Amanda and Mike Engagement Session (Oct 2012)

Well hello there, old friend.  Blogger.com is a link I haven't typed into my browser bar in quite awhile...although I've been meaning to!  Eeks.  I committed to getting back to blogging quite awhile ago...then life happened.  You know how it goes.  But I'm going to try this again and force myself to post here...there's actually a purpose to it, so hopefully that will help me stay motivated.

So I randomly picked an old session to post here for my first post in a year (and that one didn't even really count as a photo post)...this super cute couple came to me for their engagement session, and rumor has it they just got married in Hawaii last weekend!  Congrats to the beautiful bride and groom. :) :)

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Michelle and Isaac

So about 2 months ago, some may recall that I vacationed in the gorgeous state of Florida for 3 weeks...well it turns out that while I was gone, I happened to miss a LOT going on back home.  For instance, my 20 year old sister and her boyfriend decided to head off to Las Vegas with my mom and get engaged and then married!  I didn't find out about it until I got back from Florida...wow, was that a shocker.

I will say though, that I absolutely adore my sister's boyfriend HUSBAND, my now brother-in-law, and that if she was gonna go off and get married without telling anyone, I'm glad it was with him.

They're planning a ceremony/mini-wedding for March 2012 so that friends and family can actually be there and celebrate with them.  So while they've already tied the knot and skipped the engagement stage pretty much, we decided to do some engagement-style photos for the them so that they could still have the photos and use them for the invites or save the dates or whatever they want.

We planned to go down to the Santa Monica Pier to do their photos as it has a bit of sentimental value for them, but as the weekend we were going to do them turned out to be the "Carmageddon" weekend, we got scared off thinking about driving to the 10 fwy to go to Santa Monica which is where the 405 shut-down actually began (turns out the freeway really wasn't that bad after all). 

So instead I suggested we take the Metro train to downtown L.A. and do some pictures there since I've been dying to go there and take photos forever now.  We'll still go to Santa Monica soon and do pics there too, but for now we have these photos.

Here's a few highlights from our long day of walking around the downtown area and hopping on and off the train.    There was more I wanted to photograph, but bellies were getting hungry and patience was running thin, so we called it a day. :)

Andrea and Jamel Engagement Photos (continued)

Oh I had so much fun editing these pictures...I think this might be my favorite shoot to date.  Everything was just so perfect.  Lighting was great, colors were vibrant, subjects were beautiful, everything was just the right recipe to make these pictures....and i absolutely love how they turned out. :) :)

I'm also much happier with my formula for this different color variation...the "retro" look I guess you could call it....I have been tweaking the formula for MONTHS now....and I think I'm finally at a place where I'm happy....I'll never be 100% satisfied with anything, but I do like this look....

Now that it's getting towards what I want the final look to be, I'd love your feedback on it.  Below is a mixture of regularly colored photos, "retro" photos (I need to come up with my own name for that look), then the b/w and sepia ones....feedback creates improvement, so i'd love to hear it. :)

Now, on with the photos! :)

Andrea and Jamel Engagement Photos (continued)

LOVING this picture right now...just wanted to share :)

Andrea and Jamel Engagement Photos

I had a super fun photo session at Manhattan Beach yesterday evening with Andrea and Jamel who will be tying the knot in July this year!

They were both a lot of fun to work with...I really enjoyed picking on Jamel each time he stopped smiling or got worried about having to do cheesy poses that some of the other couples on the beach with other photographers were doing. :)  They were both super sweet and I loved being able to sit on the sand with them for a bit hearing their story of how they met while we waited for the sun to get low.

Something about being at the beach at any time of day, but especially during sunset, is so pleasing and serene...and the fact that I was "working" while enjoying the beach just makes me smile. :) :)

Here's a little sneak peek for Andrea and Jamel.  Thank you both for trusting me to capture this special time in your lives. :)

Tia and William

Loved my photo session this evening over at Redondo Beach!  This couple was super sweet with looks to match.  They were also very patient braving the cold as we waited for the sun to set so I could get some of these awesome sunset pics that you'll see below.

Following is a little sneak peek at their photos.  I'll post more soon! :)