Out of the Office

This is just to let you know that I may be unable to receive phone calls or email while in Mexico (July 1- July 6) so please be patient if you try to contact me or the studio...

Adios!!

Griffith's Observatory

I got to take the kids to the Griffith Observatory in LA last week- I have been wanting to check it out ever since they re-opened it in May after a major re-do. I remember going there as a kid and was looking forward to taking mine..

You can't park anywhere up there anymore, you have to park at the LA Zoo or in Hollywood and shuttle up the mountain. It wasn't too bad of a ride but it was hot waiting for the shuttle.

This was in the Gottlieb Transit Corridor. It was so cool, every day at noon a little spot of light passes over this giant arc to tell you exactly what day of the year it is. It's crazy how much the angle of the sun changes in one day. We just happened to be there at 12N on Summer Solstice- the sun shone at the very end of the arc and there were news cameras there to record it...

This was inside the Oschin Planetarium where we got to see the new show about the history of astronomy and how tiny we are realative to the rest of the universe. I totally remembered watching the laser show to Pink Floyd.
Mr. Einstien like you have never seen him... that's my nephew...
I still got to play a little:
Me playing again, this is the Gottlieb Transit Corridor
And here's a shot with the timer:
The ride home:


It was a good day!

Thank You's Update

The Thank You cards I posted about last week are now finished... what do you think:




Glad I don't have to tie them all!!

Passports

I couldn't believe it, we were totally stressed about getting passports for the kids in time for our trip to Playa del Carmen (I have a wedding there on July 2) and we got them nine days after applying at the Placentia Library!

We have heard all these crazy stories about people that applied 6-8-10 months ago and still haven't received them yet. We've heard about the crazy lines at the passport agency in LA. We heard about people having to reschedule or cancel their trips alltogether because they couldn't get their passports.

What a crazy thing that we got them so fast! No idea how or why... We actually got a notice in the mail today- three days after we got the passports- saying that they had received our apps. and that we could check the status online... what!

They must've swooped right through on accident... whatever works!!

I'll post images when we get back!!

Justin and Jeni Engagement

I have known Justin for some time now- he's a great graphic designer- and was so happy for him when I heard he was getting married! He and Jeni play in a band together... so cool. They are local Fullertonians and are having their wedding downtown at The Twisted Vine so we decided to do their engagement shoot downtown too!
We shot at the perfect time of day and the sun cooperated with us for some great light. J&J were great in front of the camera- can't wait for the wedding!

Thank You's

As you may have guessed from prior entries, we had a great time with Sara and Mazen on May 5th at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Well, they put their thank you cards in our hands after being thrilled with our work at the wedding...

What do you think:
This will be printed on matte paper (paperish, not plasticish) and mounted on a chocolate brown card sealed with a cute little ribbon... yep, I did the image part and Jeni took over on the card part- especially the ribbon...

I love designing things like this- I take way too much time to be really profitable... but it's so fun!! Maybe I should just have a couple templates and plug the photos into them instead of designing them custom every time..... naaaaaa!

Another Job Well Done

I sent out Courtney and Bryan's album yesterday- do San Diego- and got such a cool email from them today:

Hi Joel!

We just got the album, and it looks absolutely fabulous!! You could
not have captured our wedding any better. We can't thank you enough.
Please, please let me know if I can do anything for you guys. I'll
keep recommending anyone I know!!

We will be ordering more pics within the next few months.

Sending our best to you and your family,

Courtney and Bryan

I get nice emails and thank you cards often and I always love it!!!

On My Front Porch

One of my Brides from last year, Cheryl, submitted her wedding to The Knot via their website without me knowing it and it got accepted! So cool. They had an amazing wedding at the Marriott Resort and Spa in Newport Beach and they were a blast to work with. The craziest thing (don't try this at home) was that Cheryl and her Mom designed the event themselves and it looked amazing!

We found a few copies on our porch this morning- what a great surprise! We got six pages of images in the current issue (Fall/Winter 2007).



We will have images in other magazines coming out this summer too... we'll keep you posted! I keep thinking that we couldn't be any luckier with the business but bigger and cooler things just keep happening!! Love it~!!!

The Ravipudi's

Last week I had the pleasure of shooting the Ravipudi's- They live in the south but were spending some time in Manhattan Beach and wanted to do a shoot. The kids were just adorable and a joy to photograph.

We started with a little cereal at the house:The whole fam.
Love the action shots!
This girl is going to break some hearts when she's older- what a doll!
...And with their cousin:
Thanks guys, for a great shoot and for allowing me into your lives for a couple hours.....