Montana!

Yep, yessiree, Montana.

I had a wedding there this past Friday- what a beautiful place to shoot!! This wedding took place at the Rockin' TJ Ranch at the West end of Bozemon.

I just loved this shot on the gravel- notice the flip-flop tan-- my kind of girl!
I just loved the grass and weeds. This effect was done in Lightroom.
The fences are great to shoot on, I want to bring one home next time,,,, oh, and a big ol' red barn!
Aren't Lyle and BreAnn just the cutest? Lyle is a graphic designer and amazing artist in his own right so it was a relief when he approved of the images on the slideshow at the reception- actually loved them!
Yep, gotta love the fence!... and their expressions!

I can't wait to take the kids up there, I'm going to start planning a trip for next summer. So many cool places to go- so little time. Maybe I'll have to take the whole summer off!!

Check out more images on their slideshow HERE.

Wedding Photos in Fullerton

I met Carole and Tom at a wedding I shot at the Richard Nixon Library over a year ago. I was excited when they said they were getting married at the First Methodist Church in Downtown Fullerton- it's so close to my house I hear the bells ring every hour on the hour. I love it.

Carole got ready at her friend's place:

All her girls signed her shoes with well wishes:
Tom's Dad and his two boys at the church:
Cool church, huh?
The bridal party at a pet store in Fullerton. I drive past this lime green pet store all the time to get to the freeway and have always wanted to shoot here. You should've seen Carole's face when I suggested stopping by the pet store to shoot some portraits!!! Luckily we got there right before they closed!
check out more wedding photos HERE.

Stefanie's First Solo Gig!

I have truly been lagging in the blog department. I haven't really been posting weddings much at all- slacker!!

I have to post this wedding first because I am so proud of my newly promoted photographer Stefanie (she has assisted me for over two years now) for the images she, along with my brother Jeremy, made at their first wedding without me.

Megan and Aaron had nothing but good things to say about the two of them:

"holy bovine!!!
the pictures are amazing! ever since saturday, i've
looked at them at least once a day!
Both Aaron and I could not be more happy with them,
they go beyond what i envisioned!
we're going to look at them with my parents tonite, i
can't wait to see their reaction!

p.s. everyone was really impressed by Stephanie. she
was on her game and wonderful."

Megan

this was right across the street from my house!
you gotta love Downtown Fullerton!
Stef truly amazed me with her work at this wedding and am loving being to witness her growth (she didn't even know how to use her Rebel when she first assisted me!). She is a testament to the idea of passion being the most important ingredient in being a star in anything!

8th Place in International Competition!

I was stoked to find out yesterday that I had received an 8th place recognition by The Wedding Photojournalists Association (WPJA) for the image below.


Congrats to my neighbor Ira Lippke in Long Beach for his 7th place image! I am truly honored to be in the top ten of the thousands of images entered from around the world!

Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen is like the ultimate paradise!! We're staying at Shangri-la Caribe-- the white and emerald beaches are magnificent, the tall, crooked palms are beautiful, and the cerveza es mas fina!!! Our palapa is ocean-front- I swang Caysen to sleep in the hammock on our patio tonight listening to waves roll in and the palm fronds rustling in the caribbean breaze- so cool! Check out the webcam right in front of our room here!

Myra did a fantastic job planning and getting this wedding together- she must've shipped an entire container of wedding paraphanalia over from her home in Sacramento!!! She definately had the details covered all the way down to the handmade fans with little M&E tags.

This was where the ceremony was:and the dress on their patio...
The ceremony; my kids were watching just out of the frame on the left. Our room was about 100 feet from there!
All the guests:
We went out today- the day after- to shoot a little more... we ended up getting about 20 minutes to shoot only but got some awesome stuff!
This was such an amazing experience for myself and my family- thanks so much Myra and Eric!! And muchas gracias to Kim and Rob for referring me!!

Check out more photos from Myra and Eric's wedding in Playa HERE.