2008 December » Melissa McClure Blog

Monthly Archives: December 2008

Nick and Jen are engaged!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 12:33am Posted in engagement

I love my city. I truly believe San Diego is the best place to live. But I have to admit, getting out of the county once in awhile is a great experience.
I had a fantastic opportunity to shoot Nick and Jen on the campus of UCLA. My mother went to school here for a short time back in the day (I won’t embarass her with the year) so you think I would have visited in the past…nope! This was my first time.
These two were in town visiting family for the Holidays, they both live in Washington DC! I’m super excited for their wedding next August in Monterey, CA!

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Love the architecture on campus!!

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Quite possibly my favorite engagement image ever, below

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You two were so sweet and in love, you make my job so easy!
xoxo, M

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Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:35am Posted in personal

Wow, 7 days and no blogging! At least I have a good excuse (you have to wait for it until later in the week…)

For right now, I just wanted to say, I hope you had a wonderful Holiday season and an even more wonderful 2008! Mine was very eventful! 2009 will be more eventful.

I want to thank all of my amazing clients, friends and family. I would be nothing with out you all!

Here is a little collage I put together from all of my awesome brides and grooms from 2008. This includes my last two weddings from Saturday and Monday! Those blog posts will be coming soon!!

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Brad and Alicia are engaged!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 12:37am Posted in engagement

From the second I put my camera to my face, Brad was whispering hilarious things in to Alicia’s ear. I only got to hear about half of it! You can tell there is a lot of laughter in their lives. They were so sweet together! Just editing these blog images makes me smile Plus, Alicia impressed me with her bountiful Baywatch knowledge!

I’m extra excited for their June wedding. Why you ask? Because they are getting married at Ocean View Villas. The same place I am having my wedding in 11 days! Woo Hoo!

Mandi and I met these lovebirds at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. I’d never been there before – what a cool place!

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I love photos of people laughing. I think they are so beautiful.

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Brad and Alicia – You two are so much fun, I can’t wait until your wedding!!

Mandi – thanks for coming along and 2nd shooting with me! I know you want that 70-200 now! haha

xoxo, M

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Featured on TrashTheDress.com!

Monday, December 22, 2008 at 10:33am Posted in Networking, trash the dress

How exciting is this! I got notice from my good friend Charise that Gretchen’s Trash the Dress session in Downtown San Diego is featured TrashTheDress.com today!

Head on over there to peek at some awesome photographers that have been featured on there in the past (and feel free to leave a comment there too!)

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Big thanks to the Trash the Dress team!!

XOXO, M

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Tags: photography, san diego, trash the dress, trashthedress.com, wedding photographer

Mike and Heidi are engaged!

Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 1:13am Posted in engagement

Tonight I met Mike and Heidi at Balboa Park for their awesome engagement session! This shoot was supposed to happen last weekend, but Mother Nature had her own feelings about that!

I love how attentive Mike is to Heidi’s needs. Plus he carries her lipstick in his pocket! What a man!! These two are so adorable together, they didn’t need any direction on how to be lovey-dovey!

I’m so excited for their May wedding!

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Wowza! Look at those eyes!!!!

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hmmmm…could it be…a Melissa favorite???

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H&M – You two rock! I had a blast exploring Balboa with you! Hope you are enjoying your night in San Diego!

XOXO, M

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The Reed Family

Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 10:42am Posted in children, family

It was so fun to see Kim, John, Holland and Mia again! I haven’t seen this family since Kim and Jon got married in 2007! You can see their wedding blog post here. They recently moved to San Diego from England and wanted to get some updated shots of the kiddos! Holland has gotten much taller, but it’s Mia that has changed the most since I saw her last!

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It was so good catching up with you, Kim and John! Hope we can get together soon!

xoxo, M

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Trash the Dress – Group Shoot

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 12:07am Posted in Networking, trash the dress

Between planning my own wedding (which is happening in a little over 2 weeks), family portrait sessions, editing and Christmas shopping…I found some time to plan a group Trash the Dress session!

Lauren and Helena are two former brides who donned their dresses again for the sake of art!

A group of about 15 photographers came out to brave the chilly San Diego weather (like 60 degrees people!) We had a great time and met some new people! Thanks to everyone that showed up and thanks to our awesome models (oh and Helena’s hubby Erik too!)

Trash the Dress is just a term. Neither of the dresses were full harmed in this photoshoot!

First up! Helena!

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And Lauren!

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Batter up!

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Lauren braved the icy cold water for the shot!

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Here is one of the group shots I took…

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I had such a good time with all of you! Let’s plan another outing (after my wedding of course!)

xoxo, M

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The Dvorak Family!

Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 1:27pm Posted in children, family

You gotta love Facebook! I started a Facebook group for my Sorority at my College. From that, I found a few connections..one being Lisa! Turns out she was a Senior when I was a Freshman and we both moved from San Diego to go to college in Illinois! We don’t have memories of each other from our College days, but thought it was such a cool coincidence!

Fast forward almost 10 years from then…

Lisa and Curt are married and have the most adorable son Jake and dog, Guvu (my apologies if I spelled that wrong!) We met at Old Poway Park for some Christmas photos of the family!

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Lisa, I’m so glad we got in touch and we live so close! I look forward to getting to know you better since we are sisters after all!

xoxo, M

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Mike and Rachel are engaged!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 10:14am Posted in engagement

Mike and Rachel have never been to San Diego! Shocking, I know. Rachel is from Nor Cal and Mike is originally from Ohio, but met Rachel while stationed in Monterey. They both relocated together to Tucson, AZ and drove out to not-so-sunny (at least this past weekend) San Diego!

They are getting married next October in Northern California, I am so excited to be able to shoot it!

Rachel and Mike are naturals! As soon as I put my camera to my eye they knew exactly what to do! Normally the first few frames are for me getting to know how the couple interacts and for the couple to not feel self-conscious about being shot. But you can only believe my words so much…I’ll prove it in photos!

This was the first snap out of my camera!

Isn’t Rachel going to make a beautiful bride?

My favorite series

Rachel’s one and only request was to shoot by the large blue door! When we walked up, the doors were open and the guard was standing outside. They wouldn’t be closed until after dark. But the nice gentleman shut the doors for us, for a few minutes to grab a couple of shots!

Big thank you to one of my oldest friends, Nicole for the referral! You rock my dear!
Rachel and Mike, your love is apparant to everyone around! Tim and I had such a blast shooting you two! See you in October!
XOXO, M

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The Borgo Family

Monday, December 8, 2008 at 2:45pm Posted in children, family

It’s such an honor when another photographer asks you to take their photos! But then, it becomes so nerve-wracking, wondering if they will love them and if they will pick apart your exposure, angle, etc. But Sylvia is great, always complimentary and sweet.
She a local family and children portrait photographer in town, check out her site! Her family is great too! She really is Superwoman in this family of mostly men!