Beach Portraits

It such an honor when another photographer asked me to take her family photographs at the beach. We picked a Friday evening and went to South Laguna. I really like red as the accent color. It made the photographs pop more.

Beach Portraits

Presidential Names

Since, I photograph so many babies I get to discover the trendy names that are in right now. Presidential names are gaining in popularity. The lead so far is Jackson, Carter and Grant for boys and Madison, Kennedy, and Reagan are the lead for girls. The baby in this photograph is named Jackson!!!

Presidential Names

Curls

So much to blog so little time! I did this shoot over a month ago!! This little girl has the most gorgeous hair….love the curls and color. She was in such a good mood throughout the photo shoot. It was fun just capturing her blowing bubble and playing. Jazlyn’s Mother was so excited about her daughter’s shoot. She bought this cute little outfit for the shoot.

I like photographing the back of a child. She will never be this tiny ever again. It is good to see all angles.

Curls

p.I.n.k. Night

This past Thursday evening, The Renaissance ClubSport Hotel in Aliso Viejo hosted “Citrus Pink Night”. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Renaissance and p.I.n.k. Spirits teamed up for an evening of socializing, music, great food, prizes, p.I.n.k. Vodka, beer and wine. Ben and I (Studio 656 Photography) photographed the event at no cost, our contribution towards the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It was held outside by the Renaissance pool side and it was a very lovely and warm October evening. The great thing about being at this event, I know so many people that attended which makes for a fun photo shoot.

p.I.n.k. Night

Window Light

A birthday party that I photographed over a year ago led me to this wedding. The caterer, Crystal Catering of the birthday party asked me for my biz card. I was in the right place at the right time. Ben and I have since photographed two weddings because of Crystal Catering. The first three photographs of the Bride, I used window light which can be very soft and flattering. The last photograph was taken outside. No flash on any of these images. I prefer natural light but with off camera flash, I can create some lighting that enhances my photography even more. Lighting is everything…..

Window Light

Friends

I have a lot of fun on my photo shoots, meeting incredible people, getting to go on fabulous locations in Orange County. This photo shoot is of two best friends, Amit and Geri. Geri called me up after seeing my site online and wanted me to take photographs of the two of them because Amit is moving to Arizona this month. They wanted to have some photographic memories of their friendship. I met with them one evening for happy hour at the Winery in Tustin. I got to observe Geri and Amit interact with each other; they both like to tease each other and laugh a lot. Geri’s face is very animated so I knew she was going to be great to photograph. We were just trying to figure out where to do our photo shoot when I thought of Los Rios District in San Juan Capistrano. That street is filled with so many fab photo opportunities. We met a couple of weeks later for our photo shoot. Here are some of my favorite images from that shoot. I really like the one of Amit in focus and Geri in the background out of focus but you can see her laughing. I felt that these images really showed their personalities and captured their friendship.

Friends

Sandcastles

Today was just one of those picture perfect days in California. For once, I had no photo shoots so I took the day off to savior every moment of this fine day. I went to Corona del Mar to see the Sandcastle contest. Since I was a little girl, I had a fascination with Sandcastles. I used to live in Venice Beach and would spend many a delightful afternoon building Sandcastles. I have often heard about this annual contest in CDM but somehow I always missed seeing it. The contest started at 10:00 and the builders had to stop by 2:00, then the judging and by 3:00 announcing the winners. This years theme was Go for the Gold. Not the greatest theme. If they advertise it as a Sandcastle contest, I expect to see Sandcastles. The good news there were two Sandcastles at the contest. The Sandcastle in these photographs was the tallest. It was built by a family & employees of Doggie Walk. I talked to the owner, Chris Crosson; this is their 15th year as a contestant. It originally started out as his family event each year but then his employees are now sharing in the fun. Every year, they do a castle and there is always a dog, too (please see last photo with the dog)!! It was a treat to hang out at the beach all afternoon, people watching, eating hot dogs, etc. It was nice change of pace for me. Starting next weekend, I will be back to working every weekend until Thanksgiving. This afternoon will be like a good dream.

There were so many children out see to the contest.

Sandcastles

Pure Light Celebrations & Coast Kids Parenting OC Style Magazine

I got introduced to Pure Light Celebrations in Laguna Beach by freelance writer, Debbie Lavdas. Debbie asked me to photograph these children for an article she is writing about Pure Light Celebrations that is being featured in Coast Kids Parenting OC Style magazine this November. What is so unique about Pure Light Celebrations is being able to create your own candles in their Candle Studio. It is a fun experience.

The kids were captivated by the entire process of choosing their molds, scent, embellishments (butterflies, stars, stones, shells, etc.), and wax.

They were in the zone, very focused as they on created their candles. Living in the moment.

This is my favorite photograph. These two kids are mesmerized as they watched the hot scent being poured in to their molds. Recently, I hosted a Birthday party for my best friend at Pure Light Celebrations. We each made candles, had a ceremonial blessing for our Birthday girl, and a lovely dinner. It was a big hit with everybody. So next time you have a special occasion or need to buy something that is wonderful (a lot of fabulous home accessories from Bali) then head on over to Pure Light Celebrations, 821 Laguna Canyon Road • Laguna Beach, CA • 92651, 949-376.7200. Visit their web site: http://purelightcelebrations.com/index.php. Also look for my photographs in the November issue of Coast Kids Parenting OC Style magazine.

Pure Light Celebrations & Coast Kids Parenting OC Style Magazine