Katie and Anthony suggested maybe going down there to look around the pier, The Pike, and lighthouse.  Great idea, I thought, and it surely was.  There were a lot of great photo opportunities, and some not so ideal.  Note to self, The Pike will not allow “professional” photography as it is technically private property.  Unfortunate, but we found other places to go.

Right down the street was a great park over near the large Wyland painted Long Beach Arena.  Very nice colorful bridges surrounded by water made for a nice start to our 4 hour session.  We continued walking around toward the Lighthouse and park in front of the aquarium.  Being a Saturday, it was definitely a crowded day, so we strategically placed ourselves in locations without too many people.  The weather was also amazing, sun shining, no clouds, and a slight breeze to keep us from completely sweating while walking around.

As the sun started to set, and the Queen Mary slowly fading off in the background, we moved onto our final outfit and Katie and Anthony were still toughing it out.  They talked and laughed, while my assistant Ari and I continued to come up with interesting locations and backgrounds.  My particular favorite shots are the silhouettes, as sometimes a simple looking photo, screams 1000 words.  Hands held, faces pointed towards each other, still portray a strong feeling of love can be seen through the shadows.

Thanks again to Ari Zadok for helping out and thank you to Katie and Anthony for walking around to all the locations.  I hope you both had a great time and I look forward to taking more photos later this year.

Do I want to travel 3 hours away to a quaint little coastal town past Santa Barbara, past Solvang, and past Santa Maria near Pismo Beach?  Definitely!!!

When Gina and Sky hired me for their wedding after seeing my ad on Facebook, I was excited to see this scenic little town about 3 hours north of LA.  Situated off the 101 next to Pismo Beach, and with a population under 18,000, this little town was perfect for a romantic wedding location away from the hustle and bustle of LA.  Growing up in Santa Maria, both Sky and Gina had some nostalgic connections with the area as we walked around town near a trickling stream taking photos on the bridge, in the park, and at their favorite Ice Cream store, Doc Burnstein’s. WOW!! Now that’s some  good ice cream!!!!

We then headed shortly down the road past Pismo Beach and up to Shell Beach. Here, colorful cliffs fell to the Pacific while huge boulders of white rocks sat motionless in the water.  This is what California coastline should look like!  With a pathway down to the water, we quickly descended and took some fun photos on the beach and against the cliffs with shadows.  As the sun started to set, we went back up to the cliffs and finished the day off with some romantic sunset photos.  This is definitely the way to watch the day end as the yellows and oranges filled the sky with a silhouette of trees, rocks, and two people in love.

Afterwards, Allison and I had some tasty clam chowder in Pismo Beach at Splash Cafe.  Definitely a must try if you’re in the area and want a huge bread bowl of some hot, soupy goodness.

Thanks for being such great tour guides and thanks again for the amazing ice cream, I think I’ll need to stop there every time I go up north now!!!  :-)

With a last minute call to do a Maternity portrait session with Toni and Jon, I jumped on the opportunity as I am new to Maternity Photography.  Treating it like an Engagement Session, even though they are already married, I had a variety of poses in mind for them to show off their love as well as their soon-to-be plus one.

Toni suggested the Historic Library in Redondo Beach Veteran’s Park.  I scoped out the location and found multiple spots that would be great for some photos.  We walked around taking photos as they laughed and joked with each other.  Even their cousin Chris came along and snagged a few shots on his cell phone making Toni feel like a celebrity.  They were a great couple full of energy and life.

It was a fun session and I tried my hardest to get as many different poses and styles to combine this photo session into one.  I would definitely do more of these and was very happy with the outcome.

Now that Toni and Jon will have some photos to show at their upcoming baby shower, I wish them the best for all of their future events.  Thanks for everything!!

Today was going to be a fun day, as the sun came out blazing with barely any clouds in the sky.  Alex and Corina met me over at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), where I had seen an amazing visual art piece by Chris Burden.  Urban Light has 202 cast iron lamp posts situated in a square and varying in height.  This solar powered, functioning art piece is exactly what I thought of when Alex told me he was an art teacher.  And so our journey just naturally began here.  With many different angles, and spots to choose from, these lamp posts made perfect props.  Next time I visit her, I’ll try to coordinate a night engagement session to observe the full potential of this modern art piece.

After some great photos within and around Urban Light, we headed to Westwood park for some roller skating and skateboarding.  Alex and Corina changed into matching “The Buttons” shirt, an inside joke, and proceeded to skate around with minimal falls.  :-)  It was a typical California sunny day to get photos in the park, ironically while my parents sent me emails from Colorado amidst a freak snowy blizzards.

Our last stop was obviously another museum.  Why try to hunt for locations around town that may kick you out, when you have amazing free architecture, museums, parks and sculpture gardens right at your fingertips.  We headed up to the Getty museum. I haven’t been to the Getty in a while, and definitely not with a good camera.  So this was definitely a treat for me.  There was so much to see, so many places to go, and so many people wandering around.  We tried to find shady, secluded areas.  We would often have to wait for people to walk by.  This might be better organized during a week day when it wasn’t so popular. We even went inside to get a few shots near famous Van Gogh’s or Monet’s.  This truly was a great place to get photos, as there were opportunities around every corner.

As the 4 hour session came to a close, I was confident that we had a great collection of photos for Alex and Corina and that today was a huge success.  I thank both Alex and Corina for being such great models, even when I had some fairly random ideas.  They were both easy to work with and I look forward to shooting your beautiful wedding in June!

Today was an engagement session with Mike and Sarah.  I was looking forward to this one as I have been getting a lot of inquires for weddings at Wayfarer’s Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.  As I drove up, this amazing glass chapel stood overlooking the Pacific Ocean with an amazing garden, water fountain, and grassy lawn.  This was a nice location!  I can see why it’s so popular.

Mike and Sarah were ready to go, as we started out long day of engagement photos.  We moved around the chapel grounds quickly as a wedding was scheduled in an hour.  We then headed down to Point Vicente Park, near the lighthouse.  This was a great location as well, with amazing cliffs, nice green grass, low palm trees, and banquet hall area overlooking the water.  This picturesque lighthouse was also a great location to search for whales, as a local marine group was doing so and had already spotted 3 whales that day.

We continued to take some fun photos, as both Sarah and Mike were very willing to do anything I suggested.  They threw in their own little humorous faces, interesting poses, and even balanced on a pole like Karate Kid.  Even with Sarah’s continuous smile and Mike’s determined stare, the love between these two could definitely be seen as they walked hand in hand.  Their fun attitudes and array of natural poses gave me tons of different options to photograph.

We ended the day with a trip to Torrance Beach during sunset, where Mike and Sarah took a stroll on the beach, drew a heart in the sand, and climbed a lifeguard tower.  The sunset was perfect with an romantic calmness as we all

watched it fill the sky with beautiful colors.  It was a great session and I can’t wait for their wedding in October.  Thank you to Mike and Sarah for being great in front of the camera and keeping the day fun like it should be!

We finished up by heading to Playa Vista for some great shots in their park near the Promenade.  Choon humored me for a few crazy photos and we finished up not going to the beach but possibly saving it for another day.  We had fun, we had music, we got some great photos and I thank Choon and Tessa for a great session today and I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in August!!  Cheers!!

One thing I learned from this session is that opportunity is everywhere.  From a shadow, to a bridge, to a blank wall while driving from one location to another, Ellie and Carlos entertained any random idea I threw out, and I think benefited from it.  In the end we got some great shots and even some Orange Chicken.  :-)

I thank both Elllie and Carlos for a fun day and can’t wait to see them again in April for the wedding.