We are so lucky to live in the country that we live in- this year, with the election of Barack Obama and everything coming out of the elections in Iran, I will be celebrating our country’s triumphs a little bit more than usual. In honor of Tim’s request that I keep at least one weekend a summer totally and completely free of work- when we head up to San Jose, I will be leaving my computer at home! (GASP!) And I think I’ll only be taking my new point and shoot! (Double gasp!) Stole this cheesey image off of google images. Celebrate safely and long live the king! Er… wait…

You might remember Erin and Steve from their stunning engagement session in downtown Los Angeles that we did a few months back. Check it out here! Erin and Steve are perfect for each other- their laughter is so in sync and you can almost feel their adoration at first meeting. They chose to have an intimate backyard wedding at Erin’s grandmothers home in Rancho Palos Verdes. It was a beautiful day shared by all their close friends and family- It started out overcast and a bit chilly but the sun came out just in time for their ceremony. This lovely event was coordinated by the amazingly talented girls, Adriana Dupinet and Leslie Bost at ONE Happenings- can’t wait to work with you ladies again!!!

Steve’s friends were really into the wedding spirit! Heather took one for the team (right H-dawg?)

 I have been using the word dapper to describe Steve since I met him. He just IS dapper, isn’t he???

Erin and Steve opted for the first look so we could get their family formal photos out of the way before the ceremony. SMART!

Their reception was so colorful!

 Erin and Steve, you guys know how to throw a party!! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of it and I wish you all the very best!

Another super amazing reason why what I do is the best job in the world- This year I managed to be home for both Mother’s Day AND Father’s Day. Since I didn’t get to wish my dad a proper blog message I wanted to post this picture of him that had me and my mom buckled over in laughter. You see, my Daddy is a musician, and growing up instead of listening to him hum along to songs on the radio in his white VW Bus- we witnessed complete top of the lungs singing, drumming on the dashboard, air guitar, i-am-picturing-myself-on-the-stage-at-The-Fillmore-right-now full on rock out sessions. One thing that my Dad taught me was to never sing the melody. Seriously- my Dad is a harmonizing fool. To this day, when I am driving along singing to The Fray or Beyonce’s “Halo” (can’t help it!) I’m singing the harmony part!

Anyway, to get to the photo- I believe this was during the obligatory SHOUT! breakdown and out of the corner of my ear I hear my dad accompanying The Isley Brothers in perfect harmony. I leaned over to my mom and said, “Of course Dad has to sing the harmony!” Nothing like pure laughing at yourself laughter- to my Daddy who always taught me to take the road less traveled- Melody?? HA! Who needs melody- we’re harmonizers!

Erin and I joked, if we could only travel back to our 16 year old selves and tell each other that in 8ish years not only would I be attending her wedding to the man of her dreams but I would be PHOTOGRAPHING it! Erin and Jake tied the knot a couple weeks ago at a beautiful ceremony at South Coast Winery in Temecula. Erin was such a relaxed bride- when we showed up her and her bridesmaids were just finishing up a pizza lunch and hanging around the hotel room ready and waiting to walk down the aisle.The wonderful Heather Kincad came along with me on this one and rocked it. We had so much fun running around in the dirt at the winery and hanging out with all of Erin and Jake’s awesome friends a family. The saturation on these images is a little different than what I am used to seeing but it was just so colorful everywhere we looked- bright blue skies, greens, and yellows, browns and oranges… couldn’t help but leave the colors be. Enjoy!

 Erin and Jake opted for a first look- and when you start looking through the rest of their images, you’ll know why. We had so much time to explore the property and create some beautiful images of them and their bridal party!

 If it were my wedding photos… three huge canvas prints along one big blank wall.

Because of the first look- we had plenty of time after the ceremony to finish up family photos and take some more portraits of just the two of them- now married!

Perhaps my favorite shot of the day…this is pretty  much straight out of the camera. Little sharpening…

Thank you so much, Erin and Jake, for inviting us into your wedding day and life. Here’s to many more years of photo worthy events!

I am so excited to shoot Helen and Tylers wedding on Saturday in Carmel. Not only do I get to work with two new amazing shooters/soon to be friends but my parents are going to be guests at the wedding!!! Driving up tomorrow for what should be an awesome weekend. Thought I’d leave you guys with some photos of yours truly bossing it up out in some vineyards in Temecula at Erin and Jake’s wedding a couple weeks ago. Thanks Heather!

Could I get any whiter? Good grief!