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Lea

one more quick post

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My Friend Tracy

I suckered my friend Tracy into coming over today to take a new picture for her MySpace. I decided that I didn't like her current picture. It just didn't do her justice. Look at her! She's so gorgeous. We started outside. I didn't have a white sheet so we had to use a mattress pad!! I've got to get a proper back drop. Then we went inside to the hall way. Oh, the professionalism of it all!
Do something new today. Eat a mango naked.
Lea

Gloria & Daniel Part 2

As I promised, a few of my favorite images from Gloria and Daniel's session. We went to Mojave Narrows park in Victorville. I've been there so many times and each time I end up stumbling upon a new part of the park that I haven't been to before. It's the park that keeps on giving! Well, that was a little corny but you know what I mean, right? Anyway, I photographed Gloria and Daniel's wedding a few years back along with their engagement and Gloria's family. It's actually really special to be a witness to other peoples' lives. Enjoy!

You can see the Sideshow Here.

Gloria & Daniel

I've been wanting to make this image all week with Gloria. I'll blog more about Gloria and Daniel later this week. Check back soon for more.
lea

Heather & Jeremy

Last weekend I photographed Heather and Jeremy's wedding. I have to laugh because the last wedding I photographed was in Encino Hills and now I'm in my own back yard, Adelanto. I was joking to my friend, who hosted the wedding in her backyard, that I could of walked to the wedding from my house. We literally live less than two miles from each other.

just a little something

This one made me laugh. I hope it does the same for you. Happy Sunday.

Jessica and William

Hey look were I went with Jessica and William! We went to Union Station and Alavera Street on National Train Day! Just a nice private session with the three of us and 20,000 other people! Note to self, do a little research before suggesting an engagement location. Who knew there was such a thing as National Train Day. Well, as amazing as it sounds, we found lots of nooks and cranny's where we could be alone....very alone. We really did have a nice time. William had me laughing so hard that I accidentally spit on my camera. Nice! Well, that's one thing you now know about me. When laughing too hard, I sometimes spit. Watch out. Keep a wide radius. Of course, I made a slide show. You know how much I love slide shows.
Just a side note. I hope I don't offend anyone with the music I picked ( Jessica's Mom). It's actually a labor of love for me pick the music. I'm always looking for just the right song. I heard this song on the radio while we were stuck in traffic on the way home, somewhere in L.A. I thought it was perfect.

Here's the link to the *slide show*.

Heather & Jeremy

I'm so grateful to be so busy lately. I had another engagement shoot last Saturday with Jeremy and Heather. For the first time ever, I was brave enough NOT to take them to a park. We went down town, baby! It was so much fun. I had no idea that it could look so good. I've been eyeing this automotive garage that was bright yellow for about one year now. Heather and Jeremy didn't even flinch when I suggested it! They live in the desert, so they know what the down town area is all about.
You can see their *slide show here.*
Since my blog is taking forever to load (due to all of the slide shows) I'm going to start making links.

Brianne & James

I talked Brianne and James into meeting at the Wild Animal Park for their engagement session. I've been there about 6 times with my family and I still haven't explored the whole park. I was dying to take them to a suspension bridge that I had found on a previous trip. Of course, I couldn't find it! I was dragging them here and there looking for that damn bridge! The whole time I must of sounded like a lunatic. I would start muttering to myself that I needed to let the bridge go and then I would start looking for it again! I'm aware that some times you have to let go in order to make room for something better. It's easier said than done. I'm definitely still a work in progress. Thanks Brianne and James for putting up with me!

Here are some of my favorite images.






Enjoy the Slideshow!
If the slideshow is cut in half ( still working this out) you can view it here.

Frank & Teka

I'm always amazed at how the Universe works. I find myself with tremendous gratitude when I finish a wedding. The Universe seems to consistently bring me together with exceptional people. When I say exceptional, I don't mean in the way of status or money but in sincerity and generosity with themselves and their time. (BTW, I reserve the right to have run on sentences on my blog.) When I received a call from Frank a few weeks ago, I should of known the Universe was working it's magic! Frank and Teka were truly wonderful people. When I asked them to try out a new technique of painting with light they were happy to give it a go. I dragged them away from their party , explained the process, set them up them up and my camera wouldn't fire. Talk about being a professional! Frank and Teka went back to dancing and once I figured out the problem, they obliged me by trying it again. Thank God it worked the second time around. It's actually one of my favorite images of the day. It's the very last image in the slide show.

I know this is long but I want to mention that my husband Eric came along to photograph with me. I just love it when he comes along. For one thing, he's a great story teller. I love to pour over his images to try to learn from them. . He lets me be creative without interfering, backs me up by shooting important images along with me and steps in when he sees that I could do something better. I guess you could say that he's my mentor. Everyone should have at least one mentor in their life.

One more thing. Frank and Teka had the best band, Hillbilly Idol. Check them out here.

At last, enjoy the show!

Desert Shoot!

You know, I've tried to be professional with this blog but everytime I want to say something, I feel like I have to sensor myself. I just can't do it anymore. I'm unleashing my self onto you! Be afraid! Run Away! Save Yourself! So as I was saying in a previous post, being in the desert has had some challenges when it comes to wedding photography. I've avoided High Desert weddings like the plague. I'm always trying to find that green patch of grass with a tree. It's exhausting because it's a desert here and we just don't have very many trees. After shooting at the Anti-Workshop in Vegas , I was inspired to try some new ideas. Now, I know that I have some good friends but Megan, Aime and Tracy were real troopers. Aime let us use her beautiful dress, which we accidentally ripped on a Joshua tree AND got oil on from the motorcycle ( you'll see). Tracy was my assistant with a reflector and a flash. After having Tracy along to help, I'm starting to think that I should always have an assistant. What luxury! I highly recommend getting an assistant. Megan was our model. I really appreciated Megan. She rode on a quad, laid on the ground in the middle of the desert, burned out her retinas looking into the sun and even did a cartwheel in high heels. That girl has talent!

You can see a slide show here.

Snow!

We usually get snow once a year. It's my kind of snow. It comes and leaves within a day. I'm not a big fan of being cold. Of course all of the kids in the neighborhood loved it. They were out running around in it until their hands were ready to fall off.


Our neighbor, Jessie.
My camera shy son.

Vegas

I had the opportunity to attend the Anti- Workshop over the last 4 days in Vegas. It's not your typical workshop. Our first exercise was to break up into group and photograph a giant Elvis cut out with a Polaroid camera. Awesome group #9 (my group) won the challenge! Yay for us. We photographed our Elvis in a bar, having a drink, at the pool with a few guys laying out, in a hair salon under a hair dryer and a few other choice locations. Needless to say, it was a blast. Our prize was Found Polaroids by Jason Bitner and Tod Lippy.

On the second day we had a shot list to complete. The Cooper's along with the Boutwell's recruited some of their past brides to be our models. All of the brides wore their own dresses and were willing to do just about anything. One bride actually got into a swimming pool for an image. Our group didn't win this challenge but we ended up with some really kick-ass images. I loved it. Doing these exercises has inspired me to do some work in my own backyard, not literally but almost. I live in the high desert and have avoided the desert like the plague. After participating in the workshop, I really want to do a bridal shoot in the desert. Look for it in the next few weeks.

Andrew & Kristen

I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot with my husband at Andrew and Kristen's wedding. Andrew is the brother of husband's best friend. They've know each other from high school and believe me, high school was a while ago for us! My husband got to hang out with the guys drinking beer in the "walk-in" while I stayed with the girls.

Into the Desert

This weekend my son and husband went to the Zen Center for Sunday services in Lucerne Valley. Since Ella is to young to go, Eric dropped us off at our friend Elaine's house. We had a wonderful time. Elaine is a wonderful artist. Her house is so much fun. It's filled with colorful rugs, pillows, art and purposeful things. It's hard to explain about true artists. They're not afraid to paint their refrigerator salmon or cut the legs off of their dining room table. They're always changing pieces of their environment to suit themselves. There is something that is so relaxing and freeing about being around them. They create a space where there are no mistakes or wrong answers.


Elaine grows her own gourds and uses them for everything from bird feeders, to seed storage, to decoration.

Ella tried kale fresh from the garden. It turns out she's not a huge fan of kale. She's her mother's daughter!

Making Things Frenzy

I 'm a person that should be kept busy at ALL times. So today instead of doing any marketing for my photography business, I decided to paint the fence. I've been wanting to paint a mural on our fence for about a year now but FEAR of messing it up has kept me away. I guess today I was fearless! So here it is. I wasn't sure how the colors would work out since I used what we had in the garage. I love it! It was hard to know when to stop. I just kept wanting to add more leaves. Finally I had to pry the paint brush out of my blue hands.

I have to tell you that there's a really mean dog living behind our fence. Now, I like dogs but this one is what my friend calls "the sand lot" dog. He 's just out of control. He actually bit my paint brush while I was painting!

Here's the purse I made yesterday. It started out as a tote. When I finished, it looked like an extra large sausage holder. I decided that it really wanted to be a purse. I needed a new one anyway. Oh, I wanted to mention that the bottom of the purse is a place mat! If you've found yourself wondering what to do with your old place mats, here is your answer.