I never turn down an opportunity to shoot with my friend Jack. He’s awesome. The brides and grooms he gets to shoot are SO sweet… it’s always a pleasure to hang out and shoot. This particular wedding took place in the beginning of December 2009… when the weather was still wintery. (I figure I should blog this one before it’s no longer wintertime. Ha!)

Daniel and Mandy’s wedding and reception were held here… at Orange County Mining Company. The “old barn” look and rugged accents gave an organic and intimate feel to the wedding… and the people were warm and SO excited that these two were finally tying the knot!

Any chance I can get… I love to shoot with other photographers because it gives me the chance to step out and try new things without the stress of shooting the entire event myself. It’s nice to take a step back, help where needed, and spend time taking more artistic and intentional pictures. So some of these shots are different from the usual wedding images I blog, but I love them… they’re relaxed and beautiful. Enjoy!

Epic Jack… Epic.

Daniel and Mandy… thanks for letting me hang with you guys on your wedding day. You’re too cute… and spending time with both of you left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. You’re a reminder of what a newly wed couple is supposed to be like… utterly IN LOVE. Twas a pleasure…

Also muchos gracias to my good friend Jack Ratana… you rock!

2009 was a spectacular year for documenting the lives of my clients…. but it was horrible year documenting my own life. It’s a new thing for me to find myself tangled up in work so often that I don’t have time to enjoy documenting my own life and the people I love. I always thought people who worked too much were wierd… and now I find myself one of those people. Embarrassing. Sad. I know.

So I wanted to share this small glimpse of my life…. and business in 2009. I’m enlisting you blog readers to keep me accountable this year… to take more time to document my life…. and hopefully live a richer and less stressed out 2010. Okay? How does that sound? Can you do it? Maybe I’ll post more blogs in the “My Life” section this year…

Here’s some sweet shots my friend Amanda Patrice shot of me at a wedding in November…

In July, my best friend Cricket and I took an impromptu weekend trip to Vegas to soak up some hot sun, and see a Cirque du Soliel show. Here’s a few shots from that trip… compliments of Cricket’s Canon Powershot Point and Shoot…

These 4 shots are from a trip I took to Brentwood and San Francisco in April of this year with Christopher to visit his family…. so fun. Compliments of Christopher’s Olympus Point and Shoot camera…

The shot on the left is from a random impromptu trip to Disneyland with Christopher… and the shot on the right is from Multinomah Falls in Portland Oregon in August of this year (compliments of Christopher’s Olympus Point and Shoot Camera) …. I look super tired because I had swine flu at the time… Don’t worry… I don’t have it anymore

In March, my other best friend Betsy came to visit and shoot a wedding with me. She took this shot of me at the rehearsal testing the lighting in the sanctuary….

Betsy’s trip to California wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to the beach! I love the shot on the left… it’s me and Christopher playing in the waves…. and the shot on the right is of me and Betsy… <3

These last two images are some of my favorite random shots I found in my archives. Christopher took these of me during a portrait shoot in October. I love that he’s getting to be an awesome photographer… maybe we’ll team up permanently

One of my goals for 2010 is to be better about documenting my life. I love my job so much that sometimes it’s hard to remember to take a step back and document non-work related people and adventures. I can’t wait to get better at this!!!

Saturday was one of the most perfect evenings I’ve experienced in a long time. It happened to be ridiculously hot for an October weekend, but when the sun started going down… it was perfect weather and the light was TO DIE FOR! You may remember Josh and Katie from their wedding that took place in late May of this year. Their wedding was gorgeous and totally a dream wedding. Well… when I approached them about possibly doing a “We Did” /not-so-trash-the-dress shoot… they were ALL OVER THAT! We chose to do it at Peter’s Canyon Regional Park in Irvine/Orange….. and it was SO AWESOME!  Katie and Josh are total outdoors people and they love nothing better than a good camping trip or a day hike through Yosemite… we thought it was fitting for them to capture some post-wedding awesomeness in their element.

Also, the thing I love about Katie… is she’s a dreamer and an artist herself… so when planning the shoot, we both agreed to go for an Anthropologie style with antique lighting, possible antique furniture, and balloons. Aaaand… it turned out amazing! She even brought the vintage Ford Bronco do do some shots with as well! My clients spoil me….

Here’s some of my favorites…. it was hard to narrow the choices down because they were all SO GOOD! Enjoy…

Twas an awesome evening… and I just want to give a big shout out to Christopher for being an awesome assistant and support to me…. and to my buddy Jack Ratana of Jack Ratana Photographers for coming out and helping me out that day!