Irvine Engagement Session: Rosa + Jesse

Jesse & Rosa are one of the most amazing couples that I have ever worked with. They are fun and sophisticated, soft spoken and elegant, easy going and kind and most importantly- madly in love with each other. When they first met, Rosa was unaware of the fact that Jesse was "courting" her. Yes, Jesse used the word courting- who said chivalry was dead?? In the end, Jesse told Rosa how he felt about her and here they are planning a wedding together.






Part of being a photographer is being able to see beauty in places that would otherwise be dicounted as "ugly" or "unusable". I am so blessed to work with couples who trust my instincts and allow me to be creative. At first glance these weeds that we shot in looked dead & ugly. But through my lens, I saw romance and beauty. I saw a secret getaway in the middle of nowhere where these two could run off to and steal some quiet moments together.





Another thing amoung my list of many things that I loved about these two was their creativity. They decided to bring a change of clothes and shoot some portraits inside of the estate that they are getting married in. I was literally bubbling over with excitement when I saw them all dressed up. They looked GREAT and matched with the setting it was like all of the stars were lining up in my favor.














Hands down this is my favorite shot of the day. The way Rosa looks at Jesse with adoring eyes, full of trust and admiration is special. And the way Jesse looks at Rosa screams...this woman is priceless and she's mine. He treasures her. I always say, I love capturing LOVE it warms me up inside. It's selfish in a way. Yes, these portraits are for my couples but out of serving them in the way GOD gave me talent- I get BLESSED. I dare to even say MORE than the couples that I serve because it happens over and over again.


Jesse...Rosa...THANK YOU so much for allowing me to be a part of your wedding day and for blessing me in ways that I can't even begin to explain. You two are such a beautiful couple and I am SO happy for you. Congrats!

Taryn + Tim

A few weeks ago (I know...isn't that bad, weeks not days!), I went out to Huntington Beach to shoot some engagement portraits for a really cool couple. They wanted to do some fun "rockabilly" type portraits in their backyard and then we headed on over to the beach to finish up. I had a LOT of fun with these two.


I'm lovin' those heels!! And the look on Taryn's face is PRICELESS! These two really played it up when we were shooting and just had fun with the whole thing. Another plus, they had a really cool neighbor that let us borrow his paper so we could complete the look in this portrait.












As I was editing these I totally noticed that Taryn has some "Drew Barrymore" type features. Don't you think??






My favorite part about this hand shot is that they AREN'T holding hands. They were walking towards me and Tim reached his hand back to grab Taryn's but their hands didn't quite meet before I took the shot.



Thanks Taryn & Tim for such a great session, I can't wait for your wedding!!

Delores + Jeremy

Delores & Jeremy met on the picket line of the super market strikes (remember those??) Now, my husband told me not to blog this, but I can't help myself..."It was love at first strike." I truly am a sucker for all things cheesey!

But seriously, all joking aside, Delores & Jeremy fell in love & have been together ever since. The thing I love about these two is that they are such a great team. It's awesome to just sit and watch them making decisions together. They really care about what the other thinks & feels & I find it to be down right refreshing.


We went over to Balboa Park in San Diego to shoot these engagement portraits and it was a lot of fun! They were such great sports and allowed me to shoot for over 2 hours! They indulged me with every whim that I came up with, which included: sitting, standing, laying, climbing, squatting, turning, twisting, spinning and publicly dancing.



Balboa Park has the most amazing doors on their buildings. I especially liked the patterns and colors on this one because they were just perfect.






Here's a shot of the public dancing I was telling you earlier. The story behind this is, we were walking around this musician to go through this cafe that led to a grassy area that was gated off. As we were passing I was like, "That would be so cute for you guys to dance with the musician playing in the background." Now sometimes I "suggest" things to couples that never come to fruition. Which I thought was the case in this scenario but on the way out, to my surprise, Delores extended her hand to Jeremy and they started dancing! It was so special. My favorite thing about this shot is that Delores & Jeremy aren't the focal point. It gives that sense of spontaneity and makes your eye look at the musician first and then over to Delores & Jeremy.



What you can't see in this portrait is that they actually had an audience. There was a dad there with his son. And some people who were in the parking lot, stopped to watch. I was impressed that they were able to dance like that in the middle of the sidewalk. And I am glad that they did because these shots are priceless. Look at Delores' smile!


This shot was a ton of fun. I just had them lay on the ground facing each other and framed Delores' face through the opening that Jeremy's arm created. I can't take full credit for this shot though. I had seen it done a while ago by a very talented photographer (translation: I don't remember who it was) but I remember thinking it was a great idea. I had forgotten about it until I saw them laying there staring into each other's eyes and was like, "Hey! Let's try..."


The sky is so beautiful here. That was natural. I didn't do that in PS at all. I gave the colors a boost but there is no gradient filter usage...at all.


This shot is my FAVORITE in the entire session. It feels romantic and very "spanish villa-ish" I love the flowers and the intense moment before the kiss, look for this one on my WEBSITE for sure.


Well, congrats, Delores & Jeremy! I am so happy we met & I can't wait to share in your special wedding day!!!

Engagement Session: Tiffany + Aaron

A BIG congrats goes out to Tiffany and Aaron on their engagement! We had such a blast shooting these portraits in Laguna. The weather was perfect, the beach wasn't crowded and we both found parking spaces! Oh, it's always the little things that make me smile.


*NOTE: For the photographers out there, Lagana Beach by the Montage is by far THE best beach to shoot at. It has tons of rock formations, it's secluded and you never really run out of inspiration.



This portrait is one of my favs! I don't know why I am such a fan of headless bodies. I love to shoot perspectives of hands, feet, arms, legs...there is just something about the emotion of body language that inspires me (silly- huh??). I actually L-O-V-E-D this portrait SO much that I changed it to be the very first picture you see on my newly designed WEBSITE.



The thing I loved most about Tiffany & Aaron, is the way that they "looked" at each other. Aaron ADORES Tiffany and it radiates in the way he smiles at her, in the way that his eyes light up when she squints her nose, and the way that he holds her. These two are such a great couple and I can't wait to capture their wedding day!

A Love Story...

I recently had the opportunity to shoot some engagement portraits for my little brother. He recently came back to California after being away for 5 years. He has served our country, did two tours in Iraq and met his beautiful-soon-to-be wife in Savannah, GA. They fell in love and she came home with him to sunny California. Not only was it an HONOR to shoot their portraits but I had a lot of fun too! They are a super cute couple who will always have you laughing until your belly aches.

It's funny because this little tree setting is in the most unlikely of spots. I love that the leaves on the tree were falling off and that the branches were kind of bare. I can't wait to go back in the spring and see how they fill in.

I actually got the, "Sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G" idea from my very talented photographer friend Karen Demamiel. She did some amazing family portraits in a tree and I really can't take credit for the idea.

I absolutely LOVE this red wall. It photographs really well and is a lot of fun to use in pictures.

And then there is the brick! They really hammed it up for me during these next few shots. It happened to be very close to pouring rain and I can't even begin to tell you how COLD it was! My hands were numb and all of us were shivering but they still managed to be silly.

Aww....thanks guys for having me take your portraits! I had a great time and I can't wait for the wedding next year!


So, I had to throw this one in...this is my brother and I when he came back from Iraq the last time. We (my mom & I) got to fly to South Carolina and meet him at the flight deck when he got off the plane. We watched it land and had to find him out of the 500 other Marines that came home that day. With tons of tears and long hugs we welcomed him back home! Thank you Joey for serving our country and making the sacrfices that you did. I love you oh, so much!!