Today was beautiful.

Today was inspiring.

The air felt full of creative vapor.

I took a deep breath and gave it my all.

Here’s a sneak peek from today’s engagement shoot with Chris and Chelsea…. more to come….

Like I said before, It seems like there’s a million possible ways I could make myself and my business better… the trick is finding what fits who I am and what my business is about. I could offer infinite possibilities to my clients and become something like a Walmart style wedding photographer…. something for every common man… but I’ve chosen not to, for the sake of creating a “one of a kind” type of experience. And today, I’d like to show you yet another tremendous product I’ll be offering this year…. Renaissance Albums.

What do you think of when you hear the word “Renaissance”? Classic…. high class… romantic… with an artistic flare. That’s what I think at least. And really, truly, that is what this Renaissance Album is. All that in one beautiful experience. Renaissance blends a high class album experience with a modern, romantic, and artsy overtone. The unique high point of choosing this album is that it’s completely customizable…. to make an wedding album that is…

Truly Yours….

Upon opening the box, you will find this high class beautiful black leather box. Such a great way to store your treasured memories!

Once you slide the lid off the box, the first thing you see is the Renaissance slip cover…. another very cool way to keep your album fresh and new looking through the years…

And Voila! How cool is the customized cover? I absolutely love it…

What’s cool about the cover, is it’s got a modern spin on the concept of a timeless heirloom. There’s no leather cover… it’s Acrylic (so it’s super durable and easy to clean)… and I have the creative ability to design it however I want. I like that…

The cover is held together by a black silk brocade (you have different choices of color and style)….

And this album has the “layflat” binding with premium pages for enhanced book structure.

Another cool thing about this book, is it opens to the first page spread instead of leaving a blank first page…

The photo prints in this book are 2 pages wide, and there is no break in the page… which gives Ahhh-mazing full panoramic page spreads.

You can see the middle of the book here…. the print is seamless…. and the paper they print on is resistance to fading and wear/tear.

Like I mentioned in the other Album post, print quality is a huge factor for me… it makes or breaks the album (in my opinion). And I’m proud to say that these prints are beautiful… and immaculate. Top notch print quality if you ask me…

Basically I’m in love with this wedding book… and I think you will be too! If you’d like to view the entire album design, I included it below… enjoy!

And if you’re interested in a custom designed album, email Kate here.

There’s something to be said about trusting what God’s put in you. What does that mean? It kind of goes along the lines of finding what you’re gifted at and pursuing the betterment of those skills. It’s a ridiculously hard thing to come out of high school expected to know what you want to do with the rest of your life… so hard that sometimes we go straight into college, we do what we’re told would be a good idea, and then we emerge from college after four years with the same confusion and lack of purpose that we felt coming out of high school. It’s scary. What are we even here on earth for? Do we even have A PURPOSE? Am I even doing the right thing? There are so many “what-ifs” it can feel terrifying… terrifying enough to not do anything… to just go with the flow of society and try our best to not think about it.

There are many things in life that take my breath away…. beautiful sunsets… thanksgiving dinner…. the words “i do.” But when I experience someone doing something they can’t get enough of… something they’re ridiculously good at… it does more than take my breath away… it reminds me of our purpose and brings a huge stupid grin to my face. Purpose… it can be scary to think about because it’s hardly clear and can change… but finding it may be the difference between life and living. I hope you’re finding it… and I hope you share it with everyone.

Here’s some shots I took of Christopher and the Veritas band at Irvine Presbyterian Church. One of my favorite things about Christopher is his love for music…you can see it in his face….

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!