My wonderful assistant Angi got these great shots of the guys getting ready…

There is something so lovely, so intimate, so holy about a wedding day.  Certain days I am sweetly reminded of the gravity and depth of the marriage commitment.  Johnny and Erika’s wedding was one of those days.  Johnny and Erika are so wholly committed to each other.  They value that love is a choice.  With such gratitude in front of hundreds of family and friends they proclaimed to choose one another.  Not just on their wedding day, but over and over again each day for the rest of their lives.

Johnny and Erika you wedding was just that:  lovely, intimate, holy.  Thank you for giving me the honor to capture such a beautiful day!

Location:  Pasadena, CA.

Today is a day that I have been looking forward to for weeks. It is my first real day off in quite some time, and I am in one of my most absolute favorite places: Manhattan.

If I am in one of my most favorite places, why then am I writing a midday blog? Great question. Dramatic Explanation:  The last two years after WPPI I’ve gotten the flu. Last year; it was the stomach flu. (You know it’s bad when you are laying on the floor in the fetal position on the cold tile of your bathroom for the majority of the day). THANKFULLY, this year I do not have the stomach flu. However, I woke up this morning coughing, swollen glands, and feeling like I was run over by a truck. That darn WPPI Las Vegas 18-Wheeler truck.

Sometimes I think your body knows when it can get sick. In college I always got sick right after finals ended.  Any day sooner than today would have been highly inconvenient to not feel well.

To me rest in NYC means waking up early meeting friends for coffee, lunch, and dinner, running around Central Park, playing in SoHo…in other words my version of rest is running around 100 miles per hour. Well, today much to my dismay, my body is winning. I’m sitting on a couch in my friends perrrrfectly cute Manhattan apartment watching way too much bravo, drinking tea, and reading.

New York, we still have tomorrow to paint the town red before I have to go back to Cali.

Happy Monday Friends, enjoy your day! Here’s a little peak of John and Kathryn’s wedding I just shot on Saturday:) I hope y’all are having fun in St. Bart’s! Can’t wait to show more soon…

This was not a typical day in Santa Monica.  The marine layer rolled in early afternoon, and turned the ever busy and fast paced Santa Monica into a quiet, peaceful, and intimate setting.  (Folks outside of Southern California…Santa Monica is everything but quiet!)  But  what was perfect about this is it’s just what Molly and Hunter wanted. A small intimate beach wedding with their favorite people.

Born and raised in the South, Hunter and Molly ventured to Santa Monica last year for work, and as their time here was coming to a close none of their family had come to visit them.  So…why not plan their wedding in Santa Monica…that’ll get people out here right?  Right!  Molly and Hunter rented a GORGEOUS house in the Malibu Hills for the closest friends and family, and celebrated  their marriage, their move back to the South, and New Year’s Eve!  I couldn’t think of a more fun way to close out a year could you?

Thank you so much Aaron Young for letting me shoot this fabulous New Year’s Eve wedding with you; it was a wonderful way to cap of 2011! Check out Aaron’s images from the wedding HERE.

It never fails; each time I drive to San Diego my heart gets this anticipation…I’m not sure what heaven will look or be like, but I kind of hope it’s something like San Diego.

On Saturday I could not wait to spend time with Mariana and Craig.  From our first meeting I knew they were a special couple.

Craig and Mariana are adventurous, caring, generous, and a live-life-to-the-fullest kind of couple.  In fact Craig and his friends are climbing Machu Picchu for his Bachelor party…that’s not a big deal at all right?

They live minutes from the beach (which I’m super jealous of), and so we spent the afternoon traipsing all over Del Mar.  These are some of my favorite shots from our time together.  Guys I cannot wait for your wedding in September, thank you thank you for hanging and being adventurous with me last weekend:)

As we drove to Temcula for this outdoor wedding; it was pouring down rain.  The windshield wipers clapped back and forth loudly as if to prove they were working extra hard.  Since when does it monsoon in Southern California?  As we pulled up to the winery; it was raining.  As we were taking detail and getting ready shots; it rained.  Then, right before their first look until right after the ceremony we experienced a little miracle.

The rain stopped, and the sun broke through; it was such a gift.  These two could not have been more thrilled.  Their intimate wedding of family and a few close friends had this sense of readiness and peace.  It was filled with quiet moments, and also bursts of laughter and some sweet tears of excitement and happiness.  Thank you so much for allowing me to capture such an intimate affair!

It was a gift to shoot this wedding with my fabulous friend and wonderful photographer Melissa Vossler!

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Leonardo da Vinci

Creative Direction/Stylist/Everything woman:  Jackie, Mercí New York

Jewelry:  Jupiter Jewelry

Model:  Kira, Fenton Moon Models

Gowns:  Gabriella Bridal Salon

Florals:  AvaFlorals

Hair:  Maysoon, FaceTime Beauty Concierge

Make-up:  Sharon, FaceTime Beauty Concierge

It’s hard for me to believe that three years ago photography was something I only dreamed about.  Little did I know that photography would soon woo me in such a way that it would become my life’s passion.  When I get to take pictures of people, my soul comes alive.  It feels like I’m running, jumping, and dancing barefoot through an endless field.

I feel free, and I feel more me when I shoot than when I do anything else.  It’s such a gift to be able to pursue and do what I love.

When Jackie of Mercí New York approached me last fall to do a Look Book for Jupiter Jewelry in New York I all but ran around the room and danced throughout the office.  (All of this sounds dramatic, but I tend to be on the dramatic side…)  On an early rainy fall New York City morning, Jackie and I left Manhattan all packed for the shoot and ready to go.  The day was over in what seemed like minutes.  Hands down this was one of the most fun shoots I have ever done.

What has come from this shoot is more than I could have dreamed.  I am so honored an privileged to have worked with Mercí New York and Jupiter Jewelry on this shoot.

Ladies, this was a dream come true for me.  Thank you thank you thank you times 10 for allowing me to collaborate with you all.

Now here’s the rrrrreally exciting news:  Utterly Engaged featured our shoot for their Cover editorial for their January Sparkles and Crystals Issue.  Please go check them out and the issue HERE.  Lucia, you are a gem, and I have loved getting to know you and can’t wait to partner again with you and your wonderful team!

Vendors:

Creative Direction and Stylist: Jackie of Mercí New York

Jewelry:  Jupiter Jewelry

Florals:  Ava Florals

Gowns:  Gabriella Bridal Salon, Rent the Runway, and Mercí New York Style Salon

View Utterly Engaged’s Editorial HERE.

View Behind the Scenes images from the day HERE.

PS…Thank you Trent Bailey for assisting me, and for being a bomb friend!

I am thrilled to have collaborated with Mercí New York to shoot the cover for the January issue of Utterly Engaged Sparkles and Crystals.

Check out the issue Here

Sneak peak of Johnny and Erika’s Los Angeles Engagements…

Location:  Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, CA.