (a $450 value) to one deserving person, couple or family. At first I thought of limiting the contest to families only, but then I realized that whether or not a person has family should not make them less than deserving. Same goes for couples. The point is, no one is immune to hard times, so I’m not excluding anyone.

You likely know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love and beauty.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography.  It is in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Here’s the deal:

1. To enter, fill out the form below and tell me WHY this person, couple or family deserves this photo session.  The more you tell me, the better, as helping me understand what they have or are going through will increase their chances of winning. Those nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)
2. You cannot nominate yourself.
3. Those nominated must live in Southern California, or at least planning to visit before February 2010.
4. Prize is non-transferable.
5. The lucky winner will be chosen by me and my panel of judges (ie. my husband).
6. The deadline for entries is December 20th.
7. The winner will be announced here on the blog on Christmas Eve!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season – and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

Now that wedding season is winding down, I am excited to finally have time to jump right into family portrait sessions, just in time for the holidays! Personalize your family’s holiday cards with beautiful photographs that will bring joy throughout the holidays- and well beyond.

Mini-sessions must be scheduled between now and November 21st to ensure delivery by December 1st – leaving plenty of time to get your holiday cards addressed, stamped and mailed off! Check out the adorable designs I’m offering below. Love them!

Holiday cards are also available to my 2009 wedding and portrait clients. If you’re interested in ordering, just pick your favorite design, the photos you’d like to include in the design, and email me at heidi@heidiryder.com to place your order!

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About a week after Annie and Robin’s Los Angeles Arboretum wedding, I received an email from Annie asking me to photograph some portraits of her mom and three aunts, who live in Australia. It was the first time in quite a while that all four sisters were in the same country together and Annie wanted to commemorate it with a photo shoot – not a bad idea, if I do say so myself!

So,  a couple of days later I met Annie’s mom and aunts (and Robin – Hi, Robin!) at Lacy Park in San Marino. I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure at first how I would go about posing four sisters for portraits – it’s not something I do every day. I realized very quickly, though, that I had nothing to worry about – these ladies knew exactly what they were doing. They were models and now I totally know where Annie gets it from!

Annie’s dad and one of her uncles even tagged along for the shoot and so I included them in a few, as well. It was a fun shoot and I’m so glad I got to get some portraits of these four sisters before they had to return to having an entire ocean between them. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Dorie and John’s wedding weekend came to a close with a Day After session. A Day After session is just what it sounds like – a photo session that takes place the day after a couples’ wedding. The benefit of one of these sessions is two-fold: the couple gets to wear their wedding attire one more time in a setting other than their wedding venue, and their portrait session isn’t under any sort of time crunch. These sessions are a stress-free way to get a variety of bridal portraits, often times with a different look and feel than the ones taken on their wedding day. Dorie and John’s Day After session took place in front of the world-famous Sun Studio and on Beale Street in Memphis. In case you missed, them, check out their Memphis rehearsal dinner and their beautiful wedding at The Inn at Hunt-Phelan.

I loved the idea of capturing the juxtaposition of a bride and groom in their wedding attire among the grittiness of urban Memphis streets. This is my first shoot of this nature and I can’t wait to do more. Many thanks to Dorie and John for getting themselves dolled up again after a long weekend and letting me play with this idea. I love the images we made together.

We started at Sun Studio. To those not in the know, Sun Studio is the place where Elvis Presley (among many other rock ‘n roll legends) recorded many early demos and singles. This place is a pretty big deal.

Finally we moved on to Beale Street which is like the Bourbon Street of Memphis. We had a lot of fun here.

I had such an amazing time in Memphis and I was so honored to be chosen as the photographer for Dorie and John’s wedding. I felt like an important part of their entire weekend, which was so great. Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Nolt! I love you both!

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Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time in the park with this beautiful family for a portrait session. Baby Charlotte was not only one of the most gorgeous babies I’ve had the pleasure of photographing, but she was also one of the happiest! She literally spent the entire session smiling or laughing or giggling or just kind of staring at me like I was crazy, which I’m totally used to. So, basically, Charlotte needs to be a Baby GAP model, ASAP.

I had a smile on my face the entire time I was editing these photos. Charlotte is just that cute. If you don’t want to melt into a pile of goo due to an extreme overload of cuteness, look away now.  You’ve been warned!

Her eyes are GORGEOUS. Look at ‘em!

It was so awesome to see Charlotte’s bond with the family’s sweet dog, Kylie. They are already best friends!

Charlotte’s grandma also came along and I love these sweet shots of the two of them together.

So it’s clear Charlotte comes from a long line of beautiful women. It’s no wonder she’s so gorgeous! Here’s Charlotte with her mommy and grandma.

Didn’t I tell you this was a beautiful family?

I can’t look at this next one without cracking up…so cute.

Usually I see things in color, but every once in a while a shot will speak to me in black & white. That happened with these next two.

I love photographing beautiful families. My job is so fun. Thanks so much to the DeFrehns for hanging out with me!

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So, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am friends with an Emmy nominee. I know you’re impressed, and you should be – it’s impressive. It was a long, hard road to get to where I am today and I’d like to thank all of the little people who helped me along the way: my agent, my husband, my family…

Oh, sorry – just daydreaming there. Yeah, so my friend Josh Fialkov did some writing on Afro Samurai: Resurrection, which was nominated for an Emmy. He and his wife Christina got to get all dolled up for the Creative Arts Emmys this past Saturday and they asked me to come take some photos of them since they don’t get to dress up often. It’s not every day that I get to photograph an Emmy nominee, so I happily obliged.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Chris and I have known Joe’s mom and dad for several years now. Joey is 2 1/2 years old, but we hadn’t seen him since he was just a wiggle worm of a baby, which is way too long to go between visits! I was so glad the day finally came for me to make some portraits of Joey and I had such a blast chasing after this adorable little energy drink disguised as a child. Here’s a tip: if you wanna get in shape, change your career to kids photographer! I’m rethinking the whole wedding photographer thing just so I can lose a few pounds!

Here are a few of my favorites from our play date in the park.

So, like most boys his age I’ve known, Joey is completely obsessed with Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies. He brought along his costume, which mom and dad say he LOVES to wear as much as possible. Getting to put it on was his treat at the end of the shoot for being such a great little model. He had an absolute blast running around while wearing his Buzz wings and yelling, “To Infinity, And Beyond!”