Irene and Mike's Engagement Shoot

Mike, myself and Irene met up at the Santa Monica Promenade a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. I didn't want to begin photographing them on the Promenade right away as it's strange enough when you first start your engagement shoot but then to have all these people looking at you! I always tell couples that after the first 10 minutes "You're like old pros!". So we walked over to the pier and found some nooks where there were not so many people around and then went back to the Promenade. Anyway, this was a super fun engagement shoot and I am really looking forward to their wedding! They let me try some weird stuff with them so they score extra points!

Megan and Tony's Wedding, 10.15.06

Megan is the little sister of Erin Callahan whose wedding I photographed last May and who referred so many people to me that I got to see her and her husband Jason at numerous weddings all season long. They are so great so it's always a pleasure to see them. And, of course, her sister and her new husband are just as wonderful.

The wedding took place at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica. To be honest, when you drive up to this hotel, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but when you go inside, the lobby and pool area are totally redone and tres chic. I really loved shooting there. Even the ballroom upstairs had lots of big windows and natural light. They had a fall theme so there were lots of trees with multicolored leaves on them and fall fruit as decor (I longed for NY in the fall!)

I had a great time at this wedding and I totally cried when Erin gave her maid of honor speech. I had to go fix my mascara! I mean, I don't like looking like Courtney Love at weddings only at rock clubs!

Drake

I am SO embarrassed that I haven't posted in so long. It's not that I haven't been shooting a ton. Let's just say ALOT has been going on, so much so that I barely had time to blog. So I'm going to try to catch up slowly. This is a really interesting shoot I did last month. Pete and Mark are a gay couple who had a child via surrogate in Russia last year. I wish I could tell you exactly where they are from but it seems they are world travelers, looking for a place to settle. I was honored to hook up with them in Orange County (where they were visiting Mark's aunt) and meet this fabulous 16 month old wonder! Pete and Mark are incredibly enthusiastic parents and Drake is lucky to have them. Also, thanks to Britney from Britney photography for giving me ideas of where in the world to shoot in their area! Oh, and just so you know, trains don't run on those train tracks anymore so it wasn't dangerous!

Cindy and Alexis in NYC!

You know, I photograph ALOT of weddings in Los Angeles from people who live in NYC. Maybe because I'm from there! Yes, I'm a born and raised New Yorker and it's fun to set up some shoots while I'm in town. Cindy and Alexis are getting married next May (on my anniversary, actually)....a big Chinese Banquet (Yay!) and they happened to call me about their engagement shoot just before I came in. I was visiting my family because my brother, who is a 27 year old hot shot classical conductor (photos on blog shortly) was conducting a big Beethoven Mass and Symphony. Anyway, Cindy and Alexis and I ran around, a bit in central park and had fun on the Subway. Unfortunately, probably because of global warming, the leaves hadn't turned as much as I would have liked but it was still gorgeous and so is this couple! And just a bit of trivia, the building in back of the couple in photo #3 is The Dakota, where John Lennon lived and unfortunately died.

Julie and Jason.....September 29th, 2006

Julie and Jason had a very intimate, 40 person wedding on a Friday afternoon right on Venice Beach. (You know, the kind I love!)All the guests stayed at the Venice Beach House, a bed and breakfast about 100ft from the beach and that is where we all congrugated. Jason, who is producing his first feature film, literally flew in the day before the wedding because of his work schedule! Regardless, he was calm and relaxed and very funny. Julie looked absolutely AMAZING in a Nicole Miller off-white dress and I have an affinity towards red hair and freckles as I have the same (although I die my hair darker)! We lucked out with the weather - most of the day was beautifully overcast (which really rocks at the beach) and later in the day the clouds were majestic. I couldn't control myself to use some of the weird elements of the Venice beach vibe (like the skateboarders and bicycle riders on the bike path) and the incredible amount of seagulls nearby! Just for the record, Julie and Jason didn't have an intimate wedding because they are anti-social. The next evening, they had a huge party at Akwa in Santa Monica with all their friends and it was HUGE!

Kelly and Mark's Wedding, Sept 17th 2006

This wedding took place at one of my favorite venues - The Adamson House. Kelly is a designer and she literally made every detail of this wedding herself and did an AMAZING job. I mean, take a look at this cake she designed! It was so wonderful to see all the guests reaction to this amazing piece of art. The place settings were tiles and basically every detail of this wedding was done with incredible taste. My assistant Heather commented that it was one of the most beautiful weddings she had been at, and I agree. It was a perfect day with an ocean view and Kelly and Mark are very emotional people so there was no shortage of tears of joy. It was very difficult for me to pick out photos for the blog as I love all of them but here you go!

Snowy has a sister!

I've been taking photos of Snowy Mark since she's been 6 month old and she's almost 5 now! She has a new baby sister (Ava) so Anne, her mom, called me to take photos of them. (She called 4 days after the birth, can you imagine!) Anyway, it is always wonderful to see Anne and Joel (the parents). Snowy has to be one of my favorite kids to photograph. She has total spunk and it's been wonderful to see her blossom into a beautiful little girl. I'll have to put some photos from past shoots over the years but this will have to do for now (we are swamped). Anyway, we welcome Ava into the world and I think Snowy is going to be the best big sister a girl could ask for! The funniest thing is that Snowy's grandparents sent her a baby doll so she wouldn't feel left out. Anne told me that Snowy said "Mom, I'm really tired, I've been up all night breastfeeding!" My favorite photo is the one with the baby crying on Joels legs. Joel's legs are so freakin' long!