Rite of Passage

A few nights back, I had the good fortune of accompanying Shelly for her bachelorette party. We started with dinner at Electric Lotus, the highlight of which was a truly mind-boggling cake. From there, we strolled down the boulevard to the Dresden. There, we witnessed the closest thing to downright humiliation of the bride-to-be that we would see all night. All I'll say is: THE BELT! The ladies also treated themselves to tasty beverages.

From the Dresden, it was off to Das Bunker, where we all got in for free because the magnanimous RevJohn had guestlisted all of us! More shenanigans ensued there, but I was pumpkinizing by 12:30. So, I called it a night and left.

Here are some shots from the night.

This is quite possibly the most adorable picture of these two I've ever seen.

Even the bride's mind was boggled by the cake!


You are more likely to see 50 endangered species in one day than you are to see this ever, EVER again!


Ah... the meaning of marriage!


Here's my favorite shot of the night. (You know I always have one!)

The wedding is coming up on October 11th, so I'll be sure to follow up with some of those shots when they're ready!

Michael and Shelly

Yesterday, I had the privilege of accompanying Michael & Shelly on a "Day in the Life" shoot. What a blast! We started out at Hollywood Billiards because Mike wanted to catch what he could of the Notre Dame/Michigan game. Then we had some fun shooting in and around the place. How could I pass up the opportunity to snap this one? A little gender reversal, anyone?


I love this shot of Shelly. She looks adorable and happy... pretty awesome for a bride to be!


Believe me when I say that there were lots of fun images from the day, and I don't want to give away too many because they're meant for a slideshow for the couple... but I couldn't resist this one. I think this picture is just awesome!
I really do love working with couples. It's fun to see their chemistry and their joy. I wish Michael & Shelly every happiness together, and I'm very excited to photograph their wedding!

Tío en Los Angeles

I've been too busy with the start of school to properly post about everything that's going on, but my uncle from Costa Rica came to visit a while back and we had a great time with him. He'd never been outside of C.R., and he certainly never dreamed he'd be with us in the US, but it turns out that his job gave him an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta. So, we pooled the rest of the resources necessary to fly him across the country to visit us for a while.

We took him to the LA Science Center and Body Worlds, Disneyland, and a few other places. Here are some highlights from his visit.

My uncle loves animals. He's a really gentle soul, and he's always had cats in his own home. So, he got along swimmingly with our little penguin, Gizmo. The mutual joy here is so warm.

This shot was taken in the Los Angeles Cathedral ("The most modern in the world"). I fell in love with this tapestry. It appealed to my minimalist aesthetic, and I thought the image was beautifully done. It inspires humility & devotion.

One of the things I love about having good gear is that you don't have to care when people tell you, "No flash photography." This is a shot I got while on Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland. I like the color and the motion blur; it gives it an ethereal quality. I'm thinking of blowing this one up and using it in my classroom since it goes with the whole Pirate Captain theme I've got going in my room.

You might have guessed from my first post on this blog that I love fireworks. I always have. There is something about beautiful light disappearing into space that really moves me. For most of my teen years (and well into my twenties), I would cry every time I saw a good fireworks show... out of sheer joy. And Disneyland definitely knows how to put on a good show! I snapped these after Fantasmic. I think this one looks like a flower.

I think this one is the "Tie-Fighter" firework. Pretty incredible that they're able to create this look.