Anyways… back to the engagement session … It rocked!!! hahaha!  Harrold and Prisillia are such kids at heart!!!! I loved their sweet innoncence… their laughs… and their excitement!!!  Even after a security guard almost kicked us out – they still had such a positive and fun attitude!!! hahaha! (oh.. and this security guard even claimed that she had seen me taking pictures there often before and that’s why she wanted to kick us out!!! haha!!! she wouldn’t believe me that I hadn’t been to Disneyland since I was in high school!!! hahaha!)

Thank you guys for taking me to Disneyland!!!!

These two are sooo laid back and so easy going… I love that about them.  When I arrived at their engagement session in Laguna Beach, they had already spent quite some time with their videographer… so I was honestly a little nervous.  I was just really worried that they would be tired and ‘fed up’ of the camera by the time I got there… I was so pleasantly surprised that they are such great troopers!!! they didn’t even seem tired at all… they were smiling and as sweet as ever!  

They have this sweet shy-ness about them that is just endearing.  But, as most of my couples, that quickly faded away as the sun started setting… check out their ultra steamy and fabulous sunset shots!!!  Maybe it was that sultry and romantic sunset, or the fact that it was getting dark, or that the beach wasn’t as crowded by thend – I don’t know what it was, but boy did things get nince and steamy by the end of our session!! haha!

Nancy was actually the bridesmaid at a wedding I did just last week! and she looked absolutely stunning as a bridesmaid… so I can only imagine how gorgeous she’ll  be as the bride!!!  Junior looked really handsome too! lol!  I’m soooo excited for their upcoming wedding!!!!

 Can you see the common denominator year by year … CAKE.  As I have stated in my quirks page -  I absolutely love sweet carbs, and cake is on the TOP of my list of weaknesses… lol!  And even though I will pretty much eat ANY sweet carb that you put in front of me (yes. any. sweet. carb.) – I am super picky about cakes.  I actually did a ton of research for my son’s previous bday cakes – His first bday cake was a 3 tiered designed cake with the theme being stripes and cupcakes.  It was gorgeous!!! (like a wedding cake!!).  This 2nd bday cake was a topsy turvy cake – with 2 layers carved out to look like a road with cars driving on it and fields of mountains and trees decorated the cake – ultra fabulous!  This year I went much simpler – this year we had a Coldstone Creamery Strawberry Red Velvet Ice Cream Cake…. hmmmm.  you know you want some .  It was soooooooooooooo good.  Next year we’ll probably do another sculpted cake, but we’ll definitely do a smaller ice cream cake again, just because we loved it. 

So for his birthday, my son had his 3 favorite things: ice cream, cake, and pizza – he was in little boy heaven!

He wasn’t sure why everyone kept singing ‘happy birthday’ to him… he’s not old enough yet to realize what that means.  At first he would tell us to not sing, but by the end of the day he was singing along and even prompting us to keep singing to him while he did  his baby dance! I love my little guy. 

It was a day filled with Ice Cream Cake and Little Kisses!!! LOVE you Jovanni!!!

Besides loving the location – it was so much fun to see how much fun Cindy and Michael have together (and how Cindy has a hard time keeping a straight face! lol!).  I love to see couples that laugh so much… I know in my marriage, laughter is such an important part getting through those rough patches.  So I absolutely love the chemistry between couples that truly enjoy to giggle and be silly.  Cindy really truly tried to keep a straight ‘model-y’ face… no worries girl, you still rocked it even though the straight face would only last a few seconds!!! LOL!!! 

I can’t wait for your wedding in October!!! We’re going to laugh and giggle some more!!!

Adela and Will chose to have 2 settings for their engagement session – so we started off at the South coast Botanic Gardens  (in Palos Verdes) then we headed down to the beach for a quick beach setting.  It was my first time at the South Coast Botanic Gardens… and I totally fell in love with them… so many places to walk around! I love gardens that have areas that look like a natural forest… not so manicured… such a beautiful and romantic setting.  Trust me… romance was what this session was all about – Adela and Will are simply romance and passion.  Seriously… they had absolutely no trouble getting into the romantic shots… AT ALL!!! LOL!!! Will… I know we all giggled about how passionate you both are with each other… but that’s what it’s all about – I can totally see you guys in your 60’s, still lovin’ on each other!! how cute is that?!?!?! 

I can not wait for your fabulous wedding!!! I’m already imagining how fabulous and romantic your pictures will be!!!!

Last month I was honored to be a part of a fantabulous Alice in Wonderland inspired photoshoot that my great friend Elizabeth Luna organized  (yes…fantabulous is what the cool kids are saying these days… lol!). I met some amazing photographers, beautiful models, and best of all I had a fabulous time – what more could one ask for!!  Thank you everyone for making the day so fantastic, so fabulous, and so much fun!!!

Organized and Lead: Elizabeth Luna
Event Design, Coordination and Florals – Amador Events
Linens – BBJlinen.com
Rentals – persianoevents.com
Stationary Design – Lou Liebau + lou@scratchandsniff.com
Make Up Artist: Crystal Roberts
Hair Stylist: Jessica Hale
Hair accessories: Rachel Larraine
Gowns: Elyse Reuben
Guest Speaker: Ming Chien (Off Camera Lighting)
Thank you to all the awesome Leaders!
Harmony Ayala Ruiz
Rita Clifton
Duc Duong
Alicia Salcedo

I had the hardest time picking images to post… so this will be long – but if you’ve visited my blog before you know I always post tons of images – I just can’t bring myself to pick only a few pictures… lol!

so… besides an adorable little boy… they also have an amazing family and group of friends! Everyone had soooo much fun… the drinks were flowing, the music was pumping, and everyone was just dancing the night away! I love my job!! LOL!!!

They had their oh So Fab Wedding at the Crestmore Manor in Riverside. 

Getting Ready at the Marriot Hotel in Riverside

Now I’m really into “Rangefinder” and “Professional Photographer”.  Since I don’t often sit down to really read them (they just stack up on my living room coffee table), my hubby is always bugging me that I’m just wasting that subscription.  Today he even threatened to throw away the 2 years worth of magazines! Ghasp!!! How dare he… I know!!!

So to prove my point to him that I do get a lot from my subscriptions – I sat down for a couple of hours today and read like 10 magazines back to back!  This is how our conversation played out right after I was done – hubby: “so now that you’ve read them we can start throwing them away now… right”… me: ghasp “oh heck no! These magz are treasures… they’re so inspiring… you touch them and I toss your sports magz!”.  End of argument.

LOL!!!

Soooo… I basically wanted to share a great magazine article with you guys.  It’s an article from the March issue of “Professional Photographer”, it was written by Lorna Gentry – and it’s all about makeup and photography… my two favorite subjects!!  I sat there reading it and I kept nodding my head as I read – as if Lorna needed to see my approval! Lol!

So here’s the article almost word-by-word, with a few notes from me. 

This first Tip she shared totally made me laugh because we’ve all encountered it, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it – Do not go to a tanning booth or use a spray tan right before the wedding… (and let’s not even mention bottled tan lotions… those of us who have tried them have been through the umpa-loompa look before! Soooooo not cute!!!).  There really is little we can do even in post production to correct the umpa-loompa look… haha!

1.   Blend… Blend… Blend.  You can use your everyday makeup, but use more than you normally use every day.  You don’t want to look washed out, so you’ll need more makeup than usual so that it shows through beautifully in pictures.

2.  Sometimes less is more.  Use less makeup for a day wedding and more for evenings.  You can get dramatic with eye makeup.  I personally LOVE dramatic eye makeup – seriously it’s the best, and easiest, way to add glamour and drama to images!

3.  Don’t skimp on concealer.  Use a moisturized concealer on the thin, sensitive skin under the eyes.  If your concealer isn’t moisturizing, blend it with a skin cream.  For blemishes, first treat them with a natural or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, then cover with concealer.

4.  Do a makeup trial run.  It’s the only sure-fire, stress-free way to make certain that your makeup will look beautiful.  I can’t even emphasize this enough! You have no idea how many brides I’ve met who have changed their mind about wedding makeup after doing their trial run.  Some of my brides have even told me how they decided to change makeup artists after they realized how unhappy they were with the pre-wedding experience.  You don’t want to go through a bad experience on your wedding day.  You won’t have time to execute a plan B or to really restart from scratch- you want to hash out all the issues before the wedding day.  If you’re going to use fake lashes, make sure you have worn them at least once before – otherwise you’ll feel anxious about them on your wedding day.

5.  Not all mineral makeup is created equal.  Titanium dioxide, a chemical used as sun block, can reflect flash, giving the bride a ghostly appearance.  In 2009 makeup artist Annie May launched a line of mineral makeup especially formulated for photography called Advanced Mineral Makeup.  May promises it won’t white-out the bride under flash.  I’ve never really seen this issue personally before… but it’s definitely something to think about.

6.  Use waterproof makeup with staying power.  You don’t want to spend your reception in the bathroom reapplying your makeup.  Foundation, eyeliner and mascara all should be waterproof.  And in case you cry (and you probably will), have a tissue or handkerchief handy to gently blot your tears right at the eye.  Just to add to this a little bit – you want to make sure that you don’t need to keep reapplying throughout the day. I have had several weddings where the brides makeup kept having to be reapplied so much that it cut our actual ‘camera time’ drastically, it really interfered with the flow of the images.  Of course, I personally didn’t think the makeup needed that much reapplication, but the bride felt a little too self conscious in the heat (which is understandable).  That handkerchief for your tears is great to gently blot the sweat from  your forehead (unless your wedding is in Palm Springs at noon in the middle of summer… in which case I just wish you luck! LOL!!)

7.  Keep your lips moisturized and colored. Dry lips look dreadful in photos.  Have someone carry your lipstick for you and touch up often.  Matte and gloss lipstick both photograph well, and be sure to blend lip liner for enhanced definition. Yeah…. What she said!! LOL!!

8.  Don’t forget the groom. If the groom is red faced due to too much sun (or drinking), a little powder can help.  That goes for shiny heads, too. And it’s a good idea to skip a tube of Chapstick in the groom’s pocket for his dry lips, as well as a handkerchief to dab well-wishers’ makeup smudges off his suit.  I had never thought of this before… LOVED the idea of the sheer powder for shiny foreheads!!!

9.  Don’t sprinkle on Glitter.  In photographs, it tends to look like little white spots, as if there’s something wrong with the camera.  OMG!! Don’t get me started on how much I dislike glitter on photographs! I had one sweet bride once that carried around her glitter stick (for lack of a better word for it).  She kept reapplying this thick glitter to her neck, arms, back, front, sides. I mean – EVERYWHERE.  I can’t even go into how long it took me in post production to get that glitter to fade back and not look like she had white polka-dots all over her!!!   I laugh now… but I wasn’t laughing then… haha! Glitter is just not photogenic.  Might I suggest shimmering lotion instead?… I mean, if you want some bling bling… focus on the jewelry. 

10.  Remember to apply foundation and powder to your neck, shoulders and décolletage – you want your head to look like it belongs to your body! LOL!

And just because any post is better with a picture… some of nature’s fabulous and flawless beauty!

I finally got my images from a couple of weeks ago ready to post – better late than never, right? 

Last week I had a lot of fun spending some time with Linda and Augie… and their 3 beautiful children.  Aren’t they such a cute family! check out their brand new baby… I absolutely adore chubby-wooby babies!  I remember a few years ago, back when Jovanni was like 3 months old – my little niece came to visit and pointed out how his chubby little hands and his chubby little arms.  She asked us if is wrists hurt, since they looked like they were about to explode!!! LOL!! Linda’s chunky-munky wittle baaabbbby (yes… that’s my baby talk! LOL!) – had those same wrists… I LOVED it!!!

Linda and Augie – you guys have such a beautiful family … I know your wedding will be super special! I can’t wait for your Malibu wedding next month!

One of the first things that Jason told me when we started walking down to the beach, was how beautiful Jenn looked that day! I smiled and agreed with him… thinking how sweet is it that he loves her so much!!! I mean… I know that all of my clients love each other… and I can see it in their eyes – but it made my heart smile to hear him beaming with pride and love for Jenn!!!

Jason and Jenn… your love makes my heart smile!!!!

Romantic and sweet engagement session in Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach Engagement Session