This family is truly wonderful! We met them in the first months after we moved to Los Angeles, and ever since, they’ve been a big part of our lives. In that time, we’ve seen the birth of 3 children between our families (one in theirs, two in ours!) and we’ve had many other adventures together! Clarice is a faculty member at UCLA in Dentistry and Ian is a Film Director and Stunt Coordinator. He’s appeared in many hollywood blockbusters as a stunt double, but you’d never know it! After all, the whole idea is to believe that the superstar hero figures are really doing all that crazy stuff themselves. Nope! Just Ian and his awesome skills!

We’re so glad we had the opportunity to capture them and their two great kids. What cuties!

It would be an understatement to say that I was riveted when I first read Galina’s story. I know that people suffer through tragedies of every variety, but this woman’s story takes the cake for me. She endured her spouse’s physical abuse and alcoholism, poverty, divorce, and ultimately lost her three sons and then ex-husband in a horrific murder/suicide. Any one of those things could leave anyone hollow and broken, which I’m sure she experienced for a time, but her story does not end there. Galina is a picture of strength, courage, and hope.  Somewhere in her sorrow, she found Jesus, she met and married a wonderful man, and she is now an inspirational speaker for any audience that would like to hear her testimony.

I was really honored to be asked to create some photographs of her for her new website that is coming soon, and in the hour I spent with her, I could sense the authenticity of her hope. This woman is vibrant, compassionate, and lovely in every way! I highly recommend reading her story if you have a chance. It is a bit of a read, but so worth the time.

Galina, thanks again for sharing your hope with the world! It was truly a pleasure to meet you!

We weren’t the only ones who had a baby in October! Our friends, the Dukes welcomed their son just two days before we welcomed ours, and he is one cute little fella! We were so excited to meet him at 2 weeks old, and these are some of the highlights of our session with him. With two very multi-talented parents, I’m sure he’s going to grow into a terrific little guy! Congratulations Duke family!

It has been a wild month, full of blessings and surprises galore! We welcomed our third child almost exactly 4 weeks ago and of course, our house hasn’t been the same since. We’re so thrilled with our new little guy, but as with the addition of any newborn, sleep schedules get funky and most other tasks slow down to a halt. We’re excited to now be a family of five, and now that we’ve taken some time to re-group, we’re getting back into the groove! Anyway, for those who stalk us just because our kids are cute, here are some photos of all of them! Enjoy!

Every once in a while a family comes along that makes you want to do a happy dance and the Patti family makes me want to dance! They’re so full of joy and exuberance, and who can resist their daughter’s beautiful smile? Not me. We’ve had the privilege of photographing the Patti’s twice this year, and somewhere in the hullaballoo of having a baby (those pictures are coming to the blog soon too!) we forgot to post their first session on our blog! Never fear! We will make things right this very day! Here are a selection of images from their November Holiday Card Session followed by some exciting shots from our beach shoot earlier this year. Any mothers out there reading might be interested in Lynne’s blog about all things heart & home. Mike is a composer for film and television and you’re welcome to check out his website too! Talk about some talented folks!

Anyway, be forewarned that we’re determined to catch up on our blog-posting this week, so you’ll be seeing lots more of what we’ve been up to!

I’m not really a girl to swoon over flowers, but there was something about the exquisite and creative floral arrangements at Christy & Martin’s wedding that made me so excited! In fact, all the details from this wedding were beautiful! Beautiful bride, beautiful location (Rancho Capistrano), and a tremendously meaningful event celebrating the marriage of Christy & Martin. It was especially fun to be at this wedding, as we’ve grown to know much of their extended family over the years, having shot several other weddings and events for them. It was an especially interesting day for me, being 36 weeks pregnant with our third child, but amazingly everything turned out perfectly and I managed to find the energy to make it through!

Christy & Martin-We hope your Hawaiian honeymoon was relaxing and wonderful! We’re so glad we were able to capture your wedding!

September has been a month full of delightful events, including the wedding of Tony & Cathy. Their celebration took place on September 5th, and we are still talking about how much fun they were to photograph and hang out with that day. Weddings are typically full of great details, but I was impressed to see how personalized their wedding was…it was perfectly “them”! Here are a few highlights from their special day. You’re also welcome to see the slideshow to their wedding album design! Thanks Tony & Cathy for having us there…We hope you have many amazing years ahead together!

Last year we had the opportunity to participate in an experience called Terra Nova. While there we had a chance to do some cool things so we decided to take pictures of people jumping onto mats and using lighting to freeze them midair (Slideshow).  Well it is that time of year again and Terra Nova is this weekend. Due to the nearness of the event we were approached and asked to help come up with an idea to help advertise this year’s Terra Nova. The first thing that jumped into our minds was just pulling off the same thing we did last year since so many people had fun with that. Here is a small sample of some pictures that we took this last Sunday. We hope you enjoy and also hope to see you at Terra Nova this year.

I’ve always had a really special connection with my mother, and knowing that not all daughters do, I’m always really blessed when I meet other mother/daughter duos. I recently was able to capture such a connection between this little girl and her mom, and it was really meaningful! It got me all sentimental about the memories I’ve made with my  own mama over the years, not to mention the memories I’m beginning to make with my daughter. What precious times these are!

It is clear that most of the summer has slipped by and we haven’t updated our blog. So sorry! We’ve been on many adventures, and despite the silence, we’ve been taking lots of photos! Here’s to getting caught up over the next few weeks!

Christy & Martin are a delightful couple whose wedding is just a few weeks away, and we finally were able to connect to do their engagement session. Here are a sampling of some of our favorites! I have a feeling that their wedding is going to be seriously awesome! Congratulations guys! See you again soon!