Karey and I met a couple of years ago at a photography conference.  I had no idea that she would become one of my dearest friends.  At first it was just nice to find a friend that I could talk about photography and business with and ask questions when I needed some advice.  But it’s even more valuable to me to have a friend who will listen to me cry on the phone, will celebrate even the smallest of victories, and who will drive over in the pouring rain to give me a hug after the latest heartbreak.

We got together last weekend to just have some fun shooting.  It was a blast and I’m excited about what I got!

When I shot these last few, we had almost zero light left.  Karey kept saying, “I can’t believe you’re even getting anything.”  Yay for my 1.4 lens!

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!

We have had four meetings and so far…. it’s awesome!  The group of photographers that have been showing up, ready to grow and share are amazing!  I’m so impressed by them.  Instead of having a speaker I facilitate a discussion on certain topics like, pricing and branding and such.  This past month we broke up into smaller groups and each person had some time to share about themselves and to show off some of their work.  We were so inspired and encouraged by one another and left feeling like we got to know one another that much better.  I love this group!

If you’d be interested in being a part of the group, we’d love to have you.  We meet in Newport Beach the first Thursday of every month.  I send out all of the meeting info through our facebook group, so feel free to join so that you can be sure that you won’t miss out!  You can join here.

Here are some photos, courtesy of Lorrie Prothero and Sara MacFarlane.

She says the photo was about the business card exchange, but I beg to differ!

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering…. what shows did I see?  Well….. I saw the revival of A Little Night Music, a Sondheim musical starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Broadway LEGEND, Angela Lansbury.  Just one thing to say….. PHENOMENAL!  Then we saw The Fantasicks off-Broadway.  Then I saw Billy Elliot on my own later in the week.  Oh and we went to a really cool restaurant for our birthdays.  Freeman’s is a cool little restaurant, with a kind of English hunting feel, hidden away down this alley.  I stepped in a huge puddle right before heading down that alley…. BUT…. we won’t talk about that.

Shopping around SOHO, we went in Kate’s Paperie.  Such a cool store.  I saw these lights covered with fabulous paper cut outs.

I couldn’t help taking a photo of this wedding dress they had that was made out of paper.  Nice.

Walking around, I came across this and thought it was cool.

We walked across to Brooklyn, something I’d never done in all my trips to New York.

It was pretty sunny all week, but there was a little surprise in store for me.  On Tuesday, as I came out of Billy Elliot, it had started snowing a little.  Not sticking though.  The next morning, everything was covered in snow!  But the snow was still pretty light and wet.  I went into Bloomingdale’s and then Dylan’s Candy Bar, a really big candy store.

I loved the floor!

But look what was happening while I was inside……

So I made Eddie go over to Central Park so I could get some photos.  He was a trooper!  And we got to experience something that even he, after living there for 11 years, had never experienced!

This shot is the reason I wanted to trek through Central Park.  Poet’s Walk.

Me and my childhood friend Eddie.

It seriously looked like Narnia!

Woo hoo!  What a fun trip!  And I was only delayed by a half a day.  I got home in time to have dinner with my family on my birthday.

This baby’s mom, Lucy, has some great friends.  They went together and bought a gift certificate for a portrait session for her baby shower.  What a great idea!  I’ve had a few other people do the same thing recently.  What a great gift.  Something he won’t grow out of and something the whole family will cherish forever.

This reading stuff is serious business!

Baby giggles are just the greatest.

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.

Soooo……. how ya been?

Now that the busyness that was Christmas and the weeks of catch up right after are done, I feel like I’m caught up.  I’m spending some time thinking about what new things I’d like to do this year as well as planning some little adventures.  I’m ready for a great year…. how ’bout you?

So to get you caught up, here’s a wedding that I did in December.  Kim & Geo got married at the Balboa Inn right at the foot of the Balboa Pier.  It was a cold, kinda dreary day, but what a great day for a nice, intimate wedding.

Kim’s dress was gorgeous.

And so was she!

The groom wasn’t bad lookin’ either!

Another vote….. do you like color or b&w?

White lights make everything magical!

Man and wife!

Ohhh….. he did it.  He really did it.

Good for you Kim!

Check out my portfolio here.

First outfit: Thursday evening Palak got her henna done.  This was super cool to watch and made me want to get some done myself sometime!

Second outfit: Friday morning, there were ceremonies at the bride’s home in Yorba Linda.  Her outfit was beautiful and it was really fun to witness the ceremonies.

Third outfit: Friday night Palak & Simmy’s family and friends gathered for a night of traditional dancing called Garba & Sangeet.  Lots of dancing!!!!

Fourth & Fifth outfits:  I don’t have photos of these since I was a guest at the wedding.  Oh wait…. I think I have a snapshot from the reception….. yep… here you go!  Lots of dancing happening!  Her wedding dress was really beautiful, but you’ll just have to trust me!

AND….. outfit #6:  Simmy’s family is from northern California, and that’s where he and Palak live.  So they had a second reception in San Jose the day after Thanksgiving.  I have LOTS of photos from that so get ready!

I.  LOVE.  THIS.

Talk about a good looking couple, right?

I thought we’d have to do all of their photos in the hotel room since it was raining outside.  But the rain stopped and these two were troopers to face the cold for a few minutes so I could get this.

Um…. thank you!

OK, back inside we go!

The door to the ballroom had this cool little peep thing.  I thought it was cool!

Icing on the Cake, a cute little bakery in Los Gatos did the cake.  Pretty!

What I love most about Indian weddings is that EVERYONE dances!  A LOT!

Palak and Simmy enjoyed a much deserved trip to the Carribean!  After all of the planning and celebrating, they said they pretty much slept for the first few days.  I don’t blame them!  Thank you for inviting me into your lives.  You and all of your family and friends were so great to me!

SHE…. ROCKED…. IT!