Heather + Chris - Estancia Hotel and Spa

this amazing wedding was a joint jen lacey/kim seidl production, invented specially for this ocassion. i met jen via cell phone a few months ago. she was calling from the food poisoning wing of a DC hospital. she needed someone to take her wedding that day and had been given my number by the fabulous Mary Kate McKenna. ironically (coincidentally?) i was in her home base, san diego, checking the city out. i sadly couldn't help her out that day, but here i am now in san diego ready to heed the call. fortunately this time the call was a happy call, prompted by the need for help with her good friend's wedding.

in a story told by jen, she was with the future groom Chris, the night he met Heather. i don't remember jen using the word 'electric' or anything similar, but apparently there were drinks to be had that particular night and i do remember her saying the words "drunkeness", "drool" and, "that's the girl i'm going to marry".

sometimes when you know, you just know.

Woodend, you've been replaced by Estancia Hotel and Spa as my new favorite place to shoot. it was reeeally hard to take a bad shot in the place. it was just gorgeous. of course it doesn't hurt Heather and Chris are as well!

thanks to Heather, Chris and Jen for inviting me to participate in this amazing day!

i loooooved this dress. she looked amazing in it.

there were flowers EVERYWHERE

my favorite quote of the day. "I, Heather Smith, take you, Chris Frazier, to be my lawfully wedded wife."

heather, originally i was going to provide you with all of the "cake incident" photos for legal purposes, but on further review.. the only clear-cut victim here was the cake.

what can i say?

Brook and Matt - Mt. Woodson Castle, Ramona

My newest friends in San Diego, Erin and David, also shoot wedidngs (I'd link to their site if they actually had one.. ahem, Erin!). I was excited when they asked if i wanted to join shooting the wedding of some really good friends of thiers, Brook and Matt. The fact that they said the word "castle" sealed the deal. I'm so happy they invited me! It was a gorgeous day and an even more perfect night (but it's California.. I'm beginning to realize I say this alot). Brook and Matt and the whole crew were a ton of fun and I'm really happy I was included in the invent.

The super cool dynamic duo, Erin and David

Brook's dress was perhaps the greatest dress ever. It belonged to her grandmother. It was over 100 years old! The fabric was so delicate, intricate and just lovely.

i could've kept myself occupied with just the kids. there were so many and they were all edible.

chaos in the aisle. brook and matt's son wasn't too excited about his debut. but the ring bearer couldn't wait, taking all the steps in one leap. one of my favorite quotes of the day: (Brook) "I knew we sewed the rings on the pillow for a reason"

my favorite quote of the day. one of brook's little blond neices walked up to her in the middle of the vows, tugged on her dress and asked her, "What are you doing?".

Brook looked so amazing in that dress.


erin and david were sent a photo from brook's parents' wedding with the couple in a VW and a sign reading "Honk if U Can Dig It". the wedding party was enlisted to make an identical sign to recreate the photo and surprise her parents. granted, the car was a bit updated, but it was a really cool, fun idea.

"don't stop kissing 'til i say so!". it was a long exposure. there were several of them. i think their lips got sore, but they were super troopers.

Tracy and Craig - Engagement Session on Coronado

Tracy and Craig's big day will be next September '08. I got a chance to meet the lovely couple on Coronado. We hit a few grassy knolls and the beach!

As far as modeling goes, I have to say they were naturals. They didn't need any prompting to smooch or giggle. I get the feeling they do that alot anyway!

Congrats you two!

Jinhee, James and... Isaiah!

Meet jinhee, james and the soon-to-be-introduced isaiah. this is a super special couple. i'm not sure i can even tell you why. all i know is that from the second i met them, i wanted to give them both a big hug. their smiles are huge, constant and sincere and there's also this calmness and serenity that i just wouldn't expect from a couple that's to have their first child jump onto the scene at any second. and really, it could've been any second. she was actually due the day we went down to the beach to play.

i just got word that the little guy has actually arrived! he was just a few days late ("stubborn like his parents", they said, which i think is funny because stubborn is not a word i would use to describe the two most huggable people ever).

welcome isaiah, and congrats to jinhee and james- you're parents!!

Happy 4th of July!

i am so happy and so lucky to have old friends already in place in san diego. it's never easy starting over in a new city, but this time, i'm finding i don't have to. my fantabulous friend becky married since i last saw her in san francisco (and is also now pregnant!), and she and her husband moved down to encinitas. i've had a really great time catching up with her and getting to know her hubby ian.

over the 4th of july, despite being pregnant and all, becky did what she did best which was play hostess. she laid out a pretty amazing spread. i was quite partial to the guacamole and grilled vegan sausages. i met some of her oldest friends and also her family. let me just say, they all had some really cute kids.

i'm a sopranos freak. i also haven't seen the final episodes yet (c'mon netflix!!), and due to some serious evasion tactics, i've managed to miss the spoilers. amazing, right? at one point they all decided to discuss the finer points of the last episodes and i bolted away to hang with the kiddies.

(i think i'd skip the watermellon and nibble those cheeks if i could.)

Rebecca and Michael - Paradise Point

what a gorgeous day! but then again, it's san diego. i have to keep reminding myself that the temperature is not going to soar up to 95 at any given moment. still, every day, especially every day I get to shoot outside, i'm grateful for the magnificant weather.

this was my third outdoor wedding in san diego, shot as 2nd for kristie, of Photography by Kristie, who had travelled in from phoenix. it was really cool working with her. actually, it's been really interesting working with a few different photographers now to really get to see people's different styles. working as 2nd always carries the benefits of low stress. i get to shoot and soak everything in without all of the extra added pressure.

rebecca and michael are a truly fun couple. they and all of the their friends had great senses of humor and the guys were cracking me up before the wedding. stress levels seemed low or non existent- they'd already been together for years. but, the years hadn't diminished the affection that was evident between the two.

they also turned out to be quite adventurous. as soon as the reception ended we raced out to sunset cliffs for a "trash the dress" session. i was SO excited to really hit the beach for the first time. but i should've cued in when kristie changed into shorts and flipflops- this city girl just thought, "what's the big deal with getting a little sand in your shoes"? well, guess what.. there's this thing called a tide and it came crashing in not too long after we hit the sand. some of those waves looked a heck of lot higher than my head. all i could think of was my poor east-coast camera and how it probably never imagined itself being subjected to sand, salt and periodic drownings. one good dousing and i climbed up onto the steps and shot from dry ground. our happy couple was oblivious to it all. we snapped away. despite my non-beach-appropriate attire, it was really fun and i can't wait until i have the chance to do it again!

mental note to self. the ocean is not like a lake. bring flip flops, shorts, a towel and a plastic bag for gear next time.

Jenny & Rich - Woodend, MD

yay! back to woodend! this is the first time i've had the chance to shoot at a venue a 2nd time. it makes things sooo much easier and fun, because you can look back at older shots and do some creative planning. this was also my first double-header weekend, and oye, was i feeling it. it didn't help that the first of the double header involved an actual header resulting in torn tendons in the ol' ankle and four hours of icky sleep. reason number 1001 MK rocks- she got up early (even though the day already started at 8am when we were out til 2am shooting the night before..) and picked up an ankle brace for me. combined with these sexy little numbers and strong cup of coffee, i was good to go.

jennifer and rich are a special couple for many reasons. they're two of the most intelligent people i've ever met. they were also just easy-going and sweet- they made for a really unique and perfect pair. i wish i remember exactly how it was put at the ceremony, but someone had said something to the effect that they had never met another couple so much on the same page with each other. their conversations are free flowing and never ending, ranging from silly to politics without skipping a beat. they were so comfortable with each other, they really were two halves of the same whole.

no wedding or couple can really be summed up in a single word (though always seem to try), but classy and comfortable certainly come to mind. the whole wedding day was just that.. a classy, tasteful yet a fun and comfortable affair shared with family and good friends. i wish them the best of everything.