The Way We Click BLOG

At the end of August I had a crazy whirlwind trip to the east coast to shoot a gorgeous wedding in Philadelphia (more on that soon!), visit with my best friend in New Jersey for her birthday, and do a portrait session with the amazing Falk Family! Nicole and Randy are the epitome of the cool laid back alternative couple. They work for NECA which is a toy company responsible for some of the most crazy and awesome toys and collectibles out there! I knew they would be really fun and easy to shoot so we opted for a really relaxed wander around the neighborhood to capture all of the fun little things. We managed to catch a perfect day in Hoboken right on the river, and spend the afternoon wandering around with their beautiful baby girl Penelope! Pea is SO cute, and I got to see her discover grass which was really fun, work her walking technique, and show off her amazing flexibility when she stuck her entire foot in her mouth. Gotta love those little moments!

So after a crazy move, and an even crazier first month in Chicago, I got to take a much needed respite to go back to my hometown and shoot Kira and Dave’s wedding! After the success of the engagement session despite the crazy cold rainy weather, I knew that the wedding day would be awesome. I’m such a huge fan of Kira, and Dave is the only man who was ever really worthy, so it was hugely emotional for me to be there, and to be such a big part of the day as well! It was a super bright sunny day which is exactly what I would expect for such a bright sunny person, and Kira’s mood the entire day was  nothing short of sunshiny too! Having the ceremony at the top of Heavenly was just that, heavenly, and the rustic ski lodge fit their personalities perfectly and provided a stunning backdrop as well. Everything was perfect from Kira’s awesome bouquet and flowers by local favorite The Enchanted Florist to the supper yummy cake by Flour Girl Wedding Cakes. I had a great time, and managed to actually get some awesome shots while surrounded by lots of my favorite people! My job is awesome!!!

I always seem to love packing as must stuff into the shortest amount of time possible, and so when I decided to move back to Chicago I thought to myself… oh yeah, lets do it in the middle of wedding season, and stop and see my grandparents and my sister on the way, that’s a great idea!!

I have always loved Chicago, and after I moved back to San Diego in early 2005 I knew in my heart that I would be back. Chicago is a place that I’ve connected with on a creative and spiritual level, and splitting my time between San Francisco, Southern California, and The Windy City made me realize just how much I really wanted to live here again. So Alex and I busted our butts and finally made the move back to the midwest in June. The only problem was that we had 4 days to get here from San Diego to meet our moving truck! That meant that instead of the leisurely photojournalistic tour of the western and middle part of this country that I had envisioned, we drove in shifts, ate disgusting fast food, got caught in crazy lightning storms in Oklahoma, listened to a good portion of both of our Ipods and a lot of NPR, and managed to even sleep in the car in the Arizona desert one night! I managed to get a few choice shots, but really… not much. Here are the highlights of our crazy adventure for your viewing pleasure!

Sand dunes of Western Arizona… complete with wildfire in the background.

Mouse rides in style.

Earlier this year my Great Aunt Ruth passed away, and we happened to show up at my grandparents house in Oklahoma on the day that they were having the family memorial for her. They planted a tree and everyone had a great time reminiscing about her life and enjoying spending time with one another. My family is spread out all over the country, so to have so many of my great aunts and uncles in one place for a visit was such a treat. I will always remember my Aunt Ruth as the woman who made the most beautiful quilts, and who had the cutest hairdos! This is Alex hanging with my Uncle Mike and a friend of the family. He fit right in with the good ole boys!

My Aunt Faye looking at scanned photos of Ruth when she was in her 20′s…. SUCH a hottie!

We stopped by the side of the road in Oklahoma to walk around for a minute and this butterfly came over and hung out for almost 20 minutes. It was so surreal to have this beautiful creature just come land on us and let us pose with it. Such a great day, and one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.

I think it liked me better.

One of my nieces baby rabbits.

You have NO idea how happy we were to see this sign.

Priorities you know?

Mouse was a bit overwhelmed by the mountain of boxes that came out of the moving truck, but I think she loved all the new places to hide!

From the very start of my friendship with Kira, I knew she was a super strong person with the biggest heart you would ever meet, and this was when we were 7 and 9 (respectively)! I have known Kira my entire life, and when she finally told me that her and Dave were FINALLY getting married, after what seemed like a decade, but was maybe more like 3 years shy… I was ecstatic! I knew that I had to do this event for them no matter what… and even though Alex and I were leaving California on a crazy schedule I just had to make some time for an impromptu engagement session when we were up in Tahoe for 2 days. The weather was not exactly cooperating, but I suppose that’s life living in the mountains, and I found the stormy skies gave me such inspiration and made for an even more delicious backdrop for the two of them to run around with their puppy Mieko. Kira and Dave are explorers at heart so finding some fun stuff to them to climb on was not a problem and we just barely fit everything in before the rain came.  Keep an eye out for Alex and my cameo… we’re such hams too! Such an awesome memory for me… and such great shots of my pretend sister. <3

The three of us had originally planned to wander around the streets of San Jose Del Cabo that day to get a real flavor of Mexico and its culture. With all of the family wanting some face time with the newlyweds, we ran a bit short on time so  we ended up deciding on something a bit more simple for their day after session. We took advantage of their amazing oceanfront suite, complete with private rooftop deck and pool for a few shots and then just took a casual walk down the beach near their hotel the Marquis. To spruce it up a bit, I decided to try out some new lighting stuff I’m playing with, and we all ended up having a blast wandering around the beach, watching for washed up puffer fish, checking out the local fisherman, and enjoying the sunset on one of the most serene beaches in the world. Thank you again for everything that you gave to me throughout your entire adventure and to Ed for being SO good at holding that light!

Effortless. This is the word I would use to describe Ed & Beatriz in every aspect of this day. Beatriz getting ready was one of the most relaxing, fun, and creative vibes I’ve walked into in a long time. This first part of the day always seems to have everyone on edge and worried about the time, but not Beatriz. Her grace was infectious and carried over throughout the entire day. The quiet moments were what I seemed to keep coming back to over and over, from Beatriz’s sister Leda writing her speech while getting ready, to Ed’s brother and best man keeping him on track and on time while he was getting ready, to the little moments that Ed and Beatriz stole for themselves throughout the day, including a wink after the ceremony! The intimacy of the event made it even more concentrated, and the images I was able to get in this group of people are some of my personal favorites.

So in March I had the most amazing opportunity to go down to beautiful Cabo San Lucas Mexico, with Ed & Beatriz for their getaway wedding. What an amazing trip! I was with them from the rehearsal dinner, through a gorgeous wedding day, and then an amazing and stylish day after session on the beaches of San Jose Del Cabo. The exquisite Marquis Los Cabos where the wedding was held was the backdrop for much of the events except for the first night. There are SO many photos from this awesome event that I had to break them up into three posts for everyone.

Day one was the small family only rehearsal dinner at the elegant and romantic Tequila restaurant in the city of San Jose Del Cabo. San Jose Del Cabo is about 40 minutes away from Cabo San Lucas and retains much of the local flavor as opposed to the super touristy downtown atmosphere of Cabo. We got particularly lucky in being there that night because there was a HUGE street fair going on for the entire week just a couple of blocks from the restaurant. After dinner we all wandered down there to check out the madness, and trust me it was complete and total chaos in the most positive way possible! Everywhere you looked there were vivid visuals of records, local sweets, t-shirt vendors, juice bars, churro booths, and of course the famous Luchadores, or Mexican wrestling masks! Beatriz really rocked hers with her usual style and Ed’s dad had to get in on that action as well which made for some really funny moments towards the end of the night! More to come soon…. keep checking back.

Last week I got a chance to go hang out with Jesse, Justin, and Riley MacLaurin. They are the most gorgeous family… and since Riley was turning 2 we figured it was a great time to get some pics of her being her silly little self. Riley has SO much personality and I ended up just running around playing with her in the yard for almost 2 hours! We rounded things up by playing in Rileys room for a little bit, and then jumping on Mom and Dad’s bed…. SO funny to watch them all jumping around! Thanks so much to you three for the awesome welcome… and the chocolate marshmallow egg, YUM! Here are a few of my favorites, and couldn’t resist throwing one in there of Jesse and Justin cuddling up at the end. I think they deserved it!

Rachel and Miki are the kind of people that I think everyone should strive to be. They met doing volunteer work for the  Surfrider foundation which helps to clean up the worlds beaches and protect our precious water supply. The ocean is so important to both of them, and so the backdrop of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego was a perfect setting for their wedding day. The details were so thought out, from the amazing floral designs of Britton Neubacher (more about her in a future post!), to the handmade wedding dress made my Miki’s mom, to the beautiful antique candlesticks that they collected together for this day. A good deal of their guests came from New York, where they are originally from, and the amount of people willing to travel to be there for these two is a testament to how loved they really are. I felt very lucky to play such an important part of the day, and I feel that the images speak for themselves in explaining Rachel and Miki any further. I also had the pleasure of having my good friend Jaime from Viera Photographics as my second shooter which made the day that much more fun, and of course, made for some great imagery too! Thanks R & M… I think I can speak for everyone that you know when I say that what you two share, is something we all wish we had.

To commemorate a day that celebrates love in all forms, I decided to dig up one of my all time favorite events to showcase on the blog. The world is a tricky place sometimes, and having someone there to support and love you no matter what is what everybody longs for. I found the absolute epitome of love and devotion when I met Paul and Jack. These two had been together for 13 years and when they were finally allowed to marry in 2008 it was the most awesome event I’ve been to! Held at the uber chic Club Social in Hollywood, these two had every detail perfected, from their custom tailored Dolce & Gabbana and Prada Suits, to the fantastic table settings themed to their favorite designers, to the scrumptious dinner and appetizers from Citrus, it was a day I will never forget.

So on this Valentines Day, lets all celebrate in every way possible and move forward into 2010 with love in our hearts!

And here is a shot of the two on their one year wedding anniversary! Thanks so much guys, and I can’t tell you enough how grateful I am to have been in the presence of your absolute adoration for one another!