http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us amelialyonphoto@yahoo.com Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:50:23 -0700 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:50:29 -0700 iBlog 1.4.6 amelia + justin lyon lyon photo blog welcome to our blog!!! here you will be kept up to date on the photographic lives of amelia and justin lyon of amelia lyon photography, and our amazing son hudson. please come back often to see what we've been up to. if you would like to say something, leave a comment. if you would like to contact us, please do so. amelialyonphoto@yahoo.com amelia + justin lyon amelialyonphoto@yahoo.com lyon photo blog Arts & Entertainment http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080319225018/index.html Wow, this day has been long awaited! But don't waste your time reading about this exciting event here, check out our NEW BLOG! The NEW WEBSITE should be up and running by the end of tomorrow (Thursday)!

]]> Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:50:18 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080319225018/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080319224319/index.html Here is a sneak peek at Stacey and Andrew's engagement photos....check out the rest on our NEW BLOG!

]]> Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:43:19 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080319224319/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080314142451/index.html Okay, so I know I'm a little late in the game, but nonetheless, had to post some of these fun pics of our Man-scursion to Mammoth! There was 9 of us that went, and 8 of us, just so happened to be photo taking folk, so that leaves, one to model! Thanks Kenny! You're the champ! Here are some of my favorite pics/memories of the trip, in reverse chronology of course!

So Here's the Roll Call from Left To Right:

Matt Sloan
ME! - (You're already at my blog you silly!)
Kyle Barnes
Nick Onken
Fred Egan
Nate Kaiser
Kenny Brady
Sean Flanigan
& Not pictured - because he had to actually leave us early on the last day to go work - Michael Norwood



Nick Onken



Cowboy Bob - Layin it down! That was for the Horse we rode in on.
I love that in the short period of time I was in Randsburg,
I met 5 people named Bob, all with a different Adjective attached.



The Amazing OLGA who I believe you have all seen on a few of the blogs already. I can't believe she is 99, and is bartending, at HER bar! Word on the street is Johnny Depp frequents her bar in the epic town of Randsburg.



There's nothing like a 99 year old that knows how to 'pop' her collar!



This is Olga's bar - The Joint!




Okay, so Matt Sloan and I have been friends for 12 years, I think it shows!









A local outhouse, the way the folks in Randsburg call it!



Kenny, showing us his skills!









Kenny, the Ninja!



A different perspective of all the Kenny jumping shots that have been made famous already!



My Good Friend Sean, being silly with his Canon.



Lots of cameras in action. I think Fred needs to show us a little more "Gun", don't you? and Sean - you nailed it! No need to look!






Sean Flanigan, showing us he knows how to ride a mountain, in a big way!



A colorful little jump from yours truly!



Some of the posse on top of Mammoth! From L to R: Sean, Kenny, Me, Michael, Fred (kneeling), and Nick!



Thanks Gentlemen! I had a blast and can't wait to kick it again!!!!



A little image i snagged with our digital elph on route!



This was actually taken on the way up to Mammoth a few weeks back when I cruised up with Mr. Norwood. A parting shot!!!

]]> Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:24:51 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080314142451/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080309190747/index.html I might be just a little bit biased, but I think we have the cutest boys around!

Happy Sunday everyone!

]]> Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:07:47 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080309190747/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080304221128/index.html The best fifteen bucks we've ever spent were on Hudson's rain boots! Justin found them at Target a few weeks ago and ever since then Hudson has lived in them! We even find him in the morning with just his rain boots and undies on...its pretty stinkin' cute! We're not the type to post the photos of Hudson in his undies, but we will post the photos of him going crazy with the rain puddles!

My favorite shot of the day...Hudson looks like a little rock star!

]]> Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:11:28 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080304221128/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20080301171535/index.html Okay...I am saying this in all honesty, I had THE HARDEST TIME choosing my favorite photos from this session! The amazing Gretta & Rob were such amazing subjects to capture and we went to some pretty crazy locations for their engagement session, Justin and I were totally "in the groove"! After much deliberation, I was able to bring my favorites for this post down to thirty images, that's pretty good considering the fact that we shot over 1,600 photos just for the engagement session (we usually shoot close 600 on a normal day!).

Like I mentioned, we went to some pretty crazy locations for this session. We started out in Downtown Pasadena in the parking garage just below the subway station, then shot some photos on the ride over to our next location, China town, and finally we ended up at Union Station.

Gretta & Rob found us on the set of one of Justin's photo-shoots for Eliza Magazine, Gretta was one of the girls he shot for that spread and Rob happened to be there with Gretta. They mentioned that they were engaged so we set up a meeting and the rest is history. We had such a great time getting to know Gretta & Rob during their engagement session that we ended up hanging out with them in Dowtown Pasadena and grabbed an amazing Italian dinner at Il Fornaio.

The best thing about Gretta & Rob is that they both had so much expression for each photo, and with out us giving too much direction! Here is a perfect example. I think they both had a great time making each other laugh! You'll notice a ton of shots from this session with them both laughing!




















My favorite shot of the day!






Until now, I don't think I've ever met someone with yellow eyes! Gretta's eyes are amazing!...oh, and Rob's are pretty hot too! :)













































Thank you, thank you to Rob & Gretta for an absolutely entertaining e-session...we loved every minute of it! We're looking forward to the wedding in Salt Lake City Utah on May 10th!

]]> Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:15:35 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20080301171535/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20080226223654/index.html A few weeks ago I was invited to shoot a beautiful wedding at Pasadena's Ritz Carlton with Marisa Holmes . I was delighted that Marisa had asked me to shoot with her, I think she's a great photographer and have wanted to shoot with her for some time. We were super lucky that the weather played in our favor that day, there was no rain and the japanese gardens at The Ritz were in full bloom! We took advantage of our surroundings and the perfectly sweet couple we were working with and made some beautiful images.

I feel like I can often judge how awesome a wedding is going to be by the dress that the bride chooses, this one had me super excited....it was a Vera Wang 1940's inspired dress. Loved it and the bride looked absolutely gorgeous in it!














Marisa in action!



My favorite shot of the day!



While Marisa was busy with the ladies I was sent to photograph the men getting ready, which was something new for me since Justin usually gets to do this. It was fun to shoot something different.






The flower girl was, to say the least, ADORABLE!



































Thanks again to Marisa Holmes for having me along, it was a delight!

]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:36:54 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20080226223654/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080220093853/index.html This has been a long anticipated day! A while back, I won't say specifically when, I was invited to meet with three amazing and talented women in the wedding photography industry.
Jasmine Star, Drew Bittel, and Trista Lerit had invited me to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory to discuss what is now J'adore Details. All four of us had something in common, not only were we all passionate about being wedding photographers, but all four of us wanted to be able to provide all of our clients with a place to go to get information on vendors we've worked with and were happy with at past weddings and events. J'adore Details is a one-stop-shop wedding site we have put together for our clients and future clients with featured vendors from florists to disc jockeys, and of course, us as wedding photographers!

As I said before, this day has been long awaited and after many long nights discussing, planning, organizing, eating, and laughing it is finally here....ladies and gentlemen, we give you J'ADORE DETAILS!

We have also created a blog so that whenever one of us works with a vendor that we like we will post about it, this way each client can see updates on new hot vendors we would like to recommend.



Thank you to Jasmine, Drew, and Trista for involving me in such a sweet idea, I am super excited to see the way it can help our clients with planning this major event....the wedding day!

]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:38:53 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080220093853/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080219180618/index.html I can hardly believe that Sloan is already four months old and Hudson is almost three years old!!!! Time really flies when you are having fun being a crazy parent!

My boys really love each other, which is something hard to imagine when you only have one child. I always heard horror stories about the first born having a hard time with the arrival of a new sibling, but Hudson has handled things quite well, he ADORES "Swoaner-bahloaners". It amazes me to see the bond between these two brothers and I feel so emotionally happy when I see Hudson taking on the big brother role. All Hudson wants to do is hold Sloan, make him laugh, make sure mommy knows when he cries, and give him kisses....seriously, it melts my heart!

I realized the other day that it had been a long time since I had my photo take with my boys so i asked Justin take some quick shots of us.



Sloan has definitely gained some meat on his bones and I love it!



Sloan's favorite thing to do right now is suck on his fingers, he's good at getting drool everywhere!



My favorite shot of the day!

]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:06:18 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080219180618/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080212132412/index.html Many of you may remember Kristine and Ron from their wedding back in October of 2007. A few weeks ago I received an email from Ron and Kristine letting me know that they were selected to perform their first dance at a live competition for the Rachel Ray show, Valentine's day episode. I was super excited for them to be on the Rachael Ray show, especially since their first dance was truly the BEST one we had EVER seen before, and we've definitely seen our fair share of first dances! Ron and Kristine had posted a video of their first dance on YouTube and it caught wind by so many viewers and this is how Rachael Ray found them in the first place. What made this story even more exciting was when I received another email from Ron and Kristine letting me know that a rep of the show would be contacting me to receive permission to use some of OUR images on the show during a clip of Kristine and Ron before they compete....I was SUPER excited about this, OUR images on the Rachael Ray Show, AWESOME!

The show airs on Valentine's Day in the morning, for us its 9am on KCBS, check your local listings for viewing times so you don't miss out! Click here for a sneek-peak of that episode.

Here are some photos we took from the night of their first dance from the night of their wedding reception:




Can't wait to see it!

]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:24:12 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080212132412/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20080212115329/index.html When I first met with Maricella and Casey I immediately connected with them! I could see how kind and genuine this couple was from the very beginning and I was very excited when they decided to hire us to shoot their upcoming wedding on March 1st. When I was talking with them about where they might want to shoot their engagement session they instantly suggested the beach since Casey prides himself on being a "beach body", it really is his favorite place to be! We decided to go to laguna, but started inland to get that urban twist and then over to the beach for an amazing sunset!

My favorite shot of the day! They both look so in love and comfortable with each other!





















I really am looking forward to the wedding on March 1st, post coming soon!

]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:53:29 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20080212115329/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080207153743/index.html January was definitely a crazy one for Justin! With snowboard trips, to film festivals, to getting things ready for season two of Yo Gabba Gabba!...its a wonder how he does it all AND still has time to be a great husband and amazing father!

The month started off with a crazy snowboard trip to Mammoth...it's pretty amazing how all of these shots were taken with our small point and shoot camera!







Yes, this is Justin with Michael Norwood! Norwood joined Justin on a mammoth adventure.











The middle part of January Justin made his way to Park City Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. He helped produce an amazing short film called "A Relationship in Four Days" that made its way into the festival there. The film is super artistic and shot in Black and White...I definitely would recommend checking it out! I just have to take a quick moment to brag about my wonderful husband, ever since we have been married and from the day he pursued a career in the film industry it has been one of his dreams to get a film into the Sundance Film Festival and now it has become a reality! I am seriously SO proud of him and amazed at the abilities he has to make his dreams come true! He has never been the type of person to let things get in the way of his goals and it has paid off tremendously! Congratulations sweetheart! Click here for a link to the I-tunes store to view a trailer to the film, purchase it and support an independent film-maker!



These next three photos of Justin were taken by Juan Eglesias, one of the other producers of "A Relationship in Four Days". Thanks Juan!













Hudson was so happy to see daddy after he had been gone for a week up at the festival.



the last interesting event of January for Justin was when we got a copy of the Kidscreen Magazine that had a printed playlist of Justin's favorite top three songs for the season. The magazine contacted him a few months back because they knew he had produced Yo Gabba Gabba and thought it would be interested to have him list what he had been listening to lately. It was pretty cool!

]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:37:43 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20080207153743/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C432349959/E20080131164030/index.html So crazy excited about seeing a new episode of LOST tonight...I can't wait! Yippee!

]]> Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:40:30 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C432349959/E20080131164030/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C432349959/E20080129170258/index.html A few weeks ago my parents decided to come out and spend the day with the boys, Justin and I also tagged along. We headed to a park in Irvine and just enjoyed our free afternoon away from the worries of usual/everyday life. It definitely was a nice break and the boys had fun with "magga & crappa" (as Hudson likes to calls them!).

Believe it or not, Sloan has grown so much since this photo...I'll have to post more recent shots of him soon!







I love this photo of Hudson up in the tree...my favorite shot of the day!
















Us in our schwanky eyewear!






Hudson REALLLLY didn't want to leave the park...



...but we knew he was so tired! He fell asleep two minutes after leaving to head home.

]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:02:58 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C432349959/E20080129170258/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20080121225007/index.html January 4th, 2008

This was our first wedding of 2008 and it was the perfect way to start of a new year! Amy and Tyler Rex were married in the LDS Newport Beach Temple and then followed their reception at The Turnip Rose in Newport beach. We were a little worried about the weather as it was forecasted to rain the entire day. Luckily, the clouds cleared up just enough time for us to shoot the portrait portion of Amy and Tyler's big day. We were super grateful! You may remember Amy and Tyler from their sweet engagement session a few months back.

It was super fun to see all of Amy's bridesmaids gather around her for a group hug as her and Tyler exited the temple!











I love this shot of Tyler's mom kissing him on the cheek. I guess you could say I'm a sucker for moments like these!



Gotta love a good shoe shot!























My favorite shot of the day!











One of the best things about this wedding (besides the beautiful bride and handsome groom!) was the constant supply of hot chocolate for everyone to enjoy throughout the night!



ahhhh, the first dance!











....And an awesome shot of the bride's shoes laying on the dance floor as she danced with her guests!



So glad we were able to work with Amy & Tyler! Thank you for allowing us to start off 2008 with a bang, and thanks for having us along! Click here to see an online slideshow with more photos from Amy & Tyler's wedding.

]]> Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:50:07 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20080121225007/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20080114173144/index.html Right before Christmas I received a phone call from Justin Bailey (father of this lovely family) inquiring about a family portrait session. They were visiting just before the holiday and wanted to squeeze in a sitting with me before they left for home. I was delighted as I had already become somewhat familiar with this family when I shot Justin's sister's wedding a few years back. Anyway, it was a fun morning with the Bailey family in Downtown Orange and a beautiful day too!

My favorite shot of the day... The kids were super cooperative and totally adorable!

]]> Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:31:44 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20080114173144/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20080107095626/index.html A few months ago Lan contacted me about shooting a "trash the dress" session for her and her husband. I was delighted, since this was my first shot at it and although we didn't actually "trash the dress" it was fun shooting a couple in wedding attire without the worries of ruining the bride's beautiful white dress. We shot the session in Downtown Pasadena and had an awesome afternoon with Lan and Carl!

The second photo and also my favorite shot of the day...


















































































Thanks to Lan & Carl for a great session!

]]> Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:56:26 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20080107095626/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20080102093242/index.html Amy and Victor had contacted me through email, they had heard about us through friends that we shot a wedding for last year. We started emailing back and forth, and come to find out, Amy and I have a ton of mutual friends...its so funny how small the world can be! Anyway, Justin and I had such a great time with Victor and Amy the day of their engagement session. Not only was this couple super cool, but they were also super photogenic. You can see how much they love each other in their images!

Victor and Amy planned the engagement session on a special day, their seven year dating anniversary...it was the perfect day to capture them together. They decided that they wanted their photos to be taken at all of their favorite places around Santa Monica (since this is where they live). We started the session out at their apartment...

Amy & Victor wanted to bring along their dog. I have couples ask me all of the time if they can bring along their pet friends, I think its great because it can add another element to the session.














The next place we stopped by was the park that they always take walks to with their cute little dog...









Here's my favorite shot of the day, taken inside one of the playground structures at the park.



I think one of my favorite things about this session was the fact that Amy and Victor were so laid back...the wore casual-comfortable clothes and looked awesome in them!






The last stop was the beach...












I had to post this image of my goof-ball husband...











Thanks to Victor and Amy for having us out, we are really looking forward to the wedding in March!

]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:32:42 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20080102093242/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071231092848/index.html Last night after cooking dinner I left the kitchen messy with a pile of dishes in the sink, I just figured I'd clean everything up in the morning and take the Sunday evening to relax a bit. I ended up falling asleep early and woke up in the middle of the night to take my vitamins and found the kitchen spick and span! I walked over to the sink to see that there were no dirty dishes to clean and then I saw something a little strange sitting on the counter next to the sink, it took me a while to realize what message was being left for me in a random formation made up of a sucker, two bananas, and five clementines...

...and then clarity came to me, ohhhhhh, "I LOVE YOU." My sweet husband had cleaned the kitchen for me, this is actually not an unusual thing for him to do, but the little message he left me made that little act of kindness so much sweeter! I love you too Justin!

]]> Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:28:48 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071231092848/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071228230930/index.html This photo has a pretty sweet story behind it and I am so glad that the people in the photo allowed me to post and tell about it. One night last week, while we vacationed at the Ritz (see post below) we invited some family to join us for dessert. Pickle (my sister) and her husband were on our way up to our room when they caught a young man down on his knee proposing to his girlfriend on the outside main balcony. When my sister and Jeff came up to room they excitedly told us what they had just witnessed. We rushed out onto our balcony to see if the couple was still there and they were! A quick thought ran through my mind, i wish I had a photo of the moment justin proposed to me, so I quickly grabbed my camera and took this snap-shot of the couple kissing. I think being a wedding photographer makes me a softy for little moments like these. Anyway, we were heading out of our room and down to the lobby, I had high hopes of running into the couple so I could tell them what I had done...I really wanted to give this photo to them. When we got to the lobby we didn't recognize anyone, so I shrugged with, "oh well". A little Later, we ended up having dinner and dessert at The Ritz and I had to excuse myself to the restroom with Sloan. I walked into the ladies room and there were three lovely women chatting away, i asked them if they wouldn't mind my company while I fed my baby and we struck up a conversation. The group was a mother with her two daughters, the mother started to tell me that the daughter standing to her right had just been proposed to and was still in shock from the excitement of it all. "That was you!" I exclaimed! I told her about taking the photo and that I would love to send it to her and her new fiancee. She was so appreciative and I gave her all of my contact information. What was even more awesome was when the groom came up to our table and personally thanked me for my kind gesture. I was so happy I had found the couple and even more happy that I was able to capture this little moment in time for them. Hopefully when they look at it years down the road it will remind them of how they both felt that magical night when he asked her to be his wife.

I am once again reminded of why I love what I do, the feeling of knowing that I helped preserve something special for another person is amazing!

]]> Fri, 28 Dec 2007 23:09:30 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071228230930/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071228220013/index.html Last week Justin and I got away for a few days and stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel. It was kind of a fun mini vacation, especially right before Christmas with the whole place completely decorated, Santa making appearances, and carolers singing in the lobby. Justin and I have stayed there a few times before, but this time was pretty memorable! We invited Pickle and Kenny (my siblings) along with their spouses to come enjoy the ambience and join us for a midnight jacuzzi run. Well, we had to take some photos after seeing how funny we all looked in the robes the Ritz so kindly provided us with. We had a pretty fun time with the self timer on my 5-d!

That same night I woke up for a late feed with Sloan and saw this outside our room window...I thought it was gorgeous! The full moon's reflection on the ocean, I had to take a photo since no one else was up to appreciate it with me.



Since Sloan is too young to leave with grandma and grandpa he got to tag along, I caught this photo of him and daddy early in the morning.



ahhh, the many faces of Sloan:). I can hardly believe that he is already 2 1/2 months old!

]]> Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:00:13 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071228220013/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071227093421/index.html Merry Christmas to all who read this....we had a great one this year!!!! During the Holidays we go back and forth between my family and Justin's for Christmas and Thanksgiving, this year we spent the merry holiday with my family since we were with Justin's for Turkey day. Christmas 2007 was particularly fun because Hudson finally understood the concept of Santa Clause! He woke up super early and eagerly woke up everyone else so we could go down stairs to see what Santa had Brought. It was so fun reliving the excitement I had once felt as a kid through my own son! Hudson kept saying over and over again, "Santa Came, Santa Came! Down the chimney! Bring choo-choo trains!!!" That's all he wanted, choo-choo trains....even though he already had about thirty Thomas Trains! Here's a list of each of our big gifts this year:

*Justin: New Snowboard and Snowboard Boots
*Amelia: 35 mm, 1.4 lense (WAHOOOOO!)
*Hudson: More Thomas Trains, and a Radio Flyer wagon
*Sloan: Tons of baby toys

Christmas was a total Blast!

Since my boys are the first and only grandchildren on my side of the family so far, they received a TON of toys from "Santa" and their grandparents!



Hudson got what he wished for!






Sloan looked very festive!



...And the aftermath of it all!



Onto a more spiritual thought, as Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth, and now having a newborn around Christmas time, I found myself thinking about things a little differently this year. For the first time i sat back and thought about Mary and how she must have felt bringing the savior into the world. I can only imagine the weight she had on her shoulders knowing that she was the one to raise this precious child. I feel as if I can truly relate to Mary (granted, my boys aren't the savior of the world), but having two wonderful sons to raise...I can't believe that god has entrusted me to be their mother, yet I am overwhelmed with gratitude because of it!

We hope and pray that everyone was as fortunate as us this year...not just for Christmas, but for all of 2007. This has a been an amazing year with the birth of our second son, Justin producing Yo Gabba Gabba and it being aired on Nick JR., all of the amazing clients have been so fortunate to work with, Hudson starting preschool, and moving into a new house. We truly do feel blessed, to say the least! Merry Christmas!

]]> Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:34:21 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071227093421/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071220234925/index.html Last week I spent the afternoon with Amy...my first bride of 2008! I shot portraits of her in her wedding dress at a nearby park. The one thing she really wanted was the look of fall leaves in her photos, I think we pulled it off pretty well!

...my favorite shot of the day!













We are looking forward to the wedding on January 4th of 2008!

]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:49:25 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071220234925/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071219014756/index.html

We headed out to the movies last night in Orange, and checked out one of the best movies we've seen yet this year. We found a corner seat, made sure Sloan was well fed, and settled in for quite the cinematic treat. Sloan slept and we enjoyed! If this film comes to a theater near you, do yourself a favor and check it out. Some pretty great writing if you ask me. We happened to see our friends Becker and Jessica Claire there as well! We wish we were able to get out on the town more, and look forward to Game night with them!!! We hope everyone is enjoying this amazing holiday season!!!
. justin .

]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:47:56 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071219014756/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071214085924/index.html Once again, we had the fun opportunity to photograph my cousins beautiful growing family. Ethan, Whitney (with number two on the way!!!), and Jack are always a good time, so of course we were delighted when the time came around again to shoot their family photos. We weren't the only one's excited....Hudson loooooves playing with Jack! We had a good time going to dinner with both of our families after the shoot was over.

Here's my favorite shot of the day!



Jack was a character as usual!






























Happy Holidays to the Ingram family...and a big congratulations for baby number two on the way!!!

]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:59:24 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071214085924/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071211171237/index.html December 1st, 2007 San Diego

The wedding of Kris and Cathy was something I had been looking forward to since they booked us a few months back, it was my first wedding after giving birth to Sloan and our last wedding of the 2007. What a way to end the year with a BANG...Kris and Cathy were AWESOME to work with and I always love shooting at the San Diego LDS Temple!

I ran into Kris when I was shoot a wedding in Newport Beach, he was scoping out the grounds for a wedding he was to photograph the very next weekend. We kind of got to talking and he got my information. I was so happy to hear from him again when he got engaged to Cathy and wanted to know if we would be available on their wedding date.

The temple grounds had an area covered with fall leaves...so colorful and so beautiful!


































After shooting at the temple we headed over to the reception site at the Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar.




































Last, and certainly not least...our favorite shot of the day!



Thanks to Cathy and Kris for having us along on your wedding, it was a great day! Here's an online slideshow with more images from their day!

]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:12:37 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071211171237/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071207100215/index.html Having the last name Lyon, one can only imagine all of the "lion" things we have accumulated since we have been married and even more so since we've had children. Anyway, a few days ago Hudson got out of his bath and wanted to wear his new lion towel, well Sloan just happened to be wearing his little lion outfit, so I decided to do a little impromptu photo session with the boys!

Here is my favorite image from this little photo sitting with my boys!




This photo totally cracks me up...Hudson with a pair of daddy's glasses on, the face he's making is hilarious!

]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:02:15 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071207100215/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071205003329/index.html While we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving Justin's sister asked us if we could take their family photos, of course we agreed and tag-teamed the photo shoot! It was a real breath of fresh air to shoot in a different state! We had a fun afternoon with them, their girls are super adorable...and I'm not just saying that because they're my nieces!

So, instead of choosing one favorite shot of the day I've decided to choose this series of photos as my favorite image to show how cute this family really is!













It was so great seeing family in Arizona!

]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:33:29 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071205003329/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071204092932/index.html This year we spent Thanksgiving in Arizona with Justin's family. The weather was beautiful, the food was great, and the company was awesome! Of course we brought along our camera gear, here are some of my favorites images and moments from that weekend.

All of the crazy Lyon Grandchildren...we were actually still missing two!



My sister in law, being the creative person that she is, made everyone their own pilgrim to go in front of place settings...too cute!










Hudson was getting tired of daddy taking pictures!




After Thanksgiving day was over the family headed to a cabin in Strawberry, it was just what the doctor had ordered to ring in the holiday spirit. We played games, laughed, hiked, and Jeremiah found a lizard in the house!



In Strawberry we hiked to a natural bridge, it was pretty cool to see how this landmark was formed over time!



Hudson with Grandma and Grandpa...



Justin with his brother and sisters...



Sloan is in this photo, he's the little bundle under my grey sweater!



Hudson and daddy posing for me...i was having fun with the surroundings!

]]> Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:29:32 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071204092932/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20071128130202/index.html About two months ago Justin met Alma through a mutual friend. Since that time, Alma asked his lovely girlfriend, Jordan, to marry him. We were super happy when Alma and Jordan contacted us to shoot their engagement session and book us for their upcoming wedding in February.

I usually post about 10-15 images when blogging an engagement session, but I had a really hard time narrowing down my favorites since Alma & Jordan were really cool to work with, so I just decided to post them all...enjoy!

We wanted to shoot their photos in Downtown Orange. The first thing we saw when scouting out things to shoot against was a fire engine truck...with no one around to stop us we quickly took advantage and had fun with it!

Ahhh..... the joys of being able to roll around on the floor again! I forgot how fun it is to shoot when you aren't carrying around a 7 pound baby in your stomach!




Here's the shot I was getting!

















































Here's our favorite shot of the day!!!!


















We are so excited for their upcoming wedding in February...and for the new friends we have gained!

]]> Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:02:02 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20071128130202/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071120080830/index.html October 27th, 2007 Pasadena, California

This beautiful wedding was shot by my wonderful husband, Justin. He had to ride this one with out me since I was still in recovery from having Sloan, but he didn't have to do it completely solo, we hired Will Parris to come along and second shoot. Justin and Will said such praises about working with Cherlene and Eric and it really shows in their images!

The wedding took place at the Holy Family Church in San Marino, and then it was off to the Pasadena Museum of California Art for the happy couple's reception.

I love this image that Justin took of Cherlene, it almost made it for my favorite shot of the day!




Here's the winner for my favorite shot of the day, I really like the photojournalistic look of it!










































Cherlene's older brother thought that the reception site looked like a circus tent so he went and bought clown noses for everyone to wear in a wedding line photo! Too funny!




















A huge congratulations to Cherlene and Eric! I know Justin and Will had a super great time working with you both! Check out more wedding day photos by clicking here to view an online slideshow.

]]> Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:08:30 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071120080830/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071119004121/index.html Today was Sloan's one month birthday! I seriously can't believe how fast time flies with a new little baby around! The newborn stage is seriously my favorite and it lasts only about 8 weeks, I get a little sad when I think about Sloan growing up, I get worried that I'm going to miss out on something if I don't sit down and savor every moment. I remember feeling this same way with Hudson. I am so thankful to have two healthy happy children, I feel so blessed to be a parent. The Joy i feel each day with both of my boys is indescribable!

Its so fun to see Hudson as the big brother, he really loooooooves his baby brother "Swoan"!






Hudson saw mommy with her camera so he decided to pull out his to take some photos too (high fives to Nate and Jaclyn Kaiser for getting this amazing gadget for his second birthday!)... he loves playing with it!

]]> Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:41:21 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071119004121/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071106173455/index.html First of all, we apologize to our blog followers who have been waiting for a new post...we realize it has been quite some time since our last post. In our defense, we do have a two year old, a newborn, and lastly we just moved to a new house!!! Thanks for the patience, we are now back on track and will be posting more often.

So late one night, I (this is Justin writing) decided to take Jason and Emily outside into the pitch black with a couple of flashes and do some experimenting.

This is my favorite shot...












Sorry Jayesh, I couldn't resist....I had to post this one! LOL!


PS. to Jason and Emily, Congratulations on the pregnancy, we can't wait for you to have a new addition to your little family!

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:34:55 -0800 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071106173455/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071031022808/index.html October 6th, 2007

We had been anticipating this wedding for quite some time. Kristine and Ron hired us to capture their big day long before we found out that we would be expecting our second baby. When we found out what my due date would be and saw that it was so close to Kristine and Ron's wedding date I immediately called them to address my concerns. Luckily, they still wanted us to be there at their wedding, but just incase of emergency we had the Sloan's come out to shoot with us. To say the least, the day was amazing...not only did we get to work with this amazing couple, but we got to spend the day shooting with some of our our closest friends!

Can anyone guess where we found the "give me sexy" for this ring shot?



Kristine and Ron had a HUGE wedding line...which made for a total party! Everyone was super cool to work with!



































Here's my favorite shot of the day...taken by Justin!




After the ceremony, we headed over to the Turnip Rose for their reception.
























This image almost made it for my favorite shot of the day...I love the excitement in photo!















Kristine and Ron's first dance was probably one of the best and most entertaining first dances we had ever seen...it was amazing!







it was so great to see Kristine's dad serenade her during their "father, daughter" dance.




Ron shared a tearful and heartfelt dance with his mom...it got me choked up!













The photo booth was a hit!



A huge thank you and congratulations to Kristine and Ron...when I got home from the hospital after having Sloan, there was a nice little present from the Atienza's with a thank you card, it was the perfect "welcome home" for our new addition to the family! Click here to view a slideshow from their wedding day.

]]> Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:28:08 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071031022808/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071026235645/index.html A week ago, we were blessed with another amazing addition to our family. After 9 months of curiosity, anticipation and waiting, the day finally arrived. That just made it sound like it went by soooo slowly, when in reality, it's actually hard to fathom that it went by as rapidly as it did. On October 18th at 1:30pm SLOAN CHARLES LYON joined our family. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 19 inches long. It's almost scary how quickly it all happened. We woke up that morning and Amelia definitely felt like she was in labor so at around 9am we went to the hospital and by lunch time we had a baby!!! I cannot express in words how amazing the miracle of childbirth really is as a parent. There's something so sweet, so special, so emotional and so spiritual in that moment when your child is brought into the world. Another humbling thing to think about is that God has entrusted us enough with one of his children to come into our own family to love, care for, provide for and raise. We couldn't be happier! And of course, there are plenty of photos to share! (Sorry it took so long to post them, as you might have guessed, we've been a little preoccupied!!!)

Here's Sloan's first photo!












































Uncle Kenny and Aunt Pickle teaching sloan their mad "ugly face" skills!







Here are some shots we took of Sloan...just three days old!

]]> Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:56:45 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071026235645/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20071018000400/index.html On Monday Justin spent the afternoon with Cherlene and Eric at an amazing loft in Downtown LA. He shot this session solo since I have been feeling slightly uncomfortable with the baby coming soon, I loved seeing what he got and how he captured this sweet couple. He will also be shooting their wedding coming up on October 26th...so keep an eye out for that post!

I absolutely love the buildings in the background of this photo!








This is my favorite shot from their session!

]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:04:00 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20071018000400/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071016231357/index.html As I've mentioned in other blog posts, I love photographing friends and family! I've been friends both Caitlin and Chad (the sweet parents of this adorable family) for a long time. I've known Chad since I was about five years old and Caitlin since I was about fourteen. Although I lost contact with Chad and his family over the years, Caitlin and I have remained friends since we attended the same high school. It was pretty cool to see these two people that I have known for so long find each other, get married, and create such a cute little family! I shot these photos last week at my favorite stomping grounds, Downtown Fullerton!

...Already my first image posted and its my favorite shot from that day!



















Archer, their son, was a complete ham in front of my camera...I was loving it!






He definitely loves his baby sister!

]]> Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:13:57 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20071016231357/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071011230656/index.html While we were vacationing in Big Bear a couple of weeks ago I had my talented husband shoot some pregnancy shots of me, I really love how Justin captured this amazing time. Its crazy to see my belly a big as it is and I can't believe that our baby is almost here. Time really has flown by and we can't wait to finally meet this little guy! I feel so blessed to have had such a healthy pregnancy so far and I feel even more blessed to be a mother, it truly is a joy that I can't even begin to explain!

Here's my favorite shot!










Two weeks is the official countdown...hopefully our little man will decide to come sooner!

]]> Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:06:56 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071011230656/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071011153225/index.html September 28th, 2007

Megan and Cash were married in the beautiful city of Laguna Beach. They had a small Catholic ceremony at a nearby church, which was followed by an awesome beach-front reception at the Hotel Laguna. As I mentioned in my entry with Megan and Cash's engagement session, Megan was a good friend of my husband's when they coached volleyball together at Chino High, so we were very excited to be a part of this wedding...Its always fun taking photos of your friends! I was also super happy to have Justin shooting with me at this wedding, we had a ton of fun together!

I thought that this was a sweet moment with Megan and her bridesmaids right before she walked down the isle!


































This was my favorite shot of the day!



Here's Justin's angle on the same shot...










This amazing image was one of Justin's...I love seeing what he gets!
















Megan and Cash shared a dance with their grandparents...it was very touching...









Thanks again to Megan and Cash for having us be there for you in a special way on such a big day. Congratulations, here is a slideshow with more shots from the wedding day.

]]> Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:32:25 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20071011153225/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20071007012055/index.html I first met Tyler and Amy at Amy's sister's wedding back in April, you might remember Kimberly and Morgan. At the time of that wedding Amy and Tyler were just dating, it was so exciting to hear from them when they got engaged and they too wanted to hire me as their photographer. We spent the afternoon shooting in Fullerton at the Fullerton Arboretum, it was a beautiful location to photograph and I had a good time using Amy and Tyler as subjects in the middle of it all.

...the favorite shot of the day!



































Congrats on the engagement Tyler and Amy, I am looking forward to the wedding in January!

]]> Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:20:55 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20071007012055/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071005220058/index.html This last weekend we spent three and half amazing relaxing days with the Sloan family and Kaiser family. Three and half days...too short, we wish we could have been there for a whole week, but made good use of our short stay together and made some great memories! At first, when I was putting this post together I tried to only throw together a few images, but we shot the whole weekend and I found it difficult to narrow it down. So here you have it, 30 images that cover only a few fun moments from our 3 1/2 day vacation!

The weekend started off with a very competitive round of games to see who got to sleep in the master king sweet, luckily Justin pulled out his game skills and won it for us, I was super stoked!













Hudson and Grace really hit it off, they had a great time together all weekend!




Hudson's first time bowling, he loved it!




And of course, with three photographer couples, we had to break out all of our gear and create some fun bowling shots...we were total camera dorks!














Nate's bowling pose topped the cake!







The next day we found this amazing farmer's market...so random in the middle of Big Bear.









Hudson & Grace found a floor fan and couldn't stop laugh at their hair flying about!




















The last day we found this random bridge over the lake, the kids played on it while Justin took some maternity shots (post coming soon) of me.






















We also found a fun little arcade where the boys got crazy for a few hours.




...And here's the last shot of our little vacation. We had a great time all together and definitely plan to go back!

]]> Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:00:58 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20071005220058/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070927230223/index.html On Tuesday I received a rather fun and unexpected delivery from Fedex...it was a package of flowers with a sweet little thank you card from Dayle and Ryel! It seriously made my day and made me realize how much I really do love my job! I am happy to be capturing couples on the happiest day of their lives, and I feel honored that my clients trust me to take on such a role! Thank you to Dayle and Ryel for being such cool people and once again, thank you for the sweet flowers!

]]> Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:02:23 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070927230223/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070926001446/index.html I spent an afternoon last week with this amazingly cool family. With three little boys running around one would have thought it would have been a stressful photo sitting, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I found myself smiling and delighted as I drove home from the shoot! I think the reason I had such a great time was because of the genuine happiness i saw in this family...I absolutely loved the way they all interacted with each other, especially the parents! I guess I sort of saw a glimpse of what my future will be like with my own personal growing family, and with another boy on the way in just four weeks. I get a little nervous with the idea of having two boys together, I feel like my life will just be super crazy, but the Norton family quickly put my nerves at ease and made me feel super excited for what is to come!

Like I mentioned before...the happiest family alive!



Dad wanted a shot with his boys!



Richie and Natalie were the best in front of the camera...I especially loved how big Richie's smile was during the whole shoot!






































...And Last, but certainly not least, my favorite shot of the day with the whole family!

]]> Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:14:46 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070926001446/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070913000717/index.html September 1st, 2007

The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Dayle Hendrickson was absolutely wonderful! Not only was the happy couple super fun to work with, but the style and feel of the day just got better and better as each hour unfolded! Many of you may remember the fun engagement session I shot with Dayle and Ryel at Joshua Tree...I had a feeling ever since then that their wedding day was going to be one of my favorites! Their wedding took place at the Orange County Museum of Art, which was so perfect because both Dayle and Ryel are artists themselves.

The other reason I had such a great time on this day was because I had a dream team of helpers, I brought along Sandra Salisbury to assist me, Tracy Kumono to second shoot, and then my wonderful husband Justin showed up to shoot for a couple of hours as well! It was one of those days that just flowed so perfectly!

Ryel looked stunning in her wedding dress and I loved her vail get-up!



The father of the bride...so excited to see his daughter all dressed up...and of course, he insisted on wearing a zoot-suit to match her style!




Dayle was studly as well, he had an amazing navy blue pinstriped suit on, Justin thought it was pretty rad!























This was a sweet and intimate moment with Ryel and her Bridesmaids before they all walked down the isle.



I love the lens flare on this first kiss shot...I promise its real...no photoshop tricks here!







Here is my favorite shot of the day! We were able to shoot inside the museum for a short while after the ceremony, Dayle and Ryel were great subjects to capture!
























...An amazing image shot by Justin!

















As I mentioned before, Dayle and Ryel are both artists...Dayle designed this cartoon of himself and Ryel for the cover of their polaroid sign in book, I thought it was great place for the ring shot!




Of Course we had to take a shot of ourselves with the polaroid for the guest sign-in book!







I really would like to thank Dayle and Ryel for having us along to photograph such a fun day, Congratulations to the newlyweds! Here is a link to view their slideshow with more images from their wedding day!

]]> Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:07:17 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070913000717/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070909211921/index.html Last weekend we headed to Manti Utah to spend some time with my side of the family. It was a short, but sweet getaway and we found ourselves having a ton of fun on the swings enjoying the sunny weather!

Here's an official shot of me all prego...only seven weeks left to go!!!! I think my baby was enjoying the swing ride too!


















Kenny and Jill savoring a delicious home-grown apple, they look hot in their sunglasses...








The hotel that we stayed at had an amazing view of the Manti LDS Temple, it was breath taking! I think that this is one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen!

]]> Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:19:21 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070909211921/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070905231905/index.html Last week I spent an afternoon with this lovely family at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel. I would usually opt to shoot outdoors, but it was so windy that we decided to stay inside and take advantage of the hotel's awesome interior! I was introduced to Sarina and John (the beautiful parents of this family) a few years back by good friends of ours. Sarina saw the family session I shot with these friends earlier this year and decided she wanted us to capture her own family while they vacationed in Laguna Niguel.

Colin and Josh definitely had that "brotherly love" going on!















































Here's the favorite shot of the day!






Thank you to John, Sarina, Colin, and Josh for the fun afternoon!

]]> Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:19:05 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070905231905/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20070904172633/index.html We met Megan and Cash in Laguna for their engagement session. Megan and Justin worked together in 2006 at the local High school as volleyball coaches. Megan knew we were wedding photographers and always talked about hiring us when her and her boyfriend (now fiancee) got engaged. Well, Cash finally popped the question and Megan immediately contacted us to book their date! I was lucky enough to get Justin out to shoot with me at their engagement session last week, we had a blast!

Here's the last shot of the evening and it definitely became my favorite shot of day!



We are looking forward to the wedding at the end of this month!

]]> Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:26:33 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20070904172633/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070829163937/index.html August 18th, 2007

The day of Loan and Ken's wedding was a super eventful day, complete with a cultural tea ceremony, traditional western ceremony, a photo shoot in Downtown Garden Grove, three outfit changes, and a reception packed wall to wall with all of their friends and family! I brought along the lovely Shyla Dalirifar to second shoot with me and keep me on my feet, we had a great time working together that day!

Many of you who know me personally can testify that I am a total shoe fanatic and I get super excited when I see a bride step out of the norm to go with colorful flashy shoes!












































Here's me having fun with my off camera flash again...



...and this would be my favorite shot of the day!










Loan and Ken changed into outfit #2 to go and mingle with their guests.



Here's the first dance with their last outfit change of the night!







My favorite part of the night was when all of Loan and Ken's friends surrounded them on the dance floor to show some love!



A big congratulations to the newlyweds, click here to see their slideshow!

]]> Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:39:37 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070829163937/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070822174715/index.html August 11th, 2007

Debbie and Michael Kim were married in the city of Westminster at a church they had both attended while growing up. After having such a fun time with them at their engagement session I was definitely looking forward to their wedding! I think my favorite thing about Debbie and MIchael was their "go with the flow" attitude, there wasn't a stress in the world for them and they both were truly ready to enjoy this big day!

Debbie was super photogenic...what a great smile!


















Here's the favorite shot of the day...I was lovin' my off camera flash action with the happy couple!

























I thought this was pretty funny...its the little ring bearer who had fallen asleep during the ceremony.








MIke celebrating after the first kiss!



At the reception when it came time for Mike to throw the garter he tied a fifty dollar bill to it...



...I don't think I've ever seen so many single guys so eager to catch the garter!



Finally, the grand exit with bubbles, a great way to end this perfect day!







don't forget to catch Debbie and Mike's wedding slideshow by clicking here!

]]> Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:47:15 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070822174715/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070821000241/index.html Today was such a crazy day....so exciting and so surreal with Yo Gabba Gabba! making its debut on Nick Jr.! A good number of those involved in the making of this amazing show gathered at my aunt and uncle's house for breakfast as we watched Yo Gabba Gabba! for the first time on a national cable television station. I seriously got goose-bumps, after watching my husband work so hard with the creatures for almost two years and now seeing it come to life...I felt so blessed to be a part of this project! I am so proud of my husband and all of the hard work and time he has put into Yo Gabba Gabba!, I love that he is so driven by his dreams!

Lance rock even made it out to the breakfast so we had to get a family shot with him!


Don't forget to tune in daily on Nick Jr. at 10:30am and 1:00pm! (Be sure and check your local listings)

]]> Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:02:41 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070821000241/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070816174552/index.html I spent a fun afternoon a couple of weeks ago with the Thompson family. My sister (Pickle) has been so blessed to have married into such an amazing, fun-loving family! Andrea (Pickle's mother-in-law) had been wanting new family photos for quite some time so all of her children thought it would be nice to have me shoot a family session with everyone for her birthday. We headed to beautiful Laguna Beach and had some fun playing around in the sand.

Here are the cutest grandchildren ever! They all came prepared for a sunglasses shot!



This is the winner for my favorite shot of the day....I ESPECIALLY love the way Trevor (fifth from the left) is laughing his head off at this silly situation I put everyone in.






This photo is kind of funny...All of the adults trying to get the kids to smile for my camera...little did they know that I would catch them in the act!


















Thanks for the fun afternoon Thompson family, I would do it all over again...I always have a good time with you guys!

]]> Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:45:52 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070816174552/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070814231432/index.html Last Thursday I had the great opportunity of spending my entire day in San Francisco at a workshop held by Nate Kaiser from The Image is found and Susan Stripling...two great photographers with a ton to share! I spent the day watching them in action and learning a few tricks that I will definitely be putting use in the nearby future. I think I also really enjoyed myself because I absolutely love San Francisco and its city life! Thanks to Susan and Nate for holding such a great seminar at such an amazing location...I am so happy that I went! Here are some shots I was able to sneak throughout the day:

Here's Nate in his photographer's stance....


And Susan risking almost being hit by a car to get her shot, I can relate with that!




For those of you who don't follow Nate's blog and don't already know, he finally made the epic jump from Nikon to Canon...Yippee! I had to take a shot of him and the sticker he was sporting!



This next image shows one of the tricks Nate was teaching us with his off camera flash...I used my good friend Carson as a model!




And lastly, a night photo it took of the city reflected off of one of the buildings we were walking by...I love this shot!



Once again, a huge thank you to Nate Kaiser and Susan Stripling, so glad I got to spend the day learning from you two!

]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2007 23:14:32 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070814231432/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20070814222354/index.html A few weeks back I received an email from Vanessa wanting to schedule an engagement session with me. She told me the name of her fiancee, but I didn't put two and two together that I had already worked with Marcus, as he was one of the groomsmen from a wedding I had shot a few months ago with Autumn & Jason. It was fun to be able to work with him again, both he and Vanessa were so easy going...our session together was a breeze!

Here's my favorite shot of the day, I really was diggin' this wall with its textures!

]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:23:54 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20070814222354/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C432349959/E20070814002614/index.html Justin often gets hired by Volcom to shoot their bands, sometimes its for a show or sometimes its just for a press release. I think this is where my husband is his absolute best as a photographer, he gets pretty creative and enjoys working with band members. This time Volcom hired him to shoot a crazy entertaining rock band called Valient Thorr.

Here is one of the band members having some fun with an In-n-Out hamburger.




I think this shot is super crazy looking...its a little eerie, but is still one of my favorites from Justin's shoot.

]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:26:14 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C432349959/E20070814002614/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070813234931/index.html July 28th, 2007

A couple of weekends ago I traveled again to the lovely Santa Barbara with Sandra Salisbury to spend the day with Andrea and Todd on their big day. They were married at a quaint little location called Stella Mare's, it had a super sweet country decor that really gave a fun feeling to the day.

I love this shot of Andrea sneaking a peek at the crowd before walking down the aisle...













I think one of my most favorite parts of a wedding day is the moment right after a couple shares their first kiss...the look on their faces is priceless!










































Here is my favorite shot of the day...kind of different, but beautiful!









The parent dance...



And the last shot of the day...


this was definitely a long awaited event for me, Todd and Andrea booked their date with me over a year ago, it was definitely worth the wait and their wedding went over so well! Here is their slideshow with a complete set of shots from their big day.

]]> Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:49:31 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070813234931/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070807141413/index.html Last week when we had swim classes for Hudson my cousin Nanette was in town with her two cute kids to have swim lessons also. She thought that she could kill two birds with one stone and set up a family session with me as well while on her visit. Once again, I was delighted to not only photograph such a sweet family, but it was a good chance for me to hang out with another cousin...gotta love having a huge family!!!!

The two kids, Rocky and Piper, were so adorable together...



































This is my favorite shot of the day! So fun and playful!














Thanks to my cousin Nanette for having me capture your growing family, I had a fun time!

]]> Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:14:13 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1779406667/E20070807141413/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070804153101/index.html This last Thursday was my 5 year anniversary with my husband....I feel so happy!!!! I can't even begin to express how happy the last five years of my life has been being married to the man of my dreams!
Here's a little walk down memory lane with some photos from when Justin proposed to me on the walk of stars in Hollywood...obviously these were taken with my first cheapo 2 mega pixel camera (before we knew anything about photography)....and yes, I was a blonde!

So this year we bought ourselves a new Cal-king bed (which was a pretty penny in itself) and we decided not to get anything else for each other....well thats what I thought the agreement was...that is, until Justin surprised me with a new band to go with my wedding ring!!!! I was so excited, I felt like he was proposing to me all over again! He totally broke the rules, that's why I love him...always full of surprises!



The next four photos I decide to post just for fun...I love my husband! These amazing photos were taken last year by our super cool photographer friend Nate Kaiser of The Image is Found, thanks for capturing "us" Nate!












Happy five year anniversary to us...I can't wait to see what the future brings to our marriage!

]]> Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:31:01 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070804153101/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20070802003644/index.html I had a really fun afternoon last week with Debbie and Mike while shooting their engagement session. We started out at Craig Park in Brea with the couple's first look of the day (there were three clothing changes total).

The first outfit they wore was traditional clothing their parents had bought them and I'll say that I was loving the colors!

The second outfit change was more of a comfortable look, I felt like Debbie and Mike were a little more "themselves" after getting out of their cultural clothing.







The last outfit change was more of a fun/playful getup, I think that this was my favorite look for Debbie and Mike. We left Craig Park and headed over to a little old building by my house in downtown Brea.



...and here's the favorite shot of the day...





























It was a delightful afternoon with the soon-to-be husband and wife, Keep an eye out for their upcoming wedding in a couple of weeks!

]]> Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:36:44 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C48282221/E20070802003644/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070731232113/index.html July 21st, 2007

Kathryn and Jake were married in Santa Monica at the LDS temple. Just like the last couple I worked with the week before, the first time I met Kathryn and Jake was when they made their first public appearance as husband and wife as they walked out of the temple doors. I was delighted with how sweet spirited they both were and how easy they were to work with. Kathryn admitted to feeling a little awkward and shy in front of my camera, but she soon warmed up and looked very comfortable with her new husband Jake.

Jake had a super fun and playful personality, its probably one of the reasons that Kathryn fell in love with him. Here is a perfect example of Jake's personality, he accidentally forgot his black socks and had to wear these unmatching argyle ones...this was his pose for me.




















This is my favorite shot of the day...gotta love the Raybans!






Jake and Kathryn were super hungry after exiting the temple so they sent one of the groomsmen to fetch a couple of burgers from Jack in the Box.

















After shooting on the temple grounds we headed over for some downtown L.A. action...
















I loved the color of this wall with Kathryn's eyes and hair.















A big congratulations to Kathryn and Jake, Thanks for having Sandra and I along for the day. Click here to see their online slideshow!

]]> Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:21:13 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C1734885831/E20070731232113/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070724154120/index.html Hudson started swim lessons last week and it has been so fun to see him grow and learn each day. The first couple of days he was a little scared of going under the water, but now he's a total pro!

Matt & Angie Sloan were in town to shoot a wedding of their own in Pasadena, I was so excited when Angie agreed to come along and photograph one of Hudson's swim lessons for me.

The teacher had him fetch his own swim ring...it was pretty crazy to see him under the water.









Thanks to Angie for coming along to capture our little swimmer!

]]> Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:41:20 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/thepictureshow/iblog/C146246362/E20070724154120/index.html