we went through the whole process together. picking out outfits. matching it up with accessories. deciding on a location. i actually love this part of it. even tara told me i should create my own stylist company. hmmmmm…

once it was all coordinated, we met up to start at one of our two chosen locations… and so began tara’s photographic journey… a journey from being a little nervous with the first photo into a nearly immediate evolution into greatness. and we were on our way…

as the sun was just about going behind nearby mountains, we got some perfect light in this area before we abandoned this location for the next. i could have shot here the rest of the day, easily. good problem to have… another good problem: the wind. that day was extremely windy in some areas but we seemed to hit a dead spot. until we moved into this area and the wind was just the perfect amount to create some glorious motion with tara’s hair.

one final wardrobe change and we were off…

then it was a literal race against time as we watched the sun getting closer and closer to setting as we drove to the beach. we got there just in time, went down what seemed like 1000 steps from PCH and jumped right into it.

tara nailed the hair motion shots. and she nailed them quickly, thank goodness… as the sun was setting faster than i could shoot.

i said a lot already about this session. i hope the photos also said a lot about it. i have been almost too blessed recently with having sessions that have really meant a lot to me, for what they have meant to my subjects. that’s just kind of rare… but has been really common for me right now. so, to tara: thank you again and again for trusting me with such a transformational day. i am better for having been a part of it and very fortunate to now call you friend, as well. i hope this only acts as another springboard for the greatness in your life.

** photo idea completely pilfered off Pinterest by my wife… but i’m not sure the original photographer… so i would give credit where it’s due… but i haven’t found where to direct said credit to yet… **

2012 is going to be a huge year… for now more than one reason. happy new year everyone!

another great day of shooting with a truly lovely girl, inside and out. thanks, again, alexa for teaming up with me for some great photos and good fun! and who knows what your hair will look like next time  ;)

there was just no way for me to narrow down shoots to “just one favorite” from them… so sit back and enjoy this. and this is set to complete random mode for your further enjoyment and to keep your eyes on their toes. or your toes on their eyes. or something…

i went into 2011 completely unsure of what was to come. i come out of it completely surprised. i go into 2012 with a couple of new tricks up my sleeve, a couple of definite goals and open arms for even more of what 2011 brought.

here’s to a fantastic year for all of you, whatever it may bring… may it be good! happy new year, and thanks for everything y’all have done for me.

brenna’s mom and i started talking about this session a year or so ago, while brenna was still a junior. i really took it to heart when she said she wanted to hire me because she is an extremely talented photographer. and she takes photos of brenna all the time too (duh!) so to be hired by her for this shoot… it meant a lot to me. well over the course of the time since those first conversations, amy and i have become extremely close friends. that friendship eventually began to include brenna as we chatted about the session over time.

roughly 2 months before the shoot, brenna’s oldest sister passed away at the very young age of 22. having lost my father when i was 17 and my oldest sister when i was 19, i could really empathize with the family. the event put our photo day into a state of flux, understandably. but then, things started falling into place… and the scope of the shoot started to evolve. i remember telling amy that this was not going to be just a photoshoot, but something closer to a spiritual journey. cheesy, right? but it was right on the mark.

those of you who know me well enough, know that i’m a fairly sensitive guy. just thinking about the day and what it meant as i headed down the freeway that morning, with the sunrise taking place, i was already crying. this was going to be a journey, indeed.

let’s get started… here’s brenna at our first stop (which you may recognize from my recent ‘trash the dress’ post), salvation mountain. excited? yes. i am too. (this first one is iPhone… my first ever iPhone photo post actually. just for fun.

totally one of those “between shots” shots right here. and one of the very few smiley photos from the day. but i love this. this is so brenna.

not too long after that shot i said to her: “you’re not being very smiley smiley for these. do you want to do the typical ‘shiny, happy people’ senior photo shoot today? or…” and she quickly said something like: “nope. i don’t want to do the normal senior thing. if i did, you wouldn’t be here shooting it.” understood. let’s get on with it then.

after salvation mountain, we followed the same path my TTD session took me on, to an abandoned warehouse. the true intensity of our journey would start to really kick in at this location.

since i’d been to this spot before, knowing how much graffiti was there, it occurred to me in the weeks before that it would be cool for brenna to leave her mark on the salton sea. we got some spray paint for her to let her decorate the walls a little. the first thing she did was leave her sister’s mark there.

after painting a little more, some hugs went around and we headed off to the actual seaside.

about a week before, brenna went and got the tattoo below on her wrist. it was the way her sister would autograph her truly brilliant drawings. (this family is full of some of the most talented people you’ll ever meet… each and every one of them.) i wanted to make sure she showed that off throughout the day as well.

not every shoot requires a “wardrobe conversation”. but for different shoots like this, i love to be involved in the process whenever and as much as possible. when brenna and i were going through things for the day and she showed me her sparkly dress and these furry boots, it screamed out salton sea to me.

next little special addition to the day, they brought this canvas photo of lyssa along for the shoot. this felt like as right a place as any to bring her into the photos.

time was already starting to noticeably slip away from us. so i chose to forego some areas near here to make sure we hit some other key spots before we lost the sunlight.

i don’t think i’ll ever forget the hilarity of the moment when brenna and i were talking about the shoot the day before. i think i very loosely threw out the idea of a headdress being in the mix. when she said yes, i knew the day would be that much more amazing. would you say ‘epic’? yes. you could. some people might look at you like you don’t realize that word is being overused these days… but when the headdress fits, wear it, right? right.

poor amy was just sitting in the car roadside, as we were shooting out here for at least 45 minutes. i just couldn’t stop taking these and letting the process just happen. i knew with almost each and every click how much i would love the photos. and that is because of brenna, not me… don’t mistake me on that. she was absolutely owning this. i really wish amy had been there to witness it and to be able to video some of this because it was … well… just keep looking and see if you agree…

the time actually came for removal of the headdress. sad. but all good things and all that, right? not to worry or cry too much… because brenna was still overflowing with that same magic for some more photos in the desert.

we went back to the car, piled in and the real race with the end of the sunlight began. my mind was trying to race through the other locations i wanted to shoot at. i settled on an area i loved from shooting with amanda during a previous trip. the pink trailer. so we headed that way, i completely and inadvertently doused myself with gasoline at the gas station and we arrived pretty much as the sun was giving its last bit of light… only to see that, indeed, the pink trailer was completely gone. poof. not to worry… another spot i knew was still available close by.

now completely dependent on artificial light sources, with the wind and cold picking up… the dramatics went up near 11 (spinal tap, anyone? come on…).

i did get to still do a few of my favorite things that day, though i missed out on any true silhouettes. hair in motion? check.

by the light of my phone and amy’s car’s headlights, brenna and i headed back to the car, both possibly a little exhausted. probably for similar and dissimilar reasons as well. the emotion of the day was always right there under the surface… for all of us, i believe. one of my best friends for over 20 years had passed away not too long before lyssa had. if you follow me on facebook, you’ve seen me working through all of this fairly openly (as i tend to do… possibly to a fault). as much as lyssa was there with all of us that day, i also felt and thought about my friend jason a lot.

as far as the photographs go, for me, this day was way more than just capturing an exact period in brenna’s lifetime. it was about putting her spirit on display. the high, the low. the happy, the sad. when friends say to me, “i just don’t want to burden you with ______ in my life because it’s kind of a downer,” or whatever… i always say to them that i want the real. i want them on every level of emotions, not just the benign ones. the emotional experience is what makes up our life, and our relationships and our relating with others. so i wanted to do my best to capture all the sides of brenna that i could. so this isn’t just brenna on one day of her life as a senior. but this is brenna, at a jumping off point in her life (in more than one way). and this is her spirit. her intense and unending love for her sister. this is brenna’s old and wise soul. this is her adventurous spirit. her contagious and uproarious laugh. this is brenna… before she went on to do amazing things and begin to truly create her legacy. this is the brenna i know now and the one that any person will be blessed to say they know at any point in their own life.

and one final image. this was the multiple image composite i actually did plan on creating (the dancing native american brenna was kind of a lark). and this is fitting for how i will always think of you, brenna. as a multi-talented artist that will leave her mark in so many places… and always with a burst of color.

here it is. did you do a little drumroll? oh wait… i forgot to tell you. you can do one now. briefly. cuz you might be looking at the bean already…

i mean. look at it! so so cool. let’s see it from another angle, shall we? we shall…

i could do that all day. but after we were there for some time, we headed off to some nearby places katelyn and i spotted on our quick scouting jaunt.

the best yellow-leafed tree i saw? on an island in the middle of the street. like i said, they were game for anything and everything…

and then we switched places…

as we walked to our next little spot, there were all these couples dancing. maybe a class? not sure. but come on… how could we not?

i often talk about how i dance with the light when i am taking photographs. whether it’s the lights at a concert, or the sun through the trees. another thing my female clients will hear a lot (if we’re shooting outside) is me talking to the wind. no… not like pocohontas. but when the wind is doing its own little dance with my subject’s hair… it can become another one of those truly magical things in a photograph:

as we walked back to the car to head off to our final location, we found one more section of millenium park as well.

and off we went to catch the last bit of sunlight (and the last hour of time before katelyn and i had to be at the airport) at a skatepark. yes. a skatepark. seth is involved with the building of skateparks. so when we originally talked about this TTD session, i was excited that they agreed that skating would be a fantastic inclusion to our time together.

i usually separate things out more when i shoot in this style. but because of the action and the motion, i like how the more clustered feel is on this:

even this was not easy… but seth pulled it off.

in case you missed it, seth and michelle even modeled this bomber hat that i had for betabrand. if you click on the link it will take you right to the page with them on the internet… as models! woo! but here they are in all their glory for your viewing as well:

one last shot from the skatepark, though…

all of my trash the dress sessions this year have been awesome. they have all been so unique and had a good personal touch to them for either the wedding itself, or for the couple. this day was no exception. i feel like this embodied these two as a couple, for where they were married and as individuals as well.

thanks again to michelle and seth for an amazing weekend and a truly fantastic “trashing of the dress” on the day after. you two are brilliant!

quickly onto the pier for some sunbursts and silhouettes (no, that is not a band… though it could be….)

we then made our way into los angeles proper to the los angeles county museum of art, or the lacma to visit the urban light along the street. a fantastic, albeit crowded, little spot.

and a fun little ‘faux-to booth’ shoot to close out the evening:

all thanks to a fun and incredibly genuine couple. you two were so fantastic to spend the latter part of the day with and i truly hope i do get to see you again next year!

anyway, i loosely stayed in touch here and there with michelle over the years and as fate would have it, there i was, flying out to chicago to be highly honored to shoot the couple’s wedding. furthering the awesome power of the interwebz, was the fact that my second photographer was another fantastic soul that i befriended years ago through flickr, katelyn vonfeldt.

some of the other pertinent vendors on hand, who all contributed amazingly to this beautiful day:

flowers: deerfield florist
cake and all desserts: the bent fork
catering: catering by michaels
ceremony special musical guest: dan nichols
band: upbeat music productions
videographers: aaron margolin and ben sherry of batix productions
party planner: marcy fortnow
congregation: congregation beth am
make-up artist: susin greenberg
hair: lisa whitefield of raymond’s hair design in glenview – lisawhitefield61@gmail.com 847-910-8380
and of course the chupah and ring bearer pillow both created by auntie robin

the details played a big part in the day, the majority of them handmade by michelle, her bridesmaids, her mother and her aunt. even these miniature cake candies that the guests left with:

the ringbearer’s pillow was created by her aunt, all of the little pieces pulled from different family members and fabrics from grandmothers’ wedding gowns and such. a fantastic idea:

as you can see, buttons were a big part of the wedding. the men even wore “button-eir’s” on their lapels. here is a view of how they complimented the bouquets:

mother of the bride getting her hair done while her daughter gets make-up:

seth had a fun group of groomsmen.

before we get the bride in her dress, let’s take a look at it, shall we?

katelyn and i then got to take michelle around her aunt’s (add just about any adjective here that is similar to amazing, awesome, beautiful, gorgeous, jaw-dropping) house for a bit for some photos. i have said a few times that i want to start adding a section to my contract that gently demands (how do you gently demand something? should i ask alanis morissette about that too?) for at least 30 minutes to shoot with the bride.

the couple opted for having a “first look” before their ceremony. in this case, it was extremely helpful for them to have some better photographs of their families with them and their wedding party. of course, it also made for some excellent time with the two of them for photos before the day kicked into full swing as well.

could michelle’s aunt have been any more hospitable? she built her house with just the right number of arches for the wedding party! how sweet is that?!  :)

i loved the design of their temple. the star of david in the ceiling was a great little addition.

during the vows, one of a few fantastic little personalized “michelle moments”, when she sang “i do… i do… i do do do do… ” super cute.

mazel tov!!

it was back to michelle’s aunt & uncle’s house for the reception. this sign was made for the day and we tried to get all of the guests standing on the staircase holding it, as kind of a digital guestbook:

before their grand entrance, i was able to take a few more photos with the couple in front of this spectacular wall.

a group of ‘faux-to booth’ shots was a must.

another surprise michelle had up her sleeve for seth (and everyone else). before their first dance, she serenaded him…beautifully.

the band, upbeat music was so so good. that isn’t just lip service. they rocked everything from bon jovi to lady gaga and did it well!

i love when the wedding guests let loose…

a few words from the newlyweds before they cut the cake…

and back to dancing…

one of the things i love most about how many jewish weddings i have been able to work with, who doesn’t love the hora dance??

a great moment with mother and daughter on the dancefloor…

how can flowergirls not love to be in weddings? they get to stay up so late and dance the night away.

michelle and seth: thanks again for trusting me with your big, big day! it was such a beautiful day filled with fun and love from all sides. i had a great time with all of you and felt incredibly welcomed by all of your family and friends. i wish you both the most life has to offer you in your lifetime with one another.

we had other plans originally for this session, but we ended up back at what is starting to become my “home studio”, the salton sea. we were mainly targeting a place called salvation mountain, actually. so that is where this all begins.

as we started to head off from the mountain to explore some other places along the salton sea, all of the beams of sunlight through the stormclouds were phenomenal.

i’ll take abandoned warehouses for the win, alex.

sometimes, the jump can be even more about the moment just before or after:

another good and successful trip out to one of my favorite places in the state. stay tuned if you like these from that area… looks like i may be going back again in december or january  :)

thanks again for scheduling this extra session with me, you two. i hope you love what we got from the journey out there!

wedding / reception venue: the hills hotel
second photographer: kelly with true bliss photography

special thanks to kelly mendoza, my second photographer. photos with the guys were taken by her, as well as some of the other photos that you do not see my watermark on  :)

the girls were getting ready at the st. regis hotel in monarch beach. gorgeous.

how popular are these personalized hangers right now? a cool little touch. well done, last name personalized wedding hanger inventor guy (yes… i should create those bud light real men of genius commercials).

how about some champagne bottle opening teamwork?

meanwhile… in san clemente at one of the groomsmen’s house, kelly got some cool shots of mike and his guys:

and then we all met up at the hills hotel.

wrapping a wedding gift is so last year  ;)

and now for some brilliant dancing…

at some point i told these guys at the start of the reception, that it wasn’t a party until they were doing egg spins on the dance floor. they didn’t disappoint!

here they are mad-dogging kelly…

and they rode off into the moonlight… as their new life together began…

an abundance of fun was had by all that night. we wish you both a lifetime of happiness with each other!