Olivia is such a beautiful and happy baby and watching the three of them together was really beautiful and made me imagine what life might be like when Chris and I decide to get one of those baby things people are always going on about. So much has changed since Caroline and Raul’s engagement session a little over a year ago. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next!

The reason for this shoot is because Alexis and Giannina realized they spent almost no time togehter on the wedding day, hence, they don’t really have any photos together of just the two of them. This made all of us sad, so they decided it was time for a portrait shoot of just the two of them. The best part is, they were inspired by this cooking engagement session I did earlier this year and wanted to do something similar. Plus, they’d feed me the results. So, obviously I was sold.

Alexis and Giannina, I’m glad we got to spend the afternoon together. Thanks so much for the laughs and yummy food! Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

When Kim told me the big news she actually did so under the guise of asking me about maternity photos, but made it seem like she was asking for someone else. I told her I haven’t really done many maternity photos and actually would only be interested in doing them for past wedding clients. And then she asked me if I could make an exception for my best friend. And that’s when I proceeded to FREAK. OUT. Squeeee!!!

So, we waited for Kim’s belly to get nice and big before we scheduled the session. This was excruciating for me because it felt like it took forever for her to look even remotely pregnant. Every time I saw her I would examine her bump. Sign of progress meant we were that much closer to her session, and then after that all we would have to do was wait for that adorable little baby. Well, Kim’s due in a few short weeks so we finally got some photo time in.

Because I am the awesomest friend ever, I scheduled an appointment to get Kim’s hair and makeup done before the shoot. I wanted her to feel extra special and beautiful. And, apparently I am a poor planner because that process took much longer than I expected so by the time we left the salon we only had time to race to a nearby Beverly Hills park to catch the last five minutes of light. But we managed! My amazing professional camera equipment is the only reason we were able to pull this off. We shot 90% of the session in almost pure darkness. Not ideal, mind you, but I am so in love with the way these turned out.

Congratulations to my beautiful friends, Kim and Johnny. I can’t wait to meet my beautiful little niece, Mackenzie!!

When I just couldn’t squeeze any more natural light out of the setting sun, I busted out my video light and had Johnny assist me with lighting Kim. I had her look away for a few frames and love this next shot. She looks like a super (pregnant) model!

And I just had to throw in this scene-setting shot of Johnny rockin’ the video light for me. So funny!

But I quickly realized I needed help navigating through the crazy fun terrain of the wedding industry. I met a few people here and there, many of whom were helpful and kind and welcome, a few that were not. Eventually my heart lead me to several different women individually, and now we are a collective. We call ourselves The Traveling Hearts Society and the 12 other girls who make up this group are pretty much the best thing that have happened to me since I started my company.

Eleven of us spent four days in Big Bear together last month and it was exactly what I needed to recharge and re-ignite my spirit and creativity. I left Big Bear feeling different. Ready to be better. Knowing I had a very strong support group to fall back on if I failed. A group to pull me right back up, dust me off, and push me forward again. Friends like that don’t come along often. For many, they don’t come along at all. Believe me when I say we are all fully aware of how lucky we are to have found one another.

Adrienne, Ala, Amanda, Ashley, Diandra, Gladys, Heather, Jackie, Jordana, Mary, Meg and Megan: Thank you so much. For allowing me to be me. For being you. And for the love, support, laughter, tears and inspiration we’ve shared. You are all so wonderful. Love, love, love, love, love. Looking forward to July like you would not believe!

A couple of weeks ago I got to spend some time with the Trimble family while they were vacationing in California. Erin emailed me several months ago to arrange a family session while they were in town from Arizona and I was thrilled to finally meet her and her gorgeous family. Erin and Brian have five beautiful little girls who were so much fun to photograph. They truly made my job easy! Thanks to Brian, Erin, Eliza, Libby, Ellie, Hattie and Ruby! I hope you guys had a great Disneyland vacation!

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It was super fun spending the afternoon with this family. Here’s a photo recap of our day.

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I’ll tell you about the workshop first. Tanja Lippert is a photographer based in the Bay Area whose work I’ve admired for a while. She shoots film exclusively, which is something I really admire, and she’s got an editorial style to all of her work that is just heavenly. I’ve never been to a photography workshop before, but when I found out Tanja was teaching a workshop on posing (or directing, as she calls it), I jumped at the chance to expand that area of my work by learning from someone I consider a master. The fact that Ala was planning in going to the same workshop only sealed the deal! The workshop is called the T&T Dynamite Art of Directing Workshop and it was awesome.

Tanja’s right-hand woman is Tia Reagan. She is a stylist and photographer and she works with Tanja and her clients to style many of her shoots. Together they are a force to be reckoned with and it was amazing to see both of them in action. As students of the workshop we were able to take advantage of Tia’s amazing skills when we practiced what we learned on a few models. It was a lot of fun!

I’m looking forward to using many of the tricks I learned from Tanja on my upcoming shoots. For now I’ll share a few of the shots I got at the workshop. The point of the workshop was to learn how to better warm our clients up, how to interact with them in a way that relaxes them and make them feel free to let loose a little, and how to get your clients to trust you. Because of that I spent more time interacting with the models than I did shooting them. I don’t think I took more than 15 frames the entire day, but I LOVE what I got, so it didn’t matter!

First up is Sam. He’d never modeled before but he was AWESOME and totally made our jobs easy. I took exactly three frames of him and loved them all.

Annie and Kevin are a real-life couple and also not models. They are wedding client’s of Tanja’s and have only been married a few months! I watched other people direct them in more sultry and intimate ways so when it was my turn I decided that I wanted to go in a different direction. I only had a minute to get them to switch gears and turn on the laughter and they totally nailed it!

And finally we got to work with Sarah, who IS a model. I didn’t get a chance to direct her myself but shot from the sidelines when a few others did, and still adored what I got.

While waiting for my turn I turned the camera on Ala as she practiced her “fire eyes.” Nailed it!

Mary didn’t go to the workshop with us (she just came on the trip to spend my birthday with me because she’s awesome like that) but I had to share these shots from the night before as we were getting ready to go out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. They’re my favorite!

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It took a lot of restraint on my part to not take Weston home with me. He’s one of the happiest babies I’ve ever met, and he’s funny, too! I was so happy to finally meet him and it was great seeing Natalie and Sam again. We had fun playing around in the park a couple of weeks ago and I just adore these shots of this lovely family…

As you can see, Wes has the best smile ever. Cute baby belly laughs are really what make the world go round, I think.

He got his first taste of grass that day. I don’t think he’ll be ordering it again any time soon…

This next series tickles my funny bone. When we first met at the park, Wes did this thing where he raised his hand to the sky and sort of shouted, as if to say, “Oh, the humanity!” His dad told me he does this a lot and would love it if we could get a shot of him doing it. I was so excited when he did it again, near the end of the shoot. I crack up every time I look at this sequence, it’s so hilarious! I’m glad we’ve got it on “film” now.

Thanks for hanging out with me, guys! I hope not too much time goes by next time before I see you again.

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Email me immediately to reserve your spot! The exact location will be determined soon but I have three days (Nov. 26-28) devoted to mini-sessions. That’s the weekend after Thanksgiving. Perfect timing for getting in the holiday spirit!

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