Film Fridays - Los Angeles 35mm Photography

Traveling to Florida for the holidays means I got behind on doing a year-end wrap up post that I had planned. However, I still got back in time to do another Film Fridays post for New Year's Eve. This shot was from the first wedding I ever photographed back in 2008. I'd had my DSLR camera for about three months and was  loving it, but I also brought along my 35mm SLR to take some film photos as well. This champagne shot is from the reception and seemed perfectly fitting for celebrating the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

And speaking of New Year's, I was going to pass on resolutions this year. I did a lot of things I wanted to do last year without having explicit resolutions and I kind of liked not having the pressure. However, I suddenly and tragically lost a friend last week and I've been reflecting a lot on memories of him and missed opportunities to spend more time together. He was a photographer as well and one of his quotes that recently came to my attention was "I shoot film. Occasionally I have the rolls developed." We always talked about going out to take photos together with our toy cameras, but I'm sad to say we never got around to it. So in his honor, my resolution for 2011 is to take more photos on film, of and with people I care about, and develop and share them frequently. Thanks for all the inspiration, Scott. You are loved, missed, and celebrated.

Film Fridays - Los Angeles Toy Camera Wedding Photography

So along with the toy camera photography I've been doing for fun, I'm also hoping to incorporate it more with the digital photography I do for portraits and weddings. I recently photographed a stylized wedding shoot with my friend Emily of Grandes Fetes and our awesome already-married friends modeled for us. For the most part, the digital photos show off Emily's amazing design better than the toy camera shots did, so we're both excited to debut those soon. In the meantime, I really love this backlit shot of Brett and Trina in front of a window. It's a little dark and grainy, a little out of focus, and still has a lot of character, which is exactly what I love about toy cameras.

Taken with the Holga 120 TLR, Lomo brand 100 ISO color film.

Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles: Jesse & Marika Engagement Photos

Jesse is one of the first people I met in LA. I hadn't even moved here from Florida yet, but came out for an editing internship with American Cinema Editors in 2004. Jesse was one of the other interns selected that year, so we spent a lot of time together and a few weeks later I met his wonderful girlfriend Marika. Since then, we've all stayed in touch, whether it's working together or meeting up to watch Roller Derby. At a career-coaching workshop Marika hosted in January, I found out that she and Jesse were engaged. They're getting married on the east coast this fall, but I thought it would be fun to take some engagement photos in LA, and the Griffith Observatory is a pretty iconic place to do that. Just in time for sunset, we headed over to Barnsdall Art Park to get a few more shots. The lighting was really pretty there, and I love how you can see the Observatory in the background of some of them. Not only are Jesse and Marika an adorable and great couple, but they were also perfect subjects - lots of fun and willing to try anything. Congratulations, you two!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is the third anniversary of our wedding, 1 day after our dating anniversary. That worked out pretty conveniently for us when we were wedding planning. Even though Matt and I were living in Los Angeles when we got engaged, we decided to have the wedding in Tallahassee so that more of our family and friends would be able to attend. We picked the Retreat at Bradley's Pond for both the ceremony and reception. And we chose  Laura Ciociola as our photojournalist wedding photographer, who surprised us on the day of the wedding by bringing her then-assistant Meredith Russell. So we ended up with two great photographers when we were only expecting one, and we ended up with Laura's film shots and Meredith's digital shots, which was cool to have both. 

I've looked through these photos a million times as I was making prints for guests, putting together albums, and just reliving the day over and over again. Not only did Laura and Meredith do an amazing job of capturing all the happiness and all the wonderful people there at our wedding, but the emotion and beauty of the photos is what inspired me to take up photography myself, and for that I will always be grateful.

Thanks to everyone who attended our wedding, and everyone who celebrated with us in LA after the fact, for making it such a memorable and special occasion.

Happy Anniversary, Matthew! I love you with all my heart.

Columbus Wedding

Two of my amazing friends from New College, Sarah and Phillip, got married in August 2009. They are such a great couple and their wedding was incredibly personal, stylish, and sweet. The ceremony and reception were at a park in downtown Columbus, Ohio, overlooking a train trellis. The day started off overcast, but the sun came out after the ceremony in time for portraits and a gorgeous sunset over the river.

Congratulations, Sarah and Phillip! I love you guys and I'm so glad I got to be part of your wedding celebration!

Wedding in Black and White

In early May, I attended the wedding of some family friends. I'm not sure who their pro-photographer was, and if I find out I will link to the "real" photos, but I managed to take a bunch as well. The ceremony was at a very cool, historical theatre, and then the reception at a hotel ballroom. Out of the 400 something I took, I narrowed it down to 170+. I had a lot of favorites, but I really liked how the black and white ones turned out, so here are the best of those.


The rest of the photos, with bigger sizes, can be seen here.