April 18th, 2013:
Blog post by Felicia:
Sarah & Jeff are some of the loveliest, kindest people we’ve ever met. From the very first email we received from them, to our initial consultation, those were just the beginning of all the “awwwww….” moments we would experience with these two. Their engagement session at Balboa Park in San Diego helped us truly appreciate how freakin’ adorable they are. Seriously.
Needless to say, we were very much looking forward to their wedding on the Queen Mary, and guess what? They were AWESOME! Or…. if you’re familiar with the T-Rex meme, Jeff & Sarah were UNSTOPPABLE!!! (Sorry, inside joke)
Congratulations, Sarah & Jeff. We are so happy for you, and are so glad that you found us!
Ringbearer did what he was told: walk to the end of the aisle. But… he also flung the shell containing the rings. Thank goodness for decoy rings….
It was windy.
Jeff & Sarah are both chemists, and when getting ready, she told me that there was a surprise for me. We had talked about chemistry-related wedding ideas during their engagement shoot, and here it was: Elements of the periodic table for table numbers, and test tubes for escort cards!
January 18th, 2013:
Nellie and I met way back in the day I was a bartender (somewhere around late 2004 or early 2005). I served drinks, and Nellie usually dropped by once a week or so during happy hour for an icy cold beverage and we developed a banter-filled relationship across the bar top. When I finally decided to ditch the house, the car and take off on a 1 year round the world trip in February 2006, I started this blog (hence the title “Mom Says I’m Running Away” ) and Nellie became one of my first followers as I posted about my travels through Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S. – she even named my bicycle when I rode PCH from Santa Monica to San Francisco (go read the comments). Needless to say she has always been in the background rooting for me. So when she shot me a Facebook message about doing family photos for her, Ambrosia and Samuel we immediately got it all set up for a cold January afternoon.
Felicia and I had a wonderful time with this beautiful family and just have to say thanks once more for the ribs + beer post shoot. Nellie, I think we should try to do this more often than once every 6 years…
September 20th, 2012:
Blog post by Felicia:
Lucy & Luis were from California and New York respectively, but they now live in Florida. They found us online, booked us, and yesterday we finally got to meet them for their engagement shoot here in California, in the adorable Belmont Shore neighborhood of Long Beach. Our shoot took place at La Creperie Cafe where Lucy & Luis had their first date, and I guess it felt like a bit of a “first blind double date” for Rob & I as well, since all our consultation with Lucy & Luis had been over email and phonecalls thus far.
The location was gorgeous, and dare I say: Lucy & Luis even more so. (Am I the only one that sees a Penelope Cruz-meets-Salma Hayek resemblance?! And… I love Lucy’s lace peplum top – so au courant – and those shoes!!!)
It’s awesome to shoot at a location that not only was visually amazing, but also held so much sentimental value for them. We had so much fun, and are definitely looking forward to Lucy & Luis’ big day in a few weeks here!
Special thanks to Fern Casner, the affable and very accommodating manager of La Creperie Cafe for being so helpful! (Bummer… we had to go to another meeting yesterday immediately after the shoot: I would have loved to try and sample the food! Don’t worry Rob, I’ve already bookmarked this on my Yelp app!)
Congrats Lucy & Luis!
We usually advise against looking down at the camera (too many chins may appear), but Luis & Lucy clearly proved us wrong. They just look freakin’ epic.
April 27th, 2012:
Last weekend, Felicia and I kicked off Wedding Season 2012 with Paty & Orlando‘s travel-themed nuptials in Long Beach. We arrived at the Westin to find the place crawling with sniffer dogs and scores of guys who look like they were with the Secret Service: I guess the Dalai Lama was staying there before his lecture at the Long Beach Convention center! Thankfully we had no issues, and made our way to Paty’s suite where she was surrounded by her closest friends and family.
Orlando wasn’t shy in making sure he got enough kisses on his wedding day. Good job!
Paty’s 100-year-old grandma congratulates her new grandson-in-law. She not only made it to the wedding, she stayed throughout the reception!
Congratulations, Paty & Orlando! May your life together be full of travel adventures, for many, many years to come!
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Ceremony Venue: Grace Brethren Church. Long Beach, CA.
Reception Venue: The Sky Room. Long Beach, CA.
March 19th, 2011:
Felicia and I are currently in the midst of one of our busiest weeks ever: We shot 5 engagement shoots in five days, a wedding last Saturday, and are leaving for a wedding this afternoon in about 2 hours here – I am currently in the middle of triple checking gear, blogging and editing through a previous session. Through all this activity we are still overjoyed for the chance to live this life, create imagery that our clients cherish and have the opportunity to meet/work with so many different people.
On Wednesday, we met Maria and Donny who drove out from Las Vegas to meet us at the Cal State Long Beach Japanese Gardens for their portrait session + family shoot.
We started by staying very low key just in case security decided we shouldn’t be there, but after about 20 minutes no one had bothered us and we let the stress go. We suspect we may have lucked out and they may not have cared because on the other side of the gardens was a rowdy graduating kindergarten class doing photos, so we were easily the least annoying thing in the garden on that particular day.
Unfortunately for us just before leaving we missed filling the meter by a mere two minutes and learned a $48 lesson…. oh well…
After about an hour working with just Maria and Donny, Felicia and I got to met their handsome little son, Devlin. Maria, who is a photographer herself, has got this little guy so trained that as soon as you lift the camera he goes Zoolander on you with his various smirks, grins, smiles and looks. Too cute. I had to restrain Felicia from playing with him too much, lest she want one too. Charming children are dangerous…
We had a great time meeting the three of you and thanks for making the trip!
