Monday, April 30, 2007

Castle Green, Pasadena

hansni & praveen.

Yesterday Hansni & Praveen were married at the stunning Castle Green in Pasadena. A big thank you to April Rocha and Julie Weaver who came out to shoot with me!

Despite the fact that this will be a long post, these are only a fraction of the amazing images we captured yesterday. Check it out!

Hansni prepared for her wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena.



I love this moment as her mother helps her into her sari.



The bridal party!



The barat is about to begin...Praveen's family parades in to greet Hansni's family...





...and there are a lot of rituals that occur...



...before Praveen is finally led to his bride so she can adorn him with a garland of flowers.





Everyone then headed over to the beautiful Mandap where the ceremony took place.



Hansni was led to the Mandap by her uncle...



...and was greeted by her very excited parents. Their faces are so filled with joy! Praveen is off to the right being hidden by a cloth, but you can see his feet if you look!



I love the looks on their faces just before they are revealed to one another.



The ceremony:







A few reception details:



Hansni & Praveen look like stars in an old Hollywood film...



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Friday, April 27, 2007

My Los Angeles PUG

Last night I held my monthly Pictage User Group at the very cool Melrose Lightspace. I want to give a big THANK YOU to Marianne Lozano for being our Studio Spotlight and to Jay Goldman for giving us a very informative lecture on how he lights his weddings.

If you are a Pictage photographer and live in the LA area, you are welcome to join us!

See how happy I am that you are here?



Here is Jay sharing his useful info...





This is Marianne telling us all about her photography.



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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Happy Birthday, my Olive!!!

Today is Olive's 9th birthday! This is what she looked like when I first got her at FOUR WEEKS OLD!! Back then she had blue eyes and a white chest.




This is one of the most recent shots of her that I took during a lighting test in my backyard. She is so great. I just love having Olive in my life. Who knew she would make my life so much richer and fun?

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Sunday, April 22, 2007

Bel Air Bay Club

lindsay & spencer.

Yesterday I shot Lindsay & Spencer's amazing wedding at the Bel Air Bay Club. The day went by smoothly thanks to Kimery of Kimery Events.

I've posted a FEW of my favorites here... to see many more, click here check out their slideshow!!





















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Saturday, April 21, 2007

Trippin'

Olive & I travel to the Bay Area approximately once a month. Usually, I am in a rush to get there or get home, but on my recent return to Los Angeles, it was such a gorgeous day that I just had to stop and shoot a little bit of what I see on my regular trip back & forth.











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Thursday, April 19, 2007

a Double Feature day!!

Holy cow I feel loved today! Two features in one day!!

When I was in Las Vegas recently for WPPI, I was interviewed by the awesome Ron Dawson for a promo he is doing about me and my company. While we were there, Ron's wife, Tasra Dawson, came along to ask a few questions for HER site, the creative Lessons from the Scrapbook Page. Ron edited an amazing piece about how I use the Kolo mini mini & Xyron machine which aired today.

Then, the very hip Blu Domain Blog did a quick e-interview for a feature on me that was also posted today!

Click the images to check them out!

Scrapbook Lessons:


Blu Domain:

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Jules goes to Kindergarten!

On Monday I went to kindergarten with my niece, Penelope. She was celebrating her 6th birthday AND she was the "Special Person of the Week!" As the "Special Person", you make a poster all about yourself, and each day you present another part of it. On Monday, she shared what she wanted to be when she grew up. An auntie and a photographer!!!



So of course she told all the kids about HER auntie who is a photographer...



All the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to her...





...and she passed out the Rice Krispie Treats Joy and I had made the night before.



Penelope loves her friends!! Aren't they the cutest?

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Family Love

I come to the Bay Area a lot for work, but the benfit is that my family lives here so I get to spend time with them when I'm around. Yesterday my step-father asked if I would photograph them as a Mother's Day gift for his mom. I think a family portrait is a GREAT Mother's Day idea! Give me a call if you do, too!

My little brother sure isn't little anymore...





I love this shot of my mom, step-father and brother in their own yard...

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Embarcadero

Yesterday was a double header day! After shooting in Berkeley, I went back to San Francisco for an engagement session with Rachel & Dan. We started at their place before heading off into the Embarcadero.









I love this shot of Rachel & Dan under the Bay Bridge. They live a few blocks from here and often go running past this very spot.



Fun things to do with birds!





Rachel & Dan were so playful and fun - first running through the birds, then rolling down the hill... I rolled right along with them, shooting the whole way. Half my shots were upside down!





We stopped at a local cafe for a drink...



Stopping traffic!

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Sunday, April 15, 2007

Berkeley Rose Garden

The weather was perfect today in Berkeley when I photographed Debi & Garret at the Rose Garden. This was actually the first time I met them in person, and I was so happy to discover that they are fun as well as super cute. They are getting married this July at Viansa Winery, I know we are going to have a GREAT time on their wedding day!

Some favs:





















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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Penelope at the Animal Rescue Foundation!

Happy Birthday, Penelope!!

Tomorrow is Penelope's 6th birthday, and she had her party today at the Animal Rescue Foundation.

Millie was so excited when Joy loaded balloons into the car...its not a party without balloons!



Penny's beautiful cake...





Everyone got into the animal spirit!







The kids practiced taking their pets to the vet...



Some faces of ARF...



This is Scrapple, the cat I REALLY wanted to take home with me... I'm just not so sure how Olive and Abigail would feel about him!







Even Ms. Olive got a special toy from ARF! Doesn't she look so happy?

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Friday, April 13, 2007

Pixar Studios

One reason I love coming to the Bay Area is that I am able to spend time with my family. My mother organized a tour of Pixar for my family since she'd hooked up with someone on the inside. What a really cool place! For their employees they provide an Olympic sized pool, a soccer field, a sand volleyball court, a gym, a cafeteria, a theater... the atmosphere there is great.

At the end of our tour, they gave us gift bags filled with every Pixar movie, Pixar hats, toys and other goodies.



I loved the conceptual art from the newest Pixar movie, "Ratatouille", that was hanging on the walls.



Mom loved the conceptual art from "A Bug's Life" that was hanging in the cafeteria (behind her).



Story boards from "Finding Nemo"



John Lasseter's office!!



We met some new super friends...



Jules & Joy. :)

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Port of San Francisco

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the Ferry Building in San Francisco with Joy & Tom. It was a gorgeous day, and they are really easy-going and fun to be around. Their Sausalito wedding this September is going to be great. I love coming up to the East Bay.

















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Monday, April 09, 2007

Walt Disney Concert Hall

nancy & andy.

I was so excited when Nancy told me she was going to wear a blue gown for her wedding day! It went so perfectly with the silver exterior of her venue, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Nancy is an artist and had very cool elements to her wedding...check out a few of my favorite shots from the day:





















In lieu of a first dance, Nancy and Andy asked some friends of theirs who had been married a little longer to dance for them...



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Friday, April 06, 2007

Pysanky, 2007

Easter is one of my most favorite times of the year. This is because every year my friends come over throughout the week to make Pysanky (Ukranian Easter Eggs) with me. The only pre-request I require is that they bring Easter candy for us to munch on while we work. Its fun to get creative while catching up on the latest gossip!

Thank you to Dina Douglass, April Rocha, Chris Jaros, Tiffany Shine and Julie Weaver who joined me throughout the week to make their own eggs! I am really impressed with everyone's eggs this year. Julie had so much fun she went out and bought her OWN kit!!

To see last year's efforts, click here and here!















Thank you to Dina Douglass for this cute pic of me!











Poor Julie made this GORGEOUS egg, and it broke as she was taking off the wax!! I just love the color combination of orange and blue....



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