San Clemente, California

After having such a great time doing their engagement session, we couldn't wait to shoot their wedding at Calafia Park. Steffanie and Ruben are easy-going people so we knew it would a fun one. Although the rehearsal was rained out the day before, the skies cleared up and the sun came out for their wedding. It seems to always work out somehow.

Steffanie and her dad had a surprise dance for everyone so be sure to scroll down to the bottom to see it.

Steffanie's "Ruby" had given her the necklace as a present.

Calafia Park has an amazing backdrop with an ocean view.

I love to focus on the bride and groom's faces as they see each other for the first time.

The ring-bearer and flower girl were so adorable!

They are too cute around each other.

The reception site at the golf course.

This was the surprise father and bride dance. They started off dancing normally and then busted out a choreographed hip hop routine. I've seen the bride and groom do this, but this is a first for the bride and father! The dad pulled it off well I might add.

Another great idea was the colored hats that was passed out.

These women were going to slug it out for the bouquet.

The girls caught it at the same time but eventually one let go and gave it to the other.

We had a great time shooting Sarah and Noah's engagement session so we knew the wedding was going to be awesome. They had a couple of requests that I was thrilled about: The first was that they wanted mostly photojournalism style shots, which I always look forward to doing. The second was that, because Sarah's parents had been married at the same church, she wanted some shots that looked just like the ones that her parents had taken. She sent me some scans so I can try to match them. This took some preparation but I am so glad that I was able to pull it off because it was important to her. These are some of the shots...

Sarah had such an adorable expression here.

Noah's sisters were celebrating with Sarah the fact that they were soon going to be sisters.

This is one of the shots that Sarah wanted me to replicate. Look below to see my version.

I think it's pretty close.

They had one of the shortest ceremonies I've ever witnessed. This is because they just wanted so badly to be married so they could start enjoying their marriage. That is, after all, what it's all about.

I loved how they had their guests greet them as they came out of the church straight onto a red carpet and into a Rolls Royce. It's so old-fashioned it's beautiful.

Again, a shot of Sarah's parents.

And here's Sarah and Noah. This was such a cute idea!

Another cool thing about the wedding was that they had family and friends perform jazz music throughout the night. They are some talented people!

And finally, Noah sang a beautiful song to his wife, and you can just see how much she loved it.

Being the photographer's assistant, I usually just show up and help out wherever I can and get some shots of my own in. When Maria asked us to shoot her maternity photos, I asked Jimmy if I could do this one. See, I work with Maria and she's also a good friend. Her son, Joseph, is completely in love with me (sorry, Jimmy), so I really wanted to shoot this one for her. Of course, Jimmy couldn't just stand there and be my assistant for a day. The last couple of shots were taken by him.


Maria is the most gorgeous pregnant woman I've ever met and her son is just so flipping cute! We had told Joseph to talk to the baby, so that's what he was doing in the picture on the right.


For someone who's 8 months pregnant, that belly looks mighty small!








Like any little boy, Joseph couldn't resist playing in the water. This was his attempt in outrunning the water as it came up the shore. Mission failed.

Thanks, Maria and Joseph, for letting me take these shots. I had tons of fun and can't wait till baby Isabel comes.

Love,
Sen

Taking a one week hiatus from weddings, I was able to squeeze in two maternity shoots just in time for Mother's Day.

Kim is expecting any minute now so this was our last chance to get a shoot in before the baby comes. Schoolteacher and wife of my friend David, Kim comes off adorably in pictures. I can't wait to get the text with the good news!

No, the baby's name is not going to be Ted. She's actually going to be a girl, but since David starting calling the baby Ted for no reason, it just kind of stuck.

It's always flattering when people who work in the creative industry hire me as their photographer. Steve is a senior art director for a prominent website (hint: initials are A I) and I'm so glad that he and Kathy invited me to capture their beautiful wedding in Laguna Beach. We had so much fun during their engagement session that we were totally looking forward to this. Their family and friends were all so warm and friendly and just a joy to photograph. There are just too many great moments to post them all here, so these are just a few preview shots that I picked out.

The bride's brother getting ready.

The wedding party on both sides were so great to work with. This is a total guy shot and it was mostly unposed as they were walking down the hill.

We photographed Kathy and the girls in a home high up in the hills of Laguna Beach with an amazing view.

The wind was blowing a little so Kathy decided to have a little fun with it. This is just how silly and fun she is. I should mention here that Kathy skydives, a lot, and this is what she would probably look like if she were to have a wedding while skydiving.

While shooting the guys and girls at separate locations, the dogs in the neighborhood wanted to say hi. The adorable one below brought a tennis ball up to me to play fetch while I was shooting.

The cute flower girl smiled like this all the way down the aisle.

The interior of St. Mary's Episcopal Church is amazing with gorgeous hardwood and just as important, good air-conditioning.

Not pictured: The hundreds of people watching them being photographed, honking in their cars and congratulating them.

After a wedding, a bride just wants to relax and receive a foot massage.

During their engagement session, I told them to run on the beach and being the athletic types, they ran by so fast I could barely catch up. I learned my lesson so this time, I told them to jog by slowly.

One of my favorites of the day, Kathy and her beautiful expressions.

This cake topper has been passed down a couple of generations.

The lighting was perfect for their first dance.

The speech from Steve was emotional. It was quite endearing when he delivered his speech, and I'm so glad I was able to grab the gorgeous blue glow from the sky as it was disappearing.