Ethan and Mary: engagement photos

It's been a while since I've posted an entry! I've been so busy with school and other things that I haven't had a lot of time to spend online or editing pictures!

This summer I heard the surprising news that Ethan and Mary were engaged! I couldn't believe that two people I had just graduated with were planning a wedding, but I am so happy and excited for both of you. You guys make me feel old, and now I feel like I need to hop on the whole boyfriend thing :). Thank you guys for giving me the opportunity to experience wedding photography!

And as you can see, I finally figured out how to make the pictures larger, thanks to Tyler :)

Sara Chaplin: senior photos (Manhattan Beach)

Last weekend Sara, Allie (assistant), and I made an early trip to Manhattan Beach for Saras senior pictures. I love this place during the sunrise because there’s hardly anyone there, although we saw some wedding shots going on, and because the lighting is perfect. After shooting for a couple hours we had a scrumptious breakfast at The Kettle. Warming up to a cup of hot chocolate and pancakes after spending time on the overcast, cool beach made it all worth while. Overall, it was a really fun, early day :)

The one and only, Hume Lake

Hume Lake is one of my favorite places in the world, although I haven't been to many of the places I'd like to visit. I like what a friend told me last week, "If I could have anything in the world it would be unlimited, free airline tickets and free hotel accommodations." That would be GREAT Mads. Anyhow, if you haven't been to Hume Lake I highly advise you go sometime in your lifetime. It's beautiful, there's great photo opportunities, a vast amount of stars, they have best milkshakes ever, and you'll never be disappointed by all the people who love the Lord there. This Labor Day was the Fullarton family's second annual trip to Hume. The McCains were so kind as to invite us last year and now we're making it a tradition along with many other families from church. On Saturday the country fair took place where they have a ton of great, cheap stuff to buy, a few auctions that take place, cinnamon rolls, fruit stands, games, etc. But my favorite part of the weekend is always taking photos, of course :). Stacey and Heather were awesome models, so thank you girls! I hope you got a few good photos out if it! I also shot a roll of black and white film for my class, but I won't see those until I develop them soon. I'm hoping they turn out good and if they do maybe I'll post a few.

School days, oh golden school days

The time of the year has come yet again where our busy schedules pick up as we try to find the time to visit with loved ones in the midst of school on our shoulders. I just started my first year of college last week and have been drudging to keep up with assignments (as you can tell, it's been awhile since my last entry!) I have spent a majority of my mornings in these shelves. For me its more enjoyable to do homework somewhere besides home. I become distracted too easily!

(Taken with the iPhone 4)

Mmm mmm coffee!

It's about time that the Santa Clarita Valley gets a new coffee place besides Starbucks! I went to the Coffee House with my sister for the first time this week and enjoyed it more than a Starbucks for many reasons; the employees are extremely nice, my mocha was DELICIOUS, it was much more "home-y" with really comfortable couches, and they have free wireless internet. It's funny that this opened because I was seriously considering opening up a coffee shop of my own not too long ago, but sadly my dad wouldn't help me invest haha.

My favorite coffee house, Forzas, is located about 1,100 miles north in the rainy city of Seattle. The place was awesome! It had live music, a great menu, a relaxed atmosphere of "African mahogany wood", a nice warm fireplace, and art on the walls. When I was visiting last summer my sister and I went to Forzas almost every night to get a mocha or toffee frappacino. I mean, there chocolate is made from Ghiradellis, who wouldn't like it? So a few months back when I was craving my mocha from Seattle I was thinking that I should just open a Forza franchise in Santa Clarita. It's nice that we finally got a few coffee shops besides Starbucks here. In the photo I liked the reflection from the store front window in the glass, so why not capture it? I didn't even notice the colorful mugs until I looked at the picture! Sorry if you don't like coffee.

Cupcake adventure!

Sprinkles. cupcakes. are. delicious.

Stacey and I decided to make a trip to Beverly Hills to eat a Sprinkles cupcake. After waiting in line for about twenty minutes (for cupcakes? yes...), I decided on a peanut butter chip and she got strawberry. They were quite delightful, but not my favorite part of the night. I always enjoy discovering new things, like a street that looks like Paris (not the photograph below). Or flipping through an African photography book. Or when I thought the ATM machine stole $20 from me, but then the cashier told me I gave her $20 too much. I had a lot of favorite moments of the night. It definitely made it onto my list of "top 5 summer nights."

Although the quality of the iPhone4 camera isn't top notch, I want to post pictures weekly, just because. This photo was taken at The Grove, after walking by one of my favorite window displays ever (it had a white cruiser bike with a basket full of flowers and a sign that said "just married" and mannequins wearing wedding attire). It definitely gave me ideas for my wedding :)

Grace & Adam

I was privileged enough to photograph Miss Essex niece, Grace and nephew, Adam. I was Miss Essex teacher assistant for a semester this last year and so she knew I liked photography. We ended up meeting at the Paseos and walked along them for a short time until we found a few spots. I also brought my brother Ryan along to help me carry around a few of the props we used. It was one of my first time photographing toddlers so it was a little bit challenging but still a lot of fun :) I had my shutter speed up pretty high in order to catch multiple expressions from each of them. I hope you enjoy them Miss Essex!