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! 🙂

Last weekend I was photographing a wedding and when the bride put her veil on, she decided that she didn’t really like it. She promptly asked me if she had to wear it and if I had ever photographed a wedding where the bride didn’t wear a veil.  I told her, of course I have photographed brides not wearing veils and it was not a wedding requirement anymore.  This was her wedding and she could do whatever she wanted….we did one portrait of her in the veil, in case she wanted it later, and she ditched it.

This got me to thinking about old wedding traditions and which ones are acceptable to break?  While there are certain old traditions of the wedding scene that we should still probably follow, I decided to go snooping around all of my favorite wedding sites to see what traditions were happily being broken.

What I found was that brides are no longer walking up the aisle to “here comes the bride” and they are instead choosing modern love songs.  My last bride walked up the aisle to “From this Moment On” by Shania Twain.

Another tradition being happily broken is the amount of children in a wedding.  It used to be that you had one or two flower girls and a ring berrar, but this is no longer.  I have seen a wedding have upwards of ten children in it….boys were blowing bubbles and girls were dropping flowers and dancing up the aisle.  I even have a friend who is referring to all the children in her upcoming wedding as “flower children”.

And finally, my favorite tradition being broken by brides and grooms today is when the bride and groom see each other.  More and more couples are seeing each other before the ceremony and I love it! Meeting before the ceremony not only eases nerves but it gives the couple a special moment that they would not otherwise have.  The build up is intense and makes the alone time that much more special.  Not only do couples get photos of their first reactions to each other but they don’t have to share it with anyone else.

I know there are some brides out there thinking about that magical movie moment when the back doors to the church open, everyone stands up, and there he is, at the alter, crying.  Trust me, I thought about that too, but guess what?!?!…you still get that moment!!  The first time I photographed a first look before the wedding, the groom still cried when the back doors to the church opened.  It wasn’t about seeing her for the first time, it was about seeing her in that moment.  That couple got both moments and it was amazing.

So, brides to be, remember that it is okay to break some traditions and if you are not sure what to break, I suggest doing some super sleuthing of your own!  Check out your favorite sites or ask any of the wedding professionals that are helping you with your wedding!  And don’t forget, it’s your day, enjoy it!! 🙂

They say it’s good luck if it rains on your wedding day and if this is true then my cousin Jeff and my new cousin Courtney are just plain blessed.  Last weekend Jeff and Courtney got married in Santa Barbara and boy did it rain.  Luckily, it was clear at exactly the right times of the day for photos.  You are probably wondering why I mentioned that, well, it’s because I was their photographer!  I beat the rain to the boy’s house and got some awesome photos on the rooftop and while I was with the girls, the rain came and went at just the right time for some outdoor photos.  The ceremony was so beautiful, the bride and groom looked like they belonged in a magazine, and the reception went off without a hitch!  The dance floor was full all night and the photos of everyone dancing are just hilarious.  It was such a great day for everyone involved but one of my favorite things was that I got to share a dance with the groom, whom I’ve known my entire life.  We grew up together, we even had our own words when we were little, and there I was dancing with him on his wedding day.  Of course, my second shooter documented me and Jeff dancing like FOOLS and even though we look slightly, totally ridiculous, that is not going to stop me from sharing with you.  Here is a sneak peak of the beautiful couple and a really goofy pic of my epic dancing skills.  Enjoy!