Do you ever pick up Glamour magazine and flip straight to the “Hey it’s Okay” page?  I do…pretty much every time.  It is seriously my favorite thing about that magazine.  It’s great that someone out there in magazine publishing land is reminding me about these things that are okay to do.  Well today, I’m going to be the random person in magazine publishing land and give you my own hey it’s okay.

A few weeks ago, I did a shoot just for fun!  I was on my way home from San Diego and stopped in Santa Monica to shoot with my friend and amazing model, Brooke Howard.  We had such a blast just playing dress up and figuring out the pictures as we went.  It was so nice to just have fun while I was shooting….the pressure was off and we just rolled with the punches.  It really keeps the creative juices flowing to do something just for you every once in a while.

So I’m here to say….hey, its OKAY….to stop and do something for yourself!  This applies to almost anything, including wedding planning.  If you are stressed, stuck in a rut, or just sick of explaining to every other person what your dress looks like and what the color scheme of your wedding is….go do something for yourself!  Because, hey, it’s OK!

Grab your girls and have a no wedding spa day, go out and drink, attend a sporting event, or do my favorite thing to blow off steam/relieve stress what are average carpet cleaning prices….RETAIL THERAPY!!!!  Nothing says I’m feeling better like a new pair of shoes or that really cute jacket that you have been eying for two weeks!

You need to keep fresh to really be on your game for whatever it is in your life….so take a day for yourself….cuz (and I know I’m getting slightly repetitious here) HEY, IT’S OKAY!!!!

ps. Check out what I did with my hey it’s okay, just for me photo shoot!!!! 🙂  (Brooke totally rocked it!)

I am not sure how or when the over the top proposal tradition started, but I must say, I LOVE it.  I love that people are showing their love in front of crowds of strangers, proposing in public venues, making it memorable, recording it so that they have that memory forever, and most importantly…they are photographing it!  I’ve seen live lip dub videos, flash mobs, fake movie previews, and of course, Disneyland proposals!

Below are some amazing proposal pictures that I found on pinterest.  (My favorite is the one outside of California Adventure!! And my second favorite is the photo on the heart bridge next to Snow White’s Castle!)

I think that getting a proposal to be photographed is amazing and very thoughtful, but let’s take it a step further and on top of getting it photographed (cuz let’s face it, you can’t not have it photographed), get it FILMED!!!!  That’s right, below are links to some of my favorite proposals that were caught on film.  These guys were really thinking and really went above and beyond for the most special person in each of their lives.  Props to these guys. Seriously.

http://vimeo.com/23375930 (This is one of the sweetest proposals I’ve ever seen.  I was teary eyed the whole time.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzPld1qpvl8  (Hang tight with this one.  It takes a few seconds to get going but it’s pretty funny)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su1YLAjty-U  (Seriously?!?!?!  Who doesn’t want their own flash mob proposal?!?!?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA3Cd-To8io  (This guy proposed with memes! YES!)

http://www.break.com/index/greatest-marriage-proposal-ever-2059534  (This guy made a fake movie trailer.  SO AWESOME!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_v7QrIW0zY  (I’ve watched this like five times.  Live lip dub proposal.)

If you ask me what one of my favorite things about photography is, I will tell you that it’s under water portraiture.  But more importantly, it’s under water bride and groom photos. Why?  It’s simple.  Under water is a whole new world with a bunch of new possibilities to explore.  For most people, it’s not a normal place to be photographed, so it’s kind of like creating a fairy tale.  It becomes this wondrous place that kind of exists, but only imagination can take it all the way there….just like wonderland or, you guessed it, Disneyland. These photos look like they are taking place in a dream and that is what makes me love them so much.  We have left reality and jumped straight into fantasy.

In an earlier post, I wrote about using a Disney Dream Wedding to create your fantasy and while I still think that Disney Dream weddings are amazing and a great way to do so, why not use under water portraits instead? (or both, if you’re lucky!)  Forget trash the dress, let’s go swimming and create your own personal dream world.  For me, this is like jumping into a fairytale and it would be a dream come true to be photographing fantasy worlds every day.

Check out the photo session below, hard to believe it’s in a pool huh?  Though swimming in a big bridal gown is no easy feat, we had so much fun creating these photos! It was hard work but I’d say the end result is pretty spectacular.  Any other brides want to jump in a pool with me?!?!

A big thank you to Mr Tuxedo for lending us one of his tuxes, House of Flowers for the beautiful bouquet, and Mary Rita Nommenson for the veil and dress!  Btw, Bakersfield (or non Bakersfield) bride and grooms, if you are looking for alterations, amazing hand made bouquets, or some very good looking tuxedos, please call the previously mentioned people.  They are all amazing and will take extra special care of you on your wedding day!

As you all may or may not know, I am the biggest Disney freak ever!  Walt and everything he created fascinates me.  Mickey and Minnie are one of my favorite couples of all time (well, minus Cinderella and Prince Charming because who wouldn’t want to wear a gown and go to a ball?!?!), I am pretty much a human map of Disneyland, and it is my DREAM to photograph for Disney!  It only seemed fitting that for this blog post, I write about a mash up of my two favorite things….Disney and weddings!!!!

Did you know that you can get married at Disneyland and Disney world?!  You can stay in Cinderella’s castle, ride in Cinderella’s carriage (with dressed up attendants) and even invite Mickey and Minnie to your special day.  Disney has created packages for your Disney Dream Wedding!  They teamed up with David Tutera (one of my all time favorite wedding planners) to help you with the look of your wedding and they have also teamed up with Alfred Angelo to design princess inspired wedding gowns.  The one below is Snow White!  In true Disney fashion, they really have thought of it all!

Isn’t it every little girl’s dream to be a princess?  Unfortunately we are not all born into royalty (nor do many of us get to marry into it), so wouldn’t Disneyland be a great place to live that dream for the day?!  You would literally get to turn fantasy into a temporary reality….AND have your wedding photos done at Disneyland!!!  *hint hint. call me to photograph your Disney wedding!!!* (I could seriously spend two days photographing a bride and groom all over Disneyland and easily not hit all the amazing places to photograph in that park!)

If a Disney Dream wedding is out of your budget (darn those budgets!) and you are as big of a Disney fan as me, why not find small ways to incorporate your favorite Disney characters and movies into your wedding?!  You could have your favorite Disney movie being projected against a wall outside for all of the kids to watch (lay out blankets and popcorn and put some of the older kids in charge),  get your color inspiration from your favorite princess, or even have a Cinderella carriage wedding cake!!!

What can I say?  I love me some Disney.

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” -Walt Disney

The other day, I was going through an old hard drive and discovered that it had photos on it from when I went to school at Brooks Institute of Photography.  It was really amazing to see how far I have come as a photographer in the last five years.  If I wasn’t so emotionally attached to my old work from school, I could probably have gotten rid my entire first year.  Wow. Eventually, I came across a shoot I had done about half way through my second year at Brooks.  This was a school assignment called “celebrity.”  I can’t really remember all of the requirements but I believe the idea was to shoot something that would work as an inside spread and a cover for a magazine such as Cosmo, Elle, or Vogue.

When I got the assignment, I immediately called my friend, told her about the assignment and then said “okay, Brittany Spears meets Madonna at the circus.  GO!”  This is what we ended up coming up with and to this day it is still one of my favorite shoots.  The images below were images that I did not use for the assignment, but I still love them! What I wouldn’t give to shoot in a studio again with my favorite Hensel lights.  Maybe I need to call up Brooks Institute and see about getting some studio time.  Anyone up for a trip to Santa Barbara? Haha!

So guys, how did I do on my school assignment??? Leave a comment! 🙂