I miss you too

Well, we're at the lovely place where Wedding Season meets Christmas Season so I'm a little ... scattered. That's the nice way of saying crazy busy and stressed! And we all know that this blog suffers tremendously when that happens! I miss you!

To tide you over, here are 10 things you may be interested to know:

1) Information about Holiday Photosessions is up on my photoblog

2) Adam's second first day of UCLA is happening right now - he decided to sign up for the Advanced Screenwriting class so he's back doing the commute once a week - I just got a text saying that his professor reminded him of Reba so you know it's going to be an incredible semester! Sorry to disappoint - no photo this year.

3) Be sure to check out Melissa's blog for a CRAZY story about her sister Erin who is a total rockstar - please pray for her if you haven't been already!

4) I just found out that we are FINALLY getting a Sonic nearby!! Whoop! Whoop!

5) I also just found out that in 2009, you can go to Disneyland for free on your birthday. Neat!

6) We went to Arizona last week - it was fun. There's a whole blog coming about this soon.

7) It's Holiday Week at our house! There are a couple of important days coming up this week! Can you guess what they are?

8) Shannon's having another boy!

9) Fall is here! You couldn't tell it from the weather today but I'm still excited. I'm dreaming of cool weather and have my sweaters ready to go (yes - we do have fall in CA).

10) Oh - also it thundered at my house 2 days ago. I know, I know - it's sad that this is BIG news but it really really is! I think I've heard it thunder literally once since I've moved here. I kept waiting for the all-out downpour but sadly it never happened. I'll keep dreaming.

Ok, I think that's all I've got for tonight - back to work! I'll leave you with this little gem from our drive home from Arizona!

Everyone can (learn to) take good pictures!

I was giving my mom a couple of photo tips for a wedding she was attending last weekend and thought that maybe I would share one with you. Maybe this will turn into a series. Maybe. Because I genuinely believe that everyone can learn to take great photos with any camera, any lens, and any level or lack-there-of of creative ability.

Today's lesson is about light. One of the first photographers that I worked for told me to think of taking pictures as taking a photo of the light rather than the subject. And it's so true! It's so so important!

My goal is to always put my subject in good light - I love natural, no-flash-needed light because it's easy for your camera to figure out and it's flattering for your subjects.

So here are some take-away principles:
1) When possible, use flattering natural light with no flash!
2) Have your subject facing the light source.
3) Put your subjects in even light (shade is great b/c no harsh shadows!)

Here's a great example from my friend Kaci's wedding that we were just talking about a couple of entries ago. We opted to take our small point-and-shoot (canon, of course) rather than the big guns.

Adam and I arrived at the wedding and were standing on a covered walkway just above the ceremony looking down on the ceremony site.

Hmmm, lets try to take a photo of ourselves with the ceremony site in the background.

Here's what we got - yikes!!! See! Everyone takes bad pictures from time to time!


What a disaster! The light on the area behind us was super bright (#3 - uneven light) and we were facing a wall rather than the direction that the pretty light was coming from (#2 - face your subject towards the best light source). What a mess - I totally turned off my photo brain for that one.

So, all we did was turn 180 degrees and this one turned out a little better! We're standing in the exact same spot but just facing the opposite way and what a difference!


The light is even and flattering because we are in the shade (no shadows!) but facing the light source.

Here's a few favorite examples from my real photo work that I think turned out cool just because of the light:

Here, Michelle is standing in a doorway so there is really pretty natural light coming from behind me:

You can see the light source in this shot from Heather's bridal session (who got married this weekend!! Be sure to check my photoblog for a few images but the real blog will hopefully be coming soon!).
In this hospital shot, I opened all of the blinds and windows to a large window just behind me, to let the pretty light in on Courtney, Kyle, and Raegan:


Of course there are exceptions to these "rules" and it's not always possible to have natural light and all of that, but this will give you a start to begin paying attention to what and where your light source are!

Ok - does that all make sense? Would you like to see more photo-tips in the future? Let me know if there is a particulay photo issue you would like me to address in the future!

Happy picture taking!

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend, we had fun visitors come to see us! Ok, they weren’t really here to see us, but we’ll take what we can get! My brother’s college, The University of Tennessee, was playing UCLA in the season opener at the Rose Bowl, so it was a great excuse for a visit!

My mom and cousin Miriam were the first to hit town – we had a fun couple of girls’ days eating, shopping, and seeing some of the sights around Orange County.

Veggie Burgers at The Counter:


Visiting the Nixon Presidential Library:


Morning Brunch at a wonderful Tea House in San Juan Capistrano- Salmon Eggs Benedict!:




The view from the Montage:


Miriam experiencing her first Frozen Banana at Balboa Island:



My dad and brother Daniel came in a couple of days later just in time for the game. It was our first time at the Rose Bowl for a game!


Adam and I sported our UCLA blue even though we were in the middle of the Big Orange section – I grew up in a house of Vols fans but Adam is a UCLA student … tricky. I opted for cheering for whoever was on offense!


The Vols fans:


Cousins divided:


It was an amazing game and I think that everyone had fun despite the outcome . . .what a fun Labor Day weekend!

Kaci and Jeff's wedding!

Last weekend, we got to be guests at a wedding rather than working, for once! It’s such a nice change of pace to slow down and be part of the celebration! A good friend of ours from high school, Kaci, got married this weekend in La Jolla and the wedding was beautiful!!

The Estancia Hotel and Spa – what a perfect location for a wedding. We added it to our list of places to visit again soon!


Kaci and her dad coming down the aisle:




High school friends! Ryan, John (soon to be a west coaster too!!), and us:


With the bride:


Kaci and Jeff’s first dance was choreographed and was precious – not too formal or stuffy – it was perfect for them!



I loved their wedding cake!


Proof!! He DOES dance!!



Girlfriends from high school . If only our high school pictures were digital . . I could show you some from back in the glory days!! Proms, high school plays, the works! Now we’re all married and Laura (right) is a mom to FOUR kids!! How did we all grow up so fast?


What a fun night! Congratulations to Kaci and Jeff!

The League of Men

As I'm sure you're all aware - football is back. And, as you are also probably aware - fantasy football aka The League of Men is not something that is taken lightly around here.

As much some of us go cross-eyed from the endless year-round fantasy banter, I'm glad they have something to keep themselves occupied.

Here's Adam's logo for the year. He learned everything he knows about photoshop from me:


The official 08/09 draft happened over labor day weekend and was kicked off by the awards ceremony and jacket presentation.

Josh T (2006 winner) congratulates Jonathan (2007 winner):

Yes, if you're wondering, that is an embroidered framed blazer with each year's winner stitched into the sleeve - click to enlarge for a better view. It may or may not actually be a women's blazer - but you didn't hear that from me.


The Double Commish (Kyle + Jonathan) introducing the 2008 draft:



The draft in action - nope, they don't take it very seriously:


Adam's stand-out players this year are Adrian Peterson (his keeper from last year that he got to take in the 3rd round!) and Randy Moss (who was much more promising before Brady's injury last week). Go JWitt's Bandwagon Express!!

We Heart CenCal! part 2

After a good hard look at the map, I decided that our trip was more of a CenCal trip than NoCal. What do you think?


On Day #2, we woke up in Monterey, CA in our Cannery Row Hotel that we loved!


We spent the morning at the awesome aquarium:



Someone's excited about the otters!


My favorite was the jellyfish!!




The reef tank:


No! That's not Ariel - it's me!


In the afternoon we drove around the Monterey Peninsula through Pebble Beach and down to (our future residence) Carmel.



On the 17-Mile drive through the Pebble Beach community - it was incredible!:




I wish I had taken more pics in Carmel - the cottages are to die for and you know how I love me a good cottage!!

We landed at The Flying Fish for dinner and wow! It was such a great unique restaurant - probably our favorite of the trip. We felt like locals and decided we'll eat there often once we move there.


You have to be sure to go if you are ever in the area - it's kind of a hole in the wall!

After Monterey, we spent one quick night in San Francisco - we were there less than 24 hours so we opted to get a general overview of the city by driving through Golden Gate Park, past the Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, etc. with promises to come back when we have more time to spend there.

Don't miss the hoodie-turned-scarf on Adam and the Golden Gate bridge in the background!


Our favorite San Fran stop - the Ferry Building marketplace:


Finally, after San Francisco, we headed inland to Lake Tahoe, our final destination! It was breathtaking as we anticipated! Beach, water, mountains, trees, jet skis, cute little villages - it was awesome! We were there to work (see photoblog) but we loved just walking around and getting to spend a little time getting to know the area - we can't wait to go back when we are just there to play!



We had such a great trip! It's been a while since we've been on a good road trip and I loved getting to spend a few days away with Adam and see more of our great state! We heart CenCal!

We Heart NoCal! part 1

Adam and I had an AWESOME trip to Northern California last week. It was a great getaway and we just really enjoyed everything that we did - even more than we were expecting! Here's a quick rundown of what we did!



Day 1: Driving from OC to Monterey. Of course we made a quick stop at the Camarillo Outlets and then took another break in San Luis Obispo to stretch our legs and see the town - as usual, it made me want to go back to college again! It was also at this point that we started plotting our eventual move to the Central Coast. Can you tell that we liked it?

From San Luis Obispo, we jumped on the 1 and drove north.


After living in San Luis Obispo for a couple of years, we're planning to purchase the Hearst Castle and host dinner parties for our friends and weekend getaways - feel free to come visit anytime!



After that gets old, we'll move up to Big Sur and run the restaurant where we stopped for dinner, Nepenthe. It was so unique and had such an amazing view - you could feel the crisp mountain air and the food was great. It was just what we needed after a long day in the car!

Nepenthe (don't worry - we'll change the name so it's easier to remember) - how awesome is this place!:



Our dinner view:


The evening sunset in Big Sur:


After dinner, we finished our day's drive up to Monterey where we stayed for 2 nights! Monterey is just north of Carmel where we'll be moving after Big Sur. And we'll probably just stay there because I don't think you could ever get me to leave!!

This is getting long already so I think I'll make you wait for installment #2 for the rest of our trip! Check back soon!