October 2008 Archive

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!