Melissa McClure Blog

This post is almost a month late  At the Kiss Get SImple Seminar in August I met Mike Larson.  I was very inspired by him and his shooting style, so in the beginning of October I made the trek to Las Vegas to participate in a workshop that he held with Brittany of BLR Life Studios. 

It was an awesome 2 days of learning, shooting and laughing with mostly new friends.  I did drag along my friend Charise to room with me!

 This is Mike talking to our group.  Of course, I am always the troublemaker in the back of the class!

On our first day out!  We shot 2 models in a dry lake bed.  It was such an awesome location!

Here is Brittany working her magic:

And of course, Mike working his:

After Day one, a few of use stragglers went out to dinner and we surprised Mike with a birthday flan.  I shot these at 3200 ISO, 24mm, f/1.4 hand held at 1/30th, Auto White Balance in a very red room (obviously)

I promise he did not eat the whole candle.

This is one of the lovely couples from Day 2 of shooting!

And the other lovely couple!

Poor Emily was convinced she could get a rad shot from the top of the wine barrel.  But alas, the wine barrel didn’t think so…and she fell all the way through!  Thank goodness she wasn’t horribly hurt!  I wish I would have captured the falling motion, but I was too busy screaming at the top of my lungs.  This is immediately after.  Oh and she was holding on to Mike’s camera (Mark II, I believe) and she was able to save that! 

My stomach aches for Jimmy Johns when I cross the state line.  I cannot wait until this sub shop makes it to California.  I seriously crave the Turkey Tom.

One thing that Mike is known for in the industry is his camera toss.  I stole this image below off of his blog. You can see a video of Mike doing a different toss at this link. 

And my girls. Chelsea Nicole, Charise Proctor, me and Emily Nelson.  Brittany took this photo of us below and I stole it off of Charise’s blog.  :)

Vegas was so much fun, I can’t wait to hang out again at WPPI!
XOXO, M

I was stoked when Kara contacted me on Myspace.  Their wedding isn’t until 2010, but they were anxious to get their engagement photos taken because Adam’s job is taking them all the way across the country in December!  

Their relationship started and grew in San Diego and like the old saying…Home is where the Heart is!  We met at the Old Pt. Loma Lighthouse in the Cabrillo National Park.  I explained to them that they may feel a little uncomfortable in front of the camera, but it turns out that the joke was on me!

This was one of the first few frames that I shot! 

Loving this staircase in the old Lighthouse!

I just adore this shot of Kara.  She is probably laughing at me. She did that alot.  Some people think I’m funny. Or maybe she was just being nice.

I have too many favorites from today.  But this may top my list.

After the Lighthouse, we headed to a little secluded beach off of Rosecrans where Adam used to live. 

Adam and Kara – Good luck with your move to the East Coast!  I hope wedding planning goes smoothly out there and I know your wedding day will be full of love and happiness – it exudes from both of you!

XOXO, M

Melissa and RJ were married on October 11, which turned out to be a gorgeous Fall day! It was even a bit chilly in the shade. It was perfect since Melissa had only lived in California for a week at that point! She moved here from Michigan to marry her long distance sweetie, RJ.

After 5 years of long distance, they made it official in front of their family and friends. These two love to laugh! That was obvious after their fun engagement session!

The day started at the Comfort Inn with some great vendors.

Sara Balderas of So Cal Makeup did a fabulous job with her airbrush makeup. It stayed flawless all day!

A Charger’s fan – my kind of couple!!

And here is Valerie Wilkerson (619-295-1525) from Tops Salon working on Melissa’s hair

About to become a Mrs. at the Immaculata on USD’s campus.

I love how Melissa is looking at RJ in this shot!

The whole bridal party! They were so fun, they had me laughing all day!

So gorgeous!

After our time at Balboa Park, we headed to Marina Village. Melissa worked hard at all these Fall themed details!

And the amazing cake that was done by Ranch Catering!

Dancing the night away!

One last quiet moment!

Melissa and RJ, I hope you are having an amazing Honeymoon!

Fun Fact: RJ is my third groom in 2008 that is a twin! (Shout out to Brandon and Kyle, the other two twin grooms!)

And a big thank you to Jamie Lawler for being a rad 2nd shooter!

xoxo, M

Enjoy your Slideshow!

You may recognize the Mom-to-Be and the little one from a few blogs ago!  Jodi’s stepmom saw those photos and booked me for a shoot all the way from Texas!  Sharon and her husband Pat came to visit their old home of So Cal and stopped for a family session on the beach last week.

L-R: Sharon, Pat, Jodi, PJ and Janelle (little Riyen was off running in the water)

I’ve known these 3 for awhile now and they are like family to me

The kids with their dad! 

Riyen loved the water!

Riyen’s little brother will be making his appearance on this blog mid-November!

Pat and Sharon, I hope your trip out west was fantastic!  Let me know when you want me to come to Texas! 

XOXO, M

Let me start of with saying that Yes, their wedding was in a cemetery and No, it wasn’t as creepy as it sounds!

Nikki and Eric hired me almost 2 years ago after finding me on Myspace of all places!  It’s been so much fun getting to know each other over the social networking site!

These two are so awesome and so much in love!  After their rad engagement session at Balboa Park, Tim and I knew there wedding was going to be a blast!  And they did not disappoint! 

It was held in the evening at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.  It actually rained quite a bit in the morning, but by 3pm the skies cleared.  They had to put up last minute tents for the vendors, but that didn’t ruin the spirit of the day! 

Tim (my soon to be hubby) took this shot of Eric getting ready and I just love it!

Nikki and her bridesmaids actually made their own bouquets that morning!  I was impressed! 

The beautiful Nikki. This is another one Tim took. I just love how natural and relaxed she looks!

At their first look.  Eric may kill me for saying this but he was SOOOOO nervous he was freaking out during this time!  It was extremely emotional and even took them by surprise at how intimate it can be to see each other before hand.

My favorite shot of the day.

Sneaking off the path!

Another fav

This was a totally candid moment, I couldn’t help myself

Married!

Receiving line after the ceremony

What a fabulous cake!  Normally I have a piece of cake, but they had a dessert reception and I was on sugar overload already. I heard it was great though!

See?  Lotsa desserts!

The couple wanted a more dramatic portrait of the gentlemen so I came up with this!

Mmmm…Almond Roca is my favorite ever!

Eric’s brother wrote and performed a song just for them! So touching!

And the party continues…

A HUGE thanks to my other shooter, Ally Michele, you are fantastic, I just love spending time with you!  Loved our post In N Out date after as well!

Nikki & Eric, there is so much I can say about how great I think you two are.  You have been huge fans of mine from the beginning and I appreciate your loyalty and praise!  You two will have an amazing life together, there is no doubt about that!  Thank you for letting me in to a bit of your life, I hope we can stay in touch forever!

XOXO, M

Please check out their slideshow for some more photos!

I’m updating my blog at the moment, so if things look a little weird, this is why!

Thank you for your patience!

Last Friday, Tim and I took a road trip up to Pasadena for a double header wedding weekend!  First up was Bill and Andrea.  They are originally from Florida and just moved to town about a year ago.  Most of the guests were from out of state so they had a gorgeous intimate wedding with about 35 people!

There ceremony was at the Ambassador Campus and then a delicious dinner at Cafe Santorini in Old Town.  Pasadena has such a classic charm, it fit perfectly with this classy wedding!

But I am not going to lie…those Floridian’s can boogie!!

The day was so beautiful! This was Andrea’s view walking down the aisle to Bill. 

Love her hair piece! 

Gorgeous light throughout the ceremony!

This is probably my favorite shot of the day.  Andrea’s twin niece and nephew.

I love this shot Tim captured after the first kiss!

A nice formal portrait of the hot couple!

Tim took this one below too

After the Ambassador Campus, we headed back in to Old Town. These were all within a block of the reception! 

Double ring shots

Get down, get down!

A sweet moment.

Andrea and Bill, it was so great hanging out with you two on your wedding day!  I hope Yosemite is everything you dreamed of!  Good luck to you in the future!

And big thanks to their Coordinator, Gabby of Weddings by Shaheen, the whole night went smooth because of you!

XOXO, Melissa

Carrie couldn’t stop smiling the entire day. Even the late bouquets and warm weather couldn’t ruin her upbeat attitude. Just being around her made a person smile. And no one smiled quite as big as David! These two were laughs the entire day.

A BIG thank you to Kim of Kim Irons Photography for asking me to shoot with you on this happy day!

The whole wedding took place at Loew’s hotel in Coronado.  I loved this place!  It was my first time there.

Some down time before the ceremony

David laughing it up with his best man

Carrie even laughed when her dad stepped on her veil and pulled her head back!

Instead of Carrie taking David’s (long and hard to pronounce East African) last name, they created their own last name from part of David’s mother’s maiden name!  What a neat idea!

Down to the beach for some group shots!

I joked to the guys that they should throw her up in the air…they didn’t really do it, but she thought they were going to!

Party time!  Grand entrance was a lot of fun!

During the toasts, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him!

The raddest cake toppers!!!

DJ Joe of JMC Events kept the dance floor packed all night!

Cutie flower girls!!

Good luck to Carrie and David on your new life together in Arizona!

Check out Kim’s Blog for a teaser from this wedding!

XOXO, M