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12-31-2010

Encore! Sunny Day Chasing the Clouds Away

Since I specialize in photojournalism, I prefer to keep the formal portrait sessions short.

Roxana and Claudiu had a beautiful fall wedding. After taking lots of photos of the bride and groom, we were running low on sunlight and took these group photos in about ten minutes.

Top 3 Tips for Short & Sweet Portrait Sessions

1. Focus on the bigger picture. Instead of photos with each one of your aunts and uncles, a group photo with the bride and groom with each of their families takes less time and your families can spend more time partying.

2. A photo with the entire bridal party can be fun. Especially if your wedding is short on time or sunlight, I recommend focusing on the entire bridal party and taking a few great photos of everyone, skipping the bride and bridesmaids / groom and groomsmen shots.

3. Save time for yourself. Although all your guests are important, I want to make sure to have the best photos of you, the newlyweds. After all, it’s your wedding!!!

Orange County, wedding, photographer
wedding, photography, Orange County

P.S. This is my new blog series called Encore!

When I blog about a wedding or portrait session, I try to arrange all the photos to tell a story. Sometimes great photos don’t quite fit. Encore! will feature one (or two!) of those photos every Friday.

Posted in Los Angeles wedding photographer,Orange County,portraits,wedding
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12-30-2010

City of Lights

Los Angeles, California
Here are some more images from our hike in Griffith Park. I switched to my Canon 24-70mm for these next photos.

A burned tree stands alone, a reminder, a warning.

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The lights go on all over Los Angeles. On the right side is the Griffith Observatory. The tall buildings on the left are downtown LA.

photography, Los Angeles

My last shot of the night, before hurrying back to the car.

photographer, Los Angeles
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12-28-2010

A Walk in the Clouds

Los Angeles, California
The day after Christmas, Michael and I went hiking in Griffith Park. I took along my trusty Canon 5D and my brand new Diana lens, known for hazy colors and a soft-focus feel, a present from my in-laws. Since it has been raining in LA for two weeks, the grass was electric green.

photography, Los Angeles

Thanks to the rains the views were also super clear. Los Angeles looks so much better without its 342-days-a-year smog layer.

photography, Los Angeles

Hollywood!

photography, Los Angeles

This is the spot where Michael proposed to me seven years ago. The area burned down in 2008 but a new Christmas tree has been planted in place of the one lost.

photography, Los Angeles

photography, Los Angeles

I love the view from here. Look at those mountains. I can see snow, and clouds!

photography, Los Angeles

This is the LA side of the park. On the lower right is Griffith Observatory, and the tall buildings on the left are downtown Los Angeles.

photography, Los Angeles

As the perfect end to our hike, we saw the sunset.

photography, Los Angeles
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12-27-2010

The Tail End of the Year

Chicago, Illinois
I love dogs. When I was a little girl, we lived in a place that didn’t allow them, so I made friends with all of the neighborhood dogs. I would feed them on the way to school – one ham sandwich was to share with all the doggies, the other I saved for my lunch. I was too little to know about dietary restrictions for dogs, I was just sharing with my canine friends.

Here are my two new doggie friends:

Darby

pet photography, Los Angeles

and Ginger.

dog photography, Los Angeles

Not only are they adorable, but both of these dogs are very well-behaved. Although they don’t quite understand what’s going on. Look over here Ginger!

pet photographer, Los Angeles

They are so fuzzy and cute!

dog photographer, Los Angeles

Here’s the whole family.

family photography, Los Angeles
family photographer, Los Angeles

Close-ups of the dogs.

pet photographer, Los Angeles

I love this shot with the two of them looking in the same direction. Squirrel!

dog photographer, Los Angeles

pet photography, Los Angeles

dog photography, Los Angeles

Thank you Elysia, Nathan, Darby and Ginger for a tail-waggin’ fun photo session!!!

pet photographer, Los Angeles

One last close-up…

dog photographer, Los Angeles
Posted in Chicago
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Ala - I remember feeding the doggies on the way to the bus stop. I think the St. Bernard was my favorite.

Polka Photos - Mine, too. He was so sweet.