But just to tide you over, here’s one from Humberto & Griselda’s engagement shoot at Olvera Street last Friday.

I met Marissa and Mark at Marissa’s sister Alisa’s wedding in September.  I remember taking a this photo of them dancing…..

…. and thinking, “These two are awfully cute!  I hope they get married and I hope I get to shoot their wedding!”  And I get to!

Marissa had been on eharmony all of 2 days when Mark contacted her!  They emailed back and forth for a couple of weeks and decided to meet.  They decided to meet in Coronado, close to where Marissa lived.  They walked along the water and stopped at a particular bench where they sat and talked…. and talked…..

When Mark wanted to ask Marissa to be his wife, he decided to return to where it all started…. that particular bench.  It had been raining all week, and since the weather had finally cleared up, Mark suggested they go on a walk before church.  Marissa didn’t suspect a thing!  He said a few really nice things about her and once they got to THE bench, Mark asked Marissa to marry him.  They never made it to church that day.  Instead, spending the afternoon celebrating with family.

Mark and Marissa are getting married next month in San Diego and I can’t wait!  I feel so blessed to get to be a part of their day!

I’m pretty sure he likes kissing her.

Marissa…. you are too cute!

Then we went and got some pizza.  But I’m really glad I kept my camera with me.  You never know when you’re going to come across this:

Now, I have done my fair share of internet dating myself.  So the first bit of advice I give people embarking on this journey is to put up good photos.  You’d be shocked at how many lame profile photos I’ve seen!  ”Yeah, that’s a really cool photo of you and General Sherman.  Wait…. is that little speck at the bottom you?”

Lynn was smart.  I met her last year when she asked me to do some headshots for her online profile.

We had a great time and I ended up visiting with her and her daughter, who is a very talented budding photographer herself.  Imagine my delight when late one night I received an email from her that said, “Well, it worked!  I met someone and we just got engaged!  I’d like to talk with you about photographing our wedding!”

These two cracked me up!  They are SO in love!  Like crazy mad about each other.  Like can’t keep their hands off of each other in love.  They should bottle that.  I want me some of that!  I can’t wait to shoot their wedding next month!

But it’s a perfect day to post these images.  About a month ago Elyse and Robert and I were scheduled to do their engagement shoot.  But it was also scheduled to rain quite a bit that weekend.  Robert is in the Coast Guard and lives up in the bay area, and since his time off is very limited we couldn’t really reschedule.  Elyse was excited about the rain and said she would bring her umbrellas.  I was excited about the umbrellas too, but was a little concerned about not being able to keep my camera dry!  Anything to get the shot, right!?!  We made it happen.

Elyse and Robert love to go out to Sushi and to the movies so we met at Kura Sushi, one of their favorite restaurants.  It was raining pretty hard so we were glad to be inside.  Then the rain let up to a light mist as we headed down the street to the Lido Theater in Newport.  We had so much fun playing with umbrellas and the rain.

And I love what we captured.  I don’t know if it’s the moody rainy look, or the timelessness, or this just the awesomeness of this couple!  Maybe it’s knowing everything we went through to get these!  But I do know know that I CAN’T WAIT for their wedding in March!  It is going to be stellar!

Thanks for being awesome, you guys!

All of these make me happy, but this one made me sigh…….. hhhmmmmmm.

There is just something I LOVE about the feel of this one.

On a side note…. I actually went back and saw It’s a Wonderful Life here a few days before Christmas.  So fun!  I hope they do it next year.  I think I want to start a new Christmas tradition.

I met up with Palak & Simmy flew down from Northern California to do their engagement shoot.  We started at Orange Circle and got a ton of fun photos.  Then we headed over to The Block at Orange, the location of their first date!

I can’t wait for their wedding next week!!!!!!

Amazing light, right?

I love this next series.

Then we headed over to The Block.  They had hung out at Cafe Tu Tu Tango on their first date.

That heart in the corner was the reflection from Windsor….. but I used it for my own purposes.

On a jog one morning I came across this building and just about burst with excitement!  I knew I had to bring someone here to take photos.  When I knew that I was going to meet up with Todd and Alisa in Downtown Fullerton, they said they were game for anything, so we went on over to the little gem I had found.

I’m so excited for their wedding next weekend, which is also in the Fullerton/Brea area (I have been very spoiled lately!).  Alisa found a super cool place for us to take photos so stay tuned for that!  We are all in for a treat!

So here’s an update on what I’ve been up to in case you’ve been wondering.

1. Designing my new wedding website.

2. Shooting fun weddings and engagement shoots.  Here are a couple of previews.

Todd & Alisa in Downtown Fullerton

Jon & Kayse’s wedding in Long Beach/La Mirada

3.  Second shooting for some of my talented photographer friends.

First with my friend John Loyola at Clarke Estate.

Then with my friend and Fast Track Extraordinaire, Dane Sanders at Sherwood Country Club.

Yeah….. I know.

Then with my friend Erica Stout at Fulkner Winery.

4. Shooting some headshots for some beautiful ladies.

Oh and I also started taking a business class and have continued to do a few projects around my cute little house.  But that’s it for now.  Stay tuned for more photos from these and other fun events.