Archive for the ‘Celebrate Life’ Category

I’ve been preparing for this post for a while now. Just after Thanksgiving it hit me, its been almost a year. Almost a year since I picked up my first DSLR. Almost a year since I decided to take a leap of faith. Almost a year since I’ve been living my dreams. When I started on this journey it seemed like there was infinite space ahead of me, almost like a black hole. I wasn’t sure what was going to amount from this experiment. I didn’t really know if I could be “good enough” to keep up with the billions of other photographers in LA. I didn’t know if I could survive in a business by myself. But as December comes to a close, I can’t deny that I’ve come a long way. In my opinion success is measured by happiness, which means I’m doing pretty darn good! I am beyond excited for 2011. Cheers to the new year!

Here’s a stroll down memory lane…

Chiara’s 3rd Birthday. My very first shoot. I was excited, and nervous, and completely exhausted by the end. I have never seen so many children running around in circles. And these were children from the school I where I was teaching at the time. Definitely felt like being thrown in the lion’s den.

Monique. I told Monique I wanted to practice shooting techniques. I didn’t let her put on makeup, we ended up shooting for 2 hours, then I put the images on my blog. She wasn’t happy, but can you blame me!? Some people just don’t know how naturally beautiful they are.

Jeff’s 40th Birthday. Julie discovered I was a photographer at Chiara’s party and enlisted me for her husband’s surprise party on the spot. The details of this party were absolutely fabulous and I’m still planning to do my own version of the shindig for my hubby in a couple of years.

The Photog Shootout. My first crack at weddings in the most appropriate setting- a workshop. I loved this experience and got some great images from it as well!

Laura & Billy’s wedding. Many of you remember the creativeLive Jasmine Star webcast I attended in Seattle. This was a surreal experience which really helped to launch my career. This image was so special to me, because of the 7 photographers shooting this wedding, I was the only one with this image.

Cerina is an aspiring entertainer. She’s a magnet to the lights, camera and action. We decided to do portrait style head shots to highlight her true personality, youth and beauty.

Yvette wanted portraits to commemorate her last year in her 20′s. She and her husband were planning to start a family around this time and Yvette actually found out she was pregnant a week after we took these photos! I still get chills!

Madden’s christening was the beginning of my sweet tooth. My sweet tooth for photographing baby cheeks, and lips, and fingers and toes…

Sonny and Maggie’s wedding was my first wedding I booked for myself and shot by myself. It turned out great, but I will never try to be Superwoman again.

Tracy and Cameron are my photo BFFs. But that only happened after we had a fun and fabulous engagement session at our alma mater CSUN. I’m so grateful to know wonderful people.

Mia Natalia was just 3 weeks old when we did her newborn session. Just after this shot Mia was introduced to the pacifier for the first time and we had a calm quiet baby. But I’m so glad I got this shot first!

Karly’s 6 month photos were definitely of the experimental nature, but she was very patient throughout the entire process. I love how pure this image feels.

Aneesah’s portrait session was a party! For real. There was music, drinks, fabulous shoes and accessories all over the place. It was like a small glimpse into my future studio space.

The Hill’s Family session was a last minute, just before Thanksgiving dinner race to find good light. It was difficult, but we got a few keepers.

Nina and AJ’s wedding. I was the second shooter for this wedding, but I stylized a few shots for my own portfolio. I like using chairs and sofas as props, but by far this is my favorite sofa ever!

The last event of the year was the Shootsac holiday party. I might try to make it a tradition to shoot a holiday party at the end of every year.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and I wish everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous 2011!