Hello friends!

It’s the beginning of November and that special time of year is upon us. A chill in the air, leaves turning warm golden tones (even here in Southern California, I’m seeing them change on my street!), thoughts of curling up in front of the fireplace with hot cocoa, spiced cider… or maybe one of the above with a little spike or two added to the warmed beverage of choice. (Mulled wine, anyone? My mom makes it every year for Halloween and it’s sooooo good!)

So, right down to details. I’m offering 3 packages to choose from this year, instead of one-size-fits all. I think with these, there’s something for everyone. Also, this year I’m setting up 3 days in advance at 3 pre-determined locations, so you just pick your package, book your appointment and show up!

notes:

• session length: time for each session will be reserved as indicated based on the package you choose
• retouched files: in addition to high-resolution retouched files, I will also provide matching low-resolution, watermarked files for you to share on Facebook, etc
• download vs. disk: with the download only option, you will be provided a password to download your files whereas with the disk option, I will send you your images on disk in addition to making the images available for download too
• holiday cards: option 3 comes with a bonus of 25, 5×7 (double-sided) holiday cards with envelopes, printed by my favorite vendor, and delivered directly to you!

Why … hello there, friends!

What’s that, you say? It’s been a while since I’d blogged and you were wondering what the heck happened?

Yes, well… there’s a lot to catch up on. Mainly, I focused on making ME a better person this year. I’m about 17lbs down after fighting a thyroid condition that created a trickle-down effect into the rest of my life, most of which I won’t go into now. I’m now super-fit (lots of gym time logged!), and I’ve further re-vamped my vegetarian (or, rather, PESCATARIAN) lifestyle. I’m now an avid juicer, I try to eat virtually all non-processed foods & I’ve started experimenting with raw foods too. In another post I’ll have to share my newfound philosophies on health and fitness.

But TONIGHT! Tonight, I want to share two things with you, because it’s November and although generally I reject all things Christmas/holiday until the day AFTER Thanksgiving (the way it should be, in my opinion), it’s HOLIDAY PORTRAIT season! And so, after this post where I’ll sharing my annual holiday photos for Paula and her family… I’ll be sharing the details of my holiday portrait mini-sessions this year, and the THREE different options/tiers I’ll be offering!

This is my fourth year photographing Paula and her family. With John, her husband, and daughters Maxine and Lila, this year we ventured to Victoria Beach, just south of Laguna Beach & the Montage resort. I love watching these girls grow and thrive and become more adorable every year! And this year we got some sun on our portrait day as well! And of course, I had to get some pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes too. Here’s their shoot from 2009, and among my “greatest hits” of 2010.

Here are some fun group shots, and just of the girls. Lila adores her big sister!

Mom and her daughters. Gorgeous family!! This may be one of my favorites. But then again, there are so many others too…

Victoria Beach had some great, colorful homes in the background, along with fun wooden steps leading to them.

Maxine (as a soccer player) & her dad look for shells in the tidepools during a gorgeous sunset, and the light behind Lila highlights her darling princess costume.

Maxine dresses up as Hermoine from Harry Potter (isn’t she perfect??), while Lila is a princess. I love these expressions — it really shows their personalities!

One last shot of Paula with her daughter. Lovely!

Thanks for coming back!! I’m hoping to be better about blogging, but I’ve said that before, haven’t I?? I need to reel in the perfectionist in me, and just get the pictures UP! I’ve had a busy year … I still have yet to share it all with you!

And … What do you all think of this new, vertical layout? Or, do you prefer the click-through single-picture slideshow style? Would love to hear your input!

Coming up in the next post: Holiday Portrait details!!

Happy (early) holidays to you all, and hope to see you at your portrait sessions! Cheers!!

She’s got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky

Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stare too long, I’d probably break down and cry

Whoa, oh, oh, sweet child o’ mine
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, sweet love of mine

— “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses

Have you ever heard a sweet, soulful and melodic cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine done as a duet? No? Well, that’s because YOU weren’t at the Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach last night! Dear readers, I have been promoting the awesomeness of Danny Hamilton and the Mudslingers for quite a while now. At the very least, you best be on his mailing list. Based in the South Bay, CA, Danny’s band has a roots-rock style that ranges from covers with his own unique twist (why else do a cover?) to original music – including “Bury the Devil”, which got Danny ranked in the #2 spot in last year’s CMT.com’s Music City Madness awards. You can read more about that from a previous post I did on another of Danny’s shows here.

First of all, let me rave about Saint Rocke. I’d never been there… apparently it underwent a massive transformation in the last couple of years. The inside is now cozy with candlelight; all sorts of sectioned, clustered areas to sit; colorful, ambient light with sconces on the walls in an otherwise dark, hip and sexy atmosphere – yes, you heard me right. It’s the perfect blend of smoky-dive-bar-meets-classy-upscale-establishment without any of the pretentiousness (minus the smoky dive – indoor smoking was banned in California back in the 90s). The lighting and sound system were first class (and as a result? They didn’t have to blast your eardrums!). They even broadcast the live show simultaneously on LCD screens throughout the bar, as well as on the internet. The assistant manager was also so accommodating; having photographed establishments from Viper Room to the Key  Club to House of Blues, I’m used to working within the parameters of the House Rules. The first thing I do now is introduce myself and ask about what I’m allowed to do. I couldn’t have been more impressed with the classiness of this place.

Here’s some pictures of headliner Danny & his band; you’ll also see Mara in some of the shots. She was one of the opening acts along with Bill Purdy, and she rocked! (I’m sorry to say because I drove up from Orange County, I missed Bill’s show, but heard incredible things about him as well) Despite waking up with a cold that morning, Mara still sounded incredible. Darn pros – making us amateurs with colds look bad in comparison! Mara not only joined Danny in the aforementioned Sweet Child O’ Mine, but also in a lively rendition of June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash’s catchy Jackson. I’m still singing snippets of it today! (and trying to work through my desire to let out my inner rock star in public) Be sure to read the captions too!

So, while on the subject of music, I want to also briefly touch on a few things that have been bouncing around my head today. Since this was my first gig of the year, combining some of my absolute favorite things (bar light and live music), I feel so revived after a busy December of shooting holiday portraits and even a small wedding. I started thinking about how the aperture of the human eye is the most incredible machine — so fragile yet powerful; BUT, with the technology and finesse of manipulating a good camera with a wide-open, fast lens, you can CREATE the frame of focus that our brains do on our own. That is: creating depth-of-field with a lens is simply an extension of what we see in our heads, where we judge the weight or importance of an image to be. The flow, the framing, the movement. The ability to extend what we see in our minds and want to show everyone else our interpretations of: it just boggles my mind.

Now, talking about “bar light”, I might also term that as ambient light. But technically, it’s still artificial, manufactured and intended, directional light. But the fact that I used no bounce flash is technically why I qualify it as ambient light. But there’s something about creating mood and movement with color and light, and even though I had to crank up the ISO to 3200 and even 4000 at times last night, with some great lenses, a steady hand (with a slower shutter speed), I just keep astounding in how I love bar light and the colored gel lights on a live show. Just because I love details and light so much, here’s some additional images I took at the Saint Rocke. (posted individually because I couldn’t post a separate lightbox gallery into one post, boo.)

Technically there were no burning candles in the candleholders, but the effect was the same. The swirling makes me think of the surface of Jupiter or Saturn.

The gobo (aka: go-between) of the Saint Rocke logo on the backdrop of the stage. Colored gels changed the background color throughout the performances.

The side of one of the speakers. i just liked it, that’s all.

Skateboards on the blue-gelled brick wall along the long side of the bar.

This is one of my faves. Candleholder reflecting on the shiny table with the gelled blue brick wall in the background.

This was across from me at one of the tables: the candleholder created its own spotlight on the menu just perfectly.

The front of the Saint Rocke. It LOOKS huge, but it feels small and cozy inside.

What can i say? it felt old-fashioned and I just liked it.

Lastly, I was also reflecting last night after watching Mara on-stage, on something I’ve thought about a lot over the years: the difficulty of being a female performer these days. It’s so easy to be categorized as only one classification: a punk chick, a touchy-feely ballad songstress, an auto-tuned no-talent (but pretty to look at) or a hard-core-no-nonsense rocker (kinda feels like the Breakfast Club, no?). But there’s no meeting in the middle. Rock bands made up of men are allowed to constantly reinvent themselves, but women seem to get pigeonholed immediately and not allowed to deviate without fear of public harassment. I was actually talking about this with someone the other night: we do the same to well-defined but very narrow characters on popular TV sitcoms, such as Sex & The City, Seinfeld or even Friends. In life, most of us represent an amalgam of portions of each character, but no one is the extreme that each character portrays, and I think this spills over into the music world too. There’s no solution necessarily or right answer, but I often think how hard it is for women to be respected as seriously talented musicians when as a society, we tend to base our opinions on their looks and style first. Any thoughts on this? I’d love to hear your opinions on the subject.

Oh — and Happy New Year! Sorry this post is so long. In the meantime, hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures too!

Dear friends,

2010 was a rather landmark year for me, and a rollercoaster of a ride at that. Over the course of the next three blog posts, I’m going to share some of my favorite images from the holiday portraits I took in 2010; then favorite engagement images of 2010; and finally, a post of my favorite wedding images from 2010 (umm, just in case it wasn’t clear, I mean specifically of images that *I* took, not just of favorite images overall!).

One of the best compliments and joyous highs of the holiday season for me is going to my mailbox and receiving holiday cards from friends and clients who have prominently featured my work in the cards they send out. I hope to share some of these images with you in the upcoming posts as well!

Hope all of you had amazing holidays and are ready to kick some serious booty in 2011 — this is going to be an amazing year!! Cheers to you all, and thank you for your continued support and business this past year. You all mean the world to me and I wouldn’t be continually evolving without your support. Thanks again, and here’s to a prosperous 2011 (in health, wealth and love to us all)!

And now, in the interest of getting  a blog post UP (and time’s a’wastin’!), here’s a selection of my favorite portraits that I took this holiday season. Enjoy!

Ho, ho, ho, woke up this morning with a scary feeling
Realized it was November 1st, Christmas oh my gosh it’s nearing

…I got up quick and ran to the mall, before my pain got any worse
What a stupid thing to do — I’m a sitting duck, in Santa’s Zoo

…Then suddenly I laughed and laughed, caught on to what was happening
Christmas magic’s brought this chill to a very happy ending

—”Christmas Wrapping”, Save Ferris
(go to the end of this post to learn more about this song!)

So … speaking of it being (after) November 1st, it’s time for me to talk holidays with YOU, my friends! I admit I’ve fallen terribly behind in putting up my promo as early as I’d thought of it (which was the beginning of October!), but I still have a handful of openings for portrait sessions open through December.

2010 Holiday Special – $125
– meet within Orange County, CA for a 30-minute session (for a group of up to 5 people and a pet)
– receive 5 hi-res images of your choice for holiday cards/personal use, etc.
– receive watermarked lo-res images of the complete session to share on Facebook, etc.
(entire hi-res CD is available for an additional fee)
– NEW optional add-on! Holiday cards are here! (see below)

AND, better yet, I have custom holiday cards here this year to make your holiday card design and delivery that much easier!

2010 Holiday Cards (price varies, see below)
– 5 templates to choose from
– all colors, copy and fonts are customizable
– printed by White House Custom Colour (my printer of choice)
– cards come in packs of 25 with plain white envelopes
– available on standard paper stock, or my recommendation: textured art paper (it’s GORGEOUS!)
– once you approve the design, I order them and have them drop-shipped directly to you to save time

PLEASE NOTE! If you are one of my fans and you are in Arizona, I’ll be in Phoenix over the Thanksgiving break (Wednesday, November 24th – Sunday, November 28th). Saturday the 27th is an ideal time for me to capture your post-turkey bliss, so contact me ASAP if you’d like to schedule your holiday portraits in Phoenix! Click my contact link above in the menu bar to get in touch with me.

Want to see what the templates look like? Check out the  images below …

And lastly, want to see what an edited holiday template looks like? Continue on below…

And, one last sample of a holiday card in all its’ delicious color and festivity:

Now… for more on the song “Christmas Wrapping” by Save Ferris

As many of you know, I’m an alt-music fan, and most specifically I listen to one of the leaders in alternative music, the radio station known as KROQ based here in Los Angeles. For many years, Kevin & Bean (the morning talk-show DJs) produced a holiday CD with the alt artists doing original songs or covers of holiday favorites with their own spin on it. This is where Save Ferris comes in (remember them? They did a very popular cover of “Come On Eileen“, originally done by Dexy’s Midnight Runners). Save Ferris did this very funny cover of the Waitresses 1980′s hit, Christmas Wrapping, except they put their own Channukah/Christmas fusion spin on it, talking about the dread of shopping and the holiday craziness.

Want to hear it? You can’t download it on iTunes, but you can hear it online on YouTube here. Enjoy!

Chicago, Chicago that toddling town
Chicago, Chicago I’ll show you around – I love it
Bet your bottom dollar you’ll lose the blues in Chicago
The town that Billy’s Sunday could not shut down

On State Street that great street I just want to say
They do things that they don’t do on Broadway – say
They have the time the time of their life

— “Chicago”,
Frank Sinatra

I am SUCH a bad blogger. Just in that, I mean, I’m so bad about blogging regularly! And so much has been going on! So, in an attempt to get better, I’m going to try to shorten my posts somewhat (a rousing cheer from the non-readers out there, yes?), and focus more on just getting the pictures up (haha, get it? “focus“?! a little photographer humor there)! Anyways, that’s my goal. We’ll see how well I stick to it!

I just came back from a week in Nashville, TN, where I photographed my dear old friend’s wedding to her college sweetheart (and I don’t mean she’s old!). But, those pictures are for another post! After Nashville, I forayed up to Chicago, where I visited a handful of friends for several days, and stayed with fellow photographer Tiffany and my the [b] school friend. I have a story about how we met (as she’s from Fort Collins, Colorado and I’m from SoCal!), but I’ll save that for later. Just days after moving to Chicago to be near her boyfriend Travis while he attends Northwestern Law School, Travis popped the question! And since I had already wanted to do a shoot of her and Travis when I came to visit, I begged her to let me do some engagements for them instead while I was there (and as a thank you for letting me stay with her).

For a fun picture location, we ventured onto the Northwestern Law campus, where Travis is attending. Below… the magic of Chicago featuring Tiffany and Travis! Many congratulations to you, my friends! Tiffany and Travis will be venturing back to Colorado this December for their wedding. So happy for you both!

Tonight’s post is a little different than usual. Obviously, I’m a music-lover. It touches my soul! I took dance classes for 20+ years … ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical-theatre … all of it! And without the right music, what are we left to move to?

And, I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but all of my posts are song titles, and somehow relate to the theme of the post, or it’s the name of a song played at a couple’s wedding… you get the idea. This particular title is a song that got someone noticed in a big way. Want to know more? Read on!

I’m posting images below from a show I photographed on the Redondo Beach Pier earlier this summer for my friend Danny Hamilton. They played part of a free summer concert series on on Pier. As many of you know, here in SoCal we’ve been especially prone to an extended period of May Gray and June Gloom (where the marine layer forms over the ocean and rolls in along the coast, then usually burns off by the afternoon), so instead of last year’s stunning sunset as the band played fun interpretations of a myriad of covers on July 10th, we almost got rained out! On the other hand, it made for a few fun dramatic shots instead. (there’s more about Danny and his music after the pictures)

I’d also like to share a little about Danny… this is one talented fellow! For the last two years, he’s entered the Music City Madness contest on CMT.com. In 2008, he was one of the top 32 contestants. In 2009, he made it to the FINAL two! This was a purely audience-voted contest, so I’m hoping that his star on the rise. Danny is the type who makes you believe in miracles and that with enough hard work, dreams DO come true. At age 14, he was in a terrible car accident that put him in a wheelchair and told he may never walk again. So, he taught himself guitar. And in a matter of just a few months, he was walking again – defying the odds. Not to mention, Danny married his high-school sweetheart Amber, and together they constantly remind me of what love should be between two people – constantly sweet, growing and evolving together. Like wine, they seem to get better as time progresses.

PLEASE support Danny and his band, The Mudslingers (they specialize in a sound described by Danny called “roots rock”), by going to his website here and signing up for his newsletter (he never spams, promise!), by buying a CD, and keep up to date with him on Facebook here. You can hear his original song, Bury the Devil, that got him to second place in MCM last year here.

Seriously … he’s the best new sound you haven’t heard of yet. But now that you have and that you’re a convert too, hopefully I’ll see you at one of his shows!

And I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won’t you try to come?

Come away with me and we’ll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I’ll never stop loving you

— “Come Away With Me”,
Norah Jones

I LOVE referrals! (well, who doesn’t?) I love shooting a wedding or event where I know a bunch of the guests already, because I’ve already shot other events for a particular circle of individuals. A while back I mentioned that I shot not only Rachelle & Brian’s wedding (one of my first blog posts!!) almost a year ago, but more recently Dareen & Sean’s wedding as well as the “family tree” portrait! I was lucky enough to shoot all of these awesome events because of the super-lovely Shireen (Shireen also was initially referred to me through another client and friend as well).

And, because Shireen’s mom works at Nordstrom with a wedding coordinator/stylist/floral designer (whom I’ve known for quite a while now) named Tanya Morris, I ALSO just got to shoot Natalie & Chasen’s wedding!

However, this wasn’t just any wedding. It was Tanya’s own son, getting married to his gorgeous girlfriend of 6 years. Tanya hired me personally and I shot most of the wedding, minus portraits, which we are going to do in a few months, as Chasen and Natalie are in the process of moving to Hawaii for Chasen’s job transfer. (wow! can I come visit and do the portraits there??)

On June 5th, we witnessed the ceremony in Fountain Valley, the church adorned with Tanya’s touch of candelabras and candlelight everywhere. The reception was at the amazing venue, The Madison, in downtown Long Beach (by the way, they have an incredible Sunday Brunch – you have to check them out!)… The Madison is a converted bank, complete with vault door painted and gracing the bar area. Tanya styled her son’s wedding, flowers and vases with hanging Swarovski pendants. Check it out!

By the way – Tanya also styled Dareen’s wedding, as well as events I’ve shot for Shireen a few years back (her first baby shower and baptism). Please get in touch with Tanya if you like what you see here! She will work tirelessly into the night making sure everything is just right, and she has an incredible eye for detail. (Incidentally, she and I have the same birthday, and share so many of the same traits – most specifically, the perfectionist trait! Hmm, is there something to this astrology fad after all?!)

And, please stay tuned! I’m just about to unveil my huge new promo: I’m eager to become more of a destination wedding photographer and have some incentives to sweeten the pot for those who refer me. AND, my next destination wedding is in Nashville, TN, for an old college friend in October! Can’t wait! So, my next post is going to spell out the promo details. I’m also working to re-fashion my main website, so be on the lookout – I’m hoping to reveal all these goodies very soon!

Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepiatone loving
Love is the answer…

Its always better when we’re together
Yeah, its always better when we’re together

— “Better Together”, Jack Johnson

Well, first I have to apologize for being a bad blogger for the last couple of months. So many things have been going on! I had to prioritize and make sure I took care of all of my amazing clients first, and I’ve also been trying to catch up on old projects that need attention, both for friends and personally. It’s been nice to feel like I’m getting a handle on things again. I’m still a ways out from finishing my website, but it’s on the itinerary! For those of you that come back to my blog regularly to get your fix though, I thank you for your dedication from the bottom of my heart! I have many things to share and blog, so I’m going to try to get back onto a regular basis of sharing all the fun things I’ve been up to, even though some of them date back to the last couple of months!

Now… onto the show!

My last post was Tom & Heather’s engagements. Since then, they’ve been to Hawaii and gotten married! (My friend Tom is also a photographer and found a wonderful Hawaiian-based photographer to capture his wedding to his bride Heather; to read more about his wedding and to see some of their images, please visit his site here) Two weeks upon returning, Tom & Heather had a wedding reception in Newport Beach that everyone could attend. The lovely Mrs Pellicer adorned her wedding dress again and the bridesmaids and groomsmen wore their fun, breezy peach-toned attire, lending to the atmosphere of their tropical nuptials.

I was fortunate enough that Tom asked me to capture their SoCal reception as well, so here are my favorites from their special night on Saturday, July 31st at Newport Dunes. I was especially struck with how much love was in the air among this group! The guests were all incredibly warm and friendly; I felt like I was a guest myself, but just with a camera in hand. Please also take note of the captions with each image to round out the fun times of the evening.

Additionally, I’d like to give a shout-out to James the DJ of Partytime Productions at the reception. He played AWESOME fun music, current hits mixed with old-school rap/pop (Tom busted out the moves to Paperboy’s “Ditty” — remember THAT tune??). He played exactly what Tom & Heather requested, and it was perfect for their audience — I’ve never seen the dance floor so filled for the complete reception — and being that it was under the stars, it was a perfect summer night. Congrats, Mr & Mrs Pellicer! I’m so happy for you both, and thanks again for letting me share in your special night. xo

Happy Sunday! Thanks for coming back to visit, I’ll have another post soon!